Chapter 8: Daedalus' Commander and Icarus

Shouta walked into the principal's office with his husband by his side. He sighed as he sat on one of the couches, tea and coffee waiting for them on the small table. Nedzu was on his computer typing something, so they didn't bother him as they served themselves drinks.

After Shouta's third cup of coffee, a new pot now steeping, Nedzu sighed and brought his laptop over to the couches.

"What was that about?" Hizashi asked, just finishing his first cup of tea.

"It seems that the Commission wants to question me in regards to the Midoriya case," Nedzu said, pouring himself and Hizashi another cup of tea. "They want me to come in as soon as school is over today."

"Why the hell do they want to question you?" Shouta asked, leaning forward on the couch.

"I would assume that Midoriya must have dropped some information in an attempt to get more counter evidence," Nedzu said before taking a sip of tea. "Truly intellectual on his part."

"Will they actually take it as that, though?" Hizashi asked.

Shouta nodded. "I must agree. They took him in with practically zero evidence. None of it was valid at all."

Nedzu sighed. "You both have a point. Unfortunately for Midoriya, I don't think that anything I can say or offer to the Commission will have them letting him free. Yet, I solemnly swear that I will get him out of their hands." Nedzu's eyes took on a cold look, making them more beady than usual.

Shouta nodded. "He doesn't deserve anything that's happening to him. I want to know who ransacked his room and what happened to that notebook."

"I will try and find out as much information as possible when I'm there," Nedzu said. "This whole situation is rather suspicious in the blaming of Midoriya in the first place."

"He doesn't seem like a likely student to be a traitor in any of his actions or words," Hizashi added. "The only thing that might be suspicious is getting new quirks, but it's not like he's able to just go talk to All for One since he's in Tartarus."

"Speaking of his quirk, I believe it is time that you both get more information on it, which is why I called both of you here," Nedzu said, clasping his paws in his lap.

"Not that I'm upset or anything, but why was I chosen to know more about his quirk?" Hizashi asked. Shouta couldn't help his smirk as he felt he already knew the answer.

"Given that you are Aizawa's husband, Yamada, I have a feeling you would come to know about the quirk anyways," Nedzu explained. Shouta nodded, confirming that he knew the answer. "Anyways, Midoriya's quirk is one that might be difficult to comprehend, but please bear with me and know that I am not telling any lies."

"It would be illogical for you to lie about such an important factor to our current case at such a dire time," Shouta said, leaning forward to refill his cup of coffee before sitting back again.

Nedzu nodded. "Thank you, Aizawa. Now, Midoriya's quirk wasn't always his own." Nedzu shook his head and took a sip of tea. "No, that's not where I should start. While that is important to know, let me actually start at the beginning. The quirk is called One for All, created by All for One."

"What?" Hizashi screeched, just barely not activating his quirk.

Shouta grabbed his husband's hand. "Let him tell the story, 'Zashi. We can ask questions after."

Nedzu nodded. "While One for All was created by All for One, it's not truly what was supposed to happen. All for One's brother was supposedly quirkless and very ill. This was over 200 years ago, before the Quirk Wars. Either way, All for One was trying to protect his brother in some twisted way by forcing a stockpiling quirk. It did help him for a while as well, but what neither of them realized is that the brother already had a quirk. Some sort of inheritance quirk that allowed the user to pass down their quirk. A match to All for One's ability to take and give away quirks.

The brother escaped All for One and passed down the quirk. In passing down the quirk, his illness caught up to him and he died. In turn, this quirk has been getting passed down throughout the years with All for One targeting each user and each user being pushed to try and finally kill All for One. Toshinori was the eighth user and Midoriya is the ninth. It is my theory that the quirk that was forced onto the brother in the beginning, stockpiling, was not only stockpiling strength, but perhaps something else. Like the past user's quirks.

I have been in contact with Gran Torino, a past teacher here, as well as Midoriya's Internship supervisor. As we know, he was Toshinori's homeroom teacher when he studied here, and as I know, he was also good friends with the user before Toshinori, Nana Shimura. Together, we have compiled information on each of the user's and have gained knowledge of their quirks. This further proves my theory, the quirks that Midoriya has been manifesting lines up with some of the quirks of the past users. That's about all I know," Nedzu finished. He sat back to sip from his tea.

Shouta stared at the principal, trying to process all the information that was just thrown at him and a glance to the side showed Hizashi to be sitting there gaping as he also stared at the principal. He sighed, knowing that Hizashi would take a while to fully come back to awareness. "What was Midoriya's quirk status before he gained One for All?"

Nedzu's ears twitched in a motion that Shouta knew was excitement. "Good question!" Shouta couldn't help but preen a bit, remembering his own days as a student when Nedzu was his teacher. "Midoriya was in fact quirkless when he was born, he even still has the toe joint in his pinkie toes."

"Why did Yagi choose Midoriya?" Hizashi whispered. "He's just a child and Yagi brought him into a multi-generational blood feud."

Nedzu hummed. "Toshinori never did tell me the full reasoning as to why he chose Midoriya or even how they met. All I know is that somehow Midoriya encouraged the hero to act in a hostage situation and they trained during the break between school years. Toshinori only passed on the quirk on the day of the entrance exam as he didn't believe Midoriya to be ready for it before then."

"He's only had a quirk since the entrance exam?" Shouta asked, eyes flaring red at all the implications that left. "Why didn't anyone inform me of this? He needs quirk counseling."

"Yes, there were many mistakes that I made on my end," Nedzu nodded, his ears flattening. "I chose to follow Toshinori's thinking in the need to keep the quirk a secret, and in that, I failed to protect one of my student's."

Shouta sighed at the answer and turned to Hizashi who had silent tears tracking down his face. He gave his husband's hand a silent squeeze, glad that he got one in turn.

"How can we help Midoriya now?" Hizashi asked, moving the conversation past his quirk.

"Well, we have one ace up our sleeve, but unfortunately he's out of the area currently," Nedzu admitted.

"Tsukauchi?" Shouta asked.

"Indeed," Nedzu answered. "He's currently working on another case, but I've been able to get in touch with him and he knows that we need his assistance as soon as he gets back."

"How is the detective our ace?" Hizashi asked, wiping away his tears.

"Fortunately for us, he already knows about One for All from working so closely with Toshinori," Nedzu explained. "That, paired with his quirk, means that it will be impossible for the Commission to keep Midoriya locked up once we bring him in to question our student."

Shouta hummed. "Is there anything that we can do in the meantime? Some of my students, regrettably, do not care about the protocols and procedures. They are about to take flight and get their friend back at whatever cost."

Nedzu nodded. "I believe I know exactly which students you are thinking of. We will have to find a way to keep them in line for just a bit longer. But, for now," Nedzu said, the bell ringing on his last word. "I believe it is time for me to head out to the Commission office." Nedzu stood and took his last sip of tea before placing his cup on the tray, Shouta and Hizashi following suit. "I will inform you of how the meeting goes as soon as it's over."

Shouta nodded. "Alright, then we'll talk more later. Give them hell."

Hizashi grabbed onto Shouta's hand once more as they left the office and walked towards the teacher's lounge to gather their stuff before heading to their shared dorm.

"So, he never left the school at night on his own and you're in the process of learning more about his quirk before updating it in the systems?" Tanaka asked.

Nedzu nodded, carefully masking his emotions. "Indeed. I have already sent all of the footage to the investigators on the case. As for his quirk, he was a late bloomer and so there is still much we have yet to learn about it."

Tanaka hummed, writing something down on his pad of paper. "So, your theory is that he is not the traitor?"

"I know for a fact, Tanaka, that my student you hold in custody is by no means the UA traitor," Nedzu said, barely stopping himself from growling at the man.

"Whether you believe it as a fact or not is of no concern to the HPSC," Tanaka said, waving his hand dismissively. "We will take all that you've said into consideration, but we will still be keeping him for more interrogation efforts."

"May I talk to him?" Nedzu asked. "All Might asked me to give him a message after their last meeting."

Tanaka wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Usually we wouldn't permit any such interactions, but given that All Might is involved, I guess we can make an exception. You will have five minutes with the kid."

Nedzu bowed his head. "Thank you, Tanaka. I very much appreciate that."

Tanaka shook his head as he stood from the table. "Follow me."

Nedzu jumped down from his chair and trotted after the man, following him through a maze of hallways until they finally came to a stop in front of a gray door. Tanaka opened the door to allow Nedzu in, and as soon as he'd stepped through, Tanaka shut the door again.

Nedzu took stock of the room, noticing the camera blinking in the corner before turning off. The only actual thing in the room was the metal table and the chair that his student sat in.

Midoriya was fixated on the camera, but Nedzu couldn't tell if he had actually processed it getting turned off or not due to the glossiness of his eyes. He seemed to be dissociating, or otherwise preoccupied.

Nedzu grabbed onto Midoriya's chair, and pulled himself up onto the arm of the chair before hopping up onto the table, turning to face his student as he sat cross-legged. "Midoriya-kun, can you hear me?"

Midoriya's vision immediately snapped to him, locking onto his eyes as his vision cleared. "Principal Nedzu? What are you doing here?"

Nedzu gave his student a soft smile. "I simply came to reassure you that we are doing everything in our power to help you."

Midoriya nodded his head. "Did they bring you in for questioning? I'm sorry if I caused any trouble."

"Not all, child," Nedzu said, reaching forward to rest a hand on Midoriya's shoulder. "It was actually a genius plan."

"How so?" Midoriya asked, tilting his head.

"It gave me an opportunity to meet with you and, according to what I told Tanaka, pass on a message from All Might," Nedzu said, his smile turning into more of a wicked smirk. Though, the smirk automatically dropped as his student immediately winced at the mention of his heroics teacher. "Midoriya-kun? Is everything all right?"

"What's the message from Yagi?" Midoriya whispered.

"There isn't one," Nedzu confessed, worried about Midoriya's reaction. "What did he do, child?"

"He wanted One for All back," Midoriya confessed after double checking that the camera was still turned off. "He didn't believe me when I said I wasn't the traitor."

Nedzu couldn't stop the growl that escaped him, his emotions finally getting the better of him. "That idiot," he hissed. "Did you give him the quirk, Midoriya?"

Midoriya shook his head fervently. "No, Sensei. But, well, he thinks that I did. He took one of my hairs and ate it with my permission, but I wasn't giving him permission to have the quirk, if that makes sense."

Nedzu nodded. "It does. How are you feeling?"

Midoriya shrugged. "I haven't really been 'here' the whole time," he said, using air quotes. "The only time I've really responded to them all is at the very beginning, when Yagi came, and then when the last round of officers came, though that was really only an attempt to get you here."

"Where have you been if you weren't mentally present in the room?" Nedzu asked.

"Oh, I've been hanging out with the vestiges mostly," Midoriya admitted. "Before I got arrested, I was working with Toshi to interact with them more fully and it came to the point where we essentially can talk to each other at all times rather than before where it was limited to me sleeping and being brainwashed."

"Have you found the reason for your new quirks, then?" Nedzu asked, eyes lighting up in excitement at the thought of having his theory being proven correct.

Midoriya eyed him suspiciously. "I have a feeling you know the answer already, Sensei."

Nedzu chirped happily. "It is only a theory, but it is pretty sound if I do say so myself. I did have a little help from one of your previous mentors, Gran Torino."

Midoriya hummed. "Well, if that's the case…" Midoriya seemed to check out for a moment before looking back at Nedzu and nodding. "I found out a while ago-"

The door opened, and Midoriya immediately closed his mouth. Tanaka stood in the doorway and Midoriya followed each of his movements closely with his eyes.

"Time's up, Nedzu." The man held the door open expectantly and Nedzu sighed as he stood up.

He hopped from the table onto the arm of the chair once more, but before hopping down, he rested a hand on Midoriya's shoulder. "Don't forget that we're in your corner," he whispered to his student.

Midoriya leaned his head down in an attempt to not let Tanaka notice he was talking. "Talk to Hitoshi. Or any of my recent group. They know the answers you seek," Midoriya whispered back, voice so quiet that if he wasn't speaking directly into Nedzu's ear, he wasn't sure he'd have been able to hear it.

Nedzu gave Midoriya's shoulder one last squeeze, careful to keep his face neutral as he hopped down from the chair and followed Tanaka out the door, back through the maze of hallways, and finally to the entrance of the building. He had some students to talk to and a teacher to fire.