Chapter 12: Midoriya Izuku XII

A/N: Time for some in-universe explanations for the uncanny feats! Stain moving super fast or Toga's disappearing act? I'll be going into those things a bit. Plus… some other stuff. (Hint: More conversations!)

Tomura stands there, staring. Izuku... does the same. The two of them stand their ground, looking each other in the eye. No one says anything, nobody moves. All there is is the silence of the bar and the dreary darkness that accompanies it.

But eventually, Tomura hums. He doesn't follow it up with anything though; merely continues to stare, as if pondering… something.

"What?" Izuku eventually voices out, crossing his arms.

Tomura smirks, his expression finally changing. "I might've misjudged you."

Izuku snorts. "Really?"

"Tell me. This something that you go through everyday? You know." He does a waving sort of gesture around his ear.

Izuku shrugs. "In a way. I suppose that this is just the worse it's been… Probably has to do with the fact that I actually acted back for once."

Tomura looks unconvinced. "You? Engaging in a counterstrike? I don't believe you."

Izuku sighs at the fact that his bluff was so easily seen through. "Okay, fine. So maybe I just insulted him—"

"And he did that to you!?" Tomura asks, near exuberant.

Izuku doesn't let Tomura's excitement get to him; he knows that's just how Tomura is by this point. "He did," Izuku replies. "He's just like that."

"Must have some piss-poor mini-ego then," Tomura mutters.

"That much I can agree on," Izuku chortles.

"Don't care." Tomura nods. "But… Tell me. You essentially got your father killed because of your quirk. And your mother hates you with passion now because of it. And you're bullied at school everyday because all the other kids don't like you for being different. Yeah?"

There's a slight pause.

"If you leave out a few details, sure," Izuku eventually scoffs. He leans back in his seat, eyes never leaving Tomura's form."So you've actually done your homework. Call me surprised. And what? Is that supposed to impress me? Unnerve me?"

"Just getting some facts straight," Tomura says. "Wanted to hear it straight from you."

"What difference does it even make?"

"Your eyes."

Izuku narrows the organs in question in return. "And what about them?"

Tomura bares his teeth. "I can see the anger hidden there. The unbridled rage, the utter hatred, the want for things to just change. The desire to dismantle society to its roots; to destroy it!"

Izuku takes a moment before he can respond. "Where's all of this coming from, exactly? A sudden speech? Or would it be more like a rally for one person? Point is, not like you at all."

"No, it isn't," Tomura admits. "But you've caught my attention finally. Only took you a few years, but I'll give you credit for holding out for so long.."

"Okay. What's the point of all this?" Izuku presses forward. "Because right now I find the way you're acting disorienting. As is, I find it more likely that you're someone with a shapeshifting quirk rather than the real Tomura."

Tomura rolls his eyes. "I just think that you're stupid."

Izuku leans forward. "Excuse me?"

"You have a quirk that's more than you show. Why hide that fact?"

"I doubt that you'd understand."

"Try me."

Izuku sighs. "It's for the benefit of others," he replies. "People in similar situations as me. If I didn't take the brunt of the abuse then—"

"Like I said, stupid." Tomura shakes his head. "Honestly. What have they done for you? Those people that you're 'protecting' out of the 'kindness of your heart?' Huh? Jack shit I bet."

"And like I said, you wouldn't understand. But that doesn—"

"Well fuck 'em, then!" Tomura exclaims. "Watch out for yourself! They've done nothing for you! Why should you care about them?"

"Ignoring people in trouble isn't something that a her—"

"Unbelievable," Tomura interrupts. "You still want to be a fucking hero despite all that? Despite knowing what heroes are really like? What people are like?"

"And what if I do?"

Tomura very nearly begins the process of ripping his hair out, only barely stopping himself. "I can't believe that Sensei wants your goody two-shoes ass here."

Izuku chuckles. "Nothing that you can do about now, is there?"

Tomura tilts his head. He keeps the position for a few moments. Then, his irritation melts away, a smug grin filling his face. "Of course there is."

"Really now? And what's that?"

"If you're going to be sticking around, you need to work on some things. Like fighting. As of right now, I doubt that you'd last one second against those pathetic 'bullies' of yours."

"Really now? And what is it that you think I'm doing with Kurogiri then?"

"Special techniques, combo moves, fancy stuff that appeases wiseass pretentious people like you," Tomura lists off. "But you're still slacking on other things, like increasing your stats. Things like your agility."

Izuku adopts a blank look, deliberately ignoring the former part of Tomura's spiel. "My agility."

"No point working on strength or constitution; too scrawny and weak."

Izuku shoves himself out from his seat upon hearing that. "Hey!"

"Your intellect seems pretty high, so no need to work on that," Tomura continues. "Wisdom is… questionable. But fine. And… that's all."

Izuku scrunches up his face in thought. "I'm not exactly experienced with your… vocabulary, but aren't you… forgetting something?"

Tomura lets out a growl. "Who the hell cares about talking skill?! You need to crush your enemies, not do some talk-no-jutsu bullshit!""

Izuku — quite diligently — backs off upon that outburst. He clears his throat. "Right. So what? You're saying that you have all the answers here about that?"

"I do," Tomura responds rather calmly, his previous anger gone. "Let me show you." He turns and gestures to follow.

Izuku hops out of his seat to do so; they don't move much, just to a more open space of the bar. Tomura gestures for Izuku to stay, while Tomura himself walks a bit more. In just a few seconds, the two of them are facing each other down.

"Let's see…" Tomura begins. "I want you… to beat me."

Izuku raises his eyebrow in question. "Like, in a fight?"

"Yes, in a freaking fight! Sheesh," Tomura shakes his head. He starts putting some gloves on before continuing. "I win if I get into a position where I can disintegrate your face off. And since this is your first time, I'll give you a handicap. Your quirk, you can use it. But nothing else — no power ups or items or shit."

"A handicap, really?" Izuku questions, ignoring the latter stipulations. After all, what exactly counts as a power up in this situation? Trigger? And what items? The chairs? My shoes?

Tomura smirks, getting into a ready position. "You'll need it."

"Fine," Izuku nods, following Tomura's example. "Begin?"

"Begin."

Tomura runs forward, feet pounding against the wooden floorboards of the bar. His footsteps are easily discernible to Izuku with his quirk, loudly and sloppily clomping along. Izuku's ears listen for movements in Tomura's arms, observing their movement back and forth.

As per usual, as Tomura nears, Izuku hears it before he sees it. Tomura's left hand is rising upwards, moving in tandem with his movement in preparation for a strike. Based on its trajectory, it's aiming right for Izuku's gut.

Izuku breathes. He takes the necessary movements to dodge—

When Tomura suddenly moves. Faster — much faster than before. Suddenly, the older boy is upon him, weaving around Izuku and towards his unprotected backside. Izuku's barely able to spin and block the blow, the force and ruthlessness of it almost doubling him back onto the floor.

Izuku backsteps, aiming to move out of Tomura's range. That does little of anything, Tomura closing in over and over, faster than Izuku's able to keep up with. One false move, and Izuku finds Tomura's gloved hand stretched out over his face, tightly gripping onto his skin.

"And boom. Game over for you."

Izuku swats Tomura's hand away, backing up. He looks back at Tomura, finding a wide grin on the boy's face.

"You can fight," Tomura begins. "Kurogiri can attest to that. You can hear me, but you can't react fast enough to do anything about it. It'll be the same for your bullies. So work on that."

Izuku shakes his head., more focused now on Tomura's display of abilities than the advice. "That speed… it's not a byproduct of your quirk, right?"

"No. But it's basically me using a cheat code."

"But you trained for it, didn't you?" Izuku retorts. "Trained your body past normal human limits; started delving into the potential of our bodies that past generations have given us."

"The hell you talking about?"

Izuku glares. "Seriously? You're using your speed as it is and you haven't done any research?"

Tomura shrugs. "I can do what I can do. I don't need to know the mechanics behind it."

Izuku sighs. "Basically, a couple generations of quirks has really messed with our biology as a whole. People are more durable than usual, almost like making up for all the fighting that happens now…" Izuku shakes his head.

"I mean… you know how some people have horns or different colored skin because of their grandparents? And how that aspect of them isn't always actually a part of their quirks? It's basically the same thing; but this time more useful aspects of quirks get subtly passed down. Like your body's capability to access the capability to move at abnormal and enhanced sp— Hey! I'm trying to explain this to you!"

Tomura's already walking off, moving back towards his game console. He merely waves off Izuku's yells of indignation. "Too many words. I don't care. I'm fast because I'm fast. So what? I wanted to talk to show you something, not get lectured to."

"I—"

"Blah blah blah!"

Izuku groans. "Okay, fine! But one last thing at least!" Izuku pleads.

Tomura groans as well, putting only half the effort he could into turning around. "What?"

"Your surname."

"What?"

"Your surname," Izuku repeats. "'I've never heard it; I've been mentally calling you by your given name this whole time that we've known each other. Which is… kind of weird considering how long we spend in the same room together every day. Even if you are just sulking in the corner."

"Bah! You're kidding me!" Tomura slaps his hand over his face. He takes a breath. "Fckn engrtfl brt… Sraghi."

Izuku blinks. "What?

Tomura removes his hand from his face, unmuffling his words. "Shigaraki! There! Will that get you off my back?"

"Shigaraki Tomura, huh?" Izuku nods. "Alright. It's a start."

Izuku couldn't help himself; he was already in the area, after all. So he went.

And thus here he is, listening to her wonderfully calming voice once more. Even if the subject at hand was far from relaxing.

"What he's done to you is horrible," Ibara intones. "It is a most egregious sin that Bakugou Katsuki has committed; I can't condone such behavior."

Izuku finds himself cushioned within a gently-bound bundle of vines, simply listening along as Ibara rants. He hadn't exactly wanted to tell her what had happened — not entirely, anyways — considering the nature of the situation, both civilian and villain. The decision was out of his hands the moment Ibara saw the device in his ear, however.

Still, if anything, Izuku finds himself lucky that he hadn't visited in a few days — the lack of contact easily explains away how he'd received his new aid. Add in the fact that the money from Endeavor still remains quite a persistent sum even after all these years, and acquiring such a potentially expensive device becomes trivial.

"The fact that he's releasing his frustrations upon your being, on somebody that he supposedly once called a friend, is appalling," Shiozaki continues, her vines subconsciously wrapping themselves further around Izuku.

Izuku sighs upon the unnoticed gesture. He recognizes when Ibara is getting too worked up. And he hates it when that happens; so he does his best to calm her down. "It's alright, Ibara," Izuku begins. "What's done is done. You can't do anything about it. Besides, I'm fine. This is no—"

Izuku finds the vines abruptly wrapping around his mouth, effectively cutting off his words.

"Don't you dare finish that sentence," Ibara orders. "I will not stand by idle and let you further debase yourself. There are people who care about you. People who would be sad without you. You need to see that you're something of worth to the world. That you can make a difference in the world."

"I know that!" Izuku growls. "I understand that I am a person like anyone else; that I can make a difference! You've ingrained that into me."

"Then why do you act like you don't believe any of that? She scoots closer, putting her hands on his shoulders. "You always put other peoples' well-being before yours — always, even when it results in something detrimental to yourself. For one, Bakugou's been bullying you for years, and you shrug it off like it doesn't even matter. Like his well-being is more important than yours. Why?"

Izuku averts his eyes, looking to the ground. "Are you asking me to abandon people in need?"

"Of course not." It's Ibara's turn to sigh. "I just don't want to see you destroying yourself. I'm merely saying that you need to take time for yourself. Don't think that everything rests on your shoulders. Okay?"

Izuku slowly nods. "Okay."

Ibara lets go, settling back into her previous position. "I hold you to that."

They sit there in silence, both steeping in their thoughts over their talk and admiring the atmosphere as they always do. Things usually die down by this point — either due to Izuku's stubbornness or just a lack of fresh topics.

But today ends up being different.

"It's just… something's missing," Izuku blurts out, much to own surprise.

Ibara turns her head at that, taking upon a thoughtful expression. "Like what?"

Izuku simply shakes his head, clearly at a loss for words.

Ibara nods in understanding. "Think for a bit. When you're ready, tell me: 'What's the first thing that comes to mind?'"

The answer comes surprisingly faster than expected.

"I…" The words die in his mouth.

"Yes?"

Izuku sighs. "I want to punch him. Punch that smug look off of Bakugou's fucking face."

Ibara's expression doesn't change. She doesn't chide him for wanting to turn to violence, or for his use of vulgar language. She simply asks: "Then why don't you?"

And Izuku replies. "I don't know."

The week passes. Izuku comes upon a few new revelations. Like the fact that Tomura Shigaraki doesn't exist. Well, as far as Izuku can tell, anyways.

Either the boy in the bar with the Decay quirk had his identity scrubbed so thoroughly that no trace of it exists — either through Sensei or other means — or 'Tomura Shigaraki' is merely an alias.

Not that it really matters in the long run. I was just curious; as long as he doesn't do anything to hurt me, I don't need to know about him. And besides, I shouldn't let it get to me when there's no need to. I've been having a pretty good week so far, why ruin it?

Since the day of the incident that irreparably damaged his ear, Izuku thought that nothing much would have changed with how ostracized he is — but how wrong he was.

The teachers had begun to be more… watchful. And chiding, to his bullies. Nothing like outright defending him, of course. But their fuses seemed a bit shorter than usual, for one. The faculty had started warding off offenders to Izuku's well-being much earlier, when before they would only intervene when not doing so risked the class getting out of control.

And even Bakugou has seemed to back off… even if only just a bit. The past few days have presented less of the usual forceful shoves and direct punches, with piercing glares and snide scoffs made from a distance filling the schedule instead.

Maybe having physical proof of Bakugou's wrongdoings has suddenly made everyone fall into caution? Izuku lets out a snort at the thought. Makes me wonder if I can abuse this. What would've happened if I allowed myself to get something like a broken arm during one of the many scuffles I've been a part of over the years? Might have been worth it.

Izuku shakes his head out of his thoughts. He has more important things to deal with. Specifically, another change upon his days — and one just as, if more, welcome as the others. After so many months of (arguably, warranted) absence, Todoroki Shoto is once again sitting in his usual spot on the shores of Lake Sanaru.

And so, Izuku musters up all the confidence that he can and walks towards the bench. He doesn't sit down immediately, making sure that his presence is known first. It's only after Todoroki makes a quick glance at him — and doesn't show any signs of distrust or wanting to immediately leave — that Izuku sits himself down.

And, almost as if things hadn't changed, Izuku reaches into his bag and offers a water bottle to the boy beside him. For once Todoroki actually takes it, and takes a nice, long sip.

Once the bottle is closed and set between the two, there's silence. Just the two boys sitting, admiring the setting sun and its reflections off the lake. Minutes pass like this, just until the peaceful silence is broken.

"I've been doing some thinking. About what you said," Todoroki says, showing some unexpected initiative by being the one to initiate the conversation. Stunned, Izuku lets the boy talk.

Todoroki raises up his right hand, spawning a small eruption of ice from his palm. "For the longest time, all I've had is my ice. I thought of it as the only lifeline I had against my father's fire. One of the few things that I could take comfort in so to recall my mother."

Todoroki lowers his right hand, raising up his left. Miniscule tendrils of flames curl up and around his fingers, dancing to and fro in tandem with the breeze of the park. In comparison they're nowhere near the size of the snow flurries he was making a moment before, and it's obvious that his control is shoddy at best.

But those aren't the main things that catch Izuku's attention. What he's focused on is the fact that Todoroki is even using his flames in the first place.

"Fire only reminded me of my father. And not just my own flames; the stove, candles, even the incense for the offerings to…" He pauses. And sighs. "But you…" He makes a sideways glance at Izuku. "You made me question some things."

Todoroki makes a fist, sniffing out the fire in his palm. "I'm still not convinced, however… Not fully, at least. But I'm willing to hear what you have to say in further depth… If you don't mind, that is."

Izuku blinks, digesting all he's heard, especially the last part. If he wasn't mistaken… "You mean you want me to… what? Help you with your f… With your left side?"

Todoroki nods. "I just… wish to practice for now. Learn to tame my flames, unlike my father. I thought that I'd be better if I received your help instead of trying on my own. You have all of those notebooks that you talk about all the time, after all. And I want a style that's fresh."

"Ah," Izuku says, rather dumbly. He clears his throat. "I… alright. I'm up for that."

Todoroki nods. He raises his left hand up again, and it becomes engulfed in fire. Izuku instantly freezes at the sight of the flame, both for its sudden intensity and size — a huge divergence from his earlier exhibition. He finds his eyes centered on the flickering oranges and yellows, his mind tunneling towards one thing.

Endeavor…

But he stops himself from going any further. Izuku shakes the thoughts out of his head. No. He's not his father. He's different; can be different. The fact that he's talking to me about this proves that.

"I'm ready," Todoroki says.

Izuku nearly jumps. Hoping his unease hadn't shown, he nods — but not before letting out a shaky breath.

"Good… Just, um, one thing," Izuku says."

"Yes?"

"If you're set on this, know that taking some tips from Endeavor wouldn't be a bad idea. But just… If you do that, make sure that you don't turn out like him. Because then I'd have to do something about you too."

Todoroki raises an eyebrow at the phrasing, but otherwise doesn't offer anything back but a simple nod. Izuku's thankful for it — he couldn't help but be truthful, even if vaguely. Todoroki was still his age, after all.

"I don't plan on being anything like him," Todoroki says. "You don't have anything to worry about."

For Izuku, it's enough. He has all the time in the world to work. And he sure as hell isn't going to mess this up. If not for his own sake, then for Todoroki Shoto's.

A/N: And there we are. A few loose ends tied up here, I'm sure some of you have noticed. Why? Two words: Time Skip. Next chapter has us transporting a little over four years later, just as Izuku turns fourteen. Now, that sounds familiar, doesn't it?