AN: As always, thanks for the reviews and interest!
heartfanglives - someday, All Might will overcome his fear of Gran Torino and call him about recent developments.
SwordOfTheGods - On one hand, Himiko is very protective of her (actual, in her mind) mother. On the other hand, All Might is one of the few people she would grudgingly agree is good enough to meet her standards.
DestructionDragon360 - that would be hilarious. Himiko's got so many people around her that she needs to shove together right now.
Infinity Mask - Hikari's going to try for general studies.
With finals behind them, Izuku found himself packing his bag for the final time that semester, ready for summer break to begin when a familiar group of shadows appeared over his desk.
"So, you gonna come with us to the arcade this time, or do you need to find another sibling?"
Izuku looked up and laughed nervously at Jiro's insinuation. Of course, after the incident with Himiko, his friends wouldn't stop teasing him about how his heroics lessons led to him getting a new sister.
Even though Himiko wasn't technically adopted yet, Izuku knew that it was only a matter of time at this point. Mom loved her almost as much as she loved him at this point, and Izuku was fairly certain that Himiko would literally kill if it meant keeping Inko safe.
"No," Izuku told his friends, "I think I can come to the arcade with you guys this time."
"Good! What about you, Uraraka?"
"I'm ready to kick all of your asses," Ochako cheerily announced as she walked up, causing Izuku to grin. While his friends knew about her competitive streak, they hadn't seen what an unholy terror she was at fighting games.
It was a trait that Uravity didn't have, but Izuku didn't mind. It was uniquely Ochako and was one of the many puzzle pieces he'd assembled in his mind to separate the two girls. In the past four months, he assembled a lot of those pieces and grew more confident that his feelings for Ochako were for her alone and not some lingering emotion for Uravity that he was unfairly transposing on the brown-haired girl.
"Ochako's going to do what to you all now?" Himiko shouted from the doorway as she stepped in and walked over to join the group.
"We're going to the arcade to celebrate the end of the year, you in?" Hikari asked her.
"Sounds great!"
"I know you've told me that I-Island was artificial but seeing it for myself is something else," Inko said as she looked out the window of their private plane.
"It really is impressive," Ochako agreed, looking out the window herself, while across the aisle Himiko tried to catch a glimpse.
"It's built that way on purpose," Izuku explained. "It's a multi-national research facility after all, and everyone has an interest in keeping it neutral and protected. It's likely either the second or third most secure location on the planet."
As Izuku watched Ochako staring out the window in wonder, he smiled. She never had a chance to visit the island for I-Expo the way he did, and he was excited to show her around. He remembered a few locations Melissa had taken him and his classmates and wanted to share them with her.
A few minutes later, their pilot ordered them to fasten their seatbelts so that they could come in for a landing. As they all sat down, Izuku couldn't help but look over at Toshinori. Normally when he visited the island, he was forced to stay in his All Might persona the entire time, but thanks to bringing Inko along, he was going to have to use his other persona, instead. Which meant that they had to trust Toshinori's friend to have him registered properly and that the scanners would differentiate his two forms.
Fortunately, it appeared that whatever David Shield had worked and Toshinori was able to pass through the security checkpoint at the airport without a hitch.
Sighing in relief, the group collected their bags and left the terminal, only to see David Shield and Melissa Shield waiting for them. While David smiled and waved, Melissa looked confused. As they approached, they saw her turn to her father.
"Dad, where's Uncle Might? I thought you said he was coming to visit us?"
"Uncle Might?" Inko asked in confusion, causing Toshinori to begin a coughing fit.
"W-well, it's complicated," David told his daughter.
"Yes, come along and we'll explain everything!" Toshinori quickly said, grabbing Izuku and Ochako's arms and pulling them away with David hot on their heels.
"Sorry about that," David apologized once they were out of earshot, "I didn't want to tell Melissa about your condition."
"What about mom and Himiko?" Izuku asked once he finally regained his composure.
Toshinori wore a guilty look on his face. "I am sure they will be fine! I'm still not ready to explain my condition to Mrs. Midoriya yet, and I'm sure young Himiko can cover for us."
A few minutes later, they heard a pogo stick behind them, and David paused to let his daughter catch up to them; as she landed, she looked at the adults with a sour look. "That was rude! Leaving people behind like that!"
"S-sorry," David said, looking apologetically at his daughter. "This is kind of a sensitive situation."
"I'll text mom," Izuku promised. "She knew we were supposed to have a meeting. I can just say we had to have it sooner than we planned."
Melissa crossed her arms with a frown. "This better be important if you're going through all this trouble."
"Don't worry, it is," Toshinori assured her, "and it will all make sense soon."
Izuku finished sending text messages to Himiko and Inko, and the group resumed in silence to Shield Industries and up to David's lab. Once they were there, David set all the necessary security measures before giving a subtle nod to Toshinori.
"Now then," Toshinori began, turning to Melissa, "to answer your earlier question properly." Toshinori disappeared in a puff of smoke, replaced by his muscular form. "I am here! Sorry for the deception, but it was a necessary one."
Melissa gasped and put her hand over her mouth. "Uncle Might? What- what happened to you? Why were you that- so skeletal!?"
Toshinori laughed uneasily and released his muscular form, returning to his skeletal form. "You see, almost five years ago I fought an ancient villain." He raised his shirt, causing Melissa's eyes to widen even further in shock. "I thought I defeated him, but he left me with permanent damage, destroying one of my lungs and most of my stomach."
Melissa reached out her hand with tears building in her eyes. "Uncle Might…"
Toshinori gave her a comforting smile. "It is ok though. People like your father have done a lot to help me ever since then."
David looked guiltily at his daughter. "Sorry Melissa, I know this is a lot, but you know how important All Might is as the Symbol of Peace in Japan. If word were to get out about his condition…"
Toshinori coughed awkwardly, interrupting David. "Actually, about that. My condition is one of the two major reasons we are here, after all."
David frowned as he looked at Toshinori. "Don't tell me you're feeling weaker again?"
Toshinori sighed. "There is something very important I never told you about my quirk. I want you to run another scan on me, but I will warn you that my quirk factor will show a rather steep drop-off since the last scan. You see, I don't have my quirk anymore." He swept his hand to indicate Izuku and Ochako. "They do."
David's eyes went wide. "What?"
"We should probably sit down for this," Izuku suggested, already moving a chair close to David, while on the other side of the table Ochako had already sat down beside Melissa.
After David took a seat, Izuku rejoined Ochako on the other side of the table, and then Toshinori began. He explained that his quirk, One For All, wasn't originally his quirk but rather a quirk he inherited shortly before moving to America and that it existed for almost 150 years before he received it. That it was a power stockpiling quirk, growing stronger with each generation, building strength to fight the ancient evil of Japan, a man known as All For One. And after forty years, he had finally found people worthy of inheriting the quirk, although due to their unique situation, it was now shared between the two of them.
"He was the one who injured you five years ago, wasn't he?" David asked, matter-of-factly after Toshinori finished his explanation. Rather than wait for an answer, he continued to speak. "Why didn't you ever tell me?" David looked crushed by the revelation. "I-I thought I knew everything about you, all of your secrets! Why did you keep this one from me?"
Toshinori gave him a sad look and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I was doing it to protect you. The fewer people that knew, the better. For the longest time, only one person knew my secret. Then five years ago, I brought a few others into my confidence, those who helped me in my goal of trying to bring down All For One."
"And after- why didn't you tell me then? Wouldn't it have been safe?"
"David, I made a mistake," All Might admitted, "one that I did not know the full ramifications of until recently, and I am truly sorry. I hope you will forgive me."
"Full ramifications?"
"Your Quirk Amplification Device," Izuku interjected, jumping into the conversation.
"H-how do you know about that?" David asked in surprise, turning to Toshinori. "What else aren't you telling me?"
Toshinori chuckled anxiously, "Well, this was a recent development. You see, those two-" Toshinori gestured with his eyes to indicate his successors. "-are actually from the future. One where many mistakes had happened, and we are trying to correct them."
Melissa gasped while David just looked bewildered. Izuku stood up. "Eventually, the head council here deemed your device to be too dangerous and had you put the project on ice. But you were desperate to help All Might, because you saw his power was declining, without him explaining why. So you hired villains to steal the device back for you, which resulted in the worst terrorist incident I-Island had ever seen and almost resulted in both your and Melissa's deaths."
David looked like he was punched in the stomach from the news, his hand on the table the only thing keeping him from falling out of the chair. "I- I've spent the last year of my life working on that device. It's true. I know Toshinori's power has been fading, but to think-"
Toshinori put a hand on David's shoulder. "David, I know you mean well, and that what happened was someone desperate to help his friend. If you are at fault for wanting to help me, then I am just as much at fault for not telling you the whole truth to lead you down a path filled with tragedy. I was so concerned with keeping my secret and taking it to my grave that I never stopped to consider the effects on those who were important to me. But that is why I am here. These children, they have given all of us a second chance, and I would like to make it right before it's too late."
As Toshinori talked with David, Izuku looked over to see Melissa had her face in her hands, her glasses discarded as she cried. Ochako simply rubbed her shoulder while looking helplessly at Izuku, unsure of what to do. Having never met the young scientist, Ochako was out of her element.
Taking the initiative, Izuku knelt in front of Melissa. "Hey, Melissa, have you started working on your full gauntlet yet?"
"Full gauntlet? You know about that?" she asked, looking up at him.
Izuku gave her a gentle smile. "Of course! It was a wonderful support device and helped me a lot! I um, may have destroyed it though? And before I was sent back in time, I was actually waiting for you to build me a replacement one!"
"I-I don't have it finished, it's just in the design stages still…" she said, but the distraction seemed to be working as her tears slowed.
"How about your other support gear for All Might? I know that was your biggest project, but what about the other gear you were developing to help him?"
"M-mostly all in the theoretical stages," she admitted, "why?"
"We can't wield One For All at its full strength like All Might can," Izuku elaborated, "without hurting ourselves. Maybe we could use some of your support gear to help? Until our bodies grow stronger, that is. Like your full gauntlet! It lets me use a lot more power than I normally could."
Melissa stared at Izuku and then looked at Ochako, who both offered supporting smiles. "Maybe. I'd have to adapt the designs for your smaller physique, but…"
"Can we go to your lab to talk about it?" Ochako asked, picking up where Izuku was going with this. "I think your dad and All Might would prefer privacy."
The three looked across the table and saw Toshinori and David locked in a serious conversation before facing each other again. Melissa nodded. "Yes, let's do that."
As they exited the lab, Melissa went to what looked like a pencil holder and retrieved two small rods from it before leading the pair out of the building. Once outside she pressed a button on each rod, and they both expanded into powered pogo sticks before she pulled another one out of her pocket to activate it.
"One of my favorite inventions I made with my dad," she confessed. "It's a fun way to travel around the island, and it's much faster than walking!"
"Well, lead the way!" Izuku encouraged as he and Ochako mounted their pogo sticks.
Once they reached Melissa's lab at the Academy, they settled in on the chairs around her much smaller workbench.
"I know my security isn't as extensive as dad's, but if you don't mind, I have a lot of questions," Melissa admitted.
Izuku and Ochako looked at each other in silent conversation, Ochako asking if she was trustworthy and Izuku telling her that he believed in her before they turned to Melissa. "Yes. We may not be able to answer everything here, but we'll try."
"Well, first off, why does the quirk hurt you?"
"We aren't seven feet tall and built like a house," Ochako answered, giggling. "One For All requires muscle mass to distribute its power across. Since we are so much smaller than All Might, we can only use about four or five percent of its power before it hurts us."
"How does it hurt you?"
"Broken bones, burst blood vessels," Izuku began to list off the effects, "torn muscles. It's a very painful experience."
"He would know," Ochako retorted, playfully shoving Izuku. "He hurt himself a lot in the past."
"Oh," Melissa said, looking at them, "and you said my support gear helped with that?"
"Y-yeah!" Izuku said, nodding vigorously. "I was able to use almost my full strength with your full gauntlet and I didn't feel a thing! It just- well it couldn't handle my full power more than a few times before it broke."
"I see," Melissa said thoughtfully, "and you never tried my other support gear?"
Izuku shook his head. "N-no. We um, got distracted."
A heavy silence filled the air as Melissa was reminded of the Wolfram incident before Ochako finally spoke up. "Is there anything else you want to know?"
"Y-yes," Melissa said, thankful for the interruption, "Uncle Might said the two of you share a quirk. How? That should be impossible."
"Random chance," Ochako admitted, "we used to each have a separate copy of the quirk. However, when we were sent back in time, the same quirk was used at the same time on both of us, and the rest can best be summed up as Quirk Bullshit, leading to our copies of the same quirk merging, resulting in a single shared copy."
"So you're telling me you're destined to be together?" Melissa remarked, stars suddenly in her eyes.
Izuku and Ochako both blushed at the insinuation. "I-I wouldn't go that far-" Izuku started.
"That's amazing though! Two people, brought together and bound by a shared quirk to change history? It's like an anime or something!" Melissa gushed.
"Himiko's told us the same thing," Izuku revealed, smiling at Ochako. "If it is fate, I couldn't have asked for a better partner, though."
"Me neither," Ochako agreed, "I'm glad that it ended up being Izuku who was sent back."
Melissa sighed. "I'm jealous of how in sync you two are."
"It's not without its drawbacks," Ochako pointed out. "We almost died, and we didn't even know about the fact that we were going to get a second chance."
That seemed to bring Melissa out of her fantasy, her face turning red in embarrassment. "S-sorry. It's just a bad habit of mine."
"It's ok," Izuku assured her. "Is there anything else you want to know?"
"Lots, but I know it's all about stuff I can't ask here," Melissa realized. "If it's ok I want to talk more once we're back in my dad's lab. And run a suite of tests with his equipment to establish a baseline."
"Sure!" Ochako agreed. "I'm fine with that. Izuku?"
"Yeah." Izuku smiled. "Sounds good."
They sat in silence for a few minutes until Melissa stood up and walked over to her bookshelf. Izuku noticed that it had fewer awards than he remembered but even more pictures. Melissa seemed to pick up a picture and look at it fondly before returning to the table and showing it to them. It was a picture of All Might and her dad, David Shield, with their backs to each other as they posed for the camera.
"I've always been quirkless," Melissa said, a hint of sadness in her voice, "but when I was at my lowest, Uncle Might reminded me that my dad is a hero too, even if his quirk isn't super fancy like Uncle Mights… well, or yours is. My dad, he's a hero by creating All Might's costumes and creating all kinds of useful support gear to help heroes."
"When Uncle Might told me that, it motivated me to dive into science and support gear to become a wonderful support specialist like my dad is, my gear helping save the lives of others, or in some cases, saving the lives of heroes themselves. I know this may be selfish of me." Melissa looked down. "Since I know you just brought me to my lab to make me feel better, but I actually want to design and build your support gear. Since you two are All Might's successors and all, it only feels right that the daughter of David Shield helps. In a way, it would be like all three of us are continuing their legacy."
Izuku was surprised. While she was right that he wanted to distract her, he did want to encourage her to complete her full gauntlet, and to build multiples, to keep both himself and Ochako safe. Instead, she was offering significantly more gear on top of that.
On top of that, that meant he wouldn't have to deal with Mei Hatsume next year. The eccentric support student of UA was a genius in her own right, but he never knew what to expect when dealing with her. Or her support equipment. While it usually worked in the end, there were always multiple iterations to get there, and those were of variable quality, to put it nicely.
"You are right about the distraction, but I was being honest when I said I wanted you to build your full gauntlet again. As for the other part…" Izuku looked at Ochako questioningly.
"You're thinking about Mei Hatsume too, aren't you?" she asked, with a light tone in her voice.
"Y-yeah," Izuku admitted, causing Ochako to laugh before she turned back to Melissa.
"We'd love to have you as our exclusive support specialist!" Ochako readily agreed.
Melissa gave the two of them a warm smile. "I just want the two of you to promise me one thing. That you won't keep any secrets from me. Wait- not like that!" She waved up her hands defensively, realizing what she was implying. "I don't care about your personal lives, but well. Things like what is happening to Uncle Might. I don't want you to put me in that position, where I would be desperate to do something to help my dear friends out."
"Well," Izuku said, rubbing the back of his head, "you already know the two biggest secrets we have. I'm not sure anything else we have can top that."
"Seriously," Ochako giggled, "I think if anything else happens with our quirk, we would actually appreciate the help trying to figure it out, rather than hide it from you."
"Perfect!" Melissa picked up the picture and carefully returned it to the shelf before turning to face the others. "Do you think dad and Uncle Might have had enough time?"
"I think so," Izuku remarked, "do you want to go back to the lab?"
"Yeah. I want to make sure my dad is ok," Melissa sighed. "I'm not sure who took that news harder: me or him." Melissa closed the gap between them and pulled them into a group hug. "And I want to thank both of you. I know you were simply trying to help me feel better but - thank you."
Izuku smiled as he adjusted himself to properly hug Melissa and Ochako back. "I'm glad. And I think we did pretty well for ourselves too!"
"Y-yeah!" Ochako agreed. "It's not like genius support specialists are easy to find."
Melissa laughed as she let the two go. "Yes well, it's not every day you meet the successor to Japan's number one hero, either. It would be silly of me to let this opportunity pass me by."
"True." Ochako glanced at Izuku playfully. "You're looking at the future number one hero and her sidekick, the number two hero."
"H-hey!" Izuku protested with a small pout.
He knew he should have never admitted his desire to be the number one hero to her. Even if they would be a hero team and ultimately share a ranking, Ochako was willing to act like they were going to be competing for a position on the charts, just to rub it in his face.
Returning to her dad's lab, Melissa led Izuku and Ochako to the research area, where Toshinori was currently undergoing a full body scan, while David sat in front of a bank of monitors looking at the results.
Melissa stopped in front of her dad and held her hands behind her back nervously. "Are you feeling better dad?"
David looked up at his daughter and smiled. "Not yet, but I'm getting there." He sighed heavily. "All that research, wasted, but it's probably for the best if I self-terminate the project now before waiting for the council to deem it too dangerous. Meanwhile-" He turned back towards the monitor. "-Toshi and I had a frank talk about a lot of things and came to an agreement."
"What's that?"
"He explained everything he knew about One For All to me, and we are now collecting new data, which I'll begin analyzing knowing the full truth behind the quirk. Honestly, the doors that can be opened now that I know a transferable quirk exists! And if I can find some way to help him that doesn't involve risky technology, knowing the truth behind his quirk…" He looked hopeful.
Melissa smiled and threw her arms around her dad. "I'm so glad! I don't want to lose you."
"I don't want to lose me either." David grinned. "I just needed the reminder that there are some lines that shouldn't be crossed, even in the name of good." He turned to see Izuku and Ochako at the doorway. "And how are you feeling?"
"Amazing," Melissa gushed, "I may be following in your footsteps more literally than I thought? I am going to work on support gear for Izuku and Ochako, just like you worked on All Might's costumes!"
This caused David to smile as he looked between the three children. "You're getting ready to put your old man out of a job already?"
"Maybe," Melissa laughed.
David couldn't help but smile at seeing his daughter and the two children Toshinori had chosen as his successors. Toshinori was right, they had been going at this for almost forty years. It was time to pass the torch and trust the next generation. Despite his fears about a world without All Might, as he saw the three talking, he began to feel like the future would turn out ok.
A little while later, David secured his lab as Melissa led them down to the lobby, where Inko and Himiko were waiting. Despite Izuku's fears, Himiko had a bright smile on her face.
"S-sorry we ran off," Izuku apologized, "that meeting happened faster than expected."
"I'll forgive you… this time," Himiko said, glaring at Izuku, "but only because I had an amazing day with a wonderful girl. Tomorrow! You're mine!" The grin Himiko gave Izuku sent shivers down his spine and he knew that she wasn't going to take no for an answer.
"Well, we do need to have a meeting to go over their future support equipment," Melissa said, smoothly stepping up behind Izuku, "but after that, you can have them."
Himiko eyed the other girl cautiously. "Fine! But it better not take all day again!"
Toshinori meanwhile rubbed the back of his neck as he looked at Inko. "Sorry I didn't get to show you around today. I do have a number of places I'd like to show you, and David's willing to work around your schedule."
Inko smiled knowingly at Toshinori. "That sounds great! I also saw several places today that I'd be interested in your opinions on. We can talk about them over dinner."
Finally, David arrived in the lobby and looked at the group. "Well, is everyone ready? I've got a private reservation booked for us and we don't want to be late."
After they had dinner, Izuku and Ochako managed to sneak out by themselves. They were worried about escaping Himiko, but the girl was very interested in talking to Melissa about one of her classmates at the academy. Meanwhile, Toshinori, Inko, and David had other plans.
Once they had escaped, Izuku pulled out the pogo stick he had borrowed from Melissa and activated it. He mounted it and waited for Ochako to climb up, wrapping her arms around him before he took off. While it wasn't the smartest idea, he was trying to follow a path from memory, having looked at a map earlier. It also helped that his destination was the outer wall of the island itself. He just had to find the right spot.
It didn't take long, but he finally found what he was looking for, a simple elevator and stairwell embedded into the wall. The two scrambling off the pogo stick, Izuku turned to Ochako and held out his hand. "Do you trust me?"
"Of course!"
"Then use your quirk on the two of us and hold on." Izuku gave her a soft smile. "I want to take the express route."
"Sounds fun!" Ochako smiled back. Taking off her gloves, she tapped her fingers against her shoulder and felt the momentary lurch as her quirk removed her gravity, before grabbing onto Izuku, activating her quirk and making him weightless as she settled in a comfortable position pressed onto his back.
Izuku took a moment to orient himself, before he called upon blackwhip, and used it to launch himself skyward. The two felt the air rushing past as they flew upwards, Izuku paying careful attention so as not to overshoot. When they reached the top he activated blackwhip again, catching the pair and pulling them down until they were floating just above a flat surface.
"Release." Ochako touched the pads of her fingers together as she let go of Izuku, and the two dropped safely onto the ground.
"Welcome to one of the observation decks around I-Island," Izuku exclaimed with a smile on his face. "I thought we could watch the sunset together."
"That sounds nice." Ochako put her gloves back on before she wrapped her hands around Izuku's.
"Melissa brought a bunch of us up here at the end of I-Expo as a way to celebrate our last day together. I thought it would be nice if it was just the two of us though."
"It's perfect." Ochako led Izuku to the edge, where they could stare out and watch the brilliant colors of the sky as the sun sank below the horizon.
"I'm glad you like Melissa, she was a good friend before- you know."
"She seems nice, although I'm afraid of what she's going to cook up when Himiko gets her claws into her."
Izuku laughed nervously. "Y-yeah." He sighed. "But it will be nice not having to worry about Hatsume again."
"Tell me about it," Ochako groaned, "she could build equipment, but it felt like pulling teeth sometimes. Did I ever tell you about the time she actually made my nausea worse thanks to one of her inventions?"
"No, you never did."
Ochako groaned as she remembered the incident. "Let's just say I had to spend two days out of commission because I couldn't keep anything solid down."
"Oh no." Izuku leaned into Ochako to comfort her.
Ochako rested her head on Izuku's shoulder. "Yep, so if you trust Melissa to make us better support gear, I'm all for that."
They stood there and continued making light conversation until the sun set below the horizon, finally leaving the deck in much the same way they arrived. Once they were on the ground, Izuku pulled out the map and pogo stick again and looked for their final destination before they returned to the hotel. When he was last on I-Island, Uravity discovered a certain shop that sold mochi, and she couldn't stop raving about it, ultimately visiting it multiple times throughout the expo.
It almost felt like he was cheating, but he still wanted to take Ochako there and see what she thought.
AN: Sitting in her room, Melissa was busy typing away on her computer. On her screen was the blueprints for her Full Gauntlet, and she was currently adjusting the size of the device to better accommodate Izuku and Ochako's smaller builds compared to Uncle Might.
She heard a gentle knocking at her door and spun her chair around to see her dad poking his head in. "You staying up late."
Melissa smiled at her dad. "Yeah. It's been a busy day, and I have too much on my mind."
"Don't stay up too late, ok?"
"I won't."
As her dad turned around to leave, Melissa called out to him again, "Dad? Would you really have gone as far as they say you did?"
David looked down, glad that his back was to his daughter, "I'd like to say no, but sometimes as scientists it's easy to lose yourself in your work, and you forget to ask yourself if what you're doing is right. Or if the person you are trying to help would appreciate it. I-" He paused, thinking over his words carefully, "The truth is, I think I needed the reminder today."
"Dad?"
David turned around, "Yes Melissa?"
"Today really hurt, and I'm not sure how much time I'll need until I feel better," Melissa paused, taking a deep breath, "but I think I'm glad today happened."
David looked at his daughter and was suddenly aware of how much she had grown, "Me too."