The trio have a talk with the vestiges. They wake up and explain what happened. Izuku is displeased.
"Well, that was unexpected," a soft voice said, making Izuku twitch. They felt…weird. Like they were…disconnected, in some way, or displaced? They couldn't quite latch onto what word it was, but whatever it was, it felt wrong. There was a sigh. "C'mon kid, gonna wake up anytime soon? We have some words to have with you. Your little girlfriends are already awake."
"W-wha?" Izuku managed to sputter out, their eyes flickering open. They blinked rapidly, trying to clear the black spot in their vision except…nope, wasn't a spot, it was just blackness.
"G-girlfriends? What?" came a shriek from Izuku's left, making them turn their head to see a sputtering Ochako, leaning back slightly as she pressed one hand to her head glaring up at someone. Who Izuku now could see was the smirking visage of Nana Shimura, the vestige.
"...we're in our minds again?" Izuku groaned out, sitting up and wincing at the soreness they felt. They were choosing to ignore the girlfriend's comment and just focus on what was going on, which was hard to ignore all things considered.
"Apparently. And we've got more company now," Himiko remarked from Ochako's other side. Izuku looked both her and Ochako over, checking for any injuries, but nothing seemed visible; then again, they were currently unconscious and inside their minds so they weren't sure if injuries would be showing.
"Oi! Pay attention kid! We have limited time!" a gruff voice shouted from beyond Nana, making Izuku finally glance up and forward, seeing…thrones. A group of stone thrones, sitting in a half circle upon a stone floor with a broken wall behind and nothing but a black void around everyone. Various people sat upon some of the thrones, including a strange figure made of fire Izuku recognized somehow as Toshinori. In the centermost throne, the figure there was slight, with white hair and green eyes and a soft smile as he looked down at the trio with what looked like affection in his eyes.
Izuku's eyes were drawn to the one who had shouted, a tall, spiky haired man with an x-shaped scar across his face, his arms crossed over his chest. He glared down at the trio. "Names Kudo. I was the second wielder, and you," he pointed at Himiko, "managed to get access to my Quirk, Gearshift. Then it did some weird shit and somehow you learned to teleport and that's fucking weird. We don't got time to unpack everything, so we're gonna go over this whole intro thing as quickly as possible before you wake back up."
"We will wake up, right?" Ochako asked quietly, her voice unsure.
Another of the people situated upon the thrones stepped up, his blue hair tied back in a ponytail. "You're unconscious because you overused these new abilities. Not to mention used them in ways they weren't meant to. But that shouldn't keep you from waking up. Still, as Leader said, we don't have time. I'm Bruce, that was Fa Jin you used," he pointed at Ochako," and that was my Quirk."
"You all used mine," a softer voice said, the tallest man in the seats standing up and giving a slight bow. "Danger Sense. Unlike theirs, I feel the name explains everything needed."
"Not really, there is nuance to it," Nana replied with a long-suffering sigh.
"Ah let the hermit hermit, what's the harm?" The broad shouldered bald man shoved his way forward to point dramatically at Izuku. "Daigoro here, and mine is Blackwhip, which you used! Not sure how you turned that into telekinesis though."
"We don't know for sure how any of them did any of that, and we're just going to confuse them if we delve into it. Explain your Quirks quickly, and Izuku?" Izuku sat up straight at the sudden call of their name from the white-haired vestige in the back. "I know you'll have a lot of questions about the Quirks, but we won't have time to go over those. Just let them explain the basics, next time you're here you can ask for details. Oh, and I'm Yoichi, the First. You already know how One For All, my Quirk, works," Yoichi said with a soft smile.
"I'm En, the Sixth wielder, and mine is Smokescreen, which is actually what it sounds like unlike Hikage's over there," the only other sitting vestige said, waving cheerfully as he pointed at the tall man who said he had Danger Sense.
"Float here, and whenever you unlock that just please don't fly off into space, Zero Gravity is dangerous enough in your hands as is," Nana pleaded. Ochako gaped at her before narrowing her eyes and letting out an annoyed huff, her tail flicking rapidly, as Himiko giggled.
"Yeah yeah, let's hurry this up. Himiko, Gearshift used to let anything I touch be moved how I chose without inertia. It was limited to small things before, but after sitting in One For All for so long, it is significantly stronger. You noticed it, right? How fast you moved, how hard you hit? Yeah, that was you using Gearshift on yourself, and then somehow turning it into teleportation on its own." Kudo grumbled, before shaking his head. "Either way, keeping it on for any length of time will cause you harm, so keep its use to a minimum."
"Fa Jin lets you store kinetic energy and release it later in an explosive burst. But when it reacted to your Quirk, it somehow let you infuse your own Quirk with the energy it stores and well, no clue what the fuck you did or how, but you did something and now you can mess with time," Bruce shrugged as he looked at Ochako.
"And Blackwhip is all those funky rope things! Super useful for grabbing people or places! But keep an eye on how you're feeling, kid…it's impacted by your emotions. Anger, especially," Daigoro said, his tone stern.
"...but how does that give me Telekinesis?" Izuku risked asking, even knowing Yoichi told them not to.
Yoichi spoke up. "Honestly, we're unsure, but our best guess is that it goes back to Transform." Himiko perked up at that, tilting her head and staring at Yoichi. "You may be Quirkless, but you have your mother's genes in you as well. They just never became dominant for whatever reason, or something; biology wasn't my specialty when I was alive. But Transform somehow has been changing the three of your genetics and, well, it seems like it's mixing DNA somehow. Still unsure how, to be honest."
Izuku stared blankly at Yoichi for a moment, before falling backwards, arms out wide onto the void floor(?). There was a start and a few cut off shouts around them, but they just sighed and pulled their left arm up and laid it across their eyes. "I'm fine. I just…I have no idea how to react to any of this."
"Um, that's…not all we need to warn you about?" Nana said, her voice hesitant. Izuku didn't bother replying, just waved their hand vaguely in her direction as Himiko and Ochako both turned to stare at her, making her unnerved by the flat expressions on the two girls. She scratched the back of her neck. "We uh, we think that as you consume the same person's blood, eventually their Quirk factor might get into yours?"
"...you mean we can eventually get copies of the Quirks of people who we drink from often?" Izuku replied, their tone without affect.
"We think so, yeah."
Izuku was silent for a moment, Himiko and Ochako both choosing to let them take the lead, before they sighed once more. "Fine. Sure. Why not? You know, you said we have limited time…can we wake up now?"
Yoichi coughed. "Sure, you can."
Himiko gave a lazy thumbs up, still focused on Izuku as they lay there unmoving. Ochako pursed her lips but nodded, replying quietly. "Yeah, okay." Yoichi nodded, waving his hand in their direction, making them feel disconnected once more, and finding their minds fading back into unconsciousness…for the moment.
Waking up in the hospital was not something Himiko was used to, and she was not a fan. All of the aches and pains from the fight at the USJ seemed to still be there, even if she couldn't see any wounds. It was a bone-deep chill resting deep within her, her arms and legs feeling sluggish and cold, painfully cold, as if they had been dunked in ice and were just barely coming out of numbness.
But all of that paled as soon as she recognized her alert state, her eyes snapping open. She hissed in pain at the sudden surge of light, but letting out a low growl, she began to scramble out of her sheets. She needed to find Izuku and Ochako, she needed to check on them, seeing them in the vestige world could have been a dream or something! Her chest ached, pain, fear, guilt, desperation, all swirling in her breast as if a massive cocktail of emotions were being poured down upon her. She needed her people.
"Woah now young Himiko, you need to calm down, it's okay, you're okay," a voice soothed, one she recognized just barely as she felt bony hands pressing down into her shoulders. She still struggled, whimpers escaping her lips as she blinked rapidly to clear the bright lights, because she needed to see them!
She could finally see well enough to see the sunken blue eyes and worried smile of Toshinori, the taller blonde looking down upon her with clear worry in his eyes. She swallowed, feeling like her throat was made of glass as she managed to croak out "'Chako? Izu?"
Toshinori chuckled, leaning back slightly and gesturing to her left. "They are quite alright, young Himiko. Why don't you see for yourself?"
She followed his hand, dazed eyes lighting up as she saw the form of Ochako in the bed next to her, eyes closed and breathing deeply, a white hospital gown over her while a single monitor was connected to her fingertip. Beyond Ochako, Himiko could see the green fluffy hair of Izuku laying on their own bed, also still apparently asleep, although their face was scrunched up and twitching like they did before they woke in the morning. Toshinori patted her on the hand gently.
"You're all okay. No permanent injuries, you're all just suffering from some Quirk exhaustion. All three of you will be just fine, so don't you worry. You'll be out of here in no time, you just need some rest. I'm going to go let the doctors know you're awake if that's okay with you?"
Himiko stared up at him for a moment. She didn't think she could ever say it aloud but…part of her wondered if this was what having a real father was like. Maybe it was her connection to Izuku, but she could feel tears welling up in her eyes just at the sheer emotion running through her chest, but she didn't want him to see so she quickly nodded and looked away in the hopes he'd move on.
Toshinori let out a sad chuckle, and she felt his hand gently mess with her hair, a faint brush against her ear that made her eyes flutter closed. "Alright. I'll be back in just a moment." With that, he stood up and crossed the room, exiting through the doorway, leaving her alone with her thoughts.
Not alone for long though, as she felt the sudden surge of emotion from Izuku as they finally awoke fully. They quickly sat upright in the bed, but immediately let out a yelp of pain as they curled in on themselves, making Himiko struggle to her own seated position as she looked over at them. "Izu?" she said, her voice cracking slightly.
They blinked rapidly, turning to look at her, their eyes gazing over her quickly before scanning over Ochako as well. She could feel the sudden sense of relief coming over them, drowning the other feelings out as they took a deep breath. "You okay, Himi?"
"I'm okay. Toshi was just in here, he left to get the doctor. He said we're all okay, just…Quirk exhaustion."
Izuku huffed. "...sure. Quirk exhaustion. I guess that's what happens when you use a bunch of different ones and now are stealing more like a fucking thief," they spat, glaring down at their hands.
"Izu-" Himiko began softly, beseechingly, but the swell of anger and self-loathing within them that filtered over made her ears lay flat as she found her breath stolen from her chest by the sheer strength of the feeling.
"Don't," Izuku ordered, their voice flat, before fading to a whisper. "Just…don't."
"Stop being stupid, Izu," Ochako's groggy voice cut into the room, making Izuku and Himiko both turn to look at her as she slowly sat up, one hand pressed against her chest. Izuku opened their mouth to reply but she cut them off with a raised hand. "We've been over this. This ain't your fault. An' I'm not gonna just sit 'ere and let you keep badmouthing yerself over this. It's all weird but what matters is we lived, and nobody died, and we stopped the bad guys. That's all that matters."
"That was well said, young Ochako," Toshinori's voice said from the doorway as he opened it slowly, revealing himself and a short, dark-haired woman in a lab coat. "But let's put a pin in that, the doctor here is going to check you over and be sure there's no lingering issues."
Izuku stared blankly at the two in the door, before letting out a sigh, their shoulders slumping. "...fine," they muttered. Himiko shared a glance with Ochako, the brunette's eyes narrowed with both annoyance and frustration visible. Izuku was not taking any of this well, but they'd confront them about it later. For now, Himiko really wanted to get out of the hospital.
Okay, she wasn't getting out of the hospital yet, because Inko, Miu, and Katashi had arrived and were busy worrying over their children (and her for some reason). Which…she wished she could enjoy it. Desperately wished she could, because it made her feel so warm and soft and fuzzy inside, seeing how they easily extended their worry and fear to her. And how Toshinori kept sitting by her side, keeping her company even when Izuku and Ochako were being smothered by their parents.
But Izuku's emotions were completely wrong. They hadn't gotten any better and it was hard to ignore them, considering how strong they seemed to be. There were some happy feelings; Izuku was always happy to see their mom. And they seemed incredibly relieved Himiko and Ochako were okay. There was a genuine awe and pride in the two girls that Izuku was feeling, as if they were so amazed by their new powers.
But when it came to Izuku themself? It was as if all the work they'd put in, all the encouragement and help they'd tried to give them, to make them understand how valued they were and how they weren't at fault for all these wrong things, it was like all of that was suddenly gone. The sheer volume of negativity directed at themselves, under that placid, smiling exterior they were showing their mother had the fur on Himiko's ears standing stiff, her tail flicking rapidly even as she tried to wrap it about her waist to keep it under control.
Izuku's practiced fakery began to falter when Aizawa, President Nezu, and a detective introduced to them as Tsukauchi came into the room. The detective was there to get their statements about the attack, and Aizawa and Nezu wanted to know about the change in their abilities. Which, when Ochako took the initiative and explained, Izuku's prior smiling face began to flicker and fade. Himiko hated watching the joy seep out of them like a sieve, but on the other hand it was fake joy so was it worth seeing it anyways? This hurt her head more than it already was.
"So you can get permanent copies of Quirks by drinking enough blood? I'll have to have Chiyo draw more of mine then," Aizawa mused, making Himiko snap her gaze away from Izuku to blink rapidly at her teacher.
"...why?" Ochako dared to ask, her eyes flickering between Aizawa and a suddenly preternaturally still Izuku.
"More people with Erasure in the world is a good thing, as far as I'm concerned."
"It's not a bad idea, really. Perhaps we should speak to Chiyo about donating her blood as well? If she safely can, of course. But having her Quirk in three more individuals could be very useful," Nezu added.
"Copying quirks permanently? Hmm. Maybe I should donate my blood as well," the detective mused.
Himiko did not like where this was going. Rather, she was fine with the talk and the ideas, but the emotions flickering across the bond from Izuku were very very very bad right now and the adults needed to shut up.
Ochako, having picked up on the same thing Himiko had, quickly waved her hands to draw everyone's attention. With a nervous smile on her face, her eyes flitting over to Izuku for a brief moment once more, she spoke. "I-I don't think we need to go over that right now anyways. We um, we should be getting out soon, right? Can we ask the doctor when we get out?"
"It'll be shortly. But you are right, Uraraka, we should hold this discussion till we are back at UA. Perhaps even your classmates will-"
"I don't want it," Izuku said quietly, a low, rumbling growl in the back of their throat echoing throughout the room as they cut Nezu off. Himiko winced internally, and she could see as well as feel the same concern from Ochako. Izuku had apparently had enough…and she wasn't entirely sure how to slow them down.
"Don't want what, Izuku?" Inko asked quietly, tilting her head at her child.
"The Quirks. I don't want anyone else's Quirk," Izuku replied. Their voice was still soft, but the way their ears lay flat on their head, the narrowly slitted pupils, and the fur puffed out on their tail were not signs anyone was really able to ignore.
"I'm afraid I don't understand the issue, Midoriya. Wouldn't more powers simply give you more versatility? You already have multiple as it is, wouldn't-" Nezu was once again cut off by Izuku, this time the green-eyed teenager snapping their head up to glare in the chimera's direction.
"That's the problem!" they hissed, clenching their fists. "I already stole Himi and 'Chako's, and somehow I got Mom's too even though I'm Quirkless, I don't need to steal anyone else's! That's not fair to other people! That's not right! Quirks are a part of who you are and I can't keep stealing them!" Izuku's voice was lifted to a near shout, their voice echoing throughout the room and startling most of those left in the room.
Aizawa sighed, rubbing the bridge of their nose. "Midoriya. You are not stealing anything. It's a copy. One of the members of Class B has that exact power, the ability to copy Quirks from people. Do you think he's wrong for existing?"
Himiko was treated to a very strange set of revelations at once. First, Izuku's emotions now running into a wall…between their instinctive excitement at the idea of what such a Quirk could do, their reflexive self-loathing at Aizawa's attempt to argue, and their own rising rage, she wasn't entirely sure which of the three was going to take center stage first. But…she'd always been good at reading facial cues. She had to be, because she had to be able to predict her parents' reactions, as well as those gossipy bitches back in high school so she could fit in better, and the reaction Nezu, Tsukauchi, and Toshinori had at Aizawa's commentary was weird.
She couldn't read Nezu well (unsure if that was because of his inhuman nature or he just was that good), but Toshinori had winced at the words Izuku had used when they spoke about stealing Quirks. And she wanted to know why. Maybe she could interrupt Izuku's emotional explosion if she asked?
"...why did you flinch when Izu said they stole the Quirk?" she dared to ask, cutting through everyone else's conversations, and it was abrupt enough that even Izuku's anger faded to confusion…of course, it started to grow again once they actually noticed what Himiko was doing (wasn't like she could hide her feelings from them), but they kept their mouth shut as Toshinori sighed.
"Well. I was going to tell you later, but I suppose since we're all here it's worth explaining. It goes back to the very origins of One For All, a tale of two brothers…"
"And you are absolutely certain he's dead?" Inko asked quietly when Toshinori finished his explanation, worry evident in her expression.
"Yes. I am absolutely sure," he reassured her.
"How can ya be sure, hmm?" Katashi asked, narrowing his eyes.
Nezu hopped forward, drawing attention to himself. "Because I and Recovery Girl verified it ourselves, and I had the body disposed of. After Toshinori collapsed, his sidekick and mentor took it upon themselves to swiftly call myself and Recovery Girl in. Mostly to save Toshinori, but also to handle the scene. All For One died on that battlefield, there is no question of that. I am very…thorough, when it comes to dealing with such unpleasantness's." The gleam in Nezu's eye made everyone (sans Izuku) lean back slightly, perturbed.
"You could have told us before Izuku took the Quirk, you know," Inko said, her voice still soft with a noticeable edge to it.
"I genuinely did not think it would matter, since he's dead. I never wanted the specter of All For One to haunt my successor's future. I hoped they would be free of it," Toshinori replied, holding their hands out wide.
"...so One For All comes from a power that steals Quirks, and now I'm stealing them too. All because I messed everything up. Just fucking great," Izuku scoffed.
"Copying is not stealing," Aizawa replied with narrowed eyes. "Or are you accusing your classmate of being a thief as well?"
"Is his copy permanent?" Izuku shot back, glaring back at their teacher.
"No. He can only copy a limited number at a time and they only last for a certain time frame. But that does not change the underlying concept. Not only that, but we are volunteering for you to use ours. Should I not get a say in what I do with my Quirk?" Aizawa argued, gesturing at himself.
Izuku worked their jaw for a moment as they tried to reach for an argument against that, but Inko's hand squeezing their shoulder made them glance over at their mother. "Izuku, honey, why does this bother you so much? Isn't it a good thing, having more options to be a hero with?"
Izuku swallowed, their shoulders slumping as they stared down at their hands, clenching and unclenching their fists. "I just…it's not right. I didn't…I didn't earn any of this. I-I got picked for OFA by accident and I knew it was a mistake but I didn't say anything and now I've stolen Himi and Chako's powers and more and just…it's not right," their voice faded to a whisper, refusing to lift their gaze from the sheets beneath them.
"Izuku, I did not choose you by accident, nor was it a mistake. Don't you have faith in me to make my own decisions?" Toshinori asked.
"I do, but…" Izuku cut themselves off after a moment, looking unsure of themselves.
Toshinori sighed, sharing a look with Inko. She shook her head slowly, silently communicating something to him that Himiko wasn't able to figure out. Toshinori stood up. "Perhaps this is a conversation better had away from this hospital. Are you three ready to leave?"
Himiko glanced back at Ochako, seeing her nod slowly, before turning to look at Izuku and waiting for the indicator. Though they never lifted their head, she felt the acceptance and the exhaustion over the bond, and she gently replied by pushing feelings of warmth and affection back towards Izuku (and Ochako, because Ochako was hurting by seeing Izuku hurt and she wanted them both happier). It didn't fix Izuku's mood…but she could tell they appreciated it. She turned back to Toshinori and nodded. "Yeah, let's get out of here."