Chapter 22: A Dramatic Start
"You got the gig? Good going kid!"
"Congratulations Midoriya-san!"
"Y-Yes! It sounds w-wonderful Izuku."
Izuku bowed his head and said, "Thanks. All of you."
It was a Sunday afternoon, and Tooru and her boyfriend were having a video call with their parents. They were in a private study room at the school library. This time her father had decided to come.
Midoriya, just hours before, had been approved for his internship with Sir Nighteye. The former sidekick to All Might was quite interesting, to say the least. Despite his intimidating demeanor, he oddly valued humor as one of the highest virtues of being a hero. Mirio had suggested that all Izuku had to do was make the pro hero laugh. And he failed, well at first anyhow. The details leading up to Midoriya's acceptance into the internship were still racing in his mind, however. Something was brought up that couldn't be ignored. All he knew was that he needed to talk to All Might on Monday, that was for sure.
"And you start tonight. Talk about hitting the ground running," Tooru stated as she patted her boyfriend's back.
"Yeah, I hope I can keep up. I wasn't expecting it that quick," Izuku responded while scratching the back of his head.
Midoriya had told his girlfriend everything before starting the video chat. She was elated to hear the news and wanted it to be the start of the conversation with their folks.
Inko then stated, "Just be careful okay?"
"I agree. Just do what Sir Nighteye tells you to the T. This is about gaining experience, not more broken bones," the red-headed woman said in a strict tone.
Izuku nodded his head as he answered, "I will, I promise." However, looking at his mother's worried face, he knew she was still very hesitant about the idea.
Tooru's father then asked, "So any interest in doing an internship as well, Tooru?"
"Nah. I wanna focus on school right now. This term already looks tough going by just the first week. Maybe next year," the invisible girl replied.
Mrs. Hagakure sighed in relief before saying, "Oh thank goodness. Just focus on your studies for now sweetie. Hopefully, things die down a bit by then. I'm sure All Might's retirement has some villains more willing to commit crimes."
Midoriya felt his girlfriend tighten her grip on his hand. She then responded, "I will." Tooru then exhaled before asking, "Now anyways, would you mind telling us how your meet up with Midoriya-san went, mom? I mean we had to skip our last video chat because of it. Izuku-kun and I would have rather told you we both got our provisional hero license doing this rather than telling you over the phone."
"Oh, that? That's just between us adults I'm afraid," the red-headed woman said with a chuckle.
With a grunt, the daughter asked, "What? Why?"
"Let's just say I had to drag your drunk mother's butt home," Mr. Hagakure replied with a snicker.
Shooting a quick glare at her husband, the woman stated, "Honey!"
"What? I thought it was hilarious and precious. I mean you must have enjoyed your time with Midoriya-san a bunch to get that plastered," the father responded while shrugging.
Inko said while scratching her cheek, "It was an exciting night alright. Wasn't it Hagakure-san?"
"Awww Midoriya-chan I thought I said it was okay just to call me Mitsu-chan," the red-headed woman stated in a pout.
Mr. Hagakure then said, "See what I mean? You two really opened up to one another."
As the adults continued their discussion, Izuku was baffled by this whole exchange. What did the two women discuss precisely? He remembered Tooru's mother saying she drank when stressed. But this sounded like the two bonded quite well. Did she also drink when just being social? Inko didn't seem embarrassed about it so it must have been a meaningful discussion. Also, Mitsu? Midoriya just realized he had never been told the first names of Tooru's parents or had told her his own mother's name.
The boy noticed the conversation must have ended when he heard his girlfriend's dad said, "Well anyways, how was the first week of school between you two? Did anything else interesting occur?"
"Oh, other than the internship and the new classes nothing out of the ordinary," Tooru was quick to say.
Izuku gulped and placed both his hands on the invisible girl's palms as he said, "However something did happen to me." He noticed both Inko and Tooru tense up upon hearing this.
The younger Hagakure asked in a soft voice, "Are you sure you wanna do this?"
"They should know," the younger Midoriya replied in a somber voice.
Mitsu then asked in a confused tone, "Um, what are you two talking about?"
"The night after our exam. I got into a fight with another student," Izuku replied slowly.
Mr. Hagakure asked, "Like a fistfight?"
"An all-out fight," Midoriya responded. Both of his girlfriend's parents went wide-eyed upon hearing this. "And I was in-dorm suspension until Thursday because of it," Izuku continued to explain.
Mitsu was about to say something but her husband was quick to inject and say, "Well I'm sure you had a good reason to do such a thing. You're a smart kid from what my daughter has told me and from what I've observed. Do you mind telling us why this happened?"
The boy nodded before answering, "Of course."
The next couple of minutes the boy explained what had occurred last Sunday night. To keep the business about One for All a secret, Izuku only told of Katsuki's reason for doing this was feeling threatened by his rival's growth and feeling responsible for All Might's retirement. He occasionally looked at his mom as he talked. Judging from her face, she seemed proud, but there was still a hint of sadness. Their phone conversation about what happened on Monday had been an odd one. Izuku expected his mother to be furious considering her feelings about him continuing to go to this school. Instead, she was mostly happy to hear that things were improving between him and Bakugo as well as that All Might was the one to stop them both. Inko still thought things should have never gotten to the point that the two had to come blows to settle their differences.
"So you were bullied a lot as a kid then. It looks like things haven't changed much from my generation," Mitsu stated once Izuku had finished the story. She sighed before continuing, "I only take care of the little ones so I don't see the discrimination that would exist amongst older kids."
Mr. Hagakure put an arm around his wife to comfort her. He then looked at the younger Midoriya and said, "It was horrible seeing it while I grew up as well. Though with a quirk like mine there wasn't much I could do about it. I still hate that I didn't at least have the courage to stand up to the bullying of the quirkless when I was a kid."
Izuku then said, "I'm sorry I brought it up."
"No. I'm glad you did," Mitsu was quick to respond. She then rubbed her temple and said, "I hope for the best for you and your internship Midoriya-san. If you'll excuse me, I need a drink. " The red-headed woman got up and left the view of the camera.
Tooru's father sighed before saying, "I'll go see to her. Later kids." He then bowed his head slightly and said, "And nice seeing you again Midoriya-san. Until next time."
After the screen at the Hagakure household went black, Inko spoke up to say, "Well that was something."
Izuku turned to his girlfriend to ask, "Tooru-chan, is your mom going to be okay?"
"It's been a while since I've seen her that shook. Give her a few glasses of wine, and she'll be fine. Not to say that's a good thing," the invisible girl said with a groan. She then said, "I'm guessing this was brought up when you hung out with my mom last weekend Midoriya-san?"
"It was one of the subjects that we discussed. I considered bringing up to Izuku when she talked about the bullying, but I thought it would be better to let her gush," Inko explained.
The younger Midoriya groaned before stating, "I thought being open about this would be for the best, but in the end, this happened."
"Well I'm both surprised and glad you did it. I mean yeah my mom's past got dragged up again, but I honestly thought she would chide you for breaking curfew or something along those lines. And it's not your fault for not knowing she was bullied when she was younger," Hagakure explained while rubbing her boyfriend's back with one hand.
The older Midoriya stated, "It's good you're trying to be so open with her parents, Izuku. I'll talk with her over the phone later today to check up on her so don't worry."
"Thanks, Midoriya-san, I'm sure she'll appreciate it a lot," Tooru said in a cheerful tone.
Inko nodded before saying, "Well until next week. Stay safe, Izuku."
"Yes ma'am," Izuku replied with a firm voice.
With that, the application turned black, and Tooru closed her laptop. She then leaned forward to give Izuku a firm hug and said, "You're full of surprises Izuku."
"I'm glad I am. I want to grow as a person, Tooru, even if it seems like it takes forever," Midoriya stated with a chuckle on the last line.
"Yeah, you're slow as a sloth at times in that regard. But these things take time," Hagakure replied.
Izuku cleared his throat before asking, "Is asking about the specifics about your mom being bullied too nosey?"
"Nah you being inquisitive is very much you, no surprise there. I'll tell you some other time cause you need to prepare for your first night of the internship for now," Tooru answered before getting up and grabbing her laptop.
"You're right," Izuku responded as he got up to go. He just hoped it wasn't too long of a wait to find out.
As the two exited the library, Midoriya asked, "So your mom's name is Mitsu."
Hagakure was quick to respond, "And yours is Inko. What about it?"
Izuku asked in a confused voice, "Wait, how did you know that?"
"It came up when I was talking to your mom while you were showering during our workout date," the invisible girl replied.
"Oh right. That makes sense,"
Tooru poked at his shoulder as she asked, "You still didn't answer my question though."
"Yeah. Uh. I was just surprised that such info never came up between us," Izuku answered apologetically.
"Right. The ever-curious Izuku," Hagakure stated with a snicker. She then continued by saying, "Well since I'm sure you want to know, my dad's name is Hantou."
The boy sighed in relief upon her answering his inquiry so quickly. But then a thought crossed his mind. Izuku mulled over it for a few seconds before saying, "My dad...my dad's name is Hisashi."
Tooru stopped in her tracks upon hearing this.
Midoriya was quick to ask, "Is something wrong?"
"Nah, I'm just enjoying this more open Izuku I've been seeing in front of me as of late. You've really turned a new leaf since we came to the dorms a few weeks ago," the invisible girl explained. She then grabbed his right hand and pulled him forward while saying, "Now enough dilly-dallying, you need to get ready for tonight!"
"Talk about a crappy first day," Tooru said in a sigh through the phone.
It was late Monday afternoon, and Izuku was walking back to the dorms. He was coming back from meeting up with All Might, and now that he had all the facts straight to speak to his girlfriend about everything.
Midoriya replied, "Yeah. Talk about not living up to my promise to save everyone."
For Izuku's first night, Sir Nighteye had him go out with Mirio as surveillance. The pro hero explained that they were currently in the middle of an investigation of a yakuza group called the Eight Precepts of Death. They were in shambles before but recently started to grow in power under its new leader named Chisaki. The critical interest, however, was that they had met with the Villain Alliance not long ago. And just to Midoriya's luck, he ran into the leader of the organization when a young girl named Eri bumped into him. She was scared and bandaged. It was apparent something sinister was afoot, but even though Izuku tried to keep her away, once Chisaki showed his murderous intent, Eri went back to the villain willingly to save her would-be rescuers.
"But even Togata-senpai said it was best not to pursue. You could have put both you and that girl in danger if you had," Hagakure tried to argue.
"I know, but it still leaves a sour taste in my mouth that she's still out there suffering to who knows what," Izuku stated with disgust. He knew she was right though. Even Sir Nighteye said it was too hasty to try and engage him as it would be too easy for him to slip away for good if they failed to capture him that night. Midoriya felt Togata wanted to do the same but was just following his mentor's orders.
There was silence between the two for a few seconds before Tooru asked, "Are you still angry with Yagi-sensei?"
"No, he answered enough for me, and I understand his logic why he did it," Izuku replied. He then groaned before saying, "But yesterday and today have been rough for me. I might turn in early tonight." Midoriya was quite distraught at All Might earlier though. He didn't think he would ever have this emotion directed at his idol, but he couldn't ignore what he learned on Sunday.
While attempting a second test to be for the internship with Sir Nighteye, Midoriya learned a heart-stopping truth. Togata at one time was considered to be the All Might's successor. The pro hero rejected Izuku as the one Toshinori had chosen, but he did accept the student in the end for the internship once he noticed that the boy had preserved all of All Might merchandise despite the fight they had in his office. This got a laugh out of the pro hero at the ridiculousness of it all. Still, Midoriya figured it was only because Sir Nighteye was hoping that his new intern would see Mirio's outstanding fortitude as a hero and give up One for All to the senior.
Having learned this though, Izuku felt compelled to ask All Might why he had left him in the dark about Mirio and Sir Nighteye after class. The former pro hero's answer was merely that he thought his pupil wouldn't benefit from knowing. But Yagi revealed much after that. His push to continue to be the Symbol of Peace despite his injuries from his first battle with All for One was the basis of why Sir Nighteye quit as his sidekick. The pro hero couldn't bring himself to support his idol's refusal to retire a hero despite his failing health and quirk. Another reason though was due to Sir Nighteye's quirk. Foresight, the ability to see into the future to anyone he can touch and have contact with. Once a day it allows him to see the exact future of an individual for an hour from a first-person perspective, but it also allows him to see critical events of a person's far future from a third-person perspective. Sir Nighteye had seen that All Might would meet a grim demise battling a villain in about six to seven years, which meant if true it would happen this or next year.
The prediction that All Might was destined to die soon hit Midoriya like a brick wall. Yagi, however, stated that he believed when he started his fight against All for One, that was supposed to be his predicted death. But then Izuku and company arrived to save Katsuki. It reminded Toshinori to live for the future to be there for his successor no matter what. So he pushed himself to the limit, saying goodbye to his quirk to bring down All for One. All Might stated he would continue to struggle against his predicted fate no matter what it was destined to be.
While comforted and inspired by his idol's speech, Izuku still wasn't convinced that the omen had been broken or not and suggested his mentor see Sir Nighteye again to be sure. Toshinori though was still hesitant about meeting his former sidekick again. Midoriya eventually gave up on that endeavor but was at least satisfied by what he learned.
"Well if you wanna talk more about this I'm always free," Tooru stated with confidence in her tone.
"Of course. And thanks," Izuku replied.
The two said their goodbyes just as Midoriya had arrived at the dorms. As he walked in, he took note of who was in the common room. Ida and Sato were busy baking in the kitchen. Shoji and Mineta were observing the two cooking at a dining table not far away. Kaminari, Jiro, and Koda were on the far side of the room on some couches chatting. Izuku was glad to see Koji become more and more sociable as the days passed by. Either way, he made his way towards the two boys and stopped in front of the table and asked, "Any idea what they are baking?"
"Cookies," Shoji stated bluntly.
Mineta groaned before saying, "Man, I can't figure Sato-kun out. What happened yesterday makes no sense."
This statement reminded Izuku of Rikido's supposed date with Itsuka yesterday. He didn't know how it went as he was too busy with the internship. Also, the subject never came up during lunch. Midoriya then asked, "Do you know how Sato-kun's meeting with Kendo-san went?"
"Turned down," Shoji responded.
Mineta rubbed his temple as he said, "And Sato-kun had a smile on his face when he told me. I just don't get it. Being friend-zoned is like the worst thing ever."
Izuku took a second to process this before saying, "Wait, what?"
Mezo crossed his multiple arms as he said, "Mineta-kun I believe being friend-zoned would require Sato-kun also to be interested in Kendo-san. He stated as much he just wanted to convince her about having joint activity between our class and 1B."
"Regardless, a girl telling you she's not interested in you romantically has to be devastating. Yet he's smiling like all went well and is baking cookies for her," Minoru pouted.
Midoriya guessed Mineta had a lot of experience in rejection for him to have such a view. Either way, this did make him ponder why Sato was in such a good mood despite his earlier behavior of being scared to screw things up. Izuku then asked, "So did he at least convince Kendo-san to do the joint activity?"
"Yes, though he didn't give us any details on what or when it would be. I'm guessing he wants it to be a secret for the surprise factor," Mezo explained.
Now Midoriya was even more curious upon hearing this. He then said, "Thanks for the info you two." Izuku walked forward to the kitchen as Ida put a tray into an oven.
Tenya then asked, "So how long do they need to bake for?"
"About fifteen minutes but it's always good to spot check before pulling them out. Sometimes they might need another minute or two," Rikido explained.
"Thanks, I'll clean up then while we wait," Ida stated while giving a salute.
Sato chuckled as he gave a half-hearted salute back to the class president. He then looked over to the new arrival and said, "What's up Midoriya-kun? Need something?"
"I heard how yesterday went," Izuku answered. He then took a deep breath before continuing with, "I was just wondering how you're holding up considering what happened."
"Ah, it went great. The food was good, the motorcycles Kendo-san showed me were cool, and we came up with a fun activity I think a lot of people between our classes would love to do," Rikido responded with joy in his tone.
Midoriya then asked, "Motorcycles?"
"Yeah, Kendo-san likes to hang out at that particular kaiten-sushi place because it has a lot of customers that drive-in on their motorbikes. She's a huge fan of them even though she can't ride one yet," Sato answered as he scratched the back of his head.
Midoriya nodded as he said, "I see." He then took a moment before asking, "But what about Kendo-san only wanting to be your friend?"
"Oh, that? It's fine, in fact, I much prefer this outcome," Rikido stated as a wide grin came across his face. He continued by explaining, "I'm not ready to have a girlfriend just yet. And besides, I think Kendo-san is way out of my league, you know. I'm just happy to have a new friend from class 1B."
Midoriya was surprised to hear how well Sato was taking it. It made him think about how he would have taken such news from his first date with Hagakure. Would he be relieved that she just wanted to be friends? Or would he have felt terrible for not being able to satisfy her? Regardless, Izuku was glad everything went the way it did. He had a wonderful girlfriend, and she was a catalyst to him making all his other friends.
"You okay Midoriya-kun? You're mumbling," Sato stated as he put a hand on Midoriya's shoulder.
Midoriya was quick to respond, "Ah sorry. Just got lost in my thoughts there." He then cleared his throat after Rikido removed his hand and asked, "Do you mind telling me why Kendo-san turned you down?"
Sato shrugged before saying, "She just said I wasn't her type, though I was the first one she considered wanting to be friends with afterward. So it's something at least."
Midoriya then asked, "The first one? As in out of everyone else she's ever dated?"
"Yeah, lucky me huh? She told me lots of guys and girls have approached her as I have before. Kendo-san told me spent so much time studying in her previous school she never tried dating. She wanted to give it a try once she was accepted into U.A. and grew to like dating people even if none of them interested her in the end," Rikido explained.
Izuku wondered, just how many people had Itsuka dated? She did seem quite popular amongst her classmates the few times he had seen her. Midroiya then said, "Okay then. Well, I'm glad everything went well despite what happened." He took a step forward before asking, "So you two did think of an activity to do between our classes?"
Rikido nodded before responding, "Yep but Kendo-san and I have some things to work on before it's set in stone. I also need to ask Yaoyorozu-chan for some help. She'll be our best bet in getting Aizawa-sensei to approve of what we want to do."
Going from what Shoji said earlier, Midoriya didn't think asking what the activity was going entailed was worth it and instead stated, "Well I'm glad everything worked out in your favor."
"Thanks but I should be thanking you and Yaoyorozu-chan for all the advice you gave. It really helped to get through the day," Sato stated while giving a thumbs up.
"No problem, happy I could help," Izuku replied as he scratched the back of his head. He then looked over at the oven and Tenya washing dishes before asking, "So what's with the cookies? Mineta-kun mentioned you are baking them for Kendo-san."
Rikido responded, "She invited me to hang out with some other 1B students this weekend, and I wanted to try baking her some coffee spice cookies since she likes black coffee. I've never done this recipe before, so I wanna perfect it before Sunday, and besides, I'm sure our classmates won't mind the extra treats even if imperfect as I experiment."
Ida then spoke up and said, "Once I saw Sato-kun getting ready to bake I asked him if I could help. Uraraka-chan is a great teacher and all, but it wouldn't hurt to broaden my horizons when it comes to cooking."
"If you need any tips or just wanna help me bake anything else, just ask," Sato responded with a smile.
"You got it, boss," Ida replied, again saluting despite his wet gloves from washing the dishes.
Rikido leaned towards Izuku and whispered, "I have no idea why he's doing this."
Izuku tapped his chin and wondered if Tenya was acting like this because of how Ochako taught him. Speaking of her, she wasn't in class today, and neither was Tsuyu or Eijiro. Midoriya guessed it had to do with the internship with Ryukyu she mentioned on Saturday for the girls. But what about Kirishima? Which pro hero did he end up working with? Either way, thinking of Uraraka made him curious about how Ida's visit to her place went. But before he could say anything about this to anyone he heard a voice behind him.
"Izuku-kun, are you ready to head to the cafeteria for some dinner?"
It was Tooru, and beside her was Momo.
"Ah sure, just let me put away my backpack, and we'll head out," Izuku replied.
"I'll join you all when I finish here," Tenya stated with a wave.
Hagakure was quick to say, "Well hurry up you two! I hear today they are serving some more caramel cookies and I want the fresh ones!"
Midoriya stared at his phone as he laid in bed. Dinner was over, and he was considering going to bed early. But Izuku was still curious if everything was alright with Mashirao. Again his study sessions with Momo didn't come up during the meal with his friends. And neither participant was acting any different for him to tell.
For the last ten minutes, since he got into his room, Midoriya had been pondering if he should text Ojiro. And just as he placed his phone down cause he decided it was best to wait for his tailed friend to speak up about it, the phone vibrated.
Lion: Hey you busy?
Just my luck, Izuku chuckled to himself before writing a response.
All Might: Nah was about to go to bed, but I'm open to chat.
Lion: Ah, yesterday was a bit rough for you wasn't it?
Midoriya had told his friend most of what went down Sunday night. The only detail he left out beside the obvious was Sir Nighteye's quirk, as it was a well-kept secret due to the nature of its power.
All Might: It was, but all I need is some extra rest.
All Might: So what's up?
Lion: Well thankfully yesterday's study session went well.
All Might: You didn't study on Yaoyorozu-chan's bed did you?
Lion: Thank the stars no. We worked on her balcony, even if it was a bit cramped since she has a telescope there.
Does Momo like to stargaze? The thought intrigued Izuku.
All Might: Nothing out of the ordinary?
Lion: Nope, a little chat here and there but nothing outside what usually happens at our meals together.
It took a few moments for Midoriya to respond as he was curious at what Ojiro felt about this.
All Might: Did you want something to happen?
It was about a minute before a reply came.
Lion: I'm glad it went off without a hitch. I dreaded that it would be super awkward or something along those lines, but it wasn't.
Izuku felt that was logical thought to have, but before he could respond back, another message came.
Lion: But the catch is she wants this to become a thing. So every Sunday.
Lion: And I said yes.
All Might: Well that's good. You must have learned a lot if you want to keep going.
Lion: I did.
Lion: Is it wrong that a part of me wants this to go somewhere?
Midoriya thought long and hard about what to say. This instance was the first indication that Ojiro had stated he had any interest in Yaoyorozu. In the past, it was all just him thinking of himself as not good enough for her and not understanding why she would be interested in him at all. Eventually, Izuku thought up an answer.
All Might: I mean there's nothing wrong in hoping she might be interested in you. Keep going to the study sessions and see if she starts dropping hints or not.
Lion: Thanks, but I guess I'm a little greedy in that I want to know sooner. The unknown of this all is eating away at me.
Izuku had trouble thinking about how to follow up this statement. But then another text came.
Lion: You think asking your girlfriend to find out for me would be too pushy?
All Might: I think it would be. I think it might be too obvious why she would ask too.
Midoriya felt sorry to be blunt but didn't think this was the right way to find this out. He then thought of a better option, one he would never do, but Ojiro might.
All Might: You could always just ask Yaoyorozu-chan yourself.
Lion: Yeah I've thought about it. I mean I'd send a text to her right now if I wanted to, but I'm afraid of the reaction if it's a no.
Lion: Like I'd be okay if it were no, cause at least I would finally know the answer. But I wonder if that would make our friendship weird.
Izuku thought back to the advice he gave to Tenya during their sleepover before the summer. It inspired him to make the next message.
All Might: Better to have asked than never know. The response if she says no can't be as bad as whatever is bothering you to find this out.
Lion: Right.
Another minute passed before a new text came.
Lion: I've made up my mind. I'm going to do a few more meetups with her then pop the question if it feels right.
Lion: Sorry for my rant keeping you up. Have a good night's sleep.
All Might: I'm happy to help. However, if this ends up going on just know I'll be there to fall back on if you need it.
All Might: See you tomorrow.
Lion: You're too good for me Midoriya-kun. Later.
Izuku set his phone down and walked over to turn off his light. He then laid on his bed and pulled up the covers. Midoriya wondered if everything would be okay between his two friends. He hoped from the bottom of his heart whatever happened that they would all still be at the very least friends at the end of it. Sleep then claimed Izuku as his thoughts continued to wander.
"Oh. So everyone agreed to the mock team concept? That's good to hear," All Might stated with a grin on his face.
It was Wednesday after school. The teacher and student were again in Gamma gym.
"Yes sir, I'm sorry I didn't bring it up on Monday," Izuku responded while lowering his head.
Toshinori shook his head before saying, "I don't blame you for not bringing it up. We had quite the conversation that day." He then crossed his arms before saying, "Regardless, now you just need to prove to Eraserhead that you can handle school and your internship at the same time. If all goes well, he'll approve of this special training in no time."
Midoriya nodded upon hearing this. He was excited his idea had reached this far considering how far-fetched it seemed when it first started forming in his mind.
"Well then with that out of the way, we can focus on training. Today though I want to start with something new," Yagi stated. He then clenched both his fists and said, "We're gonna focus on raising your maximum output."
The boy tilted his head before asking, "But I thought you wanted me to focus on refining 8% for now." It still needed work, he thought.
"And we will continue with that in due time, but I want to see if we can push your ceiling. Having a stable base is good and all, but it will always be beneficial to have a stronger boost for certain situations, even if you can only maintain it for a few seconds," the former pro hero explained. He then reached out and put a hand on Izuku's shoulder and said, "Now I want you to raise One for All until simple movements breaks your Full Cowl. Understood?"
Midoriya was quick to respond with, "Got it."
For the next couple of minutes, the boy would activate his quirk and little by little raise the bar above 8% Full Cowl. Each time he would see if he could move and Full Cowl remained active. As he increased its power output, the more painful it became. 10%. 12%. 15%. 18%. But then came the next increase. The pain was almost unbearable for Midoriya, and his bones felt on the verge of breaking. He then took a step forward after maintaining the form for a few seconds, and Full Cowl instantly dissipated and fell to his knees.
All Might excitedly stated, "That's the ticket kid. Now, how much power was that?"
"About 20%," Izuku groaned in response.
"That's a considerable increase. Let's work from there. Now try it again and maintain the form longer. Even if it's just a step or two," Toshinori instructed.
After a couple of attempts, Midoriya was able to keep up 20% for a couple of seconds walking at a snail's pace. His teacher considered it enough for now and then switched the lesson back to improving 8% Full Cowl.
"Now that you are already exhausted this will enable you to refine further your base of 8% than if you started fresh," Yagi explained as he rummaged through a duffel bag he had brought. He then pulled out some tennis balls before saying, "Now I'm going to throw these in any direction I choose, and you must catch them before they hit the ground. After that, you must stay in the spot you caught it until I throw the next. And every time you miss, fifty push-ups and curl-ups."
Izuku slowly nodded. Today's lesson was becoming much harder than any of his others with All Might.
About a half-hour later a collapsed Midoriya was on the ground surrounded by dropped tennis balls.
"You did well my boy," the former pro hero stated as he knelt before his student.
"But I couldn't catch any near the end," Izuku said with a groan. The exercises with each dropped ball were what eventually caused him to collapse.
All Might offered the boy a hand as he said, "And that's the point. To push you to want to catch them even more. Besides, it's the first day of the training regime. You'll get better as we do this more."
Midoriya grabbed his idol's hand and was helped to his feet.
Yagi then offered him some bottled water before saying, "This should be enough for today. But I want us to continue meeting like this every other day for a little while."
This intrigued Izuku. So far they had only been meeting to train once or twice a week since coming to the dorms. But this increase in workload and frequency had Midoriya wondering if there was a reason for it all. He then asked, "Yagi-sensei, is there any reason the training is stepping up so quickly."
The skeleton of a man groaned slightly before rubbing his left shoulder. He then replied, "I guess telling you now rather than later wouldn't hurt." He took a moment before explaining, "Sir Nighteye called me Tuesday night and said something big involving his hero's office is going to happen soon. He wouldn't give me the exact details though. No doubt you might get involved so I wanted to try to prepare you for whatever that might be. Whatever it is, it must be serious for him to call me. We barely talk to one another as is."
The boy nodded as he said, "I understand." He wondered, had Nighteye obtained more information about Chisaki?
"Good. Now we have to get going. A senior class is scheduled to use the gym in a few minutes," All Might stated. He then sighed before continuing with, "It's getting harder and harder to find time for just the two of us here."
This prompted Izuku to ponder other places the two could train in secrecy as he exited the building. Eventually, a thought came, perhaps Mei would know. She had mentioned before she would test her "babies" outside sometimes, but where could that be? Midoriya decided he would send her a text to her later as he started walking back to the dorms.
Izuku was walking back exhausted from another lesson with All Might. But thoughts of that morning were what he was focusing on at the moment.
It was a Friday afternoon, and Midoriya along with Uraraka, Asui, and Kirishima had been excused from classes for the day. That morning each had been called to Sir Nighteye's hero office. The students were surprised to find famous and local heroes there waiting. Even Gran Torino and Eraserhead were there as well.
But the reason for the meeting? The former sidekick of All Might was requesting a team up to take down Chisaki, and his organization as new facts came to light.
Izuku had learned that Eijiro was interning under a pro-hero named Fat Gum on Tuesday. It was hard to miss him being in the news at what he did. Kirishima had stopped some thugs that were using quirk enhancing drugs but a quirk canceling drug as well. Tamaki Amajiki had been shot by the latter which prevented him from activating his quirk until the next day. Eraserhead explained that unlike his Erasure quirk which only stopped the quirk factor from functioning, the drug damaged it.
Kirishima was shot too by the drug but was able to stop it from puncturing him because of obtaining a new form from his hardening quirk. Through research and connections, Nighteye had determined both the drug and thugs that had been captured had connections with a middleman organization that The Eight Precepts of Death had dealings with.
The drug itself was later found out to be made out of human blood and other cells. Which meant, in theory, it was made from someone with a quirk that could destroy other quirks. And the connection to Chisaki was developing with his quirk, Overhaul. Which he also went by name. This sinister quirk allowed him to dismantle and reassemble anything he touched. Eri's bandages now had an explanation. She was constantly being broken down to make the drug and then put back together for future use.
The thought still made Midoriya's stomach lurch. He had to do something and soon he would.
Nighteye called upon all the pro heroes he invited to work with him to find the location of Chisaki's hideout. There they could rescue Eri and stop production of the drug before it could be weaponized and possibly given to the general villian populace but more concerning, the Villain Alliance.
All Izuku had to do was wait and hope the pro heroes and police found the hideout soon. But the kicker was this was all top secret.
Eraserhead had told all the first years, in private after the meeting, that they were to keep quiet about the plan to their classmates. He initially wanted to cancel the internships altogether because of the possible involvement of the Villain Alliance, but then he remembered what happened the last time Izuku had been denied the chance to rescue someone. Shota didn't want his student to try and act alone once more. According to Sir Nighteye the relationship between the Eight Precepts of Death and the Villian Alliance was shaky at best, so the chances of them being at the hideout were low. If they were present, Eraserhead told the students to avoid them and focus only on recusing Eri. The pros would handle the Villain Alliance.
Midoriya knew the importance of keeping it a secret. While alone with Aizawa, he promised to not tell anyone, even Yagi and Hagakure. But it didn't mean Izuku wasn't uncomfortable about it. Training with Toshinori was hard on him because of it. And now he has to deal with saying nothing to Tooru as well.
Midoriya entered the dorm common room to mostly silence. It was dinner time, and his training had run late but he didn't have the appetite. In addition, he received a text from Hagakure to meet him back in the dorms. The reason the boy's training was late was due to the location of it. After sending a text, he learned Hatsume's test area was a forest in the far back of the school. All Might and his student spent some time finding a perfect spot to do the training, so it was a while before they could start.
Almost everyone had gone to dinner at the cafeteria it seemed. But Izuku was surprised to find Tooru and Fumikage chatting on some sofas to his right. Both quickly noticed his entrance and his girlfriend was quick to walk over and hug him.
"There you are. Tokoyami-kun and I have been waiting forever for you," Hagakure stated in a pouty tone.
"Sorry I lost track at the workout gym. I noticed your text a bit too late," Midoriya explained. His girlfriend knew what he was really doing, but he couldn't blow his cover in front of Tokoyami. Izuku then asked, "So what's this about?"
Fumikage cleared his throat before saying, "That's on me. I wanted both of you to accompany me to my room."
Before the boy could ask why, Tooru was quick to say, "He feels bad that he was one of the few of our classmates to not showcase his room on our first night here."
"Indeed. Though it would be most embarrassing for everyone to see it at once," Tokoyami stated as he crossed his arms.
Midoriya then asked, "Are we the first to be shown?"
"No. I asked Shoji-kun and Koda-kun to come first. You two seemed like the natural choice after those two," Fumikage answered.
"Now enough chit-chat let's get to the goods," Tooru said eagerly.
The trio then made their way up to the second floor of the boy's side. Tokoyami halted in front of his door and took a deep breath before opening.
Besides some dimly lit candles, the room was almost pitch black; even the windows had been draped closed. To the left was a dresser that had odd knickknacks scattered about. Above that was various gothic art in frames. To the right was his bed, which had a sheathed sword and shield at the foot of the bed. Dark hoodies were hung above the bed, and some odd skull with horns hung further behind his bed. The coolest thing to Izuku, however, was what was at Fumikage's desk. A very fancy chair, which looked fit for royalty, was in front of the desk.
While Hagakure looked at what was on top of Tokoyami's dresser, Midoriya immediately went to inspect the chair up close. Even in the darkness, he could tell it was mostly red with a golden sheen along the sides.
Tooru then spoke up, "So are you embarrassed by showing this cause it shows your interest in this stuff."
"Yes," was all the host could say, in a weak voice. "People tend to think the worst about me when they see stuff like this. At least in my previous schools," he explained.
Izuku then asked, "Where did you get all of this?"
"Mostly from my grandmother. Her quirk is the most similar to mine and knew having such objects in my possession would spur thoughts of darkness which empowers my quirk. You could say that even in my room I'm reinforcing Dark Shadow," Fumikage answered with a rare, for him, cheerfulness.
Tooru stated, "Your grandma sounds really cool."
"The coolest," Tokoyami said with a smirk.
The two continued examining the room for the next minute. Izuku's next focus was the sword and shield at the foot of the bed. Tooru's was the various keychains that hung above the dresser.
The invisible girl then spoke up and asked, "Hey Tokoyami-kun you got into an internship too right?"
Fumikage gave a single nod before saying, "Yes, though I haven't told anyone about it yet. How do you know?"
"Oh, I asked Aizawa-sensei yesterday if anyone else had obtained an internship in our class. He was surprised that you hadn't told anyone," Tooru answered.
The host scratched the back of his head before saying, "Well it's mostly because of who I'm under. I don't want to draw attention to myself."
Izuku then asked, "Is it because he or she is a popular hero?"
Tokoyami sighed before saying, "Yeah, he's very popular. I'm interning under Hawks."
Midoriya's eyes went wide upon hearing this, and he shuddered as he said, "T-The. The number t-two ranked h-hero in all of J-Japan!?"
"Well, technically he's still ranked 3rd until the next Hero Billboard Chart at the end of the year," Fumikage replied.
"Still that's impressive to attract his attention to want him to work under you. Plus he's a real cutie to boot," Tooru giggled.
The green-haired teen was quick to whine as he said, "T-Tooru, what do you mean?"
Hagakure walked over and playfully poked her boyfriend's cheek as she responded with, "What? I can have a cute boyfriend and still find guys way out of my league dreamy can't I?"
As Izuku fumbled to make sense of his girlfriend's teasing, Fumikage said, "I don't see how my mentor being, as you say, 'cute' is meaningful to me but I'll have to infer that as a compliment Hagakure-chan."
Tooru quickly raised an arm as she replied, "Any time!"
Tokoyami then took a deep breath before saying, "Well, it's been fun, but I would like to retire before the others get back. I have a few more I want to ask to come but this is enough for today."
The guests said their thanks and goodbyes before leaving the room.
After the door shut, the two walked down the hallway just in front of Izuku's room.
Tooru then asked, "Hey before you go, what happened today? Yaoyorozu-chan mentioned to me she saw you left with some others in our class before most of us even got up."
Ugh, just my luck, Izuku thought. Trying to play it cool he quickly responded with, "Oh just internship stuff."
"Well obviously. You and the others skipped classes for the day," Hagakure replied.
Midoriya held back a groan. He wondered, what now? He had been working so hard to be truthful about everything with his girlfriend as of late, but now he couldn't say a peep about what was going on. After a few more moments of thought, Izuku said, "I'm sorry Tooru, but I'm not allowed to say."
"I'm guessing because you were told not to," Hagakure stated as she crossed her arms.
Izuku then gave a swift nod before saying, "I'm not even allowed to tell Yagi-sensei."
"Sounds serious," Tooru responded. She took a step forward before asking, "Well whatever it is; you stay safe you hear?"
"I promise, and if everything goes well, I can tell you everything in a week or so," Midoriya explained before leaning forward and giving a kiss.
Once the kiss ended the invisible girl said, "Alright, I hope for the best. Oh and nice aim this time. You're improving."
The two then shared a laugh before hugging and wishing each other a good night.
Well, at least this chapter is two days late compared to five days like last time. : /
To tell you the truth it's 100% my fault. Had I better managed my time it would be no problem. But you see I got a PS4 on the 16th as a gift to myself for my birthday which was on the 9th. For the longest time, I've been a PC Nintendo gamer (like 20 years). But I finally decided it would be nice to broaden my horizons a bit. I got Bloodborne, God of War, and Persona 5. But man Persona 5 has consumed my soul since I started playing it. I got a decent way into it (just completed the 4th palace), so the addiction has subsided a bit and shouldn't affect the next chapter's release.
Oh, and another milestone was reached recently. Over 500 favorites! Wooo!
Anywho on to the chapter itself. Some of you might think it was mostly filler, and I get it, but this was mainly to start new/update some plotlines before we do the jump ahead to the aftermath of the Overhaul raid in Chapter 23. It's a lot to skip over, and I'm hoping I can summarize the entire thing in a few paragraphs. Again, no one wants to have whole chapters dedicated to retelling manga events with only a few changes. And at the moment there's only one change I want to make.
Sato's plotline is sort of a change of pace from my other handling of relationships so far in this fic. In reality, the first girl you date, especially at this age, usually doesn't work out or the relationship doesn't last long. So I thought him becoming just Kendo's friend would be more interesting, plus there's still the joint activity the two are trying to set up. It will occur sometime while I'm covering the School Festival arc. But I still have plans for Sato to hook up with someone, but it will be a minor ship that won't get that much focus. I only have planned five ships in this fic at the moment, as any more would be hard to balance even though two of them will be minor.
It was nice to use Tokoyami again. I needed to eventually have him reveal his room to his classmates for a future plot point, and here it felt right to do so since we haven't seen him since chapter 16. I was tempted to have a Hatsume scene but decided it would be best to do what I wanted with her after the Internship arc.
Night Foliage finished editing chapter 11. It is now 10,791 words and had 116 edits.
I got a lot of commissions done since the last chapter. First was some art of my OC renditions of Tooru and Mashirao's parents done by BNHA-bitch. They were done in the same way the character sheets were done in the manga, and they turned out great. I ended up making some changes to them, and I've made several updates to the chapters to reflect this. Tooru's mom had her hair made less curly, and I toned down her attitude while around her husband. Mashirao's dad was given brown hair and a thicker tail, and his mom now has blonde hair. I will, hopefully later this year, do the same character sheets for Momo's parents and her head butler. The second piece is the new cover art for Cubicity that will be updated in July to celebrate this fic turning a year old. It was made by 8bitribbit, and the colors are gorgeous on it. To see all this art again, it's always on my Tumblr.
Speaking of Tumblr, an update on my posts is in order. Post 17 goes over birthdays for June and has some Tooru birthday art posted after it. Post 18 goes over my thoughts on the School Festival Arc and my preview of the Pro Hero Arc. And finally, Post 19 goes in-depth at my decisions regarding Tooru and Mashirao's OC parents.
Before I go, there was something interesting that popped up at the end of chapter 188 of the manga. It involved a short preview of a new spin-off series called My Heroine Academia that will focus mainly on the girls in 1A. The format looks similar to the SMASH! series, which was another MHA spinoff, in fact it is comedy based. It shows Tooru's parents, being invisible like her. Now, this had me consider some things. Is this canon? SMASH! it wasn't as it had things like Uraraka getting super strong playing video games, Bakugo escaping the villains by winning the board game Life, and Kirishima getting turned to a pile of dust by Bakugo going overboard with his quirk. If it's a parody/gag spinoff like SMASH! then Tooru's parents being invisible like her was just a gag. But then it also made me consider. What if it was canon anyway? Tooru was created for laughs as Hori said in her character sheet, cause lol always naked when she has to be a heroine. So her parents also being used for a joke isn't that far stretched. Her intended purpose was a joke so it's hard for me to be angry she gets sidelined for laughs. Do I still wish she gets some development? Of course. Just thought I should open up about what I felt about this.
All I have left to say is Chapter 23 will be released on July 23rd, which will be Cubicity's first-year anniversary!