Shards of Power
Chapter 6
-Izuku-
"Help, I've been kidnapped." Izuku deadpanned at his two laughing best friends, floating behind Nejire like a demented and unwilling balloon. At least floating meant he wasn't having to run to keep up lest his arm get pulled out of its socket.
"Mean!" Nejire pouted, her cheeks puffed out as she huffed "You're supposed to be nice to your mentor!"
"Yeah, shame on you Franky." Neito cackled while the others from Class 1A just looked at the blond copycat in confusion.
"Franky?" Nejire tilted her head, "I thought your name was Midoriya?"
"It's a shortened version of my nickname." Izuku gave an awkward smile, knowing there was no real point or way in avoiding it with how many had already seen his scars. Neito at the very least stopped laughing and looked apologetic.
"Sorry." Neito grimaced as Izuku waved the apology away.
"It's fine, we're going to have to get used to it if we go through with our idea anyway." Izuku shook his head before noticing Nejire practically vibrating with curiosity.
"Idea? What idea? Ooooh, tell me, tell me, tell me!" the enthusiastic third year pleaded.
"The three of us grew up often mistreated by our peers for various reasons." Mizo was the one who decided to answer "And, to spite them, we decided to take what they mocked us for and 'own it' as it were. We've even been planning to use them as our hero names, meaning I would be the Fearsome Tentacled Hero: Kraken."
"I'd be the Copycat Hero: Mimic." Neito raised his drink up with a nod mid bite.
"And I'll be the Patchwork Hero: Frankenstein." Izuku finished up, those who had seen the scars grimacing in understanding. Although the fact that he could see several who'd seen the scars looking furious at someone mocking him over them was touching.
"Okay." Nejire smiled, accepting the answer and clearly moving to change the topic before anyone at the table looking confused could try to press before he might get uncomfortable, "Oh, hey, you said before you have eight quirks, right?"
"What?!" the other first years at the table all reeled back at that statement.
"Technically one, technically eight." Izuku shrugged, digging a finger into his ear that was ringing after the shout "Also ow, loud."
"How do you have one quirk and eight quirks?" the invisible girl, Hagakure, waved her arms spastically to convey her confusion.
"My birth quirk was a single use ability." Izuku explained as those at the table who hadn't heard the 'cover story' grimaced. Quirks that could only be used one time in a person's life often either killed their users, or had absurdly powerful effects if not both.
"And that one use is how you acquired eight other quirks?" Todoroki questioned, heterochromatic student's eyes flitting down to Izuku's chest where the scars would have been seen before.
"…Transplants." Izuku decided to bite the bullet and get the awkward conversation over with; continually avoiding the issue would just get more and more complicated if he let it keep going "I got caught in the crossfire between a pro and a villain fighting when I was a kid and had most of my organs replaced with transplants from eight different donors. I ended up with the quirks of the original 'owners' to varying degrees. Most aren't as they were with their original user though."
"That's so cool!" Nejire bounced, focusing on the powers rather than their uncomfortable origins, something he was grateful for "What can you do?"
"Izuku has the ability to float, harden part of his arms and legs, an 'inventory' pocket space, the ability to shoot flames from his palms and feet, able to perform superhuman feats through better oxygen circulation, heal and regenerate if he's in a suitably cold environment, has enhanced visual perception, and x-ray vision." Mezo listed off, counting off the arsenal of quirks on his multitude of limbs.
"X-rays?!" the short one who'd thrown up before, Mineta, was practically drooling eagerly "That's the best power ever!"
"Mind out of the gutter creep." Jiro scowled in disgust at the overly lecherous expression on Mineta's face as their shorter classmate's imagination ran wild, "X-Rays don't even work that way, right Midoriya?"
He shifted awkwardly as more and more of his classmate's stared at him "…Quirks are weird." He grumbled, cheeks darkening.
"That's the best quirk ever!" Mineta's eyes gleamed with depraved jealousy as he repeated his 'point'.
"So, how does it work?" Nejire asked, head tilted and surprisingly not put off or upset by the notion that he could see through her clothes if he chose to do so.
"I can see through things." Izuku grimaced, remembering training it early on "And now that I'm more experienced with it I can better control just how many things I'm seeing through. With a bit of focus I can choose to look through just someone's pocket to see what's inside, for example. Or into their bodies to look for any internal injuries."
"Wow, that sounds really useful!" Nejire bounced up and down again "Oooooh! Use it on me! What's in my pocket?"
"A keyring, a blue cat eraser, and a packet of hubba bubba bubblegum." Izuku ratted off before he could stop himself, having reflexively activated his quirk at her request, eyes focusing on the pocket she'd gestured to and being very careful not to look further.
"That's it!" Nejire clapped excitedly, Sero having thankfully taped Mineta's mouth shut before the shorter classmate could request anything else be looked at.
"You mentioned an ice quirk?" Todoroki asked, good eye narrowed for some reason.
"The files the doctor gave me said that the original user called the quirk 'Cryostasis'." Izuku nodded, "I can absorb ice and cold and it lets me heal."
"My Great Uncle had a quirk like that." Todoroki commented, although for the life of him Izuku couldn't figure out how Todoroki felt about it, before the two-toned teenager looked away to focus on his lunch.
"…Oooooookay." Neito coughed, "Anyway, Izuku said you requested him for a mentorship?"
"Yep!" Nejire chirped as she started eating her own food she'd grabbed on their way in, "I saw your assessment test from my homeroom. When I saw him flying in it, I just knew I had to help out."
"So, you can fly too?" Mezo asked, Izuku's larger friend having already finished eating.
"My quirk lets me fire energy from my hands and feet which I can use to fight and fly!" Nejire grinned excitedly "Ryukyu taught me everything I know about arial combat!"
"Ooooooh boy." Neito sighed.
"Here we go." Mezo ran a hand down his face.
"What are you-?" Nejire tilted her head before noticing how excited Izuku was.
"You know Ryukyu?!" Izuku enthused, "She's so cool! What's she like? I know she has a dragon quirk, but nobody's ever confirmed if she can breathe fire or not, do you know? What's it like working out of her Agency? What-" the question continued to pour out as Nejire went cross eyed from them all.
"Oh, so that's what it feels like."
-Nejire-
Cheerfully waving to her new friend that was currently being dragged away by a panicked and nervous Eraserhead, Nejire happily skipped away to go find Mirio and Tamaki.
"Someone's in a good mood." Mirio remarked when she finally spotted her besties.
"Yep!" Nejire grinned as she struck a pose, "I'm officially a mentor! That's right, be jelly!"
"I don't get how you'd be so excited for this." Tamaki shuddered, likely picturing having to interact with their juniors.
"Because it'll be awesome!" Nejire grinned as she floated in place, "Well, once Eraserhead is done fretting anyway."
"Eraserhead? Fretting?" Mirio raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"Yep." Nejire nodded, "He's worried that his quirk would hurt Midoriya." People always thought she was a dumb airhead, all while overlooking she was always asking questions meaning she was always learning or trying to learn. Seeing Eraserhead drag off Midoriya to have tests run with Recovery girl was all she really needed to figure out what was going on given what Midoriya had mentioned during lunch. If Midoriya's quirks were tied to his organs and technically not mutant quirks, then Aizawa was likely concerned that his quirk could cause transplant organ failure if used on Midoriya.
She knew that Eraserhead had to have lost someone important to him, likely someone who died as a student. His dismissive attitude to push away any connections while also being the most thorough in pushing the students he keeps helped give it away. She'd try to help but she was pretty sure he'd be rather opposed to her offering him a hug.
"Oh, and guess what!" Nejire grinned, "He's a three star."
That little revelation threw both of her friends off guard. A one-star student had, arguably, the hardest entrance test but the fewest expectations. They had to compete against the highest number of other applicants for a proportionally infinitesimal number of seats.
A two-star student had an easier exam but more expectations than a one-star student. They had to be recommended by someone with enough clout to get them into the recommendation exam, but the test was more straightforward. A proof if physical ability, an interview to confirm mental state and intelligence, as well as other additional tests as needed to showcase other skill sets and abilities. But the students were held to a significantly higher standard if they're accepted as a two-star student, more so than their lower ranked piers.
Then there was a three-star. Personally vouched for by a teacher at UA and let into any course of their choosing without having to take any sort of entrance exam. They were held to the highest standard possible and their own actions and performance would further reflect upon the faculty member who'd vouched for them. A faculty member could also only name a single three-star student during their entire tenure at the school.
"Seriously?" Mirio gaped, her usually grinning friend at a loss for words.
"Seriously." Nejire grinned, "Oh, and my student has some friends that I think you two could teach well!"
"Oh?" Mirio looked interested even as he grabbed Tamaki's scruff to keep their foodie friend from trying to flee.
"Yep." Nejire grinned, "One of them has a copy quirk and is having to constantly work on being able to plan things out on the fly, or adapt quickly." Just like how Mirio had to be ready to adapt to the area he fought in with his quirk, or make rapid mental calculations to be able to use his fighting style, "He is a little on the scrawny side though."
"Then I know what lesson one will be!" Mirio grinned, looking eager to be a mentor to one of their juniors and trusting her judgement on the issue.
"The other one is really softspoken and hides his face behind a mask." Nejire looked over at Tamaki "He also has multiple limbs and can grow more body parts from those to use." Just like how Suneater could grow new body parts from the things he ate.
"That sounds perfect for you Tamaki!" Mirio beamed at their shaking friend who gave a nervous thumbs up.
"Yeeeees!" Nejire grinned, fist pumping at the victory achieved. Year three was looking up!