Here we go! New chapter!
Let's GOOOOOOO!
Also, because we all know and love it, Bakugou's swearing, but I've censored stuff before, so I think as long as I go along with that, I can keep the rating as is? If I'm not supposed to do that, let me know, but I also know that some people try to stick to certain ratings and such, so I'm reluctant to change the rating unless necessary.
And! I will introduce my favorite ship here! I can already smell the people that are going to leave bad reviews/stop following this fic because of it, but since it's not really a thing yet, I'm not putting it in the review (that will happen later, this is more of a form of a crush kind of thing, but…yeah.)
Also, should I go back and edit Odin's explained backstory so it's more canon-compliant? Since we know a few more things about the users, I can try to make the Users in this story fit more into what we already know from the manga. Or I can keep it as is. Just let me know what you want! Then again, most people aren't reading this…pumpernickle pickle! (Three points if you get that reference!)
Hitoshi Shinsou's life was…not what he'd expected, honestly.
At the age of four, his quirk, Brainwashing, came in, and it was so cool!...for about ten minutes before his mother had been angry at his quirk, and his father had put a muzzle on him the very next day whenever he was home (without his quirk being officially named or anything) until he was nine. When he was nine, Eraserhead (the coolest hero ever!) found him with a muzzle and took action, bringing him to the police and arresting his parents. It was awesome that the police had handed him to Mrs. Shinsou (she'd adopted him soon after, and he now called her Mom) after making sure that she wouldn't be mean to him or anything (she had a quirk that brought forth certain memories in people depending on how she prompted people. Some people thought it was villainous, but the whole thing was weird, especially hearing Izuku, Odin, and Hisashi gush about quirks) Then, Mrs. Shinsou brought him to get his quirk registered, where he met his first friend (friends?) Izuku and Odin, who kind of dragged him into also being friends with Katsuki (or Kacchan when Hitoshi wanted to make him angry, apparently only the Midoriyas were allowed to call him that because Katsuki had known Izuku his entire life). Mrs. Shinsou had been incredibly happy about his new friends, even moving closer to their neighborhood so he could go to middle school with them…or, well, Katsuki, Izuku's Anxiety (the first one) made him do online schooling and finish all the way up to high school. It wasn't the best, but Hitoshi and Katsuki often went to Izuku's house to do homework and hang out with him (and, on the weekends, Hitoshi and Izuku volunteered at the nearby animal shelter, often getting to play with cats.) (Cats were awesome.)
Anyway.
It was the last year of middle school (Hitoshi was counting down to the entrance exam for UA, all their dream school, he had ten months to train to get in-thankfully, Odin and Brazen had been helping all three of them, apparently both of them had been at the entrance exam, even if Odin hadn't actually taken it…Odin's entire situation was confusing, but neither would tell them exactly what they would be doing for the entrance exam, just preparing them for it…yeah.) And that's when…
"Hey, mind freak!"
Hitoshi sighed, glaring at some of the kids in his homeroom, wishing that Katsuki was here-but no, he had a doctor's appointment for his hearing-ok, he really did need to get his hearing checked, but that still meant that the kids would be mean to Hitoshi while Katsuki wasn't there.
"Leave me alone," Hitoshi said, not bothering to try to use his quirk-unlike these kids-heck, even unlike Katsuki-he knew that he shouldn't use his quirk in school.
"No way, you villain," one of them said, shoving Hitoshi, but he stayed upright, glaring at them. "Bakugou isn't here to save you this time."
"What a lame excuse for a villain-needs someone to protect him," a different kid snickered.
"Go away," Hitoshi said-he had to head to meet with Katsuki on the way to Izuku's house. He didn't have time for this.
"C'mon, you know that you can't tell us what to do without using that stupid quirk of yours, but it doesn't work on us, does it?" one taunted.
Stupid conclusion to come to, Hitoshi thought angrily. Sure, he refused to use his quirk on his bullies-you know, like he should-but that didn't mean it wouldn't work on them. I should just walk away…but I know better than to turn my back to them. I just need them to leave…
"Look, I don't have time for this right now," Hitoshi said. "So, if you'd kindly leave me alone-"
"As if," one of them said, shoving him again, but this time, he fell back over something, landing on the ground. "You're not wanted by anyone besides villains! That's all you're good for!"
"I wonder what would happen if he died," one muttered. "I mean, who would miss him? It wouldn't change anything, anyway-he's just a villain that thinks he can be a hero."
"With a quirk like that?" a different one chuckled. "As if. Even All Might himself wouldn't want to work with such a villainous quirk."
Ah, All Might. Katsuki's favorite hero, Izuku's least favorite (for some reason, he never really shared why). Yeah, Hitoshi looked up to him-he was the number one hero, even if you don't like the guy, he's still kind of inspiring, right? But All Might didn't really rank high with Hitoshi-Eraserhead was where the money was at. Hitoshi wanted to be an underground hero, after all-All Might wasn't really important to him. But, of course, most of his classmates didn't know that.
Hitoshi rolled his eyes as he stood up, slowly making his way towards the door, keeping an eye on the other students.
I really don't have time for this. What's the best way outta here? Just back out of the doorway and hope for the best?
"Don't you dare think you're getting away so easily-" one of them started.
Well, good thing Hitoshi was good at running. Right when he reached the door, he pushed out of the doorway and quickly made his way out of the school, smirking to himself when he heard a teacher get mad at the other students for running-Hitoshi was always good at speed walking fast enough to get away, enough that the teachers couldn't technically say that he was running.
Hitoshi quickly made his way out of the school and down a street he knew would take him towards where he was supposed to meet Katsuki.
….you know what's coming, don't you?...
Hitoshi passed under an underpass, wondering what would happen if he told Katsuki about the bullies (he'd yell at them the next day, he always did, but would it just make the bullies worse when it was only him with them?) When he heard a kind of…fluid sound? He spun around, ready for a fight-
That was a green sludge villain-
"What-" Hitoshi started, readying his quirk as the sludge was on him, and he quickly shut his mouth as it tried to get through his nose instead-what the hell-
"A meatsuit-perfect-" the villain started-what the hell-but that was enough for Hitoshi to activate his quirk, feeling as the villain stopped.
Get off me and stand perfectly still, Hitoshi thought, wincing slightly at the silent command-it took more stamina to silently command someone, but it was enough to get the sludge villain to move away from him and stand still.
"Huh," Hitoshi said, then looked at the casting that the villain had come out of. The villain seemed to be…running from something, hopefully, if Hitoshi wasn't misreading the situation-would a hero show up that could restrain the villain? Because this wasn't going to last forever-
"I AM HERE!"
Oh for God's sake-
All Might himself came out of the sewer system, wearing…strangely casual clothing and holding a grocery bag. So he got caught on a grocery run, apparently. That's…weird.
Hitoshi blinked at All Might as the hero stopped and looked around.
"Uh…why isn't the villain…moving?" All Might said dumbly. (I've got some All Might bashing to do. :)
"That's my quirk-do you have some kind of way to restrain this thing?" Hitoshi asked.
"Ah!" All Might said. "Young man, you shouldn't be using your quirk in-"
"Restrain this thing before it attacks me again!" Hitoshi snapped-he didn't usually hold a conversation with someone else as he had control over someone, can this guy just do his job and scold him afterwards.
"Ah!" All Might said, then took two soda bottles out of the grocery bag, quickly emptying them-seriously? Well, as long as it worked.
"Now-" All Might started.
"Set the bottles down," Hitoshi said-this wasn't getting any easier here, and he doubted All Might could really shovel the sludge into two soda bottles easily-would it even fit all of the sludge? Seriously? Well, at least he had some kind of plan, I guess.
All Might blinked at him. "Young man-"
"Oh, for God's sake!" Hitoshi said. "Compress yourself into the bottles that All Might is carrying."
The sludge villain compressed, and it started to slink towards All Might, who seemed to understand and managed to get the sludge villain into the bottles and twist the cap on.
Hitoshi let go of his quirk and collapsed to the ground, out of breath.
"You shouldn't have used your quirk, young man-that's illegal-" All Might started to freaking scold him.
"Well, it was the only option I had-that thing was trying to suffocate me-would you have preferred that?" Hitoshi asked, trying to catch his breath-seriously, that took more concentration than it should have, and All Might had the freaking nerve to get mad about him defending himself?
"Young man, I had the situation handled," All Might said, then paused. "But…good quick thinking, I guess."
"Thanks," Hitoshi said, then perked up, quickly grabbing out a notebook and opening it quick, holding it out to All Might, as well as a pen. "Sorry to bug you, but one of my friends is a really big fan of yours-can I have an autograph?"
"A friend, not you?" All Might asked, taking the notebook and pen and signing his name.
"My favorite hero is Eraserhead," Hitoshi said.
"Ah, underground," All Might said, looking at his signature. "Surprised you've heard of him."
"Yeah, well, he's awesome," Hitoshi said. "I mean, a quirk that can erase other quirks? I bet that he got bullied for a villainous quirk like me."
"Oh?" All Might asked. "Mind if I ask what kind of quirk you have?"
"Brainwashing," Hitoshi said. "Great for restraining villains and defusing hostage situations-my friends and I want to become heroes together." He paused-the kids from earlier had said… "Do…do you think that's possible? For me to become a hero with a villainous quirk?"
"Well…" All Might trailed off, handing back his notebook and pen. "Um…it's not a very…physical quirk, sounds just mental."
"Yeah," Hitoshi said, feeling…something in his chest. Dread? "But-"
"I'm sorry, young man, but I don't think you can get past any hero entrance exam with a quirk like that," All Might said, looking like he wasn't really listening to Hitoshi. "Transferring into a hero course sounds hard for you, too. I'm just not sure how you would manage to achieve your goal."
…what? (Sorry if this sounds out of character for All Might, but he's more of a jerk in this fic.)
"Excuse me?!" Hitoshi said, squeezing his notebook as he stared at the hero in disbelief.
"Not having a physical quirk does make fighting villains harder, too-what happens if you can't brainwash them?" All Might continued. "I assume that you have some kind of activation for your quirk that might not work in every situation, and otherwise, without some kind of physical quirk, you might not have any kind of advantage in those kinds of situations."
Are you freaking-
"You're joking, right?" Hitoshi snapped. "There's this thing called support gear that has entire industries specifically to help heroes, and you're telling me that I'd be best off with some kind of physical quirk instead?!" He clenched his fists and shook his head, stuffing his notebook back in his backpack. "No freaking wonder Izuku hates you as a hero." Did he know about this?
"Support gear fails, young man-" All Might started.
"Quirk exhaustion is a thing, too, even for physical quirks-you know what, screw you," Hitoshi said, then turned and started to walk away. "I've got to go meet Katsuki and tell him how much of a disappointment you turned out to be. Can't believe you're the number one hero if you're such a jerk." With that, he speed-walked away, and after a few seconds, he turned to say one more thing-
All Might was already gone, and when Hitoshi looked up, he saw All Might flying away.
…
Wait, wasn't he supposed to at least mention something about the whole "trying to suffocate me" thing?
What a hero…not.
…..
Toshinori jumped over the rooftops, thinking about that young man. A brainwashing quirk? Not only would he have to deal with the activation thing, but wasn't that considered villainous? Nobody would really consider him as a hero with a quirk like that-it was best if he left that dream and did something else-maybe even a police officer that wouldn't have to deal with civilians as much. Even underground heroes had some kind of media presence-after all, the young man knew about Eraserhead, didn't he? Eraserhead was a decent enough underground hero (that literally hurt to write, I love Eraserhead-), but his transfer wasn't really something that happened to others. That young man wouldn't pass the UA entrance exam-and weren't most entrance exams similar enough that he'd have a hard time passing them? And transferring into the hero course from another course wouldn't be easy, either. It was best that the young man understood that-too bad he didn't seem to understand it back there.
Who cares about physical or mental quirks? As long as you use it properly, it can do anything-I'm waiting for the day that someone even becomes a hero without a quirk-almost makes me wish Seven hadn't chosen a quirkless boy as a successor. I wonder how far he'd get without a quirk-it'd be cool to watch, wouldn't it?
Toshinori brushed that away-nobody had heard anything about Ofa since she had left, and he was having a harder time using One for All without her, but maybe the next user would be able to, since they wouldn't be used to having Ofa there to help with regulation.
Who had Sir Nighteye been suggesting…that second year UA student, Mirio Togata, right? Maybe that boy would be able to understand how to control the remains of One for All without Ofa…
All Might dropped down in a series of alleyways near the police station, deflating as he went to grab the two bottles…
…they….weren't…there.
Oh no.
….
"So, I've decided that All Might can go screw himself, but here's his signature since I know he's your favorite hero, and I thought it would make your day, but I will forever hate him alongside Izuku and his Sides."
Katsuki stared at Hitoshi in disbelief, while Izuku just nodded-he had decided to go meet with Katsuki and Hitoshi instead of meeting them at his place.
"Yeah, that sounds…awful," Izuku said. "But that was nice of you to think about it!"
"But why's All Might such a…d***?" Katsuki asked, looking at the signature. "That's…that's f***ed up on so many levels."
"Well, most people don't like villain's quirks, but apparently mental quirks are also on his s*** list because they aren't physical," Hitoshi said. "But seriously! Did he all-out forget that Eraserhead's quirk is classified as mental?"
"Technically not, since it has physical drawbacks-but there's literally been a hero with an incredibly similar quirk to yours before," Izuku said. "I could go on for hours about quirks that aren't physical, but the quirk doesn't make the hero!"
"Right!" Odin said, popping into existence next to them, and Izuku didn't let the wings appear, and Odin's stayed small and close to her as she looked mad-there was a reason she was the Mom friend, after all. "There have been heroes with the same quirks as villains, heroes with mental quirks that have made it all the way to the number one spot, people with heroic quirks that haven't made it past the entrance exam-I could go on for hours! All Might didn't have any right to say anything to you like that. Especially after you restrained the villain so easily. Sure, quirk use in public isn't allowed, but there are certain situations that give allowances for civilians to use their quirks, including when there is no one around besides you and the villain. You had every right to defend yourself as long as you didn't damage any public property."
"Wait, why do you know that?" Katsuki asked, giving her an odd look.
Odin smiled at him. "Back in life, I was actually some kind of police officer, and when I made a contract with Izuku, I made a point of catching up on quirk laws just in case the situation calls for it." She sighed. "I'm not sure of everything with familiar quirks since they're the least common kind of quirk, so there aren't really many laws that address them, but I at least know that."
"Wait, you were a police officer?" Hitosho said, surprised-that's the most she'd ever said about life-with Izuku's other Sides, Hitoshi had at least some kind of idea what had happened to them in life, but Odin had always remained a mystery.
Odin smiled at him. "Yes and no. The entire situation was complicated. I hope you don't mind, but I don't really want to talk about it."
Dangit.
Hitoshi opened his mouth to respond to that when they heard a loud commotion. They all exchanged looks and looked at the crowd forming nearby, making their way over there-
"Is that…a villain made of sludge?" Katsuki asked, the tallest of the three, so of course he saw the villain first (I don't know if this fact is true or not, but I'll figure that out soon here, but for plot reasons :)
Hitoshi saw the villain second-Izuku and Odin weren't really tall-and he looked surprised. "That's…the villain from earlier."
"So on top of telling you that your quirk wasn't the best for heroics, that idiot also managed to lose the villain you helped him capture," Izuku muttered. "Seriously?"
"I have no respect left for that guy-wanna burn the signature later?" Katsuki asked.
"Or we can sell it and donate the money to a villain's quirk charity just out of spite," Hitoshi muttered.
"...you're literally the coolest person even besides Izuku and the other Sides," Odin said.
"Hey!" Katsuki said.
"Don't even take offense to that-I'm gonna agree with Mom on this one," Izuku said, then looked and noticed the freaking five heroes present-seriously!? "Why aren't those heroes doing anything?!"
"We've got Kamui Woods, Mount Lady, Slugger, Backdraft, and Death Arms," Odin said, then looked at who the villain had-not a kid that they knew, had split red and white hair, there was fire and ice all around the kid. :) "Fire and ice quirk, doesn't seem to be using either consciously right now-his quirk is acting up due to the fact he can't breath-wait, oh my goodness he can't breath and those heroes aren't doing anything-"
Izuku grabbed Odin's hand and began to pull her forward. Surprised, Hitoshi and Katsuki quickly followed as Izuku made his way to the front of the crowd, where Backdraft was keeping civilians back.
…
Odin, Yumio, legally, what can I do in this situation to help that kid?
There are five heroes present, as well as a large crowd, so legally, you can't use your quirk, Yumio said. However, due to their inaction, there is a civilian's clause that, when heroes are in a situation that they can not act upon due to their quirks-Kamui Woods, for example, can't fight here because he's literally made of wood, which doesn't mix with fire-then if there is a civilian in the crowd that can rescue a suffocating hostage without use of a quirk and ensuring that they aren't hurt, as long as it has been more than two minutes of the heroes not acting-which I can assure you is the case here, a civilian may step in as long as they don't get hurt.
So, legally, I can run up there, throw something in the villain's eye-that must be some kind of weak point, it appears more solid than the rest of the villain, so that's likely our best bet-and pull the kid away while the villain is distracted, Izuku said.
As long as you don't visibly use a quirk-us talking to you doesn't count, Odin said.
Good, Izuku said, then leaned down to the ground and picked up a large rock as he ducked under Backdrift's arm and ran forward.
"What the-!?" Death Arms started to say, but Izuku threw the rock as hard as he could as the villain's eye, thankfully hitting it directly, causing the villain to roar in pain-of course it did, that was their eye-and Izuku used that half-second distraction to grab the kid's arms and pull them away and to the ground-the kid was already unconscious, that wasn't good-
"You BRAT-" the villain roared, looming over Izuku and the kid.
"Hey ugly!" Izuku heard Hitoshi's voice yell, recognizing him about to activate his quirk-wait, no, that wasn't legal in this situation-
"Fear not, for I AM HERE!"
As if this situation couldn't get any worse-
All Might dropped down from the sky, and…well, you know the rest of that.
Immediately as the heroes began to clean up the sludge, Izuku heard a groan, and looked down at the kid (wow, he's kinda cute-) started to sit up and open his eyes-
"You might want to be careful-you passed out from suffocation there," Izuku said, but helped the kid sit up all the way, despite the kid waving his hands away and glaring at him.
"I'm fine," the kid snapped.
"Sure you are," Darnell said through Izuku, his voice changing, but the kid didn't seem to notice.
"Hey!" Death Arms said as he stomped over. "First of all, greeny, that was-"
"Completely within my legal right to do, as there are laws in place that state when a hostage is being suffocated and heroes aren't taking actions-which, I don't know about you, but that seemed to apply from the crowd-as long as no quirk is used, a civilian may interfere to attempt to rescue the hostage as long as they step back and don't go looking to get hurt-which, I can assure you, I know what I was doing," Izuku interrupted. "It's sad how many heroes don't know what laws are in place these days. I didn't use a quirk, just threw a rock in the villain's eye-something that you could've easily done, but didn't, instead leaving this kid to suffocate-did you know the average human can only last three minutes without oxygen? This happened before I got here, and it took me around two minutes to get through the crowd, not to mention that this guy was passed out-speaking of, you need to get evaluated, make sure none of that got into your lungs-don't glare at me, your quirk literally activated on instinct in order to try to save yourself, which is a really great survival tactic that the human body puts itself through-also completely legal because your body was literally forced into the state because it was so convinced that it was dying, but you did seem to have some kind of control over it, which was really cool, not many people can do that, so congrats to you on that, most people's quirks would go completely haywire-but to put it back on track, all it took to help get this guy out of there was throwing a rock into the villain's eye, so why didn't you do that?"
Death Arms stared at Izuku, while the boy went from glaring to slight fear and…admiration? That was weird.
"Well…um…" Death Arms trailed off, not sure of what to say.
"I rest my case," Izuku said, then stood up, reaching a hand towards the kid, who hesitated, then let Izuku help him stand up (why was this kid taller than him-) "I'm glad you're alright. I'm Izuku. Him/his."
"Um…Shoto Todoroki," the kid said, tilting his head to the side. "Him/his?"
"Nice to meet you, Todoroki-kun," Izuku said as the last of the sludge was being cleaned up, and the other heroes came over. Izuku glared at them, letting go of Todoroki's hand-it was strangely warm, on the side with his red hair-fire and ice quirk, did that mean his quirk went along with his hair? That was really cool.
"Um, young man-" Kamui Woods started.
"I didn't use a quirk, and the law dictates that I was completely within my right to do so as long as the heroes currently present weren't taking action," Izuku said. "When a civilian's life is in danger and heroes aren't taking action, if there is someone in the crowd that, without a quirk, can realistically help get the hostage out, then they are allowed to act as long as certain other circumstances are met-for example, if someone has been suffocating for longer than two minutes-the average person can only last three minutes without oxygen, you know. And I was able to safely help by simply throwing a rock."
Yeah, that was ridiculous that these heroes didn't do anything in this situation, Yumio said.
(Do I just want an excuse to see these heroes scolded by a kid much younger than them, hence why I put together this law? Yes, yes I do.)
"Well, either way, Todoroki-kun here needs some medical attention-drowning and suffocation isn't a pleasant feeling, and even when you survive, it can have long-term consequences," Emory said through Izuku.
I always forget that you and Kamari drowned… Brazen said softly.
Wait, what? Hinata asked.
Conversation for another time, Izuku said.
Izuku smiled. "Well, I'm completely fine, but I probably still have to talk to the cops, huh? Shouldn't take too long, but then I have to head out."
…..
All Might glanced over at the boy that had run in, then at the boy from earlier, who was standing at the front of the crowd with a blond-haired boy and-
Wait.
Was that-!?
Ofa (looking slightly younger, but there was no way All Might wouldn't recognize his quirk) made eye contact with All Might, and she glared at him before grabbing the purple-haired boy's arm and pulling him closer to him, on her tip-toes. The boy leaned down, and Ofa whispered something to him. The boy nodded, then looked at the blond boy, saying something to him, and the three began to walk away.
Wait, All Might needed to talk to Ofa! Would he be able to find them later? Why did those boys know her? Scratch that, why was she visible, now that he thought about it? She shouldn't be-nobody had ever been able to see her without his permission. What was going on?
….
"Sorry to have to take so much longer," Izuku later said to Kacchan and Toshi (he'd started using that as a nickname after talking to Odin to make sure she was fine with it-she was.)
"I'm just surprised that you started reciting laws at the freaking heroes," Kacchan said. "I didn't know that you knew so many."
Odin smiled as Yui appeared, grabbing her hand gently. "I used to be a police officer, and I shadowed some heroes after my death-but that's a topic for another time."
"It's always going to be a topic for another time-we know about the other Sides, but you're still a mystery," Toshi said.
"That's the fun of it," Odin said happily.
"Hey."
The five all turned to see-
"Oh, Todoroki-kun!" Izuku said, fully facing the boy. "Glad to see you turned out alright-"
"You shouldn't have done that-I was doing fine," Todoroki interrupted. (I'm going to apologize now if he seems out of character-I've never really tried to write Earlydoki, so he's gonna probably be weird-)
Izuku blinked, but didn't say anything.
"I had the situation under control-you are a normal civilian," Todoroki said. "Helping me wasn't necessary."
"You likely would have had the situation under control," Izuku agreed. "But everyone needs help sometimes-"
"I don't," Todoroki said bluntly.
"Tch," Kacchan said. "Stubborn bastard."
"Kacchan-" Odin started.
"Look, Half-and-half, you were unconscious, your quirk going haywire, and those heroes were doing nothing," Kacchan said.. "You can think whatever the hell you want about how you were, but from literally every angle, you needed help."
"I didn't," Todoroki said. "I'm going to be the number one hero someday-"
At that, all five of them burst out laughing, which clearly startled the boy.
"Get in line!" Kacchan said. "That race is between me and the Midoriyas…unless that whole team thing changes things."
"Still looking into that," Izuku said.
"Look, Todoroki-kun, you seriously think that you aren't going to need help, even if you make it that far?" Odin asked. "All Might himself has to call in backup from time to time. Every single hero in all of history has needed backup in some way, shape, or form-besides, you're fourteen. Take it from someone that's been there, done that-you're gonna need help as a hero, nobody is perfect, and whoever told you otherwise is a complete idiot-or worse, All Might."
"W-What?" Todoroki said, clearly surprised.
"Normally, I'd argue with you, but f*** that guy," Kacchan said. "That guy didn't have any right to say goddamn s*** about anything."
"You guys…don't like All Might?" Todoroki asked.
"Katsuki, no swearing in front of my child," Odin said, glaring at him.
"Mom, seriously, not the point right now," Izuku said.
"Wait, that girl is-" Todoroki started.
"LONG story, but to sum it up, physically, no, emotionally, yes," Izuku said.
"...that makes no sense," Todoroki said.
"It makes perfect sense-then again, we've all known the Midoriyas for years now, so that's probably why," Toshi said.
"Midoriyas?" Todoroki asked. "Um…is that your last name…Izuku, was it?"
"Yeah, but I don't use it," Izuku said. "It's a long story with my quirk."
"Oh," Todoroki said.
"Any other reason you came after us?" Toshi asked.
Todoroki paused for a few seconds, then bluntly said, "You seem like the kind of people my father would absolutely hate, so I want to get to know you to piss him off."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"I like this guy!" Paz said, appearing and making Todoroki's eyes go wide for half a second.
"He does not seem like an interesting person," Darnell said, appearing and slightly hiding behind Paz. "But he has shown no evidence of a fire quirk, so we can completely let our guard down around him."
Darlina appeared, smiling at him. "Come on, Darnell, I don't think we have anything to fear from Todoroki-kun."
Brazen appeared right in front of Todoroki, holding out his hand. "Hi! I'm Brazen-there's seventeen of us including Izuku crammed into his head-we're his quirk."
All the Sides instantly tensed up as Hinata appeared, sending a wave of anxiety through all of them.
"Don't scare him, please," Hinata said quietly, rushing over to Odin and holding onto her leg.
Odin leaned down and picked her up with a smile. "Hinata's right, Brazen-I get that you're Recklessness and all, but calm down-Paz, Darnell, Darlina, you guys, too-we could've had this conversation in the Mind Palace instead-and Brazen, didn't we agree not to go around telling people that we don't know that well?" She sent a wave of care through all of them. "Come on, everyone, let's retreat to the Mind Palace for a little while, ok?" She looked at Yui, who nodded, and all the Sides disappeared.
"What in the…" Todoroki trailed off.
"Don't worry, that's normal," Izuku said. "Well, so, as you know, I'm Izuku." He glanced at Kacchan and Toshi.
"Katsuki Bakugou-and don't even try to call me by my first name, I'm not like the Midoriyas," Kacchan said.
"Hitoshi Shinsou," Toshi said.
"...Shoto Todoroki," Todoroki said.
Wait, now that I think about it, why does that last name sound familiar? Todoroki…Todoroki…Todo-ah!
"Are you Rei and Enji's kid?" Yui asked through Izuku, and they all gave him a shocked look.
"Did you…just call my parents by their first names?" Todoroki asked, looking surprised.
"Sorry, that was Yui," Izuku said. Yui, what the actual hell?
Aw, Rei was such an awesome person-she was friends with my older sister before the quirk marriage.
I'm sorry, before the WHAT?
"Um…you know what, I'm just going to leave that be and say sorry about that," Izuku said, turning pale.
"What's your other mother going on about?" Kacchan asked.
"You don't wanna know," Izuku said, then sighed and smiled at Todoroki before holding out his hand. "Welcome to the group, Todoroki-kun, I guess. We randomly meet at my house after Toshi and Kacchan are done with school, but we probably can't do that since we don't know you that well yet-wait, do you have somewhere to be, or do you wanna hang out now and exchange phone numbers?"
"Sure," Todoroki said-
All Might came around a corner and deflated what the actual-
The four teens jumped and backed away as All Might-was he All Might when he was weirdly deflated and looked like some kind of Skelator-wannabe? (I read this insult once in a fanfic and can't remember where, but I LOVE it)-spat out some blood, then paused, noticing that there were four teenage boys.
"Um…that was an accident, I thought that there wouldn't be so many of you…well, this is awkward," All Might(?) said, wiping away the blood.
…Odin, is that…? Yumio trailed off.
…no, Odin said.
"Well, sorry, but I was wondering if I could speak to someone that was with you earlier?" All Might-wait hadn't Odin once called him…Toshinori Yagi? So Yagi-asked, looking nervous-good.
"Um…what?" Toshi asked. "It was…just us."
"No, that blonde girl, about so high, had a pair of black wings, her…right arm was black, for some reason?" Yagi said, sounding unsure of himself. (Totally didn't just realize that I forgot to mention that it stayed that way, totally-)
"...why are you looking for a ghost?" Toshi asked, raising an eyebrow.
"She's-" Yagi started.
"Wait, what-" Todoroki started to say at the same time.
Odin appeared, her arms crossed as she glared at All Might.
"Long time no see-not long enough, though," Odin said.
"Wait, what-" Kacchan and Toshi started to say.
"Ah, Ofa!" Yagi said, sounding relieved. "It's been five years now-no one's seen you since-"
"Hasn't been long enough," Odin said, then looked at Izuku. "Izuku, do you mind healing out for a few minutes? I'll catch up."
"Sure thing, Mom," Izuku said, then turned to his friends. "Come on, I'll explain everything later, but for now, let's go somewhere else."
The three boys looked incredibly confused, but just nodded and let Izuku shove them all away.
I'll see you soon, Mom, but I'll try to give you as much privacy here as possible.
Thank you, Izuku.
…..
Odin waited for the boys to get far enough, then she looked back at All Might, looking him up and down.
"Well, haven't you changed-having two different forms is new," Odin said.
"After the fight with All for One, I gained this ability-now, whenever I use my quirk, I buff up back to how I used to be," All Might said. "...I haven't been able to use it as well as I used to before you left. And my normal form is getting harder and harder to keep up-I can only use it for three hours a day now."
"Wow," Odin said. "Never really noticed-we don't really pay attention to the news with you anymore." She chuckled. "It's actually kinda funny. Izuku used to idolize you. Sorry I ruined that."
"...who?" All Might asked.
"The green haired kid," Odin said, then put her hands on her hips. "But, while on the subject of those kids, I actually have something to ask you about Toshi." She paused. "The purple one."
"Ah, the one with the brainwashing quirk?" All Might asked. "Rather…not easy to fight with."
"You're joking, right?" Odin asked. "You seriously told him that?"
"Heroics is biased towards strong, flashy, physical, heroic quirks," All Might said. "You know that-"
"Spirit's Voice, for crying out loud-you're seriously going to tell me, who's been haunting you One for All users for over two hundred years, who can and can't be a hero? You're joking, right?"
"Well-" All Might started.
"You know what, I don't want to hear it," Odin said. "Because the collective favorite hero of us just so happens to be Eraserhead-you should know of him, best underground hero of modern times, love that guy, can erase quirks-far from physical, flashy, and you probably wouldn't consider it strong or heroic-most people wouldn't, hence his underground status-among other reasons, but that's not the point. The point is that you're ridiculous in trying to tell someone what it takes to be a hero. No One for All user should be telling people anything about it."
"I am the number one hero in Japan-" All Might started.
"Doesn't matter if you were so quick to put down someone's dreams," Odin said. "Seriously. Did Nana ever tell you that you couldn't be a hero without a quirk? No. She honestly believed that you were the one person that could do it, but she also needed someone to give One for All to, hence why you're even standing here today, even knowing that I exist." Odin sighed. "I hated that woman, but even I can admit that her ideals were on point."
All Might looked mad at that. "Nana was an amazing person! How could you say that?!"
"Because she wasn't kind to me-none of you were!" Odin said. "But we aren't here to talk about that right now. We're talking about Toshi and the fact that he's going to be an amazing hero, but for some reason, you're a complete idiot who told him otherwise!" She sighed. "Honestly, I never want to see you again."
"You're my quirk-in fact, these five years have been ridiculous-you're coming back with me," All Might said.
"No, I'm not-and you can't even try to force me to," Odin said. "I'm a ghost with a contract, and I can disappear from this spot at any time. And you can't even complain-I'm not alive, haven't been since this quirk was still incredibly weak. When All for One was still considered a good person. Since my family was all together and on the same side." She stopped, taking a deep breath and willing the tears away, feeling a wave of…something through the Mind Palace-it was…comforting. She looked at the ground, then back up at All Might. "You've made many mistakes-all eight of you have made so many mistakes regarding me, and I refuse to be treated like some kind of hand-me-down again. I'm more than my quirk." She took another deep breath. "But none of that is the point-we're getting off topic." She shook her head. "Have a good life, or whatever-I'm free to do whatever I want, and staying with the Midoriyas is my choice."
"You aren't thinking clearly," All Might said. "This freedom you think you have was just some kind of trick of All for One-"
"If that's the case, then why did he heal you, too?" Odin asked.
"He didn't," All Might said.
"Do you not remember the fight clearly?" Odin asked. "Because here's what happened. You were injured, I took a hit, All Might sent another blast, and suddenly, your wounds started to disappear, and I was free. Then…" She trailed off. Did she really need to go into the whole conversation about her brother? If those police officers at the scene had realized that he was alive, then he had either been finished off by them, or he was sitting in a jail cell-and by continuing to talk about him…Odin didn't think it would end well.
"Of course I remember the fight, but that wasn't…why would he heal me?" All Might asked.
"The fact that you don't understand that means that I probably can't make you. And, with that, I need to get going-"
"Wait, I have one more question," All Might said.
"Whatever it is, no, you're an idiot, the likes," Odin said.
"I…can I still pass on One for All?" All Might asked.
Odin raised an eyebrow. "How am I supposed to know?"
"Well, you're…literally my quirk-you should know," All Might said.
"I'm not your quirk," Odin said. "And that means…literally nothing anymore. I have no connection to what you have left of my quirk. So, it's pretty much up in the air, anyone's guess if you can pass on One for All or not." She paused. "Why? Have someone in mind?"
"Yes," All Might said. "A second year in UA, Mirio Togata. Mirai chose him, but…I don't know how he can control One for All without you there."
"You seem to have been doing fine these past few years," Odin said.
"But I already knew control because you had been there for thirty-two years," All Might said.
Odin paused, giving him an odd look. "I'm sorry, what…?"
All Might gave her a confused look. "What are you even confused about here?"
"Thirty-two years?" Odin asked. "No, it was twenty-two."
Wait…did…did you seriously not know? Yumio asked.
What do you mean? Yui asked.
Yumio sighed. Odin has stated that she was passed onto All Might upon the death of Nana Shimura, which was 37 years ago now.
Why didn't you say something when Mom first told you?! Dasu asked.
I thought it was a mispeak, Yumio said. I mean, by no means does All Might's timeline match up with twenty-two years of you being there. Did you not look into the timeline you gave us?
To be fair, we all didn't look into All Might or anything like him because he was mean to Mom, Izuku said.
"...well, I'm gonna ignore that for now-maybe I disassociated for ten years or something, I don't really care right now," Odin said. "I've been controlling my strength quirk on my own since I was alive and really young-it's basically instinct to me."
Izuku doesn't really use it, but I think that he could easily, but maybe that's because I'm here, too, Odin wondered.
Most likely, Yumio said.
"But, then again, my strength quirk isn't nearly as strong as what you have now," Odin said. "So I probably wouldn't even be much help to begin with in that department-but make sure he's physically strong, although we have seen his performance at the Sports Festival…"
Yumio, can you tell me about how strong you think Mirio Togata is? Odin asked.
Likely not as strong as he needs to be in order to use the strength quirk from what you've been describing, so my suggestion would be-here, give me a second, Yumio said, then appeared next to Odin, holding a clipboard.
"So, I do not understand everything about the passing-on aspect of One for All, as you have been calling it," Yumio said, looking down at the clipboard. "But I have heard of it being incredibly self-destructive if one isn't strong enough to handle it, so in theory, it would be best for the next user to gain more natural strength than you, just in case, but since we don't know exactly how strong that needs to be, it would be best to set a certain goal based on the different outputs of strength from person to person, which I will have to calculate-Odin, mind if I go into your house on Memory Lane in order to do my research?"
"Sure thing," Odin said. Yumio nodded, then disappeared.
"...what just happened?" All Might asked.
"Oh, that was Yumio, he's really awesome," Odin said. "But he's got a point. When it comes to passing on the strength quirk, make sure that Togata is strong enough." She thought for a few seconds. "After that…let me think…the strength quirk needs to be controlled to a certain extent, so full power is a no-go. He'll need to only use a fraction at a time, which would require amazing control…"
"But how can he have amazing control without…" All Might trailed off.
"He already has a quirk, so unlike you, he already has some kind of idea of quirk control and how it works separately," Odin said. She paused, then said, I'm going to give All Might my personal email so we can talk more about the whole training Mirio thing once we know more about how much Mirio should be able to use, ok? (Each Side had, at one point, made their own personal email account in case of some kind of situation where they would need it in the future, but it was also for different kinds of subscriptions they used-Yumio would often get emails about the Word of the Day, Yui and Odin used theirs to make YouTube and HeroTube accounts for different kinds of videos-mostly pet and quirk videos. All the Sides had some kind of email, and Izuku had known early on that it would be overwhelming if they had all gone under a single account.)
That sounds logical, just be careful, Yumio said.
"Hey, give me your phone," Odin said.
"Hmm?" All Might said, but unlocked his phone and gave it to Odin, who opened his texting app and texted him her email address.
"I don't remember your email address, but here's mine, it's the best way to get in touch with me-I don't check it all the time, though, since we all use Izuku's computer at the same time, but I try to check at least once a day, so…yeah. You'll have to email me first, though." She tossed his phone back to him. "But don't think this means I like you-I hate your guts. But no point in making the next User suffer." With that, she disappeared.
…..
"...that entire interaction was odd. Is that normal for you guys?"
"'Course not, Half-N-Half," Katsuki said.
"Yeah…I try to keep my past to myself-didn't think today would bring anything to do with my past up front," Odin said.
"So, you knew All Might in life?" Katsuki asked.
"No, I was already dead when we first met," Odin said. "I've been around since quirks practically became a thing."
"Then why would a ghost know the number one hero?" Katsuki asked.
"Well…actually, I used to haunt him, basically-I can't tell you too much because I have to respect his privacy to a degree-unfortunately-but I used to haunt people," Odin said.
"Wait, you haunted the number one hero?" Todoroki asked, raising an eyebrow. "Did you pull pranks on him?"
Odin paused, staring at him. "That…would've been a great idea."
"Why would you haunt someone without pranking them?" Toshi asked.
"You guys know that I run on Lifeforce like any other ghost, right?" Odin asked.
Katsuki and Toshi nodded, while Todoroki hesitated, then nodded-Izuku had explained his quirk to the boy when Odin had been talking to All Might, as well as exchanged numbers with him-they all had.
"Well, the kind of haunting I was doing let me take Lifeforce from whoever I was haunting," Odin said. "In exchange, they could see me…and there was something else, but not the time for that."
"...ok, then," Toshi said. "So All Might literally tracked you down because you used to haunt him."
"Yep," Odin said.
"...why the heck-"
"Don't question it." (Two points if you get the reference:)
"We can focus on all of it another time, alright?" Izuku asked. "For now, let's just…I don't know, Todoroki, are you allergic to cats or anything?"
"I don't believe so," Todoroki said.
"Wanna join us at the animal shelter this weekend-or we can go to a cat cafe now?" Izuku asked, eyes wide and bright.
"Cats," Toshi whispered.
"Tch," Kasuki said, but he grinned.
"...sure, a cat cafe sounds nice-so does visiting an animal shelter, I guess," Todoroki said awkwardly, then paused, pulling a credit card out of his pocket. (I can't remember if this trope is canon, but I really love the idea of Todoroki doing this-) "I'll pay."
"No-" Izuku started.
"I insist," Todoroki said. "This is my father's credit card-I'm going to use up all his money."
"..."
"I'm not even going to argue on that one," Yui said, appearing next to Odin. "Enji wasn't really nice, anyway-as long as you don't get in trouble."
"Seriously, who the f*ck-" Katsuki started.
"Language," Odin said.
"Enji Todoroki was the one that married one of my sister's friends, Rei Himura," Yui said.
"Wait, you were friends with my mom?" Todoroki asked.
"My sister was," Yui said. "I think that they lost touch when Rei-san got married, though." She thought for a few seconds. "I miss her…"
"Mind if I ask your name?" Todoroki asked. "I don't see my mother much, but my older sister does."
"Oh, my old name?" Yui asked. "Himari Monoma." :))))))))) "It's been a few years, though, and I wasn't all that close to her-I only got to call her by her first name because she insisted that my whole family would."
"...ok, then," Todoroki said.
"So!" Yui said. "Cat cafe."
"Cats," Toshi said.
"Let's get going," Todoroki said, and they all started walking and smiling, laughing together-well, Todoroki wasn't laughing, but by the time they reached the cat cafe, he gave them a (small, almost unnoticeable) smile.
…..
"It was so…strange," Yagi later told Sir Nighteye (because the fight hadn't really been about fighting All for One, instead anger at Ofa for leaving, they didn't have a falling out). "She looked younger, and she just…acted differently in general. She did say that she would figure out how strong Young Togata needs to be in order to properly take the quirk, and she gave me a way to keep in contact with her…maybe I can convince her to at least meet Young Togata, and we can go from there. But…I have never seen her look so…happy as she had when with those children."
"How strange," Sir Nighteye said-
"Hey, Sir, sorry that I'm late-oh, you have another guest, I'll wait-" Mirio said, walking into the room and turning to walk right back out.
"Mirio, come back in here," Sir Nighteye said, leaning back in his chair.
Mirio walked back into the room and sat down in one of the spare chairs. "Is there something going on, Sir? Who's this?"
"Well…Yagi, your turn to talk," Sir Nighteye said, leaning back.
Yagi looked at the young man sitting next to him-he almost looked like a younger version of himself, and he already knew about his quirk, Permeation…well, time to tell him everything.
"I have a story to tell you…" Yagi said, then started the story of two brothers (and sister, but she had died young, and Yagi didn't really know too much about her in general.)
Once he was done, Yagi barely hesitated to say, "And you, Young Togata, are the one I have chosen to take this quirk next, if you're willing."
Mirio paused. "May I think about it?"
"Of course," Yagi said. "Let Mirai know when you have an answer for me."
Mirio nodded, then walked out of Sir Nighteye's office.
…..(I don't wanna write the scene where Mirio accepts All Might's offer, I feel like I wouldn't write it well, so we're gonna do a skip-)
Ofa, I AM HERE!
Young Togata has accepted to take One for All. Am I able to convince you to come and meet him at least? As well as send me the information you have already found regarding how strong he will need to be.
Signed, ALL MIGHT!
Odin blinked at the email, then looked at Izuku. "Well…do you think I should meet Togata?"
"Um…I don't know," Izuku said, then looked at Hisashi, who had been told about the entire situation. "Dad, what do you think?"
"Only if you're comfortable with it," Hisashi said. "I know that you don't like All Might…would you feel better if you didn't go alone?"
"...yeah," Odin admitted. "But I don't want you there, Izuku-I don't really trust All Might, and honestly, I wouldn't even agree to this if I wasn't worried about Togata-if my quirk can get passed on, then he's going to get it anyway, and I want to help him out a little."
May I come along? Yui asked.
Izuku looked at Odin as she tilted her head to the side (ha), thinking for a few seconds.
…why not, I trust you enough, Odin said.
Sweet! Yui said.
"Alright, I'll email him back and tell him that Yui's going to come with me," Odin said, starting to type up the email.
…..
Todoroki took a deep breath as he side-glanced at Fuyumi, who was walking next to him-they were walking to visit their mother, who he hadn't seen since…the scar, but he had learned a few new things about her.
"I'm…sorry?"
"Oh, yeah, it was really cool!" Yui said, a big smile on her face. "I don't think our parents even knew that it was her, but it was such a pretty snowman…until Miyu's boyfriend, Hachirou, tried to kick at it later and realized that it was completely made of ice." She laughed. "It was so funny!" She pouted. "But my parents thought I was copying Rei's quirk to make it instead, which wasn't…maybe we should talk about something else."
Todoroki had never heard stories about his mother before-honestly, when he had told Fuyumi about it, she had admitted that she hadn't known much about their mother's childhood, either. She said that Natsuo was busy with class, but since Endeavour was currently out of town for a mission, they could eat supper together later, and for now…
"Alright, are you sure you're ready?" Fuyumi asked quietly, stopping in front of a door as Todoroki held a bouquet of flowers they had bought for their mother.
Todoroki looked at her. "As ready as I'll ever be."
Fuyumi gave him a small smile, then opened the door, to reveal…
Rei looked over, and instantly, Todoroki felt himself slightly tense up, but Fuyumi nudged him into the room-no backing out now.
"Hey, mom!" Fuyumi said. "Shoto and I came by today."
Rei stared at her two children, then slowly stood up. "S-Shoto?"
I should have stayed at home.
Shoto paused for half a second, then slowly gave her a small smile. "Long time no see, mom."
A few tears appeared in the corner of Rei's eyes as she walked over and carefully gave her son a hug.
"It's been so long-have you been alright?" Rei asked, pulling back and fretting over her son, taking half a second to linger her hand over his scar-she really hasn't seen him since it happened, and didn't that make Shoto feel bad-before grabbing his shoulders and pulling him into another hug, the flowers getting crushed, but it didn't really seem to matter.
Because this was the first time he had seen his mother since he was 5-it's been nine years since then. It's been too long.
So, Shoto just ended up dropping the flowers outright and hugging his mom back.
THAT WAS SO ADORABLE TO WRITE!
At least, that last scene. As you can tell, I don't like All Might here.
Also! Fun fact: I started this chapter thinking that All Might was going to want to give One for All to Hitoshi, but I ultimately decided that Izuku would run into the fight instead, and having Odin present would make him more wary of the entire situation rather than see this purple boi and think, "wait, during the original capture of the sludge villain, he already captured the villain, isn't that great, I can help him along!" That was what I originally wanted the thought process to be, but it didn't feel natural, so I hope you like this instead.
We're one chapter away from the entrance exam! FINALLY! What chapter is this again? Chapter 12? And we haven't even gotten to the big part? Whelp!
Also, I made a decision to include some angst in the long run. Have fun with that~
(Based on a review, actually, thank you tiguylerobot, I got an idea off the water hose duo thing and started crying and it's too good not to eventually use.)
Names, old names, powers, had-been ages!
Odin, the Caring Side, was Irene/Ofa, has wings/one for all/a vocal quirk, died at 17.
Yui, the Morals and Emotions, was Himari Monoma, advanced copy, was 16.
Yumio, the Logic side, Hajime, analysis, was 25
Dasu, Creativity, Saburo, can make tangible illusions, was 23, one of three triplets
Duke, Intrusive Thoughts/Insecurities, can make weapons, was 23, one of three triplets
Darnell, Deceit, Hai, Snake, was 8 (and he's afraid of fire), and speaks in lies
Brazen, Recklessness, Oboro Shirakumo, Cloud, was 17
Emory, Patience, Peyton, can see emotions, was 21
Kamari, Sleep, Remy, food & drinks, was 21
Darlina, Innocence/Fear, Hana Shimura, Float, was 8
Hirah, Wrath, Cheran, had horns, was 13-ish
Dot, Sloth, Hope, makes others sleep, makes her sleepy in turn, was 8
Yuki, Health Nut, Midori, Endless Energy, was 13-ish
Paz, Social Life, Collin, Quirkless, was 12
Hex, Depression, Kimi, Quirkless, was 12
Rand, Anxiety (1), Dave, Disconnect, oldest (30 something)
Hinata, Anxiety (2), Choko, Occupy, was 6
I probably won't update for a while, but you guys already expected that, so…until next time! Take it easy guys, gals, and non-binary pals!
Peace out! (Two points if you get the reference, and I'll give you two more if you've seen the blooper reel.)
