Ordinarily, the sight of a group of teenagers looking so incredibly floored by what they had just heard would be enough to get him to at least let out a chuckle.

Right now though? He was beginning to feel more than a little awkward, and it was only made worse the longer the teens stood silently gawking at him.

"Look, in order for me to pass One For All down to you, you need to ingest some of my DNA," he said, doing his best to keep his composure and not sound as awkward as he felt. "I know this may not be what you were expecting, but trust me, this is the least gross way to do this. Not to mention the most sanitary."

That explanation…did not seem to help at all, judging from how everyone was still looking at him with a mixture of surprise and disgust. Even Amako seemed to be staring at him oddly. Thankfully, it didn't take long for one of them to speak up again.

"Are…you sure this is the best way All Might?" Sona's question was the one on everyone's mind at that moment. "Isn't there any other way for Midoriya to attain One For All from you?"

"I'm afraid not Young Sitri," All Might told her, wishing that his student would just take the hair already. "This is exactly how One For All was passed down to me. I'm not aware of any other way."

Izuku began to fidget ever so slightly. His dream, his goal, everything he had been working for over the last seven months stood there before him. All he had to do was just eat that hair. And yet…

"Um…I don't really know…"

"Eat it."

All Might's voice came out with more force than they had previously, leaving Izuku with little choice but to take the hair and swallow it as swiftly as possible.

He shivered as he felt the hair slowly slither its way down his throat, dropping down to his hands and knees as he felt it finally reach the pit of his stomach. He held back the urge to vomit as he felt the air begin to settle before letting out a gasp as he breathed in a gulp of fresh air, both Asia and Ochako gently patting his back as he continued taking deep breaths.

"Are you alright Izu?"

The sound of Rias' voice grabbed his attention as he turned to see her, looking every bit as concerned as she sounded. He opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was gibberish as he fought back another urge to hurl.

He hadn't felt this way since his first day of training. Pushing himself through everything All Might wanted him to do had left him a complete mess on the ground just like this had.

Only back then, he had actually thrown up.

"That…was one of the worst things I've ever had to do," he gasped as he began standing back up, Rias giving him her hand as Asia and Ochako tried keeping him steady.

"I was not expecting this today," Akeno said softly as she watched Izuku continue to fidget in place.

"I doubt any of us were," Yumi responded.

"Disgusting," Koneko said as her nose began curling upward in disgust.

"Had a feeling you'd all react this way," All Might said, looking away with a slightly embarrassed blush on his face before stepping forward and laying his gigantic hand on Izuku's shoulder. "Other than that though, how are you feeling, Young Midoriya?"

Izuku gave a blank to his mentor before his gaze moved to his right hand. He fanned it out several times, a contemplative look on his face as he continued to stare at it. "I…I feel…"

The girls began leaning closer, their curiosity enticing them to hear every word he could possibly say at this moment.

"...exactly the same," he finished anticlimactically, sounding every bit as disappointed as the girls did before looking back up into the smiling face of his hero. "I don't feel any different at all."

"That does make sense," the pro hero said as removed his hand from the boy's shoulder. "It will take time before your body absorbs One For All into itself. It should only take a couple of hours, three at the max. But," he began, catching everyone's attention. "Before that happens, I'd like to ask you all for a favor."

Each of them looked at him confusedly, but still seemed willing to hear him out.

"As far as I know, this may be the first time a Devil has ever held One For All. I'm fairly certain that we have little reason to worry about such a little detail, but I'd like to bring in someone to help keep an eye on Young Midoriya if need be," he explained, making Sona, Rias, and Izuku flinch as he did so. None of them had considered that at all. "Not to mention the fact that One For All has only gotten stronger the longer I held it. I'm hoping that she'll be able to help fix him up if necessary."

"Excuse me All Might," Asia interrupted. "But I should be able to heal Izuku just fine if anything goes wrong." She didn't seem like she was that upset with All Might's suggestion, stating her words as if they were a simple matter of fact.

"I mean no disrespect, Young Argento. I'm well aware of your ability, and I have no doubt that you would be able to help him should the need arise. However," he told her, his expression turning slightly more serious. "I trust this woman with my life, and have done so for many years. She's also already aware of One For All. She also happens to be U.A.'s nurse, and a fully qualified M.D., so she knows full well how much damage a quirk can cause to a body, even if it's not the user's. Having her here would be a boon to us all."

"I…I don't know…" Izuku pondered what to do. He had faith that Asia would help him if worse came to worst, but All Might had raised a good point. None of them had any idea how his body would react to One For All. For all he knew, it could shatter like glass. And that's without factoring him being a Devil.

He wanted to kick himself for never thinking about that before now. Would the quirk reject him somehow? Would it find a way to turn against him? He remembered reading once about a theory about how quirks may one day soon become too strong for the human body to truly handle it. Would that happen to him? He didn't know what to do. He turned to face Rias, hoping that she may be able to help him come to a decision.

She simply smiled at him.

He understood it immediately.

"I understand," he said with a grin. "We'll wait for you to go get her."

The choice was his, just like it had been before.

"Excellent! I best go and retrieve her then. It shouldn't take too long. You kids just stay put!" With a grin of his own, All Might began to take to the sky with a mighty leap, already feeling the wind passing around him as he kneeled to the sand to push himself off of the ground…

"Oh. Whoops."

…only to stop once he remembered the pile of garbage just a few meters away from him.

"Almost forgot about that," he said with a slightly embarrassed grin before walking over to the pile. He then lifted the entire tower of trash over his head, the heap somehow staying together as he moved it all towards his truck, despite all logic saying that it shouldn't. "This still needs to be properly disposed of. Don't need it stinking up the beach for any of you while I'm gone. Back in a flash!" He then placed the entire pule into the truck's bed, before lifting the truck filled with garbage over his head. The mighty hero then leaped away, not a single piece of scrap falling from the truck.

The group stared with no small amount of awe as they watched the pro hero leap away with several tons of garbage(though Sona was beginning to wonder if One For All casually allowed one to ignore the laws of physics judging by how not a single piece had managed to fall). After a short while, the silence was broken by an excited Ochako.

"Just think Deku," she began, grabbing his attention as she began to giggle. "You'll be able to do stuff like that soon! Isn't that cool?"

Her words led to Izuku gaining a look of pure astonishment as they sunk in, the thought of being able to do just about everything that All Might could was finally taking root in his mind.

"I…holy whoa. I'll really be able to do all that." Everything that he had ever seen All Might accomplish, even if it was behind his computer or television screen. From saving people from a collapsing building before it could hit the ground to stopping a natural disaster in its place. "I…," he began, his whispers just barely loud enough for the others to hear. "I really have All Might's quirk."

"Your quirk."

He blinked in surprise as he faced Koneko, who's usual impassive stare had a look of certainty in it he had rarely seen.

"She's right Izuku. It's your quirk now," Yumi told him, a look of pride on her face as she smiled brightly at him, the rest of the group nodding in agreement.

His face went blank as he took in her words. A small smile began blooming onto his face, one that made the girls smile back as they watched his face become ever more joyous. "You're right," he said, his smile growing ever brighter. "It's my quirk now. My quirk. My…"

The words he uttered began echoing throughout his skull as the full implication finally began to sink in.

A quirk.

HIS quirk.

He had a quirk now. Something he had longed for ever since he was a small child.

Much to the girl's collective surprise, his eyes began to water, his lips quivering as he struggled to hold them in.

"Izuku? Is something wrong?" Asia stepped over to him with a look of concern, Ochako and Rias right behind her with similar looks.

"No. That's…that's not it," he choked out, the tears beginning to flow as his heart began to soar. Their concern swiftly turned to joy as they watched his smile grow, his eyes moving to each of them. "I just…I never thought my life would end up this way. Right here, right now, I've got almost everything I've ever really wanted."

It was more than just him finally having a quirk now. It was them. Each and every one of them. The best kind of friends he could ever ask for.

Each of the girls' eyes had widened at his words before they had smiled in return.

They didn't say a word.

And they didn't need to.

After a while, the group had decided to sit down upon the sparkling sands, watching as the sun drew ever higher into the sky. While the colder weather would usually bother some, at this moment in time, it had remained warm enough not to bother the group at all. Amako had even placed her head on his lap, her eyes closed in content as he began rubbing her ears, a peaceful silence now spread across the beach as they all relaxed in the moment.

Such things cannot always last though. There would always be someone who would break the silence. And in this instance, it was Akeno, who had been seated on Rias' left.

"I can't help but wonder," she began, grabbing everyone's attention. "Deku, do you think you'd be able to use One For All concurrently with the Boosted Gear? From what we can tell, both powers are quite similar."

"I'm not sure," he answered after giving it some thought. The thought had definitely crossed his mind before, but he had yet to really learn more about what the Boosted Gear was truly capable of. It didn't help that he still hadn't heard from Ddraig since that dream. Adding One For All to the list, something he'd had absolutely zero time yet to even use, sounded like a complication he wasn't ready for yet. He didn't really have any idea as to how he would do so in the first place. "I'm thinking that maybe I should try and get used to them separately before mixing them up."

"Regardless," Sona said, having sat down on Rias' right before finally speaking again. "I do believe I speak for all of us when I say that I'm looking forward to how you progress from here." She then gained a slightly mischievous twinkle in her eye along with the barest hint of a smirk. "It's a shame that Rias learned about you before I did. It would be quite interesting to have someone like you amongst my peerage Midoriya."

"Why Sona," Rias said with a slightly forced smile as Izuku ducked his head with a flush to his cheeks. "Are you trying to steal Izu away from me?"

"Not at all," she replied, never once losing that twinkle in her eye as she stared Rias down. "Though I wouldn't say no to a possible trade."

"I wouldn't trade away any of my peerage, least of all my cute little Pawn," she said with a bit of a pout, leading Sona to let out a slight giggle while the rest of the peerage chuckled good-naturedly, even Izuku, whose cheeks were still burning.

"I wonder how long All Might will be gone," Asia, sitting directly behind Izuku, wondered out loud after a while, unintentionally grabbing everyone's attention.

"No clue. He's only been gone for about…," Ochako, sitting less than a meter away from Izuku's side, checked her phone to see the time. "A little over 10 minutes. He'll probably be back pretty soon."

"He might be bringing that doctor friend in his truck though," Koneko pointed out, sitting behind Rias.

"True enough. We may have to find some way to pass the time until he returns," Yumi said, sitting directly beside her white-haired friend.

"Okay then," Ochako began. "Anyone have any ideas?" The entire group began pondering exactly what they could do before someone finally spoke up.

"I do believe I have an idea," Akeno said. "And I think it's one we all can enjoy."

Izuku wasn't really sure if he could trust the smile she was now sporting.

"Your little student certainly sounds interesting," he heard his passenger speak up, her words carrying with them a hint of curiosity as well as caution.

"He is," Toshinori responded as he continued the drive back to Takoba Beach. "I'm truly sorry that I didn't inform you of all of this before. I figured that I should wait until Young Midoriya was ready for One For All before I brought everyone else in the know."

His passenger was an older woman, older even than he. Though she had gotten shorter in her golden years, there was still a youthful energy about her which she carried with ease. She wasn't wearing her hero costume right now, Toshinori having called her before she could do so, but she had still made sure to dress appropriately for the weather. Her gray hair had still been done up in its usual bun, along with the syringe-shaped needle she used to pin it in place. She still used her equally syringe-shaped cane to help herself move from place to place, but he would never doubt her ability as a hero for as long as he lived.

After all, Chiyo Shūzenji, also known as the Youthful Heroine:Recovery Girl, was one of the people he trusted most.

Now if only he hadn't had to waste so much time before picking her up. Why was it that every time he had taken so much metal down to the scrap yard, they kept trying to take his truck too? He didn't care how much they kept telling him that it was rusted and aged, she had experience dammit!

You just don't talk about a man's truck like that!

"We cannot change the past Toshinori, but I am glad you came to me before he first used it," she said as she took a light sip of the bottled water she had brought with her. "Still though, I feel a bit of unease at the thought of a Devil now holding One For All."

"I promise you, I have never doubted Young Midoriya's potential to wield One For All, even after I learned that he had become a Devil. I won't lie though," he said as he made another turn. They should finally be arriving within minutes at the rate they were going. "I was more than a bit surprised when I found out that he had been turned."

"I can imagine," Recovery Girl said, watching his skeletal face like a hawk. "I'm well aware that most Devils are quite benign, we would never allow them into U.A. otherwise, but I'm still concerned about this. One For All has always been used by human hands. We have no clear idea as to what it might do in the hands of a Devil, no matter how much faith you have in him."

"I'm well aware." The thought had certainly crossed his mind in the months after learning what had happened to his student to change him. One For All had always been used by full-blooded humans. From the first wielder all the way to himself. Though, there was always something strange about One For All, something he had always felt ever since he had first used it. Like this odd twitching sensation in the back of his mind. He could never really explain it, the best he could really even say about it was that it felt like something was poking his mind ever so lightly. After a while, he had gotten used to it and simply wrote it off. Throughout his long career as a pro hero, he had faced many foes that could mess with his mind, but none came close to truly replicating that feeling he would get. He didn't even know what that could mean for Young Midoriya.

"Still, I'm confident in his ability to utilize it. After all, he has many people in his corner willing to help him out, not just me."

"Ah yes. His fellow peerage members and their King," she thought aloud. Toshinori had told her about them as he drove, but even if he only gave just the smallest amount of information about each of them. She had certainly met Rias Gremory a few times at least, but only in passing. She had never needed to visit her for any injuries, mainly due to her placement in the business course, but from everything she had heard, she was a kind and intelligent young woman. It was almost enough to make many of the staff forget that she was also a Devil. "You do tend to be a decent judge of character Toshinori, so I'll take your word for it for now. Though I wouldn't like to keep a close eye on this Midoriya boy, just in case the power becomes too much for him."

"That's fair. It's why I wanted you to be here in the first place," he said with a grin, one she returned, as they made it to Takoba Beach.

Shūzenji could certainly say she was quite impressed with how the beach looked. She had seen it before, covered from one end to the other with trash, and it had weighed heavily on her heart. She had hoped to get the city to organize some form of clean up, but it unfortunately had never been brought to the table, always being put behind things deemed 'more important' by people who thought too highly of themselves. Oh how she hated bureaucracies at times.

As she gazed upon the beach's sparkling sands, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. When she turned her head to see, she couldn't stop herself from letting out a bark of laughter.

"It seems your student and his friends found a way to have fun while you were gone."

When he moved his sight to where she was staring, he could barely hold back a chuckle of his own. She wasn't wrong.

After all, it had been a long while since a game of volleyball was played on this beach.

He could see that each of the teens had separated into teams, with Young Toujou, Young Himejima, Young Kiba, and Young Sitri on one side, while Young Gremory, Young Argento, Young Uraraka, and Young Midoriya were on the other.

And it was abundantly clear that each of them were having fun.

Oddly enough, Amako was nowhere to be seen. He would have figured that the Familiar would have been eagerly playing alongside the teens, but as the reena continued their game, the wolf never once appeared.

Still, the smiles on each of their faces made both their hearts stir with no small amount of glee. Seeing these young people, several of them being hero hopefuls, just being able to find time to enjoy themselves was a comfort that tended to elude the older heroes, who had found themselves being too busy for such frivolous things too many times to count.

In a way, they were envious. But that feeling passed in the span of a heartbeat as they watched the ball being passed along from one side to another, the teens scrambling to send it back before it could touch the ground.

For a while, they did nothing but watch as the game unfolded with a casual stroll. They took their time in their approach, listening to the friendly banter as the teens continued their game. Toshinori had nearly given them both away when the ball was spiked by Young Uraraka with Young Sitri just barely missing it, the sun glaring off her glasses making her look none too pleased with her Pawn at that moment. Though judging by the catty grin she got in return, Young Uraraka was not deterred at all by her glare.

After a while though, they had finally been noticed. Young Midoriya had noticed them out of his peripheral vision, looking surprised as he saw the two watch them play.

"All Migh…OOF!" His words had been cut off by the ball being spiked directly into his face.

"Sorry," he heard Young Toujou say. Speaking in her usual monotone as she apologized was enough to finally make him laugh aloud, alerting the rest of the group to their presence.

"Are you feeling okay Izuku?" Asia had made sure to spring right to his side when she saw him get hit, activating her Sacred Gear as she healed his face, being the last to notice the presence of the older heroes.

"I'm okay, Asia. But look, All Might's back."

Shūzenji chuckled at that. This boy seemed to care more that a hero was here than being slammed into his face by a ball. And, judging from what Toshinori had told her, Koneko had held great physical strength of her own. "It's certainly nice to see you young people enjoying yourselves at the very least."

They were quick to introduce themselves to each other, Izuku being surprised that the nurse All Might had been talking about was also a pro hero. When he started muttering about her history though, she got a little disturbed. Not just by how much he seemed to know by heart, but also at the speed the words seemed to spew from his mouth without taking a breath. Devil or not, that couldn't be healthy.

Thankfully, Toshinori had been quick to knock him out of it, giving him a light tap on the head after bulking up before slimming back down.

She found this group to be an interesting one at the very least. Though, a single young man surrounded by so many beautiful young ladies? She would be more surprised if he wasn't the envy at his school right now. And with his goal being to attend U.A., she wondered if he would somehow have more young women by his side than he does now.

Oh well. That was a problem for future her. And whoever his homeroom teacher happened to be.

"Say, Young Midoriya," she heard Toshinori speak up, breaking her from her thoughts. "Where's your Familiar? I would've figured she would still be here."

"Amako? She was still here when you left, but after Himejima proposed the volleyball game, we all kinda decided to send her back to the Forest," he answered. He remembered Koneko being the most adamant about it. Just why did she seem so agitated by her presence?

"So you've all been playing this entire time then?" He sounded rather surprised by that. He had been gone for nearly three hours(lousy scrap yard). They had really played for that long?

"I suppose we got a little too into our game," Akeno said with a light shrug of her shoulders, looking unbothered by the amount of time they had wasted.

"You know Izu," Rias said, having walked over to his side. "I'm surprised you haven't tried just taking Amako home with you. I don't think Inko would mind."

"Our apartment building doesn't really allow pets though," he said with a small amount of sadness. Part of him did kind of want to bring her home with him.

"I'm not seeing the issue. The only people I've ever even seen there are you, Inko, and Asia."

"That's not really the point."

The conversation had been enough to get the rest of the group to chuckle, merely enjoying the moment.

"As amusing as this is," Shūzenji spoke up, holding back a few chuckles of her own. "I do believe we're here for another reason."

"Indeed we are," Toshinori said, his gaze moving to Izuku. "So we should begin. Young Midoriya, can you feel One For All flowing through you yet?"

"I…" His eyes narrowed in thought as his gaze moved back down to his right hand. Squeezing it tightly several times, he tried to see if he could find it, this new power that dwelled within him.

But he still didn't know.

Had One For All not yet accumulated itself to his body yet? It had been about three hours since he had eaten All Might's hair, albeit begrudgingly, so shouldn't he feel the power by now?

"I don't know," he admitted, his shoulders having slumped.

Toshinori hummed in thought as Ochako and Asia placed comforting hands on his back. "How about this then? Face the ocean for me."

Blinking in confusion, Izuku did as he was told, facing the sparkling blue waters at the end of the beach. "Now what?"

"We're going to test out One For All here and now. So I want you to summon as much of its power as you can, and punch toward the ocean itself!" All Might, now having bulked back up, was pointing at the ocean with his trademark smile, his expectations for his successor rising higher. "We'll get a good idea as to how much of One For All you can handle first! Now Young Midoriya, are you…ow!"

All Might had been cut off before he could finish by an irate Recovery Girl, who had spammed her syringe-like cane directly into his shin, making him shrink back down in pure surprise.

"Are you out of your mind!?" The entire group was rather taken aback by her change in demeanor. The kind looking old woman had basically beaten the muscle out of All Might before beginning to scold him like an upset parent. "Do you have any idea how much power One For All has gained since you took it all those years ago? Even with all his training, this young man may not survive using it at full blast!"

It was a thought that shocked not only Izuku, but the others as well. Too excited to see it in action, they had each forgotten that All Might had told them earlier about One For All growing in power as he used it. Rias, Asia, and Ochako quickly turned to eye Izuku with no small amount of worry, the rest following swiftly after.

Toshinori, now nursing his sore leg, blinked in surprise before acknowledging that she had a point. He had even told them all something similar before he left.

He let out a sigh, frustrated with himself. Perhaps he was getting forgetful in his old age.

"I understand your curiosity in seeing your successor use One For All for the first time, but we can't give a child a cannon as his first firearm," Shūzenji said as she approached Izuku, her light scowl morphing back into a softer smile as she stared up at him. "Instead, we should start off a lot lighter. Instead of a punch," she began, holding up her free hand before flicking her index finger at him. "A flick of the finger. That should be enough to let us know how much of One For All you can handle," she finished, before extending her hand up toward him. "Midoriya Izuku, correct?"

Izuku was quick to meet her hand with his own, giving her a nod of confirmation.

"You seem like a nice young man. I just hope you aren't as reckless as Toshinori can be," she said as she walked back over to the skeletal hero, who had stopped rubbing his leg.

"My apologies, Young Midoriya. I guess I got carried away," Toshinori admitted with a slightly embarrassed flush to his face.

"You two seem rather close," Rias said with a smile, both impressed and slightly horrified that she was somehow able to knock All Might back down to his normal state.

"This muscle-brained knucklehead and I have known each other for a long time my dear," Shūzenji said, a look of nostalgia on her face as her voice became kinder, like a grandparent telling their grandchildren of the past. "I was there when he first attended U.A. back in the darker days of quirks. He trusted me with his secret, and I've done all I can to help him ever since." She then used her cane to point to his side, right where his scar lay. "I was the first person he came to when he was given that horrible injury. It may have left him in a bit of a sad state, but I'm still happy he's alive."

"And I'm glad you were able to help." The tone between the two seemed similar to whenever Izuku talked with his mother, a parent and child speaking to each other with no small amount of love. Tough love from what he had seen from Recovery Girl, but love nonetheless.

"Okay," he said as he turned back to the ocean, feeling the eyes of everyone around as he began to ready himself. "I think…," he paused before taking a deep breath. "I think I'm ready."

"All right then," Toshinori said as he went to his side, buffing himself back up as he stood side by side with his student. "Now, concentrate on the power."

He did so, closing his eyes as he imagined the power flowing into his arm.

"Raise your hand up."

He did so, his hand now pointing directly at the ocean.

"Clench your buttcheeks."

Izuku felt his concentration break when he heard that, his face growing red when he heard an assortment of giggling behind him. "Wha-what?"

"It may sound odd, but it works."

Doing his best to ignore the giggles that still assaulted his ears, as well as the blood rushing to his face, he went back to the ocean, his eyes shut in concentration once more.

He felt something. Something that felt like it was building up in his body. He felt it swirling within him, coalescing more and more as he felt it move to his arm.

His…left arm.

This wasn't it.

This was the power of the Boosted Gear.

He didn't need it right now, it wasn't what he was looking for. He had to keep looking, find the new spring of power that dwelled within him.

Then, he felt it. Something new.

He raised his hand higher, his middle finger ready to flick forward as he felt the energy begin to surge. He could feel it flowing through his body, a raw power so different from the Boosted Gear, but still incredibly strong. It almost felt like a pure electric surge was passing through his veins as it moved to his finger, ready to fire off in an arc of pure power.

"Then yell from the depths of your heart!"

His eyes slammed open, power and determination flowing through him as he took aim. Then, from the bottom of his heart, he cried out.

"SMASH!"

His finger flicked forward, a massive shockwave of pure destructive power surging forward toward the ocean water. The ground shook as the sand began to flare around where he flicked, the force slicing through the water at such speed that it seemed to cut through it, leaving enough of a gap to see through to the bottom, for at least several meters.

It was a display that left everyone there stunned. Before their very eyes, Izuku had partially parted the ocean's water, all with the flick of his finger. It didn't take long for both halves to merge back into one, but it was enough to leave everyone impressed.

"Amazing," Sona said to herself with no small amount of awe. She knew that there were many much stronger than Midoriya, her older sister being the first to come to mind, but their power, while more deadly than what she knew of One For All, came more from their magic. What she had just seen was pure physical strength part through a small area of the ocean, and that was merely a finger flick. She could only imagine what he could do with a full punch.

Yumi and Koneko equally stood awestruck, a level of pride rising in their chests as they watched their friend take his next step. This seemed like it was merely a taste of whatever was to come, and they were looking forward to seeing just what he could do next.

Akeno, meanwhile, watched with no small amount of glee, barely being hidden behind her normal smile. She felt a twinge of excitement as she watched him send such a powerful blast toward the water, and she wondered just how strong he really was now. How hard he would be able to hit his opponents and how fiercely he would fight. She could barely hold back a giggle at the thought. Oh she hoped she could see it sooner than later.

Ochako was barely keeping herself from bouncing in place. Watching Deku's newfound strength like that was just too cool! She could already imagine him putting that to use as a hero, lifting heavy objects that had fallen onto people, protecting them from a villain's attack by flicking his finger the same way he had just done! It was just too awesome!

Rias stood proudly as she watched the ocean's water crash back together after being parted. Seeing Izu move forward with the strength of All Might seemed almost too good to be true. If she hadn't already known about One For All thanks to them, she would scarcely believe that she was seeing the same boy she had rescued from death mere months ago. But there he was, standing tall with new strength at his fingertips, and doubtless to her, ready to take on any and all challenges that would come his way.

She felt a bit envious about it, even though she knew she shouldn't. Izu now had more power than ever before to forge his own destiny, while she seemed to be stuck in hers. She banished the thought from her mind. This was not the time to be thinking about that. This was his moment. One she knew she would always remember.

Though she had to wonder, why hadn't he moved since he flicked his finger?

Asia couldn't help but wonder the same thing, even though she was every but as impressed as the rest of them. She walked over to him, calling out his name all the while.

She didn't get a response.

It was enough to unnerve everyone, including Toshinori and Shūzenji. Each of them moved over to him, hoping to see if there was anything they could do to help. But when Asia moved to face him directly, she couldn't hold back a scream of fright.

Izuku hadn't moved at all since using One For All, and was clear that the sheer power had affected his finger as they expected. It looked swollen with blood, having turned a sickly purple color. One look from Shūzenji was enough to let her know that it had been broken, likely from the sheer force of One For All's power.

But that wasn't what made Asia scream.

Rias had barely been able to hold back a gasp when she caught sight of Izuku's face. It had been frozen in a look that screamed both pain and surprise, his eyes widened as his mouth was open in a silent scream. Because of this, the blood that had started escaping his eyes, mouth, nose, and even ears stood out to them, flowing at a slow but steady rate as his body began to twitch. Before they could do anything else, he collapsed to the sand, like a marionette that had its strings cut.

"IZUKU!"

"DEKU!"

"IZU!"

"YOUNG MIDORIYA!"

Everyone scrambled as they did whatever they could to try and help him. Akeno and Yumi righted his body and tried to keep it stable as both Asia and Recovery Girl got to work to try and heal them as much as they could. Ochako had decided to call for an ambulance in a panic, hoping that he would be able to get some kind of help there. Koneko stayed by his side, keeping check on his pulse in the hope it wouldn't stop suddenly, her own heart racing in a way she hadn't felt in a long time.

All the while, both Rias and Toshinori stood by in pure horror. They continued to watch on as both Recovery Girl and Asia did everything they could to keep him alive, even as the flow of blood began to slow. Their minds raced with all the different questions they had, and reaching the worst case scenarios they could conceive of every time. They brushed those aside as best they could, but one question remained on their minds as they finally began to move forward, hoping to do whatever they could to help.

Just what had happened?

He could hear it. Muffled voices that sounded like they may have been arguing.

But he couldn't move. He hadn't been able to since he had shown up here. This swirling void of black and green shadows that seemed to mix together before becoming separate again in an endless loop. He didn't even know how he got here.

The last thing he remembered had been using One For All. After that, there was a great deal of pain in his hand, though mainly in his finger. After that however? Nothing but pure black until he found himself here.

Where was this place? What was this place? Was he simply dreaming? It reminded him somewhat of when he had met Ddraig, but the red dragon was nowhere in sight. For that matter, neither was anyone else. If this was a dream, wouldn't he be seeing someone he knew?

Whenever he tried moving, it felt like his legs weren't even there. When he finally looked down, he noticed, with no small amount of horror, that they weren't. From almost the neck down, he seemed to be encompassed in those same green and black shadows. Je tried to scream, but it was then he noticed that he didn't even have a mouth.

He was stuck here, in this place. All by himself.

It felt like he had descended down into Hell itself.

He had asked Rias before if Hell actually existed. After all, she had told him that Heaven was a very real place where God and his Angels resided. Ultimately, her answer was yes, but it was a bit more complicated than he would have expected.

The Underworld, the place she had called home for most of her life, was made up of multiple locales over its near endless landmass. Each territory fell under the sway of the different Pillars, their houses as vast and plentiful as several nations in the human world.

But those were just the lands the Devils had claimed. For they shared the Underworld with the Fallen Angels. Each faction had their own region to themselves, all under a tight watch by both sides. One wrong move could spell war between them both.

He was surprised to hear that, wondering why the Fallen Angels would call the Underworld home, until he remembered that they were cast down from Heaven. Where else had they to go outside of the abandoned churches of Earth?

But Hell did indeed exist. All souls were sent down into the Realm Of The Dead, where they would face judgement. So was this it then? Where his soul would be judged?

Before he could think anymore of it, he heard the sound of a bestial roar, one that sounded as though it were filled with fury. For the first time since he had arrived, a new color had made itself known.

It was red.

Was it Ddraig?

The voices returned, still as muffled as before, but they weren't just angry this time. They sounded frightened. He did everything he could to move, to try and find wherever those voices were coming from, but all he could get for his troubles was the sensation of falling before he felt himself hit for what may have passed for ground.

Those voices, he had to reach them. If they were as scared as they sounded, then they needed someone to help them. He tried moving again, even if just to move his arms, but they too seemed to barely exist here. As he continued to try and move, things seemed to begin shifting around him.

The colors and shadows began to fade, all colors turning to black as everything stopped mixing together. He found his eyes beginning to grow heavier, like sleep was beginning to take him, but he couldn't. Not now. He still had no idea what was going on. And what about those voices? He couldn't just leave them!

But no matter how much he tried to fight it, his eyes simply grew heavier and heavier, all while the darkness began to engulf him.

Before it felt like sleep would take him, he felt something odd. It felt like a hand had found its way to his being, landing on what he was sure was his shoulder. As his consciousness faded away, he swore he could hear a voice.

"There's no need to worry," he heard, this voice sounded like a woman's, faint as a whisper. She sounded tired, but had a level of kindness that stood out like a beacon in the darkness. "We are here by your side."

Things were different now as his eyes began to flutter open, he could just tell. There was more around him than just shadows and darkness. It was white.

A little too white.

When he opened his eyes all the way, he realized that he was in a hospital room, lying on one of the beds. An IV was being fed into his arm as he heard the gentle beating from the heart monitor just beside him. He felt his arms begin to twitch as he rose up. So that was definitely a plus from whatever he had just seen, being able to move again was definitely better than that.

But he couldn't help but blink in surprise. Was he really that badly hurt? He didn't really know what happened after using One For All for the first time. Even the pain that he had felt in his hand before he blacked out was gone. Looking down at it, it looked like it had never been hurt at all.

So what had happened?

Fortunately for him, an answer was quick to come through the door, faint voices he recognized in conversation as they approached his room.

"...be sure to do whatever we can," he heard one of the voices, he recognized it as Rias, saying to the others. "In the meantime, let's try and remain calm so he…can…IZU!"

He could see the surprise on her face when she noticed him awake, one that swiftly morphed into relief as she rushed over to his bedside, the rest of the peerage behind her. Each of their voices became lost among the others, all of them asking if he was okay or if he knew what had happened, all with looks of relief that matched Rias'. And, much to his surprise, he even saw some tears, though mainly from Asia.

Speaking of the former nun, she had been quick to latch onto his side as tightly as she could without disturbing any of the equipment connected to him, her voice being muffled as it buried itself into his shoulder, her tears leaving stains on the gown he was wearing. He made sure to tell everyone that he was feeling fine now, but he had questions of his own. The main one being, what had happened after he had passed out?

Akeno had told him that something seemed to go wrong after he used One For All. None of them knew exactly what, but after he used it, blood started to flow from several of his extremities, and his body had even begun convulsing. After that, they had done everything they could to try and help him before the paramedics arrived. Afterward, he had been brought to Mustufau General Hospital, where he had been able to pull through, though none of them knew how. He had been lying in that bed now for at least three hours now, and all of them had tried to find something that could help calm them down.

"...and then we came back here, and you were awake," Yumi finished, her relieved smile threatening to split her face as she stood beside his bed.

He began staring down at his hands as he took it all in. Did using One For All really hurt him that badly? Didn't he train enough to use it? Was he really still not ready?

Or was it because he was a Devil?

He felt these questions flow through his kind before hearing the door open again, another voice he recognized coming through from the other side.

"...wish they woulda waited for us. But maybe he's okay now and…DEKU!"

Ochako rushed into the room after seeing him awake, almost ignoring the others in there with him, Sona coming in just behind her, both looking surprised but relieved to see him awake as well. Shortly after, he heard someone swiftly approaching his room, before seeing Toshinori enter with Recovery Girl held in his arms, a sigh of relief escaping him as he saw his student be conscious again.

Naturally, everyone had been curious as to what had happened, if he might have known anything at all. He didn't have much to really say about what he felt when using One For All though, only the briefest sensation of pain before everything had gone dark. He hadn't even seen what had happened after he had flicked his finger at the ocean, everything had just happened so swiftly.

Then, he brought up what he had experienced while he was unconscious. He wasn't sure if what he had seen was a dream or not. He remembered the sounds of voices coming through the void, flashes of color, mainly greens and blacks, and the faintest hint of red, and what thought may have been a voice trying to speak with him, but little else. He wasn't even sure if that was real or not.

"Young Midoriya, I'm sorry," Toshinori said, his voice drained of emotion as he stared down at his feet. He looked…defeated. "I should have thought harder about what using One For All could do to you."

Izuku just leaned forward on his hospital bed, Asia having moved over to Ochako's side as he explained everything he had seen. "All Might wait, it's not…"

"It is," he interrupted, a look of guilt flashing across his face as he stared back up at Izuku. He knew that the boy was alright now, he could see it with his eyes, but no matter how hard he tried, he just kept seeing his student fall to the ground, looking as though he was a stone's throw away from death. "I shouldn't have pushed it on you so soon. We should have waited. We should have planned this out more."

"Toshinori, that's enough," Shūzenji said with a raised voice, being sure to keep it gentle as she spoke to him. "We had no way of knowing something like this would happen. You are not at fault here."

"She's right," Rias said, having spoken little since she had walked into the room. Like with Toshinori, all she could see was her precious Pawn…no, her precious friend falling to the ground, all while she could do nothing to help. She had tried to keep her mind occupied as she waited for him to awaken, but no matter what, she kept thinking about the worst case scenario, where he would never wake up.

She knew that she had already cared for him deeply, but the thought of him never waking up again? Her heart felt like it would tear itself out of her chest.

"This is my fault," she said as she approached his side. "I was pushing for you to attain One For All without thinking it through. I never should have done that."

"Rias…" Sona said, moving over to her friend's side.

"Don't talk like that," Akeno said, her voice being the softest Izuku had ever heard it. "Any one of us should have thought of this before Deku took One For All into himself."

"She's right," Ochako said, guilt clearly written across her face.

"That's enough," Toshinori spoke, his voice having a hint of steel to it that Izuku hadn't heard since he had tried to intimidate Rias back when they had first met. "I am the only one here to blame for this. I was the one who chose to pass One For All down to Young Midoriya. And now, he may never truly be able to use it."

"I wouldn't be too sure."

The sound of a new voice grabbed everyone's attention. It sounded familiar to them. It sounded like All Might. Each of them turned to the skinny hero, who looked every bit as confused as they did. "That wasn't me."

"No. It was me."

Everyone looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. It sounded close, like it was in the same room as them. Koneko even tried seeing if an unfamiliar scent was in the room with them, but everyone here was already someone she knew.

"I see you're all a bit confused. Let me give you a hint. Izuku, raise your left hand."

His eyes widened as he did as the voice asked, the rest of the group reeling from what they just heard. And they could barely hold back a gasp when Izuku held up his left hand.

The Boosted Gear lay upon it, the green gem on the back of his hand glowing intensely.

"Ddraig?"

"It hasn't been that long since I introduced myself to you has it? You sound surprised."

"I kind of am," Izuku said. His eyes remained wide open as he stared down at the Boosted Gear. He hadn't summoned it, he was sure of that. Did Ddraig…?

"The Welsh Dragon," Rias uttered with a bit of awe, taken aback by the dragon's sudden appearance.

"That's the dragon sealed in Deku's Sacred Gear?" Ochako asked aloud while Asia looked stunned beside her.

"The one and the same. This has certainly been an interesting day so far"

"Hold on!" Toshinori shouted, catching everyone's attention, including(he assumed at least) the sealed dragon. "What exactly did you mean by not being too sure about One For All? And how do you even know about it?"

"It's hard for me not to know. Especially now that I'm wide awake. I hear everything around Izuku as he hears it, so I've been aware of One For All for some time now. As for not being too sure about his ability to use it, let's just say I had a rather…interesting conversation as he was unconscious."

Everyone stayed quiet as they waited to hear the dragon speak more. Even Shūzenji, who was the most out of the loop on what Izuku's Sacred Gear even was, listened attentively. She was sure she would learn plenty without asking if she listened closely.

"Let me start it off this way. This quirk, One For All, is alive"

Silence filled the room at the dragon's words. Alive? A quirk?

"What do you mean by that?" Sona had asked, her curiosity peaked by what she was hearing. This was the first she had ever heard of a quirk being alive.

"Maybe I should clarify. The quirk itself is not alive, but instead, there are living beings within the quirk. It's like a small part of their souls are still tethered to One For All."

"How is that even possible?" Toshinori was absolutely flummoxed by what he was hearing. Pieces of their souls? Did that include his? Did that mean that she was in there?

"I'm not too sure. Quirks are as much an enigma to me as they are to most people. As far as I'm aware, I've only had one host before who possessed a quirk of their own, but I never saw them use it. As for One For All, when Izuku used it for the first time, it's like the souls within it began to wake up from a long slumber. And they were terrified."

"Terrified? By what?" Akeno asked, at her King's side as she stood beside Izuku.

"Izuku is the first person to hold One For All who isn't human. When he used it for the first time, many of the souls within began to panic. They lashed out at what they felt may have been a threat."

"A threat? How could they possibly think that Izuku could be a threat to them?" Yumi asked, a light amount of anger in her voice at what she was hearing.

"As I said, they began to awaken when he first used One For All's power. Luke myself, they may have been dormant within the quirk, likely not even aware that they were there at all. The feeling of a human using them must have been so familiar, that when a Devil used it, they went into a panic. Even now, they feel like they're barely conscious within the quirk."

"This is a lot to take in," Shūzenji spoke up, trying her best to keep a professional air about her. Right now, Izuku was in her care, and she needed every bit of information she could get to make sure he would be well. "You're really telling us that the former wielders of One For All are still conscious within the quirk itself?"

"In a way. They're acting at their most basic of instincts at the moment. When I went to see what was threatening my host, I could barely even speak with them. Only three of them even seemed able to communicate at all. One of them felt very similar to you, All Might."

"I'm….in One For All?" Toshinori wondered if that meant he was a ghost somehow.

That was just spooky.

"A part of you at least. And I'm certain that part of you is why Izuku was able to survive in the first place. It must have recognized him even through the fog the others panicked through, and the other two were the first to listen to your pleas. It may have rebelled against him at first, but I can still feel it in his body. Izuku, you should be able to use One For All without this happening again."

Izuku looked down to his other hand, flexing it several times as he took in Ddraig's words. Was there really no danger in using One For All again?

"He won't hurt himself anymore then?" Asia asked, thinking back to his broken finger before everything had become chaotic.

"That, I'm less sure about. I don't know much about this quirk except for everything I've heard from All Might and Izuku. Today's thrown me for as much of a loop as the rest of you. Even with his stronger body, he might not be able to control One For All at its full power yet."

"Can he even use it right now?" Koneko asked.

"He should be able to at least activate it without using it too much. Go ahead and try it, Izuku."

He felt slightly unsure about this. He had little reason to doubt Ddraig's words, but knowing that simply using One For All earlier had nearly killed him, he couldn't help but feel hesitant to use it again.

"Give it a try, Deku."

He turned to face Ochako, who gave him a confident grin. "We won't know unless you try right? You got this!" She finished by giving him a thumbs up.

Feeling just a bit more at ease with her encouragement, and seeing that everyone looked to be in agreement with her, he decided to try it again, feeling for that same power he had tapped into before.

It was easier this time, he knew how it felt. He found it and gripped it tight, feeling the energy once again surging throughout his body. It lasted only for a brief moment before he let it go. There was no pain, no pressure on any part of his body from the effort. One For All was still there, and he could still use it.

He looked up to see everyone looking at him with anticipation, meeting them all with a hearty grin, one which they returned.

"It's probably not going to be easy," he said, finally standing up from the hospital bed. "But I'm not going to let that stop me."

"Darn right!" Ochako cheered.

"That's good to hear," Yumi said with a smile.

"I'm looking forward to it," Akeno said, her usual smile back on her face.

"Just try to be careful," Asia pleaded, though it was slightly dampened by her own grin.

"It will be interesting to see how you progress," Sona said with a smirk.

"We'll help however we can," Koneko said, her usual stoicism nowhere to be seen as she gazed upon Izuku with no small amount of enthusiasm.

Rias had kept herself quiet this entire time, listening in on everything that was being said. She felt nothing but relief when hearing that Izuku would be okay, even if mastering One For All was still a long ways away.

Part of her though, felt slightly off. These past few days hadn't been the best for her already, the messages she had been receiving were becoming more and more frequent. She had hoped to find some sort of reprieve upon seeing Izuku attaining the power he had worked so hard for, but instead, she felt strangely…empty.

And she had no idea why.

It wasn't that she wasn't proud of what he had accomplished, not at all. She had been his biggest supporter in gaining One For All outside of All Might ever since she had found out about it. Seeing him use it for the first time was awe inspiring, even with what happened after.

So why did she feel this way? Why did she have nothing to even say?

"Worry not Young Midoriya," she heard Toshinori say, drawing the attention of everyone in the room as moved toward his student, his form bulking up into his more iconic visage. "You won't be doing it alone. I promise to do everything in my power to help you master One For All, no matter how long it takes," he promised as he extended his hand down to his student.

Izuku accepted the outstretched hand in less than a heartbeat. He was looking forward to this.

Besides, this would likely involve actual training against All Might! How could he ever say no to that!?

"That sounds good and all," Shūzenji announced, shifting all the attention back to her. "But we should make sure you can leave this hospital with a clean bill of health first. Get back to bed."

Izuku stared back at her with a slight tilt of his head. "But, I feel fine and…"

"Bed."

She left little room for argument, her face promising retribution for disobeying her orders, so he complied.

As he waited for Recovery Girl to finish checking him over, Ochako spoke up, bringing up something that had been on her mind. "Do you guys think it's kind of weird?"

"Weird?" Koneko asked.

"What do you mean?" Sona inquired.

"About Deku's Sacred Gear dragon. Ddraig? Don't you think he and All Might sound like each other?"

Akeno looked ready to speak before stopping, a thoughtful look on her face before she let out a small titter of laughter. "He does actually!"

"Now that you've brought it up…" Yumi said, doing her best to hold back a chuckle.

"What do you mean?/What do you mean?"

The two voices called out in stereo, Toshinori having shrunk back down in size as Recovery Girl checked Izuku over. Most of them couldn't help but chuckle at them speaking simultaneously.

"We don't sound the same./We don't sound the same."

Now Toshinori was eyeing the Boosted Gear, and everyone swore that Ddraig was eyeing him back.

"Stop copying me./Stop copying me."

"Stop it!/Stop it!"

"This is getting weird!/This is getting weird!"

"Stop using my voice!/Stop using my voice!"

"Oh Toshinori, stop this," Shūzenji said, holding back her own laughter as she finished her initial examination. "You're a grown man, you shouldn't be having an argument with an oversized glove."

"Over…oversized glove!? Young lady, I am the ancient and powerful Welsh Dragon!"

"And right now you are acting like a child," she said as she kept her focus on Izuku, getting a feel around his chest as she checked for any injuries they may have missed. "Now both of you, either calm down or leave before I throw you out myself."

Toshinori turned away to face the door, doing his best to ignore the laughter he could hear moving throughout the room. Even Young Midoriya was laughing!

Just for that, he may have to make his training just a little bit tougher now.

"Oversized glove. The nerve…" Everyone heard Ddraig mutter as the Boosted Gear vanished from sight.

Recovering from her own laughter, Asia began talking with the medical hero. "Do you need any help? I can heal Izuku if he needs it."

"Oh don't worry dearie," she answered, a soft smile on her face as she finished her work. "He'll be just fine. You were a large help already. In fact, I think you may be able to offer more help if you get into U.A."

"Really?"

"Of course. You have a wonderful gift young lady. The ability to heal almost any injury is something most people would do anything for. Even if you don't make it into the hero course, I would like to take you on as a sidekick if you wished," she told her, her smile growing.

It was one Asia gleefully returned. "That sounds wonderful!"

Izuku smiled as he listened to what they said. It looked like Asia already had a bright future ahead of her as a hero.

It thankfully didn't take much longer before he had been cleared to leave the hospital. He felt more than a little worried about how his mother would react to him having to take a trip there, but Sona had told him that she had made sure that she wouldn't be contacted. While he felt more than a little guilty for leaving her out of something as important as this, it may have been one of those times where it was better that she didn't know.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder.

Why was it that Sona had taken care of it and not Rias?

In fact, he noticed that Rias had been rather quiet the entire time, barely speaking a word after she had found him awake. As they exited the hospital, bidding farewell to both Sona and Ochako (both of whom had plans for later in the day already), he couldn't help but move his sights to her.

She looked…conflicted. That was the best way he could think of it. It seemed that something was weighing heavily on her mind. It was a look he had already seen more than once over the past few weeks, with every time he had brought it up to her all but being brushed aside. It looked worse than it had before though.

Did everything that happened today make whatever it was that was bothering her worse? Would she even be okay?

"Rias?"

Her name escaped his throat before he could even stop himself.

"Hmm?" Rias seemed surprised to hear him speak up like that, even grabbing the attention of both Asia and Akeno. Yumi and Koneko had already gone back to their apartment, they had something planned for the day beforehand, but they made sure to let the others know to keep in touch with them in case something happened. "Is…is something wrong Izu?" Her question came out hesitantly, like she didn't even want it answered.

"I…um…," He had no idea what to say now. He had been the fool to bring it up in the first place, so he knew he needed to say something. "Are…are you alright?"

His question seemed to throw her off even more, with both Akeno and Asia looking at her with no small amount of concern. "I'm…I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

It was clear to him that she was lying, even if he didn't know why. Still, he at least had to let her know something, even if he was certain she knew it already.

"Rias.." he heard Akeno begin before he spoke up.

"I'm here for you if you need me."

They were simple words, one's that anyone could have said. But they were still words that she seemed like she needed to hear.

She just looked at him blankly for a few seconds afterward, almost looking dumbfounded before a soft smile broke out on her face.

"I know Izu. And I'm here for you. Whenever you need me."

It was enough to get him to smile back, with even Asia and Akeno doing the same as they made their way back to his apartment.

Though he was unseen by them, Ddraig himself also held a bit of a smile. Izuku already seemed like he would be the most interesting host he had in a very long while, if only because he had caught the attention of such a powerful Devil from a high ranking clan. But now, he held a destructive force that, at full power, seemed like it could be comparable to the power of the Boosted Gear. He could only imagine what could happen if Izuku was able to find a way to combine the two.

Still, there was something that had been bothering him. Something he hadn't brought up to everyone when he had spoken up about One For All. It was…an odd feeling.

It was similar to how he felt when Izuku had gained that Familiar of his, a feeling he knew Izuku could feel through him.

He was certain that this was the first time he had ever come across this power before.

So why did One For All feel so familiar to him?

Here's the preview!

Izuku:I'm glad that One For All's not going to try and kill me anymore, but getting used to its power is going to take some time.

Rias…

Izuku:All Might and I are trying our best, but the power keeps finding a way to break me. Makes me glad that I have Asia by my side.

Rias:...

Izuku:And now, we have to prepare dinner for eight people! I thought mastering One For All was going to be tough, but I never thought I'd have this many people over.

Rias:...

Izuku:Rias? Is…is there something wrong?

Next time:Rias' Tears

Rias:Izu…I…

Izuku:Go beyond. Plus ultra!

Any of you ever wonder if the energy we see around Izuku when he uses One For All is just there for the audience's benefit? Like it's just a visual representation of how the energy is flowing through him to let us know he's using it?

Maybe it's just me.

Speaking of just me, I was actually able to keep this chapter at a more manageable length! I know some of you might like the longer chapters, but I won't lie, it felt nice to get one done that's less than 15,000 words. Honestly, I'm pretty sure this is the shortest chapter by far.

Though, I won't lie, I don't resonate with this chapter too much. Part of the reason may be because I rushed it a little bit to try and make sure I could get another chapter out before the end of the month, but something feels kind of off to me.

Oh well.

So, Izuku using One For All for the first time here. Some people have been wondering how Ddraig would interact with the vestiges. Sorry to say that they're not fully developed yet. In the manga canon, they weren't even able to communicate with Izuku until after he was able to use at least 20% while using his Full Cowl, or Full Cowling for my fellow dub weebs. That was when he reached the singularity and found out that they existed at all.

Even when he saw their shades during the Sports Festival, that's really all they were. That was the best they could communicate at the time.

It's sort of the same here. They were always there, just little whispers in the backseat, but had a rather savage awakening upon being passed down to something they didn't really recognize. Like Ddraig explained, several of them lashed out, with only a few wondering what was even going on before Ddraig managed to stop them.

As for them basically waking up after being passed down, I'm putting that up to basically going into hibernation since Toshinori couldn't hear them at all. While he could feel what may have felt like a presence, it was never enough to truly take notice, so he just let it be.

That may not be the most satisfying of answers, I'm aware, but it's what I decided to do, and it let them all know a little bit about One For All's little intricacies long before Izuku and All Might became aware in the manga. Also let them all get introduced to Ddraig, so that was a plus.

And yup. We get an early introduction to Shimura Nana here, of sorts at least. She seems the most formed so far, as she's able to at least talk to Izuku. Weird how she can do it already.

Also got the confirmation that Ddraig has had a host before with a quirk. That may come up again later.

Also also, Ddraig feels an air of familiarity with One For All. How is that so? Does it have to do with said previous host? And finally, we see that he's the one familiar with Izuku's…Familiar. What secrets do you hold oh Welsh Dragon?

And why am I asking all of you when I already know?

This concludes the end of our little arc set between the Devil's In The Hero World arc and the Rating Game arc. I decided to officially name this the One For All arc, even though chapter 8 really had little to nothing to do with it.

I make great decisions.

I feel like I should also answer some questions I've been asked. First of all, sorry, but the amount of girls who will fall for our shrub boy is rather large, though I actually heavily slimmed it down from how it started. There was no chance in Hell I would have been able to make that old plan work. Just saying it now though, there are some favorites that will not end up here. And don't expect every girl in 1-A and 1-B to fall for him, let alone Sona's entire peerage.

Second, I will try and have the girls get along as good as they can. There's a bit of inspiration from the manga 'The 100 Girlfriends That Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You' that will be present. And of course, this will be a poly relationship. Some of the girls will get along very well with the others.

And as you can probably tell, the next chapter is going to be…a little heavy. I've had problems with the beginning of this arc since I first saw the anime, so I decided to weave a bit of a web that leads up to the next chapter.

And finally, I'm going to be taking about a month off after posting this chapter to more carefully plot out the next arc before writing it. I have plenty of ideas, but I want to make sure I can get them all to work, and plotting them out might work better than just playing it mostly by ear like I've been doing so far.

This story will return sometime in October, so I hope you'll all look forward to it!

I can never get over how much people seem to like this story so far. I hope I can continue to impress. No matter what happens everyone, always remember to be good, and be kind. I love you all.