Hizashi was looking forward to his first patrol with Izuku.
He wasn't quite sure when Izuku had become Izuku in his head, rather than Midoriya, but he wasn't inclined to question the decision now. He mostly called him what he called all his students anyway, so there wasn't much chance of slip ups. He doubted Izuku would care much if he did slip up, Shouta and Nemuri already had a betting pool going for when Izuku would accidentally call him 'dad' for the first time, but he did acknowledge that this meant he was a little more fond of this particular student than most.
So what? Shouta had favorites. It wasn't that big a deal.
Being so eager to instruct Izuku that he was willing to patrol during the day when he usually patrolled at night was probably a little farther than Shouta was willing to go, but Hizashi didn't let that bother him. He was just admiring how Izuku looked in full Dekiru gear, with the heart on his cheek and his hair done inexpertly but much better than before, when they walked out into the lobby to find Sir Nighteye talking to Yamamoto.
"Ah, Mic," said Nighteye, immediately abandoning his conversation with Yamamoto nearly mid- sentence to face the newcomers. "And Midoriya as well, just the two I wanted to talk to."
"I told him you were on your way out the door," Yamamoto insisted, looking between Nighteye and Hizashi.
She didn't look anxious, but she was more subdued than her usual demeanor, and that put Hizashi on edge. Yamamoto was only subdued when someone made her feel small. Hizashi didn't like people who made her feel small.
"What can I do for you?" Hizashi asked animatedly, hoping that being his usual loud self would perk her back up. "If you're calling in with a request you can leave it with-"
"It's a bit urgent," Nighteye interrupted. "I need to borrow Midoriya from you."
"No," said Hizashi, without any embellishment.
"Wait, what?!" Izuku sputtered, eyes wide. "Why do you need me?!"
"I need to consult with him about a case," Nighteye explained, answering Izuku's question but addressing Hizashi. "It shouldn't take very long, I only need him for the day."
"Poaching is poaching," Hizashi retorted. "You're not stealing my intern."
"Not stealing," Nighteye said exasperatedly, "just borrowing. I know the internship is only a week,
but surely you can spare him for a little while."
"We were just about to go on patrol," Hizashi told him, placing a hand on Izuku's shoulder. "Izu-, Midoriya is interning here, not at the Nighteye Agency. You have your own interns to consult with."
"Midoriya is already acquainted with the specifics of this case," Nighteye continued, then his eyes flicked to Izuku. " All Might told me he had consulted with Midoriya about it before."
Hizashi tighten his grip on Midoriya's shoulder, fighting to keep his emotions in check. If Nighteye thought he was going to intimidate Hizashi by namedropping the Number One Hero, he was sadly mistaken.
"All Might's a teacher," he reminded Nighteye. "He shouldn't be consulting with students on official cases, especially ones being handled by other agencies."
"Midoriya's no ordinary student," Nighteye pointed out.
Hizashi pursed his lips, annoyed at having the very fact that Izuku was exceptional, which he himself had brought to light, used against him. He knew Nighteye was a good teacher, and had been a good influence on all the UA students who had interned at his agency. He also knew that Nighteye had a habit of putting more expectations on students than was necessary, or fair. He opened his mouth to deny Nighteye's request again, but before he could get the words out Izuku spoke up.
"Sensei," he said quietly, "I think I should help."
Hizashi looked down, to see Izuku looking up at him nervously. Whether the nervousness came from Nighteye's insistence or Hizashi's refusal he didn't know, but he didn't like that the situation was making Izuku uncomfortable. Hizashi turned back to Nighteye.
"I think you should go," he said firmly. "Midoriya and I will discuss this and maybe he can help you some other time-"
Nighteye, however, was already shaking his head. "This particular aspect of the case needs to be resolved now," he insisted. "Midoriya's input would be invaluable. I need him today."
"If this is about what I think it's about, I think I should go," Izuku added. "I know I chose your agency for my internship-"
"An interesting choice, to be sure," Nighteye said testily, which made Izuku flinch and Hizashi suppress a glare.
"-but I do plan to work with other agencies when I become a hero, and this case is really important," Izuku finished valiantly.
Hizashi did not at all like the effect this conversation was having on his student. Izuku seemed to think he needed to comply, that just because Nighteye had asked meant that he had to do it. Admittedly he had no frame of reference for working at a hero agency, and hence had no way of knowing what an outrageous request it was, but Nighteye acting like this was perfectly normal was doing nothing for his perspective. He didn't trust Nighteye not to make more outrageous requests and try to pass them off as reasonable, and the idea of him doing so made something ugly curl up and make its home in Hizashi's chest.
Still, Izuku -- if not Nighteye -- made a good point. He wanted to learn to do different kinds of hero
work, both spotlight and underground. If he was already involved in this case, this would be an ideal place to start.
"Fine," Hizashi said, "but I'm coming with you."
"That's not necessary," Nighteye said immediately.
"If I'm not going my intern's not going," Hizashi snapped. "I'm his supervisor, if he's going to be doing hero work, any kind of hero work, I need to be there."
"You can't be involved in this case," Nighteye protested. "I'm trying to keep the circle small-"
"You're willing to consult with a student but not a fellow hero?" Hizashi raised an eyebrow in a practiced display of exaggerated disbelief.
"It's an unusual case," Nighteye held his ground, pretending he had any leg to stand on.
"It really is," Izuku chimed in.
"Fine, then I'll wait in your lobby," Hizashi snaked around the issue.
Nighteye sighed. "That won't be necessary," he said resignedly. "We have a conference room for you to set up shop in."
The corner of Hizashi's lips twitched upward. "Good," he said, "we'll take my car." *
Izuku would have liked to go in Nighteye's car, given that Nighteye was the one who could have explained what he was needed for, but Mic had insisted Izuku ride with him. He blared the radio most of the way, singing along and encouraging Izuku to do the same. It was only when they'd nearly reached the agency, much faster than they could have done by train, that Mic turned off the music and began darting meaningful looks at Izuku.
"If Nighteye asks you to do anything not to do with this case, I want you to come tell me before you answer," Mic said as they pulled around the back of the building.
"Yes sir," Izuku nodded.
"I'm serious," Mic pressed, with none of his usual exuberance. "I want you to say that you have to talk to me before you give an answer and come find me. Don't just say 'yes' to be polite."
"I don't want to be rude-" Izuku began hesitantly.
"Be firm," Mic insisted, "and be rude if you have to. It's ruder of him to press you if you say you can't give an answer yet. If you need to blame it on me, say you'll get in trouble if you commit yourself without asking."
"OK," Izuku said quietly. He was sure Mic was overreacting, but he couldn't explain without giving away the secret, so he held his tongue.
When Nighteye had mentioned All Might, Izuku had known exactly what he meant. This had something to do with All Might's secret, how he could only maintain his muscular form for a few hours a day and how his quirk could be passed on to other people. Izuku didn't know how much the other teachers at UA knew -- surely they had to know about his skinny form, right? -- but he wouldn't assume. Nighteye had clearly been trying to communicate with him in secret.
They went inside, and one of Nighteye's sidekicks, Bubble Girl, showed Mic to a conference room. He threw one last look at Izuku before disappearing around a corner, but then Izuku and Nighteye were left alone.
Nighteye showed Izuku to his office, then ushered him inside and shut the door. "Well, your choice of mentors is certainly unexpected," he said, indicating the chair across from his desk.
Izuku sat tentatively, dropping his bag by his chair, and Nighteye went to take his own seat. He too had obviously put a lot of work into the image he projected, an ordinary Japanese salaryman who couldn't possibly be a threat to anyone. Still, seated behind his desk he looked suitably imposing, and Izuku straighted his back.
"I thought he'd give me some perspective, Sir," he said shyly. "He has the kind of versatility I'd like to cultivate."
"Understandable," Nighteye conceded, "although I'll admit when I put in my offer, I was sure you'd pick my agency."
"I thought about it," Izuku assured him, "but Mic-sensei has done a lot for me and I trust his judgement. I wanted his input on some of the decisions I'd have to make."
"Like your costume." Nighteye looked him up and down critically. "It's . . . bold, to say the least." "Thank you," Izuku said, determined not to think of what else that might have meant.
Nighteye's lips twitched into a smile, and he began sorting through the papers on his desk.
"Toshinori told me how much you know," he said, flipping through file folders and then laying them out in front of Izuku. "He said that you saw him run out of time by chance, and he explained to you his injuries and his time limit. Then, when the two of you met again at UA, he offered you One for All."
"Did you suggest it to him?" Izuku asked, looking at Nighteye rather than the papers. "He said everyone he knew had recommended me. I'm sorry I said no, but I really thought-"
"I'm glad you said no," Nighteye cut him off. He rapped his knuckles on the desktop, and Izuku looked down to see an assortment of photos, multiple close-up shots of arms and legs. They were all horribly broken, twisted at odd angles and purple from internal bleeding. "This is what would have happened if you'd agreed."
"Oh my god," Izuku breathed, looking over the pictures. "Is that . . . what is . . ."
"These are documentations of the injuries sustained by the new wielder of One for All," Nighteye said resignedly.
"All Might passed it on to someone else," Izuku realized.
"And this is the result of the new holder's attempts to master it," Nighteye said, one hand coming up to rub his temples. "He's older and stronger than you, and he has experience with a troublesome quirk. He was my first choice for Toshinori's successor, although I would have been content with you, but looking at these results . . . I'm sorry I recommended either of you."
Izuku picked up a photo of an arm, staring in wide-eyed amazement. The whole thing looked like one big bruise. None of it looked any more or less broken, like there was no particular point of impact. It was as though the muscles clenched so hard the arm simply broke itself.
"This is what I need your help with," Nighteye explained. "I have done years worth of research on the history of One for All, but nothing explains why this is happening. I fear it may be an example of the quirk singularity, a quirk that has gathered so much energy it simply can't be controlled, but if there is any other possibility I need to run it down. That's why I brought you here."
"You want me to analyze the quirk and see if there's another way to use it that'll be less destructive," Izuku concluded.
"He can't seem to hold it back," Nighteye told him, "but perhaps we're coming at the problem from the wrong angle. Your perspective is rather unique, and given that you already knew the secret it would have been foolish not to consult you."
"I understand," Izuku said solemnly. "Do you have any other information for me? Or should I talk to this new wielder?"
"All I can tell you is how broken his limbs were," Nighteye said. "They were shattered, the bones reduced to pieces and the muscles completely shredded. He had to be healed by Recovery Girl, and the most recent attempts required surgeries to heal. He had to sit out of this year's sports festival because he was still recovering. His body can't take much more of this."
"Well," Izuku sighed, "I'm glad I thought to bring my notebook. Let's go meet the new holder of One for All."
Nighteye showed him out of the office and deeper into the building. The route they took seemed a bit roundabout, and Izuku was willing to bet Nighteye had planned it so that it wouldn't take them past the conference room. Eventually they came to a double doorway with no doors in it, which opened out onto a training room. The floor was covered in mats, the walls were padded up to about head height, and several punching bags were arranged along the back wall.
As soon as they entered a figure that had been viciously attacking one of the punching bags stopped and turned. He was a young man, probably a few years older than Izuku, but much taller and more muscular. His hair was blond and swooped in a deliberate kind of way, and when he faced them Izuku could see that his eyes were beady and blue. He was wearing ordinary workout clothes, but Izuku could see a carrying case for a hero uniform in one corner.
"Izuku Midoriya," Nighteye began, and the older boy's back straightened, "this is Mirio Toogata, the new holder of One for All."
"Midoriya!" Toogata said excitedly, abandoning the punching bag to come over to the doorway where Izuku stood with Nighteye. "It's so nice to finally meet you! I've heard a lot about you from Sir!"
He held out a hand, and Izuku took it. Toogata looked strangely familiar, though Izuku was sure they hadn't met. Where had he seen him before . . .
"Oh I know you!" Izuku said suddenly, making Toogata blink. "I saw you in the sports festival on TV last year!"
"Yeah," Toogata's other hand came up to rub at the back of his neck. "I made quite an impression, didn't I?"
"You did," Izuku admitted. Toogata certainly had made an impression, what with loosing his clothes several times throughout the festival.
"Midoriya is the analyst I was telling you about," Nighteye told Toogata. "He's going to help you
figure out how to use One for All safely."
Toogata looked suddenly serious. "You think it can be done?" he asked Izuku nervously.
"We won't know until we try," Izuku said, aiming for optimistic and not sure he hit the mark.
"I'll leave the two of you to it then," Nighteye said, then with a nod to both of them he turned and left the room.
"So!" Toogata said cheerfully once they were alone. "Sir says you're the best analyst he's ever met! I gotta say, I was expecting someone older."
"He seems to see a lot of potential in me," Izuku agreed, walking further into the room and letting his bag fall from his shoulder.
"More than potential," Toogata pressed as Izuku began rooting through his bag for his notebook. "He's been telling me what a great asset you'll be to me when I'm a Pro. He even brought you in on the secret, which is a pretty big deal."
"I mean, I kinda already knew from when All Might offered his quirk to me," Izuku pulled out his notebook and a pen, then dropped his bag by the back wall and sat crossed legged on the floor.
Toogata, however, was giving Izuku a look of wide-eyed surprise when Izuku looked up at him. "He offered it to you?" he asked, clearly shocked.
"Uh, yeah," Izuku looked away, suddenly uncomfortable. Why hadn't Nighteye told Toogata that? Was Izuku supposed to have kept it a secret? "So, uh, tell me about your quirk!"
"Um," Toogata looked down at his fist, blinking as though trying to clear his head. "It's basically the same as All Might's, but-"
"No no," Izuku shook his head, opening his notebook to a fresh page. "I mean your other quirk. The one you had before."
"Oh!" Toogata exclaimed, then smiled a little, seeming to have been put more at ease. "Yeah, it's called Permeation. I can phase any part of my body through solid matter. Watch-"
Toogata held out an arm, then swiped it straight through the punching bag. The bag didn't move, as though he hadn't even touched it.
"Cool!" Izuku said, already beginning to write. "I guess it works on clothes too? Since you lost yours before, I guess if you go intangible they just kinda fall off. What happens if you make your whole body intangible?"
"I fall through the floor," Toogata laughed. "I pop right back up again when I turn my quirk off, thankfully I don't get stuck in things, but if I use my quirk on my whole body I can't see or even breathe, since light and air pass right through me."
"Wow," Izuku mumbled, scribbling down his thoughts. A theory was already beginning to form in his mind. "So I guess you don't use your quirk on your whole body a lot, right?"
"Yeah," Toogata admitted. "I have to be pretty careful about it, or I'll end up in my birthday suit on live TV!"
Toogata laughed, and Izuku permitted himself a small chuckle. Then Toogata came around behind
Izuku, leaning down to look at his notebook.
"Whatcha writing?" he asked, then a second later made a noise of confusion. "Woah! Is that Japanese?"
"It's a code I worked out," Izuku told him, still writing. "I'd never really thought about the notes I took being sensitive information until the heroes told me how useful they were. After I joined the hero course I started writing all my notebooks in code, so if a villain gets them they can't read them."
"Smart," Toogata noted. "What about your old notebooks?"
"I told Mic-sensei he could keep them," Izuku said, then set his notebook aside. "Ready to start figuring this out?"
"I'm in your hands," Toogata said, without a hint of reservation.
"Good," Izuku said, then stood up and went to stand beside one of the punching bags. "I want you to hit this as hard as you can."
"Like, with All Might's quirk?" Toogata said, looking suddenly nervous.
"As hard as you can," Izuku repeated. "Put all your power into it, don't hold anything back."
"Did Sir tell you what happens when I don't hold back?" Toogata asked hesitantly.
"You won't break your arm," Izuku said, giving his best reassuring smile. His Dekiru smile? "Just hit the bag."
Toogata looked dubious for a second longer, then turned his attention to the punching bag. With face set and determined he drew back a hand, and as Izuku watched large glowing veins appeared all up and down his arm. Quickly Izuku checked his other arm and legs, but there was no change in any of them, and then Toogata's fist was flying toward the punching bag.
Izuku waited until the last possible second, then darted forward. He slid sideways in front of Toogata, between him and the punching bag and directly in the way of the swing. Toogata's eyes went wide, but it was too late to abort the punch, and his fist hit Izuku hard in the chest. Izuku went flying backward, feet sliding along the mat, until his back hit the padded wall. He crumpled to the ground, wheezing from having the breath literally punched out of him. His back hurt, his chest ached, the room was spinning around him, but the pain wasn't unbearable.
"Midoriya!" Toogata yelled, and in the next instant his face filled Izuku's vision. "Are you OK? Are you hurt? What the hell was that!?"
"I'm fine," Izuku coughed. "Nothing's broken."
"Are you sure?" Toogata pressed, prodding painfully at Izuku's chest. "Do you need Recovery Girl?"
"Do you?" Izuku asked, grinning.
Toogata paused, then looked down at his arm. The room took a few more seconds to stop tilting strangely, but by the time Izuku could see clearly Toogata was still staring. His arm was completely undamaged.
"How did that feel?" Izuku asked, voice still a little hoarse.
"Weird?" Toogata said shakily. "Why did you jump in the way of the smash? How did you know that would happen?"
"I figured if this power could be controlled, then you would do it if you thought someone's life was on the line," Izuku said. He leaned against the wall and began to pick himself up. "What did it feel like when the hit connected?"
"That's really dangerous Midoriya," Toogata said anxiously, then looked back at his hand. "And . . . I don't know. It felt kinda there was some kind of backlash? Like the recoil from a gunshot. For a second I felt the quirk in my whole body."
"I thought so," Izuku said, stumbling a little but standing upright. "OK, next experiment-" "I think you should take a breather!" Toogata protested, standing up and reaching for Izuku.
"We should do it now, while that feeling is fresh in your mind," Izuku said, shaking his head and swatting away Toogata's hovering hands. "I want you to channel the quirk through your whole body, like if you were trying to fall through the floor. Before you were just channeling it through one limb, like you do with your other quirk, but this time I want you to put your whole body into it."
"What do I hit?" Toogata asked, perplexed.
"Nothing," Izuku shook his head. "Just . . . turn it on and let it rest."
Toogata eyed Izuku warily, as though unsure whether he should be objecting or not. Then he left Izuku leaning against the wall and walked over to the middle of the room. He took a deep breath, then clenched both fists. Immediately the glowing veins began to appear, not just on one arm by all over his body. They snaked over all of his limbs, two of them crisscrossing over his face, until suddenly they faded and were replaced by a strange blue lightning. It crackled along Toogata's body, making the air around him swirl, and he gasped and stopped whatever he was doing in surprise.
"What was that?!" he puffed, breathing hard.
"That was a breakthrough!" Izuku chirped happily, diving for his notebook again. "Try and hit the punching bag again! Ooh, what do you think of calling this version Full Cowl?"
"No more punching!" Toogata said firmly. "Midoriya are you sure you're not hurt? I hit you really hard-"
"It's fine," Izuku said, scribbling madly with one hand and waving away Toogata's concerns with the other. "I'm fine, really. The experiment went exactly like I expected it to."
"If you suspected all I'd have to do was channel it through more than just one limb at a time, why didn't you start with that?" Toogata demanded.
"If I was wrong you would have broken your whole body," Izuku pointed out, still writing.
"And if you were wrong with that experiment I would have broken your whole body!" Toogata shouted.
"Better mine than yours," Izuku said with a shrug.
The was silence for a few moments as Izuku continued to scribble down notes. He paused a few times, wondering how best to describe things, and by the time he was finished the room had been quiet for a while. When Izuku closed his pen in his notebook and looked up, Toogata was looking at him with an expression of deep concern.
"That attitude is really troubling Midoriya," he said softly.
"Not really," Izuku fidgeted uncomfortably. He didn't see why Toogata should be so hung up over this.
"It is," Toogata insisted. "I'm going to tell Sir, and I want you to promise me you won't do anything that dangerous again."
"We're heroes," Izuku pointed out. "Danger's kinda part of the job."
"Which is why we shouldn't seek it out when we don't need to!" Toogata said impatiently, then took a deep breath, quieting again. "Please just promise to be more careful with your life, OK? Your analysis quirk is really impressive, but please don't let it make you reckless."
Izuku blinked at him. "Analysis quirk?"
"Or whatever kind of quirk it is," Toogata said pleadingly. "Whether its intelligence or perception or what have you, it can always-"
"Toogata," Izuku interrupted, "I don't have a quirk."
Toogata's mouth fell open. He stared at Izuku, stunned into silence, and Izuku felt his shoulders hunch without permission. It had all been going so well. He'd actually managed to forget for a moment, just a moments, why he was different from every other hero student. Yet here again was the reminder of what set him apart, the deficiency that would mark him his whole career. Had Toogata only listened to him because Nighteye had lied? Would he dismiss the progress they'd made because they had made it with Izuku's limited human intelligence? What would he-
"And you turned All Might down?" Toogata asked, in a small voice.
Izuku blinked at him again. That was not the question he'd been expecting. "Yes?" "Wow," Toogata said, then looked at the floor. "That's really brave."
"I don't know why everyone keeps calling me brave," Izuku said honestly, remembering the USJ attack and how remarkable everyone had found his actions there. "I'm just doing what I think I need to do."
Toogata exhaled sharply, almost like a laugh, and a small smile found its way onto his face as he looked back up at Izuku. "I guess so," he said, then frowned. "But I'm still telling Sir about you making me punch you."
Mirio was not unconscious of all that Sir had done for him.
Sir had taken him in for work study, had requested him even, when his agency had run perfectly smoothly before and he had no need of Mirio's presence. Sir had taken him from a mediocre hero student to the best and most promising hero hopeful in his year. Sir had persuaded All Might to give Mirio his quirk, making him the successor to the Number One Hero and singling him out as
the next Symbol of Peace.
Midoriya, on the surface, had seemed yet another thing for which he could be grateful to Sir. Another connection, another resource, another door that Sir had opened for him. He could tell that Sir was feeling guilty for the damage All Might's quirk was doing to Mirio's body, and Mirio was determined to take what he was given and prove that he could handle it. Midoriya was just supposed to be a way of doing that.
Midoriya was nothing like Mirio had expected though. He was younger than Mirio for one, a first year student and already so accomplished. He had no quirk, yet was still intending to be a hero, which blew Mirio's mind. He was so confident in his own skill, and rightly so from what Mirio could see, that he hadn't even wanted All Might's quirk, something which Mirio couldn't have agree to take on fast enough. Despite all this though, he was reckless, careless with his own life in a way that deeply troubled Mirio.
Mirio couldn't help but look up to Midoriya. He also couldn't help but want to protect Midoriya. It was confusing.
Sir hadn't seemed one bit surprised, or one bit concerned, when Mirio told him about the stunt Midoriya had pulled. He had seen Mirio's discomfort though, and had agreed to observe the rest of the day's training. By the end of the day Mirio had hit every punching bag in the training room off its chain, but not broken any of them, or either of his arms. Midoriya also had some ideas about techniques for increased mobility, but they would need a different setting to test those out. Mirio and Midoriya made plans to meet up at school for additional training, and Sir consented to call it quits only in the late afternoon.
"You should get to the conference room and reassure your supervisor," Sir suggested as they made their way back to the floor with the offices. "At last check he was tearing his hair out, so I don't imagine he has much left by now."
Midoriya looked at Sir in apparent bafflement, but Mirio chuckled. Clearly Midoriya wasn't used to Sir's sense of humor yet. Not many people were under the impression Sir Nighteye had a sense of humor.
After a moment Midoriya cleared his throat. "Uh, Sir?" he asked tentatively. "Can you come with me? I have something that I'd like to propose, and I'd like your input on the idea."
Sir gave Midoriya an amused smile. Not quite a laugh, but close enough that Mirio could see that Sir really respected Midoriya. Midoriya didn't seem to realize that meant 'yes,' so Mirio chimed in to reassure him.
"Can I come too?" he asked brightly. "I have a feeling I've got a lot to learn from watching you Midoriya!"
Midoriya blushed, but stammered out an agreement.
Present Mic stood up when they opened the door to the conference room. He'd been typing something on his phone, but he slipped it into his pocket to give Midoriya, Sir and Mirio his full attention. He didn't seem like he'd been tearing his hair out, in fact he seemed perfectly relaxed as he grinned down at Midoriya.
"Hey there 'lil listener!" he said cheerfully. "Got your final take on everything here?"
"Yeah, I have," Midoriya said, smiling so that the cute little heart on his cheek crinkled a little. It
was adorable. "Before we leave though, there's something I wanted to pitch to you. About how to spend the rest of my internship."
"Oh?" Mic prompted, with casual interest.
Midoriya glanced up at Sir, then looked determinedly back at Mic.
"I want us to leak to the press that you'll be working in Hosu this week," Midoriya said resolutely. "I want you, a flashy hero with a prominent gimmick, to advertise that you'll be in the area where Ingenium was just attacked. I want us to set a trap for the Hero Killer."