Chapter 33: Unknown Horizons

"That's enough for today I suppose," Toshinori stated with a sigh as he stepped out into the cold with Izuku.

Midoriya looked at his mentor with concern. Did he disappoint him again? This new development seemed to stump the former pro hero.

"Calm your ass down No Face; he's right behind me. Ask him your damn self," Bakugo's voice erupted into the night from in front of the pair.

Izuku looked up to catch a glimpse of Katsuki stomping off. He didn't have much time to process this before being tackled by his girlfriend. However, the boy stood his ground and swung around to counterbalance the sudden momentum. He looked down to see she was wearing jeans and a white jacket with a hoodie, which was currently over her head.

"Evening Hagakure-chan. Sorry that we took longer than what I texted you earlier. This situation is quite complicated," Yagi said.

While still hanging on Midoriya like a koala on a tree, the girl responded, "It's okay. I couldn't wait any longer and wanted to come over."

"I am sure he will fill you in on the details of what transpired earlier. I would stay longer to help explain, but I fear the other faculty will start to worry about my unexcused absence. Aizawa-san can only vouch for me for so long."

The couple said their thanks before All Might left for the faculty's dorms.

Tooru let her feet touch the ground but continued to grasp her boyfriend.

Izuku gulped before asking, "So are you mad?"

"Was I mad after the battle?"

Midoriya recalled Hagakure immediately telling him, via a whisper, to go with Yagi after they shared an embrace after his round. He then scratched his head with a free hand as he answered, "No?"

"How could I be mad about something that even Yagi-sensei doesn't understand? He looked utterly clueless about what was happening during your fight. Besides, you're not in the infirmary wrapped like a mummy, so that's a plus."

Izuku chuckled at the last sentence and finally returned the hug. After a few seconds, they parted, and Tooru said, "We can talk as we walk back to the dorm."

"Right, but where to start..."

"Well, is this related to that spooky dream you mentioned you had this morning?"

Of course, that happened, Midoriya thought. As he slept, he found himself staring at the predecessors of One For All. Well some of them: four appeared quite visible, All Might appeared as an obscured outline of his younger self, and then two others that were just silhouettes. Izuku himself could not speak or move; his entire body was as a shadow. Only his upper face and right hand were normal. Then a vision of the past revealed the missing predecessor, the first bearer of One For All, All For One's brother. The scenes that played showed the future tyrant taking advantage of the chaos brought by the introduction of quirks and how he raised his army through the exploitation of his quirk-giving quirk.

I will offer a choice to the powerless.

Sinners will be forgiven.

I will grant that which you wish for.

You need only to follow me.

The final flashback showed an imprisoned One For All being forced to take the quirk, as All For One hoped it would recruit his brother to his cause. Before waking up, the first user turned to Midoriya and stated that he wished he could show more. By unlocking the quirk beyond 20%, more would come to fruition.

We've long since passed the point of singularity, but do not worry.

You are not alone.

Izuku awoke to the sight of his damaged room. His bed sheets and floor rug were burned. Everything had been knocked down as if an earthquake occurred and even his door flew open. It created enough racket to awake Yuga and have him check up on his friend.

After an early morning run to collect his thoughts, Midoriya gave some details to his girlfriend about his dream. However, he wanted to verify it all with Yagi before saying everything, which she understood. At lunch, Izuku explained his experience to his mentor, but it provided no answers. The only sure thing was that this was something new that All Might and his predecessor had never experienced.

After the boy recalled his full dream, Tooru asked, "So like, One For All is now powerful enough to recall the will of the previous users?"

"Something like that, I guess."

"Including their quirks, like those black tendrils that spewed out of you this afternoon?"

Midoriya looked at his hand before saying, "Yeah. That was called Blackwhip by its user. I never got his name, though."

"I mean it's not like you had a mouth to even ask," Hagakure stated with a grunt. "I am curious, though. Were you able to see All for One's face?"

Midoriya shook his head as he answered, "During all the exchanges I saw, All for One's face was like my body, obscured by black. Everything above his mouth was just a blur."

"Drat," Tooru said as the two neared their dorms. Izuku then felt himself being led another direction as his girlfriend said, "You know, let's go for a walk and talk about this some more. I don't want to continue this over the phone."

"But dinner-"

"Don't worry, I'll text Ida-kun to save us beef stew," Hagakure interrupted before pulling out her phone to do just that.

Midoriya was more disappointed because the rest of 1B was going to join them for the meal. He wanted to see how everyone was going to interact. The boy was also worried about Mineta. From the sound of it, Ashido was going to let him have it after school was finished. Not that he didn't deserve it but still, concern for a friend.

"Alright, we should be good as long as we are back within a half-hour," Tooru stated as she put her phone back into her jacket's pocket.

"It shouldn't take that long to explain what happened during the Joint Training."

Hagakure squeezed her boyfriend's hands as she said, "Oh, I know, I have additional plans, though."

This sounded like the many excuses Tooru gave for a quick make-out session on the roof, Izuku thought. Before his embarrassment to the sudden prospect could take over, his girlfriend pulled him forward to continue their walk, albeit away from the dorm.

"Alright, so since you have that new quirk named, you must have talked to the predecessors again. Did that happen when training with Bakugo-san or during your match?"

"The final match," Izuku mused. Memories of his chaotic afternoon came flooding back as he began to explain.

Today was Tuesday and December was finally here. The members of TAC quickly learned why All Might and Eraserhead had canceled their usual evening meeting. Both class 1A and 1B did a joint training session and were pitted against one another at Ground Gamma. The objective was simple, capture everyone on the opposing team while keeping damage to a minimum. The catch, however, was there were 41 students.

To everyone's surprise, Hitoshi Shinso was participating as well as he was under consideration to join the hero course. After teams were determined, the student from 1C was to join 1A's side for the first round and 1B's side on the final round. Hagakure had previously complained that this made it unfair for the opposing teams during both rounds, but 1B's homeroom teacher argued that because of Shinso's lack of battle experience due to being in the general studies course, it would nullify such an advantage.

The first round was won by 1A, the second by 1B, and the third being a close tie. The fourth was a total shut down by Bakugo and his team. So when the final match began, Midoriya could feel the pressure to win so that 1A could secure total victory instead of a tie. His teammates of Uraraka, Ashido, and Mineta came up with a good plan, and everything was going their way until he tried to fire one of his air bullets. The black whip quirk then manifested and went out of control.

It grew and grew as Izuku tried to deactivate One For All to no avail. It wasn't until the combined efforts of Uraraka and Shinso that they were able to stop the rampage. He then fell unconscious and was able to speak to a bald and brash predecessor about the nature of the black whip as well the need to eventually master the other five quirks that lay dormant in One For All.

The battle quickly resumed once Midoriya woke up and, with help with his new quirk and teammates, was able to win the final round. From there once the classes had their closing meeting, they were dismissed. Izuku immediately approached Tooru to explain but was told to go with All Might to figure things out.

From there, Midoriya, Bakugo, Yagi, and Aizawa got together in private to discuss what had just happened. Both teachers determined that it would be best to observe the power once more, and had the students spar to bring it out. However, it did not appear.

Tooru then asked, "So like nothing?"

"Not even a little bit," Izuku responded with a sigh.

"So frustrating," Hakagure stated as she came to a stop. She then started walking off the path as she said, "Here this way."

The couple passed a few bushes and trees before coming to a stop.

"Uh it's kind of dark here," Midoriya said nervously.

"Well, duh, we need a bit of privacy."

Before Izuku could respond to the last statement, he felt Tooru pull him to the ground. Once they landed on the grass, the girl wrapped herself around him from the side and said, "There, now it's cozy."

Midoriya took a moment to think before asking, "You only wanted to cuddle?"

Hagakure teasingly replied, "Ah, did you have something different in mind?"

"...Sorta."

"I mean, we can if you want."

"No! No, this is fine."

"Good. It's cold, and I didn't wanna hang out on the freezing concrete roof for some privacy."

Izuku scratched the back of his head with his free right hand, as the other was wrapped around Tooru's shoulder, "Yeah that makes sense. It might have even been windy up there."

Midoriya felt Hagakure flinch before saying, "Ugh, that would have been the worst. I almost feel like shivering just thinking about it."

After a laugh, the two enjoyed each other's warmth in silence until Tooru spoke up and said, "You keep opening and closing your right hand. What's up?"

"Oh, I just found it weird that besides my face, only my right arm appeared when I was seeing my predecessors."

"Well, the little guy has been through a lot, including today. Hatsume-chan isn't going to be happy that you destroyed the air force glove on that hand."

Izuku shook his head as he said, "Nah, if anything this might excite her to make it more durable. Though I should text her the heads up before I see her again next week."

"You know, you're right. If anything she will just be mad that you didn't show up today," Hagakure said before chuckling.

The boy wanted to slap himself; he had forgotten to text Mei that he had to miss out today due to training. Trying not to think of how next Tuesday might go, he instead said, "Speaking of gloves though, your new ones that Hatsume-chan made were a surprise."

"Yeah, our plans from our bath chat finally are coming together, but we still lost our match! The only group in our class that did," Tooru stated with a sigh.

Hagakure was a part of the second match. Her partners were Yaoyorozu, Tokoyami, and Aoyama and their 1B opponents were Kendo, Komori, Kurorio, and Fukidashi. The opposing group quickly isolated Momo from the rest of her team. The rapid growth of Kinoko's mushrooms, Shihai's hiding in their shadows, and the extreme versatility of the onomatopoeia made real by Manga's quirk put the other three at their limits.

Here both Fumikage and Tooru could showcase their new techniques. The former using Dark Shadow to fly and the latter with her new equipment, dubbed as the Stun Punch. With her new electroshock gloves, she was able to knock out Komori, but both Hagakure and Tokoyami eventually succumbed to her fungi, as they began to grow within their lungs. This allowed Kurorio to effortlessly capture them, as he did with Aoyama earlier in the match.

"But it was still a learning experience, right? As long as you take something from it, it's a win to me," Izuku tried to argue.

"Yeah, we should have protected Yaoyorozu-chan better and targeted Komori-san at the start. Still, a win would have felt better."

Trying to cheer her up, Midoriya stated, "That was clever of you to hide in her mushrooms to get the jump on her."

"Yeah, being covered in mushrooms was a great camouflage, even if it felt gross, once I put my hands in my pockets. It felt weird being noticeable again since the gloves are still a prototype."

Hagakure had mentioned after her match that Hatsume still was trying to figure out how to make the gloves invisible while carrying an electrical current. Apparently, the original material from Tooru's suit wasn't a good conductor.

"Give her time; she'll come up with something."

"I know, I know. Hopefully, I can get more charges and power out of it later too." Hagakure rubbed her cheek against Midoriya's chest as she said, "Sorry I'm sulking. We should be celebrating your new powers."

There was a moment of pause before Izuku said, "Right..."

"That's not the voice of someone who just learned they have a gun full of quirks in their future."

"It's just...well first of all, how am I going to keep One For All a secret if I start using powers not related to power and speed like before? You saw everyone's reaction to Blackwhip. How am I going to explain it if people start asking any more questions? Especially amongst our good friends."

"Yeah, they might inquire about that at dinner tonight," Tooru said while deep in thought.

"It's going to be so much harder to lie to them," Midoriya said with a sigh. "But that's not the only problem."

"Which is?"

"Once I master all these quirks, I could potentially be a powerhouse. How is my dream of working on a hero team of equals going to work out if I overpower them all?"

"Look, you were already going to be super strong just with One For All. Yagi-sensei said your version of 100% would be better than when he was at his prime right? That's already pretty bonkers. So you were always going to be one of if not the strongest member of whatever future team you come up with."

"I know, but this makes it even more of an obvious issue."

"Then make a team that covers your weaknesses. Once you have your plethora of quirks, recruit heroes that cover that. Even if you are a mini-All for One, you still have a limited number of quirks. There's no way the five other quirks beside Blackwhip will be able to tackle all situations."

Izuku poorly held back a laugh.

"What?"

"Kacchan called me a mini-All for One today as well, that's all."

Tooru then rolled on top of her boyfriend and said, "Anyways, take me as an example. I doubt any of them will allow the amount of stealth and surveillance mine can provide."

"You say that as if you want to be on my team when I go pro."

"Well, of course!"

Izuku then sat up and held his girlfriend's shoulders as he said, "You're serious?"

"Absolutely! If we stay as a couple, I can't see us not being on the same team."

Midoriya brought Hagakure into an embrace as he said, "I'm sorry. I hadn't even talked to you about us while we are pros."

Hagakure returned the hug and said, "Well, it is years from now, and your ambitions are big enough to gloss over little old me, so I don't blame you."

"But I don't want you to lose sight of your dreams for my own."

Tooru gave a quick kiss to Izuku before saying, "I was kidding a bit there, but I can't blame you for not thinking too hard about our future considering everything we've been through these two terms here."

The prospect of what the future held for the two was always on Izuku's mind, but he was too embarrassed to think too far into it. Sure he looked forward to and had ideas for things like Christmas, Valentine's, White Day, and their birthdays next summer but nothing like living together, marriage, or even...kids. Just these thoughts were starting to make Midoriya break out into a sweat.

"Man this is really frying your brain," Hagakure said with a laugh as she pulled back from the hug.

"Sorry, it's just a lot to think about."

"I know I know, and you shouldn't have to. We're still first years so let's take things one term at a time." Tooru then got up and offered her boyfriend a hand. "Look we should probably start heading back."

Midoriya hung his head low as he said, "I still don't know how we are going to explain the Blackwhip to the others."

The boy then felt himself being pulled up by his left arm as Hagakure said, "We'll think of something. For now, let's avoid the question for tonight if it comes up."

Tooru then received a peck on the cheek from Izuku before he said, "Thanks."

"For what?"

"For not letting me overthink this."

"I mean it is important, but like you need to rest and clear your mind before coming up with an explanation. Everything is still too fresh to make sense of it all."

A warm smile came across Midoriya's face as he said, "Rest sounds good."

"Food first though," Hagakure stated before leading her boyfriend back to the path.

Once they were on the pavement, Izuku asked, "So was there anything else you and Hatsume-chan talked about during the bath?" He figured he might as well try his luck considering what happened today.

"Uh well besides other ideas for equipment for me like redesigning my suit and getting me a helmet just, uh, girl stuff," Tooru answered, with the last bit at a rapid pace.

His interest piqued, Midoriya pushed further and asked, "What kind of girl stuff?"

Hagakure remained silent for a few seconds before saying, "Well she really had no concept of what a couple does, and I had to explain with examples. Examples being you know, us."

"Was it hard to discuss?" Izuku considered it weird that Tooru's tone made it sound like she was uncomfortable. It made little sense to him regarding how quick she told Ochako and Momo during the sleepover and asked to tell Mina, Kyoka, and Tsuyu during the summer trip.

Hagakure cleared her throat before saying, "It was just awkward cause this came after the whole feeling me up thing. Any girl is going to be hot and bothered if their boobs have been grabbed by bare hands amongst other things."

Oh right, that, Midoriya thought. "Sorry I brought it up." He then was reminded of how Hatsume had 'inspected' his body back when he first visited the workshop.

"It's fine, we're past it," Tooru said with a sigh. "Well once she heard my reasoning, she seemed satisfied, and we went back to our earlier discussion of suit ideas."

"What kind of suit ideas?"

"Trying to go three for three, huh?"

Izuku gave a cheeky grin and shrugged before saying, "I can't help it sometimes."

"Might as well tell you I guess. Hatsume-chan wants to make a suit that I can turn the invisibility of it on and off. It is bothersome that no one knows my position unless I wear some normal gloves, but once she perfects my stun punch gloves, I'll be completely invisible while suited up. Nice for hero work, annoying for the in-between stuff. It's only a quality of life change, but she seemed really into it."

"And the helmet?"

"A secret even she won't tell me," Tooru answered with a shrug. "I mean it will provide some protection for my noggin no doubt, but there's got to be more to it than just that."

Midoriya recalled seeing a helmet blueprint two weeks ago at Hatsume's desk. Could that be the one she was designing for Hagakure?

Hagakure then asked, "I'm surprised you are not asking more about my Stun Punch."

"Oh um, how did you two come up with the idea to make a piece of offensive equipment? So far, all your upgrades have complimented your quirk." It wasn't like Izuku wasn't interested in her new piece of hardware, but he just wanted to drop the subject about it earlier as Tooru was quite upset that her team was the only one to lose in 1A.

"During our TAC meetings, Ojiro-kun has only been teaching me defensive Muay Thai. Which is great and all but I want to be more than just surveillance and have a way to defend myself if sighted. I don't want the ability to topple buildings or crush boulders, just a way to subdue someone besides a blow to the back to the head or a pressure point. So Hatsume-chan and I came up with the Stun Punch. A non-lethal way to immobilize someone but also something that I can turn up the juice to take out some tougher opponents. Though that part is still in development."

"Can't you just hit them anywhere with them?"

"Well obviously punching someone in the face or privates is a bad idea, but for the best result I was told I should aim for the upper shoulders and hips or below the rib cage."

"And who told you where to hit?" Midoriya didn't figure Hatsume was an expert at electrocuting people.

"Kaminari-kun. He might not be the smartest, but if anyone knows the best places to shock people, it would be him. I asked him just before the joint training. I only got them yesterday, I didn't plan on using them so quickly," Hagakure explained before chuckling.

The two then chatted about the other matches of the day. Topics such as Asui's new camouflage technique, Ida's blazing new speed with Recipro Turbo, Bakugo's better if still blunt teamwork skills, and all the winter adjustments that their classmates had made to their costumes.

"I'm telling you Yaoyorozu-chan's cape is impractical," Izuku argued.

"But it's so warm. Ashido-chan and Uraraka-chan can vouch for me as well."

Midoriya groaned. He was not going to win this argument.

"I will agree with you however that Bakugo-san's change is kinda cool," Tooru said with a bit of reluctance in her tone.

Katsuki had changed from a tank top to a jacket and had a high collar around his neck. The increase in black colors worked well with the color scheme of his costume.

"It sure is."

"All right, he has received enough praise for one day," Hagakure stated while giving a soft pound to her boyfriend's head.

At this point, the two were just in front of their dorms.

They came to a stop, and Izuku took a few deep breaths.

Tooru then spoke up and said, "You got this. Let's beeline towards some food and use our hunger as a way to avoid talking too much."

"I might have to stuff myself then."

"Worse comes to worst; I can try and pry them off the subject."

"You're a lifesaver Tooru."

"The best," Hagakure stated with pride as she led her boyfriend into the busy 1A dorm.


Sorry for the one day delay. Due to the craziness of Labor Day Family Weekend at my work, I forgot to send in this chapter to be spot edited by Cleric of Nayru.

Another short chapter but we needed to tackle some big canon before moving on. Also, it's rare for me to do a "one scene only" chapter, but it felt right here.

Thank the stars the Villain arc is over (it wasn't bad, I mostly loved it), and I've been given some time to write once more!

But before we go into the chapter itself, some commission updates. The new cover art is here! Well, it's been here, but it did miss the last chapter release by two days so it might be new to some of you early readers. I also commissioned Sasumie723 on Twitter to do some Iichako art for Ida's birthday on the 22nd. This was a unique request for me because I usually request art from popular or veteran/established artists, but this was their first time to open commissions. I also plan to commission some MashMomo art for Momo's birthday, which is on the 23rd of this month.

To start, the hardest part of writing this chapter was choosing where to start. Just after the match? During dinner? The next day? Even later? After a lot of brainstorming, I went for after the evening training. I felt it could be private as well as immediate enough not to be weird to push it back a day or so. This was an important event, not something that could be an "oh I'll tell you about it tomorrow Tooru" kind of situation.

I might as well be forward in that I am not too into the idea of Izuku gaining a bunch of quirks. I will say my view of the development has softened since my initial reaction, but it still presents a lot of potential issues. I don't want to lean too heavy in my writing with my biases, but it was still something I needed to bring up considering Izuku's pro hero career choice I am going for in this fic. At the very least, I will admit it's hard to give it too much flak considering we know nothing of the strength/versatility that others might bring. So we'll have to see how it develops (even though it might take the rest of the series for this to happen).

Anyways, Tooru hero suit upgrades! Sure an actual costume and some footwear were nice, but I can do better. Stun Punch gives her a bit of an offensive edge; the suit upgrade has some much-needed QoL improvements, but what about the helmet? I will say it's purpose will be revealed by the start of the third term, but nothing more. ;p

Again I apologize for the shortness of the chapter but there was little I could do as we didn't get any update on the student's perspective of what was going on until just this latest chapter (241). I could have included a 2nd scene that briefly mentioned the Monoma visiting Eri but it would have felt tacked on I feel. But now I have PLENTY of time to work with. So going forward chapter 34 and 35 will cover the end of the 2nd term (so about three weeks in-universe time), with the latter having a small bit on the events of the Villain arc. Chapter 36 will then cover the Christmas date, and then 37 will encompass the triple date on Ochako's birthday. Unless the new arc in the manga includes the holidays in detail, I do not plan to steer away from this plan.

And finally, Night Foliage finished editing chapter 21, with 127 edits. :x

A new chapter will release on October 1st!