Here we are Chapter 3! And sorry for the air everyone, considering how popular this got all of a sudden. (seriously, I cannot thank everyone enough for the support!) Please enjoy this chapter.
Now, on to some not so good news.
Currently, I am staying at my parent's house due to my dad using my apartment for self-isolation due to COVID, since he works out of the province. SO until Dec 15th, I will be taking a small hiatus from both this and my other story, Phantasia due to basically been unable to juggle the time of helping my mother with her brand new puppy as he needs to be constantly watched X_x.
Chapter 13 of Phantasia has already started to be written and hopefully drop within a day or so after the hiatus, followed by chapter 4 of Bearer of the Light. So I thank you for your patience during this time.
Before the story, some lovely reviews from (as a03 allows me to respond easier to the comments there.) starting in chronological order from oldest to newest:
Guest: Awesome! and hope you enjoy this latest chapter.
Karlos1234ify: Thanks!
Daniel xros: More? MORRRRE?!... sure here's a new chapter, enjoy!
Afro121 - Aries Rifter: Kupo!
Sweet Kagamine Kiss: Glad I got ya hooked and enjoy!
human dragon: Awesome, hope you enjoy it!
Sageofchaos: Well here's some more!
Digitalreaper360: Yea, not so much a "lil Deku" anymore" -winkwinknudgenudgeknowwhatImean-. Also, Mog will be a guide to Izuku, though the little fuzzball will get into shenanigans. And yes, I usually prefer the later teen stories myself.
Ragnerock: I am sorry to hear that, but there are a few reasons I aged up the characters. The development of quirks hasn't changed, people are supposed to get them at the age of 4 normally, the reason why UA is a university now is to allow more "adult situations" into the story, as well as, let's be real... by having students learn how to be heroes around the age of 15-16 is really awful, basically making them training child soldiers. I hope you do find other stories to enjoy though.
DragonOfChallenges: That wasn't the plan tbh, but it's going to be more of how Izuku will develop over time from not only his "bonuses" of his powers but also his interactions with his new classmates. From scaredy-cat nerd to a ... less than scaredy-cat nerd.
SPECIAL THANKS TO RAEF, SCION OF GRAMMER ON THE EPSI'S HOARD DISCORD SERVER FOR EDITING THIS!
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to My Hero Academia and Final Fantasy XIV, they belong to their copyright holders.
Chapter 3
Tests and Truths
Toshinori Yagi had seen many things in his long life and hero career.
From horrible natural disasters, to having to prevent international threats during his time in the USA, to odd villains of the week that would often cause Toshinori to question his own sanity. Seriously, what sort of villain calls himself 'Major Underwear' and plots to steal everyone's underwear and somehow make a profit?
Yet the oddest thing of all was the young man sitting beside him just muttering up a storm that was mostly inaudible, though at times he would catch little snippets here and there. The boy was trying to figure out how someone could pass off a quirk to someone else after he had remembered what Toshinori had told him before he passed out.
The boy was out cold for only five minutes before waking up and starting to mutter rapidly.
That was ten minutes ago.
Having enough of the boy's random thoughts, the pro hero took hold of Izuku's shoulder and shook him gently. "For all that is good, Young Midoriya… BREATHE!"
Izuku's head shot up to look at the skeletal man, then to the principal, who was merely smiling and sipping tea. The teenager blushed and shrank down in his seat. "S-sorry… o-o-old habit of mine since I was a kid."
"It is fine, young man. It shows how great of a mind you have, and to be honest, I would love to pick your brain further," Nezu said after placing his teacup on its saucer. "But you have an important question to ask, do you not, Yagi?"
Toshinori nodded and moved off of the chair, buffing up to his hero persona as he plucked a hair from his head. "Young Midoriya, you have the heart of a hero and the determination of one as well. I deem you worthy to inherit my quirk and become my successor." He smiled down at the boy, who was sitting still and listened intently. "Do you accept?"
Izuku looked straight into his idol's eyes, seeing no sort of trickery or falsehood within the deep blues, and he doubted that All Might would make a bluff about this. His emerald eyes moved down to the hair that the hero had plucked, he had thought out the pros and cons of such a decision as he stared at the thin blond strand. Izuku snapped out of his musings, looked up to All Might, and opened his mouth to give his answer.
"Y—"
"NOOOOOOO!"
The shrill shriek startled both Izuku and Toshinori as a fluffy projectile collided with the teenager, sending it and the boy to fall backward and grunt loudly from the impact. After pulling itself off of Izuku's face, it floated up to the large man and started to poke his nose as it ranted and raved at him.
"Who do you think you are? Trying to turn the warrior of light away from her will! Do you have any idea what would happen to him if he took your power? HUH? KUPO!"
Izuku shook his head from the blow before looking up to see a familiar fluffy creature berating All Might. "M-Mog? When—how did you get here?"
The Moogle turned towards the green-haired boy and floated down to him, conjuring the hammer once again and bonking him several times. "You. Had. Me. Worried! Not only did you not come home when you said you would, but your mother was home and was frantically trying to call you, kupo!"
Izuku blinked as he went for his bag and pulled out his cell and paled to see over thirty missed calls and fifty missed texts. His phone flared with life as it vibrated with another call from his mother. The boy looked up to All Might, who seemed to still be in shock, but his attention returned once Izuku spoke up. "A-All Might, sir… I'm sorry, but I really need to take this."
All Might nodded and deflated back down to his skeletal form, watching the young man move to the other side of the room to answer the call. The blond's attention went towards the small creature that had repeatedly booped him on the nose, which was now talking to Nezu of all people. He began to listen to the tail end of the conversation, and his hollowed eyes widened.
"—Of course, I wasn't going to allow Toshinori to pass on his quirk to the boy, Mog. I was just curious to see what would have happened once he took the hair."
"You were always the troublemaker, Nezzy." Mog sighed as it turned its head towards the frantic teenager talking into his phone. "Still, what All Might said is definitely true; Izuku has the heart of a hero… reminds me of the last one." The Moogle smirked, as did Nezu, both watching the boy try to placate the woman on the other end of the phone line, and looked to be failing spectacularly.
Their attention was brought to Toshinori, who was simply pointing at them, his expression one of confusion as he spoke gently so as to not to interrupt Izuku and his phone call. "Nezu sir, what in the world is that?"
Both creatures looked to each other, then to All Might, and slowly the realization that the 'Symbol of Peace' could see the supposedly INVISIBLE Moogle! Mog shuddered in fear and zipped behind the chair to hide while Nezu placed his paws together, and his ever-present smile seemed to grow bigger."Well, I will give you a summarized version, as explaining everything would take too much time."
"In short, This creature that is hiding behind my chair is called a Moogle, magical creatures that were brought to Earth a few centuries ago, but unless you had prior knowledge of them or as in Midoriya's case, being blessed by the crystalline Goddess known as Hydelyn, you would never see the little rascals!" spoke the dean with his hands on his desk, staring at the flabbergasted skeletal man before him, "How you are able to see Mog is truly a mystery, but I have a theory or two cooking in my mind at the moment."
"It's hard to believe, but… considering all that's happened." Toshinori rubbed his chin in deep thought, sitting on the chair again as Nezu had finished the short explanation of Moogles. The pro hero then looked up to the dean, who was sipping another cup of tea. "If I may ask, sir… how do you know so much about them?"
"Let's just say I have had knowledge of their existence for a very long time, and let's leave it like that," Nezu replied and took another sip of his tea. His beady eyes glinted at the blond man as if to indicate that was all that was going to be said.
"Y-Yes, sir."
"Good!" The small dean and chuckled merrily before a clearing of a throat interrupted him. Both adults turned their attention to the teenager with his one hand covering the receiver. "Is there something we can help you with, Mr. Midoriya?" asked the dean, beaming a friendly smile at him.
"A-Actually, could one of you talk to my mom? I've t-tried to explain to her what's been going on… but apparently, Aldera had phoned before meeting Mr. Yagi and me and—" The boy was stopped as the small white paw rose up and offered to take the phone. the dean smiled still.
"Let me see if I can calm your mother, my boy."
Inko Midoriya wasn't always the greatest mother, at least in her own opinion. Sure, she loved her son unconditionally and worked hard at the local hospital to make sure she and her baby boy could have a roof over their heads. Often she would come home from a late shift with a wrapped dinner made for her by her beloved son in the fridge, ready to be reheated.
But over the years, when she did see him, the fire in his eyes that he had had as a child seemed to dim and was now barely present. She also noticed he tended to wear more long-sleeved shirts to school, even during the summertime. While she had wanted to ask him about this, often her job as a nurse would pull her away and leave very little time to actually talk to her son. Still, because of her training, she could tell the signs that her precious boy was being bullied and possibly doing his best to hide it from her.
That is what hurt her the most, the fact he couldn't trust her to come to with his problems, and he had started to grow incredibly distant since entering high school.
Then the Sludge Villain happened.
It had started earlier that morning. Izuku had already left for school, and Inko had just finished another twelve-hour shift at the hospital. She was exhausted and began to fish out a meal for herself and noticed that Izuku hadn't made her anything that morning, which was odd to her, and had sighed as she pulled out some fruit to at least sate her for now. As she was finishing off a banana, the house phone rang, and she used her quirk to pull the receiver to her. "Hello, Midoriya Residence."
"INKO! Oh my god, I finally got a hold of you!" shouted Mitsuki Bakugo, Inko's best friend since high school and unofficial aunt to her Izuku. The shout caused Inko to move her phone from her ear. She loved Mitsuki dearly, though she was abrasive at times, and could get excited all too easily… and had a short fuse to match.
Lord help those poor souls that tried to hit on her friend.
"Inko! Did you just get home? I've been trying to reach you since last night!"
"I'm sorry, my cell died during my shift and I couldn't charge it. Why? What's wrong?" asked Inko as she poured herself a glass of strawberry milk, a little guilty pleasure of hers that she would pick up on occasion for something after work.
"Last night Katsuki was attacked by a Villain!" Mitsuki blurted out, causing Inko to choke partially on her milk, coughing for a few seconds.
"Oh, my goodness! Is he all right?"
"The brat is fine. A little roughed up, but could have been worse if not for that Knight-looking vigilante and Izuku."
Inko spritzed the rest of her milk in a large cloud of mist at the mention of her son, coughing more harshly and after a few minutes was able to blurt out a struggling 'WHAT?'
"Yeah! The heroes were doing nothing because the brat's explosions kept going off. Suddenly a high school student wearing Aldera's uniform came rushing out, nailing the creep in the eye with a pencil case! And before you start saying it couldn't be your "baby boy," the kid had the most unruly green hair, and the pencil case, if you zoomed into it, was an 'All Might' one," Mitsuki said, her voice dropping as she added that last tidbit of information. Inko blushed a little due to her friend basically catching what she was going to say.
"Anyway, a bright pillar of light suddenly shone down, and this really weird-ass Knight appeared and kicked the villain's ass, Koko! Like it literally made the thing explode into chunky pieces, which landed on the heroes and Katsuki, HA!"
"Suki, that's not very nice, " Inko said with a pout to her tone. "B-but why were you trying to reach me so urgently?"
"Well…" Mitsuki paused in her comments, trying to think of an excellent way to tell her friend without causing a flash flood in the apartment. She sighed and decided to bite the bullet. "All right, look…"
Inko's morning had been entirely shot after Mitsuki had told her that Izuku hadn't been seen since the Knight had appeared. She wailed for a few moments as she searched the apartment for any signs of her son, dashing here and there before barging into his room to find that his futon was still out and looked slept in. That had calmed her down to a degree.
Until she received a phone call from Aldera High.
She had spent an hour protesting the school's decision of her son's expulsion, and they just weren't giving her the time of day. Giving stupid reasons and eventually just hung up on the poor mother. Desperate to reach Izuku, she had called and left numerous messages on his cell phone and spent most of the day trying to reach him. Finally, around four in the afternoon, she got a hold of her son. She started to sob uncontrollably as Izuku was trying to explain himself, which he was failing to do with his stuttering and her uncontrolled sobs.
It was then that a new voice could be heard on the phone, and Inko reeled back her sobs to soft hiccups. "H-hello?"
"Ah hello, Ms. Midoriya, this is Dean Nezu of UA University of heroes," said a softened voice on the other line. Inko's eyes went wide as she did her best to recompose herself since she was talking to the DEAN of UA, of all people. She cleared her throat and held the phone tightly, all the while thinking about how Izuku had gotten himself in this situation.
"You have my apologies for your son not being able to contact you for most of the day. It seems he had an impressive run of it, and there is still much to discuss," continued Nezu. She could hear her son's voice in the background, though it was muffled, as well as someone else's she hadn't heard before. "With that being said, as his mother, I would like to invite you to UA so we can further explain today's events to you in person!"
"O-oh! Oh, that sounds wonderful, Mr. Nezu! W-Well, I should be there in an hour or so by train if you d-don't mind waiting."
"That won't be necessary, Ms. Midoriya," the dean replied as the sound of a horn went off outside of Inko's apartment door. She moved to the living room window, and her eyes widened at the limousine parked out in front with the symbols of UA on the side of it. "I had assumed you would be joining us and sent my driver to pick you up. We shall see you momentarily." And like that, the phone hung up.
Inko stood there for a few moments to process everything, and then, with a determined look in her eye, rushed to get her jacket and keys. Though she was rattled by all the information that had been dumped upon her today, she had her mind set on one thing. Even though she loved her son unconditionally and would never blame him for anything, she was still his mother, and he had worried her sick.
She was going to give him an earful once she got her hands on him.
"MY BABY BOY!" came Inko's shriek as soon as she went into the office where Nezu and Izuku were waiting patiently for the mother. One look from his emerald eyes was all that it took to break the mother out of her "angry" mode to one full of unkempt joy at seeing her sweet angel of a son and nearly tackled him to the ground as she sobbed uncontrollably.
Izuku gently held his mother, wrapping his arms around her and rubbing her back as he rested his head atop of her own. Inko gently sniffed as she soon took notice of Izuku's new features. She gently pulled back from his hug and took in his now muscled form and his sudden growth spurt. She became somewhat hysterical again as she patted his arms before looking up at him and giving him the 'mom glare.'
"Izuku Midoriya! Are you taking steroids?"
"W-What? No! I woke up like this after my quirk came in, honest!" Izuku said fearfully as his mother stared into his eyes to check if he was lying.
They did this for a few moments before his words registered with Inko, and she stepped back from him, tears brimming. "Y-Your quirk? B-but the doctor said you have a second joint in your toe! You would never…" she drifted off, not wanting to remind her son or her about that fateful day or what she had said to him when he asked her if he could be like All Might.
Izuku started to rub the back of his head and chuckled softly, hoping to detract his mother from speaking of that time as well. "W-Well, I have one and i-it sort of...'activated' …during the sludge villain incident yesterday." He smiled at her with a nervous chuckle. Inko blinked and slowly started to think, muttering softly to herself, causing the two other adults, who had been quiet this entire time, to slowly smile, both having the same thought of, 'Ah, that's where he gets it from.'
Their thoughts snapped back to the small, semi-chubby woman, who pointed her finger at her son and cried out, "Y-You were the Knight?" Izuku slowly nodded to confirm her question was in fact true, and Inko burst into tears and hugged her son tightly. "MY BABY BOY HAS A QUIRK!" she shouted to the high heavens and squeezed her son, who merely gasped and was starting to turn blue, tapping her shoulder to let him go.
While he caught his breath, Inko introduced herself fully to Toshinori and Nezu and apologized if she had ignored them, for which the small furred creature gently waved her off.
"It is fine, Ms. Midoriya; Yagi and myself understand that you needed to see your son and focus on him." Nezu clapped his hands together. "Now! Since you are both here, let's have young Izuku give us a demonstration of his quirk!"
Gym Gamma, also known as "Training Kitchen Land," was a large enclosed space covered in cement. It was controlled by the Pro Hero Cementoss, and while Cementoss would typically be around to control the cement in the area, he had been instructed to escort the recommendation students who were visiting and show them the university grounds.
Izuku stood within a small area of smooth concrete with many cliffs and ridges surrounding the area. He had "shifted" into his Paladin armor and stood proudly in the now-familiar plate, sword and shield drawn. Not far from him were Nezu, Inko, and Toshinori.
"Now, we will be releasing five combat drones for you to take down or suppress, Midoriya! Full force is authorized, so don't hold back!" called out Nezu, who got a nod from the 'knight' before twirling the sword in his hand skillfully, making Inko gasp in shock.
"H-He's never even held a sword before now. W-wow is that possible?"
"Truth be told Ms. Midoriya," Toshinori spoke as Nezu pressed a blue button on the controller he was holding, releasing the drones and causing the dean to chuckle in glee, "while I don't completely understand the quirk itself, it seems his quirk could be a form of transformation and emitter, considering he was able to dish out damage from afar."
"It's strange; my husband had a fire-breathing quirk, and I can repel and attract very small objects… how do those two quirks become, well, that?" she asked, pointing to Izuku slicing one of the drones in half while deflecting the laser fire from another.
Toshinori frowned and nodded to Inko. "I can... see your point." Toshinori then looked at Nezu, "Also sir… the third year combat drones, really?" the blond asked the dean, who was smiling brightly.
"Of course! I had to give him a good work out!" exclaimed the small creature, who cackled loudly as another explosion went off in the distance to signify another destroyed drone. Then another voice caught the attention of the three adults with a very deadpan sort of tone.
"I leave for half an hour and already you're causing explosions in my gym, Dean… who's the poor soul this time?" spoke Cementoss as he walked up to the group with two young women behind him. The first one had vibrant green hair similar to Inko's, though it seemed much fuller. She was sporting a big toothy grin full of fangs, while the other was a black haired young woman who wore a ponytail that seemed to spike out at the end with onyx cat-like eyes. The blocky looking pro hero turned to the two behind him and raised a hand. "My apologies; these two are some of our recommendation students, Setsuna Tokage and Momo Yaoyorozu. We had a third, Shoto Todoroki, but he was pulled away by his father."
The girls bowed respectfully, as did the adults in turn. Cementoss continued his speech. "Ladies, this is Toshinori Yagi, Dean Nezu and…" he looked at the short, green-haired woman, blinking a few times. "My apologies, we have not been introduced, Miss..?"
"Ah! I-Inko Midoriya, my a-apologies, Mr. Cementoss," Inko squeaked out and bowed a few times. Cementoss bowed his head once again before looking at Nezu, who seemed to be watching the chaos not far from them.
"So, who are you testing today, sir? By the lasers, I assume you are trying out a third year again?"
"Oh, far from it, Cementoss! It's an applicant to our beloved UA I'm testing out your new toys on, and so far, he has been quite impressive!" Nezu smirked as he began to turn a few dials on the machine, clearly up to something.
"Sir, what are you doing?"
"You know our motto... 'Go Beyond.'" Nezu smiled as he pushed the big red button on the controller. "Plus Ultra!"
The others watched as a sixth drone appeared from somewhere and had aimed its laser at the boy. Izuku heard the hum of the prepared laser and shifted his stance to turn and face the robot as it fired. Quickly raising his shield to deflect it, he then rushed and made short work of the drone with a single strike of his sword. His attention, though, was caught as he heard the sound of a laser cutting on stone, and under his helmet, his eyes went wide, and he dashed towards the group.
Said group was puzzled as to why Izuku was dashing towards them. Still, a growing shadow caught the attention of Toshinori, who called "LOOK OUT!" Momo and Setsuna turned their heads up and realized that the boulder was too close to safely escape. Both huddled together and screamed.
Izuku skidded to a stop in front of the girls, raising his shield and shouted with a booming, almost ethereal,voice, "PASSAGE OF ARMS!" As he finished speaking the words, a brilliant projection of light bloomed from his metallic shield, forming what looked like angelic wings that caught the large cement boulder. The two girls looked up to see the knight standing before them and protecting them with his bizarre quirk, their attention brought to him as he turned his head back, and while they couldn't fully see his face, the smirk in his voice rang out to them. "Don't worry, I have this!"
Both girls watched in pure awe as the armor-clad boy's sword began to glow brightly in his hand. The giant wing-like veil that surrounded them began to flicker in and out before disappearing in a shower of sparkles.
Time seemed to slow as with a mighty upward swing, Izuku roared once again, his voice sounding ethereal as the sword peaked above his head and a bright line of light arched from the tip of the blade before forming a line into the boulder. "ATONEMENT!"
The line of light burst wide, cleaving the cement boulder in two and causing it to fall to the wayside of the three teenagers. The adults could see a long gouge of the floor missing as well, directly in the same path that sliced the boulder. With a heavy sigh, Izuku sheathed his weapons and pulled off his helmet, his now longer green hair waving back and forth, but still retaining the fluffiness it was known for.
Placing his helmet under his arm, he turned to the two girls still huddled up together and offered his hand to both of them, his eyes sharp and shining brightly as he asked, "I'm sorry about that; I didn't take into account the sixth drone and misjudged the angle of the shot. Are you two all right?"
Setsuna looked him up and down, her shocked expression turned to a sly smirk, her cheeks a soft rose.
Momo's cheeks were a far deeper red than her fellow recommendation classmate, her onyx eyes staring deep into his bright emerald ones and for once in her life, her heart skipped a beat.