Chapter 30: Going Back to Quirk
"So, I think it's obvious by now that, barring the I-Expo and the summer camp, we're not letting you off campus without a Hero within five meters of you until you have your provisional license," Nezu stated.
"I figured as much," Izuku said. "And both those events will be supervised by pro Heroes, so that's not exactly out of the ordinary…"
"Indeed," Nezu stated. "If I hadn't done the tests myself, I would question whether you or One for All possess a Quirk that attracts danger."
"At this point, I wouldn't be surprised," Izuku grumbled.
"I'm glad that you and Kodai-san are both safe. While I wish you hadn't thrown yourselves into danger, I must admit that, given the situation, there were no good options," Nezu said, frowning.
"Mom and All Might are currently planning on making Snipe some chili to thank him for damaging Tomura like that," Izuku replied. "I'm a little surprised, because I thought that Homing wasn't that accurate, so being able to shoot off Tomura's finger as opposed to his palm or simply his center of mass is impressive. I wonder how much of it was guided by his Quirk and how much was pure skill. I suppose that my mentioning that it was a Quirk with a five-point touch-based activation when Tomura broke in with the press prioritized crippling him in such a manner. He had it reattached, but evidently, that led to his Quirk failing him. Though, given his surprise, I think we can assume that Decay still works with that hand, just with a chance of failure, rather than being utterly unusable in that hand…"
"Not to mention that if he had used his left hand instead, this conversation would be very different, if we could have it at all," Nezu interrupted Izuku's mutter-storm.
"I still can't believe how the police seemed angrier at us for possible unlicensed Quirk usage than they were at the fact that a villain tried to kill someone," Izuku said. "They almost carted off Nejire-chan even when she pulled out her provisional license…"
"I would suggest that they were frustrated by the situation in general and were hoping to catch any possible wrongdoers," Nezu stated. "The Quirk usage and vigilantism laws are in dire need of upgrading, but to do so would inevitably cause the Hero Public Safety Commission to relinquish some of their authority in the matter."
Izuku considered that, "So, basically, when hell freezes over."
"Or All for One declares war on Japan," Nezu replied. "Perhaps not even then."
"Any chance they'll be overthrown by a sentient coatimundi before then?" Izuku asked.
"Really, Midoriya? You returned to the order Carnivora? After all this time?" Nezu asked with some disdain. "I'm disappointed in you. Though I suppose I can give you some credit, as I've only had one person suggest a member of the Procyonidae family, and they guessed the kinkajou."
"I wanted to confirm that there wasn't a double-bluff involved," Izuku shrugged.
Nezu looked mollified by that, "I recommend seeing Hound Dog before the I-Expo. Not immediately, but once the shock wears off."
"I will if I can get any of my friends or girlfriends to let me out of their grasp," Izuku said.
"They allowed you in here, did they not?" Nezu asked.
Izuku gave Nezu an incredulous look.
"I was planning on acknowledging Hagakure-san's presence as you were leaving, out of courtesy," Nezu explained.
There was a huff from the empty space behind Izuku's chair, "You should have let me know sooner!" Toru shouted.
"I wanted to impress upon you that you will not always be aware when someone is able to detect you," Nezu stated. "You will need to identify their tells."
"Yes, sir," Toru said, audibly slumping.
"Now, beyond that, I believe you should have two new Quirks available with your report that the bonds are now all at Stage 2 at minimum?" Nezu asked with a gleam in his eyes.
"Yes, but I'm waiting until we can get to observe them properly," Izuku explained. "I want to make sure we can do this safely. Particularly with Laser Disc. That Quirk's been marinating in One for All for a while now and I don't know how reliable Ryouji-ji-san's estimations of its power are. I'd rather not hurt anyone with it by accident."
"True enough, kid, but still hurtful," Ryouji grumbled.
Who snubbed me for months? Izuku asked.
"Touche," Ryouji admitted.
"Admirable," Nezu said, taking a sip of tea. "Meet us at Gym Lambda at 0900, if you would. We'll have two guests there as well."
"Given that Detective Tsukauchi escorted us home and saw that All Might was rewound, I'm guessing that'd be Nighteye and Gran Torino?" Izuku asked.
"Indeed," Nezu nodded. "The last two people aware of All Might's true form who need to know of the change. If you have no other questions, I'll let you return to your loved ones."
"I do have one question," Izuku stated, walking up and taking three black cloth bags out of his pocket. "Which of these smells more like home to you?"
Nezu's eyes widened. He inhaled the scent of each bag in turn. Before he could answer, Izuku stated, "Your ear twitched on the second one. You do that when you first have a drink of tea, or whenever I struggle with one of your scenarios."
"Ah, I've given myself away," Nezu said sadly. "I suppose I might have to work on that."
"Luckily, Momo-chan was able to import these wood samples. I wasn't expecting the Japanese cherry to work, but that was my control. Eliminating the Brazilian ceiba was what I wanted. Looks like you're not a yapok," Izuku said.
"The water opossum," Nezu said proudly. "A splendid guess."
"Which means, due to your response to the eucalyptus, you're a carnivorous Australian marsupial instead of one of the few American species…" Izuku grinned.
"I swear, if Yagi hadn't picked you as his successor…" Nezu shook his head, grinning widely.
"You say that as though you're not actively trying to poach me," Izuku said.
Nezu laughed, "Oh, young man. Don't you see? I already have ."
"Okay, the bed absolutely grows to fit the number of people on it," Izuku stated the next morning in the telepathic group chat as he walked to the gym.
"Yu-senpai told me technology like that is worth billions of yen," Yui stated.
"How can Nezu afford that?!" Ochako asked.
"I asked my parents once how Nezu deals with that. They'd apparently once tasked their best forensic accountant to figure out his finances and his report merely consisted of the sentence, 'You don't want to know,'" Momo contributed.
"Ribbit, why is he spending it on Izu-chan, then?" Tsu asked.
"Pretty sure it's because he's the teacher's pet," Toru teased.
"Come on Toru-chan, don't-" Izuku began to groan, before he stopped himself. "Wait, no, that actually makes sense. It's not metaphorical. Nezu literally sees me as his pet."
"Does this mean he's not trying to groom you as his right hand man when he inevitably plans world domination? Then again, not mutually exclusive," Nejire added. Thankfully, the bond was encouraging her to slow her thoughts down when communicating with them. For the most part.
At one point the group stumbled into a stream of consciousness conversation between Mei and Nejire. The result was like a mental attack.
"So, how did you like the One for All dream space?" Izuku asked Nejire and Yui, changing the subject.
"It sucked! I had so many questions and I couldn't ask them!" Nejire seemed to pout.
"Didn't stop you from asking them when you woke up," Isamu chimed in, irritated.
"Meh, it wasn't so bad," Yui seemed to shrug. "Not ideal, but not terrible once you're filled in."
"Told ya!" Mei said smugly.
"Yeah, it's unpleasant, but it's easy to handle if you know what you're getting into," Tsu added.
"True, it's not bad if someone gives you advanced warning," Ochako said pointedly at Izuku.
Izuku sighed, "I'm never going to live this down, and I deserve it."
"You absolutely do, it's terrifying," Momo said with a shiver.
"Seriously, how bad was being Quirkless that you could shrug off the feeling of total body paralysis to get one?!" Toru cried out.
"Apparently worse here in Japan, because I would've thought twice about it…" Melissa interjected. "I mean, I still would've taken it, but I wouldn't do it immediately."
"To be fair to young Izuku, I had no idea this was a possibility either," All Might added. "Though I had a much better experience, given that I merely possessed the incomplete vestige that was already present within One for All…"
"Speaking of, are any of you going to be joining us for today's training?" Izuku asked.
"Sadly, I will need to appear in court," Momo stated. "Today is the trial of that fiend Mineta and his family. Their lawyers did what they could, but we need to crush them. Most of 1-A's girls are coming along for moral support."
"Also because Kendo-san and Tokage-san have to get a cake for Thirteen," Ochako added. "As an apology for traumatizing her during the final exams."
"That seems like an odd occasion for cake," Izuku joked.
"At the rate we're going, I may need to hire a patissier that caters specifically for that purpose," Momo said.
"I've never been so annoyed," Isamu grumbled.
"Suck it up, buttercup," Ryouji retorted.
"Five minutes. He figured out my Quirk in five minutes, and only overshot once," Isamu continued to gripe. "Do you know how many walls I ran into when I first got it?"
Sorry, Isamu-ji-san, Izuku apologized. I think that training with One for All gave me more experience with how to use a Quirk like Fa Jin. The activation and requirements aren't the same, but the effect is similar enough. Plus, you know, I'm not four years old?
Isamu just fumed, but Izuku could sense that the frustration didn't really have any heat behind it. Ryouji, meanwhile, laughed. "All right kid, moment of truth now. Let's figure out how Laser Disc improved for you."
Remind me again, what were the effects upon impact? Izuku asked.
"I could choose between the disc slicing through a target or exploding into a blast of concussive force," Ryouji said. "Default was somewhere in between."
Out loud, Izuku said, "I'm going to begin trying out Laser Disc. Let's start with the bare minimum!" to Nezu, Recovery Girl, and Eraserhead. His mother and Eri were off to the side, and All Might, Nighteye, and Gran Torino were currently observing in a nearby room.
"Still pissed at that jackass," Ryouji said as Izuku thought about Sir Nighteye.
Me too, to be honest, Izuku replied. Still, it's not a bad idea to have him in the loop. He approached the line. The paper target was 25 meters away. He summoned a yen-sized coin between his index and middle fingers. He aimed it at the center of mass.
He blasted through it with ease.
He gulped at the implications, "That looks a lot like a gunshot."
"Indeed," Nezu stated. "We'll need to get the ballistic gel dummies out to test the effects. For now, let's focus on learning more about the technique before we get to the safety concerns."
"Of course you care more about the use than the dangers," Recovery Girl grumbled.
"So with the basic Laser Disc, we're looking at an effective range of fifty meters," Izuku stated as he rested an hour after the tests began. "Up to seventy-five meters, it's still usable but the accuracy is reduced. Beyond that, there's little chance of accurate shots without additional training or support gear. It's essentially the same range and power as a handgun. I should ask Snipe for lessons. I can increase the range by adding power via a finger flick or applying Blackwhip, but that requires a lot of precision at the moment, I'll need to train with it before I can do it while in combat.
"I can only produce the discs from my hands, but when producing them, I can instantly create them any size I wish, from the size of a yen coin to thirty centimeters in diameter, and I can increase them to a maximum of a meter in diameter, which takes about thirty seconds of charging. Luckily, if I use Fa Jin to maintain a charge of kinetic energy, I can use that to grow them more quickly. I should try and see if Fa Jin can apply to other Quirks, too. The size doesn't affect the range of the shot, but it does affect the damage done…"
He punctuated this by forming a disc and growing it to a shield's size, "While the discs can easily cut through or otherwise break the testing robots, the ballistic gel dummies tended to receive wounds comparable to rubber bullets, bean bag rounds, or flashbangs. Probably a subconscious effort on my part not to do irreparable harm to actual people. The size changes the area of effect more than anything else. The effect, whether cutting or exploding, was independent of the size. Now, if I were to-"
Danger Sense interrupted his mumbling and he turned to intercept a small old man flying towards him, feet first, at high speeds. The disc flew between Izuku and his assailant, serving as a shield. It blasted the old man backwards as it shattered upon impact. The old man managed to right himself, landing on his feet.
"Hah, nice one, zygote!" the aged gremlin laughed.
"Sorahiko!" Nana cried out.
"So you're Gran Torino!" Izuku said. He bowed, "It's an honor to meet you!" Danger Sense pinged once more and he barely dodged another foot.
"Good work," Gran Torino scoffed. "Better than your classmate, at least."
"So this is why Iida-kun was shaky when he returned from the internships," Izuku said.
"Woulda sent you an internship request myself, but you seemed to have a handle on One for All, number nine," Gran Torino said. Yelping, Izuku looked around, and calmed down when he saw Eraserhead wasn't there.
"I might have gone anyway," Izuku replied. "Nana wanted to thank you for taking care of Toshinori-tou-san…"
The old man's eyes went misty, "Well, what else was I gonna do? She was gone and someone had to smack some sense into her boy's dense skull. And you're calling him your dad? I can't believe it's happening again. Does One for All convince its holders to adopt kids?"
It was at that point Eri walked up to him, "Papa, are you okay?"
Gran Torino looked at Eri, shocked, and then deadpanned, "Apparently, yes."
Laughing nervously at that, Izuku crouched down, "I'm fine, Eri-chan. This is Gran Torino. He's one of the two heroes who trained All Might."
Eri's eyes lit up, "So you're like what Grandpa Might is to Papa? What was that again, a great-grandpa?"
Izuku stammered a bit at that, "Well, um, yes, a grandpa's father is a great-grandpa, but I'm not sure if Torino-san here feels the same way."
"So she's the one who fixed up Toshinori," Gran Torino said, looking at the little girl. From what Nighteye told him, she'd had it rough. Denying her would make him feel like shit. Besides, it was another way to screw around with his former student. "And if you want it, sure, I can be your great-Gran Torino," he said, smiling warmly.
Eri looked at him happily. She ran to Inko and All Might to tell them the news.
Gran Torino chuckled, "She's got a way about her, doesn't she?"
"Yup. She's the one who chose to call me Papa," Izuku said. "I wasn't exactly willing to refuse her."
"Heh. Well, it's a good explanation for Toshinori telling us out of the blue that his granddaughter undid his injury," Gran Torino grinned. "At least now he can take a few more blows."
Izuku looked around, "Is Sir Nighteye still here?"
"He's gone catatonic ever since Toshinori revealed his classic look to us," Gran Torino laughed. "It'll be some time before he recovers."
Izuku nodded. Such a thing probably broke the man's worldview in half.
"So, since Toshinori told me Nana's in there with ya, I got something to say to her," Gran Torino frowned, looking conflicted as he said, not looking directly at Izuku, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't pull you out of there, too. I tried to teach Toshinori as much as I could, but I always felt like it wasn't enough, especially after he fought the big bastard himself… And I wish I hadn't listened to you, that I'd gone after Kotaro myself and kept him safe…"
Izuku felt his eyes well up with tears at that, and started to blush as he said, "Um, I'm quoting her here, just so you know, 'Aww, Sora-kun, I never realized you were such a big softy. You did exactly what I asked you to, and given how the Day of the Marshmallows went, I'd have been surprised if you didn't. You did good by Toshi-kun, though maybe you could have done better with traumatizing him. And Kotaro…'" Izuku held back a sob, "'Kotaro was my mistake. You don't need to beat yourself up over it.'"
Gran Torino did a double take when Izuku mentioned the "Day of the Marshmallows", and by the end of it, he took a deep, calming breath. "Well, I can be sure that was her and not some bullshit cold reading. So, thanks, for that, zygote." He managed to compose himself and turned to Izuku with a feral grin, "So, you've got some new Quirks under your belt, and you've got the hang of how they work… Now, I think you need to test 'em out in combat…"
All Might jerked back in fear as he overheard that. Gulping, he said, "Eri-chan, I think you and Grandma Inko should go to the cafeteria for some lunch."
Okay, how much pain should I be expecting here? Izuku asked.
"All of it," every single vestige, including All Might, replied.
"How did you survive a week with that man, Iida-kun?" Izuku asked Tenya as they ate lunch in the cafeteria. While he had no lingering pain thanks to Recovery Girl, the memory and the exhaustion were palpable.
Tenya shivered, "Sometimes, I wonder if I did. If I learned that everything that has taken place since then has been a dream I've been having as a result of Gran Torino-sensei putting me in a coma, I would believe it."
Izuku chuckled, "Well, existential arguments aside, now I can see why All Might quivers in fear whenever the man is brought up."
"That is an appropriate learned response," Tenya stated. "Sometimes I still feel as though there's a footprint on my face."
Their conversation was interrupted as another friend of theirs approached. "Hey there, Iida-kun, Izuku-nii." Shouto Todoroki took a seat at their table.
"Ah, Todoroki-kun!" Tenya stated, chopping his hand. "How have you been doing?"
"I'm excellent," Shouto replied, with no apparent emotion in his tone or expression. "Particularly once the dormitories were established. Part of me was worried that Endeavor would protest my taking a room here, but I was pleasantly surprised."
Izuku winced slightly, "Nezu hasn't mentioned the investigation at all during our sessions."
"I expect he's trying to make sure his case is ironclad before he goes forward with it," Shouto stated. "Oh, and I never mentioned this, but you were wrong, Izuku-nii."
"About what?" Izuku asked.
"When you said that villains wouldn't listen to my motivations. I mentioned them to Iida-kun when we fought Stain, and that shocked the Hero Killer so much that it allowed me to freeze him solid until Endeavor could get the cuffs on him," Shouto replied. He almost sounded smug.
Izuku's jaw fell as Tenya chopped the air, "You shouldn't casually admit to what was borderline vigilantism, Todoroki-kun!"
"You know, between bonding by fighting a serial killer together and the fact that I don't like the association with my father, I would prefer if you referred to me by my given name, Iida-kun," Shouto replied.
"I would be honored, Shouto-kun. You did aid me in saving Native's life, and I owe you a great deal for that, so I would be happy if you did the same as well," Tenya said earnestly. He then returned to shouting, "But that is besides the point!"
"Shouto-kun," Izuku interrupted. "When I said that, I was just trying to convince you to use your fire. It wasn't a challenge."
"It was still an effective tactic," Shouto insisted.
"There'll be diminishing returns, though, as the rumors spread," Izuku shook his head. "Let's change the subject. How did you do on the final exams?"
"Surprisingly well, considering that All Might was my opponent," Shouto replied. "I was paired with Awase-kun for that. Apparently, I had insulted him earlier in the year and there was some tension at the beginning. We managed to work it out before the fight, though."
"He's the guy with the welding Quirk, yes?" Izuku asked, a notebook manifesting in his hand.
"Correct. Between the two of us, we were able to trap All Might long enough to reach the exit. Awase-kun is rather skilled at creating useful creations and traps on the fly," Shouto said. He began to describe precisely what Awase created, involving rebar, a pane glass window, and a mannequin from one of the downed buildings.
"That's incredible!" Izuku responded. "How did the rest of your class do?"
"Most of us passed," Shouto replied. "But a few did not. Sato and Aoyama lost against Cementoss. While Tsuburaba managed to secure a win against Midnight, Sero failed. A similar fate befell Monoma, who failed against Eraserhead while Fukidashi succeeded. More of us may have failed if not for Fuki-kun. He gave us all a huge boost before the exams. Monoma-kun returned the favor, but it seems that doubling up on his Pep Talks produced diminishing returns for the rest of us. Still, it helped immensely."
Izuku smiled, but then he realized, "Monoma's probably not happy that everyone from 1-A passed, I assume?"
Shouto shook his head, "He's been doing somewhat poorly anyway, ever since his Internship. Apparently, Best Jeanist was more concerned with fixing his attitude than anything else."
Izuku winced, "Yeah, I can empathize with disappointing Internships…"
Shouto and Tenya were both taken aback.
"I was under the impression that you did well under Sir Nighteye!" Tenya said, shocked. "What with your takedown of that Yakuza boss and rescuing Eri-chan."
"It turned out well enough in the end, but, well…" Izuku scratched the back of his head. "Nighteye offered me an Internship with the intent of trying to one-up All Might over an argument they had previously. He was convinced to do the right thing in the end, and he helped me a great deal, but that kind of soured the whole affair."
Tenya looked shocked. Shouto looked thoughtful, "Perhaps you should have taken Endeavor's offer after all. He was rather subdued and pensive during my time with him. I was expecting him to be furious with my performance, but if he was, he was good at hiding it. Better than he ever had been. And my older sister tells me that the trend has continued since then. I'm honestly baffled."
"Hmm, that may have been a better option," Izuku nodded. "Still, being there let me get Eri out of the absolute Hell she was experiencing, so all in all, I'd do it again in a heartbeat."
"Speaking of, why do you let her call you Dad when you shot me down when I tried?" Shouto asked. Despite the ridiculous question, nothing in his tone could indicate that he was joking.
"Mostly because she's about six years old," Izuku settled on saying.
"Ah. Yes, I suppose that would make it a bit more acceptable," Shouto nodded.
"Okay, is he actually this socially unaware, or is he playing a big joke on us?" Daigoro asked.
"It's pretty damn funny either way," En stated.
The remaining days until the I-Expo were uneventful.
The only truly interesting event was the celebration party when the girls returned to the dorm after the court hearing. The verdict against the Mineta family had been swift and comprehensive. In addition to the former U.A. student's actions, his various family members had been convicted of various crimes, from obstruction of justice to embezzlement to, in one bizarre incident, wildlife trafficking.
The days preparing for the expo went quickly, but Izuku got this odd feeling of distance from his girlfriends. Which was summed up in one question when he landed on I-Island…
"Papa? Why did my Mamas take a different plane than us?" Eri asked.
Izuku smiled, "Sometimes, it's good for people to have some time to themselves. I've been around your Mamas a lot ever since we moved into the Heights Alliance, and they wanted to have some time to themselves, and I wanted to spend some time with you, my mom, and All Might. So, we took All Might's plane while your Mamas took Mama Momo's family plane."
At least, I hope that's all there is to it, Izuku worried internally.
"You're fine," Hikage stated. "Probably. I don't have much experience here, but I do know how anxiety manifests, and this seems more like that than any sort of red flags."
"I've got a little more experience than most of these knuckleheads, Izuku, and you're doing all right," Nana reassured.
Do any of you know if they're planning something? Izuku asked.
"Buddy, we're as out of the loop as you are," Ryouji stated. " If any of us does know, we're respecting their privacy, and while some of us have guesses as to their plans, we're not saying shit."
Izuku couldn't fault that. If it was a problem, the bond would probably make it known, and if it wasn't, they wouldn't want him to intrude on their plans. Though, was he relying on the bond too much? He didn't know if it could fail on him in some way, and he didn't want to-
"You're spiraling," En interjected. "This isn't something to worry about."
Thanks, Izuku replied, keeping his composure.
Luckily, Inko took over and managed to distract him further by saying, "Izuku, why don't you tell Eri-chan about I-Island?"
Izuku did. Luckily, both his mom and All Might only had to nudge him out of mumbling twice, allowing Eri to follow along with him. Combined with the advanced tech used to scan them in, they were finished going through customs just as he finished telling the one-horned girl about the history of the manmade island.
And, to their delight, a familiar face was waiting for them, as Eri cried out excitedly, "Mama Melissa!" and dashed forward to the blonde girl, who swept the child up in a big hug, then repeated the same to Izuku.
Izuku's face became completely red, but at least the affection stopped some of his worries in their tracks.
"We got here about half an hour ago," Melissa stated. "The others are at the hotel, but I wanted to bring you to see my Dad first! Come on!" She held Eri in one arm while using her free hand to take Izuku's and bring him along.
Inko struggled not to cry as her son was being dragged off, "It's so nice to see them like this…"
"I know," All Might said proudly. "They've had to deal with so much as of late. It's wonderful to see them relaxed and acting their age. And to think I was worried about his lady friends seeming distant lately…"
Inko blinked, "You don't know? Didn't Izuku tell you?"
"Tell me what?" All Might asked, genuinely confused.
"Izuku's birthday is tomorrow," Inko said. She frowned, "I suppose he's used to not telling people. Our celebrations became… subdued… as years went by."
All Might was taken aback, "Ah, yes. Young Izuku failed to inform me. If I had to guess, I suppose he felt that my training was enough of a gift to last a lifetime!" he said, his smile somewhat forced.
"I made absolutely sure to tell them, though…" Inko said conspiratorially.
All Might chuckled. That explained everything. A surprise was coming their way. And, unlike the rest of this school year, this was sure to be a pleasant one.