Chapter 19

Chapter Text

"Izuku, honey," Nana said, the distraught child still wrapped in her arms. "We don't have to stay here with your mom. Just think of someone else."

They'd been watching Midoriya Inko for a couple days, and even though she'd not spoken to anyone else or left the room at all it felt like they were holding their breath, waiting for worse things to come.

"I'm trying," Izuku said, his voice barely above a whisper, "but I think ghost-me is in control with this." He wiped a hand down his face, sniffling in an attempt to stop crying. "And he doesn't have anyone to explain or trying to comfort him."

"He has us, kid," Banjo said, maybe a tad too jovially in an attempt to hide his own discomfort.

"Of course," Yoichi said, already working on contacting the ghost of Midoriya Izuku.

~*~

Izuku was incredibly grateful when he found himself inside One for All, especially when he realized the green mist wasn't covering his mouth.

"H–Hi," he said nervously.

"Hello, Midoriya," Nana said happily. She was standing next to what Izuku understood to be the vestige of his own quirk. He'd clearly been crying as hard as Izuku had wanted to do. Unfortunately being a ghost made such mundane human reactions impossible.

Except…in here that rule didn't seem to apply.

"Oh, kiddo," Nana said, moving toward him and hugging him, green mist and all. "It's been a rough couple of weeks."

Izuku nodded, grateful for the hug that he could sort-of feel. It was the intention that counted, anyway, and the way it made Izuku feel less alone. He closed his eyes, unable to stop the tears leaking from his eyes. He let them fall anyway, relieved to have an outlet for his grief.

"You'll never be alone, Midoriya," the other Izuku said. "We're a part of you, always."

"Th–Thanks," Izuku said, shakily smiling at his own vestige. "Any idea what's happening with mom?"

"Not really," the vestige said, clearly trying to skirt around the truth. Izuku raised an unimpressed eyebrow. The vestige laughed softly. "Yeah, I didn't think that was going to work. Worth a try though."

"We think," Nana said quietly, "that maybe your mother has a less-than-legal past that she tried to leave behind at some point."

"Probably before we were born."

Izuku nodded in acknowledgement. "But my death pushed her back into it?"

"More likely the attack on Bakugo did that," Nana suggested.

"The voice on the other end of your mother's phone call…" Yoichi said, wincing before continuing. "We're pretty sure it was a man called Giran. He's an information broker for villains and their organizations."

"Shit," Izuku whispered, determination flooding through him. "So how do I save her?"

"I'm not sure you can," Nana said.

"I have to try! What is the use of finally having a quirk and not being able to use it to stop someone from making a terrible mistake?" He glanced around at the vestiges, including the two still facing away from him. "Surely we can figure out a way to combine our quirks so that I can communicate with the living."

"We'll work on it," Nana promised.

"We'll find a way," Izuku's vestige promised, joining the hug with Nana and Izuku.

"So um…this is touching and all…" Banjo said, clearly not very good at diplomacy or sensitivity, "but it might be worth listening into the conversation Toshinori is having with Principal Nedzu."

~*~

"…I suppose that is a possibility," Nedzu conceded. "One for All was a truly unique quirk."

Mic nodded in agreement. He'd been in a meeting with Nedzu when All Might had barged his way through the door.

"Until I met you," Mic said, "I honestly believed the idea of passing on quirks to the next generation or someone having the ability to steal them was an impossible story made up by people who had no other explanation for things they'd seen."

Toshinori nodded. He'd believed the same thing once. "There's very little about Daigoro Banjo on the Internet, but there is one blurry video of him using his quirk." He handed his phone to Nedzu with the video already playing. Nedzu's eyes widened slightly when he saw Daigoro using his quirk.

"His whips are thinner and more solid looking than the tentacles used at the USJ, but I am willing to concede that it's possibly the difference between years of practice and a newly manifested quirk."

"But if One for All was sentient wouldn't it be as proficient with the quirks as the original owners?"

"Possibly," Nedzu conceded, "unless the sentience is a new part of it since…"

"Or…" Mic said, cutting off the words Nedzu had clearly been reluctant to say. "Yagi, you said Midoriya was quirkless when you met him. Is it possible that he had a hidden quirk?"

"He had the toe joint."

"I believe that theory was disproven several years ago," Nedzu said thoughtfully. "And quirkless statistics for children in Izuku's generation are virtually nil." He nodded. "I believe it is the most likely expla—"

His words cut off when a thick, ropey tentacle-like thing appeared in the room.

"Well hello," Nedzu said instead. "I'm guessing one of our theories is correct then?" He reached across his desk and grabbed a whiteboard marker. He uncapped it and held it toward the tentacle. "Are you able to write?"

The black rope narrowed a little, tightening into a more whip-like structure as it reached for the pen. It took a few moments of frustration for everyone but the tentacle finally managed to make a few marks on the whiteboard.

"Does that say 'Deku'?" Toshinori asked.

"Deku?" Mic nearly yelped. "That's the…er… name Katsuki called Midoriya."

"So that is you, Midoriya?"

"Izuku?" Toshinori asked at the same time, obviously pushing the words past the lump in his throat.

The pen bobbed up and down before moving back toward the board.

"Ghost?" Toshinori asked several minutes later. "That's the name of your quirk? Or um…a description?"

The pen bobbed again.

"Well then," Nedzu said cheerfully. "It's about time you got back to your classes. Don't you agree?"