Author's Note: Guess who has two thumbs and can't read? This guy! I can not describe the ice cold fear that pierced my heart when I read these reviews. Thank you for pointing this out to me! Anyway, enjoy the actual chapter.
The day after his promise to All Might, Izuku was standing in the more open portion of the Development Studio with Hagakure and Power Loader during their lunch break. It had become a routine over the last week to meet in the Studio during breaks, as well as before and after school, and test the Invisi-Suit, as Power Loader had taken to calling it. So far they hadn't had another success like the first time, but every time the gauntlet failed, he had tinkered with it, made it sleeker, better and gradually implemented it into a bodysuit that responded to the gauntlet's invisibility capabilities, thus giving Hagakure an actual costume like her and Izuku had talked about if it worked. Right now, they were on their third test of the morning, Power Loader having taken notes on the first two failures, noting that the first two were purely accidental.
First, Hagakure had pressed too hard on the pad on her forearm, now a much more intuitive design, with her having to swipe along the pad toward her hand for invisibility, and up her arm for visibility. The other had her swiping the wrong way. Neither of them had worked, pressing too hard being one of the conditions in which the suit doesn't respond, due to that kind of thing only happening accidentally in a fight, and the other swiping the direction that activates the state the suit was already in, visible.
Now was the moment of truth. Hagakure pressed her fingers to the pad and swiped toward her hand, and the whole suit disappeared. Izuku took a deep breath. That was step one. They had only ever gotten this far without some sort of accident at step two. He could hear that Hagakure was taking deep breaths, trying not to get worked up. She heard the swiping on the pad of her fingers, and it happened.
The suit started to appear, by the toes first, the visibility almost crawling up Hagakure in an instant. Hagakure stood there, not noticing a change. Izuku saw that she had her eyes shut, squeezed tightly in anticipation. He understood it, but it was a funny face. She opened her eyes, confirming for Izuku that they were brown, and looked at Izuku and Power Loader, seeing that they were making eye contact with her.
"It worked?" Hagakure asked.
"It worked. We can see you," Izuku said, grinning from ear to ear.
Hagakure looked down, seeing her body. She moved her hands around, in awe. She kicked her leg forward, and laughed. She ran forward, hugging Izuku tightly. Izuku returned the hug, glad that the Invisi-Suit had finally worked. The two separated, and they shared a moment of joyous celebration.
"Thank you so much! Both of you! Midoriya, thank you for the idea of … this in the first place, and Power Loader, thank you for making it a real thing. This has been a dream since I could dream! Thank you!" Hagakure said, beginning to tear up.
Izuku followed Hagakure's eyeline to the mirror they had left beside him. He grabbed it and pushed it toward her, letting her take it. She eyed the mirror hesitantly, but took it with fervor. She looked at her face for the first time and immediately gasped, before laughing while her eyes watered. Hagakure had a round face, with wide eyes that were naturally very expressive, which was ironic considering her invisibility. She had a wide smile, and thinner eyebrows. She was exceptionally pretty, and Izuku had to stop himself from giving in to the light blush that spread across his cheeks as he watched her stare into the mirror in awe.
Hagakure reached up and put her hand through her hair, wincing when her fingers got caught easily. She laughed, and Izuku knew she was really considering investing in quality hair products. She and Izuku locked eyes again, and grinned so brightly that it almost hurt.
She leapt into Izuku's arms again, planting a kiss on his cheek as a thank you, though she had already said it maybe a thousand times since they had started these tests. Trying to keep himself from dying, Izuku wondered if they should really show the person he was thinking of, but Hagakure beat him to it.
"Oh, can I …?" Hagakure asked, trailing off and turning to Power Loader as she began to move toward the door.
"Take the suit. It's yours," Power Loader said, leaning back against his desk with a satisfied smile.
The two slid into Class-1A's Homeroom, with just Aizawa inside grading some test papers from the day before. He looked over to them, lazily waving to Izuku but freezing when he saw Hagakure. He was staring at her face, with an unreadable expression. Somewhere between disbelief and pride.
"You did it," Aizawa said, standing up.
"We did it," Izuku confirmed.
"Isn't this incredible? I can have a normal life! I can … I can make eye contact, I can do so many other things that I've never been able to do!" Hagakure said.
"You did it," Aizawa repeated, looking more toward Izuku.
"I didn't do it alone! Power Loader did most of the work, I just had a vague idea about how to start. He and his Support Course students programmed the suit and the tech that makes it work," Izuku said.
"It's astonishing that you even thought of it, though. You're coming with me after school to see Nezu," Aizawa said, before walking out of the classroom.
"You'd think the guy would be happy for me," Hagakure said, pouting.
"He is! I know he is. He's just not great at showing these types of things," Izuku said.
Hagakure smiled, but Izuku could tell it was put on. She looked at her hands again, the suit covering them. She swiped the Invisi-Pad a few times, switching between the two states of visibility. She became visible the last time with a more thoughtful expression, and turned to Izuku.
"Do you think I'm pretty?" she asked.
"Uh … yes. You're … b-beautiful," Izuku said, wondering where this was going.
She chuckled under her breath. Hagakure played with her frizzy hair for a moment, before turning back to Izuku with a nervous smile.
"I think … that you're pretty cute, too. I like your freckles, and your hair. I think I like you. I want something … more than friendship with you. I get that you probably don't feel the same way, but I just had to get that off my chest," Hagakure said, looking deep into Izuku's eyes.
"Oh … you're right. I … I don't feel the same. I'm sorry. I've only thought of you as a friend, Hagakure. I'm not even sure I've ever felt what you're feeling, so it has nothing to do with you. It's me. I know that sounds like a line straight from a movie, but it's true. You are a very pretty girl … Tooru. You'll find someone if you look. I'm sorry that I'm not that person for you, but I'm not sure I can be. I just … don't feel things like that," Izuku said, piecing together how he felt together on the spot.
"That's okay. I had figured out that you don't really seem to like anyone. You weren't embarrassed to talk to me in my first Hero costume because I was naked, and that was … I don't know … enticing to you somehow. You were worried about how it might affect me, like hypothermia and stuff. I get that now. You don't think of anyone like that," Hagakure said.
"I don't know if there's something wrong with me, or if I'm just broken, but-" Izuku tried.
"Hey! You are not broken. There's nothing wrong with what you're feeling. It's called being asexual. It's completely normal, and nothing to be ashamed of," Hagakure said, lightly hitting Izuku on the shoulder.
"Asexual? That's … a thing? Kaminari thought that I might be gay, but is there really more to it than that?" Izuku asked.
"Jeez, you were sheltered. Look, search up the term 'asexual' on the internet and then get back to me. I'm always here if you need to talk," Hagakure said, before hugging Izuku quickly and leaving.
Izuku went to his seat and started to read about asexuality, and how common it was. He was amazed to find that there were other people like him, who simply felt … nothing romantic or sexual toward people of either sex. He had read that the exact term he identified the closest with was 'aromantic/asexual', and began to research it. He had zoned out, but snapped back to reality when Aizawa walked back in. Izuku immediately hid his phone from sight, even though the students were allowed to use them outside of class hours. That meant that, during breaks and before and after school if the students happened to be on campus. Aizawa paused, giving him a strange look, before continuing to his spot on the floor. Izuku realized how bad that was, to feverishly conceal one's phone screen, but thought to leave it alone, since it could only be awkward for both of them to talk about.
Soon after that, people began to filter in, including a visible Hagakure, now with her uniform on over the Invisi-Pad, that walked to the front of the class. Power Loader had made the Invisi-Pad detachable from the main suit for everyday purposes, which Hagakure greatly appreciated. People were confusedly whispering between themselves about who the stranger was. Hagakure had combed her hair back and tied it back, giving her a less wild appearance, and winked at Izuku. He grinned excitedly, and people were beginning to get suspicious.
"Uh, can we help you, miss?" Kirishima asked.
"Um … hi, guys," Hagakure said, and the class went into a frenzy, recognizing her voice.
"HAGAKURE!?" the class screamed.
"Yep! It's me! Thanks to this, I can be seen! It's basically just a more advanced Quirk cancelling collar that they use on criminals, but Izuku and Power Loader developed it to the point where it can toggle between visible and invisible. It also affects my clothes and stuff! See?" Hagakure said, switching between the two states to showcase the Invisi-Pad's power.
Izuku caught the use of his given name. It was only reasonable. He had called Hagakure by her given name, which was all kinds of scary for him, especially since he had done so without prompting. He had been taking bigger and bigger leaps with his ability to talk to people since taking up the position of Class Rep, and he was finally beginning to be okay at conversation.
"You built that?" the people around Izuku asked him.
"I just came up with the idea that a costume could be made that, while protecting Hagakure's body, was still invisibile. That evolved from using her DNA as a base for the material to a Quirk cancelling device built into the suit. Power Loader got the resources and actually built the thing, so most of the credit goes to him," Izuku said, chuckling to himself.
"Nah, dude. You're, like, a genius," Kaminari said.
"Yeah. You should've seen him explaining the idea to Power Loader. He was … really cool," Hagakure said, hesitating on what to call Izuku.
Izuku and Hagakure locked eyes and remembered their conversation from earlier. She quickly made her way to her seat, and Aizawa stood, taking her place at the front of the class. He looked around at the class, and Izuku caught the small smirk that appeared when he got to Hagakure. He did care, he was just awkward about it.
"Alright. Now, you all know that the Sports Festival is this coming Monday, which means that you'll only have one more day of training, as well as the weekend, though that time should be spent resting before the big day. You've all come a long way, and I want to show you that, since I know some of you are doubting your abilities. We're going to have a test," Aizawa said.
What kind of test? Was it combat or solo testing? Izuku's mind raced through so many questions.
"I'll be conducting another Quirk Apprehension Test," Aizawa said.
"Huh? Like the first day of class when you threatened to expel us all?" Ashido asked.
"Yes, exactly. There's no better way to see how you've improved than to go back to basics and see how you shape up against you from the past," Aizawa said, walking out of the classroom.
The class followed their teacher. Izuku thought about Aizawa's reasoning, and thought it was good, but confusing. How could they really have improved so much in just three weeks? Izuku himself had unlocked another Quirk, but that was expected of him, and the others didn't know it was a separate Quirk. He had also increased his base One for All limit to about six percent instead of five, which was still four percent short of what he had wanted, but All Might had told him it didn't matter much what exact percentage he was using during the Festival, so long as it was above the five percent he had been working with.
The class made their way to the athletics field, the same one where they had their very first lesson at UA on. They had learned, that day, how tough UA was going to be. In some ways, Izuku was grateful for Aizawa's bluntness and his straightforwardness, but another part of him had wanted to keep his child-like glee at being in the top ranked Hero school in Japan for a bit longer.
"Alright, you know how it works, first up is the Ball Throw," Aizawa said, tossing the ball into the air over the cluster of students.
Izuku, seeing the ball, was excited now. He really had a chance to show off how much he'd grown, not just to Aizawa, or his classmates, but to himself. He needed to know what he was capable of now, and this was his chance to find out.
He yanked the ball toward himself with Blackwhip, causing everyone else to boo him playfully. He walked over to the circle, but turned to look at Aizawa.
"Anything except leaving the circle is allowed, yes?" Izuku asked.
"Yes," Aizawa answered.
"What are the rules on verticality?" Izuku asked.
"No more than the students maximum, natural altitude may be reached. No Floating," Aizawa said, smirking.
Izuku grimaced, but threw his hand back anyway. Izuku did the same thing he had done in the first test, attaching the ball to the end of a Blackwhip, and began to spin it around, slowly letting it build speed. As he felt the ball building speed, he felt around inside his core for One for All, and pulled the power into the arm that was holding the Blackwhip connected to the ball. He then, with six percent of One for All, began spinning the ball harder, faster, until it began to hurt Izuku's wrist.
It was only then that Izuku threw his hand back and pitched it forward in a burst of speed, making the ball fly forward at a speed so fast that Izuku nearly couldn't see it. The ball flew for a long while, but landed with a beep on Aizawa's device.
"One thousand metres, on the spot," Aizawa said, pleased.
"He threw it a kilometre away?" Kaminari asked, in awe.
"Whoa," Hagakure sighed.
"Alright, enough of this. Let me show you what real power is," Bakugo said, taking a ball from Aizawa roughly.
Izuku stepped out of the way, letting Bakugo into the circle. The blond had been getting better with dealing with his anger, but Izuku supposed it was only natural for it to be exacerbated by a competition.
Bakugo spun around and fired off a large explosion, sending the ball into the sky in a flash of power. The ball soared, almost as long as Izuku's did, until the beep from Aizawa's device told the class it had landed.
"Eight hundred and forty six metres. Well done, Bakugo," Aizawa said.
"Fuck!" Bakugo said, walking back to his spot at the back of the group.
Izuku made his way over to the blond's position. The two stood in silence for a few moments, before Izuku made the first move.
"Nice throw," he said.
"I know it was," Bakugo snapped.
"Hey, I'm not here to fight. You've improved a lot, and I'm glad you have. You'll be a wonderful Hero someday," Izuku said.
"Not if you keep doing whatever the fuck you're doing," Bakugo said.
"What do you mean?" Izuku asked.
"You've had your Quirk for almost three months, according to you, and you've already caught up and surpassed this class," Bakugo said, flicking his eyes between Aizawa and Iida, the person who was throwing.
"What?" Izuku asked, taken aback.
"Don't play dumb with me, Deku. You've outgrown this class, but you haven't outgrown me. That Half-and-Half kid's better than all those other schmucks too, but he'll never say anything about it," Bakugo said.
"What are you trying to say?" Izuku asked.
"I'm saying that it's weird how good you are with your Quirk. I'm not accusing you of anything yet, but keep that in mind. I'm watching you," Bakugo said, before walking around the side of the group to yell at Aizawa that he was taking too long.
Izuku had to admit, it was kind of strange how Izuku could go from having no powers, to having three separate abilities within the span of three months, citing 'creativity' as their source. It was all happenstance, really. He had received One for All, and that conditions were met to manifest Blackwhip during the entrance exam. The same had happened at the USJ. The conditions for manifesting Float were met as he was falling with Shinso. It was all a great big coincidence that he could use his predecessors' Quirks at all. Or was it? Izuku knew that he had been given these Quirks for a reason, and that reason was probably to battle All for One in a final battle sometime in the future, but he didn't know if All Might was going to stay true to his word, fighting AFO so that Izuku didn't have to, or if he would have to retire before that ever happened.
Izuku realized that the Ball Throw had ended, and that the class was moving on to the Fifty Metre Dash. Aizawa decided to keep the same structure for every test, so Izuku and Bakugo went first. The two lined up at the starting line and, once the signal sounded out, took off.
He pushed One for All into his legs, kicking off the ground with blinding speed. He made it about fifteen metres before he needed to leap again. Overall, Izuku only needed to touch the ground three times, making it past the finish line in just over five seconds. Bakugo had crossed the line in under three seconds, using his larger explosions to fly over the track and blitz past Izuku.
Izuku and Bakugo locked eyes, Bakugo smirking to himself. Izuku tried not to get agitated by the expression that he crossed his tormentor's face every time he was about to get beaten, and walked away. He went and sat on the ground next to Tsu and Shinso, who were waiting for their turns.
"Hey," Shinso said.
"Hi," Izuku said back.
Shinso was looking much better. He had finally gotten some sleep after Izuku had nagged him about it for a few days. Izuku had been researching the rate of insomnia diagnosis in people with mind control Quirks, and it was surprisingly high. It was one in every five people who had a Quirk that controlled another person's mind in some way that had troubles with falling and staying asleep, and nobody knew why. Someone had reasoned that it was because their minds were always 'on', always searching for others. That had been debunked, but Izuku liked the idea of their Quirks being to blame, and had started thinking of ways to combat that effect.
He had also been getting a lot more sleep than usual because of his new workout plan. Izuku had given him the 'American Dream Plan', the writeup of All Might's training plan for Izuku when he was working to receive One for All. He had taken almost half of it out, because Shinso wasn't going to be receiving any hurricane level strength anytime soon, or at least Izuku hoped. He probably wouldn't be able to handle it. Izuku had barely been able to accept the transfer of OFA, and if Shinso tried as he was, it would end badly.
He had also given tips to Tsu about leg exercises, since she had confessed wanting to get stronger so that she could leap further after the incident at the USJ where she had dropped Shinso, requiring Izuku to manifest Float to save him. She had also tearfully apologized to Shinso, but the two had talked it out, and Shinso hadn't blamed her, only himself for being too heavy.
Tsu and Shinso were becoming extremely good friends, Izuku had noted. He wondered if they spent time together outside of school, like he did with Ochako. His visits to Ochako being outside school hours were technically by necessity, though, as she wasn't allowed to actually come to school, but that was a different point.
After a while, Aizawa announced the next test. The class moved on, and spent the rest of their Foundational Heroics class. Izuku found the tests to be much easier now that he had somewhat gained control over One for All. He still couldn't handle higher outputs, but it was a start. All Might had said it himself, he was on his way to becoming the next Symbol. Izuku wasn't sure about the 'Symbol of Strength' thing All Might had talked about, but he was willing to talk it out with his predecessor after the Festival.
At the end of the tests, once the group was back inside, Aizawa projected a table onto the blackboard behind him showing the results. Out of nineteen students, Izuku had come fourth. First place went to Yaoyorozu, second went to Todoroki, third went to Bakugo and fourth to Izuku. Iida came in fifth behind Izuku, and Tsu in sixth behind Iida.
Izuku was proud of his score, having moved up three places since the last test. He wondered if the class was going to do a test like this at the beginning of every year, or every semester, but put that thought aside as a new, more important one took its place. Was Aizawa going to be their Homeroom teacher for their entire time at UA? Just their first year? How did the swapping of teachers work, if it worked at all? All these questions were put aside when Aizawa dismissed the class, and the two began to make their way to Nezu's office.
He had heard a lot about Nezu, the principal of UA. He had been the principal almost as long as Izuku had been alive, and he was feared by everyone who knew him. He wasn't human, a rare case of an animal developing a Quirk, or if you believed the 'Mouse Theory' on the origin of Quirks in humankind, one of the only natural cases. He was some sort of amalgamation of a mouse, a bear, a dog and a human, with above human tier intelligence and a sadistic side that all in the Hero business feared. Izuku was about to sit down and have a lovely chat with that.
Aizawa walked in like he didn't fear death. Izuku followed, much more nervous, and the two sat in front of the principal, across the desk that was clearly built for a human. Nezu looked Izuku in the eyes and grinned, though with his beady eyes and his sharp teeth, it was much more menacing than Izuku was sure the principal intended. Maybe.
"Izuku Midoriya. It's a pleasure to meet you," Nezu said, his soft voice clashing with the intimidating atmosphere.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, too, sir," Izuku said, bowing to his principal.
"I've been told that you're quite the thinker. Is this correct?" Nezu asked.
"I like to think so. I've been doing Quirk Analysis since I was five, and I've certainly gotten better at it," Izuku laughed.
"That's good. I was told about a project that you and Miss Hagakure undertook with Power Loader and the Support Department these past few weeks," Nezu said.
"Yes. It's been a huge success! When Hagakure told me about her Quirk, she described it in a way that felt off to me. I wanted to see if, instead of being permanently invisible, I could come up with a way to make her change between being invisible and visible when she wanted, and we've done just that. We actually finished up testing this afternoon. She's been wearing the Invisi-Pad ever since," Izuku explained.
"Ah, that's what the Quirk Override Collar from Tartarus was for," Nezu said, a knowing glint in his eye.
"Uh, yeah. It was the only thing strong enough that I could think of that could suppress Hagakure's Quirk in the way we wanted," Izuku said, sheepishly smiling.
"Tell me, do you have an intelligence Quirk somewhere in there?" Nezu asked, beginning to fidget with his fingers.
"Uh … I'm not sure what you mean by …" Izuku trailed off, seeing that the fidgeting was actually letters. Specifically, the letters 'O', 'F' and 'A'. Izuku remembered All Might telling him that Nezu knew, but had put it out of his mind, because he thought it would never really come up for some reason.
"No. I don't," Izuku said, understand what the principal was trying to ask without alerting Aizawa.
"That's odd. I don't think I've ever met a person who had your brains, creativity and heroic spark, all at such a young age!" Nezu said.
"Thank you, sir," Izuku said.
"Midoriya, I would like to offer you my services. If you come here every afternoon, I will teach you to hone those smarts, that creativity in the way you use your powers, as well as how you analyze others'. I can help you become the smartest you that you could possibly be for only an extra hour and a half per day," Nezu offered, glaring into Izuku's eyes.
"Of course. I'd love to! That'd be great! Thank you, sir!" Izuku said, without hesitation.
Izuku had been skeptical of Nezu's motives for talking with him, but now that he knew the principal just wanted to help Izuku be greater, he didn't seem so bad. Now that Izuku was seeing Nezu in a more positive light, he could see that his fur was actually very lustrous, and had to resist the temptation to pat him. He'd ask another time, when Aizawa was gone.
"Great! We can start the first day back from the Sports Festival!" Nezu said, spinning around in his chair.
"Sounds good," Izuku agreed.
"Hold on. I'd trust you with my life, Nezu, but not with his. What are you doing?" Aizawa interjected, a bead of sweat falling down his face.
"I'm just trying to foster a young man's mind. What are you doing, Shota?" Nezu asked, an eerie aura coming off him.
"I'm trying to make sure he survives until his third year. Your tutelage actively goes against that. I'm sorry, Nezu, but you're a horrible teacher. You just make more of you," Aizawa said, standing up.
"Now, now, Shota. I'm your employer. I control your paycheck," Nezu said.
"I still go out on patrol, rat. I get paid by the Hero Commission, too, you self-centred animal," Aizawa said.
Aizawa was getting worked up, more worked up than Izuku had ever seen him, even at the USJ. Izuku would have been flattered that he was so worried about his safety that he would openly oppose his boss. Izuku saw that Aizawa's eyes were glowing red, and that his hair was sticking up, the sign that his Quirk was active.
"Aizawa, let it go," Nezue said, losing a bit of his calm demeanor.
"There's no need to fight," Izuku said, putting his hands up between the two.
"Midoriya, I think you should go," Aizawa said.
"No!" Izuku yelled, firing Blackwhip between the two adults.
Aizawa immediately snapped his attention to Izuku, activating his Quirk once again. Izuku felt his connection to One for All vanish, and Blackwhip evaporated before his eyes, fading into small wisps of smoke that quickly faded themselves. Izuku and Aizawa stared at one another, daring the other to do something.
Izuku looked away, trying his best not to react physically to the absence of his Quirks. He always had a feeling that the Quirk's original user, whether it be Lariat or Nana, was watching over him while he used it. Blackwhip always felt empowering, like it was growing more powerful as his confidence grew, and Float always felt protective, like Nana herself was making sure he would be alright as long as he was Floating. Now, though, that feeling was gone. All of those feelings were gone. It was scary, if Izuku was being honest.
He ran. He needed to get away from Aizawa, to get out of his line of sight so that his Quirk could return and the safe feeling he associated with the vestiges could return. As he left the office, he kept moving, sprinting down the hall so that he could get away from his teacher. As he turned another corner, Izuku felt One for All flood through him, as he had been trying to activate it the whole time.
Izuku slammed into a wall due to the sudden burst of speed. He quickly got up and ran away to the teachers' lounge, bypassing Midnight and Present Mic to get to his room. Izuku felt like every breath was just too short, but he was breathing fine. He looked around and saw a wispy form in the shape of a woman, the same aura of protection and safety exuding from her. Izuku knew it was Nana, as she had the same cape. The figure solidified into Nana's form, and smiled at Izuku.
"Izuku, you're panicking," Nana said.
"I can't breathe!" Izuku whined, sitting curled up in a ball in the corner.
"You can. You're having a panic attack. It's okay. I'm here with you; you're safe. Nothing's going to hurt you, okay?" Nana said, sitting down on the bed.
Izuku took a deep breath, and felt all the air get sucked into his lungs for the first time in a minute. He kept breathing for a moment, before catching his breath entirely and leaning tiredly against the wall. Izuku looked to Nana, wondering how she was there.
"I'm not really. I'm just a manifestation of your desire for your Mom. One for All is more than anyone has ever believed. It can respond to the wishes of the user, to an extent. It's letting us talk, because you need a Mom, and I'm willing to be that for you," Nana said.
"So … you're in my head?" Izuku trailed off, not knowing what he was even going to say.
"Not quite, though I don't know the exact rules. Nobody's ever done this before. Know this, though, Little Izuku: We're here for you. When you feel like you're not enough, or that you can't win, think of us. We're going to be rooting for you from within your heart, making sure you have the confidence to win," Nana said, smiling brightly.
"Thank you, Nana. I just … forgot what it was like to not have a Quirk, that constant voice in my head, and it scared me," Izuku said.
"That's okay. You're fifteen; nobody's expecting you to be a fearless Hero," Nana said, standing up and walking toward Izuku.
Nana held her hand out for Izuku to grab onto, and he took it with some hesitation. To their surprise, their hands actually touched, and Nana was able to pull Izuku off the ground and help him stand. Izuku looked at Nana, shuffling awkwardly in front of her. He didn't know what to do, but he knew what he wanted to do.
"Go ahead, Izuku," Nana said, opening her arms for a hug.
Izuku immediately wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly as he let the tears that he had been holding back fall. The two stayed like that, Nana gladly supporting Izuku, and Izuku leaning into Nana's maternal embrace. Izuku shamelessly cried into Nana's costume. He heard Nana chuckle, and pulled away to see her fading away into smoke.
"Good luck in the Festival, Little Izuku," Nana said, before fading away entirely.
His arms fell to his side, no longer supported by Nana's body. Izuku looked around, not wanting anybody to have seen that. He was sure he would've looked insane, like a person hugging the air while crying. He quickly got to bed, making sure that he got plenty of sleep before the Festival was due to begin in two days. It was only Saturday and Sunday to go, and Izuku felt ready.