As Izuku gradually reentered the land of the living, he felt a cane gently tap on his forehead.

"Quit treating my office like a hotel, Midoriya. You need to take better care of yourself."

Izuku grumbled and threw the covers off. "Food. Where?"

"I've got a bit of congee ready, since you-"

Izuku yanked the bowl off the table, nearly sloshing it everywhere, and downed it all in one gulp. "More."

"You should take it slow. Between going without for a whole day and losing your Quirk, your metabolism needs time to adjust-"

"More."

"At least wait for the congee to settle before trying anything else-"

"More."

"Young man, I did not watch over you all night just to make yourself sick again by-"

"If I don't get meat within the next two minutes, I'm eating the drywall."

Recovery Girl let out a long sigh. "Hatsume insisted on bringing more, even though I told her-"

Izuku flopped out of bed and shuffled to the door. Recovery Girl tried pulling on his bedgown and got dragged along for the ride. Outside the door, Izuku found an entire serving cart piled high with sausages, chicken wings, peeled shrimp, and hamburgers. Izuku stuffed his face, pausing every so often to shove a carrot or a mango into his maw for some variety.

Recovery Girl blankly looked at the empty cart. "I'd ask where you put all that, but I'm not sure I want the answer."

"In my stomach," Izuku replied. "Where else would it go?"

The elderly nurse rolled her eyes. "Nezu wanted me to tell you that he would like to speak with you in his office when you're up and about, but you should definitely sleep off all the food you just-"

Izuku stretched, rolled his shoulders, and tested his weight on his legs. "Nah, I'm good. I'll see what he wants."

As he Soru'd away, Recovery Girl shouted, "No running, are you trying to-" Alone in the hallway, she asked, "Would it kill you to not defy reason and physics for once?"

Izuku caught Nezu mid-pour as he set out a second cup. "Ah, you're early. Seems my theory was correct."

"About?"

"Having super-speed independently of your electric state. Now, news about your Quirk's theft has been suppressed. The HPSC and the top ten heroes are fully aware of it, and that is it."

Izuku frowned. "Shouldn't everyone be aware of the villain stealing Quirks?"

Nezu gave him a wry smile. "Last thing anyone wants right now is to cause a panic. So, I'm assuming your other abilities remain with you?"

Izuku coated a hand with Haki. Nezu nodded and said, "Then you will remain in the hero course unless you choose otherwise."

"Not happening."

"Good. If the HPSC makes a fuss about it, break something of theirs. With that decided, there's just one final matter before I send you on your way. He should be arriving any-"

A knock came at the door. At Nezu's invitation, All Might walked in, smiling brightly yet managing to look remorseful all the same.

"Young Midoriya. It's good to see you on your feet, and so soon after such a harrowing event. I deeply apologize for being too late to stop him from taking your Quirk."

Izuku shrugged. "No biggie. Even if you got there earlier, he would've probably skipped the monologuing and taken it."

All Might faltered as Izuku's nonchalant attitude caught him by surprise. "Right. Well, I have an offer to make. And before I make it, I want you to know I'm not offering it out of pity, or some kind of apology, or as a replacement for what you lost. After witnessing your heroic deeds in and out of the classroom, I think you are a perfect for-"

"No thank you."

All Might froze mid-speech. "Pardon? You didn't even hear what I was going to-"

"One for All, right?" Izuku sheepishly ran fingers through his hair. "Yeah, I thought about cutting you off right away, but I thought that would be rude, so I thought I would let you finish before declining, but then your speech got really long and I thought it would be more awkward to decline after you put all that effort into selling the idea to me."

"You knew about One for All already?"

"The HPSC thought you gave it to me. I didn't give them a reason to believe otherwise."

All Might pulled himself a chair and sat down. "So then, how are you planning to be a hero?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, without a Quirk, it would be way too dangerous for you to try."

Izuku gave the hero a flat look. "Nezu, do you have anything I can punch?"

"Don't hit his left side, and don't break my walls."

Izuku cracked his knuckles. "You know, this kinda feels like blasphemy. Younger me would be absolutely horrified."

All Might blinked at him. "What are you talking about, young man?"

"This."

Izuku threw an uppercut. All Might saw the punch coming a mile away, with how telegraphed it was, but he remained seated with the firm certainty that nothing Izuku could do, even if he targeted his old wound, would do anything to hurt him.

That notion was firmly and ruthlessly shattered as All Might left his seat.

Nezu sighed as wood shrapnel, drywall, and crumpled ventilation rained into his office. "I should've been less specific."

Izuku gave him a cheeky grin. "What? You only said not to break the walls."

Above the ceiling, All Might groaned and tried to stand up. The material beneath his feet gave out, and the hero tumbled down and into one of Nezu's walls, bashing a hole through the drywall.

Izuku pointed at All Might. "That was his fault, not mine."

"Even if it was, you're still getting detention."

"Darn. Can it wait until after I kick All for One's ass?"

"Kick All for One-" All Might sputtered, rubbing his jaw. "I'll admit after taking that punch that you could be a hero, but taking him on, when he has your Quirk? I can't let you do that."

"Why, do you have dibs on him? Did he take your Quirk?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Then get in line."

Nezu cleared his throat. "All for One did take his stomach."

"Oh." Izuku sat back down. "Yeah, that's fair. I'll let you take the first crack at him."

All Might let out a wheezing cough and grimaced at all the dust on him. A thunderous clap scattered the dust off his body, leaving it hanging in the air like a stale cloud. He shooed it out a window, only to turn around and see the gaping holes in the room.

"What made you refuse One for All?" All Might asked sadly. "Did I disappoint you?"

Izuku tilted his head. "Someone else gave me the electric powers. It was after almost a year after putting myself through the most grueling training imaginable, a year of fighting for my life, fighting Marines and wild animals and pirates far stronger than I was. I had finally gained the confidence to believe that I could become a hero, and do so without a Quirk. And when Gold Roger offered me the Rumble Fruit, he told me he knew I didn't need it. He gave it to me because it would help me go home faster."

As All Might wrapped his head around someone else handing out Quirks like candy, Izuku rose from his chair. "If I took One for All, out of the pity you showed me, it would be spitting on all the effort I put in to reach this point. It would be spitting on Rayleigh and Roger, the people who taught me, it would be spitting on Shanks and Luffy and Buggy, the people who pushed through the same training with me. It would be spitting on Mei, who supported me the whole way." Izuku didn't bother with the door, instead stepping through the hole in the wall. "They all believed I could reach the top with my own strength, and I'm going to prove them right."

"I'll have Cementoss set aside Training Gym Delta for you, and I'll keep the kitchen stocked," Nezu said.

"Thanks. Oh, and before I forget, All for One knows about the DeLorean, including where we're keeping it. Any idea how that happened?"

Nezu grimaced. "I was hoping you wouldn't say that. I'll take care of it."

As Izuku left, Nezu made a phone call and asked Aizawa to send Aoyama to his office. Izuku decided to pretend he didn't hear anything.

By the time Izuku reached the training gym, Cementoss was walking out, patting sweat from his forehead. "Be careful with those. I can barely move that much with my Quirk. I have no idea what Nezu's thinking."

The moment Izuku stepped inside, a wide grin split his face. The gym had a plethora of steel barbells, dumbbells, and other exercise equipment designed to hone muscles to athletic perfection, but one corner had its walls knocked down to make room for concrete blocks the size of cars and trucks. Izuku tried the smallest one, and he could barely lift it off the ground. Izuku dusted his hands and said, "Time to get to work."

Kirishima leaned back in his chair and unconsciously flexed his Quirk. He glanced over at the empty seat near the front. Three days after Izuku had supposedly come back, and he still hadn't returned to class. Kirishima glanced around the room. He wondered if anyone else was in close enough contact with him. He thought about asking around, but he remembered the frosty reception Izuku received after the USJ. Not many of them had exactly warmed up to him since.

"Wondering about Midoriya too?" a shadow whispered in his ear.

Kirishima glanced at Tokoyami. Dark Shadow hovered close by, hiding in Kirishima's own shadow so Aizawa-sensei wouldn't notice him.

"I mean, it's Midoriya. Dude took on that Nomu thing, got punched like a hundred times, and was back in class the next day."

Tokoyami nodded solemnly. "Makes you wonder what the League did to him."

"I heard he was at Recovery Girl's office, but when I went there to check on him a couple days ago, she said he was already gone."

"Are you sure he actually was gone?"

"There was a cart full of empty plates right outside."

Tokoyami tilted his head. "Doesn't that mean he was in there?"

"I don't think it's physically possible for someone not doing well to eat that much. Plus, I glanced in there and saw the empty bed."

Tokoyami grunted. "Do you have his number?"

"I was hoping you did," Kirishima admitted.

Tokoyami glanced around the classroom. "Bakugo went to middle school with him, didn't he? He probably has it."

Kirishima took one look at the way Bakugo clenched his pen, sweat dripping down his hands. "Something tells me it wouldn't be a good idea to ask him." Kirishima racked his brain for a moment. "Hey, you remember the Festival, right? That one chick from the Support Course, they clearly knew each other."

Tokoyami mulled it over. "I've been thinking about getting support gear to help me fly."

Kirishima gave him a grin. "And I could use something to help me move faster. Kinda hard to punch somebody if they're faster than you."

At the support course building, a harried and frazzled Power Loader raised an eyebrow at the two hero students asking for the most insane and troublesome of his students by name.

"Once this whole thing blows over, you can ask her, but right now, she's working on a very important project."

Tokoyami grumbled under his breath. Kirishima grinned affably and asked, "Sure, I get it. But could we at least speak to her real quick? I wanted to ask her about Midoriya."

"Oh, Midoriya? He-"

A thunderous explosion rocked the building. One wall flew apart in a shower of drywall and smoke. Hawks stumbled across the littered floor, arms raised over his face and a veil of feathers in front of him. Mei strolled out, soot stained and yet completely unruffled by the explosion in an enclosed space.

"Whoops. Guess it wasn't ready yet after all."

Hawks grumpily shook soot off his feathers. "You did that on purpose."

"I said it wouldn't be ready until Izuku gets a crack at him. You really shouldn't have tried to take it."

"Hatsume-chan, please don't be stubborn about this. The HPSC is very… eager to put your inventions to work. He's already making moves in southern Japan, attacking heroes and getting a better grasp on his new powers. He could show up here at any time."

"And Izuku will be ready for him. These babies are only a backup."

With a long sigh, Hawks spread his wings out, nearly filling the room with his feathers. "They're willing to twist your arm over this. They grant approval to companies to make support gear. If they blacklist you, your career is over."

Mei snorted. "I can go abroad. Heck, I could build my own island like Shield did."

"They're also willing to blacklist Izuku. Not many countries abroad allow for Quirkless heroes."

Mei reached for a device on her belt, but Hawks moved faster. A feather lodged in the trigger of the weapon Mei raised.

"You don't want to do this," Hawks warned. "There's a lot the HPSC is willing to do to keep Japan safe."

Mei's mouth twisted. She lowered the weapon and said, "You're lucky I don't really care about big picture stuff. I make babies, I'm happy. But the HPSC better hope Izuku doesn't realize they're not as nice as they pretend to be."

Hawks took a pile of devices with his feathers, carefully holding them away from himself. "I'll do you a favor and not tell the HPSC you said that."

"Same to you. Now scram before I decide I'm in the mood for roast chicken."

Hawks raised an eyebrow, smiled, gave Tokoyami a quick wave, and flew past Kirishima. Still processing what had just happened, Kirishima blurted out, "You just sassed the number three hero."

Mei crossed her arms. "Sure did. He deserved it."

"That was super manly."

Mei let out a laugh. "I wish. Manly would've been knocking his teeth out. So, are you here for my babies too?"

"Yes," Tokoyami chimed in, "But we were also wondering if you heard anything about Izuku. He hasn't been in class."

"Well, yeah. He's busy training."

"Training?"

"Yeah, he's either at Gym Delta or the cafeteria." Mei checked her watch. "Try the gym. He should be winding down for lunch."

With that nugget of information and a few orders of support gear placed, Kirishima and Tokoyami veered towards the row of training gyms at the edge of the school. Most of the gyms were locked up tight, but one stood wide open, and the rhythmic clack of metal training weights echoed from within.

Kirishima knocked on the door as he swung it open. "Hey, Midori-bro, you in here? We wanted to see how you were doing after-"

Kirishima's jaw dropped. He was no slouch at mathematics, but it took a few moments to add up all the weights strapped to each end of the barbell, then factor in the two buckets hanging off each end by a chain.

He was using two of them as dumbbells.

Midoriya didn't keep count. He pumped iron until his muscles unionized and organized protests, then squeezed out a few more reps. The twin dumbbells hit the ground with a thunderous clank. Rising from the reinforced chair, Midoriya looked like a specter of famine, gaunt and sunken, limbs shaking and dripping with sweat, but even in his shrunken visage, Kirishima could feel the strength exuding from every muscle fiber, a strength that transcended bodybuilding, professional athletics, and even quirks. Not for the first time, Kirishima wondered what would have happened if he had made that last step all those weeks ago.

"Dude," Kirishima managed. "Are you stronger than All Might?"

Izuku blinked at him, shaking off post-workout fatigue. "Maybe? I punched him into the ceiling, but he wasn't expecting it." The smile that stretched across his emaciated face sent shivers down Kirishima's spine. "Might be fun having a proper spar with him."

Dark Shadow tried lifting a barbell. Its luminous eyes bugged out and its arms heaved, but the weights didn't budge a millimeter. Tokoyami, watching his Quirk struggle, asked, "I heard something earlier about you being Quirkless. Which doesn't make sense."

"Nah, it's true. The electricity's gone. See?"

Izuku held up a hand, and nothing happened. Frowning at it, Izuku said, "It's kinda hard to prove it's gone. I guess you could punch me."

Kirishima felt the floor fall out from under him. He looked back at Tokoyami. "Wait, hold up. When did you hear about that?"

"Hawks mentioned it." Tokoyami's expressions were hard to read, but Kirishima could swear there was something intensely worried in the way his feathers bristled. Dark Shadow shivered and buried itself under Tokoyami's cloak.

"Is he bothering Mei again? Maybe I should kick his ass too."

"Whoa, slow down, I'm totally lost. How did you lose your Quirk?"

"I really shouldn't tell you. State secrets, NDA, could put you in mortal peril - oh wait, I never signed an NDA, did I?" Izuku grinned, though Kirishima could see a grim warning behind his eyes.

"What happened?" Tokoyami asked firmly.

"Long story short, there's a villain centuries old with the power to steal Quirks, they stole mine, and it gave them indigestion. So, I'm going to punch it out of him and take it back."

While Tokoyami and Kirishima were reeling from the foundations of society crumbling beneath their feet, Izuku stretched his withered muscles and said, "I'm famished. Want to grab a bite?"

Without waiting for a reply, Izuku limped out the door. Exchanging worried looks, Kirishima and Tokoyami hurried after him. As worn down as he was, Izuku moved at a brisk pace that had the other two nearly jogging to keep up.

Izuku swept past the main doors to the cafeteria and burst into the kitchen instead. A table waited for him, piled high with fried food, cold cuts of meat, grilled fish, raw vegetables, and mountains of rice. Izuku plopped into a chair and shoved a handful straight into his mouth.

"Help yourselves," Izuku said around a mouthful of food. "If I need more, I can just take it from the fridge."

Tokoyami eyed the harried Lunch Rush as he zipped about the kitchen, getting meals ready for the rest of the school. "No wonder why the meals have been so simple lately."

Kirishima looked around for chopsticks. Finding some, he plucked a fried shrimp from the pile and brought it to his mouth, only to bite on bamboo. As he looked around for the lost shrimp, Izuku said, "Gotta be faster than that."

Perplexed, Kirishima watched more carefully this time as he plucked a strip of grilled beef. Izuku's fingers plucked it from his grasp like a master thief, and the morsel vanished down his gullet. Undeterred, Kirishima swiped a piece of fish and crammed it into his mouth. As he chewed, Izuku gave him an approving nod.

Seeing the exchange play out, Tokoyami didn't bother reaching for chopsticks. He simply sat down and ignored the food. Dark Shadow, to Tokoyami's surprise, swept out from his cloak, grabbed a handful, and shoved it into his beak.

"C'mon, Fumi, we can't let him win!"

Izuku's eyes blazed. His hands picked up speed, swiping food every time Kirishima or Dark Shadow grabbed a bite. Kirishima crunched his chopsticks in his fist and started scooping like Izuku, while Tokoyami held his beak clamped shut as Dark Shadow tried feeding him from its beak like a baby bird.

Once the pile had shrunk to scattered grains of rice and greasy residues, Tokoyami slumped in his chair, his crop visibly bulging, staring vacantly at the ceiling, while Dark Shadow stood over him like a proud avian parent with food all over its beak. Kirishima lay on the floor, rubbing his distended belly and wincing every time he twitched a muscle.

"Dude. Where do you even put all that?"

Izuku chuckled and patted his swollen gut like a drum. "Why does everybody keep asking me that? You gotta eat a lot if you want to put on muscle."

Tokoyami hiccupped like an eagle choking on a fish bone. "I doubt even All Might could eat that much."

"Which means my muscles will be bigger than his." Izuku held out a hand to Kirishima and asked, "Ready to work it off?"

Kirishima sent Tokoyami a wordless cry for help. Tokoyami tried rising from his chair to run, only to catch Izuku's eye.

"Up and at it, Tokoyami? Great! You can come along too."

Dragged along by Izuku, Tokoyami and Kirishima trudged as though they were headed for the gallows. Dark Shadow cackled all along the way until Izuku pointed to a treadmill and asked, "What are you waiting for? Quirks need exercise too."

Izuku had mercifully set the treadmills at a slow jog. Kirishima legged it with one hand over his mouth, while Tokoyami kept drifting off to sleep on his feet. Dark Shadow fared little better, dripping droplets of shadow as the Quirk sprinted. Yet, none of them held a candle to the blistering pace Izuku set for himself. Smoke wafted from the treadmill, and the motors let out a constant shrill scream.

As Izuku jogged, the mass bulging at his belly shrunk. His arms and legs bulged with each step, and Kirishima nearly tripped over his own feet watching Izuku grow to All Might proportions. He looked back at his own arms, with respectable musculature but practically toothpicks besides his classmate, and the distended gut jiggling with every step, and lamented at the unfairness of the universe.

"Are you absolutely certain you don't have a Quirk?"

Izuku laughed. "Bastard tried again. Whatever I got, he couldn't touch it."

As they jogged, Tokoyami bitterly mused, "And yet, you're stronger than all of us. Makes me wonder if we're really trying."

"Hey, don't sweat it," Kirishima said. "I tried his style and it put me in the nurse's office."

"So it's impossible."

Kirishima hesitated. "Honestly, man. I'm not so sure. I was one step away. But that last step, that was harder than anything else in my life. How'd you do it, Izuku?"

Izuku turned his treadmill up another notch. The treadmill quivered, but it barely held itself together. "I think you need to be desperate enough. When I did it, I was stranded. I thought I would never get home again. I thought I wouldn't even last a week. I wanted so desperately to go home, to be strong, to be a hero, that I was willing to break myself to make it happen. And I did break. Then I put myself back together again stronger than ever. And now, I'm pushing myself even further because a villain took a gift someone special gave to me, and they're going to use it to hurt people if someone doesn't stop them."

"So it's not a matter of strength," Tokoyami said, "But conviction."

"Definitely not! If it was, my little noodle body would've never come close. Kirishima, you're way stronger than I was when I started. I still think you can, if you really put your mind to it." Izuku's face fell. "Just remember that it could just as easily kill you, or worse."

Kirishima felt his muscles burn as he jogged along. By all logic, he should've been spewing his guts out running after eating, but yet, he felt strangely energized. It was tempting, believing that if he pushed himself far enough, he could reach the same heights Izuku did. Yet, the memory of his body failing him, his heart fluttering in his chest, his bones creaking and cracking, made him hesitate.

"Maybe I can't be strong the way you are," Kirishima said. "But that's fine. I'll find my own way to be strong! Just you wait, Izuku, we'll be fantastic heroes together!"

Tokoyami nodded from his treadmill, and Dark Shadow threw a thumbs up sign. Izuku grinned and said, "Sounds like a promise! Let's do it!"

"Yeah!"

"Now let's put some weights on! Running's more efficient that way."

As Tokoyami and Kirishima groaned, Bakugo, watching from the doorway, turned away without a word. In his hands was the key for the next gym over. When he hit the treadmill, he made sure to add an extra weight over his shoulders and set a faster pace than Kirishima.

A/N: I'm a decrepit old man now. But on the bright side, I have waffles.

UnlawfulGentleman: "Not a very big fan at all of Izuku taking One For All. Even a little bit."

Bardothren: you're in luck then. I'm not a fan of it either.

NoahRed: "I stand firm in the belief afo shouodnt be able to interact with fruit abilities, but then again it wouldnt be the first questionable choice taken on this fic"

Bardothren: fair enough, but there is precedent for it. Aizawa could erase the Rumble Fruit, after all.

Jordem917: "I'd find it more understandable if it was treated as a mutant quirk since it's a logia and Izuku IS lightning and would not be affected by Erasure or suppressants but still able to be taken."

Bardothren: a fair point, but the whole reason I made it affected by Erasure was to foreshadow OfA being able to take it. I think calling it an emitter Quirk can be valid given the electric state of his body is a choice, and if that doesn't do it for you, I can keep spitballing loopholes until one sticks.

Pungis: "Tomato plants only need two inches of water a week so if you live in a place that's temperate with regular rainfall they can thrive without a lot of help."

Bardothren: it's been raining two inches a day and the tomatoes demand flesh. Send help.

Gamelover41592: "excellent work on this chapter and it was a really great battle, but what made you decide to have Izuku lose the rumble rumble fruit?"

Bardothren: kinda hard for OfA to be a threat if he can't touch what Izuku's got. That, and to drive home the point that Izuku doesn't need the rumble fruit. It's just a nice gift from an old friend, and he will punch god to get it back.

TheGreatBubbaJ: "I can only imagine the ending part of Spider-Man pizza time playing when he passes out, with the rest of it playing during the fight."

Bardothren: that's what Izuku hears. Everyone else hears Dark Souls boss music. Including All Might.

Amvmaster: "Yeah no after the shit izuku went through he doesn't want one for all, he wants HIS rumble fruit back and he isn't going to hold back in order get it."

Bardothren: amen brother

Maou09: "I want it. I want Deku to have One for All. I think it's the only legitimate way for Deku to get the Rumble fruit back. It's the only way to get him to connect with AfO's quirk-space. Without it, he'd essentially have no way of getting the Rumble fruit back. Also, I just love One for All."

Bardothren: Izuku's decided to go the 'murder AfO and take the fruit off his corpse' route

NewMystery356: "Love the way Izuku was bullshitting All for One~ As for him losing all the Quirks he stockpiled (unless i misread that), I wonder what wveryone will think of the fact that Izuku TILL tgree hands with the guy All Might couldn't beat at 60x strength. That and the fact that All Might showed up with NO PIZZA!"

Bardothren: you didn't misread that. Devil Fruits don't exactly play well with other similar powers, it would seem.

V-5: "Don't forget devil fruits have lineage factor like vegapunk said

Judge gave his kids abilities and Queen had pseudo abilities to"

Bardothren: please no. I could barely make it through Kaido. I just can't anymore.

Kishinokurobi: "Fucking hell getting up to date in such a nice story is heartbreaking."

Bardothren: boy do I know that feeling. I do try to update regularly, so I hope the wait isn't too bad.

Kinda blown away by all the reviews since last time – it's about double the normal amount. Thanks for that, and I'm looking forward to reading more. Assuming the site doesn't implode again.