"There can be no progress nor achievement without sacrifice."
– James Allen
27 December 2168
"The next station is Shizuoka, Shizuoka. The doors on the left side will open."
Izuku Midoriya stared out of the carriage window as the suburbs gave way to the city proper.
"Now arriving at Shizuoka, Shizuoka. Please take all your belongings with you as you depart the train. Thank you for travelling with Japanese National Railways."
Standing up, Izuku slung his limited edition Silver-Age All Might satchel bag over his body, making his way towards the doors as the carriage began to slow. Within seconds the train had come to a complete halt, the doors opening with a hiss of air. Izuku stepped down onto the platform, his breath catching as the biting December air hit him. Pulling his Golden-Age All Might scarf tighter around his neck, Izuku set off towards the North Exit.
"The train is now departing for Kakegawa, Kakegawa. Please remain behind the white line."
The sounds of clacking wheels and announcements faded as Izuku swiped his pass on the ticket gate.
"-this burn is so nice! Prominence Burn Ramen!"
Tuning out the advertisements, Izuku hurried across the station atrium and out into the open air. Directly in front of him was the whole reason Izuku had come to Shizuoka, the city's shopping mall.
The New Year was nearly upon him, and Izuku needed to buy gifts for his family. Getting them in Mustafu was out of the question, Izuku had tried that last year. His classmates had quickly taken advantage of there not being a teacher there to even slightly rein them in, tripping him, stealing and breaking the gifts he'd just bought, and worst of all, reporting to security that they'd seen Izuku shoplifting.
Culminating in Izuku being tackled from behind by a security guard three times his size.
Needless to say, this year Izuku was going somewhere his quirklessness wasn't known to all and sundry.
Crossing the road, Izuku made a beeline for the mall entrance and the map in the foyer, tracing his finger along it in search of the shops he planned to stop at. Memorising their locations, Izuku stepped back from the map, ready to enter into the mall proper.
A shoulder slammed into Izuku, throwing him off balance and sending him sprawling to the floor.
They've found me, they're here too.
Izuku looked up, but it wasn't his classmates he saw, but a skinny, almost emaciated man with dark, lank hair down past his shoulders.
"Watch where you're going, kid." The lank-haired man barked, not bothering to stop or even glance back.
Izuku pushed himself to his feet, not taking his eyes off the man as he brushed himself off.
I don't know why, but he's giving me a bad feeling.
The man wasn't alone. With him were two other men, one a hulking mountain of muscle standing at over seven feet, the other clearly the leader, a brown-haired man with a face mask, one of his gloved hands gripping the forearm of a small, white-haired girl, no older than four years of age, a yellowish horn peeking out from her hairline.
"Come along, Eri." The leader grunted. "You need clothes."
A strange feeling settled in Izuku's gut, every instinct was screaming at him that something wasn't right about this group.
The little girl seemed terrified, her whole body shaking, the two men flanking the masked man were obviously guarding him, but their demeanour and dress made them seem unlikely to be professional security.
"Eri, get back here!"
Izuku was pulled from his thoughts in time to see the girl, Eri, run past him and out of the mall. Only seconds behind her were the masked man and his two flunkies, the mountainous one moving with surprising speed for one so large, as they followed Eri out into the street.
"ERI!"
Izuku looked around the mall foyer, each and every person he saw, they had all noticed what was happening, yet they just averted their eyes and carried on business as usual. They all went back to their shopping, expecting someone else to intervene.
She's a child, why is no-one-
It was at that point Izuku realised he was moving, or more accurately, running, in the direction that the little girl and the three men had gone.
Bursting out onto the pavement, Izuku turned to the north, he could see the giant man's head and shoulders above the holiday crowds.
"Oi, kid, watch it!"
Izuku ignored the shout of the man he had bumped into, continuing to thread his way through the heaving crowds, all the while keeping track of the enlarged man, until he took a sharp turn down a dark alleyway.
Coming to a halt at the mouth of the alleyway, Izuku hesitated.
"Help!"
Again, Izuku's feet moved without him thinking as he sprinted down the alleyway towards where the girl's voice had come.
Then she came into view, running towards him. She must have slipped past the three men and doubled back.
With a soft thud, Izuku scooped the girl into his arms.
"It's okay now." Izuku assured, a forced smile on his face. "I am here."
The girl, Eri, clung to him desperately, shaking like a leaf.
"Oh, you got her."
Izuku's head snapped up to see the masked man approaching them, flanked by the seven-foot henchman.
The thin one was nowhere to be seen.
"Come along, Eri, I think it's time you go home." The masked man spoke, holding out a gloved hand. "You're overtired."
Eri only clung tighter to Izuku.
"I'm sorry, sir, but it seems she doesn't want to go with you." Izuku stated plainly, his voice belying the utter terror he felt in the moment.
The masked man relaxed his posture. "She's just missing her mother, it's our first Christmas without her."
Izuku lowered his gaze to the child in his arms. "Is this man your father?"
Eri shook her head. "He's gone."
"She's lying, she has these flights of fancy." The masked man snapped, taking a step towards them. "Eri is always in her own little world."
Izuku instinctively took a step back before glancing over his shoulder to see that the lank-haired man was behind him.
Not good, that's where he is.
"I really think this is a matter that is best handled by the authorities." Izuku declared, hoping his voice sounded a lot more confident than he felt.
Slowly, Izuku reached his free hand down into his pocket, unlocking his phone and hoping what he was pressing was the emergency call option.
"That really isn't necessary." The masked man replied in what Izuku thought the man assumed was a reassuring tone.
Instead, it only put Izuku even more on edge. The masked man stepped closer again, his arm outstretched. Shifting the angle of his feet, Izuku burst into action, dodging under the masked man's arm as he reached for him. With a spin, Izuku avoided the lank-haired man's grasp as well, bolting for the entrance of the alleyway.
"Sakaki!"
Suddenly, Izuku's balance totally abandoned him, leaving him stumbling this way and that as he tried to run away.
"Katsukame!"
A massive hand reached out, trying to grasp Izuku's shoulder, only managing to make brief contact with the back of his neck. Izuku's legs abruptly gave way as his strength left him, collapsing to his knees, Eri still clutched in his arms. With a grunt, Izuku let go of Eri with one arm, attempting to use it to drag them towards the main street.
"Help! Help us!"
The last of Izuku's energy was sapped, his torso flopping forwards onto the concrete, Eri landing next to him.
Looking towards the end of the alleyway, Izuku could see people passing by, one even stopped and looked right at him before resuming walking.
"All Might." Izuku croaked out, his voice weak and airless as he tried to reach out towards the end of the alley.
"He's not coming."
Izuku saw the legs of the masked man appear in his view before he squatted down to look him in the eyes.
"You don't know who I am, do you?" The masked man spoke. "Because if you did, you wouldn't have made such a monumental mistake. I'm Kai Chisaki, but you can call me Overhaul, the leader of Shie Hassaikai. The man who will cure us all."
Slowly, one finger at a time, Overhaul removed one of his gloves.
"No, please, don't." Eri begged as the lank-haired man grabbed her by the arm, dragging her away from Izuku.
Overhaul reached out, two of his fingers touching Izuku's cheek.
"No active quirk genome." Overhaul spoke. "You're pure, quirkless. One day everyone will be like you, I'll make sure of it."
Izuku heard Katsukame chuckling. "Stupid quirkless thought he could play hero and save her."
Quirkless. Defective. Inferior. Dud. Worthless.
Deku.
"Everyone knows that the inferior can't be heroes." Katsukame continued.
Another finger came into contact with Izuku's face.
"It's a shame I have to do this, but I'm afraid you've seen too much." Overhaul sighed.
I failed, I couldn't save her. I guess I really am a useless deku.
Overhaul's ring finger joined the rest, leaving just his pinky sticking up in the air.
"No-one can know about her, she's the key to all this, you know." Overhaul paused. "You're a necessary sacrifice. And after all, there is no progress or accomplishment without sacrifice."
Overhaul's final digit came into contact.
I'm sorry, Mom.
The last thing Izuku Midoriya heard was Eri's scream as his entire body exploded in a shower of blood and gore, coating the walls of the alleyway.
Kai Chisaki's face crumpled in disgust at the blood that spattered his skin and clothes.
That was all that was left of the brat, apart from the All Might satchel and scarf, as well as a few errant scraps of clothing.
Reaching down, Kai touched his clothing, activating Overhaul to clean them.
"Boss?"
Kai turned his head to Katsukame.
"Your clothes."
Frowning, Kai looked down to see that although he had cleaned his clothes, he'd also transmuted them into a copy of what the boy had been wearing, adjusted to fit his adult frame of course.
That was when he felt a tendril in the back of his mind, reaching out and grasping his very consciousness. Silvery-white energy rose from every area the boy's remains were splattered on, surging towards Kai and absorbing into his body.
"No, this will stop."
Kai placed his hand onto his own exposed skin, overhauling himself to try and purge whatever it was that the brat had infected him with.
Stumbling towards the mouth of the alley, Kai saw himself in the reflection of a window. His face had changed, remade into an older version of the brat, his hair curly and green, only his eyes remained unchanged.
Whatever this was, it was hijacking his quirk, changing him in ways he wasn't intending when he used it. Turning him into that brat. Kai watched in horror as, without his command, his hand reached up and tore away his mask, revealing a set of teeth that weren't his own.
A tooth for a tooth.
Kai's rebellious hand reached out and tore the glove from his other hand, revealing that his unblemished skin was now marred with a smattering of freckles.
A hand for a hand.
Kai stumbled backwards as he felt his feet shrink slightly, his white sneakers reforming into boxy red high-tops.
A foot for a foot.
He dropped to his knees, pressing his hands to his body in order to use Overhaul to turn himself back to normal, back into himself.
Nothing happened, Overhaul didn't respond to him anymore.
A life must be paid for a life.
Kai Chisaki screamed as he felt his consciousness be torn asunder, replaced and remade.
Izuku Midoriya blinked rapidly as he slowly came to his senses, the glaring sunlight making it hard to see. His entire body felt wrong, not painful, but oddly unfamiliar.
Looking down, Izuku frowned at the sight of his body, it was too tall, his arms too long, his hands too big.
"Boss? Is it you?"
Izuku looked up to see the two henchmen staring back at him, Eri's arm held loosely by the lank-haired man, Sakaki, his mind supplied.
How do I know that?
Izuku glanced between the two thugs, Eri and the mouth of the alley behind him. The ground around them was soaked with blood, Izuku's limited edition satchel and scarf soaking themselves in it.
Is that my bloo-
"Boss?"
Izuku turned his gaze to the henchman who had spoken, the one holding Eri's arm.
I can mourn my merch later.
Leaning forwards slightly, Izuku raised himself to one knee before bursting into motion and surging forwards. In one smooth movement, Izuku grabbed Eri, pulling her from Sakaki's limp grip. Clutching the terrified girl to his chest, Izuku turned and bolted towards the alley entrance.
Sloshed. Energy Suck. Their quirks.
Of the two, Sloshed was more dangerous, Energy Suck needed physical contact to work, but the former's quirk could be used on anyone within twenty feet of the user. Hence why Izuku was trying to put as much distance between himself and Sakaki before the henchmen figured out he definitely wasn't Overhaul.
That was the other problem, just because he couldn't see Overhaul didn't mean he was gone. The villain had done something to his body, and now he could be anywhere, waiting to strike.
Why did those two think I was Overhaul? Has he changed me to look like him somehow?
Izuku burst out of the alley and onto the pavement. Looking left and right, he made his decision, sprinting in the direction of the train station, weaving his way through the crowds.
Screams coming from behind Izuku made him glance back in time to see Katsukame reach out and touch two people. Energy flowed from the bodies of the unsuspecting civilians and into the villain, making him grow even larger. With a grunt, Katsukame jumped into the air with surprising agility, sailing over the top of Izuku and Eri, landing directly in their path to the train station.
Izuku ducked left, narrowly avoiding the touch of Katsukame as he turned down an alleyway to continue fleeing.
Instinctively, Izuku reached out to touch one of his hands to the wall. Crackling red energy spread from the point of contact, forming a vertical line ten feet high. The affected part of the wall began to warp before it shot out into the alleyway, solidifying into a wall across the alleyway, of the same texture and construction as the alley walls themselves.
The sound of an impact and a shouted curse told Izuku that Katsukame had run directly into the wall.
I have a quirk! Why do I have a quirk?
With an almighty crash the wall across the alley exploded in a hail of brick fragments, revealing Katsukame with his fist outstretched.
Izuku crouched down, brushing his fingers across the cobbled alleyway. More red energy issued from the point of contact before the cobbles under Katsukame's feet began shooting into the air and exploding, forcing him to shield himself.
This is Overhaul's quirk. He exploded me.
Izuku turned out onto the street.
He killed me, I died.
Shizuoka Station came into view, Izuku was nearly there.
Then how am I alive? Where is Overhaul? How do I have his quirk?
Izuku stumbled, just as he saw Sakaki appear from an alleyway in front of him, the villain had taken a shortcut to get ahead of him. Turning onto the road, Izuku staggered his way across as he felt the effects of Sloshed increasing, Sakaki beginning to catch up to him.
Tripping over the curb, Izuku smashed his knee into the pavement, nearly making him drop Eri. Forcing himself back to his feet, Izuku hurried into yet another alleyway, this one far wider than the previous ones, with fire escapes on each side.
Izuku reached out, steadying himself on the wall and activating Overhaul's quirk at the same time. A column of brickwork extruded from the wall, the end fashioned like a fist. It extended at an angle towards the entrance to the alley, only for it to miss both Katsukame and Sakaki, impacting a parked car instead.
"It's over, kid!" Katsukame snarled.
Izuku collapsed to his knees, his world spinning as Katsukame and Sakaki finally caught up to him, Eri still clutched in his arms, her face buried against his chest.
"Where is he?" Katsukame roared. "Where's the boss? What did you do to him?"
Izuku frowned. "I didn't do anything to him, he, he's the one who exploded me!"
"He did." Sakaki stated. "And then his hand went rogue and started overhauling him until he looked like you! Why do you think you have his quirk?"
Izuku's stomach dropped, he really had died.
Then how did I end up in Overhaul's body? A quirk?
If what these two were saying was correct, he had killed Overhaul, taken over his body, and remade it into his own, although the Overhaul quirk clearly could not be used to alter the user's age, just their appearance.
"Bring him back!" Katsukame bellowed. "Undo whatever you've done to him!"
"I didn't do it on purpose!" Izuku protested. "And why would I bring back the person who killed me?"
Katsukame halted, clearly stumped by Izuku's response.
"Because we'll make you." Sakaki spoke. "You turn back into Overhaul, or we hurt the girl."
"No, don't, she's a child." Izuku pleaded. "And I don't know how to turn back or whatever you want. Please, don't do this, you don't need to do this."
But Sakaki ignored Izuku, reaching down towards Eri.
"No!" Eri screamed as the horn on her head began to emit golden energy.
Sakaki instantly recoiled, managing to avoid his hand coming into contact with Eri's energy, but Izuku didn't stand a chance, pain wracking his body as it flowed through his body.
"She's going to erase him!" Katsukame shouted, lurching forwards.
Izuku screamed as he felt his body begin to shrink.
"No." Sakaki snapped, holding out his arm to stop Katsukame. "Let her, she'll rewind the kid back into the boss."
Izuku felt his clothes loosen, his limbs becoming more slight.
It's obvious that Eri's quirk reverses the flow of time through an object, me in this case. Except I'm now far younger than I was a few minutes ago, and there's no sign of Overhaul returning. Her quirk mustn't be targeting whatever process transferred me into this body.
Katsukame frowned. "He still looks like the brat to me. Are you sure this is going to work?"
"How do I know?" Sakaki snapped back. "There's not exactly a training manual for 'my boss got body-snatched by a teenager and now a four-year old is de-ageing him'!"
I feel almost normal again, my body is nearly the right size.
And then, the pain stopped, Eri's horn ceasing to produce the golden energy.
Izuku breathed a sigh of relief, crumpling to the ground, his whole body aching.
"Why's it stopped?" Katsukame growled. "The horn's still there, I thought the girl couldn't stop her quirk until she ran out of batteries."
Pushing himself up onto his forearms, Izuku stared up at the two villainous henchmen as his vision slowly came back into focus.
And that was when Izuku saw him, a man dressed in black, with a grey scarf around his neck and yellow goggles, hanging from the fire escape behind the villains.
"What are you looking at?" Sakaki questioned, before starting to turn around to follow Izuku's gaze.
"Me."
The man in black's eyes flashed yellow under his goggles as he leapt from the fire escape, tackling Sakaki as he did. Sakaki rolled and pushed himself back up to his feet, clearly focusing on activating his quirk.
Nothing happened.
The man surged forwards, grabbing Sakaki's arm and spinning on one foot, slamming the villain into the wall before leaping into the air to avoid Katsukame's fist.
Landing behind the lumbering villain, the man seemed to throw his scarf, which wrapped around both of Katsukame's arms, pulling them back and holding the villain in place. The man's eyes flashed yellow again, and instantly Katsukame began to shrink, stopping at a little more than six feet tall, his muscles deflating to a more normal size.
He cancelled his quirk. No, he erased it, that means this guy is-
"Eraserhead."
A deafening laugh echoed through the alleyway.
"Looks like you got yourself a fan, Eraser."
Izuku started. "That voice, Present Mic!"
"Correct, little listener. That means you get TEN POINTS!"
A blast of sound shot out of the dark, hitting Katsukame and sending him flying towards the wall. Sakaki brushed himself off, ready to fight, just in time for Katsukame to slam into him and smash him back against the wall.
Eraserhead fired his scarf off again, two lengths wrapping around each of the villains, restraining them and then hoisting them up to dangle from the fire escape.
Izuku collapsed to the ground, the last of his strength spent.
It's over now, she's safe. Eri's safe.
Darkness consumed him.
28 December 2168
The detective stood as Naomasa Tsukauchi entered the briefing room, reaching out his hand for him to shake.
"I'm Detective Muji." The man greeted him. "Thank you for coming in on such short notice."
"Of course." Naomasa replied. "Always happy to help a colleague, especially since the victim is from my neck of the woods."
"That he is." Muji nodded. "Izuku Midoriya, thirteen, believed to be quirkless."
"Do you believe he was targeted because of that?"
"Not at all, Midoriya is a case of the wrong place, wrong time." Muji sat back down, gesturing for Naomasa to do the same. "Or rather, Midoriya was trying to be a good samaritan."
"Is the culprit in custody?" Naomasa queried. "Apologies, the briefing pack you sent over was rather, lacking, in the particulars of the case."
"That was by design, I'm afraid." Muji sighed. "As for the culprit, he's dead as far as we can tell."
"As far as you can tell?"
Muji breathed out. "Okay, let's start from the beginning. At 1221 hours yesterday, Izuku Midoriya arrived at Shizuoka Station, having departed from Mustafu Station. He exited the station and then entered Shizuoka Mega-Mall, where he bumped into this individual, Rikiya Katsukame, a known member of the criminal organisation, Shie Hassaikai."
Naomasa took the photographs being handed to him, one showing a hulking man, the other a teenage boy dressed in enough All Might merch to make Toshinori blush.
"Katsukame was at the mall with three other people, Deidoro Sakaki, another member of Shie Hassaikai, and Kai Chisaki, also known as Overhaul, the man believed to be the new leader of Shie Hassaikai. The last individual is a young girl, Eri."
Three more images were placed on the table, Naomasa studied each in turn.
"So then the girl, Eri, fled, right?" Naomasa asked. "It mentioned that in the bundle you sent over."
"She did, she was pursued by the three members of Shie Hassaikai, with Midoriya pursuing them." Muji explained. "This chase ends when they enter this alleyway, where the camera loses track of them."
A series of photographs showed first Eri, then the members of Shie Hassaikai, and then finally Izuku Midoriya, all entering the alley.
"Around five minutes later, Izuku Midoriya, appearing to be around ten years older, exits the alley and turns back towards the train station, holding the child. He's pursued by Sakaki and Katsukame." Muji continued. "This pursuit ends when Sakaki successfully uses his quirk, Sloshed, which induces a state not unlike drunkenness, causing Midoriya to collapse in another alleyway, however, this time there was a working camera."
Muji produced a laptop, turning it around to face Naomasa and pressing play.
Naomasa watched as Midoriya collapsed, the villains caught up, and then Eri began to glow with golden light.
"He's getting younger." Naomasa realised. "Eri's quirk is de-ageing?"
Then, Present Mic and Eraserhead, the latter erasing whatever Eri's quirk was doing to Midoriya before the two made short work of the villains.
"A member of the public called it in, saw Midoriya being chased, and rang us."
"What about Chisaki? This Overhaul?" Naomasa queried. "Where was he when all this was happening?"
Muji sighed. "That's the thing, Sakaki and Katsukame have lawyered up. They're not saying a word, obviously, but Midoriya claims he is Overhaul."
"He thinks he is Overhaul?" Naomasa replied in disbelief. "Is it some kind of traumatic delusion?"
"We don't know." Muji answered. "Chisaki's quirk is also called Overhaul, which allows the user to break down and reform anything they touch with their hands. Midoriya claims that Chisaki used his quirk to explode him."
"He's looking good for someone who's been exploded."
"I'll let you be the judge of that."
Muji spread three photographs across the table, revealing an alleyway soaked in blood and viscera, in the centre of it all was Izuku Midoriya's All Might satchel and scarf.
"How is he alive?"
"Midoriya claims the next thing he knew after he was exploded was coming to in an adult-sized body with Sakaki and Katsukame thinking he was Overhaul." Muji replied. "He says he grabbed Eri and ran."
"And you're worried he's actually Overhaul, that he's changed his appearance to Midoriya's to evade your suspicions."
"Precisely."
"And you want me to use my quirk to see if he's lying." Naomasa surmised. "And if he isn't?"
"Then we must assume that Izuku Midoriya wasn't quirkless, that he has some kind of quirk that allows him to transfer his consciousness from one body to another."
"I need to make a call." Naomasa stated. "There's someone that needs to know about a quirk like this."
"Sorry for keeping you." Tsukauchi spoke as he entered the interview room and took a seat. "I'm Detective Tsukauchi, normally of the Mustafu Police Force, but I've been asked to consult on this case due to its complexity, and this is a friend of mine, Mr. Yagi, he's a consultant with MPF."
Toshinori closed the door behind him. "Good afternoon."
Taking the seat opposite Izuku Midoriya, Toshinori studied the teenage boy, who looked a year or two older than he should be. He was clearly nervous, habitually most likely, his posture hunched and closed. Next to him was his mother, Inko Midoriya, with a similarly nervous disposition, however, her body language was more open.
"So, I understand you were attacked yesterday?" Tsukauchi offered, leaning in slightly to mirror the younger Midoriya.
Izuku nodded. "I saw her running, Eri, they were chasing her. She looked like she needed help."
"That she did. You should feel proud of yourself, you saved her from what seems to have been a situation of quirk slavery." Tsukauchi assured, leaning back in his chair.
"Is she okay?" Izuku questioned. "The hospital wouldn't tell us anything because we're not family."
"She's doing as well as can be hoped, she's been through a lot." Tsukauchi answered. "I believe we're currently working on tracking down her mother, her grandfather has custody, but he's currently in a long-term coma."
"And if her mother can't be found?" Inko Midoriya asked, speaking for the first time.
"Then social services will look to place her in temporary foster care until a more permanent home can be found." Tsukauchi replied. "Now, I've been asked to use my quirk, Polygraph, to ask you some questions about what happened in the alley, which we're calling Site A, where Kai Chisaki, also known as Overhaul, attacked you."
"I'm not in trouble, am I?"
Tsukauchi shook his head. "Not at all, the camera at Site A doesn't work, unfortunately, so we just need to confirm what happened."
Izuku breathed a sigh of relief.
Reaching over, Inko Midoriya squeezed her son's hand. "It's okay, sweetie, just tell them what you can remember."
Izuku nodded. "Your quirk, what are the activation requirements for it?"
"Physical contact." Tsukauchi answered, holding out his hand for the green-haired boy to shake.
Reaching out, Izuku rather hesitantly shook Tsukauchi's hand.
"Excellent, just a simple question to start us off. Are you Izuku Midoriya, born 15th July 2156?"
"I am."
Toshinori watched as Tsukauchi tapped the table once, indicating that young Midoriya was telling the truth, Toshinori subtly nodded in understanding. If Tsukauchi's quirk didn't trigger, then the child definitely was Izuku Midoriya, he wasn't lying to them, or himself.
"That's brilliant, thank you, Midoriya." Tsukauchi spoke with a reassuring smile. "If you wouldn't mind telling me what happened at Site A, once you entered the alleyway."
Tsukauchi watched as Izuku relaxed, leaning back in his chair.
"Eri, the little girl, she ran at me, clung on." Izuku explained. "Then Overhaul and Katsukame approached me, demanding that I give Eri to them."
One tap.
"I refused, Sakaki appeared behind me." Izuku continued. "Overhaul got closer, so I ran, I managed to avoid Sakaki, back towards the street."
One tap.
"Sakaki and Katsukame used their quirks on me, I collapsed. Overhaul, he used his quirk on me, determined that I was quirkless, that I'm useless. Everyone knows that the quirkless cannot be heroes."
Inko Midoriya sobbed softly.
One tap.
Toshinori balled his fists underneath the table.
The sad truth is, a day ago, I would have thought the same, you've proved an old-timer like me wrong, Midoriya.
"You saved that little girl, I wouldn't call that useless, I'd call it heroic." Toshinori declared. "I don't believe you are useless, Midoriya, quirkless or not."
Izuku sighed. "You're right."
Two taps.
I guess Mr. Yagi is hardly the most inspiring. Damn wound, four years ago, and he would have listened to what I had to say. What All Might had to say.
"And that's when Overhaul—"
Izuku paused, bowing his head.
Mrs. Midoriya clutched at her son's hand. "Izuku, it's enough, you don't have to—"
"No, I need to." Izuku stated, every last trace of his previous nervousness gone from his voice. "Kai Chisaki used his quirk, Overhaul, to explode my body. Somehow, my mind transferred to his body, used his quirk against him to change him into me, and erased his consciousness. I killed him, it's my fault."
One tap.
"I stole his quirk. I'm a villain."
One tap.
Toshinori sighed, leaning back, whilst Tsukauchi scrunched his face and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"You're not a villain, Izuku." Mrs. Midoriya argued. "Don't you dare say that."
"I am, you said I'm not in trouble, but I should be." Izuku stated, looking to Tsukauchi. "I killed a man with my quirk, this quirk I never knew I had."
"Midoriya, you're not a villain, that I can assure you." Tsukauchi replied firmly. "My colleague from earlier, Detective Tokusei, asked you if he could use his quirk to scan yours."
Izuku nodded.
Tsukauchi placed a sheet of paper on the table before spinning it around to face Izuku and pushing ittowards him.
"Quirk, Unnamed. Manifested in Izuku Midoriya, aged 13, on December 27th, 2168. Type, Emitter. Transfers the consciousness and the quirk of the holder into the body of their killer, overwriting their consciousness."
Izuku stared down at the paper, his eyes poring over the quirk description. Toshinori could see all the conflicting emotions in the teenager, joy at finally having a quirk, discomfort and outright disgust at the nature of it.
"Your quirk transferred itself and you into Kai Chisaki because of his decisions." Tsukauchi affirmed. "If he hadn't made the choices he made, then he wouldn't have gotten himself overwritten. His choices, not yours."
"But without my quirk, Overhaul would still be—"
"Without your quirk, you would be dead and Eri would have returned to Overhaul's imprisonment." Toshinori interrupted, with more force than initially intended. "Are you a fan of heroes?"
Izuku hesitated, before indicating so.
"What's point 4.2.7 of the HSPC Heroics Code?"
"A hero must avoid taking the life of a villain to all reasonable degrees, but if lethal force is the only way to preserve civilian life, then doing so is justified."
"Would you say you operated within the bounds of point 4.2.7 of the HSPCHC?" Toshinori queried,
"Yes, but I'm not a hero—"
"You certainly acted like one to me." Toshinori interjected.
Izuku froze, the breath catching in his throat. "Detective Tsukauchi, you've worked with All Might on a number of cases, haven't you?"
Tsukauchi glanced across at Toshinori before nodding.
"Izuku is a big fan of All Might, you should see his bedroom." Mrs. Midoriya spoke nervously, clearly desperate to steer the conversation back to more stable waters.
"Would All Might have done it, in your opinion?" Izuku asked. "Would he have killed Overhaul if that was the only way to save Eri?"
"Without a doubt, I know he would." Tsukauchi declared. "Unfortunately, sometimes a life must be paid for a life."
Toshinori cleared his throat. "If you don't mind, I'd just like to go back a bit, to what happened before you went into the alleyway."
"I was following them, the big one, Katsukame, I could see his head and shoulders above the crowd." Izuku paused. "I hesitated at the entrance of the alley, and Eri called for help and—"
"Your body moved before you had time to think, right?" Toshinori queried, catching himself by surprise.
Izuku nodded hesitantly.
Tsukauchi tapped the table once.
Ninth, I've finally found you.
Toshinori watched as Izuku bowed his head, tears rolling down his cheeks.
"How did you know?"
"Most top heroes all have the same story from when they were in school." Toshinori spoke, louder this time. "That their bodies moved without thinking."
Fuck it.
Toshinori stood, wisps of steam trailing from his body as his muscles began to expand.
"You have the heart of a true hero, Young Midoriya."
"A-All Might?"
-Origins Arc-