AN: Thanks for reading and leaving reviews, everyone!
After he received his acceptance letter, Izuku felt like his life had started moving again.
He went out to dinner with his mom, stopped at a hero merch store - they had nothing new, of course, but it was the principle that mattered, and finally picked up a small cake at a bakery. And later, when Himiko got home she was almost back to her usual self around him. The three of them celebrated properly this time before they finally called it an evening.
Back in his room, Izuku checked his messages. He smiled when he saw Ochako's excited congratulations waiting for him. Unfortunately, she hadn't received her letter yet so he couldn't celebrate with her yet. No matter how much he wanted to, he knew it would be better for her to hear it directly from All Might! But with her scoring fourth place on the entrance exam, he was confident she also made it - bad English score or not!
Now he just had to wait and hope that they would end up in the same class together!
Sitting down at his computer, he saw a similar message waiting for him from Froppy. They have only heard back from their second choice of school so far and were still waiting to hear back from their first choice. He wished them luck before closing his laptop for the night.
That left just one more person he was waiting on. With a resigned sigh, he opened up his phone to see his string of messages to Toshinori. Biting his lip, he sent him one more message, asking if they could talk now that he was done with a mountain of paperwork.
Dropping his phone onto his desk, Izuku crawled into bed. He had to be up bright and early for his training, and now that he had been accepted into UA he had all the more reason to not slack off!
The next morning Izuku awoke to a new message on his phone. Toshinori had finally gotten back to him!
Throwing on his outfit, Izuku began his jog to the beach to meet his mentor. Hopefully he'd finally be able to figure out how to use One For All properly!
When he made it to the beach, Izuku was given a very painful reminder. Toshinori, for all his strengths, was still human. While he had been a great mentor to Izuku, he wasn't exactly the best teacher.
Toshinori was waiting there, smiling in the morning light as he stood next to the same refrigerator that he had saved for Izuku's initial training. After another round of congratulations, Toshinori bulked up into his muscle form, and they restarted with his initial lesson on how to wield One For All safety.
This time Izuku was able to successfully punch the fridge with One For All. He sent it flying across the ocean, a wave following in its wake as it sped out to the open sea.
He also shattered his hand in the process.
Gathering his successor up, All Might rushed Izuku to UA where Recovery Girl once again healed him. After Izuku watched the nurse chew out Japan's number one hero, he decided that maybe Toshinori's lessons weren't going to be as helpful as he had hoped.
Which meant he was still stuck with the problem of figuring out how to control One For All properly.
After several days of brainstorming - and constantly returning to the same answers - Izuku decided that it was time to solicit outside help. If nothing else, having someone to bounce ideas off of might be enough to stop him from running in circles.
That just left the question of who.
Ideally, he'd have liked to go to Principal Nezu over it. But from his limited experience with the enigmatic principal, Izuku knew he'd likely be told to figure it out - as a lesson. The next option would be to have Himiko talk to Kan on his behalf. While that option was appealing since Kan was an actual teacher, Izuku felt like he'd be intruding even more into Himiko's space. While his relationship with his sister was finally mending, Kan was her mentor, just like All Might was his. He knew he'd be hurt if someone tried to use him to get lessons from All Might, and he'd never do that to her.
Which led him to the next best option, and how he ended up sitting in his sister's bedroom with Himiko and Emily.
"...and while he was excited to find out that his suspicions of my Late Bloomer status was true, Mr. Yagi didn't give the best advice," Izuku admitted, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Even now, despite experiencing it firsthand, he still felt awkward voicing concern over his mentor's ability to teach.
"Really," Emily asked skeptically as she folded her arms across her chest. "He spent decades as a hero! How bad could it be?"
"Umm…" Izuku laughed nervously. "When I asked him how I was supposed to punch the refrigerator, he told me to 'clench my butt cheeks and yell SMASH!'"
The two girls stared at him in stunned silence, before they burst out laughing. Himiko fell backward as she clutched her chest, causing several of her stuffed animals to go flying as she crashed onto the bed. Emily meanwhile, doubled over and lost her balance, falling out of the chair she was sitting in. It didn't stop her, however, and she continued giggling on the floor.
"I- how can he be so bad at this!" Himiko exclaimed. "That's almost insulting to you!"
"That's quite possibly the worst advice I've ever heard!" Emily choked out. "No- no wonder you broke all of those bones when your quirk finally manifested!"
"Y-yeah," Izuku said softly as his eyes darted between the two. "So that led to a quick trip to Recovery Girl. I tried talking to him afterward but his new suggestion wasn't much better. Although I'm not much better…" Izuku admitted.
"Wait!" Emily jumped up off the floor and shoved Izuku off of the bed, causing him to stand with a startled yelp. "This is gonna be good and I don't want to end up on the floor again."
Izuku frowned at the American girl, only to receive a smirk in response. Relenting, he sighed as he flopped into the chair.
Mine as well get this over with…
"We talked about how my quirk is some sort of storage and enhancement quirk, and the way he described it I, well…" Izuku said awkwardly. "this sounded better in my head, I swear! But I keep thinking of it like trying to cook an egg in the microwave. You hit it with just enough energy and it cooks, but if you let it cook for too long it explodes."
While Himiko blinked at the explanation, Emily broke out in another round of laughter, leaning on her friend to keep herself from falling off the bed again.
"Just for that, I'm claiming the title of quirk analyst from you!" Emily said between fits of giggles. "I'm also gonna need all those books you got from Nezu - clearly they aren't doing you any good!"
"Sorry Izu," Himiko said apologetically as she tried to restrain her own laughter. "That may be the dumbest metaphor I've ever heard."
Izuku felt his cheeks heating up from embarrassment as he let out a resigned sigh. "I guess I deserve that…"
"No, actually it makes sense," Emily said as she saw Izuku's response. "You've spent so long looking at other people's quirks and theorizing about potential additional applications, but you've never really thought about basic applications. Why would you? It would be insulting."
"I guess you're right," Izuku admitted.
"And you've had your quirk for less than two weeks and used it twice. Most of us have had years to figure out how our quirks work and get the basics down," Emily winced as she gave Himiko an apologetic look. "Sorry, Himiko."
"It's okay," Himiko assured the other girl.
"So what I really need to do is think like a little kid," Izuku mused as he looked at his hand.
"And stop emulating All Might!" Emily said.
"And stop- WHAT?!" Izuku's head shot up to look at the American girl.
"Admit it, your first thought is to use your quirk to emulate All Might."
Of course, because I have All Might's quirk. Izuku thought to himself
"Yeah," Izuku said softly, breaking eye contact with the other girl. "When my quirk came in during the exam, my first thought was to stop the robot with a single punch, just like All Might would have."
"That sounds like something you would do," Himiko said with a teasing tone in her voice. "But All Might doesn't break his bones with every punch."
"Ehehehe," Izuku rubbed the back of his head, remembering what the hero said about hiding his injuries.
"No, he doesn't."
"But! All Might's so strong he can change the weather with punches," Emily continued. "There's no way he can hit a villain with one of those - at least not without turning them into a bloodstain."
"Oh," Izuku said. It looked like a lightbulb had gone off in his head. "I think I get it!" His finger darted between the two girls. "Himi's quirk quirks in a binary state, where it's either 'on' or 'off'-"
"I'm trying to work on partial transformations!" Himiko protested, crossing her arms.
"You're right, sorry," Izuku apologized, "but Song's quirk works differently since she can control the intensity and brightness of her Light Arrows. You can create a laser but you can also dial it down to be harmless."
"Exactly!" Emily said proudly. "This is where your microwave idea sucks. You're pumping full power into your arm, but you're only focusing on the length of time. It doesn't matter if your body is forced to deal with it for a second or a minute, it's still gotta deal with the stress of handling all of that energy. Besides, your quirk shouldn't be all or nothing like that."
Izuku nodded in understanding. "So not like an on-off switch and more like a faucet."
"That's it!" Emily jumped upright and grabbed the siblings' arms. "Come with me!"
Ignoring the protests of Izuku and Himiko, Emily dragged them to the bathroom. Finally letting go she turned on the faucet before she spun around and faced the pair. Raising her left hand, she created a dull sphere of light. "Assuming your quirk follows the normal rules of emitter quirks, you've got the ability to dial how much energy you're pumping into your limbs."
The girl then turned the faucet more while the sphere in her hand grew brighter. "Most of us had years to figure out how to do that, as well as our bodies limits. We instinctively know how far we can go without hurting ourselves, and it takes a conscious effort of will to push past those limits. But since your quirk just came in, you don't have any of that!"
"Yeah…" Izuku said softly. "Plus, if I'm right that means I've been storing energy ever since I was little. So I've got a lot of excess energy to use."
"Right," Emily said flatly. "So we need to find out exactly how far you can go before you break anything. Again." Emily closed her hand and snuffed out the orb of light as she turned off the faucet. "Otherwise Recovery Girl's not gonna be too happy with patching you up after every class. Not to mention if you're stuck with Aizawa…" The girl shuddered.
"He should be more afraid of Mom and me," Himiko glowered at Izuku. "We'd kill him if he doesn't stop hurting himself."
Izuku laughed nervously at his sister's threat before he turned his attention to the faucet. He slowly turned the faucet until the drops turned into a faint stream of water. Staring at it, Izuku began to repeat a mantra in his head. Don't use a short intense burst, use a small steady tendril.
When he felt more confident, he finally looked down at his hand. Closing his eyes, he tried to picture the connection in a new way. Clenching his hand into a fist, he felt his muscles tighten. Then he pictured One For All as if it was the doorway in his dreams. Rather than throw it open, he pushed it open slowly, stopping when he felt a small bit of energy extending outward.
His eyes snapped open when he heard Himiko gasp. Looking down at his fist, he saw a faint green light traveling up his arm until it surrounded his fist. Feeling encouraged, Izuku tried to "open" the door a little more. As he did so they saw the light brighten and solidify as small red veins began to manifest on his arm. Smiling, Izuku tried to open the door further. The three watched as the light continued to brighten and the veins thickened-
-until Izuku felt his arm burning.
"Oww!" Izuku cried as he unclenched his fist. Concentration broken, the light quickly faded.
"Izu!" Himiko reached out and grabbed his arm. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Izuku offered his sister a reassuring look before he looked down at his hand. "It still stings a little, but I think I stopped it before anything really bad happened."
"Good." Relief washed over Himiko's face as she let his arm go. "I don't want to explain to Mom why we're rushing you to the hospital."
"Ehehehe," Izuku rubbed the back of his head as he stared at his hand. "I think that was maybe a tenth of my quirk's potential. If it was enough that I felt it without actually doing anything, I'll need to dial it back even more when I'm using it."
"Only ten percent?!" Emily exclaimed.
"Emily, be nice," Himiko warned.
"I am being nice!" Emily said before she returned her attention to Izuku. "That's amazing! Not to mention that glow - you come with your own special effects!" Stars danced across her eyes. Just wait until you can get used to your quirk and use even more power!"
Izuku imagined the feats All Might did and smiled. "Yeah!"
"So what'll you do now?" Himiko asked.
"I need to check with Mr. Yagi," Izuku said excitedly as he looked down at his hand. "I still need to practice before my first day at UA, but I don't want to be rushed halfway across town again if I break something." He laughed nervously.
"Oh yeah!" Emily's face lit up. "The teachers have those Quirk Assessment Exams on the first day. It would really be embarrassing if you broke something during those."
Returning to his room, Izuku grabbed his phone to message Toshinori with the good news. When he picked up the phone he saw he had a new notification.
1 Missed Call.
Izuku's eyes went wide when he saw it was Ochako. She must have gotten her acceptance letter!
He wanted to call her back, but he had a mission first. Bringing up his messenger app, he typed out a message to Toshinori saying he may have had a breakthrough and asking if they could meet at UA or Might Tower to test something. After reviewing his words to ensure it was vague enough to avoid suspicion, he pressed the Send button.
Switching over to his call log, he pressed the redial button next to Ochako's name. Lifting the phone to his ear, he heard her pick up on the second ring. "Hey Uraraka, sorry I-"
"I did it, Midoriya!" Ochako cheered on the other end of the line. "I got into UA!"
"Congrats!" Izuku replied, "I knew it!"
"Oh yeah, you would have," Ochako laughed on the other end. "If they showed you the top ten scores too."
"Y-yeah," Izuku admitted. "You don't know how hard it's been not telling you!"
"Well, I appreciate it," Ochako said, and Izuku could practically hear the smile in her voice.
"Think we'll be in the same class?"
"I hope so!" Ochako said. "It'd be nice to at least know somebody on the first day!"
"Yeah," Izuku said. "I know what you mean."
At least someone besides Bakugo. Izuku silently appended.
The two talked for a few minutes to catch up before Ochako had to go. After saying their goodbyes they hung up, and Izuku checked his messages one last time. Still nothing from Toshinori.
"I guess it's only been a few minutes," Izuku said with a sigh before he set his phone back down. Hopefully he'll have an answer soon.
In the meantime, he wouldn't mind theorizing more about One For All with Emily… if Himiko let them.
Toshinori got back to him quickly, and a mere couple of days later Izuku stood in front of the entrance to UA waiting for him. After talking with Emily he was excited and impatient and had hoped to try things as soon as possible. Sadly his mentor was busier than ever now that he was preparing to teach at the prestigious school. He hoped that-
"Surprise!" Himiko said as she slammed into Izuku, tackling him and sending him to the ground.
"H-hey Himi," Izuku said as he looked up at his sister. "You cheated this time!"
"Did I?" She asked innocently, giving him a too-sweet smile. "Or were you stuck in your head again?"
Izuku opened and closed his mouth as he realized she had caught him. He couldn't fully argue if she had actually used her vanishing trick or not. Letting out a sigh he relented. "Fine, you win!"
"Of course I did!" Himiko said with far too much satisfaction as she scrambled off of him. Once she was upright she offered Izuku her hand, and he took it, using the leverage to pull himself up.
"So Mr. Yagi's meeting you here?" Emily asked with far too much excitement. "Can we watch?"
"Sorry, not this time," Izuku said apologetically as his eyes drifted to his sister. "I um, don't really want you guys to see what happens if I break my arm again."
"Aww, you're no fun!" Emily pouted. "Next time! And you'll have to try the thing with Habiki that we talked about!"
"Wait - how did I get involved?" Habiki looked lost.
"She didn't tell you?" Izuku asked.
"Of course she didn't," Himiko rolled her eyes as she turned toward her friend. "Emily wanted to try and convince All Might to hit you with one of his smash attacks to test the limits of your Shock Absorption. After realizing she probably couldn't do that, she realized Izu's quirk also lets him throw crazy strong punches. So she settled on trying to get him to punch you instead. Ignoring the fact that Izu would shatter his arm." She shot a glare at Emily.
"We don't know that!" Emily protested. "In theory, Habiki's Shock Absorption could negate the feedback from the attack and help Midoriya keep his arm intact!"
"And what if you're wrong and he breaks his arm?" Himiko's eyes narrowed.
"It's for science! Besides, we know Recovery Girl's quirk is enough to repair the damage if I'm wrong - which I'm not!"
"While that sounds cool, I'm not sure I want to risk Midoriya breaking his arm like that," Habiki laughed nervously.
"Oh come on!"
"Maybe later?" Izuku asked helpfully. "Once I've got a bit more control over my quirk?"
"Izu-" Himiko's glare redirected itself to Izuku, telling him all he needed to know.
Laughing nervously, Izuku quickly bowed out of the conversation, leaving Himiko to her friends. His sister quickly said her goodbyes as the other four walked off, leaving her alone with her brother. Himiko watched them go, waiting until the group was out of earshot - which took a while thanks to Tomoe - before she spun around and faced her brother.
"Are you sure I'm allowed to be here?" She asked nervously.
"Yeah," Izuku nodded and gave her a reassuring look. "I need to at least tell Mr. Yagi so that he knows you know."
"Okay," Himiko nodded, her demeanor softening. "Hopefully he doesn't keep us waiting too long!"
Fortunately, he didn't and a few minutes later Toshinori stepped out of UA's main building and walked to the gate to meet them.
"Young Midoriya! I thought you were coming alone?"
"Yeah…" Izuku gave his mentor an apologetic look. "Can we - is there someplace we can talk in private?"
"Did something happen?" Toshinori asked as his gaze danced between Izuku and Himiko.
"That's what I want to talk to you about," Izuku said awkwardly.
Toshinori's eyes narrowed as he gazed at his student, before nodding his head once. "There's someplace safe to talk inside." He offered Izuku a guest pass.
Taking the pass, Izuku and Himiko followed Toshinori into the main building of UA. There, he led them to a teacher's lounge and instructed them to sit. As they watched he went to a control panel and activated something. They heard a faint rumbling in the background as a machine started up before he finally sat down across from the pair.
"Alright Young Midoriya, it is safe to talk now."
"Please don't get mad," Izuku winced as he looked at his mentor. "But I told Himi the truth about my quirk."
"W-what?!" Toshinori exclaimed before he descended into a coughing fit. He held his hand up to his mouth as he coughed up blood.
Himiko picked up the scent of the crimson liquid immediately, her eyes darting between the skeletal hero and her brother. Just how badly was this hero injured?
Izuku meanwhile, quickly continued his explanation.
"She was bound to find out sooner or later! I just- she needed to know now, instead of later. Besides, having her in on it means she can help with my cover story!"
Toshinori quickly recovered and looked at his student. "And you trust her with the secret?"
"Of course," Izuku said as he gazed at Himiko fondly. "I trust her with my life."
Himiko felt her cheeks heating up as she looked at Toshinori. "If anyone deserves a quirk - a chance to change things. It's Izu."
"I see," Toshinori said as he examined Himiko's expression. He saw the conviction in her eyes - she believed in her brother. Turning back to Izuku, he continued. "I believe you have chosen well for your first confidant."
"You-you do?" Izuku asked, dumbfounded.
Toshinori chuckled. "You cannot simply rely on All Might's network. Eventually, you will need to find people to support you - people who know the truth behind your quirk, and what it means. I just did not expect it to happen so quickly!"
"Thank you!" Izuku cried as he bowed to his mentor.
Toshinori smiled at the scene. His student really was growing up so quickly! It just reaffirmed that he had made the correct choice of successor. "Now then, was there anything else?"
"No!" Izuku's head shot up quickly as he began shaking it. "Well, no more surprises - I still have to test my quirk! That's the reason I'm here after all!"
Toshinori chuckled as he stood up. "Well then, what are we waiting for?"
An hour later, Izuku was elated as he exited Recovery Girl's office.
"Himi, I did it!"
"Izu," Himiko deadpanned as she glared at him. "You still ended up with a dozen microfractures all along your arm!"
"Only for that last swing!" Izuku insisted as he looked down at his arm. He felt some fatigue from Recovery Girl's quirk, but the excitement he felt from the afternoon's success more than made up for it. "And now I know how much energy I can safely use!"
"That's true," Himiko let out a pained sigh. "If you didn't find out this way you'd probably find out doing something dumb."
"I wouldn't-" Izuku began, only to wither under the look Himiko gave him. "Yeah…"
Himiko's gaze softened as she wrapped an arm over his shoulder. "I'm glad Emily was able to help you."
"Me too," Izuku said. "Who knew quirks were so hard?"
Himiko let out a loud laugh. "That's- coming from you-"
Izuku looked at his sister before he joined her in laughter. "Y-yeah, you're right."
Once he recovered, Izuku began thinking about his quirk again. "Only five percent of my power… I wonder how long it'll take before I can improve that."
"Oh please," Himiko rolled her eyes. "The fact that you've got a quirk at all means you're gonna leave the rest of us in the dust."
"But that's not what I want to do!" Izuku insisted. "I want to be strong enough to help everyone."
Himiko felt herself smiling as she glanced over at her brother. "That's so you. Come on, let's go home and tell Mom the good news."