Hi everybody!
So, here's the interlude chapter which technically crosses into a new arc.
Again, trying to do as much as I can before I'm sent out. As it is, these next few weeks are probably going to be particularly heavy.
Just for clarification. I'm in the Navy.
Join our discord for announcements.
Reviews
Mother of Quirks - Glad to see you so excited!
Wolves567 - It's in consideration.
Monkey D. Conan - Yeah, a lot has changed since I posted that Christmas teaser.
Austin - Always good to see you. Although I admit, I know almost nothing of Warhammer to do a oneshot/omake.
The mysterious Mr.E - I admit, don't know who you're talking about but fair enough. He's basically got a Unicron design though.
TopPotChef - Yep!
Megatronus Uchiha - Glad you enjoyed it!
Turtletipper123 - Desmond Doss.
61394 - That's…definitely something that we have to consider.
Again y'all thanks for everything!
LEGION: SCARS AND BONDS
"Friendships show us who we really are."
Denki and Kyoka sat together in the hospital room, hands intertwined as they stared at his mother, recovering on the bed.
Kyoka's parents, Mika and Kyotoku were also present, having arrived as fast as possible when they'd found out their little girl had been present at the fight and also damaged her throat even further.
"What were you thinking, Kyoka?! You could have died!" Mika scolded her daughter for the umphteenth time since they had arrived more than an hour ago while her father seemed to be glaring daggers at both Denki and his own daughter.
The scolding and glaring were however interrupted by a voice calling out from the door.
"Mister Kaminari?"
He perked up once he saw the doctor enter the room holding a notepad.
"Yes?"
"We have…good news and bad news…"
Denki teared up, but Kyoka squeezed his hand. Quickly bowing his head before raising it, he motioned for the doctor to continue.
"First off, I want to say that she will survive. Although the damage was…grievous. The restoration of blood flow was just in time to prevent permanent brain damage, and the damage to her ribs and spine will eventually heal."
Denki shuddered, but waited for the other shoe to drop.
"That being said…she did suffer a lot of trauma…especially to her heart. Among other things…"
"Just…just say it, doc…"
The doctor sighed before nodding.
"She'll more than likely be blind in her eye, and the damage to her spine was heavy, so she'll need to be confined to a wheelchair as she heals…her heart however, sustained so much damage in so little time, that she needs to retire from hero work… the strain will be too much on her if she keeps going… and… about that wheelchair…"
Denki could only sit in silence as he waited for the final verdict.
"She will need to be confined to it if she wants to travel outside of your home. Her heart won't be able to pump enough blood to her organs if she has to strain herself too much."
Denki continued nodding as he tried to control his emotions.
"However, with time and treatment, we are confident that she'll heal enough to walk under her own power once more…but that would be the extent of it. Even the Vod'e has said that while bacta is a wonderful creation of healing, even it has its limits. To restore something as important as a heart would take… years at best. Let's look at All Might for example." He said, and found some x-ray scannings.
"With the reveal of his identity, we pleaded for help from Recovery Girl about using the bacta tanks. She advised us and, with permission from All Might, we were able to review his records of treatment under bacta."
"Now, granted, his injuries were from six years prior, but it still stands to show that bacta's regenerative abilities are miraculous but limited, organs were able to be regrown…but not to the same extent as those in the rest of the body."
Denki paid attention as best as he could…but it was starting to get overwhelming.
"Now, now, sonny, no need to get overwhelmed."
"Recovery Girl? It's good to see you again," The doctor said.
"And to you too, Dr. Bailey…I'll take over here. I believe your interns are causing a ruckus."
The short doctor growled and nodded before stomping off.
"I know I didn't teach y'all to-" Her voice faded as screams rang out from the hallway. Chiyo merely chuckled as she closed the door.
"Now sonny," She addressed him. "I want you to understand one thing before I continue."
He blinked at her in confusion.
"This isn't your fault, boy." She continued. "Only the fault of Relampago. You weren't yourself during this fight. You have stated several times that you would never do anything to hurt your loved ones. She's a tough one, she'll pull through."
Denki shook his head in denial before he was hugged tighter by Kyoka.
"We'll beat it into your head soon enough, but I'm here for something else."
The two blinked at her in confusion.
"Your own results have come back."
The two sat up straighter and Kyoka's parents paid rapt attention.
After the end of the battle, and the recovery of most of the civilians, more had been saved and at the current moment the efforts had been mostly taken over by Search and Rescue.
The students had all undergone medical reviews, although the four who took the longest had been Izuku, Kendo, Denki, and Kyoka due to their more grievous injuries.
"For the most part, you two are relatively healthy, barring your injuries, which should heal with time and more stamina and a bit more bacta." Recovery Girl announced.
"But the biggest thing we need to talk about are your quirk factors."
"Our quirk factors?" Denki asked, with Kyoka perking up, considering she had more or less completely blown her vocal cords this time around.
"Indeed boy, quite simply, you two have undergone a rare phenomena known as a quirk evolution."
"A…quirk evolution?"
"Yes. You already know about quirk awakenings, obviously?" She asked, to which both of them nodded. "A quirk evolution is somewhat similar, however the major difference is that instead of unlocking it to have its current state become more powerful, an evolution is somewhat the next generation of your quirk that your kids could possibly have gotten."
Denki and Kyoka looked at each other in confusion. Their quirks neither seemed nor felt different to them. Denki was still only able to emit electricity, but not utilize it in any other way, and Kyoka's earlobes were still the same old jacks as before.
"I… Don't feel anything different." Denki replied, before Recovery Girl sighed and pulled out a whistle.
"Someone try to blow in this." She muttered.
Denki shrugged before blowing in the whistle and not hearing anything.
He did, however, feel the slap to his shoulder, and turned to see Kyoka glaring at him and rubbing her ears.
'Not so loud, jamming whey!' She signed.
'What do you mean not so loud, I didn't hear anything!' he signed back.
She blinked.
'Wait…you know sign?'
'Uh…yeah…I do…I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you know too.'
"Adorable, you both know sign, can I continue?" Recovery Girl asked with a small smirk.
The two blushed before motioning for her to continue.
Kyotoku was feeling his world fall apart.
'My baby girl!'
"This…is a dog whistle. It plays a sound on a frequency that we humans normally wouldn't be able to hear, but as you both just witnessed, Jiro here was able to hear it clearly." Recovery Girl revealed, before taking out a small speaker and handed it to the punk rock girl. "Try plugging yourself into this."
Looking at it, she found the input, but found the shape to be incompatible with her jacks, something she quickly signed to the doctor who just waved it off.
Deciding that she didn't want to risk the cane, she stuck her jack into it, and found that it slipped in just as easily as if it was the ones she usually used, surprising her as she pulled it out, revealing its different shape, nearly making her drop the speaker out of shock.
"You see? You can plug yourself into any type of speaker or input, due to your jacks changing shape upon sensing the electric particles around it, and you don't even feel a thing. Your hearing has also improved exponentially as you've witnessed with the dog whistle."
She then pulled up Relampago's file, making them shiver.
"And let's not forget how you took down Relampago."
Another tap of the tablet she was carrying showed Blitz's footage of the Kyoka screaming pointblank into Relampago's face.
"That scream of yours was on the supersonic level. At point blank range, you basically destroyed his ear drums and rattled his brain so badly that he fell into a coma after Blitz stunned him."
Kyoka grimaced.
She had discovered her new ability soon after waking up at the hospital the first time, when she'd panicked because of losing Denki.
Quite a few doctors and clones present had experienced what it felt like to be thrown into a wall by a supersonic sound that day.
Barring the electricity, which only really hurt the outside layer of her throat, the scream had damaged her vocal chords and it'd only been a minor one.
This last one, however…
"Yes, you can imagine the damage to your vocal chords that occurred…when I checked you over, your vocal chords were practically shredded. The only reason you're not in a hospital bed right now is because of the anesthetic I put in you…at your request, mind you."
Kyoka blushed as her parents glared at her in worry, both of them even snagging a jack each and pulled gently.
She'd strong-armed them into authorizing that.
"Now, onto you, Denki…we've seen the footage. Jiro's quirk evolution is thought to have come about due to the sheer emotional distress combined with the relatively," She emphasized that specific word to show that it was still a lot. "Smaller physical stress from the summer camp."
"But you…you were showing signs of…"
"Torture…" Denki whispered out. He could hear Kyoka's parents gasp in horror and felt her hug him a bit tighter. "Yeah…I…Relampago basically shoved his lightning into my 'circuits'...made my own electricity work against me…"
Recovery Girl grimaced. She'd worked with Relampago when he was a student as well as Arashi…to see how far he'd fallen…
A lightning user's 'circuits' weren't actual circuits, but it was the colloquial word used to describe the channels in which electricity would flow in their bodies.
To force one's electricity to counterflow…or to even mess with one's 'circuits' without permission was a violation of the deepest order.
To show such strength even now…
'Kaminari will be one of the best,' Chiyo thought as she moved forward.
"Yes…quite simply, your quirk evolution was almost completely due to that physical stress. Sensors from Blitz determined that you were operating well above your previous limit without any changes to your cognitive abilities, barring your emotional state, and only started to emit lower outputs when your body was starting to break down due to the strain."
"So…that means?"
"Heal up, and work on your body, and that power will still be available to you."
Denki gulped, honestly not sure if he wanted to have such power. Something awakened by a villain.
"Look, kiddo… You may feel apprehensive due to how you got this power, but instead of trying to lock it away, use it to do good and serve the side of justice. Ever heard of the saying, 'bad powers, good people'? That's what you are going through right now."
Looking down at his hands, Denki noticed it was quivering slightly as he thought back to what he went through to gain these powers.
"I… I'm not sure if I am even able to still be in the hero course… The world more or less saw me with the League…" He muttered to himself as he slumped even more.
"Nonsense, my boy. You know just as well as we do that you've earned your place at U.A, just like we did so many years prior!" A new voice called out from the door, before two elderly men entered, one being tall and lean, looking like a refined gentleman with a perfectly trimmed beard while the other was more chubby but still had a very solid build and slightly more messy beard.
"Uncles…" Denki gasped out.
"Hello, Mr. Kaminari," Nezu said after popping out from behind the shorter's shoulder. "It seems that we have much to discuss."
In another ward of the hospital, Itsuka was sitting and looking at her hand that was currently covered in bandages and a few bacta patches due to the shot she had taken to it when Toga had gotten her to hesitate earlier.
"Stupid blonde bitch… I swear I'll snap her neck the next time I see her… mutter mutter mutter…" she trailed off, seething and swearing in ways that would make a sailor blush in embarrassment.
"You've certainly picked up a few of Midoriya's habits, haven't you dear?" Bo said as she entered the room and sat down next to her daughter, gently stroking her hair.
Itsuka sat in silence for some time before quickly embracing her mother.
"I had her… I had that stupid bitch right where I wanted her, and yet she got away again!"
"And is vengeance truly what you desire?"
Itsuka blinked.
"What?"
"You heard me, is it truly what you desire? What you need?"
"Wh-where is this coming from?" Itsuka asked, confused. "You're Nite Owl, you're the Huntress! You've told me countless stories of how you took down dozens of villains that hurt people, hurt you! How you gave it back to them tenfold!"
"Not all of them…" Bo sighed as she kept on caressing her daughter's hair, with Itsuka just getting more and more confused with each moment that passed.
"Huh?"
"Did I ever tell you about my sister?"
"...Aunt Satine? Not really…only that she died when I was really young."
"She was killed…by a villain named Maul."
"Maul? You mean as in the word, 'mauling'?" She tilted her head, to which Bo just nodded, to which she felt all her hairs stand on end, due to just how brutal one must have been to get such a name.
"A horrible beast of a villain…one that I hunted down for years until I finally found him," She recalled.
"What happened?"
"We fought," She said, before moving her shirt down to show the horrific scar coming down her collarbone and leading down to her chest. "And he…destroyed me."
"He was ruthless, cunning, savage…and he wasn't alone…"
"He wasn't?"
Bo shook her head.
"He had a brother, who took me by surprise…I would have died were it not for your uncle interfering with the battle."
"Uncle Ben?"
"Mhmm…he was a pro-hero in his own right before retiring to be with your aunt. Managed to fend them off…I got my bearings…managed to kill the brother…and he struck down Maul…still, I almost died from my wounds…"
Itsuka lowered her head as she tried to remember, racking her brain for any memories that described what had been explained to her.
"I…remember that…I think I was…five?"
"You were. And… I'm glad you seem to have forgotten most of it, but…" Bo trailed off as she idly traced her scar.
"Ben had warned me…not to go after Maul…or at least not to go after him alone but I didn't listen. I was stubborn, and because of that, you almost lost me…"
She then huffed before giving a dry chuckle.
"It's funny, you know? It was the first time I saw ever saw Ben furious, not at the villains though…somehow he managed to stay calm and collected with them, but he was furious with me., not only for not listening to his advice, but also for putting myself in even further danger than I already was, along with our family."
Itsuka looked at the scar and her mother, while also remembering her uncle's face, his always calm and kind demeanor while also knowing how to have fun and even sass, something quite rarely seen for someone his age.
"But… He forgave you, didn't he?"
"...Not really…I think he's afraid that I'll go off on the deep end again and put you in danger…it's been a long time since I've even spoken with him or your cousin Kor'katan."
"...Korkie?"
"You remember that? I remember you couldn't pronounce his name very well."
"Huh… His name sounds a bit similar to Mando'a now that I think about it… I guess our family naming must just be coincidental…" Itsuka realized when thinking about her cousin, but she kept on listening.
"I've heard that the two have taken to living out in the Tottori Sand Dunes and have been doing it for years… I haven't exactly tried to contact them, but I still feel like our relationship is strained. But, the most important thing is that despite losing the love of his life, he never, ever stepped over the thin line that defines being a hero and nothing more than a murderer. Not ever."
"But…he killed Maul?"
"Yes, but he did not let anger or hatred define his actions, nor did he make it painful for Maul…apparently the two even had a history…Maul killed his hero mentor and Maul's boss… Nearly took his best friend from him too."
"...what do I do…?"
"Well, first we need to talk about what you should have done," Bo said as she then took her by the shoulders and looked her straight in the eye, a silent fire burning in them.
"You were given strict orders to only help with the evacuations, yet you disobeyed and veered off, leaving behind your clone escorts to go after an enemy that was surrounded by other enemies. You were, quite frankly, very lucky that you managed to grab her without getting hit from behind."
Itsuka trembled as her mind began to replay her actions.
"You could very easily have been shot or stabbed from behind by either the droids or the league… Not to mention what you did to her once you got your hands on her… My dear little girl, you practically reshaped her facial structure."
"So what?! Should I just sit and have a cup of tea with her and let her think things over!? Are you saying I should reconcile with her?!"
"No, I'm saying she's crazy and she needs to go down, but you should never extend it to the point of being a mauling… If a hero needs to kill, we do it as swiftly and painlessly as possible and only as a last resort."
Bo then sighed again.
"You should have dealt with her quickly and then brought her back to be processed and arrested, not risk your life…I doubt that Thorn would have wanted you to get yourself killed, Itsuka."
Itsuka huffed and turned to the side as she started to break down again. Her mother simply held her tight and rocked her as Itsuka cried once more.
Izuku and Toshinori were in separate beds in the same hospital room, they were both recuperating and healing from everything that had transpired.
"My boy…" Toshinori began. "Are you feeling alright?"
"Sigh…yes, buir…I'm still good," Izuku chuckled. It was the fifth time he'd been asked in the last hour alone.
"Sorry…just…worried," Toshinori muttered. "All For One is not known to leave survivors."
"I know… I am still surprised that not one of my brothers ended up dying in that battle. Not that that isn't a good thing mind you, but still…"
"...Something on your mind, my boy?"
"...Promise you won't tell mom?"
"Of course."
"I think…I did die," Izuku said as his mind began to wander. "I remember…floating somewhere…and I could hear voices…and feel presences…I felt Jango…they were telling me to go back… Back to the fight…" he said, shuddering a bit over the thought, while also feeling his shoulder where Jango had placed his hand.
"Then…I saw…lights…and I could feel One For All…reacting to something…I felt a shock and…I woke up." he sighed, holding his head in his palm as he felt a headache crawl up on him.
Toshinori remained quiet.
"Perhaps then…much like the Vestiges…there is still a remnant of your brothers, of Jango, inside One For All… They might not be there entirely, but something of them still remains." He said.
"Perhaps…" Izuku muttered before leaning back into his pillow with a deep sigh, thinking about the world of pain his friends and brothers would be in once they got out of the hospital. "Hey… Buir? I've been… thinking about something…"
"What is it, my boy?"
"I… Feel we should let the closest of my friends in on the secret…" he revealed quietly.
"Hmm…I was wondering when you would ask that…"
"You're not angry?"
"Of course not…I already told you long ago, my boy. One For All is your quirk now. You decide who should be worthy to know."
"...Who did you end up telling?"
"Well…Gran Torino already knew, but as I grew, I told Nezu, Tsukauchi, Chiyo…and Sir Nighteye," He sighed.
"...You haven't really told me about him…did something go wrong?"
Toshinori sighed heavily.
"We had many disagreements over the years, but none so much as after my first fight with All For One, six years ago…uhm…it got bad, and…it was worse after I picked you to be the Ninth."
"What?"
"Mhmm…let's just say that he disagreed heavily with my decision and leave it at that…"
"Buir…"
"I'll tell you more later but…I think that we have other things to worry about."
Just then, the door burst open, Inko and Eri coming in rapidly to see them.
Inko was quick to fuss over the two of them, while Eri just clung to Izuku, nearly choking him due to the girl being surprisingly strong despite her young age.
What they didn't expect however, was someone else to also enter the room; Shino and Kota.
The boy had been insistent on following Eri and had started to run the moment he lost sight of her in the hospital, which explained why he looked like he was somewhat out of breath.
"Mandalay? Kota?"
"Hi, Midoriya. Sorry for interrupting, but Kota refused to let Eri out of his sight. He's really gotten attached to her after the… Well… You know."
"They were together?"
Mandalay blinked before nodding.
"Yeah, Kota kept her safe after…"
"I know…I saw the casualty list."
"He… seemed to have somewhat suppressed it, but he keeps on wanting to protect Eri… He says he doesn't know why, but that he feels the need to."
"I've seen it before," Toshinori called out from the side. "It's common for children to block traumatic memories that lead to habits."
"Ah…All Might…it's good to see you safe and alive," Mandalay hesitantly said, still reeling at seeing the titanic hero be a rather simple man.
"Same to you… How are Ragdoll, Tiger and Pixie Bob?" he asked, hoping that the rest of the quartet was safe and sound.
"They're all well and fine, thank goodness… Also Ragdoll seems to be a lot closer to the clones who helped to protect her from being kidnapped back at the camp." she revealed, her energetic friend having been on the prowl to find said clones and add them to her quirk's repertoire.
"I'm glad… Imagine what would happen if All For One had Search." All Might shuddered.
"Let's just be glad that we're all safe."
After a few days, the group was cleared to leave the hospital. Izuku was able to catch up with the Vod'e, all of whom were glad to reunite with him.
"Any news?"
"Nothing much, got the U.A. Guard back to the school, but most of us have been helping out at the refugee centers."
"Refugee centers?"
"Yep, lot of people lost their homes in Camino. U.A. and a bunch of other hero schools have provided supplies and volunteers to help the people. Luckily, we've brought plenty of food, water and blankets to help them. Draluram is in full swing along with Cookie, Whisk, Turner and Shredder," A clone said and gestured towards the small kitchen that had been set up inside of the center.
One clone in an apron and with a utility belt stood and cooked some sort of fish dish, while twirling his utensils rather fancily, seemingly cooking ten portions at the same time in perfect sync, putting on a show to get the civilians' minds off of their current situation.
"Ten servings of Crait Crusted Cod, ready! Who wants to be the first to taste?" Draluram asked as he balanced the steaming hot trays of fish on his arms, knee and even head while the spectators clapped.
The adults immediately went to get some plates for the children so they could eat first, with the young ones enjoying the exotic flavors provided by the myriad of spices used for the dish.
Izuku had put on his armor at the recommendation of All Might, although his helmet had to be reconstructed, he was still walking around and checking on people.
While many of the adults were grateful, they were still a bit standoffish.
As if they were unused to heroes being in the refugee centers, or in the aftermath of a battle.
But the children…
Izuku smiled as he let himself be led by children around the place as they showed him drawings, toys they had, and more.
The young ones seemed to flock around him, a few even crawling onto him, with one hanging off of the greenet like a cape.
A few adults tried to scold them, but he waved them off.
"It's good to see them smile after what's just happened.. Remember kids, if you ever need any of us, we are here, always." he smiled to the kids who seemed to just get even more excited.
Suddenly, a clone walked over to him. It was Grid in his normal armor.
"Ori'vod. There are some people who want to talk with you. They… Look familiar, but I'm not sure…" he said, scratching his hair while trying to think about where he had seen them from. "Said something about it being personal." he added, just as six people walked up to them, one of them using crutches.
Looking at them, Izuku immediately recognized them.
"Tsunoko-san? Akari-san? Tomoshibi-san? Kotetsu-san? Gomu-san? Megane-san?" he said in confusion, recognizing his old classmates. He may have never interacted with them, but he never forgot their faces nor names.
They were never…bullies per se, the only one that honestly bothered him was Bakugo and his cronies and a few of the upper years due to the small community they'd lived in.
But they did stand on the sidelines.
Still however, he could forget personal grievances, as few as they were, in light of the situation.
"How can I help you?"
"We're…good actually," Tsunoko began with a slight grimace. "In reality, we wanted to apologize."
"Apologize?"
"Yeah," Akari said. "We…well, after Aldera we all tried out for U.A. but we didn't make it, ended up going to another hero school. Thing is…"
"We realized, especially after what just happened, that we weren't the best of people," Tomoshibi continued. "Anyone of us could have said something, anything to Bakugo but…"
"We just stood to the side."
"And we're sorry for that," Megane finished as they all bowed.
Izuku blinked but smiled.
"Raise your heads…look, to be honest, I didn't really mind any of you. I know what Bakugo's like. If anything, doing that would have just set his ire on you," Izuku said as he got closer to each of them, even placing his hands on some of their shoulders.
"Listen," He began. "If anything, doing this just shows how much you've grown since middle school…I'm sure that you'll grow to be fine heroes."
They smiled, but then began to grimace.
"We couldn't even do anything to help…"
"None of that is your fault, you're students that simply haven't undergone the same experience that I have. Truth be told, I'm glad for that," He said with a small smile. "Less stress on top of your studies."
He then became more somber.
"Besides, considering the amount of droids and villains there, it was probably for the best that you didn't get involved," He said. "But, you can use this experience to prepare yourselves for the future."
"Do you think the droid army will return?" Gomu asked.
Izuku's expression became more serious.
"As long as the League is out there, so is the droid army…although hopefully, we will be far more prepared for the next encounter."
He then turned away from them and looked out to the crowd.
"You say that you're not heroes…well, one thing I've learned is that it doesn't take a lot to make one."
He then gestured to the thousands of people in the refugee center.
"Sometimes, all it takes is to provide a helping hand to be someone's hero."
"What do you mean?"
"Something that All Might once told me…people are sometimes too focused on the big, flashy fights, the villain takedowns, the huge disasters…but heroes need to remember their roots too."
He then kneeled to be eye level with some of the children that were still nearby, and grabbed some wipes from the supplies he'd been given and gently rubbed away the dirt and grime off a little boy's face who smiled at him.
"If we, as heroes, are supposed to be public servants…then how can we call ourselves heroes if we will not help the people at the smallest level?"
He then picked up the boy, as well as a girl in his arms, and started to move towards the food lines.
"Think on my words," He said after pausing. "And think about what you can do to help…and I'm sure that you'll become great heroes in your own right."
As the group watched him leave, they couldn't help but feel inspired.
"Now that, is what I call a hero." Kotetsu said.
"You don't say…" Tsunoko muttered, not having noticed she was blushing slightly.
Few realized how many of the people around them…
Had been recording.
And a lot of them were currently uploading said video to the internet, where it would spread like a wildfire.
"Oi, you six shouldn't just stand around out here, especially you, crutch girl. You need to rest." A clone said as he walked up to them, gesturing towards the small kitchen the cooking clones had set up.
As they walked over towards the line where they would get something to eat, Megane noticed Tsunoko's reddened cheeks and smirked while her glasses glinted.
"Looks like someone's got a crush." She snickered, the horned girl not even noticing the tease as she kept on thinking about the words their former classmate has said.
#Heroforthepeople
#TillAllAreOne
#TheSymbolofHope
#Vod'e4Life
#BrothersAll
#ThisIsTheWay
The stream of new tags online and on social media surged across the screen and was reflected on the glasses of a lanky man in a gray suit and red tie with dark green hair and a yellow stripe running through it, who scoffed at each and all of them.
Fools.
Utter fools.
The people had forgotten that the Symbol of Peace was what had brought them their lives for the past few decades, and now this upstart was in possession of one of the most powerful quirks in history, one who barely knew how it worked in the first place.
"You have been a fool, Toshinori… Even with all of his… 'brothers'... This brat won't be able to keep the peace. Not like the successor that I chose for you." he grumbled. This error had to be set on the right path again. And he knew exactly when he could do it.
Afterall, internships were approaching fast.
He had to make this right, no matter the cost, otherwise the fate of Japan would hang by a thread in the hands of a naive kid.
A few days after the events of Camino, the staff of U.A. was discussing a variety of topics.
Including, what to do for the upcoming term and how to best protect the students.
Cody felt slightly out of place, of course, he'd been raked over the coals for keeping the student involvement of Camino a secret.
His hair was unusually messy and the bags under his eyes made it look like Aizawa had gotten a good night's sleep for once.
Nezu punished him by putting all of his paperwork on his desk as well as having to deal with the paperwork involving the students that went to Camino.
He was so thankful that Nite Owl ended up taking the fall for that by declaring that she authorized the students to join her for the rescue efforts.
She ended up losing her license, though her agency was fortunately fine.
She had honestly been more than relieved, due to the fact that the Commission had tried to turn her into one of their personal goons like Hawks and Lady Nagant.
Nezu probably had a plan in mind for her anyway.
"Anyhow, now that nearly a third of the hero students have been out and helping in the field, we can't risk having them travel long distances in case of being attacked. I suggest we implement a dorm system."
"Like Tipoca dorms?" Cementoss inquired. "Is that feasible?"
"Well…we do have a precedent…" Powerloader replied.
"The problem is if we have room on campus… Tipoca Dorms already take up a lot of space, considering how many people it houses."
"And that's already making it huge. Plus, we need to expand it even further now that more clones have arrived. Yes, I know we always have at least a hundred of their capsules vacant, but still."
"Hmmm. We could construct the student dorms in front of the entrance to Tipoca. That way they can hang out with each other and also have a rapid response. What do you think, Cody? Cody?" Nezu asked, not getting any response and looked over at his vice principal who had slumped over and was currently sleeping.
"Huh, he lasted longer than I thought he would." Vlad King said, being impressed over how such a young boy could go through all of that.
Midnight looked over and peeked at the stack of papers.
"Finished the last form too…say what you will but they certainly have work ethic. However… now we need to teach the little ones a tiny lesson…" she said and licked her lips slightly, before Bly sprayed her with water again.
Some time later, the teachers met up with the hero course students and their parents in an auditorium to discuss a few things with them.
"We'd like to thank all of you for attending. As you all know, the most recent events have made it very dangerous for your children and our students to move around the world, now that the League has set their eyes on them."
"Not just set their eyes on them, Nezu! Our kids went out on their own to fight! Why didn't U.A. stop them!?" Ochako's father demanded to know.
"Not only that, but I thought you were supposed to be safe! The summer camp attacks should never have happened!"
"How can we trust that you'll keep them safe now?"
"How can we trust you to teach them?"
"I'm just wondering why they would do something like this!?"
"Because your kids knew," Cody intervened. "What it meant to fight alone…and none of them wanted to risk the chance of losing their friends again."
Cody stepped forward and addressed all the parents.
"You all already know me," He began. "I'm Marshall Commander Cody of the U.A. On the day of the USJ, I watched as over a thousand of my brothers died fighting against the abomination. And just recently, I was told that we were forced to bury forty more of my brothers due to the surprise attack at the summer camp."
"I don't know how the villains found out about the camp, but I do know this, that because of my brothers, because of Mand'alor, all your children were able to come back home safe, which is more than I can say for my family."
"They in turn, willingly chose to join us in the Battle of Camino. They fought by our sides, risking their lives to ensure that not only Mand'alor and Buurenaar were brought safely home, but also the thousands of people stuck in the rubble, the professional heroes who were wounded, and their friends. All with only minor injuries of their own."
"As far as I'm concerned, your children are heroes, and we want to continue to cultivate that." Cody finished as he looked around the grown ups in the room, some of them looking more or less apprehensive and skeptic.
"Indeed. Time and again, the Vod'e have proven their tenacity and unrelenting willingness to protect the students, many of whom have become their friends. Which is why we propose a U.A. Dorm system, similar to what's already been created for the Vod'e, to ensure the safety of each student."
Nezu then pressed a button and a projector showed the planned schematics for the dorms.
Buildings for each class, with a long building that stretched behind each one, segmented, but with bridges and entrances for easy support by the Vod'e.
"Wouldn't that just leave them vulnerable to say… a bombing attack?" One of the parents asked, sounding even more skeptical over placing them all in the same place.
Another button, and various glowing lines appeared around the dorms before another full-view schematic of U.A. appeared with the same colored lines spread out.
"What are these?"
"Patrol routes. We have the manpower, combined with U.A. 's technology, to constantly patrol the grounds. Combined with the signal dampeners from the data gathered at the USJ, and we can prevent anything being warped into U.A. by Kurogiri," Cody explained before going further into some of the defenses being implemented by U.A.
He, alongside the teachers, began to answer any other questions and security concerns from the parents.
There were even walker and LAAT patrols here and there to really show just how serious they were about the safety of their students.
"We know…that it's a lot to ask," Aizawa said. "But just like I mentioned with Kaminari and Midoriya at the press conference, I do believe that each one of them are capable of being great heroes."
He then glared at the students, making more than a few hide behind their parents.
"They just need a bit more…common sense hammered into their brains."
More than a few parents chuckled at that.
But there were still conversations that needed to be had.
"Tsu…are you sure that you want to go back?" Her father asked in concern. He'd been furious when he heard about how one of the clones had stunned her, and recently her parents had noticed that she'd been extremely conflicted after seeing the entire thing.
Monnk had mostly taken the brunt of it, although he had offered himself up so he wouldn't go straight after Fox.
"I…I do…I need to go back…I can't let this go unfinished," She said with some nervousness.
She'd also been feeling extremely guilty…wondering if she'd even made the right decision?
She tried to make them see reason, and threatened them with the teachers only to be stunned by the last clone she expected.
And then seeing them go out successfully, and even be covered by Nite Owl…
Would it have been better had she just gone with them?
Either way, she needed to speak with her friends.
If…they were still her friends.
Back inside the school, both classes had been gathered, with their teachers standing in front of them, arms crossed and glares that would be able to melt through even the toughest materials on earth.
Some of the captains and commanders had also appeared, standing next to their selected students.
A few were surprised at why Fox was there, considering that he had always been a stickler to the rules, even more so currently. He was probably just there to make sure they didn't run away.
To their bewilderment however, he was the first one to be called up.
"Commander Fox, you have been found guilty of assisting in students going AWOL and drawing your weapon on one of them too."
Fox merely stayed silent.
"Due to your actions, you will be stripped of your rank and removed from duty at U.A. Your next duty station will be relayed to you at a further time."
Fox remained silent and saluted before being dismissed and leaving.
Many of the students that had been there had wanted to cry out, but the clones by their sides warned them to keep their silence.
Tsuyu herself was barely keeping it together, as much as she didn't like what happened, she never wished for such a harsh punishment to be delivered to Fox.
"Next up, Wolffe and the Wolfpack. Not only did you not follow regulations, but you snuck out of the hospital despite having gotten strict orders to rest up. For this, your duty stations will also be removed from U.A."
At this, Momo cried out.
"B-but principal Nezu! That's not fair!"
Raising his paw, the principal cut her off.
"This is not up for debate, Yaoyorozu-san. All 60 of them were injured at the Summer Camp, all of them ignored medical orders and received even more injuries."
Wolffe nudged her and she stared at him in disbelief. After a silent conversation between them, however, she huffed and remained silent.
"Captain Keeli… you will be assigned to watch over both Jurota and Tsunotori, while also going back to being a sergeant."
"And as for you dirty dozen…" Aizawa spoke up, referring to the students who had all been present, nearly all of them flinching in sync, before he walked down from the podium and inspected each of them like a drill sergeant.
"Were it not for the absolute devastation that it would cause to U.A.'s reputation, I would expel EVERY," They all flinched, having never heard him raise his voice. "single one of you who participated in this reckless endeavor…"
"As it is, all of you will have to take mandatory training sessions, reexaminations and write two reports of why doing what you did was brave, yet illogical."
The students blinked at the particular wording.
"Congratulations, you wanted to be heroes, well now, in the eyes of the public, you are," Aizawa continued. "But remember, if any of us EVER catch you doing a stunt like this again before you have your licenses, you will get at best removed from the hero course or at worst expelled."
"From here on out, your training will be excruciating as we now have to play catch up."
After a few moments of silence, Ochako spoke up.
"Catch up, sir?"
Aizawa sighed deeply.
"Well, if you're going to go out and be heroes, then you need licenses. Now we have to prepare you for the next cycle."
He then grinned, which made them all shiver in fear.
"That means for the next few months, your asses are mine."
Sentinel and Megatronus then came out from behind Aizawa along with the former's squad, each of them popping some joints while also chuckling darkly.
"And to assist me, I have brought in a little help."
"Oh no…"
"This brings me to the good news, however… Domino Squad, captains, commanders, sergeants, Waxer, Boil. Cody, Fordo, Orion and Megatronus have something they want to tell you." Aizawa grinned, as Cody stepped up next to his elite brothers., most of them looking downright terrified over what was in store for them now.
"We've evaluated the videos we saw of you in combat and how you handled the situation. Congratulations, you rascals. We're promoting you to Second Generation ARC Troopers!"
"I'm sorry Fox, officially, we did have to punish you for drawing your blaster on a student." Nezu said, the recently demoted clone standing in front of him while having his helmet under his arm.
"It's fine, sir. I broke one of the most important rules we have and for that I must be punished. Tell me what it is, and I will accept it with open arms." Fox announced without a moment's hesitation, showing just how willing and ready he was to take this fall.
"I'm certainly glad for the enthusiasm, Fox," Nezu said as he then opened up another holoscreen, showing the Diet building.
"The Diet?"
"The politicians are spooked, Fox. Never in our history has Japan had to worry about hostile entities potentially reaching governmental seats since the Quirk Wars. They're worried that with the fall of All Might, the escape of the League, and the existence of the Droid Army. They are trying to find scapegoats and they're looking at us and your brothers along with our political supporters. That's why I am assigning you to Chuchi."
"Chuchi? The woman who visited us not that long ago?"
"Indeed. The Diet is coordinating with the SDF for protection forces to guard them. They've so far rejected the use of the Vod'e or weaponry, all except for a certain representative."
"Representative Chuchi…then that means that I'll be part of her security detail?"
"It does indeed."
"Izuku…I'm glad you're alright, but can you speak with Wolffe?" Momo asked as she trailed after him down a hallway inside Tipoca dorms. "I thought he'd be more…furious or saddened, or…anything! The entire Wolfpack's being removed from U.A!"
"Their duties will be removed from U.A and transferred to the Yaoyorozu estate," Izuku calmly replied.
"What?"
"The Yaoyorozu estate has recently become a high profile target by analytical experts, they requested that the Wolfpack be transferred there for security."
Momo blinked in confusion.
'Mother, Father, why didn't they tell me!?'
They continued down the hallway, and she took notice of something else.
Momo walked behind Izuku and was flabbergasted as they walked outside at the multitude of clones who saluted her as she walked by.
"Commander."
"Sir!"
Izuku had long ago explained that 'Sir' was a term of respect amongst the clones, regardless of gender.
It represented leadership and was a sign of reverence, appreciation, and respect.
Still…
"They shouldn't salute me…I'm not a part of the Vod'e…" Momo murmured as they headed down the halls.
"It doesn't matter to them. It's a sign of respect," He reminded her. "They know what you went through for them during the summer camp and Camino."
They finally stopped at a door that led to one of UA's newest vehicle bays.
"Loyalty means everything to the clones."
The door opened before them and Momo's eyes widened as she saw Wolffe in front of a company of clones, in his hand was a new helmet, with a stylized wolf's head on the forehead and a black streak crossing over the right side of the face.
Her signature bang.
"Company!" Wolffe began. "Attention!"
Step! Step!
The clones gave a sharp center face and remained at attention.
"Izuku…"
"You already know my plans for Ochako and the others…this is for you," He said before smiling and pointing his head towards the company. "Go on, they've been waiting for you."
Momo walked through the company, admiring the new designs on the helmets and now that she noticed it, some of them had taken liberties with their armor.
A few had made red markings on their chest plates in between the gray, not enough to make the 'V' but they were the same color as her old costume.
"As soon as Wolffe and the guys knew that you were out of the hospital they got to work while you were with the others talking about the dorms."
Momo smiled and turned back toward Wolffe, his scarred visage smiling softly at her.
"Paint job's a bit crude, but we think it gets the idea across."
She palmed the helmet, idly tracing the paint.
"Glad to have you back, Commander."
"Wolffe…thank you, but you don't have to call me Commander." She replied.
"Sure thing, Commander."
"Hey… Izuku?"
"Yes, Momo?"
"Could you… erm… this is slightly awkward but… could you sign these papers?" She asked, and pulled out a stack of papers from her shirt after having created them and put them on the table.
"...Are these adoption papers?"
A few days later, the two new dorms had been constructed thanks to Cementoss and two classes had settled in somewhat.
They had just finished moving into the dorms. It'd taken a while but eventually all the parents agreed to having the students move in.
Aizawa had given them a description of the buildings, how the 1-A and 1-B buildings and Tipoca dorms were connected via bridges and small roads, and how the baths and the kitchen worked.
Mineta was currently wrapped in a small cocoon of tape, courtesy of Sero.
They'd had a little room competition to try and lighten the mood and to set up a more cozy environment, 1-B having joined them.
Starting on the first floor, they first inspected Iida's room which looked more or less what they'd expected.
The entire room was neat and tidy, containing school supplies, a bed and his computer along with several extra pairs of glasses.
"You have so many glasses!" Ochako exclaimed, holding a pair while trying to contain her laughter.
"Of course! I need to in case they break during our training!"
"Wow… this… is what I call being overprepared…" Itsuka muttered looking around while having her hand wrapped in bandages and arm in a brace.
Walking out of the room, they continued to the next one, which incidentally was Tokoyami's who more or less had to be moved out of the way before they could peek inside.
Dark.
And Gothic.
That's pretty much all that could describe it.
"I see what you mean about learning how to use a sword, Tokoyami," Izuku commented as he grabbed the, quite frankly, unwieldy sword that he had in his possession.
"Not sure if Soresu would work for this particular style of blade…but I'll ask to see what would be best for you."
"That would be much appreciated, Midoriya." He replied, as some stealth clones appeared out of cloaking to look around.
Tokoyami would refuse to acknowledge his feathers puffing up in excitement.
As they exited Tokoyami's room, Mineta peeked out of his door and gestured to the girls to come in.
It wouldn't be long before the girls had to restrain a flametrooper from going in to burn it all down, saying that if they burned the room, the whole building would catch fire.
"Dragon! Dragon you can't set him nor his quarantine zone on fire!" Uraraka pleaded with the clone whose gravity had been canceled out while Yanagi pulled on his armor with her quirk and Shiozaki used her hair to tie him up.
"Let me go! This is something I need to do, Uraraka!" He shouted while flailing around in the air due to struggling so much as they began to drag him away like a balloon.
Another clone walked over and looked at his brothers, nodding to them before opening up the door like he was about to raid the room, which looked…
"It's… Normal. Literally just looks like an Otaku man cave!"
A few other clones blinked before peeking in.
"That's…surprisingly less than what I expected…"
"Even the heroine figures are tame…same models from the stores…"
All of them then turned towards Mineta in unison, eyes squinting.
"What are you planning…"
"Uhhhh…"
"SURPRISE INSPECTION!"
"No wait! Hey!"
Mineta unfortunately, was trampled over by the clones who then began tearing his room apart.
And, surprisingly enough…they found nothing.
"What…?"
"C'mon guys, can't a guy change after almost losing his life a few times within the span of a few months!" Mineta said with indignation.
The clones awkwardly stood there for a bit, with some of the students peeking inside.
"I…threw out my stuff before I even moved in…I…I can change too, you know!"
Izuku also blinked in surprise before moving forward and kneeling to look into Mineta's eyes.
"Uh…dude?"
"They say that eyes are the window to the soul…your eyes…they've changed…" he muttered. "I'm sorry, Mineta…looks like I've misjudged your capacity for change."
He then stood up. "Fix his room, boys."
He then looked around the room, before his eyes bulged out and he rushed over to the figures on display on the shelf, pointing at one of Midnight and looked at Mineta who just nodded in confusion, as the freckled teen ever so gently picked up the model and inspected it.
"No way…" he muttered, shaking slightly. "This model of Midnight sensei…"
"Is an ultra rare, not to mention expensive piece of merch whose construction was looked over by her herself. I know." Mineta said, slightly smugly.
"And you have First Edition: Burnin' and First Edition: Mt. Lady!? They both sold out before I could get them!"
Izuku was an All Might fan at heart, but thanks to Jango's influence had increased the variety of his collection.
"They're both hero nerds…" The students and clones muttered in unison, before dragging their green friend out of there who began protesting.
Afterwards they moved onto Momo's room, where Sinker and Boost stood guard outside, before stepping to the side and allowing them to look inside.
Most of the space in her room was taken up by her bed, the heiress explaining how the room was smaller than she expected, with Ochako more or less fainting when she explained the individual rooms were more or less the size of her closet.
The next two rooms they visited belonged to Denki and kyoka, who had apparently moved in next to each other.
Denki's room looked like the average teenager's, however there were quite a few electric heroes on his shelves along with a guitar hanging off of the wall and of course a massive bookshelf that took up an entire wall.
Kyoka did snort at the hodgepodge of things he had scattered in his room but found it endearing.
'It's scatterbrained…like you.'
"Oi."
Kyoka's room had a lot of instruments.
'I'm surprised you didn't bring in your mother's drum.'
'Oi.'
Neither noticed the girls looking at them gleefully.
Ashido, Tooru and Tokage were already laying plans, if their huddle was anything to go by.
Next up was Rikido's room, that had a lot of baking utensils, catching the attention of the chef clones whose eyes sparkled by the sight.
"Hey… what smells so good?" Cookie asked.
"Oh shoot! I nearly forgot! I had a chiffon cake in the oven. Want some?" The muscular teen asked, to which every girl immediately raised their hands.
Continuing on to the different rooms, a few of them were of particular mention.
For example, the uncanny coincidence that Kirishima and Tetsutetsu had the Same. Exact. Room.
Literally the only difference being colors and the hero they idolised. Kirishima being a big fan of Crimson Riot and Tetsutetsu being a fan of Black Steel.
"Are we certain they aren't brothers from another mother or some sort of clones?" Blitz whispered to someone who just shrugged.
Moving to the 1-B dorms, they started off at Tokage's room which had a lot of dinosaurs, Godzilla, and Godzillo merch inside, along with a big lizard bean bag.
The clone known as 'Goji' absolutely gushed over the collection of different Godzilla and Godzillo figures, before he noticed something.
"Is that Waxer's shoulder piece? The one he dented?" He asked. The shoulder piece was on a stand and had been dented when Waxer had tried to skate for the first time and ended up flying off the U.A. steps.
"No!" Setsuna replied.
A bit too quickly in fact.
The girls were quick to tease.
Something else Goji noticed was a toy of what looked like a robot T-Rex, something he asked her about.
She however, only knew it was an heirloom from one of her great great grandparents.
After a bit, they were able to move on. Koda's room was immediately a favorite due to his bunny companion.
Pony had a lot of American hero merch, much to Izuku's excitement, and a flag from her home state of Texas.
"I only wish that I could have ma trusty four-gage with me…ooh, Midoriyah, you gotta shotgun in yer armory there?" Pony asked in English, glad to take a break from Japanese.
"Uh…no?"
"Shoot…"
"He's lying!" Breach shouted from the hallway.
"Dammit Breach! You know it's not yet suitable for student use!"
Izuku then felt a shiver run down his spine as he slowly turned around to see Tsunotori looking at him with glee.
"I volunteer for testin'"
"Oh dear."
"Moving on!" He shouted and ran out of the room, before being stopped by Fil who grabbed him.
"No running in the halls, ori'vod!"
He deadpanned at him.
"Oh hey, look! Kodai's room! Let's check it!" He said quickly as Pony was approaching fast.
Ultraman. Lots of Ultraman.
And Kaiju.
And, of course in the center stage was her picture posing with Fil, Bel, Niner, and Master Driller.
"Nice posin, Fil."
"Shush."
Next up was Shishida's room that looked somewhat like a forest landscape, with all of the small trees and plants in there, the burly student saying his family owned a log cabin in the woods where he loved spending time.
Itsuka's room was more or less a dojo with a small shrine in the middle of it with Thorn's portrait, several of her classmates and friends walking in and placing an incense stick near it and clasping their hands together.
Moving through the rest of the room, they finally reached Izuku's room that, while still having All Might Merch, now mostly had stuff dedicated to honoring his brothers, along with several pictures of him, Jango, Fordo and Inko all smiling together.
On his table was a small display containing the crystals Jango had collected on the beach, their box standing next to it.
And lastly, a statuette of the two of them in their armors, fists bumping together.
"I recognize this one…" Ochako said as she approached it.
BROTHERS IN ARMS ARE BROTHERS FOR LIFE
"Isn't this from that store at the mall?"
"It is," Izuku said with a soft smile. "They contacted me a few days ago…wanted to give it to me as a gift."
Ochako remained quiet as they looked at the statuette, and she idly intertwined her hand with his and leaned her head on his shoulder.
He squeezed it gently and took a deep breath as he leaned his head on hers. Slight tears appeared at the edges of their eyes, a few even falling.
But they didn't really…mourn.
They remembered.
Aay'han.
Nobody disturbed them.
"Tsuyu…"
She paused, unwilling to look at the friend that she felt she betrayed.
"We need to talk," Izuku said, having noticed that she was one of the only two students who weren't there for the room expo.
They were outside, near a bench and the boy gently approached her.
"...I would have imagined that you wouldn't want to talk to me."
"Now why would you think that?" Izuku asked as he stopped, keeping a small distance from her.
"Because…" She began to tear up. "I…I practically betrayed you for nothing!"
"Betrayed me?" Izuku asked, bewildered.
"When all your brothers, your friends, even people that barely knew you solely due to your clones united to save you and Kaminari…I alone stood against it…"
She hugged herself, hunching over as she tried to keep some semblance of control.
"And…for nothing…it worked…they saved you, saved a bunch of people too…and meanwhile I was knocked out of the fight, people were in danger, I wasn't there to help and…they still managed to stay in the hero program…but Fox got demoted and…"
Izuku stared at her sadly as she started to break down before walking up and hugging her from behind, making her gasp.
"I don't blame you for any of that, neither do the others…if anything," He said as he gently turned her around. "I think that you made the right decision."
"What?"
"What happened in Camino was honestly pure luck, anything, and I mean anything could have gone wrong," He explained. "As it is, a bunch of people died due to the League. All it would take was one lucky shot, and any one of our friends could have been added to the death toll. Look at Kodai-san during the camp. She took a shot and nearly died…"
"But…"
"I'm not sure what I would have done, were I in your position…but I do know that you cared so much about our friends and my brothers, that you were willing to make the hardest decision for them. So you're more than worthy for what I had planned for you."
"What…you have planned for me?" She asked.
"Indeed…as you already know, Ochako is set to be Mand'alor if I'm ever rendered unavailable…Momo's recently been given command of the Wolfpack. I'm going to have Denki and Kyoka be the leaders of the 91st Recon Corps, named because they alone found 91 cases of groups of civilians in need of rescue and the amount of droids each of them cut down." He said as he looked to the moon.
"I want you to lead the Scuba Corps."
…
…
…
"W-what!?" Tsuyu said in complete shock.
"You heard me."
"B-but-"
"No buts, Tsuyu… you've earned it." He said, as a group of clones came out of the building, Monnk being in the lead.
One clone with a blue color scheme and a yellow fin on top of his helmet stepped forward.
"I am Bluefin. Nice to meet ya, chum!" He said, Tsuyu now noticing how the painting on his armor was made to resemble fish scales, something that must have taken a ton of work to do.
The second one stepped up, being mostly white on the front but dark blue on the back while having what looked like a shark fin replacing the usual one on top of the helmet, while also having the face of a shark painted on front of his helmet.
"Jaws." He replied quickly and bowed to her, revealing another shark fin on his backpack.
"I am Marlin, milady. It is an honor to serve alongside you." Marlin said, bowing to reveal the huge fin he had on his back along with showing the rapier he was wielding on his hip.
After the three had introduced themselves, Izuku cleared his throat.
"However…I do believe there's something else that we need to address…guys?" Izuku called out and the so-called, 'Dirty Dozen', although in reality it'd been 14 that had gone to fight, appeared.
Ochako was in the lead, already crying.
"Tsu…I'm so sorry…"
"Me too…" She replied, and the two hugged, crying as all the stress and emotion finally leaked out.
Their friendship was still strained. A single night could not undo everything that had occurred between them, but at least it was a start.
As they fixed their relationship however, Izuku noticed one of them off to the side, leaving to head to a different area outside the dorms.
It was quieter, and a slight bit of the moon's light poked through the side of an awning to where she was. The lights from the dorms also poked through a window behind her.
Itsuka walked over to a bench and sat down, unwrapping the bandages over her hand revealing the scars left behind on the palm and knuckle.
Two dark circles with erratic edges.
Although the wounds had healed thanks to Recovery Girl and bacta, she still kept the bandages…the scars reminded her too much of her failure.
"It is the external wounds which heal the quickest," She heard Izuku say as he walked up to her.
She turned her head slightly to acknowledge him, enclosing her arms around herself before speaking.
"I thought that settling scores would allow me to move on…instead I chased away our only hope of catching his killer anytime soon."
Izuku smiled sadly.
"Wisdom is not granted, Itsuka." He replied as he looked at his own scarred hand and began to remember his own failures. "It must be earned. Sometimes…at a cost."
She merely kept her head bowed.
"Allow me to teach you something," Izuku said as he extended his hand to her.
She blinked at him before nodding and taking his hand, allowing him to pull her up. Wrapping the bandages again, she followed him back to her room, to where they went to Thorn's altar.
"We have a tradition in the Vod'e…to mourn those lost."
He sat on his legs, and she followed suit.
"In Mando'a, the language of the Vod'e," He began. "We honor the fallen with these words."
"Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum."
"...What does it mean?"
"I am still alive, but you are dead. I remember you, so you are eternal. After which, you say their name."
After a few tries for pronunciation, she felt confident enough to say it.
"Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum…Thorn…ner cyare."
"Hey, Nite Owl." Wheeljack called out as he walked up to the redhead who stopped and looked at the shorter clone.
"Yes? Can I help you… Wheeljack, right?" She asked, doing her best to remember the names of the clones.
"You were a huge help to us back there. We couldn't have done it without you."
"No need to thank me. I just did what a hero should do when people are in danger and when true heroes show their colors." She said with a small smile, before being presented with a chip.
"Still… as thanks, I want you to have this. You and your agency will be the first to get a gift like this from the Vod'e. See it as a token of friendship." He grinned as the former pro hero gently took the chip out of his hand.
"Thank you," She said, wondering what exactly the chip was but knowing that it would probably be important.
Later, when she would arrive at her agency to transfer its command while she dealt with the paperwork involving her lost license, her jaw would drop as she saw what exactly was on the chip.
When she saw the small message attached with it, she couldn't help but grin.
That night, as everybody fell asleep, two souls were admittedly unable to gain rest.
Denki found himself in the common area, drinking some tea that his Uncle Iroh had sent him.
A part of him found it amusing how his uncles could have such different tastes, as evident by the other box of tea sent by Uncle Yan.
'Eastern tea is more natural!'
'Western tea is more refined.'
A slight knock on the table alerted him to Kyoka arriving as well, having a blanket wrapped around her.
"Kyoka?"
'Hi, Denki.' she signed.
"Can't sleep either, huh?"
She shook her head.
"One moment," Denki replied as he headed to the kitchen and grabbed another cup before returning and pouring some tea from the pot he had.
"Jasmine tea…my Uncle Iroh sent me a bunch of different ones…decided to go with this one tonight."
Kyoka took a sip and hummed, enjoying the sweet taste and how soothing it felt on her throat.
"Are you feeling alright?"
She nodded her head and simply sat by his side, after a few minutes of drinking tea, she leaned more onto him and he wrapped his arm around her.
They remained in silence for a few minutes before he noticed her trembling.
"Kyoka?"
She got up and began to shake her head before her hands went through signs quickly.
"Woah…slow down a bit, okay? What's wrong?"
'I'm sorry…it's just…I'm really worried and I know that Recovery Girl's here and that we have b-a-c-t-a and that the odds are good but I'm really scared of losing my voice cause…it's everything to me, I love to sing, I love to play music and I'm really scared and-'
Her hands fell apart as she broke down and Denki was quick to hold her tightly.
"Hey…hey…it's gonna be okay…alright…I'm here for you…just like you were there for me…I'll be there for you…" He whispered, his head gently resting on top of hers as he held her close.
"You're gonna get your voice back…you're gonna heal…we're gonna hear your voice again, you're gonna get to sing again…everything…"
They stayed like that for a few minutes until she calmed down more and lifted herself up, slightly blushing. Her jacks subconsciously poking against each other.
'Can I…stay with you?' She signed.
"U-uh…"
'Notinourrooms!' She quickly signed before repeating it a bit slower. 'I know we can't be in our rooms like that…but…can we stay here? I'd rather not be alone tonight.'
Denki was quick to clear his throat and nod as he tried to control his blush.
He left quickly to grab his blanket and some pillows before heading back down to the couch. The two were still blushing wildly but managed to get into a comfortable position.
As they laid there however, their hands intertwined once more and, in a fit of boldness, he raised them to his lips and kissed the back of her hand.
She then kissed his.
Kyoka ended up being the first to fall asleep, lulled by the slow tone of Denki's heartbeat…thanks to her advanced hearing, she could also hear the slight hum of his quirk under his skin.
It was…soothing.
Denki would fall asleep soon after, swayed by the slight…not snores but…vibrations that would simply emanate from her.
Almost like a purring cat.
It was comforting.
Denki awoke to giggling.
He opened his eyes slowly, squinting due to the light as his blurry vision cleared up.
He was met with a very familiar face and set of eyes looking directly into his own.
"N-noshiko?" He muttered, before he heard the unmistakable clicking of cameras and looked towards the source of the sound.
All the girls, both from 1-A and 1-B were standing with their phones and taking pictures, some giggling while Setsuna and Mina were snorting.
"What should I call this album, girls? Visions of the Future?" Mina asked with a grin.
'Visions of the Future?'
He then realized that Noshiko was a lot heavier than the other times she did this…and turning his head, he saw Kyoka.
'She was very pretty.'
He then froze, eyes wide and very much awake now.
"What's going on? Why're you here, Noshi?" He asked his little sister who had somehow managed to squeeze herself in between Denki and Kyoka.
"Noshiko is here to stay for a bit, your uncles are setting things up, so for the time being, she'll be hanging out here with us," A new voice declared.
"Ms. Midoriya!?" Denki exclaimed in shock only to cut himself off as Kyoka shuffled around in discontent. "What're you doing here?"
"Nezu's decided to hire me as a Dorm Mother, I'll be here helping out you kids, but my priority will be taking care of Eri," The lithe woman said with a smile.
"Mamadoriya's been really cool!"
"She's awesome!"
"And she's here to make sure that you kids don't get into any shenanigans," Inko said with a wry grin and a raised eyebrow.
"Uhh…this is not what it looks like…" Denki tried to defend.
The girls giggled before Inko waved him off.
"Oh, I know it's not…you two have gone through a lot, alone and together…truth be told, I'm surprised I didn't find you all in a sleep pile."
A sigh suddenly emitted from Kyoka as she groggily got up and looked over to the side. It took a few moments as her vision focused but once she realized that she was:
Technically in bed with Denki.
And
Every single girl from the hero classes was looking at them with grins on her face.
She promptly flushed so red that it could be compared to Kirishima's hair and buried herself under the blankets making Denki grunt from the force.
"Oh don't be so worried, Jiro. We understand not wanting to be alone at night," Inko said comfortingly. "What with all the things that have been going on."
She then shooed away the girls, and Kyoka could hear them giggling and wanting to get more details later but soon enough they were left alone.
Denki peered under the blanket and was able to coax her out enough that they could sit properly on the couch, all while Noshiko kept on clinging to him and snuggling her older brother.
They were expecting the Talk, but Inko merely gave them some advice about dealing with trauma, loss and enduring hardship while encouraging seeking support from friends, family, and professionals.
She also showed them how the couch extended into a proper bed.
"You already know the rules, if you have nightmares, or other problems and would like to be with others for the night, please use the common rooms."
The two flushed again but nodded.
They just knew that the others wouldn't let them live it down.
A few days after that however, and they were approaching the final week before the next term began.
And after much debate with himself, Izuku decided that it was finally time.
"I believe that you can trust them, Izuku," Nana said from within.
"Might as well rip the bandaid off…" He muttered as he waited for his friends to arrive in the room he had asked them to come to.
One by one, his friends came into his room.
He had discussed it with Waxer, Fil, and some of the other clones as well.
Setsuna, Kodai, and Itsuka were the last ones to walk into the classroom, being the ones whom the Vod'e trusted the most of 1-B so far.
Perhaps, with time, more could be entrusted with the secret. But for now, this would suffice.
Izuku sat in front of his friends, his newest scars aching, but after everything that happened, he definitely knew who he could trust.
"Ochako, Tenya, Yuga, Kyoka, and Momo…" He began, the group huddled around each other, all of them glad that each other was safe. "Mina, Tsuyu, Denki, Setsuna, Itsuka, and Kodai."
They had gone through a lot since the summer camp.
"I brought you all here, because I trust all of you the most. You've shown your loyalty and dedication to the clones. To my brothers…and to me…"
Izuku looked each one of them in the eye.
"It is time that I share a deep part of myself, listen closely, as I tell you the story of One For All."
They all blinked at the name.
"And All For One."
The conversation had surprisingly gone over well, they spent a few hours asking questions and getting answered and Izuku felt…lighter.
All Might had told him about the support network that he'd created and also about his own hopes for Izuku and his generation.
"I believe that…the world doesn't need another sole pillar…but rather something more stable. A foundation…one that you and your friends are more than capable of becoming."
School had just begun and yet so much had been dumped on them in such a short timespan. The true origins of the current size of the Vod'e, their weapons, vehicles, not to mention the previous holders of One For All.
And the legacy that had been entrusted to Izuku.
And how he hoped that his friends would stand by him.
Izuku was walking around in the circle, looking each of them in their eyes to determine what changes had happened to them.
They all nodded at him, and he greeted them back. For the most part they seemed alright but still needed time to process things.
"Midoriya." Aizawa's voice called out from the other side of the door.
Looking over, the freckled teen walked to the door and opened it.
"Aizawa-sensei? How can I help?"
'That reminds me…he should probably be let in, too.'
"I'll be late to class due to a last minute meeting that Nezu's doing," He said before handing him some papers. "We have a few announcements that need to be made, so I'd like you to deliver them in my stead."
"Of course, sir," Izuku nodded before heading down to the classroom with the others, the group splitting up to go to their respective classes while telling each other goodbye for now.
A slight murmur could be heard behind the door, opening it he saw his classmates all in their seats and talking with each other.
"Hi, Midoriya!"
"Hey!"
"You're almost late, Izuku!"
A few more greetings rang out before Izuku raised his hand and they quieted down.
"Good morning, everyone. I'm glad to be back in class with all of you, too. Aizawa-sensei's gonna be running late so he asked me to make some announcements beforehand."
Izuku then grouped the papers and tapped them against the podium to make them even again before looking at the first one.
He blinked away the sudden blurriness in his vision.
"Alright, first thing's first is…" He blinked away the blurriness again, even rubbing at his eyes.
"Izuku?" Ochako asked in slight worry.
"My apologies…I guess I must be having a bad day…one moment, please," Izuku said as a sharp headache suddenly hit him.
'Hrgh…Hikage? Is something wrong? Nana?'
No response.
He rapidly started blinking again before opening his eyes as wide as he could to shake himself out of it.
Shaking his head again, he tried to focus on the papers before he was struck by a sudden dizziness.
"Izuku?"
"I…I'm..urgh…" He then stumbled a bit, leaning more onto the podium before he felt a liquid drop down his face onto the podium.
He shakily touched under his nose and looked to see blood, barely noticing his friends start to stand up.
"-ZUKU! -ACK-DS-ONE-...!" He heard Nana scream.
"I… Don't… Feel so good…" He muttered, before collapsing and dropped the papers.
"IZUKU!" He heard his friends scream as they began to crowd around him.
"Ten…! Et…lp!"
"...ku! Ay…th…me!"
Izuku could barely focus…everything seemed to be falling even though he was already on the ground.
"Nana…help…Nana…" He managed to get out before everything turned black.
He could have sworn he heard blaster fire and explosions inside of his head.
AGAIN, PLEASE JOIN OUR DISCORD FOR ANNOUNCMENTS FOR WHEN I'M GONE.