Chapter 2

Chapter Text

"Hey, Nana, didn't the kid say he was quirkless?"

"Yep," Nana said, still "watching" Toshi's current fight. The villains were hopelessly outclassed but not smart enough to understand that as an immutable fact. It was almost comical watching them threaten a man they had no hope of winning against. "Extra toe joint and all."

"So, um," Banjo said, uncharacteristically lost for words. "Who um… Who is that?"

Startled Nana turned to find a small, green-haired, green-eyed child standing only a few feet away.

"Oh," she said, suddenly lost for words herself.

"H–Hi," the kid said, waving awkwardly as he looked around the strange area the vestiges of One for All existed within. "I…um…think I'm supposed to be here. Maybe…um."

"So you're not quirkless?" Yoichi asked, joining the conversation a moment later.

Midoriya's vestige shrugged, clearly unsure.

"Maybe…" Nana said slowly. "I mean, Toshi has a vestige, but well it took decades to form and you're…well you're here so soon after Midoriya accepted One for All in much the same way the rest of us arrived."

"So it's a hidden quirk?" En asked, joining the conversation as if he'd been there the whole time. "Maybe it has a complex trigger? Like that kid who needed to eat pineapple but lived in a family who were all allergic to it."

"Sounds like an urban legend to me," Banjo said, rubbing his chin as if he was serious and not trying to stir up shit. Monotony was a problem for all of them, but Banjo went to extra lengths to alleviate it at times. Bored or not, now was not the time.

"Urban legend or not," Hikage said, easily derailing the teasing. "Midoriya has a vestige here, so he probably has a quirk out there."

"Any theories, kid?" Nana asked.

"Um, not really," Midoriya said with an embarrassed shrug, "but I always did hope that the extra toe joint just meant I had a really cool, secret quirk instead of being, you know, quirkless." He tapped his chin in thought and started muttering. "My dad can breathe fire, I think. I don't really remember him all that well. He left when I was really little. Right after my diagnosis actually. And my mom said it was because he got a great business opportunity in America, but well if he cared for us at all, I think he would have stayed in touch, you know? Sent a card or something."

"Uhuh?" Banjo said noncommittally.

"And your mom?" Nana asked, trying to guide the muttering into a useful conversation.

"She can pull small things to her, toys and cups and things, nothing big."

"Quirks are usually similar to either parent or a combination of both," Yoichi said, apparently trying to be helpful for Midoriya's benefit, as if they hadn't been listening to the kid's incredibly insightful mutter storms for the past ten months.

Nana was pretty sure the kid went close to rolling his eyes—had Yoichi not noticed the detailed notes in Midoriya's analysis books?—but settled for an annoyed huff. "If I had fire breath, or telekinesis, or I could pull flames to me or something like that, I would have noticed by now." He rubbed his chin again, apparently preparing for another mutter storm. "So that only leaves a mutation."

"Or different parents," Banjo joked. "Swapped at birth, maybe?" Nana gave Banjo "The Look" and he backed down, clearing his throat as he stepped away. "Or, you know, that mutation thing."

"Any ideas on what sort of mutation, kid?" Nana asked, already feeling a maternal tingling at the idea of having this child join them in their endless existence.

"Not at the moment," Midoriya said, looking around the area again, "but something tells me I probably have the time to figure it out."

"True," Yoichi agreed, "though if my understanding of time is not being warped by the dual-holders problem we experience briefly every time the quirk is passed on, I'm pretty sure it's time for your second day at UA."

"Holy shit," Midoriya mumbled. "I missed the first day in my hero course?"

"Language, kid." Banjo admonished with a grin before Nana could open her mouth to do the same. "Nah, Midoriya was there. He even managed to only break a single finger. It barely even hurts since his visit to Recovery Girl."

"Well," Midoriya's vestige said wryly, "I guess we can rule out a self-healing quirk."

"Yeah," Yoichi agreed, a soft smile on his face. "One down, about six billion to go."

~*~

"Ugh, I really wish Aizawa-sensei had been serious about expelling someone on the first day," Jiro said in an exasperated tone.

"Huh?" Izuku whispered. He'd thought he was getting along okay with the girl, so he was pretty shocked to realize she wanted him gone. If Aizawa-sensei hadn't been using a rational deception to make them try their hardest, Izuku would have been the student expelled. Disappointment swallowed him whole until he realized Jiro was actually making a face at something she was able to hear that Izuku couldn't.

"If that purple, sticky, little asshole says to me what he just said to Yaoyorozu," Jiro muttered, "I am going to sound blast him into next week."

"I'm not sure he's worth getting expelled for," Izuku said, unsure if he shouldn't just agree with the girl. He hadn't heard what Mineta said, but judging by the upset expression on Yaoyorozu's face it had been pretty offensive. "M–Maybe report him to a teacher."

The moment the words were out of his mouth he wanted to snatch them back. Teachers had never been any help to him. Why would things be any different at UA?

In middle school Bakugo had attacked Izuku in class in front of their teacher and their teacher had not only let him do it but had pretty much set it up to happen. Of course, Izuku's lack of quirk had been the reason for his teachers' dislike of him, so maybe things would be different for other students.

Being quirkless in the younger generations was becoming rarer and rarer each year. Twenty percent of the population was still listed as quirkless but that percentage dropped sharply when it came to children under the age of sixteen. Izuku was the only quirkless child to complete his education at Aldera middle school, and he was pretty sure they only let him stay because his grades were near perfect and far above those of the rest of his class (except for Kacchan, of course) and that had brought the average up to a more acceptable level.

All of Izuku's worst experiences in primary and middle school proved a teacher would not help him even if he asked. In fact asking for help had often made things much, much worse. Judging by Aizawa-sensei's attitude toward him at the quirk assessment yesterday, nothing was going to change at UA.

Izuku wanted to smack his head against his desk (and may have followed through if it hadn't increased the risk of a long, righteous lecture from Iida about respecting school property.)

"I'll…um…talk to the other girls," Jiro whispered a moment before hurrying to her desk, clearly having heard a teacher approaching the classroom. Izuku took the hint and straightened his posture just in time for the door to slide open.

"I…AM…HEEEERREEE…coming through the door like a hero."

All Might! Yes! Izuku did have a teacher who would listen to him this year. Surely he was safer at UA than he'd ever been at school.

Wait.

What was that about REAL combat?

~*~

"Combat training?"

"Two steps ahead?"

"Without any safety training or equipment testing first?

"Does Toshinori even have a teaching license?"

Nana felt the very real wish for the non-existent ground to open up and swallow her.

This was going to be a disaster.

~*~

"If things go too far, I'll step in."

Okay, that made Izuku feel a little better about going up against Kacchan. All Might was supervising. They'd all be okay. The burn scar on his shoulder tingled uncomfortably, but he pushed the sensation aside to concentrate on planning with Uraraka.

~*~

"Hey, do you think Deku really has a quirk?"

"You saw how he threw that ball," Iida answered with a shrug.

Was Deku seriously just tricking me all these years? I'm gonna roast that damn nerd today!

~*~

All Might watched proudly as his successor outwitted the explosive boy, dodging and predicting Bakugo's moves with only minimal damage to his hero costume.

"Quirk or not, you'll never beat me, Deku!"

"That guy has some real anger issues," Kaminari mumbled as they watched the first match on the giant screen in the viewing booth. The electric kid had come to that conclusion even without access to the audio feed. And All Might had to agree. That level of pride could end up being the boy's demise.

"Stop hiding. Come out and face me, you coward!"

All Might felt his first niggle of worry when he saw Bakugo's gauntlet flash red. He wasn't sure exactly how they worked but it seemed kind of ominous.

"... by now you probably know how my quirk, Explosion, works. I secrete nitroglycerin-like sweat from my hands and make it blow up."

Did he say nitroglycerin?

Holy shit!

"Imagine what I could do if I had a lot of it."

Shit. Shit. Shit. Not good. All Might finally understood what the gauntlets were for. That much nitroglycerin could take out the entire building.

"Young Bakugo!" All Might called through the comms. "Don't do it. You'll kill him."

"He'll be fine…as long as he dodges."