:)
Enjoy~
(I went back and updated Odin's backstory in chapter five, so please go back and read that if you've been reading as I've been updating, thank you and sorry!)
Izuku blinked. "I'm sorry...what?"
"Tenko Shimura went missing directly after the incident-nobody has seen him since, I'm afraid," Nezu sighed. "However, from what I gathered from old security footage that I managed to obtain, his quirk is exactly the kind to have been used on the gate yesterday. No quirk users have been registered with it, however, but I will be doing some more digging into the subject as fast as possible. On a brighter note, you have a field trip today, correct?"
"Oh, right, Aizawa-sensei mentioned something about that!" Izuku said happily. "We don't really know much about it yet, though, so we're all pretty excited." He paused. "My Sides and I, that is, I think a few of my other classmates are as well, but I haven't really asked." I'll see what I can do to ask more people about their opinions on upcoming events...a class rep does that, right?
Checking in with classmates does sound like a good idea, Yumio said.
"I see," Nezu said. "Well, I don't want to keep you from class-if you leave now, there will be more than enough time for you to talk to some of your classmates before the bell rings."
"Ah, right!" Izuku said, turning to leave. "Can't wait for class today!" With that, he rushed to class to see that most of his classmates were already there.
"Ah, Midoriya-kun!"
Izuku.
Izuku turned and smiled as Iida approached him. "Oh, hi, Iida-kun! And I told you, just call me Izuku, if you don't mind."
"Oh, right, my apologies," Iida said. "Are you ready for the trip today?"
"Yeah!" Izuku said. "Are you?"
"I look forward to the learning experience we will be receiving today!" Iida said.
...that's pretty in character for him, I suppose, Paz said..
Yep, Izuku said.
"Yeah!" Izuku said. "I'm really excited for the whole trip! We all are, honestly…"
"Ah, I see," Iida said.
"Alright, everyone, get to your seats."
It was almost like everyone had teleported to their seats (was there some kind of teleportation quirk that they could learn? That would be fun!) (Literally had to step back for a few days after writing that line-)
"Good, you're getting faster," Aizawa-sensei said. "Now, as you remember, today is our field trip for rescue training. You're free to wear either your gym uniforms or your costumes, but keep in mind that you are still getting used to your costumes as you choose."
Well, everyone's just gonna choose their costumes, Dasu said.
Of course they will, Dot yawned.
No better way to get used to wearing something than by wearing it! Yuki added.
Izuku smiled, then got up and grabbed his costume, watching as Yaoyorozu-er, Momo-hesitated, then grabbed hers as well.
"Are you sure you're comfortable wearing that?" Izuku asked quietly, and Momo looked at him.
"Well, we already put the design in for the new one, but the gym uniforms aren't exactly the best for my quirk," Momo said. "I know that I won't have to wear this for long, which is nice. Thanks again for that."
Izuku smiled at her, then they left to go change.
…..:)...
Everyone got settled onto the bus, and it started to bring them to the off-campus facility that they hadn't really been told about, when-
"Midoriya-kun, I tend to speak my mind."
Izuku looked at Asui. "Ah, ok, Asui? And you can call me Izuku-seriously, I'll tend to respond to that better."
"You can call me Tsu, then," Asui-no, Tsu-said. "Your quirk is really…strange. If you don't mind me asking, what all can you do?"
"Oh!" Izuku said. "Um…well, with each ghost I make a contract with-wait, I explained that, right? I make contracts with ghosts so I can use their quirks…uh…Mom has wings, a singing quirk, and a strength quirk…Mama has a copy quirk, Yumio has an analysis quirk-it doesn't really work all the time, though…Dasu can make tangible illusions, Duke can make weapons FMA style-uh, sorry, just create weapons." (two points if you get the reference :) "Darnell can become a snake and otherwise just has scales, Brazen makes really dense clouds, Emory can see emotions, Kamari can make food and drinks as long as they know the recipe, Darlina can float, Hirah can become a full demon, has horns otherwise, Dot can make others sleepy, Yuki has endless energy…and Hinata can occupy an entire room-or building, that's what we did during the battle exercise."
"Wait, you left out two, right?" Kirishima asked, counting that out.
"Oh, you counted that out, right?" Izuku said. "Hex and Paz don't have quirks, but Paz has two swords and a shield, while Hex has a bow and arrows."
"Wait, they don't have quirks?" Kirishima asked.
"Say anything mean about my children and I'll have to physically fight you," Odin said. (point if you get the reference)
"Pretty sure either of them could still kick your a**," Kacchan said from the back, rolling his eyes.
"I wasn't going to say anything rude-sorry if I made it seem that way, just…caught me by surprise, that's all," Kirishima said. "They're probably stronger than me, anyway…my quirk's just hardening, nothing too special."
"Are you kidding?" Izuku asked. "That's really cool! You're literally hardening your skin, and you make it into a shield and a weapon at the same time!"
"Oh, thanks, bro, but you've definitely got the most powerful quirk-really flashy and diverse, you're gonna shoot through the rankings when we become pros-I probably won't be noticed, though."
"If you're talking about not being noticed…" Hagakure said, trailing off.
Izuku looked at her, confused as everyone chuckled. He hadn't even seen her use her quirk yet…or had he been looking away when she had? What was it?
Should we use my quirk on it? Yumio asked.
Doesn't work half the time, anyway…we'll see what we can figure out, and if all else fails, we'll try, or we could ask, Yui said.
"Yeah, not all of us have flashy enough quirks-mine's awesome, though!" Kaminari said.
"Yeah, but it short circuits your brain when you use it," Jirou said.
At the same time, Aoyama said, "My quirk is the perfect mix between flashy and useful!"
"Yeah, but it doesn't help if it gives you a tummy ache every time you use it," Mina said.
…we should probably find something to help them with that, neither sounds pleasant, Paz said.
I'll start looking for a solution, Yumio said.
"I think that the best quirks for going pro and well noticed would have to be Izuku, Bakugou, and Todoroki's," Kirishima said.
The three mentioned startled, while Toshi sighed.
"My three best friends are gonna make it big, so let me stick in the shadows," Toshi muttered-Izuku barely heard him.
"Yeah, well, Bakugou's not really nice and yells all the time, so I doubt he'd be really popular," Tsu said, and Izuku immediately had to try to suppress a laugh (spoiler-he failed) as Kacchan jumped up.
"What did you say?!" Kacchan exclaimed. "You wanna fight?!"
"See what I mean?" Tsu said as Toshi snorted, nodding.
"You know, we've only known each other for, what, a week now, so it's pretty telling that everyone already knows your personality is garbage," Kaminari said.
"Guys, quit teasing," Izuku said at that comment, looking at Kaminari. "That wasn't really nice."
"Eh…sorry," Kaminari said, then looked at Kacchan. "But seriously, dude-"
"Leave Kacchan be," Izuku said. "I mean, how would you act if you had to be sweaty and around explosions all the time?"
"Wait, Kacchan?" Kaminari asked, looking at him. "That's such a cute nickname!"
"I've been calling him that since we were kids," Izuku shrugged.
"Wait, you guys have known each other since you were kids?" Sato asked.
"Well, yeah," Izuku said.
"Oh, right!" Uraraka said. "He did already know all about your quirk-I forgot about that!"
"Tch, of course I've known the nerd since we were kids!" Kacchan snapped. "Our moms were practically sisters when they were growing up."
"Too bad Inko didn't stay that nice when I was growing up," Izuku said.
"Uh…dude, are you ok?" Kirishima asked as everyone sweatdropped.
"Oh, I'm just holding a grudge, don't mind me," Izuku said.
"Still?" Toshi asked.
"What grudge again?" Shoto asked.
Izuku looked at Toshi. "I'm still suffering through the consequences of what happened and you know it-I mean, I wouldn't give up Hex and Paz for the world, but I definitely could've gone without Dave."
"...who's Dave?" Kaminari asked.
"With any luck, you'll never have to find out," Izuku said.
"...do you need help finding a solution to that problem later?" Toshi asked.
Izuku sighed. "Believe it or not, I already have Nezu helping with it."
"...you mean the principal?" Iida asked.
"Yep!" Izuku said. "Information exchange-Mom knows a ton of cool information that Nezu wants to know, so in exchange, he's helping us out with the problem."
"It's really confusing that you say 'Mom' when you've said that she isn't your real mom," Tsu said.
"Well…she acts like a Mom, but I see how that's confusing, especially since I call my birth mom by her first name," Izuku said, muttering that last part.
"Quiet down-we're here," Aizawa-sensei said as the bus stopped, and everyone excitedly got off the bus to see a huge building in front of them.
"Woah, it looks like Universal Studios Japan!" someone said as they walked inside and were greeted by-
"Space Hero: Thirteen!" Uraraka exclaimed happily, now standing by Izuku. "She's one of my favorite heroes!"
"Hello, students, and welcome to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, or the USJ!" Thirteen said.
"So it really is Universal Studios Japan," someone said, and Izuku couldn't help but agree.
"Here we have the Ruins Zone, the Landsilde Zone, the Mountain Zone, the Conflagration Zone, the Flood Zone, and Downpour Zone!" Thirteen said. "Today, you will be learning how to deal with all of these natural disasters… before we start, I just have one thing to say…or maybe two…or three… To start, my quirk is called Black Hole. As a rescue hero, I use this to stop natural disasters and clear up debris."
That would be really helpful-Yumio, once we're done with that trapping quirk and Mandalay's quirk, we totally need to look more into Thirteen's quirk, Yui said excitedly.
I'll lend you my phone later so you can start while Yumio gets my laptop-I'll do homework while you do that, Izuku said.
Yay! Yui said.
"However, if used improperly, my quirk could very easily kill someone," Thirteen said, and everyone went dead (lol) silent. "As I'm sure all of your quirks can as well-any quirk can be a lethal weapon if used improperly."
I'm not really sure how Analysis could be used as such, but otherwise…yeah, I can see it, Izuku said.
I can look for weaknesses in quirks when my quirk is actually working right, Yumio said.
…nevermind, then, Izuku said. Thirteen's got a point.
"However, as heroes, our job is to save people's lives and take down villains," Thirteen said. "During your three years here, you will be learning how to use your quirks to take down villains and save lives-and you've already started doing that. Aizawa-san's already had you test your control and ability of your quirks, while the Battle Trials yesterday showed you your ability to use those same quirks to actually fight others, but today, I will be teaching you how to use your quirks to save lives."
Everyone began to mutter as Aizawa-sensei walked up to Thirteen and quietly asked her something, and Izuku found himself paying attention as Thirteen held up three fingers and he heard Aizawa-sensei say "All Might."
All Might and three fingers…Mom, he had a three hour time limit, right? Izuku asked.
Yeah…didn't we see some news on the train this morning that All Might had been doing hero work? Mom asked, sounding really worried, then angry. He's a teacher now! Seriously?!
Aizawa-sensei sighed. "Well, we'd best start the lesson-"
All sounds were drowned out by a loud screaming noise, and Izuku startled, then quickly covered his ears-what was that?!
"Izuku, are you alright?" Izuku heard someone say, but he looked around.
What's that?! Izuku said as his eyes fell upon the lobby to see a large blob-that's where the noise is coming from, what is that?!-that seemed to shift and move as people came out of it.
I'm gonna go check it out, Odin said, leaving the Mind Palace invisible.
"Uh, Aizawa-sensei, what's that?"
"Has the exercise already started?"
"Stand back!" Aizawa-sensei said as the noise died down. "Those are actual villains-this is not part of the exercise."
That looks like a gem shard fusion! Odin exclaimed (two points if you get the reference, but if you don't, look up Steven Universe gem shard, it's basically this creature of discolored limbs that don't match up, it's honestly kinda creepy in my opinion.) Except it's- She let out a sob. It's ghosts-
"Thirteen, protect the students!" Aizawa-sensei said as Izuku's eyes grew wide in horror as he switched to see what Odin was seeing-
-his hand reached for me, I couldn't get away, my little brother-
Is that f*cking TENKO-?!
"Disintegration quirk-Aizawa-sensei, that guy with hands on him has a disintegration quirk, we think," Izuku said, his breath hitching in his throat as Odin barely spared the man-that's Tenko, that's Tenko, it's been years but I'd recognize my little brother anywhere-
"Alright!" Aizawa-sensei said, then leaped down to fight-
"Izuku, I need you to breathe-we need to get out of here-" Toshi started.
"Pardon to intrude," a voice-it sounded so familiar, but at the same time, so broken, why did that voice sound so weird, what was going on-said as another fusion-thing appeared, but this one looked more…shaped? And it had a purple hue, but it was still clearly a ghost fusion-thing-what in the afterlife is that-we've never seen something like that-why does it feel so familiar-it feels wrong-we need to destroy, destroy, DESTROY-
"My name is Kurogiri, and we are the League of Villains, and we decided to invite ourselves in hopes of seeing All Might," the fusion said. "We were very much hoping to kill the Symbol of Peace today, but it seems that he isn't here as planned."
WE NEED TO WARN THE SCHOOL-MAYDAY, MAYDAY! Izuku practically screamed.
On it! Yuki exclaimed, and Izuku felt her leave the Mind Palace.
"I can't contact the school!" Kaminari said, starting to freak out.
"Perhaps if we kill a few of his students, All Might will show up faster," Kurogiri said.
Kacchan and Kirishima darted forward-
"Get back!" Thirteen exclaimed, holding out her hand-
Blackwhip, it works by producing a black mist that forms into tentacle-like structures, used by User Five, Daigoro Banjo-woah, I haven't even thought his name in years-controlled easiest through emotions like anger, but we can fix that with the absolute fear in this situation-or not-Darlina, hold back, Hirah, we need tons of anger right now! Odin said
Izuku instantly felt the fear practically disappear as he felt overcome by anger, feeling himself shift into Hirah's demon-like appearance as he held his arms up and shot out two tentacles of Blackwhip, pulling Kacchan and Kirishima back as Thirteen activated her quirk on the fusion-
"Ah, Thirteen, the rescue hero," Kurogiri said. "What a powerful quirk, but you are simply a rescue hero. You don't have much combat experience or spatial awareness on a battlefield, which means…" A portal appeared behind Thirteen-a teleportation quirk, those are rare, we need to figure that out-now's not the time, Yumio, we can sit down and try to figure out everything later-wait, that's a fusion, is that even one quirk being used right now, why can't we turn on Analysis, seriously, Yumio, we need to figure this out-as if we don't have enough on our plate right now, Thirteen's own quirk is being turned on her-Eraser, gives the user the ability to erase a quirk-that's a bunch of ghosts, is it going to work on it?!-we have to abso-fricking-lutely try in this very moment, shut up!-by looking at them, direct energy into eyes, will cause severe dry eye which is why we don't use it, but we don't really have a choice at this moment-Izuku felt his hair raise as his eyes turned red and he activated Eraser and the portal disappeared, then he gasped in pain-that really hurts, how does Aizawa-sensei do it, that really hurt-
"Ah, you little brat!" Kurogiri said as the ghosts spread and started making pained noises-that's what that noise was earlier, they're in pain-ghosts don't feel pain, they aren't supposed to feel pain-I could, but that was only because my quirk is still connected deeply and was being used, so why are they in pain? This isn't how the afterlife's supposed to be-and the purple hue swallowed the students whole-
Izuku was falling towards the water what the heCK-?!
Izuku hit the water with a loud splash-that hurt, but that doesn't matter right now, what's a little pain to surviving-what is that-?!
Next thing Izuku knew, he was on the ship-the flood zone?-and Tsu was pulling Toshi up onto the boat as well.
"We're still in the USJ, kero," Tsu said, then looked over the side. "But those are actual villains down there, but the chances are that our other classmates will be scattered around the USJ as well."
"You doing better, Izuku?" Toshi asked.
Izuku looked at him and took a deep breath. "There's…that's not something that's ok, it's so scary-ghosts aren't supposed to be forced together like that-"
"What are you talking about, kero?" Tsu asked, but Toshi just kneeled next to Izuku.
"What do you mean?" Toshi asked.
"Those…things," Izuku said. "That weird purple thing, that one that stayed down in the plasa-"
"Those…those aren't ghosts, Izuku," Toshi said.
"They are," Izuku said. "I…I can't always tell the difference, but Mom knows the difference-Tenko's there, too-why's Tenko there, he's gonna kill someone else, we're all gonna die-now's not the time, Darlina, can you go into the Imagination for a little bit to cool down-you're gonna need my quirk, please don't kick me out of this one, that's my baby brother-guys, we're still talking through Izuku, can we not do trauma dumps right now, it's only April, we can take care of that in July, let's just take a deep breath-Hinata-" Izuku took a deep breath, then looked at a worried Toshi and a very concerned Tsu. "Sorry, that's just…there's something weird about that purple thing we saw-it's made up of ghosts-you said that it's not a ghost, though…" He took a deep breath. "I can…figure that all out later. I'll figure it out later. This isn't the Diamond Empire-don't need those jokes right now, sorry." He took another deep breath. "I sent Yuki to the main campus already to get backup-she's already almost there, then she just has to get back. We just have to last until then."
"Ok, kero, but how?" Tsu asked. "They're here to kill All Might-with something like that, we don't stand a chance, and they must have been really confident to actually pull this off."
"Or cocky," Toshi said. "Overconfident."
"I don't think that's it," Izuku said, looking over the side. "If these villains were so confident, why aren't they coming up here…?" Then something clicked. "Wait…they don't know our quirks."
"What makes you think that?" Toshi said. "They've have to be really prepared and couldn't even learn our quirks?"
Izuku pointed at Tsu. "Why would they send a frog-mutation-quirk person to the flood zone?"
"True-if they knew my quirk, they would've sent me to the Conflagration Zone," Tsu said. "Or literally anywhere else, kero."
Izuku looked back over the side. "And they aren't coming up here, either…they aren't taking any chances of any unknowns where their quirks won't be the strongest-in the water."
Yumio, best strategy? Izuku asked.
They're all around the boat, and we can't get into the water because of the unknown…which means that we need to find a way to beat them in the water, Yumio said.
"Alright, so we have Tsu's frog quirk, Brainwashing, and…me," Izuku said. "What's the best idea in this situation?"
"Freeze the water?" Toshi asked. "Using Shoto's quirk?"
"It would get really cold for Tsu-frogs don't have good body temperature…but using Shoto's other quirk might actually get better results…or my dad's," Izuku said, then grinned, looking at Tsu and Toshi. "What would happen if I boiled the water?"
"That would take too much heat, wouldn't it?" Tsu asked.
"It would, but I'm only trying a certain area," Izuku asked.
"Wouldn't it be easier to do what you did during the Battle Trial?" Tsu asked.
"I can only do that in a defined room," Izuku asked. "Or, well, building, but it can't be too much space-the USJ is too big to use Occupy at the moment…but yeah, you actually might have a point about boiling the water, now that you mention it-"
Kch!
"Woah!" Toshi, Izuku, and Tsu exclaimed as the boat began to sink, having just been cut in half-
"We can't get into the water!" Izuku said, looking around for some kind of idea, maybe he'd be struck by inspiration-
-...wait…
"...I'm about to do something really dumb, but it's gonna work, and I can contain it," Izuku said.
"What, kero?" Tsu asked.
"Stay close-I'm gonna start singing," Izuku said.
"...what are you doing?" Toshi asked.
"Gonna start a lightning storm," Izuku said. "And I'll figure out Kaminari's quirk at a later date just in case this ever happens again."
Toshi instantly grabbed onto Tsu and Izuku as they began to make their way quickly to the highest point on the boat.
"Alright, Izuku, start singing!" Toshi said once they got there.
Izuku smiled, then took a deep breath and began to sing at the top of his lungs, forming storm clouds above the flood zone.
(Blown Away by Carrie Underwood, two points if you've heard the song, if not, go listen to it it is AMAZING!)
"Dry lightning cracks across the skies.
Those storm clouds gather in her eyes.
Her daddy was a mean old mister.
Mama was an angel in the ground.
The weatherman called for a twister,
She prayed blow it down.
There's not enough rain in Oklahoma
To wash the sins out of that hose.
There's not enough wind in Oklahoma
To rip the nails out of the past.
Shatter every window 'til it's all blown away
Every brick, every board, every slamming door blown away."
Lightning struck the water, electrocuting the villains, but Izuku didn't stop there, knowing that this was dialed back-it wasn't going to kill them, but he needed to shock them enough.
"'Til there's nothing left standing, nothing left of yesterday
Every tear-soaked whiskey memory blown away
Blown away.
She heard those sirens screamin' out
Her daddy laid there, passed out on the couch.
She locked herself in the cellar,
Listened to the screaming of the wind
Some people called it taking shelter,
She called it sweet revenge."
Tsu gave Toshi a surprised look as Izuku sang, creating an actual swirling thunder storm that evolved into a tornado. Toshi just nodded.
My friend is way too overpowered.
"Shatter every window 'til it's all blown away
Every brick, every board, every slamming down blown away
'Til there's nothing left standing, nothing left of yesterday
Every tear-soaked whiskey memory blown away
Blown away
There's not enough rain in Oklahoma
To wash the sins out of that house
There's not enough wind in Oklahoma
To rip the nails out of the past
Shatter every window 'til it's all blown away
Every brick, every board, every slamming down blown away
'Til there's nothing left standing, nothing left of yesterday
Every tear-soaked whiskey memory blown away
Blown away."
Izuku stopped at that, then smiled at Toshi and Tsu as they got really close to the water. "They're gonna be out for a good few hours, but we should be able to get to the shore now just fine!" He reached out his hand and created a small ice platform to carry them, and they jumped onto it as the ship disappeared below the water's surface.
"Now we just need to get to the shore-want me to swim and pull us along?" Tsu asked.
"I can-" Izuku started, but Toshi shook his head and made Izuku sit down.
"You're gonna be too exhausted if you keep using your quirk-we aren't done yet, let us use our quirks, too," Toshi said.
Izuku opened his mouth, but paused.
He's got a point, kiddo…a small break won't hurt, ok? We still need to process everything, so just sit.
"...ok…thanks, Tsu," Izuku said as Tsu got into the water and began to push the ice…really fast, enough that Toshi almost toppled into the water and had to quickly sit down as well-that made Izuku laugh.
…
Yuki flew through the halls of UA as fast as she could until she skidded to a stop in front of Principal Nezu's office and poked her head in-
Fudge! He's not there-where else could he-
Teacher's lounge!
Yuki dove through the floor-it was on the next floor down, why didn't she think of that before-Izuku was freaking out, the Sides weren't paying attention to the other students, were they doing alright-insecurities are my thing, Yuki, we'll send some of us to go find the other students, ok? We're going to be fine, just get help here as soon as you can!
Yuki fell into the teacher's lounge through the door where-
Yuki appeared, making Principal Nezu and All Might jump and look at her.
"Ah, you are one of Young Midoriya's Sides-" All Might started.
"The USJ is under attack, Eraserhead's fighting off a huge crowd of villains, Thirteen got hurt, the students are scattered, there's these two ghost abominations-they're in pain, how are they in pain, ghosts shouldn't be in pain-and we need help!" Yuki exclaimed as fast as she could while still being understood, but that still caused All Might and Nezu to jump up, All Might buffing up instantly.
"I'll head over now!" All Might said. "I still have some time!" With that, he rushed away as Yuki called, "One of the abomination-fusion-things said that they're planning on killing you-be careful!" With that, she looked back at Nezu, who was already grabbing a small device and said, his voice over the loudspeakers, "All teachers report to the bus entrance as soon as possible-the USJ is being attacked and backup is needed sooner than we can get there." Nezu pocketed the device. "We'll go get the bus ready so we can get there as fast as possible-while All Might can outrun a bus, the rest of the teachers aren't able to."
"Thank you," Yuki said.
"Now, can you head back?" Nezu asked. "Midoriya must need you."
Yuki shook her head. "I'm staying with you to make sure that you stay updated."
"Thank you, then," Nezu said. "Uh, what's your name again? I'm afraid that I don't know all your names."
"Yuki," Yuki said.
"Alright, Yuki," Nezu said. "Now, what had you said about…ghost abominations? Are there other kinds of ghosts?"
"Ghosts, Wraiths, Reapers-haven't met any Reapers myself-that thing isn't normal," Yuki said. "It was like…too many ghosts to count all smashed together-they sounded in pain, ghosts aren't supposed to feel pain-Toshi said that they have a physical form, too, he saw them, the purple one could actually talk and called itself Kurogiri-"
"You're working yourself into a panic," Nezu said as they hurried down the halls, Yuki flying after the running rodent-he was so small, why was he so fast? "Take a deep breath-everyone's going to be alright, and we'll figure out what we can about these…abominations you were speaking of."
Yuki nodded, breathing-she's a ghost, she doesn't need to do that-but it helps. It does. It does.
Until she heard all the Sides scream bloody murder.
….
Izuku pushed himself in front of Tsu as Tenko-Tenko, that's Tenko, I know it is, he's going to kill us, I can't go through that, please move!-reached for his face-he could survive that, he could, he couldn't use Eraser, but he still had something that he could use-why didn't he use it earlier-he was terrified to use it, but he pulled forth knowledge that he hadn't used since he was eleven-Disconnect, allows the user to see strings going up from someone that connects them to their quirk, Dave used to use it on them, could they really be such a monster-not the time to think about that, this was a life-or-death situation, this is different, it's kill or be killed right now-and pulled towards the invisible string-could he make in in time-Tenko touched his face before Izuku could fully grab the string-fudge fudge fudge, GET OUT OF THE MIND PALACE, I DON'T KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO YOU IF YOU'RE IN THERE WHEN I DIE-but…nothing…happened.
"Huh?" Tenko said-that's his voice, older, but I'd recognize it anywhere. "Oh, I see. You really are so cool, Eraserhead."
Izuku looked past Tenko to see his teacher-Aizawa-sensei, Aizawa-kun, that kid that likes cats and was an introvert, but he was still friends with me and Zashi-covered in blood and being held by that…fusion, it's so wrong, Izuku could see ten different strings coming up from that thing since Disconnect was still active-the monster lifted Aizawa-kun-san-sensei's head and smashed it down again-
Izuku quickly grabbed the string, making it materialize to be seen as he pulled and it snapped-what did he do, he did that to another person, what's wrong with him?!
Tenko stumbled back as if he'd been hit as Izuku clutched the string, shaking as he started crying.
I….I did that, Izuku whispered.
Tenko put his hand on the ground, but…nothing happened.
"What?!" Tenko hissed, smacking his hand against the ground, and five fingers down-that's how he activates his quirk, I saw him, he touches something with all five fingers and it disintegrates- "Why's nothing happening-what did you do to my quirk!?"
Izuku's breath caught as he felt the entire Mind Palace erupt into turmoil, but it wasn't because of his Sides-they were trying to reassure him that it was alright-
I'm a monster, a monster, it was so horrible that year I was stuck with Dave, I just hurt someone, I know how awful it is to be quirkless in this world, I just inflicted that on someone, I just hurt someone worse than I've ever been, at least I've had something, even if I didn't know it, at least I don't have to live my life without a quirk-
"Izuku, calm down!" he vaguely heard Toshi shout, but he wasn't listening as he exploded.
….
Shoto had just finished threatening a villain in the landslide zone and was walking down when he heard a scream and his head snapped up.
That's….Izuku!
Shoto began to run out of the landslide zone-his first and best friend and crush was screaming-what was wrong?! Was he hurt?!
When he burst into the plaza, everything was completely…
…entirely…
…dark.
…..
All Might was expecting anything when he'd arrive at the USJ, having stopped for half a second upon seeing Young Iida running towards the school and trying to spit everything out, All Might had reassured him that the staff was already on their way, he needed to make his way back to the USJ to talk to the police, they must've already been called, too, to help round up the villains, Young Iida had also been in the attack, the police would want to ask a few questions, the heroes would want to make sure he was safe, whoever ended up on the scene would be able to help guide him through what had just happened-that's what heroes were supposed to do, help comfort the citizens, isn't that right so why had he just left Young Shinsou all that time ago-not the time, his students were still in danger-
This?
This wasn't what he had expected when he arrived at the scene.
He flung open the door, about to shout his iconic, "I am here!" to help the students know that everything was alright-they were alright-
There was a large ball of black in the plaza that was growing rapidly.
"All Might!"
He looked to see a few students in the entryway around Thirteen-that's right, Thirteen was hurt-and looking terrified.
"Fear not, for I am here!" All Might said. "But what's going on down there?!"
"Midoriya screamed, and…that happened-is just…came off him," Young Shoji said, looking down.
"Young Midoriya is doing that?" All Might asked, horrified-he'd barely interacted with the boy, but Young Togata was always talking about him anymore-they'd exchanged numbers and had been staying in touch after Young Togata had gained One for All-that was…scary.
"We don't know what's going on down there," Young Uraraka whispered, shaking.
…..
Aizawa startled as he realized that he was…healed? What was going on?
He groaned, pushing himself off the ground-wait, where was that Nomu? It had just been-
He felt someone tap his head, and he darted into a standing position to see Oboro crouched, now looking up at him, looking terrified-
Wait.
Not Brazen Midoriya. That was Oboro. Seventeen-year-old Oboro looking up at him.
Slowly, Oboro stood up, still looking up at him, then he looked in one direction-where-
"Midoriya!" Aizawa yelled, remembering that Shigaraki had been touching his student-how had his student known about the disintegration quirk-no, don't question what side your student is on, he warned you, I can figure it out later, right now he needs to make sure his students are alright-wait, where are the villains-
"Mph!"
Aizawa jumped and looked towards the source to see-
Shigaraki, tangled up in some weird kind of vine-black with a slight teal tint to it-it looked…familiar, but he couldn't quite place it-
That warping-villain-thing appeared looking…different. It was still purple, but now it looked like…there were people inside it.
Oboro stepped forward towards the villain-Kurogiri, that's what Shigaraki had called it, right?!-raising a hand, and the villain stayed perfectly still for a few seconds as Oboro reached for him-
Shigaraki spat the vine-thing out of his mouth. "Kurogiri, get us out of here!"
Kurogiri startled, then grew, then they both disappeared.
Oboro stared at the spot, tilting his head slightly to the side, then he slouched before looking back at Aizawa, who'd…never seen him look so down. It…scared him.
"Where's Midoriya?" Aizawa whispered-it felt…wrong to speak right now.
Oboro blinked, then turned and looked again. Aizawa followed his gaze-
There was Midoriya, Asui, and Shinsou!
Aizawa rushed over. "Are you three alright-where's the other Nomu-it's dangerous to be so close!
Midoriya let out a sob, and Aizawa stopped in his tracks as he noticed that Midoriya was sobbing, holding a…bunch of silver strings? What?
"I-I didn't mean-I'm so sorry-I'm a monster, I'm so sorry!" Midoriya sobbed, repeating that over, and over, and over again.
"Izuku, listen to me, can you calm down?" Shinsou said, stepping forward, but it was like something pushed him back-Aizawa felt pushed back as well. "Izuku! Answer me, please?!"
"I-I didn't mean-I'm so sorry-I'm a monster, I'm so sorry!" Midoriya sobbed, and that apparently wasn't enough of an answer for Shinsou's quirk to work.
Aizawa quickly (and somewhat instinctually) turned his quirk on and looked at Midoriya, and instantly, everything got lighter-the darkness around them disappeared-the Nomu was nowhere to be seen, but all those small-time thugs were still scattered around-he'd take care of them soon, Midoriya collapsed to the ground-wait, that was really his quirk?! Or, well, one of, but-
Shinsou instantly fell down next to Midoriya and quickly pulled him into a hug as Midoriya wailed, the strings disappearing-what was with those anyway?! Nevermind, he'd have to ask later-
"Izuku!"
"Deku!"
Aizawa turned to see Todoroki, Bakugou, and Kirishima run over, but Kirishima stopped at seeing the state his classmate was in, while Bakugou and Todoroki fell to the ground by Midoriya and joined the hug as he continued to wail out apologies-what's he apologizing for?
"Is everything alright?!"
Aizawa spun to see All Might rush over, and Aizawa was so mad that he almost erased the Symbol of Peace's quirk and beat him up, barely stopping himself from doing just that.
"What do you think?" Aizawa snapped, then turned and walked over to his students. "Midoriya, what are you apologizing for? Everything ok-you really helped out there-"
"Not the time," Bakugou snapped, glaring at him, and Aizawa took a step back, but still stayed by them.
"Are any of you hurt?" Aizawa asked.
The students-besides Midoriya-all exchanged a look, then look at him and all shook their heads as more students joined them, all walking over to Midoriya and asking if he was alright, but the glares Bakugou, Shinsou, and Todoroki were giving were enough to make everyone step away from them.
Aizawa hesitated for a few seconds, then walked back over to All Might. "Are the other teachers coming?"
"Yes, Nezu was getting everyone to the bus when I was leaving-I just can outrun the bus and came as fast as I could…I apologize for not coming sooner," All Might said awkwardly.
"You'd better show up next time-those kids almost died, and I think that whatever Midoriya's apologizing for is what saved them," Aizawa said, looking around for Oboro-
-who…wasn't there anymore.
…well, seeing that Midoriya was in such a state, that wasn't a surprise-he was probably in the kid's head trying to comfort the others and get comfort himself.
"Let's gather up the villains here so they're easier to just load into the police cars when they get here-Nezu had better have called police cars," Aizawa scowled. "They should stay unconscious long enough, but I don't have anything to tie them up with-at least, not this many."
"Ah, of course!" All Might said. "I should have brought something when I started coming, huh?" He chuckled, and Aizawa elbowed him in the gut, right where the injury was, and All Might choked for a half a second, but Aizawa just walked away to start getting the unconscious villains all in one spot.
Wait, had any attacked the kids in the zones? No, they didn't look particularly hurt, and they had just started school, didn't really have any combat training yet…right? Then again…that black stuff that had come off Midoriya had healed him, so it could've healed the other students, too.
…
Yuki instantly tensed up as she and Nezu reached the bus entrance and put a hand to her ear.
Is everything alright!? Yuki exclaimed, barely noting that the bus was already loading until Nezu carefully tapped her leg, and she startled, then went onto the bus as more teachers came running and rushed onto the bus.
I-I didn't mean to-I'm so sorry-I'm a monster-I'm so sorry! Izuku wailed.
Izuku, calm down! Yui exclaimed, trying to push a different emotion through the Mind Palace besides the devastation and absolute agony and fear that was pouring through the Mind Palace, but she was failing-Izuku's never resisted them controlling their areas before.
What happened?! Yuki exclaimed as the bus started up. We're on our way-the bus is moving, we have all the teachers-we're gonna be there soon-Izuku, please, calm down, it's ok!
I-I didn't mean to-I'm so sorry-I'm a monster-I'm so sorry! Izuku continued to wail.
He used…disconnect, Yumio said, making sure Izuku couldn't hear him.
Yuki gasped, slapping her hands over her mouth, and the teachers gave her a concerned look.
"Is something wrong, Yuki?" Nezu asked. "What's happening?"
Yuki shook her head. "J-Just M-Mind P-Palace stuff."
What else is happening?! Yuki asked.
This…Kurogiri feels…familiar… Brazen said, sounding…wistful, almost. Ah…the main villain left-
Stop using Disconnect! Hex cried.
Izuku just tore apart one of the abominations! Odin exclaimed.
"Uh…Brazen said that the leader villain left with their transport, and the other abomination-thing just got destroyed-holy heck, what's happening?" Yuki muttered. "I-I can't get anything else."
"Hurry it up, Ecto!" Yamada-sensei said impatiently to the hero driving.
"I'm working on it, Mic!" Ectoplasm snapped.
"Ok, so villain attack, All Might already left-is he there yet?" Kayama-sensei asked gently, looking at Yuki.
"I-I can only see so much-I-Izuku isn't responding," Yuki said quietly-
-just as the entire noise in her head went dead silent, and she yelped as she disappeared, reappearing after a few seconds.
"What was that?!" someone exclaimed, and Izuku stopped being coherent, just plain-out wailing.
What just happened-are you guys ok?! Yuki exclaimed.
Don't worry, Aizawa-sensei just erased Izuku's quirk for a second-oh, look, there's All Might-Izuku, respond to Toshi, please, Odin said.
"Just Aizawa-sensei erasing Izuku's quirk-All Might got there," Yuki said.
Why did he have to erase Izuku's quirk-what happened?! Yuki asked.
The whole attack is over, just rounding up villains-can you come here, please? Dot asked, and Yuki's eyes grew wide-she'd never heard her sister say so many words at once before, and she sounded…terrified.
"The attack is over, just need arresting and rounding up all the villains right now-can I go?" Yuki asked, shaking really hard-is Dot ok?!
"Of course," Nezu said, and Yuki gave him one nod before disappearing-
The Mind Palace was…completely dark.
"Everyone!?" Yuki exclaimed. "Dot? Mom? Mama? Anyone?!"
"Over here!" she heard Dot yell, and Yuki took off in the direction of her sister's voice.
….
Aizawa nearly collapsed in relief as the other heroes arrived at the USJ and ran down the stairs to help round up the villains, but they all looked at Midoriya, still wailing-that boy was going to lose his voice from this, how had he not already?!
"Woah, what happened?!" Midnight exclaimed, taking a few seconds to look at the piled up villains before instead deciding to rush over to the group of students before Aizawa could even say anything.
The three boys still hugging Midoriya tight glared at Midnight as she got close, but she simply rolled up her sleeves and let her mist encompass the four-the rest of the students quickly stepped back, already knowing what would happen, but the three boys refused to let go of their friend, so all four of them fell asleep, although Midoriya continued to sniffle and cry, even in his sleep.
Ectoplasm made four clones to go over and pick up the four sleeping boys-even in their sleep, Todoroki, Shinsou, and Bakugou instinctively held onto their friend, but Ectoplasm managed to get them apart and carried up the stairs, where the ambulances and police cars were arriving.
"Were there any other injuries?!" Zashi asked, and Aizawa looked at him. "Besides Thirteen?"
"Thirteen got hurt?!" Aizawa asked, eyes wide.
"Badly, but she's going to be fine-Shouta, where'd you get that scar?!" Zashi exclaimed, grabbing onto his elbow-that…didn't look good, but it didn't hurt.
"One of the villains had a disintegrating quirk and grabbed my elbow, but I got healed…I think by Midoriya?" Aizawa said, and Nezu tugged on his pant leg, looking up at him.
"Disintegrating quirk, you said?" Nezu asked. "Did Midoriya by any chance call him by any name?"
"Wait, he-you think my student knows him?" Aizawa asked.
"One of his familiars very well might-I'll have to ask him when he wakes up," Nezu said. "Until then, let's make sure everyone else is alright and check all of the zones for more villains."
….
When he got the call from UA that there had been a villain attack, Hisashi had immediately told his boss that he had to leave, and his boss had let him (after all, quirk analysts like Hisashi were truly one in a billion, he was good enough to work alongside many pro heroes, even if his son always insisted on figuring out stuff about his quirk on his own for the practice for when he became a hero) and gotten into his car and barely didn't break any speeding laws on his way to UA, where a teacher-Aizawa-san, the man introduced himself, Izuku's homeroom teacher Eraserhead-met him and let him inside, escorting him to the infirmary where Izuku, Katsuki, Hitoshi, and Shoto were, the latter three already awake and simply sitting by Izuku's bedside, who was still asleep.
"Is he alright!?" Hisashi exclaimed, rushing over and fretting over his son as the other three boys moved to the side to let him.
"He had a really bad breakdown-Midnight knocked him out about an hour ago, but he's still out cold, and we think he will be for a while," Recovery Girl said gently as Hisashi sat down in a chair that Katsuki shoved his way.
"Oh, yeah, mind if I ask about that?" Aizawa-san asked.
Hisashi looked at him, gently holding his son's hand.
"Ok?" Hisashi said quietly, then looked at Shoto, Katsuki, and Hitoshi. "You guys didn't say anything?"
"I don't understand what happened," Shoto admitted.
"I still don't think we have the right to say anything," Hitoshi admitted.
"What happened?" Hisashi asked.
"Well, a villain rushed at him, and I couldn't erase the villain's quirk the second time, and next thing I knew, we were surrounded by darkness, and Midoriya was holding some silver strings?" Aizawa-san said, and Hisashi instantly tensed up. "I have no clue where they came from, but he just kept saying, 'I didn't mean to, I'm so sorry, I'm a monster, I'm so sorry.' Over and over again until I erased his quirk, and then he just started wailing, and the strings…disappeared?"
Hisashi blinked, then looked at Katsuki and Hitoshi. "He's…he's not serious, right?"
"Dead serious," Hitoshi said quietly.
"But he…he wouldn't use it-he knows how much it would hurt him," Hisashi said quietly.
"He didn't have much of a choice-I only saw the first one, he'd just…grabbed it and it snapped-I have no clue where the other strings came from," Hitoshi said.
"There really hadn't been another choice, huh?" Hisashi sighed, then looked at his son. "No wonder he shut down…I'll sign him up for therapy as soon as I can, I should've done that years ago, but he…he always insisted that he would be fine. I should've known better."
"...what happened?" Aizawa-san asked.
Hisashi took a deep breath, looking at him. "What you saw was a quirk called Disconnect. Izuku…doesn't usually talk about it-heck, I've even tried to talk to Odin about it, same with Yui and Yumio, but none of them like talking about it-I don't blame them either, it was…a long year." He took a deep breath. "When Izuku was ten, he went to visit his mother, Inko, in Scotland-she was over there for work, and she ultimately just stayed there, but she wanted Izuku and all the Sides to visit. Well, Izuku was there for about a month, and he came back with three new Sides-Hex, Paz, and…Rand."
Aizawa-san looked confused. "He introduced all his Sides to the class, and I saw the recording-there isn't a Side named Rand."
"Well, of course there isn't-when Izuku got rid of Rand, he stopped even saying that name-he calls him Dave," Hisashi said.
Aizawa-san's eyes grew wide-ah, he clearly recognized that name.
"Yeah, I can see you know what I mean," Hisashi said. "Dave was his anxiety before Hinata, and…well, Dave was an absolute ***hole to all of them for the next year. With Disconnect, Dave could disconnect any of the Sides at any time, making it so Izuku couldn't interact with them, hear them, or use their quirks. Afterwards, he told me that he'd felt so…powerless the entire time. Dave literally controlled every aspect of Izuku's life for that year, and to be honest, since then-Dave would give Izuku constant panic attacks until he would agree to something and follow through with it-Izuku didn't go to middle school because Dave forced him to finish middle school online-he'd done his last few months of elementary school online because of the trip to Scotland so we wouldn't have to figure out schooling, and instead of going back to school…well, Dave made him do it online, but Izuku refused to go past middle school. Let's see…Dave wouldn't let him call Katsuki Kacchan and Hitoshi Hitochan-it wasn't until he'd been gone for a while that Izuku started calling them by nicknames again. Izuku would have weeks on end with no contact with his Sides, and there were so many day-long panic attacks." He took a deep breath. "It was…hard to watch. Well, one day after a year, I walked into Izuku room because he had been making a bunch of noise and I was worried that something had gone wrong, and he was just…sitting on his windowsill with Odin's wings out and told me that he would be back in a few hours." He sighed. "I got called into the police station a while later and I swear Izuku was acting high."
Aizawa-san made an odd noise, Shoto looked surprised-they'd never told him this, huh?-while Katsuki and Hitoshi just nodded, already knowing all this.
"He'd been under constant anxiety for an entire year, so when Dave was gone, he had none at all," Hisashi explained. "A few months later, Pax and Hex's Year started, and he got back a bunch of Lifeforce Dave had taken from him-"
"Lifeforce?" Aizawa-san asked.
"Oh, yeah, that's not a commonly used term, huh?" Hisashi asked. "According to Izuku and the Sides, everyone runs off Lifeforce-it's what keeps us alive and ghosts…well, sane, I suppose."
Katsuki shuddered. "Wraiths are terrifying."
"There's only ever been one in our lifetime that we've ever known of and we haven't seen him like that," Hitoshi said.
"A Wraith can kill you just by touching you!" Katsuki said. "You'd never even see it coming-we can't see Wraiths!"
"That sounds…scary," Aizawa-san said.
"It's worse than it sounds-of course, I don't go with Izuku to go visit Dave to make sure he's in place because he would go when I was working, but ghosts are terrified of them," Hisashi said. "Anyway. Everyone has lifeforce. Izuku usually compares most people's to the size of a bowling ball, while his is the size of a mountain because he shares it with his Sides. When Dave was removed from being one of Izuku's Sides, he attacked Izuku and stole so much Lifeforce that his Sides struggled to function, and as a result, they couldn't come out of the Mind Palace-they couldn't talk through him for a while, either. However, when Hex and Paz's Year started, Izuku's Lifeforce was replenished, and that's when he made Hinata one of his Sides, his new anxiety. And he hasn't used Dave's quirk since because of how awful he felt when it was used on him. Disconnect allows the user to see strings above people that connect them to their quirks, and by pulling at them, you can stop someone from using their quirk, which is honestly useful, but I don't want Izuku using it if it actually scares him-heaven's know he's powerful enough to go without it." Hisashi chuckled, scratching the back of his head. "He can do literally anything."
"Ok…but you mentioned this…Year thing?" Aizawa-san asked. "What's that?"
"Oh, so each Side becomes the same age as Izuku if they were older than him, as I'm sure you've noticed-you knew Brazen when he was alive, right?" Hisashi asked.
Aizawa-san nodded.
"Right," Hisashi said. "So, one year before they reach the age of their death-and I mean to the second, it's incredibly accurate-the Side's Year starts, where they get the injuries they got during that year-they don't feel pain until the last day, though." Hisashi sighed. "It's…sad, honestly. Only a few of Izuku's Sides have had their Years so far-Paz, Hex, Yuki, Hirah, and Yui is going through her year right now. Yuki and Hirah's Years overlapped, but…they weren't bad. If I hadn't been told, I probably wouldn't have known." He took a deep breath. "It was…scary to learn that Paz and Hex were…abused in life, and Yui…she doesn't talk about all the bruises, but…we all kind of understand what was happening in her house as well."
Shoto's eyes grew wide, but he didn't say anything, instead growing a little smaller.
"Then, on the last day, Izuku sleeps the entire day-because the Side actually feels pain, and in the last few minutes…they all relive how they died," Hisashi said.
"What?!" Aizawa-san said.
"Izuku doesn't get lingering pain-I repeat, I probably should've put him in therapy before this," Hisashi said, sighing.
"That's…really concerning-Oboro's death wasn't exactly pleasant-he died in a very violent villain attack!" Aizawa-san said. "Not to mention everyone else!"
"Uh…Yui died in a car accident, same with Odin, but hers…is more terrifying, from what I know, Emory and Kamari drowned, Duke and Dasu were killed by their triplet brother, and Yumio died in a hostage situation gone wrong-gun to the head," Hisashi said, listing it off as Aizawa-san looked more and more horrified.
"You're joking," Aizawa-san said.
"Nope," Hisashi said. "I make a point to know how they all died-Darnell died because of a fire hero that couldn't aim well, Darlina's brother had a disintegrating quirk and killed their entire family upon activating-"
"Wait, wait, what?" Aizawa-san asked as the three boys all looked surprised.
"...yeah?" Hisashi said. "Tenko Shimura-Darlina's name was Hana Shimura-they also knew Odin before…I don't want to say too much there, but that's the gist of the situation." He looked at all of them. "...why?"
"A villain named Tomura Shigaraki with a disintegrating quirk is the leader behind the USJ attack," Aizawa-san said.
"...oh," Hisashi said. "Um…wow, uh…"
"Yeah," Aizawa-san sighed. "But now I know what Nezu meant when he asked if Izuku had addressed the guy in a certain way." He sighed. "Continue."
"Oh, right," Hisashi said. "Dot, Yuki, and Hirah all died when a building collapsed on top of them. Paz and Hex…their parents…yeah. And…same with Hinata."
Aizawa-san sighed. "I don't get paid enough for this sh*t…well, that's a ton of new information…" He sighed again. "I'll…talk to Brazen more about this all later."
"Talking to Brazen most, then?" Hisashi asked. "Odin's usually the one that knows the most-she's been around the longest. Granted, only by a few hours, but she's also by far the oldest…and the one that had already known about the Mind Palace concept…"
"Seriously?" Katsuki groaned. "Is she ever going to tell us everything about herself? It's been years and we still barely know anything about her life before Deku besides her whole hatred of All Might thing!"
"Wait, wait, what?" Aizawa-san asked.
"That's not even that much-we all hate All Might," Hitoshi muttered bitterly. "That f*cker can shove his quirkist opinions up his-
"Hitoshi, I know that we all hate All Might here, but we can do All Might hate rants at a place he doesn't work at, hmm?" Hisashi asked.
"No, no, I want to hear more about this," Aizawa-san said.
"That b*tch told me that I couldn't be a hero because my quirk isn't physical and villainous," Hitoshi said.
"...if you'll excuse me for a few minutes, I'm gonna go punch him," Aizawa-san said, then left the room.
"...is he joking?" Shoto asked.
"Nope, he's completely serious-I hope he gives him a black eye," Recovery Girl said. "I won't be healing it, either."
"...have I mentioned how much I love this school?" Hitoshi asked.
"If Hawks wasn't already my favorite hero, it would definitely be Recovery Girl and Eraserhead," Shoto said.
"Why not change it?" Hitoshi asked.
"Hawks being my favorite hero p*sses my father off more," Shoto said-
-and they heard a laugh as Izuku sat up, making them all jump in surprise.
"I wake up and the first thing I hear is Shoto making his sperm donor mad," Izuku said, then looked around, then at Hisashi. "Dad?"
Hisashi quickly pulled his son into a hug. "Are you alright, Izuku?"
"Yeah…um…what happened?" Izuku asked.
"Don't you remember?" Hitoshi asked. "We were at the USJ…"
Izuku thought for a few seconds, then he became pale and started to cry again-how many tears can this boy cry-(way too many, those things have the force of Louise Madrigal behind them-three points if you get the reference, I got way to obsessed with that movie over my winter break and am listening to the soundtrack again as I write this-HELP-)
"Hey, hey, Izuku, it's ok," Hisashi said, holding his son closer.
"B-But-" Izuku started.
"You did what you needed to in the moment, Izuku-that's different than what Dave did to you," Hisashi said, pulling back and wiping away his son's tears to look him in the eye. "You were protecting yourself and your friends-it was a villain attack, Izuku, and you were just doing what you needed to-it was that guy's own fault for attacking you guys, ok?"
"But…that…creature," Izuku sniffed. "I…I pulled it apart, too…"
"You mean the Nomu?"
They all looked up to see Aizawa-san standing in the doorway again with blood on his fist that he was wiping off-nice, his name was Eraserhead? Hisashi's new favorite hero-Hawk's free-spirited attitude can move aside.
"No…mu?" Izuku asked.
"That black bird creature with the brain exposed-that's what Shigaraki called it," Aizawa-san said, and Izuku tensed up.
"I'm…sorry?" Izuku said. "What did you just say?"
"The black bird creature with the brain exposed?" Aizawa-san said.
"After that," Izuku said quietly.
"That's what Shigaraki called it," Aizawa-san said. "The guy with the disintegration quirk-oh, wait, uh…Tenko Shimura, right?"
Izuku was perfectly silent and still for a moment, then he blinked.
Once.
Twice.
"You've gotta be sh*tting me right now why does he have my LAST NAME-!"
Everyone jumped as Odin appeared, along with Darlina, who both looked terrified and beyond angry.
"Shigaraki!?" Odin cried. "That's my freaking last name-why would Tenko have it!?"
"While we're at it, why did he look…younger than he should?" Darlina asked. "He looked…twenty? But he should be forty? What? But that was him…right? It had to be."
"What does the last name Shigaraki…wait, that's your last name?" Aizawa-san said.
"He couldn't have been adopted by someone descended from Liam, right?" Odin asked. "No, they didn't move to Japan last I knew-granted, it's been over a century-"
"It's been how long!?" Katsuki exclaimed.
"But that would just leave Lucas, but Lucas is dead," Odin said. "He was too busy destroying stuff to worry about starting a family-we would've known if he had. So did my brother adopt Tenko thirty-five years ago after the whole thing went down?"
"Then had another kid when he was…twenty, he would've had to be, for that kid to be twenty…and have the exact same quirk?" Darlina asked, tilting her head to the side. "Right? I'm doing the math right, right?"
"...I'm confused," Aizawa-san said.
"I think we all are," Recovery Girl said, then smiled at Odin. "Long time no see, Ofa-oh, you go by Odin these days, right?"
Odin looked at her. "Oh, hey, Chiyo-san! It really has been years-still as youthful as ever, I see!"
"Why do you know each other-you know what, I don't get paid enough to deal with this, and I need coffee," Aizawa-san said, then turned and left the room.
"That's a mood," Hitoshi said as-
"Ofa?"
Odin turned her head and sighed. "Detective Lie Detector, my old friend-and it's Odin these days, so if you'd please refer to me as such."
"...I'm confused," the man sighed, then looked at Izuku, Katsuki, Shoto, and Hitoshi. "I'm here to get your statements on the USJ attack, if you don't mind."
"Oh, right, you probably need those," Izuku said.
"...who is this guy?" Hitoshi asked.
"Detective Tsukauchi-Odin calls him Detective Lie Detector because he can tell if someone's telling the truth or not," Izuku said. "Most useful quirk for a detective-wait, can I ask you some questions about your quirk so I can copy it? That would be so useful!"
The detective blinked, then sighed. "Answer all my questions, and I guess I can answer a few of yours."
…
"Alright, thank you," the detective said, then looked at Izuku. "And you said that you had a few more things to add, right?"
Izuku nodded, then took a deep breath. "We…Darlina recognized Shigaraki…and that was Odin's last name when she was alive. Darlina said that Shigaraki looked like Tenko Shimura-he killed his whole family when his quirk developed…thirty-five-ish years ago now."
"True," the detective said, writing that down. "And…you said something about the Nomu?"
"I didn't see what they really looked like," Izuku said. "I can see ghosts, and to me, they both looked like clusters of-"
"Both?" Detective Tsukauchi interrupted. "I'm sorry, but…there was only one."
'What?" Izuku asked, shaking his head. "No, there were two-that purple one-the one that was teleporting people? Kurogiri?"
"...he was a Nomu, too?" Detective Tsukauchi sighed, writing that down. "Well, isn't that…interesting." He sighed. "This sounds like so much paperwork…"
"Sorry," Izuku said.
"Well, hopefully, it's gonna help us find them all the faster," Detective Tsukauchi said, then stood up. "Oh! Those questions you were going to ask me about my quirk?"
"So it's as simple as someone telling you something and you simply know if it's true or not?" Izuku asked. "How about half-truths? Or when someone doesn't know that they're lying? Does your quirk just make a small noise at the back of your head to signify that it's true or not?"
"Hmm…well, with half-truths, I see it as a lie," the detective said. "Because some part of the statement was a lie. And it works by someone consciously telling a lie-my quirk specialist when I was young told me that he thought it was like my quirk picking up on someone's heart rate to see if they're telling the truth or not."
"...so you're literally that truth-seer dude from Korra season 3," Izuku said. (two points if you know who that is:)
"...who?" Detective Tsukauchi asked.
"Alright, let's see if this works," Izuku said, then looked at Kacchan. "Hey, Kacchan, say something, true or false."
"Um…I didn't take a bunch of your All Might figurines when you were getting rid of them," Kacchan said.
"Lie," Izuku said. "But that was an obvious one, Kacchan, I already knew that."
"Wait, you did?!" Kacchan said.
"Alright, Shoto, you tell me something," Izuku said.
"My father is a raging dumpster fire personified as a human being," Shoto deadpanned.
"That one's also obvious!" Izuku sighed.
"Fine…I didn't once place a random rock under Bakugou's pillow," Shoto said.
"Lie," Izuku said. "Wait, how did you-"
"That was you?!" Kacchan yelled.
"...well, I think I'll take my leave," Detective Tsukauchi said, then left the room.
And that's the chapter! What did you think!
I was going to do the reveal that Lucas is still alive right here, but I decided that I want to do that later on. I mean, why ruin the surprise now? :)
REMINDER: I UPDATED CHAPTER FIVE, GO SEE THE NEW BACKSTORY, PLEASE!
Did I do the USJ justice? Please let me know!
(I was trying to organize light vs neutral vs dark sides, so…yeah.)
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/devil-demon form, 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
Until next time!
Peace!
