It was the day. Monday had arrived, and Izuku sat up in his bed, which had been made by Cementoss on Saturday, with a big smile on his face. Cementoss had made the small, two room house on Saturday, positioning it a five minute walk from the main campus, and allowed Izuku the weekend to get used to the house in peace. It was perfect for him, having a living room, with a kitchen on the side and a bedroom with a bathroom connected to it. He had gotten all set up over the weekend, decorating and saying goodbye to his mother one last time as they brought all of his things over. It was a time for tears, and they had both bawled, making Aizawa roll his eyes.
Now, though, it was time for the internships to start. The plan was to meet at their classroom, and then walk to the train station where all the students would set off to their individual internship locations. Izuku wouldn't have to do that, though, as he was staying in Musutafu with Aizawa, or should he call him Eraserhead while the internships were on? That seemed appropriate, because they were addressing each other in a professional capacity, but Izuku supposed he'd find out.
Izuku stood up, stretching his legs for the day to come. He quite literally couldn't keep his excitement in, giggling to himself as he walked toward the bathroom to get cleaned up before leaving. He showered, brushed his teeth, tried to brush his hair, and put on his uniform, hurrying to get his day started. He had woken up with half an hour until class, so he reasoned that Iida and Shinso were already in class, waiting for him to arrive. He was glad to have gotten to be better friends with Iida, since they had worked together, albeit kind of poorly, in the Sports Festival.
He left a few minutes later. Making his way to the classroom found him, expectedly, accompanied by Shinso and Iida, with Yaoyorozu and Bakugo accompanying them. Izuku slid past Bakugo, still not entirely sure where they stood with each other, and sat in his seat in front of Shinso, turning around to talk to his friend.
"Hey," Shinso said, waving lazily to Izuku.
"You look well rested," Izuku noticed, making Shinso laugh slightly.
"Yeah. What can I say? I'm just as excited for the internships as everyone else. I'm still a person, unfortunately," Shinso said, grinning at the last part.
"Indeed. Everyone is excited. I don't think I've been this energized in years!" Iida said, practically vibrating in his seat.
"How about you, Yaoyorozu?" Izuku asked, looking at her around Shinso, who sat in-between the two.
"I'm excited," Yaoyorozu said, looking distracted.
"What's up with you?" Shinso asked, turning around and giving Izuku a clear line of sight to Yaoyorozu.
"Nothing. I just … think I may have made the wrong decision of where to go," Yaoyorozu said, looking at her desk.
"How so?" Izuku asked.
"I went with Uwabami, the same as Kendo. I fear that I've made a mistake, as on further research, she prefers to focus on her side job as a model as opposed to her Hero work," Yaoyorozu revealed.
"Oh. Well, at least you can enjoy Kendo's company!" Izuku said, smiling knowingly.
"Oh, stop!" Yaoyorozu said, blushing slightly.
Izuku smiled, a more genuine smile, and backed off. He didn't want to short circuit Yaoyorozu's brain, so he turned back around as more people started filling the classroom. It was hard to believe that he had just teased someone about anything, let alone about romantic stuff. He was glad that he had come so far in his ability to relate and talk to people, but wondered where he would've been if he hadn't taken All Might's Quirk. Not wanting to think about the darker possibilities in that scenario, Izuku turned his eyes to the front, where Aizawa had appeared.
The class silenced themselves immediately after noticing Aizawa standing at the podium. The man scanned over the class, smirking slightly. He took a moment for the class to get the fear out of their systems, before talking.
"We're all here, so get your costumes and we'll go to the train station," Aizawa said, before walking off.
The class all cheered, running to grab their cases, Izuku included. He was excited; what could he say? The class all grabbed their costumes, some of which had been improved since their battle trial and the USJ Incident due to restrictions or inhibitors found in them. Luckily, Izuku's costume had been made with ports for Blackwhip, so he hadn't shredded his gloves every time he used it. No accommodations needed to be made for Float, so that was good. He'd considered the other Quirks he'd hopefully unlock, and reasoned that they needed no modifications to be made to the costume to be used. Smokescreen was the only Emitter Class Quirk among them that he knew of, since the second's Quirk was lost to time. That was going to be a fun one to go through the awakening of. Hopefully, it wasn't as powerful as Blackwhip had become.
The class started to walk through the halls, toward the bus bay. It was impractical to walk to the train station, due to how far from UA it was, as well as having twenty of the most well known kids in Japan at the moment just strolling down the streets of Musutafu. So, they took the bus. As the kids piled on, Izuku sat himself at the front, with Ochako, Shinso, Tsu, Iida and Yaoyorozu sitting around him. The bus took off, and the students got to talking about their internships.
"So, Death Arms should be fun," Izuku said, turning to Ochako.
"Yeah! I totally need to become a more well rounded fighter if I want to become a great Hero. I just wish I could go to a Battle Hero with a little nicer name," Ochako said.
"'Death Arms' doesn't exactly scream 'family friendly entertainment'," Shinso said, smirking.
"Your Hero doesn't appeal to the younger audience either, Shinso," Tsu said, making him freeze.
"Fair enough," Shinso said, his smirk dropping.
"Who are you going with, Shinso?" Ochako asked.
"I'm interning with Midnight," Shinso said.
Izuku snapped his attention to Shinso. He hadn't known Midnight even took interns. Was it legal to have children go around with a Hero who was explicitly the 18+ Heroine? Morally speaking, it didn't really seem right, and the legality behind the issue was questionable. Shinso had a right to choose, though, so he might as well hear him out. He sure wasn't letting any of his personal stuff get in the way of his judgement. Nope. Not at all.
"Why's that?" Izuku asked.
"Well, we're the same type of Hero," Shinso said, like it made perfect sense.
"I still don't follow," Ochako said.
"Well, I want to be an Underground Hero. There's a limited amount of scenarios that my Quirk comes in handy for, and it requires a certain amount of finesse to use it to its fullest potential. Those are all things that apply to Midnight. So, I'm going with her," Shinso explained, and it did make perfect sense. They really were alike.
"Why are you going to the train station, then? Surely it would be better to just wait at UA and meet Midnight there," Yaoyorozu asked.
"Well, apparently, she lives closer to the train station than she does to UA, so we're just meeting there," Shinso said.
"Oh, alright. What about you, Tsu?" Yaoyorozu asked, turning to the frog-like girl.
"I'm interning with the Sea Rescue Hero: Selkie," Tsu said, smiling brightly.
"Oh, that'd be great for you!" Ochako gushed.
"Yes. I'm just worried that I'll make a bad first impression or something," Tsu said, looking at the floor.
"Don't worry about that. Just be yourself, and he'll love you. Like we do," Shinso said, getting Tsu to lock eyes with him.
The two shared a moment, and Izuku felt like he was intruding on their personal space as the rest of the group just waited for it to be over. If Izuku remembered correctly, the two had become close as far back as just before the Sports Festival, during their two weeks of training. Maybe their moment during the USJ Incident had been the catalyst for it, but they seemed to really be close, closer than any of the class, in fact. Maybe barring him and Ochako, but that was different. They had kissed, even if it hadn't led to anything, so that was something.
What was he thinking? Izuku was looking at it like some sort of twisted competition for some reason. He was just glad that his friends had gotten to know each other, he shouldn't be twisting it into something it isn't. Bakugo's shouting about rivals really had been taking a toll on him.
"Where are you going, Iida?" Ochako asked, probably to distract the group from Shinso and Tsu's … thing.
"I'm going to Manual's Agency!" Iida declared, getting strange looks.
"The Normal Hero?" Izuku asked, frowning.
"Yes. I believe that I can learn a great deal from his level headed decision making," Iida said, but something was off.
There was no way that, under normal circumstances, Iida would choose Manual to intern with. There was something else. Izuku knew that Iida's brother, Ingenium, had been attacked by the Hero Killer, Stain. He was paralysed from the waist down, apparently, and couldn't continue to work as a Hero. Izuku had expected Iida to use the name 'Ingenium' during the workshop session, but he hadn't for some reason. Maybe he didn't see himself as worthy of the name just yet, which Izuku understood. Maybe it was because of Ingenium that Iida was working with Manual. Maybe they had a link somehow.
That was it. Manual worked in Hosu City, where Ingenium was attacked by Stain. Iida was looking for Stain. Izuku looked him dead in the eye and tried to mentally dissuade Iida from doing what he was planning, but Iida gave him a strong look that told him that 'you can't stop me'. Izuku wished that he had some sort of telepathic Quirk to tell Iida to stop what he was going to do, but he knew that Iida had strong convictions. If he was going to quit, he would have by now.
"So that leaves you, Midoriya. Who are you going with?" Shinso asked.
"Uh, that's a funny story, actually. I'm interning with Eraserhead," Izuku said, preparing for the cries of confusion.
"What?" Ochako mumbled.
"Is that allowed?" Yaoyorozu asked.
"I'd think it is, since Shinso's interning with a teacher as well," Tsu said, shooting him another smug glance.
"Yeah. Midnight told me that students can intern with teachers, it's just that it had never really happened before. It's up to the students to ask, really," Shinso explained.
"Yeah. I've been thinking about my Quirk, and how it can be … unpredictable-" Izuku started.
"That's an understatement," Shinso muttered.
"-and I think Aizawa can really help me understand the mechanics of my Quirk on a deeper level. He knows a lot of the science and mechanics behind Quirks, his Quirk exclusively affecting them and all," Izuku said, knowing that Aizawa was listening to him from where he was sitting at the back of the bus.
"That makes a lot of sense, actually," Yaoyorozu said, looking out the window in thought.
"Yeah. Good job, Izuku!" Ochako said, the two high-fiving as she spoke.
Everyone around them grimaced at the high-five, making Izuku and Ochako look around in confusion. They all seemed repulsed by it, even the normally kind and non-judgemental Iida and Yaoyorozu. Izuku shot Shinso a questioning look, and he started cackling like a witch.
"Really? A high-five in this day and age? I mean … really?" Shinso said between cackles.
"Yeah? What of it?" Ochako asked, withdrawing slightly.
"High-fives were out even before Quirks came along. That was just … nasty!" Ashido chimed in.
"It isn't that bad, is it?" Izuku asked, not getting how it was bad.
Nobody answered his question, only looking at him with disgust in their eyes and frowns on their faces. Him and Ochako shared a look, both of them confused as to why high-fiving was seen as gross or something, but neither of them had the answer. Izuku just added it to the list of mysteries about people that were piling up in his mind, the list that would probably never get solved.
The rest of the ride to the train station was uneventful, even his friends not wanting to talk to Izuku after the high-five. When they arrived at the train station, the class unloaded off the bus and stretched their legs, getting ready for another ride on a train for a lot of them. Some, like Izuku, Ochako and Shinso, were staying in Musutafu and the surrounding areas, but some, like Yaoyorozu and Iida, were travelling quite the distance.
The class re-assembled at the terminal, Aizawa addressing the class tiredly.
"Alright, class. These internships are a week long, so don't make your Heroes go crazy in that time. We're done here," Aizawa said, shooing the students away.
The students, not wanting to waste any time, all rushed off to their trains, but Izuku, Ochako and Shinso stayed back. Izuku caught sight of Iida heading off for the train to Hosu, and quickly started to run toward him, dropping his case at his feet. He bolted after Iida, wanting to get to him before he went through the gate, where he couldn't follow. He managed to catch the other boy before that happened, though, and said what he wanted to, what he thought Iida needed to hear.
"Iida, are you okay?" Izuku asked.
"What do you mean?" Iida asked back, smiling. Izuku knew it was fake.
"I mean with your brother. What you and your family are going through must be tough, so I just wanna make sure that you're doing alright. Are you?" Izuku asked again, standing up a bit straighter this time. Iida towered over him regardless.
"I'm fine, Midoriya. Thank you for being concerned about me, though. You're a good friend. Good luck with your internship with Aizawa," Iida said, turning around and passing through the gate.
"I just want to make sure you're not gonna do something you'll regret later! Don't go after him," Izuku shouted.
Iida didn't respond, simply walking away and boarding his train. Izuku breathed out, turning around to walk back to his case. He saw Ochako, Shinso, Aizawa, Midnight and Death Arms, who had arrived to pick Ochako up. He walked over to the group, then having been watching his interaction with Iida at the gates.
"What was that about?" Aizawa asked.
"I think that's something just you and me should talk about, when we're alone," Izuku said, wary of the other four people listening.
Aizawa narrowed his eyes at Izuku, but relented, letting it go for now. He turned to Midnight and Death Arms, who nodded at him confidently.
"Let's go, Uraraka. We should get on your combat training right away," Death Arms said, beginning to walk away.
"See you in a week," Ochako said to Izuku, waving goodbye.
"Yeah," Izuku replied, waving back.
"We should go, too," Midnight said, gesturing for Shinso to follow.
As the others walked away, they left Aizawa and Izuku alone. The two looked at each other, not sure how to proceed. It was clear that Aizawa had never had an intern, being an underground Hero, and Izuku could tell he was trying to figure out what to do with him.
"Alright. Let's go," Aizawa said, walking toward the exit.
"Where to?" Izuku asked.
"My apartment. We've got to figure out a couple of things," Aizawa said, not looking back.
"We're not going on patrol or something?" Izuku asked, catching up to Aizawa.
"No. You're not ready for patrol with your Quirk issues, which you still haven't explained to me, still unresolved. So, we'll work on that, first," Aizawa said, boarding the bus and signalling for the driver to leave the train station.
Once the two got settled in the bus, it set off toward Aizawa's apartment. He sighed, obviously tired. Izuku kind of felt bad about depriving Aizawa of some rest, but he had agreed despite knowing he'd miss out on it, so he shouldn't have felt too bad.
The two arrived at Aizawa's apartment, and Izuku noticed right away that it was almost bare. It seemed that Aizawa didn't really spend a lot of time at his apartment, as it only really had a bed, a dresser and a desk. Nothing else. It was actually kind of nice to be in such a quiet, small environment.
Izuku and Aizawa sat on the floor, facing each other.
"If we're gonna do this thing, we'll have to set a few ground rules," Aizawa said.
"Alright, like what?" Izuku asked.
"Like you do what I say when I say it. If you disobey my orders, you're done. You're only to use your Quirk in combat when I tell you. You're only to engage in combat at all when I tell you. Got it?" Aizawa said.
"Yes," Izuku replied.
"Good. Now, we have the issue of your Quirk to sort out. What's wrong with it?" Aizawa asked.
"I can't use it at all. I haven't been able to since the Festival," Izuku revealed.
"What?" Aizawa asked, his Quirk flaring up and his eyes glowing red.
"There's been a miscommunication, and my Quirk isn't responding to me," Izuku said.
"How? Did you run out of energy to manipulate?" Aizawa asked, calming himself down.
"No, because that's not how my Quirk works," Izuku said.
"What? Are you telling me that you've been lying all term?" Aizawa asked, his Quirk almost activating on instinct.
"Yes," Izuku said, trying not to get too worked up about this.
Aizawa looked like he was ready to burst. He had a look in his eyes that could kill, and he was barely holding back his Quirk from activating. Aizawa was scowling intensely, and he had an aura around him that could incapacitate any Villain. Luckily, Izuku didn't think Aizawa was all that angry at him specifically, just the lie.
"Who told you to do this?" Aizawa asked, quietly.
"I'll get to that. First, I need to tell you the history of my Quirk," Izuku said, sitting up a bit straighter.
"The history? You mean it has one other than yours?" Aizawa asked, his anger fading into intrigue.
"Yes. This story starts at the dawn of Quirks, with a man who had the power to steal other powers. This man went by the name of his Quirk, All for One," Izuku started.
"I've heard this story. I researched it in my childhood while looking for any other people with Quirks that entirely affected other Quirks," Aizawa chimed in.
"You haven't heard all of it. Before long, All for One had amassed an army of Villains, able to exact his will whenever he wanted. The man, however, had a younger brother. This brother was frail, and Quirkless, but he had a strong sense of justice. This man was named Yoichi Shigaraki. He opposed his brother, but he had no Quirk to fight with. All for One sought out a Quirk, though, that he thought was suitable for his brother's weak body," Izuku continued.
"Get to the point, Midoriya," Aizawa said, his voice tired.
"All for One had made a fatal mistake. Yoichi did have a Quirk, though it was useless on its own. He had the power to pass on his own Quirk, and its unique nature allowed the Quirk All for One found for him, one that allowed him to stockpile power and release it, to mix into one Quirk, the ability to stockpile power and pass it on. That power became One for All! It was passed on through the generations, going through seven users before coming to be held by its most famous holder; All Might," Izuku said, seeing Aizawa's eyes go wide and the man become lost for words.
"Don't say what I think you're about to," Aizawa muttered.
"Two months ago, All Might passed on that power to me. A weird thing happened when he did, though. Instead of manifesting his Super Strength, I got Blackwhip, one of the previous users' Quirks. Then, I got Float, another of the previous users' powers. I'm going to manifest all of the previous users' Quirks, and I'm going to need your help to do that," Izuku concluded.
"What the fuck has that oaf done?" Aizawa mumbled to himself, looking at nothing.
"What? No, this was my decision. He asked me if I wanted to do it, and I said 'yes'. This is on me," Izuku said.
"Fine. Why on Earth did you do that?" Aizawa said, glaring at Izuku.
"Because I was Quirkless. I was treated horribly, when all I ever wanted to do was help people. All Might gave me that chance. So, I'm not taking any more questions about why. Let's get on task, my inability to summon One for All's powers,' Izuku said.
Aizawa clenched his fists, breathing in controlled bursts. He stayed that way for a moment, eyes closed and breathing deep.
"Alright. Talk me through what happened," Aizawa said, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Well, I was trying to use One for All, when the first user, Yoichi, appeared to me," Izuku said.
"Hold on. These past users can talk to you. Like a ghost?" Aizawa asked.
"Yeah. It's like a part of their consciousness was passed down with their Quirks, and they're able to talk to me in my mind or in the real world, though nobody will be able to see them," Izuku explained.
"Alright. Continue," Aizawa said, not even surprised at the insanity of One for All.
"Okay. So, Yoichi told me that something I was doing with One for All was wrong. I was using it in the wrong way, somehow, and that they'd taken the power away from me until I could use it in the way that it was meant to be used. I don't know how to do that, though," Izuku explained.
"So, you came to me," Aizawa said.
"Yeah," Izuku confirmed with a small laugh.
Aizawa took a moment to take in all of that information. It was clear that it had shaken his stoic mask, as he was openly disturbed by the story. He had that distant look in his eye, that he had only seen on his face when he had talked about 'Shirakumo', whoever that was. Izuku had wanted to ask about it, but he didn't think that was his place. He had left Aizawa to feel whatever he had felt.
"Tell me how you usually use One for All," Aizawa said, the name of the Quirk coming out staggered and broken, like it was an unholy curse.
"I usually focus the power in a specific spot I want to use it in. I can move it around how I want, usually, but if I get too cavalier about manipulating the power, it'll overflow and strain my body too much. I like to picture the power as a kind of warmth, like a campfire at my safe level, but it's searing hot, and it burns when I use it all at once," Izuku said.
"Right. So, you'll summon the warmth, and then pack it into, say, your arm for a punch. Then, to move, you'll move it to your legs until you need to punch again, moving the heat again in a pattern," Aizawa said, looking for affirmation.
"That, and Blackwhip is pretty similar to your binding scarf, so I could really hone my technique with your teaching," Izuku said.
"Tell me how you use your other … Quirks," Aizawa said, clearly not comfortable with the concept yet.
"I usually use Blackwhip to close the distance between me and my enemy, since I don't really have any long range attacks, and I doubt I will. I use Float to extend my airtime when jumping, or to evade when I have to. I did unlock one more Quirk, but I only used it once before all my powers were taken," Izuku explained.
"What was the Quirk?" Aizawa asked.
"It's called Danger Sense. I can sense incoming physical threats, a sharp sensation in my mind coming when Danger Sense picks something up. If the danger is extreme enough, the sensation could be strong enough to hurt me," Izuku said.
"Those are all excellent Quirks for Hero work," Aizawa said, rubbing his chin in thought.
"They weren't always," Izuku corrected.
"How so?" Aizawa asked.
"Part of One for All's main function is to stockpile power. When the Quirks of the past users were accidentally assimilated into the core, they were immersed in this stored power. They were charged by it, and now they're much more powerful than they were when their original holders had them. The fourth user, the one who originally possessed Danger Sense, was a hermit. He couldn't handle the toll Danger Sense took on his mind, so he retreated from society to stop the pain. That was in the early days of One for All. It's been charging for five or six generations now, and it's far more sensitive than it was back then," Izuku explained.
"Why the 'five or six'? I thought it was five users ago?" Aizawa asked.
"When you take into account how long All Might has been a Hero, it lines up," Izuku said, Aizawa nodding along and humming in understanding.
"Okay. I think I understand what your problem is," Aizawa said, rubbing his temples.
"You do?" Izuku asked, hopefully.
"Yes. You're keeping it too small. You're stuffing the power into one limb at a time, moving around that one part of power as you need it. It's getting shoved around too much, and that's why it's overflowing; because it naturally wants to flood your body," Aizawa said.
"Okay, so how do I fix it?" Izuku asked, making Aizawa groan.
"Tell me; what do you do when you need to punch something?" Aizawa asked.
"I move the power to my arm and punch," Izuku said, obviously knowing that already.
"Right, so what do you do when you need to dodge?" Aizawa asked again.
"I move the power to my legs and dodge," Izuku said, not understanding what Aizawa was getting at.
"What if you need to make that change in the blink of an eye; a split second that determines whether you live or die?" Aizawa asked.
"I could … do that?" Izuku said, though it was more of a question to himself. Could he?
"What if you needed to punch and dodge at the same time?" Aizawa said, starting to lose his patience.
It clicked for Izuku. He needed to have the power in both places at once, so that he could do more than one thing with One for All at one time. He needed to be able to move and attack at the same time, otherwise he'd just be a sitting duck every time he decided that he'd move the power to his arms. It was such a simple concept, he didn't know how he'd missed it.
"I'd need to have the power flowing throughout all of my body, all at the same time!" Izuku breathed, getting Aizawa to smirk.
"That's right. The way you stop it from flooding is; you let it. Not at your full power, but at your safe maximum limit. Do you think you can do that?" Aizawa said.
"I think so!" Izuku said, excited to try it out.
"Good. First, though, we need to get some breakfast. We shouldn't train on an empty stomach, now, should we?" Aizawa asked, pulling out his phone.
"No, I guess not. Are there places around here?" Izuku asked, standing up with Aizawa.
"Of course there are. What's your daily calorie intake like?" Aizawa asked, pulling up a delivery app on his phone.
"Uh, about four thousand calories," Izuku said, remembering the document All Might had written up. Izuku had to admit, the man knew how to build muscle.
"Jesus Chirst, kid. What did All Might have you doing?" Aizawa asked, typing something into his phone.
"Would you believe me if I said 'one hundred push-ups, one hundred sit-ups and a ten kilometer run every day'?" Izuku asked, smiling knowingly.
"Oh, so you can tell a joke," Aizawa said, smirking under his scarf.
"Stop bringing that up! That was a one time thing!" Izuku whined.
"I can't help it if you totally bombed telling one of the most well known jokes of all time," Aizawa said, clicking 'order' on his phone. It was a hefty amount, but he had quite a bit of money stored up from living like he did and earning Pro Hero amounts of money.
"It was one joke," Izuku complained lamely.
"Oh, really? Because I also know that you messed up your impression of All Might. I'm beginning to think you just don't have a funny bone. A broken one, at least," Aizawa laughed.
"You can't say anything if that's the case! Nemuri tells me you haven't ever tried to be funny," Izuku said.
"I told a joke once. To Mic, fifteen years ago," Aizawa said, a serious tone taking over his voice.
"Huh. What was it about?" Izuku asked.
"Clouds," Aizawa said, staring off into space.
"Hey, Aizawa? You okay?" Izuku asked after a moment.
"I'm fine. Oh, and while you're my intern, call me Eraserhead," Aizawa said, putting his phone away.
"Yes, sir!" Izuku said, smiling brightly.
The two then waited for their food to arrive, digging in once it did.
Author's Note: So, guess who's got Covid. This guy right here. I guess I'll be getting more time to write over the next week or so.