AN: I'm glad you all enjoyed seeing Emily crashing into Himiko's life like that! She is a fun character and you will definitely be seeing more of her in the future.
fencer29 - Mei, to Tenya: Don't be terrified, just think of all the beautiful babies I will make for you.
Mugen-Muse - I can absolutely see that happening. Emily and Izuku get talking about quirks and nobody's going to be able to keep up.
SwordOfTheGods - They've managed butterfly effect pretty well so far, but now that they have OFA and are starting to make larger changes, there's bound to be consequences. As for laws against Time Travel quirks - this is the first recorded instance of a time travel quirk, since Second operated back during the messy Dawn of Quirks and his own quirk was over such a short duration, so there's currently no law or precedent about their use.
Then again, Sir Nighteye's foresight wasn't exactly regulated either...
Izuku and Ochako knew what was coming the next morning. Fortunately, Himiko gave them a brief reprieve and waited until they were eating breakfast in the hotel lobby before she made her move.
"We should go to the simulators this morning!" Himiko declared. "They were so much fun!"
"Simulators?"
Himiko nodded rapidly. "Yep! That girl Emily showed them to me yesterday, and it was way more fun than my knife training at home!"
"How do they work?" Ochako asked, now interested.
"Basically, it's a huge open room with a bunch of projectors, and they make holograms of robots and aliens and stuff! And then we get to use our quirks to blow them up! Or in my case…" Himiko's smile widened as she described them. "...they have weapons that you can practice with!"
"That does sound interesting!" Izuku decided before turning to Ochako. "We should call Melissa and see if she wants to join us."
"Ugh, why?" Himiko whined, not bothering to keep her disappointment off her face.
"Well," Izuku began cautiously, "remember how our quirk can break our body? And you explicitly told me I'm not allowed to do that?"
"Yes."
"Melissa agreed to build us support gear to help us get around that. She actually is designing equipment for All Might to help him with his… you know."
Himiko glanced over to the table several feet away where Toshinori and Inko were having breakfast; his skeletal form was all the reminder Himiko needed.
"If she can adapt the equipment, then we can use our quirk at a higher output without hurting ourselves," Izuku finished. "Which is why we need to visit her today. She wants to take some scans and get a baseline for our quirk, so she can compare it with All Might's and make adjustments."
Himiko crossed her arms but eased up on her pout. As much as she wanted to have the whole day with the pair, she also wanted to make sure Izuku took care of himself, and it sounded like that was exactly what he was doing.
"Fine, but I'm coming with you today! I know it's the reason you're here, but still…" Himiko's pout turned into a sad frown. "I want to spend time with you."
Izuku shared a knowing look with Ochako for a moment before he looked back at Himiko. "You can come with us to the lab, but it'll probably be boring for you."
"Don't care!" Himiko asserted, with more force than necessary. "As soon as you're done, you're mine! Besides, Mama Inko's got plans for today."
Izuku blushed at the thought. He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that All Might and his mom were spending time together. It wasn't that he was against the idea - quite the opposite, in fact. As much as he agreed with Himiko about the fact that very few people deserve to be with his mom, especially after his dad left them, All Might was on the short list.
However, since All Might never had any interest in his mom in his original timeline, this new development was taking time for him to accept.
"That's fine," Ochako remarked. "I could use the backup to make sure Izuku doesn't get sidetracked talking too long about quirks!"
"It's for a good cause!" Izuku protested. "If we can fight better with support gear…"
Izuku's muttering suddenly reminded her of the gauntlet Emily was working on yesterday, especially since she said the same thing. Even though Emily could use her quirk out of both of her hands, she still leaned heavily on her support item during their time practicing in the simulation.
"I wonder if any support gear could be made for my quirk?" Himiko asked, mainly to herself.
"It wouldn't hurt to ask Melissa," Izuku answered, "since she's going to school to design it. I'm sure she would have some ideas!"
After they finished breakfast, the trio said goodbye to Inko and Toshinori. On the way back to the hotel, Izuku called Melissa, and she arranged to meet them at a training facility near her father's lab. Once plans were made, they changed into workout clothes and put their supplies in a travel bag before going to the facility in question.
As Himiko had promised, it turned out to be fun. The lights and special effects of the holograms added a flashy element that they didn't get training at UA and made it feel more like a game than actual training. Everyone watched as Himiko danced around the room with her knives, going through a whole level of the simulation by herself before she returned to the terminal and checked her score.
"I actually improved since yesterday!" Himiko exclaimed happily. "I'll have to talk to Mr. Yagi about getting something like this!"
"I wonder if he has something like this in Might Tower? Or if he had access to something in Tokyo?" Izuku speculated.
"Doubtful, these facilities are especially built for I-Island. There may be something that seeks to emulate it, but it wouldn't match the real thing," Melissa explained.
"Aww, that's no fun." Himiko pouted. "I guess I'll have to go back to boring training after this."
Izuku patted Himiko on the shoulder. "I'm sure we can think of some kind of game for your training? Even if it's not as flashy."
"That would be amazing!"
Meanwhile, at the console, Melissa reset the simulation and raised the difficulty to the maximum level. She then turned to Izuku and Ochako. "Who wants to go first?"
"I will!" Ochako volunteered, a competitive glint in her eyes.
As the simulation began, the three watched as Ochako was wrapped in pink lightning before she took off running. Using Galactic Shroud to increase her speed, she reached out and "touched" each projection with her fingers as if she was using her quirk on them. They watched each of the projections disappear in quick succession as Ochako raced around the room, leaving a trail of stars in her wake.
The second wave proved to be much harder with much more aggressive enemies. But with quick reflexes, she handled most of them, leaving only a few behind when the timer ran out.
The third wave quickly went off the rails. The projected drones swarmed Ochako, and she couldn't use her quirk fast enough to defeat them all, so she switched it up, mixing in punches with her quirk. It was enough to clear the wave, but she began to struggle.
The fourth wave proved to be her undoing. The drones had gotten faster and were much more aggressive, and despite her experience, it wasn't enough for Ochako to defeat the wave. Eventually, the room went red, indicating failure, and as the holograms dissolved.
Ochako walked towards Melissa. "What kind of setting was that?"
"Maximum difficulty," Melissa answered, "designed to be a challenge to high ranking heroes worldwide."
"Why would you do that?!" Ochako couldn't keep the exasperation out of her voice.
"The best way to see what your current capabilities are is to push them to their absolute limit. And since you are capable of surpassing Uncle Might, I decided that it was the best way to test that."
"Wow,"—Himiko looked over at the controls—"yesterday we were topping out at forty percent difficulty. And that was with the two of us."
"How many waves of enemies are there supposed to be on this difficulty?" Izuku hesitantly asked.
"Ten."
"Ten!?" Both Izuku and Ochako's eyes went wide. They didn't expect their new support specialist to be this ruthless out the gate.
"Yes, is that a problem?" Melissa asked, eyeing the two critically.
"N-no!" Izuku waved his hands defensively. "I guess I'll see how far I can go?"
"You can do it!" Ochako cheered him on. "Just don't beat my score." She gave him a menacingly sweet smile that sent shivers down his spine.
With a nervous laugh, Izuku walked to the center of the room as he waited for Melissa to reset the simulation. As he saw the first wave of projected drones begin to appear, he brought up Full Cowling and launched himself around the room, using a combination of punches, kicks, and blackwhip to bring down all of the drones.
Izuku was very proud to get to the fourth wave, but like Ochako, it proved to be too much for him, and eventually the room went red. With a heavy sigh, Izuku dropped full cowling; his limbs suddenly felt heavy as he walked back to the others.
"You did good Izuku, but I'm still better," Ochako boasted with a grin.
"Ochako managed to defeat 8 more projected enemies than you before she failed," Melissa pointed out, "but both of you have excellent control over your quirk. I was somewhat expecting that your control would slip with the greater enemy density, but it didn't."
"That's because we know how dangerous it would be if we lost control. Imagine breaking an arm in the middle of a battle?" Ochako eyed Izuku critically.
"Y-yeah," Izuku stuttered. He retrieved a water bottle and took a long drink. "We know how dangerous it is, so we've spent a lot of time practicing on our control."
"That's great news!" Melissa praised, inserting a portable drive into a slot. With a few keystrokes, it began downloading data. "And this will help me a lot when I start putting together profiles for you two."
While Izuku and Ochako rested, Melissa let Himiko try the simulation at forty percent difficulty solo, and much to everyone's surprise, she made it to the final wave with just a knife, her natural agility, and her current skills. No wonder she was such a dangerous foe in the future if she was at this level with four months of training.
Izuku shuddered as he thought about what would happen when her quirk awakened.
After Himiko finished her attempt, it was Izuku and Ochako's turn to do a joint simulation. Melissa took pity on them and dialed down the difficulty to something they should be able to handle, and this time they were able to complete it with ease. The group ran through several more combinations, both solo and having two of the three team up, while Melissa continued to adjust the settings and save all of the data for later analysis.
Himiko was right. When they weren't being tortured by Melissa throwing them into the maximum setting, it was a fun way to train and evaluate their current progression.
Once they were done, Izuku, Ochako, and Himiko went to the locker room to shower and change while Melissa sat in the lobby. After he rushed through his shower, Izuku left the locker room and saw Melissa writing on her tablet. Anxiously, he walked up and sat down next to her.
"So, before Himiko gets here…" Izuku worriedly started, pausing to let Melissa finish her thought before she turned to look at him. "We um. Well you saw she knows about our quirk. But she doesn't know about the other thing yet. We'd like to keep it that way for now."
Melissa looked at Izuku with confusion for a few seconds before recognition flashed across her face. "I see. I thought your whole thing was fewer secrets this time around?"
"It's… complicated where Himiko is concerned." Izuku made sure nobody was around before he continued, lowering his voice, "She was a villain in the past and if she finds out about… us, well we're going to have to tell her the truth about what happened to Ochako."
"Even so." Melissa frowned. "Wouldn't it be better to have that out in the open? The same way you told my father and I?"
"If she was in a better state mentally, then yes. She is still recovering from years of abuse and neglect. Even though she is much better than she used to be, her mental state is still fragile. We don't want to say anything that could cause her to have a breakdown."
"I see." Melissa went silent for a long while as she considered her own situation. The devastating news that she had received the day beforehand, and how she was still trying to process that herself. For someone who wasn't in a good place mentally, she could certainly see the problem.
Still…
"You know the longer it goes, the worse it could be when she does find out?"
"I know…" The guilt on Izuku's face was unmistakable
"After all, she's going to realize that you've known this entire time and never told her."
Izuku let out a long sigh. "We need to tell her soon."
After Ochako and Himiko finished with their own showers and reunited in the lobby, Melissa led the trio back to her father's lab, where she ran scans on Izuku and Ochako.
At first, Himiko tried to sit with Melissa and ask about what they were looking at, but all of this talk about quirk factors, energy storage, and strain due to One For All went over her head. Eventually she gave up and left the room, sitting at the conference table and pulling out her phone. She sent a message to the girl from yesterday, telling her her new score in the simulator, and sent an update to their friends back in Japan.
Emily responded. Before Himiko knew it, she found herself pulled into a conversation brainstorming support gear, mostly the other girl suggesting other tools Himiko could use in combat beyond knives. Then the door to the test room finally opened up, and Izuku, Ochako, and Melissa stepped out.
"Finally done?" Himiko asked.
"Yep!"
"Yeah."
"Now that we're done with the data collection,"—Melissa explained—"my work really begins. But you don't need to be here for that."
"Good!" Himiko unabashedly retorted, "Although I do have one question." She looked at the three. "Do you have any ideas for support gear I could use?"
Melissa observed her, putting her thumb to her chin as she thought about it for a moment, then deciding to go to the computer. A few keystrokes and the printer whirred to life as it printed a stack of papers. She took the papers and handed them to Himiko.
"Well, first and foremost, this should probably classify as an essential item, given the nature of your quirk," Melissa explained.
Himiko looked down at the stack of papers, then back to the older girl. "DNA-Infused clothing?"
"You mentioned that your quirk was destructive right? That your clothes get absorbed when you transform your attire, and then you're naked when you drop your quirk."
"Yes…" Himiko said, feeling the blush spreading across her cheeks, "it's super embarrassing."
"Well, that's why clothing like this exists. You'd have to cut your hair because the process involves literally turning your hair into fibers as the basis for the clothing, but because the outfit is keyed to your DNA, it means that it shouldn't be absorbed by your quirk and still be there when you drop your transformation. In essence, the clothing would be like wearing another layer of skin, as far as your quirk is concerned."
"That's so cool!" Himiko exclaimed, amazed. "I should probably get a few things made."
"One of those sheets has the contact information for a company that works in Mustafu. You can contact them when you get back to Japan." Melissa sat down at the table across from the other three. "I know it's not much compared to what I'm doing to Izuku and Ochako here, but I can't simply adapt my existing blueprints meant for Uncle Might for you. I'll have to think about it further."
"No, this is great!" Himiko reassured her. "Yesterday, I wanted to show off my quirk, but I couldn't do it properly because I didn't want to ruin my clothes. Imagine if I had a couple outfits made from this stuff? It would be super convenient."
"I'm glad, and if I can come up with other ideas I'll pass them along."
"Thanks!" Himiko offered a toothy smile. She knew that Melissa was doing it as a favor to Izuku and Ochako, but she still appreciated it.
"The experience here is certainly different then what I'm used to," Inko commented as she sipped her black tea. As she had discovered yesterday, I-Island had a variety of restaurants representing the countries that have facilities on the island. Today, Toshinori had taken her to a European-styled cafe for lunch.
"That's why I wanted to bring you here," Toshinori admitted. "It's not as good as the real thing, of course, but for the residents of the island, it does offer them a reminder of home."
"I can imagine. If I spent much time away from Japan, I would likely seek out food and atmosphere that reminded me of home as well."
"Indeed. Although, other than my years in America, I have never been away from Japan long enough to feel homesick."
"But you have traveled to other countries?"
"Back in my prime, I mostly traveled across Europe and America for work. I rarely had a chance to stay long, however. A couple days at most, but I made sure to sample the local culture while I was there."
"Must be nice." Inko sighed longingly as she held her tea.
"Is something on your mind?" Inko was a wonderful person and always willing to lend an ear to himself and several of the teachers at UA, the least he could do was offer his support back.
"It's just, this is all happening so fast. It feels like something happened to Izu ten months ago. He had a new drive in him. It started with Nemuri dragging him home and saying he somehow caught the attention of the staff at UA."
Toshinori was glad he wasn't drinking anything when he began coughing. Fortunately, he was able to calm himself down before he coughed up blood. "Y-yes. I remember Nezu explaining the situation to me afterward."
Inko nodded solemnly as she took a bite from her dish before she continued.
"Then, less than a week later, we met the Urarakas. Not that I'm complaining! Miu is wonderful, and so is Katashi, and it's obvious how much Izu and their daughter adore each other, but after those two events, it just feels like everything changed. Before I know it, I'm sitting in a cafe on an artificial island sharing lunch with a retired hero."
"I see. After the lives the two of you have lived, the last ten months would seem overwhelming." Seeing the building tears in Inko's eyes, he offered her a cloth handkerchief. It was clear that Izuku had inherited his crying habits from his mother, and Toshinori had learned to be prepared around the two of them.
"And then there is the matter of Izu's quirk." Inko took the handkerchief and wiped away the first wave of tears. She knew there would be more coming. "If he hadn't taken the initiative, how long could he have gone without learning he was a late bloomer? After that first diagnosis, I never scheduled a follow-up with a specialist. All those years, thinking he was quirkless - all of the trouble, and I can't help but think I failed Izu. If we had known sooner…"
"Mrs. Midoriya, let me ask you something." Toshinori reached across the table and placed a hand on Inko's shoulder to steady her. "Does young Midoriya think you failed him?"
Inko blinked away some of the tears, some falling while she shook her head.
"Young Midoriya is a strong young man. In many ways he reminds me of All Might in his younger days," Toshinori confessed, "and he has a strong will and character. He had to get that strength from somewhere." Toshinori stared pointedly at Inko. "I don't believe you failed him at all. Even if he did get a late start and didn't truly begin his training to become a hero until ten months ago, he is rapidly closing the gap between himself and his peers."
Inko felt her tears dry up as her cheeks began to heat up. "You really think so?"
"Believe me, I have seen many up-and-coming heroes over the years," Toshinori replied with a reassuring smile, "and young Midoriya is among one of the strongest I have ever met. I sincerely believe he has you to thank for that."
"And All Might," Inko said softly.
The unexpected comment caught Toshinori off guard as he started coughing, pulling his hand back to cover his mouth instinctively. He could taste the metallic in his mouth as his coughing fit settled down. Inko sheepishly offered his handkerchief back, which he took to wipe off his hand.
"I know your son looks up to All Might, but even his influence would be minor compared to yours. After all, you are the constant presence in his life while he merely watches All Might's actions from a distance."
Except for the last three years, Toshinori silently appended.
Inko reached out and gently placed her hand on Toshinori's. "Thank you."
"It is my pleasure Mrs. Midoriya."
"Please, call me Inko."
The two separated and resumed eating their meal with a much more comfortable air around the table. As they finished up, she breathed out a content sigh.
"Is something wrong Inko?"
Inko shook her head. "I'm just wondering if this is how I'll be spending the rest of my life as the parent of a future hero. Just a constant stream of events and surprises."
"Normally no, however, young Midoriya is a special case."
"I guess Izu is, isn't he?" Inko said with a grin on her face.
After they finished their conversation with Melissa, Himiko wasted no time hauling them out of the building.
"Time for lunch, and I know the perfect place!" she declared with a grin on her face as her hand was wrapped in a vice grip around Izuku's arm.
"You don't have to drag Izuku, you know!" Ochako protested as she easily kept up with the pair.
"Fine." Himiko rolled her eyes as she let go of Izuku, watching him fall back half a step to keep pace with Ochako as they followed her. "I just don't want to let you out of my sight!"
"So where are we going?" Izuku asked.
"Lunch time is almost over and I'm starving!" Himiko said. "Yesterday I was taken to an international market with a bunch of food. When I looked them up afterwards, there was one in particular I wanted to try…"
A few minutes later, they arrived at the market, and Himiko gave them a brief rundown, pointing out which regions of the world were represented before taking off towards the European area. Shrugging, Izuku and Ochako followed her, curious about what she was getting. They found her at a place that resembled a British pub, excitedly ordering something. Curious, the pair decided to follow her and order from the same restaurant, ordering Fish and Chips and a Shepherd's Pie to split between the two of them.
They waited with Himiko until they saw her get her order, a plate full of a variety of items, some they recognized as breakfast foods and others they were unfamiliar with, and moments later received their own order. Food in hand, the three found a table and sat down.
"So I was looking up foods that they had here while waiting for you guys," Himiko explained, "and that British place had something called a 'Full English Breakfast'." She waved her hand over the meal. "But! The most exciting part is this!" She speared a black disk that looked like a sausage and held it up. "It's something called 'Black Pudding' and guess what one of its main ingredients is?"
"Blood?" Izuku asked.
"Yep!" Himiko happily put the item in her mouth and began chewing, savoring the flavor. "Mmmm, tasty."
"I guess we should try our own food as well?" Ochako asked.
"Mmm, yeah." Izuku nodded his head.
The three ate their respective meals, enjoying the experience of foreign foods while talking about things they wanted to do on the island. Himiko had a list ready to go, based on her whirlwind tour yesterday, much to Izuku and Ochako's surprise. Izuku added a few suggestions of his own, and Ochako wanted to stop by the shop that sold amazing mochi again.
List in hand, the three set off. Izuku and Ochako let Himiko take the lead, while they followed closely behind her. Quietly taking each other's hands, they followed her to what looked like a street full of entertainment, with an arcade, a movie theater, and other activities for the residents of the island.
Himiko started by leading the pair to an arcade, which had quite the extensive collection of games compared to what was available back in Mustafu. They lost track of time sampling new games, and Izuku found himself left behind as the two girls both got sucked into different activities. Ochako found an ancient cabinet containing older fighting games she's never heard of before, while Himiko found a rhythm game based on waving a pair of batons around based on the screen.
After watching Himiko for a bit, Izuku walked over to where Ochako was playing and was content to simply watch her. He saw the same competitive drive that she put on display earlier, and marveled at how easily she could swap between it and her compassionate, caring self. As he watched her work out the game, he was reminded that of all the people who could have been sent back in time with him, it was the girl in front of her.
And he couldn't be happier by that fact.
Eventually, the girls were satisfied, and they left to continue onward. While many of the activities were not exactly new, the atmosphere surrounding them was different - it was as if the three of them were actually on a vacation, something that hadn't really happened yet, especially not since Himiko came into their lives.
As they left the rock wall, Ochako slipped her hand into his and Izuku gave her a warm smile before they followed Himiko to their last destination before meeting Inko and Toshinori for dinner - a large department store. As they walked, he stole a glance at the girl walking beside him, and their intertwined hands. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, as the two sped up to keep pace with Himiko.
AN: Gran Torino sat at his desk catching up on the day's news when he heard his phone ring. Frowning, he looked at the phone for a moment. Only a few people actually had his number, and if one of them actually called him, that meant something big must be happening. Finally, he relented and picked up the phone.
"Yeah, what do you want?"
Much to his surprise, it was Sir Nighteye on the other end of the line. "Has Toshinori called you yet?"
"Toshi? I haven't heard from him in years. Why? What did he do now?"
"He has chosen his successors," Nighteye said with a heavy sigh, "and it is a rather complicated affair."
"Hold on a minute, successors? As in, plural?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"That's why I decided to call. Since you are the last person from the All For One task force I have not spoken to, I have decided to contact you myself."
"Leave it to that oaf to not tell me something," Torino complained.
"Maybe if you didn't scare him?"
"I trained him to make sure he didn't share Nana's fate, and it worked!"
"Barely."
"Yeah yeah, he's still among the living and that's what matters. So what is this about successors?"
"As I said, you should probably talk to Toshinori directly. He's moved to Mustafu and is currently training to become a teacher."
"Mustafu huh? Guess it's time I dropped into UA and paid him a visit."
If you are interested in the Himiko redemption angle I have going on, as well as seeing further development between Himiko and Emily Song I have another long fic that is much more of a 'what if' story where Himiko was adopted by Inko a year earlier than canon and becomes much more integrated into the Midoriya household before they even enter UA, as well as a variety of other shorter pieces. Feel free to click on my profile and check those out!