By Jupiter, I live again!
Barely...
It's that lovely time of year when my severe asthma starts to kick up and makes me cough so much that either I get myself sick (oof) or my brain goes numb, like one a limb falls asleep. And yes, that's ONE of the reasons for how long this took to write.
Not only that, the new job has also gotten quite busy with Black Friday and Boxing Weeks sales, and being an Inventory Coordinator and making sure product is in stock for all the shoppers.
Still enjoying the job, but it's been stressful lol
No reviews this time, and probably another chapter of this while working on the next chapter of Bearer of the Light, which will be two chapters smooshed together, and small sneak peek...
New Job class unlock for Izuku and Birthday fun for a certain Alien Queen! :D
but yea, hope you enjoy this chapter, and I'll start to do reviews (at least on FFN where I can respond to them after the chapter is up)
[MHA and Asterix and Obelix all belong to their copyright owners, as I do not own any of them.]
Chapter 8
Consquences of ones Heroics
A gasp of air pushed out past Mina's lips as she suddenly bolted up from her nightmare, the second one to happen since the events of the USJ as her often over-eager imagination conjured visions of 'what-ifs'.
What if they hadn't been able to escape? Would any of her classmates be alright? What horrible plans did the villains have in store for them? And the worst one, at least in her mind…
What if Izuku wasn't there? Or, worse yet, what if he didn't make it?
The young pink woman slowly curled in on herself, the pain in her heart and the pit forming in her stomach with those many unpleasant thoughts kept circling in her head before a gentle rapping on her door knocked her out of her stupor, wiping her eyes of sleep (and possible tears), Mina called out, "It's open…."
"Hey, Pinky," Kyoka Jiro said as she opened the door and saw the small grouping of her fellow heroines in training behind her. As the five other women slowly made their way into her room, with Toru shutting the door behind them, Kyoka sighed gently with her arms across her chest, "Rough night, as well?"
"Y-Yea… had a nightmare about what would've happened if things hadn't played out as they did." Mina gently confessed, with Tsu and Toru moving to sit beside her and hold her close for comfort; the other three looked amongst one another before Momo gently spoke up.
"I can assure you everyone here has had similar experiences; these past few days to reflect have been… an eye-opener, to say the least." The heiress said as she sat down on Mina's desk chair, "While I cannot comment on what may have happened, I can say that when Midoriya took charge, everyone did wonderfully."
"I would have never expected to see him get that angry, though." Toru spoke up from the cuddle pile, "Like, he always gave me this vibe that it would take a lot for him even to frown!"
"I'm not surprised though," Kyoka spoke up from where she was leaning against a part of the wall that wasn't covered with bright neon posters, "He called Thirteen 'Auntie', and to reassure him, she called him 'Big Bean' and, I'm going to assume, Mr. Aizawa as 'Grumpy'."
"It means he's familiar with the staff, kero." Tsu ribbited gently, her finger on her chin and tilting her head, "Makes me wonder how long he has been at UA."
"I'd say young, given the incident with Midnight those years ago and how he did mention that he often broke into the USJ so much they had to build a door to stop it," Mina said with a giggle, the much happier thought of a smaller Izuku doing the act filled her mind.
"Then there was… and I can't believe I'm going to say this, 'Magic Potion'." Ochako spoke softly, resting against Mina's desk, "It sounds silly, and how defensive he got over it…."
The room got quiet after that, the chirping of birds outside being the only sound they could hear before Momo gently sighed, "Well, we should get ready for classes, while I wish I could say that the weekend was enough time for us to recover mentally and physically from our ordeal… classes do resume today."
"Right, let's get dressed and then meet up to have some breakfast, let's say… twenty minutes?" Kyoka asked as she pushed herself from the wall, walking towards the door.
All the women agreed, walking out of Mina's room, though the last one to leave stood at the doorway, turning around to face the pink-skinned young woman, "Mina? Kero."
"Hmm? What's up, Tsu?"
"... we should see how Izuku is doing after classes today to make sure he is doing well, kero." The frog-like woman spoke gently, her hands rubbing together, "Even if he's been at UA longer than us, after everything that happened… he was often training by myself or wasn't in the dorms at all, kero."
Mina gently raised an eyebrow; how had she not noticed the absence of the giant boy during the entire weekend, granted between the phone calls and surprise visit by her family to make sure she was alright, it was hard to keep her attention on the rest of her classmates who were also probably dealing with the same thing. A gentle smile slowly passed across Mina's lips, "Sure, Tsu… sounds like a plan."
The frog girl 'smiled' gently, nodding her head before heading out of the room and closing the door behind her.
Mina, meanwhile, went towards her closet to pull out her outfit for the day. All the while, in the back of her mind, she had an ulterior motive for checking up on Izuku.
And it involved a certain frog-like young woman.
"Dean Nezu?" Izuku asked, his head poking past the opened door to the dean's office. The small rodent-like being was sipping some tea, placing his cup back down onto its saucer and placing it on the desk in front of him.
"Ah, Izuku, please come in. Would you like some tea? I just brewed a fresh pot of elderberry leaf, something your grandfather gave me recently."
"N-no, no thank you… I have class soon, and I don't think my uncle would even allow me to be late." The green-haired boy chuckled gently, settling himself down onto a chair at the front of the desk, the chair creaking slightly from his larger size, which caused Izuku to blush slightly.
Nezu gently chuckled, relaxing back into his chair, "You are correct, but Aizawa won't be in class, as Recovery Girl has him recovering in the infirmary for the next day or so."
"W-What?!" Izuku exclaimed, his eyes shot open in surprise before frowning gently, his hand moving to his peach-fuzz-covered chin, "Wait… how did she do it this time?"
"Threatening to take away his snacks and having Ms. Joke and Midnight be his personal 'nurses'," Nezu said, snickering a little as he took a sip of tea, while Izuku's face paled at the mention of the two women.
Don't get him wrong, he loved his 'big sis' Nemuri, but she wasn't always the best at giving first-aid to people. He remembered what she did when Uncle Mic broke his wrist.
How she ended up breaking his entire arm was still a mystery to this day.
"Besides, I have Getafix watching over your class in the meantime, which brings me to one of the reasons I called you here." Nezu sighed softly after taking his sip of tea, placing it back on the desk surface, and bringing his paws up in front of his muzzle, staring hard at the young man before him, "First of all, how are you feeling? I understand you may be a little shaken, given the incident at the USJ."
"Um… fine, I guess?" Izuku answered, relaxing back against his chair slightly, with the piece of furniture creaking every so slightly, "I-I know I acted out quite a bit, b-but-"
"There are no buts, Izuku… you lashed out in anger." Nezu interrupted him, causing the much larger human to flinch slightly, "While I cannot fault you on it, given the unique situation that happened, this is unacceptable behavior for an up-and-coming hero."
Izuku hung his head gently, his hair covering his eyes, "...I had to take him out… he would have hurt my classmates; he would've killed them had I not stopped him."
"I cannot fault you on that either… but Izuku, here." Nezu said as he reached down to one of the drawers of his desk, fishing out a small tablet with various figures and graphs, "Within those bracelets of yours, I asked Ms. Hatsume to install output recorders, look at the big jump at the time interval fifteen-thirty." The small rodent-like being leaned back into his chair, watching the expression on Izuku's face shift from mild curiosity to absolute shock.
"T-That's-"
"Impossible? I thought so too, but Hatsume ran the data ten times to ensure there were no errors, and the results came out the same. Given his history, I had shown the data to Getafix as a precaution and what he told me after was interesting."
Izuku shifted his gaze from the tablet to Nezu, who was waiting for the boy's attention before continuing, "Getafix spoke about Obelix, and although he was working on his 'Menhirs', the man's strength was always 'the same'... and though you both had similar experiences with the Magic Potion, Obelix never saw an increase in his strength."
"But there are things you have done that he never did, unlike your "predecessor", you have been training for nearly fourteen years, under our supervision, mind you."
"But Obelix never needed to train," Izuku said after a few moments to think, making the dean smile widely.
"Exactly! Oh, I love that intelligence of yours!" Nezu cackled, sipping some more tea, "In essence, Getafix hypothesized that because you've been training your body, the Magic Potion infused within you is amplifying not just your base strength but growing more powerful the more it increases."
"But, therein lies the issue; eventually, you will be too strong for even the bracelets Hatsume has built. They would have shattered if Aizawa had not released them during your fight with the Nomu." Nezu spoke solemnly, resting against his chair, "As of right now, your workout regimen is off limits so that we can get a baseline on your current strength, and we can properly adjust your workout plans."
"B-but, wh-what will I do in the meantime? I 'can't' stop working out, Nezu!" Izuku proclaimed loudly; a crunching sound from within Izuku's fist echoed throughout the room as Both occupants looked towards the source, with the green-eyed man quickly releasing the armrest he had destroyed with his grip, "I-I'm so sorry!"
"It's okay, Izuku... I felt this would be your reaction, and this proves my point. You wear your emotions on your sleeve, but when you get emotional, you lose control over your strength... Now, hypothetically, you got just as passionate in a fight or worse, just as angry as you did with the villains from the USJ. What would happen then, my young student?
Izuku was quiet for a moment, his eyes shifting as he stared at the dean, his inner thoughts running through the scenario before his eyes slowly widened and his face grew paler, "...I… I see what you mean…."
"This is not a punishment, Izuku, but things have progressed to such a degree it will be dangerous for you and everyone around you should you go 'all out', hence why we designed those bracelets and are temporarily relieving you from your workouts." Nezu leaned back in his chair, paws in front of him, contemplating something he would need to discuss with the right people after his little talk with his favorite student, "You can still do your boar chases, but nothing above the grade two's, and nothing enhanced by Hatsume, understood?"
"...Yes, sir…" Izuku said with sadness in his voice, he knew this was for the best, but the idea of not being able to work out left a bitter taste in his mouth, "... Is that all, sir?"
"I'm afraid not." Nezu said with a gentle sigh, "Getafix is going to be giving Class 1-A the NDAs and class on the Magic Potion today, given the fact that young Iida needed to drink some to return to the main building as well as many of your classmates seeing Aizawa consume it, but these are special NDA's unlike the ones previously given to the second and third years in the past."
"What makes them so special?" Izuku asked, not liking the glint within Nezu's beady eyes.
"Why, they cover any discussions or revelations when it comes to you, of course." The dean watched as Izuku shot up from his chair in horror, "It's clear that some of your classmates are very observant, Izuku. And they were told you have been living here at UA since you were very young, the properties of the Magic Potion and your abilities are similar, and they will put two and two together."
"Now, whether you wish to explain your powers right now fully is up to you; even Getafix understands should you wish to tell your story to your classmates at this time or later. But they will have questions, and you must be prepared for that."
Izuku slowly fell back onto the chair, groaning loudly from his weight as the young man stared out into space, muttering so fast that not even Nezu could keep up and remaining quiet while Izuku was processing this information.
Even if he hadn't known them for very long, his classmates were some of the nicest people he had met, and understood his shortcomings with his appetite and size.
Several were super friendly with him, like Mina, Tsu, Ochako, and Iida. But, the thought of how everyone would think of him for lying since they first met did leave a sizable pit in his stomach. The clearing of Nezu's throat caught his attention as Izuku quickly looked up to the clock above the dean's head and saw that he had been muttering for nearly ten minutes.
"While I cannot fault you for your concerns regarding your friends, Izuku… considering you have only known them for barely a week, perhaps you tell them it was me who forced you to remain secretive."
Damn his muttering at times.
"B-but Nezu!-" Izuku had begun to speak, only to be silenced with a single paw raised before him.
"We all knew the risks keeping it here along with Getafix and yourself; if word got out that a mere four-year-old could hold himself against some of the top ten heroes of Japan at the time, there would be chaos, and god knows what would have happened if the HSPC or a villain got a hold of you, and then learned how you became how you are." Nezu spoke with a serious tone to his voice, "You signed an NDA when you could understand its importance as well, so technically, I did "force" you to be secretive."
Izuku just kept staring at the dean for once, his mind blanked entirely for the first time in a long while, and just going with the flow of it, the young man spoke gently, "This day can't possibly get any worse."
"About that…" Nezu spoke gently and matched the stare of the young man's eyes, "We need to talk about the upcoming Sports Festival..."
The bell rang loudly within the room of Class 1-A, interrupting whatever conversations had been going on and forcing the students to go sit at their desks. However, judging by the lack of a 'caterpillar' sleeping in a corner or the presence of the large green-haired boy sitting in the back of the classroom. Kirishima voiced the noted missing persons first, "Hey, anyone know where is Mr. Aizawa and Midori-bro?"
"While I think our teacher was still recovering from the incident last week, hence his absence, I hadn't seen Midoriya this morning, even before I went out for my morning run," Iida spoke up, rubbing his chin deep in thought, while everyone murmured to themselves and their neighbors. A knowing look between Mina and Tsuyu went unnoticed as the door to the room slid open, revealing the wizened Getafix carrying a stack of papers.
"You are correct in regards to your teacher, young man. Recovery Girl is currently keeping him bed bound for the next day or so to make sure he recovers fully; in the meantime, I will be handling your homeroom classes." The older man spoke with specific authority to his voice as he stood behind the podium at the front of the class, placing the papers on its surface, "As for Midoriya, he will be along shortly, which allows me to discuss a few things with the rest of you."
Everyone quieted down as Getafix gently cleared his throat, "First and foremost, I can easily say you all did a marvelous job with the incident that occurred last week; with you being first-year hero course students, the mental toll this had is harder to recognize." Getafix leveled a gaze at all of his current students as he spoke, "While UA cannot force any of you to seek help, it should be said that if you still feel shaken because of the USJ incident, Hound Dog is free to take in any students for counseling."
"Mr. Bakugo and Mr. Kirishima." Getafix moved his gaze toward the two, "We ask that you both at least have a single session with Hound Dog as soon as possible-"
"HUH?! Why the hell should I?" Bakugo scoffed loudly, slamming his hand on his desk as if the very idea was beneath him, "I beat those losers easily! I'm perfectly fine!"
"And that is where you are wrong, Mr. Bakugo." The old man frowned hard at the explosive blonde, "As I just said, mental health is difficult to diagnose and recognize, you may feel like everything is fine, but deep down, there could be some trauma. Even the top heroes have counselors and psychiatrists to help them in their day-to-day."
"As you train and graduate to become Pro Heroes, you will often encounter horrific scenes or situations that stress and mentally harm even the mightiest warriors. You'd be surprised how a single session could open your eyes and help you recognize issues early enough that can be treated far more easily than if you let them build and rot within your mind." Though Getafix was directing the conversation towards Bakugo, the rest of the class could tell he was explaining it to them, making them realize that perhaps seeking out the canine-looking individual would be the most ideal.
"But this morning's class is about something more… well, I guess many of you would consider it 'fantastical'." Getafix sighed as he looked back to the rest of the class now, "Before I explain anything, Iida, can you please come up to the front and hand out these NDAs?"
"Yes, sir!" The speedster shot up from his chair, robotically walked towards the front of the class, and began to hand out the forms when the door to the classroom slowly opened, revealing Izuku, who honestly looked utterly exhausted. Many of his classmates were quiet as the green-haired young man gave a note to Getafix.
"Sorry I'm late; the dean needed to speak with me."
The tone of his voice was something Getafix had quickly picked up on and furrowed his brow, "Midoriya, are you alright?"
"... Yea, just fine." He said with a smile on his lips, a false one that Getafix had quickly picked up on, given how many years he had to deal with Romans who wore two-sided masks. But, the elderly man didn't want to push it, not when they had an audience.
"Alright, go take your seat, and I'll explain what was just handed out to the rest of the class. Oh! Iida, don't give one to Midoriya, alright?"
"While you are the teacher, sir, I must–"
"It's fine, Iida…." Izuku said as he dragged his feet somewhat to his desk, "I already signed one earlier."
"Oh, of course, my apologies Mr. Getafix."
"It's fine, my boy… This will take some time now, and we have much to review. I'll warn you now, by signing this NDA, you will be learning about things that are even more secretive than the dean's true species." Getafix spoke with a dark tone to his voice, his gaze leveled on all of the students before him, "Should you wish not to sign the NDA, you will be given the rest of the morning off, but by learning about what I'm about to teach you here and now… well, it would definitely help save your life in the future."
"So, if anyone wishes to leave, they may do so right now." The old man smiled as he gestured to the door, watching them for a few moments to see that none of the students had budged an inch.
With a big smile, Getafix opened to the first page of the rather lengthy NDA, "Well, let's begin on page one…."
Two long hours had passed.
Many students were barely holding in their boredom as they each read a passage from the overly complex and lengthy booklet. Any questions that had been asked, Getafix merely waved them off and said he'd explain it fully after everything was signed.
Izuku, in the meantime, had been writing in his notebook. Updating it as much as he could given the small amount of data he had been able to collect over the last few days on his fellow classmates, completely ignoring the stares in his general direction when the NDA had started talking about an "individual under the effects of the product in question permanently".
Once everything had been collected and placed in front of Getafix, one of the robots came into the room, taking the documents and ushering itself out with no real urgency. Though the door shut behind it, the students could hear several heavy locks bolt into place, with the windows outside of their classroom suddenly closing with metal barricading them from the outside world.
"Let's start off with a simple question." Getafix, with a smirk hidden under his beard, moved a hand to the satchel at his side and pulled out a flask containing a golden liquid, "I'm sure many of you have seen such a thing before at the USJ; tell me, do you know what it is?"
"A quirk enhancer, something quite illegal in our country." Iida spoke up suddenly, frowning at the flask as if it had been the most cursed thing to even exist at the hero university. Getafix merely nodded his head slightly at the explanation.
"I wouldn't go that far, as it wasn't a quirk enhancer initially. No, this is an all-natural potion made by me, using the local flora here on campus." Getafix held it up slightly; the semi-clear golden liquid shimmered somewhat as it got held up higher, "It's called the "Magic Potion"."
Silence hung in the air until the class burst out laughing, at least for those who could actually laugh, such as Tsuyu was ribbiting in amusement to the name.
Even Izuku's sour mood couldn't hold back his own snickers at the amusement of his classmates.
Getafix wasn't in a joking mood, slamming the flask on the podium to get everyone to stop laughing, "Now listen here, this is serious!"
"I-I'm sorry, Mister Getafix! -hehe- It's just… for such a big secret, the name is just… well, it's very often putting." Ochako said, the blush on her cheeks growing redder as the entire class continued to laugh hysterically.
Growing more agitated, Getafix soon turned towards one of the students sitting in the front row, "Mr. Aoyama, you hail from France, do you not?"
"Oui! Born and raised there, Monsieur Getafix!" The blonde man sparkled slightly as he dramatically stood from his chair.
"Tell me then, have you ever heard the tales of the Gauls of France? During the time of Julius Caesar?" Getafix asked with a knowing smirk, crossing his arms over his chest as Yuga gently rubbed his chin.
"Pardon moi, the history of my great land is not something I often indulged myself in, aside from the répertoire de fromages she produces. However, from what I was taught, there was a small Gaulish village in northern France that held back from being conquered by Rome for de nombreuses années… so many that not even Julius Caesar could conquer it and died before it happened."
"That's impossible." Momo stuttered out loud, looking aghast from the information, "Julius Caesar was a great military tactician; how could a small village do that?"
"Vous voyez, c'est le problème, Mademoiselle Yaoyorozu, many historians couldn't figure it out, though one possible theory, as depicted in some texts and murals, was of Gaul warriors drinking a…." Yuga stopped in his explanations, his eyes going wide like dinner plates as he slowly turned his head towards Getafix, who was smiling now, many of the other students slowly piecing together where Aoyama was getting at as the blonde boy slowly finished his explanation.
"They drank a golden liquid."
Even though many of the students didn't know any french, the name of the liquid Aoyama just said wasn't that hard to figure out, causing everyone to slowly turn their heads towards the flask now. Getafix kept smiling as he placed the flask down on the podium, his hands moving behind his back, "It's good to see that so many of you were able to connect the dots in regards to that little tidbit of information, but yes, the ancient Gauls drank the Magic Potion to give themselves an all-powerful, albeit temporary boost."
"W-What was the boost? And are we going to be using this stuff from now on?" Kirishima asked, though there was some apprehension in his voice that the elder quickly picked up on.
"Upon drinking the Magic Potion, your base strength increases nearly ten-fold, you'll be more durable with only objects that can pierce the skin to actually cause any sort of damage, and as some of you had seen when young Iida there drank the potion himself, your speed will also be increased." Getafix began to explain with a projector turning on behind him to show off images of some of their teachers displaying the feats he was talking about, "In terms of your Quirks, they too will be boosted, however… The Magic Potion wasn't initially made to take Quirks into account, so the more you use them, the quicker the effects will fade."
"And about those with Mutations?" Shoji asked, raising three of his arms to get the older man's attention, who merely smiled at the Quirk-altered boy.
"Well, from my experience while I've been here at UA, those whose Quirks are on the more permanent side of things, like yourself and Ms. Asui here, wouldn't have their usage cut in half like if someone like Mr. Bakugo here-"
"HA!" The mentioned blonde suddenly barked out, slamming his hand on his desk, "Like I need any of that garbage, and I can beat any of you extras with or without it!"
"Oh? Is that so?" Getafix raised an eyebrow, his arms crossed over his chest as he eyed the explosive student, agitated slightly due to having the Magic Potion being called 'garbage', "From what I saw, that little stunt you pulled during the Battle Trials says otherwise."
"The hell are you talking-" a flash of realization came across not only Bakugo's face but several others within the class and slowly turned towards Izuku, who groaned lowly at what Getafix had just said, which the elderly man quickly picked up on, and his eyes went as wide as dishes.
"I-Izuku, my boy, I'm sorry-"
"It's fine, Gramps… They were going to piece it together eventually." The green-haired man said with a sad smirk at Getafix.
"GRAMPS?!" Most of the students shouted, some rising from their chairs in surprise.
"M-Midori-bro?" Kirishima asked with a look of bafflement on his face, "Have you been using this stuff?!"
"Not... really? Not in the way you're thinking, at least." Izuku answered back, fiddling with his hands as everyone stared at him, "It may be time to talk about Asterix and Obelix, Grandpa."
"Y-Yes, of course." Getafix said with a clearing of his throat to get the gazes of the students back on him, "As Izuku just mentioned, in that Gaul village were two of its best warriors, Asterix and his companion Obelix." As the old man spoke, images of the two in question appeared behind him.
The students would see roman artisan depictions of the pair, Asterix being of a more diminutive stature than Obelix, with bright blond hair underneath a winged helm, carrying a shortsword on his side. Behind him was a much larger man, not just in height, as he was pretty rotund with arms as thick as tree trunks, walking behind his counterpart with a giant pointed boulder. Mina quickly noted that Obelix reminded her a little of Midoriya, outside of the much smaller horned helmet, braided red hair, and bushy mustache.
"Asterix was the greatest warrior within the village, second only to the Chief when it came to decision making and was always willing to go and aid those who sought our help, even if that took him far from his home."
"So, like… did he have several potion bottles on him?" Sero asked, rubbing his chin, "If he was not in the village for a while, then he wouldn't be able to stock up."
"Very true, but Asterix usually only brought one bottle and drank what he needed. He was quite the skilled fighter without it; however, he was also cunning and quick. He often used the Magic Potion only when the need was there." Getafix spoke as he looked upon the image of Asterix on the screen, the screen suddenly changed to Obelix, and those in the front row could hear the older man mutter something before beginning his explanations again, "Another reason why Asterix did not carry several flasks of the potion was due to wherever Asterix went, Obelix was sure to follow along."
"The man… to say he was "simple" would be a disservice to him really, did as he pleased. Granted, it involved food or the promise of walloping Roman soldiers. He loved nature and would often help me tend to the forests that lay beyond the outskirts of our home, mostly to keep his animal companion, 'Dogmatix', happy,"
Another image came on to see Obelix lifting a rather pointy rock above his head, walking with what looked like a small white dog at his side who was looking quite excited for the more giant man to toss the large stone, with everyone having a nervous look. Bakugo could be heard whispering, 'What the hell?' under his breath.
Kirishima thankfully got everyone's thoughts on the implicated imagery with another statement that perked their curiosity, "So, like, I get he's pretty strong, but I'm sure his strength would be super manly with the Magic Potion."
The silence in the room grew thick and heavy. Getafix moved his hands behind his back as he took a single deep breath, "Obelix was forbidden to drink ANY of the Magic Potion."
"Huh? Why? Seems kinda unfair." Kaminari pointed out, relaxing in his chair as Getafix looked at the blonde young man.
"That's because Obelix was under the effects of the Magic Potion twenty-four-seven." Getafix spoke with a nonchalant tone to his voice, though the reaction from the class was very clearly seen, "The potion was intended for adults only, where a person's fully matured body enzymes can break down the potion and its effect safely. For Obelix, however…."
Getafix paused for a moment, looking to Izuku, who gave his grandfather a half-hearted thumbs up, though his face was far from pleased and expecting the worst to come.
"Obelix had fallen into the cauldron I used to make the potion when he was a small babe. Thankfully, I was able to pull him out quickly, but the damage was done. He had ingested some of the Magic Potion and was under its effects for the rest of his life."
Getafix began to pace back and forth as he continued his explanation to the stunned class, some of who were now glancing towards Midoriya, who at this point had buried his head into his arms on his desk, "This also had its drawbacks, however, as Obelix needed to constantly eat. If he had gone without food for a while, his body would shut itself down, forcing him to pass out until he had some nourishment. Like how you must keep a campfire going with wood until nothing is left but smolders."
After that little tidbit of information, most of the class exploded into hushed whispers, realizing that the sizeable ancient warrior had an eerily similar issue to Midoriya. Momo's raised hand quieted most of the whispers before she spoke, "Mr. Getafix, pardon my curiosity, but when you said you 'pulled' Obelix from the cauldron-."
"Of course I did." Getafix interrupted without hesitation, "Helped raise those two to be fine men and warriors of the village as well."
The class grew quiet again, aside from the small ribbit coming from Tsu, the information sinking in slowly as Momo spluttered out, "T-that's impossible! No one could live that long! U-Unless you had a long life Quirk, b-but Quirks only came into existence two hundred years ago and-"
"Ah, guess it's time to fully introduce myself then…." Getafix smirked to himself as he moved closer to the projector, which had changed images again to show a wizened old man who looked very strikingly similar to the person before them, "I am Panoramix Getafix, Druid of Gaul, and while you make think otherwise, I don't have any of those fancy 'powers' you lot have."
"W-Wait, does that mean you're quirkless?" asked Kaminari, with many others sharing the looks of disbelief on their faces, "And, like, you have magic powers or something?"
"Indeed I do! It's how I make the potion and keep my youthful looks." Getafix mused as the projector finally turned off, "And while I can see the skeptical looks in your eyes, I can demonstrate some of my powers later. Right now, I will be going over what will be happening for the next few weeks."
"Um... hold on, Midoriya called you 'Gramps', yet you're like… super old!"
"Kaminari! Do not be rude to our teacher!" Iida spoke up suddenly, his arm moving back and forth like a robot. The blonde raised his hands up in surrender, with Getafix chuckling lightly.
"While I appreciate the gesture, Mr. Iida, I am afraid that for how long I've been around, 'super old' would be a very accurate estimation, but you had a question, Mr. Kaminari?"
"Right, so… Is Midoriya really our age?"
The thud of a head hitting a desk caught everyone's attention as Izuku's muffled groan escaped past the wooden surface and arms over his head from the embarrassment of the question asked, slowly raising his head gently to give a dead-pan stare to the electric quirk student, "I'm eighteen, nineteen in a few months, Kaminari."
"I mean, you gotta admit the age difference doesn't add up, man." The blonde student shrugged, "Or you have to be like his great-great-great-great-great grandkid or something."
"Actually, Mr. Kaminari…" Getafix spoke up, hoping to take some of the heat off of Izuku, "Druids don't have families, no wives, children, and so on. We normally found successor's amongst the other Gaul villages so we could pass on our wisdom."
"Ooooh… ok." Kaminari smiled, understanding that Druids didn't have fam- wait a minute.
"L-Look, I can explain everything in more detail back at the dorms, ok? Let's just…." Izuku sighed heavily, resting his head on the desk once more, and his voice sounded like he was absolutely done with today, "Let's just finish up the lesson."
"Right…" Getafix said with a gentle sigh; he was obviously worried about Izuku's current mood and given he had to speak to Nezu before this, it was already taking its toll on him. Clearing his throat and standing up straight, the elderly druid looked about the class to see if he had gotten their attention, and when all eyes were transfixed on him, he continued, "As I was saying…."
The commons room for the Class 1-A dorms was dead silent, just as much as dinner had been once class had ended. Midoriya had been the first to leave, not stopping to the few cries of his name.
The large green-haired man had barricaded himself in his room, not even going down to eat at least, which was a very upsetting prospect to some. What was even stranger was that he had actually asked for someone to stand in front of his door through the new class group chat.
A small thing that all students who resided on campus would need to be on in case of any trouble or for the school's network to keep track of them off campus. And while many would think that was going far and above what was expected of the students of UA to comply, no one argued with the new policy considering the University was deemed invulnerable to malicious forces.
Yet, the USJ incident proved that no place was safe, and better to be prepared than not at all.
Regardless, Izuku had enlisted the aid of Todoroki of all people, and while they wouldn't know it right now, the reason the bi-colored-haired young man was chosen was that Izuku knew that if Todoroki wanted to ask questions, then he'd wait patiently for the more giant man to say his peace.
That and promising to cook him a month's worth of Cold Soba further cemented the deal.
Eventually, Todoroki came downstairs, slurping some pre-made Cold Soba that had been given to him before his vigil (as sort of a precaution to have the others bribe him.) and announced that Izuku was waiting for everyone upstairs in his room.
As everyone ascended the three flights of stairs, they eventually reached the larger boy's room, staring hard at the rather large door before Todoroki slowly pushed past the small crowd, knocking three times and then hearing a muffled 'come in' from inside.
As the door slowly opened to Izuku's room, everyone gasped to see how… large it was compared to theirs. In fact, a few of his classmates noticed that he literally had an entire floor to himself, but seeing what was inside the room made them remember that Izuku had essentially told them he was living at UA long before any of them had even thought about coming, and was probably given some liberties.
The walls were covered in various posters; most were of Pro Heroes from old to new, and while most were dominated by All Might, the other side of his room was clearly something that was a true spectacle.
Alongside his rather large desk were hundreds of books, some journals, or historical tomes with various translation notes beside them. Posters of ancient France, with red strings connected by pushpins, littered the clearly abused thing, and even more images of the famed Asterix and Obelix, including one that looked more like ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs… wait, wasn't that Cleopatra standing near the pair?
Another wall had a clearly well-used workout bench, yet it seemed to lack the appropriate equipment. And while someone like Kirishima and Shoji looked a little disappointed to see such a sight, there clearly had to be a reason for it.
But what caught everyone's eyes was Izuku Midoriya, kneeling in a traditional Dogeza bow. Before anyone could say anything, the bowing man said, "I am SO sorry for lying to you all."
"Oh, Midori-"
"You all trusted me at my word, even when your lives mattered, and I STILL lied to you all!"
"Bro, we get it." Sero spoke up, crossing his bulky arms over his chest, "After what we all learned today about the Magic Potion, it became obvious you were pretty much forced to lie to us for your own safety, at the very least."
A sudden poke to the top of his head caused Izuku to look up, revealing the many tears beginning to flow from his eyes as he saw Tsuyu kneeling before him, her large finger pulling back slowly from her poke, "Kero, Midoriya, you know I am blunt with my words, so listen fully to what I have to say."
*sniff* "O-Ok…."
"Admittedly, I did feel a little betrayed; I often don't like being lied to, kero." She began, watching as his gaze fell once more before she poked his head once again, "Not don't yet."
"Sorry…"
"But my parents are lawyers, and I know that NDAs are very strict, kero. You probably had to sign one a long time ago, right?" Tsu asked, seeing the boy gently nod his head,
"Y-Yea… when I was ten…"
"So, you were forced to keep quiet, and I'll be honest, it was easy to see how flustered you got when you thought one of us had figured something was 'off' about your abilities."
A gentle murmur of agreement filled the room, causing Izuku to blush heavily and mutter something along the lines of 'god dammit'. Tsu merely ribbit-giggled as she, as well as a few others, including Mina, slowly helped the boy raise himself up from his bow, "But since we know now, and from how extensive those NDAs were, you can actually explain everything and anything you wanted to about how this all started, and maybe let us know who else knows at least your 'secret', that way we don't make a mistake. I'd rather not be sent to Tartarus in solitary confinement for saying something to the wrong person, kero."
Izuku's head jostled in surprise at what the frog girl had just said. What the hell did Nezu make them sign?!
Regardless, Izuku nodded, agreeing to her terms, and told everyone they might want to get some pillows because the story was not short. And within five minutes, practically everyone had returned to his room, save for Bakugo, who merely told them he didn't care; he said the 'nerd' had fallen into some metal pot, and that was the end of the story, storming off to bed and locking his door.
As everyone nestled into the large room, Izuku had made himself comfy with his back resting against his bed, surprisingly seeing both Mina and Tsuyu on either side of him as he held a photo album in his grip.
His nerves were still getting to him, but he took a few calming breaths, something he had learned from Hound Dog earlier in his life, as he slowly opened the book, displaying the first picture.
"This whole… 'adventure' started when I was four years old after I finished my Quirk Diagnosis test…."
