Izuku asked Kayama-sensei we he can give quirks to other people in the Sports Festival. She promised to discuss this topic with staff and inform him of their decision.
Hitoshi discussed his prospects with his family. His parents told him that switching to a safer career is probably for the best. His quirk's placement would be his own decision. Shinsou decided to go back to UA early and talk to Midoriya.
He entered Izuku's room and closer the door behind him.
"Hi!"
"Hi. I've heard you are gathering information about our quirks. I might as well teach you how Brainwashing works in case I leave it to you."
Izuku gulped. Aside from his parents, he never would have imagined someone willingly giving away their quirks. They were considered very important for their users.
"Alright." He said hesitantly and took his notebook. "Start by describing everything."
"My quirk can activate when someone verbally responds to my words. It's not automatic, otherwise I couldn't have a proper conversation with anyone. Target enters a trance like state after being affected by my quirk. They are still aware of what's going on, and they remember everything after Brainwashing has stopped. They snap out if I let them or if they are physically impacted."
"How DO you activate it? Do you press an imaginary button or pull a lever?"
"Something like that. I prefer pressing a mouse button, but I think any deliberate trigger works. Any questions?"
"Can you brainwash multiple people at once?"
"Nope. It was one of the reasons I got screwed back at USJ." The rubbed his throat "I can, however, choose who to affect if multiple people respond to me."
"How many people can you control at once?"
"One or two are no problem, at three my heads start to spin, four or more is impossible. I think I can train this, but then I would run into mistrust of other students."
"Do you have a time limit?"
"Yes, one hour. After that I have to reapply my quirk."
"Do you think deaf people are immune to you? Or those who don't understand Japanese?"
"I never met either of those, so your guess is as good as mine. Probably yes for the first and no for the second."
"I wonder how it would work against Tokoyami and Brando. They technically have two minds each. Can you brainwash people through a telephone? Or with a recorded voice?"
Shinsou shook his head.
"Damn." Izuku thought. "He wasn't kidding when he mentioned having many weaknesses."
"What about voice modulators? I remember seeing them in prank videos, so maybe then can help?"
"Never thought about that." Hitoshi scratched his head. "I guess someone in support department can make something to test this."
"Please report to me afterwards." Izuku left a big question mark near this idea. "What can you force people to do? What is impossible?"
"I can make people do mundane actions, but not something that requires a lot of active thinking. For example, I can show you a word and make you copy it on your notebook, but I can't make you write the name of our class president. That's because remembering her name requires thinking."
"Hopefully this is something we can change. How did you train Brainwashing anyway?"
"I asked my parents and cousins whenever they were available. Didn't feel like asking my classmates since it might have made them afraid of me."
"Well, whether you stay or not, training your quirk requires several people available at any time." Izuku pondered for a minute. "I think we can trust Tsuna and Ochako. They treat me well. always help when I ask and they don't seem to have any fear unlike some other guys. Neito is good too, as long as 1B doesn't get involved. Ask them to help out, and others if you feel good about them."
"Tsuna? You already gave her a nickname?" Hitoshi snickered.
"Yeah..."
"Do I have to tell them about riddles not being real?"
"It's your quirk, so you decide. But you should know that I would have told them."
Shinsou went to Power Loader's workshop to request a voice modulator.
Momo scanned threw the files of known USJ attackers. Some of them had unremarkable lives and were driven to villainy due to poverty or ostracism, while others seemingly enjoyed life of crime. Attacking children with killing intent was a serious crime, so they'd be behind bars a very long time. Then again, they wanted kill her and others, so they needed to punished. Three attackers were dead, which must have been shocking. Yaoyorozu sighed in frustration. Helping the world is going to be much more difficult that she imagined.
Her attention was grabbed by three individuals. Tomura Shiagaraki and Dabi had to prior records anywhere. It's like popped into existence a week ago. They must have been very good at concealing identities. Himiko Toga was a serial killer who targeted other teenagers, presumably insane. Hopefully she'll get caught and receive necessary help. In the meantime, Momo would have to return to UA in case she was needed as class president.
Shouto Todoroki has suffered tremendously. Ironically, his left side was much better at taking the fire, especially after all the training with his father. There were visible traces of reconstructive surgery all over his body, but they weren't super obvious. Visually, he was mostly fine, but the incident weakened his ice side significantly. A part of him was angry that the scar left by his mother got removed alongside other burns. It was one of the few reminders of Rei.
Natsuo and Fuyumi jumped to hug their little brother once he got home. Tears were running down their cheeks like rivers. The thought of losing another family member terrified them. His sister prepared his favorite soba to comfort him. Natsuo asked if Shouto still wants to be in the hero course, and the boy wasn't sure. Endeavor returned from work after a few hours.
Shouto expected to be belittled or scolded by his father after returning home. Instead, Enji looked devastated. He didn't even have his signature flaming hair. The father couldn't muster enough strength to speak initially, but eventually gathered it.
"Shouto… What did the doctors tell you about your health?"
"I'm mostly fine, but my ice side is weaker now." The boy frowned. "Don't think that'll make me use your fire."
"I see." The father sighed. "Good luck." He was about to leave for his room.
"What?!" Shouto screamed. "Are you serious? After tormenting me for years, you are just going to forget everything and say 'Good luck'?!"
"What's the point anymore?" Enji sounded defeated. "If a near death experience couldn't change your mind, I don't think anything else can. If you want to become a second rate ice hero, I won't stop you."
"Bastard!" Natsuo intervened. "All you think about is hero ratings!"
"Everyone, please calm down." Fuyumi said hesitantly.
Her family members all stormed off to their rooms.
Shouto really hated himself and his father right now. Endeavor trained him to the bone ever since his quirk manifested. He never got a chance to experience childhood with his siblings. Then his brother died in a fire and his mother was driven to insanity as a result of Enji's abuse. And now he was just written off like his siblings. He should have been happy to finally be free, but instead he was angry. Was it because he lost the chance to one up Endeavor? He wasn't sure.
Todoroki was angry at himself because despite everything, his father was kind of right. If he used his fire side to stabilize his body temperature, he might have defeated Dabi, or at least stalled until reinforcement could arrive. Now his whole body had marks from a surgeon's scalpel and his mother's quirk was weakened. If outperforming other UA students with ice alone was tough before, now it would be outright impossible. Tsunotori, Bakogou, Yaoyorozu and some others would eventually become stronger than him. Not to mention, Midoriya's mere existence trivialized the act of quirk engineering. Shouto wondered if a quirk could be split… He'd have to return to UA as soon as possible to not see his father and answer that question.
Home was boring, so Camie returned to UA dorms after comforting her parents. There she saw Ochako walking somewhere with her new gear.
"Hey, where are you going?" She blonde asked.
"I'm going to the firearm extracurricular. My 'gun' may not be intended as a weapon, but it's better to be safe than sorry."
"Wicked." Camie showed thumbs up. "You know; I still owe ya that kiss from saving our butts back in USJ." She blew a kiss.
"What?!" Ochako suddenly became red. "No, I… You don't need to thank me, he he. If anything, you need to thank Izuku. It was all his idea. He offered a fresh perspective on Zero Gravity."
"Maybe I should ask him for advice too. Have fun, girl."
Uraraka and Brando walked towards Snipe's shooting range.
"Hey, Daigo."
"Yes?"
"I noticed that you have a brand new smartphone and musical equipment in your room."
"What's your point?" The boy didn't like where the conversation is going.
"Could you please tell me what kind of side jobs you did?" Ochako pressed her palms together. "I did a lot of them but it wasn't enough to even buy a cheaper model. This thing was given to me by Toyomitsu-sensei, and I feel terrible after taking it!" She showed him her issued phone.
"If you are thinking about doing the same thing, don't. I doubt you have the necessary qualifications."
"What qualifications are you talking about?"
"The ability to know if other people are bluffing and to maintain a neutral facial expression." Daigo disappeared and touched her shoulder from behind. "And preferably this."
"AAA!" She panicked due to not being used to his ability.
"I have a feeling this source of income will not be possible once people realize my quirk's power." He stopped to think for a second. "Unless somebody else wielded the same type of quirk. Say, Ochako. Do you want to make some money?"
Camie went to Izuku to ask for analysis.
"What's up?" She looked at his hair. "I told you to do something with that lame haircut."
"It's not lame." He covered his head with his hands.
"It is."
"Let's change the subject, okay?"
"Okie-dokie. Ochako said I should thank you for giving her that gun idea. Thank you." She bowed down in an exaggerated manner. "Could you give me similar advice?"
"I'll try." Izuku took his notebook as they sat down. "Give me the gist of your quirk."
"Glamour is a mist that comes from my mouth. It creates visual and auditory illusions. The mist dissipates after a few minutes, so I would need to keep making more of it."
"What are limitations of illusions you make?"
"I have to imagine a scene in my head for it to play out, be it some guys, a flying bird or a ball going across the ground."
Camie blew some mist into the room. Suddenly, another Camie appeared and sat near the original.
"Cool, right?" They said in unison.
"Cool." He nodded. "Can you change your illusions mid-way?"
"Nope." One of Camies said as another disappeared. "As a kid I often forgot to add shadows, so I it was stupidly obvious which things were fake."
"I see. Your quirk is pretty similar to Creation, but instead of chemical composition you need to keep of track convincing appearances."
"I also can't make large illusions if they don't fit within the mist, so Mt. Lady is usually a no no."
"Can you fake taste or smell or touch?"
"Nuh uh."
"Pity." Izuku write it down. "How did you train your quirk?"
"Mostly by imagining things better and working on my lungs. I need a lot of mist sometimes."
"Can you make yourself invisible?" Midoriya recalled Hagakure's quirk.
"I mean, no? My quirk adds scenes to the world, it can't remove them."
"What if you specifically imagined a certain place not changing before going there? Like you want to walk forward in a straight line, and in your head that line remains exactly the same, without Camie ever being there."
"Let me try." The girl activated Glamour again and started walking in circles. She disappeared shortly after.
"It worked!" Izuku said. "I can't see you at all!"
"Can you hear me?" A disembodied voice asked.
"Yes."
Camie went back to being visible when she left the circle she was imagining. Izuku and other objects also became invisible when put in that circle.
"Not gonna lie, it is tricky to hide myself without also hiding something else. Still lit though. Now I can vanish from sight." She did just that. "Thanks, dude."
"Always glad to help. I recommend you to request fans like those Midnight-sensei uses. You might want to move your mist around."
"Yeah, okay." Still invisible Camie kissed him on the cheek.
"Wha… wha…" Midoriya didn't know how to react.
"It will be our little secret." Utsushimi revealed herself to wink and left the room.
Momo returned to the dorms and went to Camie's room. It had a large wardrobe for spare clothing, a large table with mirror and all sorts of cosmetics, some plushy toys and posters of various heroes in suggestive poses.
"What's up, Yaomomo?"
"I'm doing well." She nervously played with her ponytail. "There is something I want to do with Todoroki-san and Brando-san. I want to connect with then."
"You want to date them?" Camie asked excitedly. "Like a harem?"
"Not really?" The brunette blushed at the implication. "I have found they both lacked maternal figures in their lives, so I'm thinking of becoming a substitute."
"What the hell happened to Shouto's mom?"
"I think she's been traumatized by death of her other son, and this trauma caused her to be taken into an asylum."
"Yikes."
"Indeed. I just… I want to make those two feel comfortable. Let them know that there is place for kindness in our world. I know I can't just tell my parents to adopt them, but I can hopefully fill the void in their souls. My mother would always comfort me whenever I was stressed out or sad. They must be under a lot of stress after what happened in USJ."
"Don't remind me." Camie remembered that shark guy who tried bite to her leg off. "That sounds sweet, but why are you telling me this?"
"If the last week is any indication, I'm not the best judge of character, nor I am good at picking up cues." Yaoyorozu sighed. "I wrongfully dismissed Midoriya-san as a bad person, despite him doing everything to help others. Then I inadvertently hurt Uraraka-san and Brando-san by talking about my wealth. Camie, you are a sociable person, right?"
"You got that right!" She pointed at herself. "I even had a small army of fans back in my previous school."
"I was hoping you could assist me in this endeavor. Help me gauge their reactions and choose right words and actions. In addition, I think it's for the best if Brando-san doesn't see my room too much. It might make him upset."
"So you want me to become a co-mama?"
"I suppose so, yes." Momo nodded.
"Sure, sounds like fun." Camie took her phone to make a selfie with her classmate. "Then we could all date each other! 4 hotties in 1 polycule."
"Camie! Must everything be about dating?"
"Come on, it will be fun!"
Remaining 1A members came back to the dorms the next morning. Everyone congratulated Shouto's recovery, but he didn't react to it. Camie showed everybody her new invisibility trick, which got a round of applaud. Setsuna hugged Izuku. Itsuka noticed that a crowd gathered near their dorm entrance. It consisted of students from various classes.
"Why are you gathering here?" Tenya asked. "You making a lot of noise."
"We wanted to see the guys who fought the villains." One person spoke up.
"I bet you think you're hot shit!" Someone else said.
"Not cool, dude." Kaminari told him. "Those guys almost died."
"We ARE hot shit!" Fujimi turned his into that of a velociraptor to look intimidating.
"We are the best class in… Ouch!" Neito stopped as he was karate chopped by Itsuka.
"Quit it, guys. You make us look bad." She said.
"I wanted to talk to Midoriya-kun." Tooru raised her hand.
"I need inspiration!" Manga shook a notebook full of sketches.
"I've got a business proposition." A guy from business course said.
"Hi!" Nejire waved at them while flying in the skies.
"So cool!" Pony and Setsuna ascended to fist bump their sempai.
"Out of my way, extras!" Katsuki pushed the crowd away to go training.
"Wait for me, bro!" Ejirou tailed after him.
"Everyone, we are going to start the quirk exchange extracurricular today." Izuku tried to speak loud and clear. "If you are interested, contact your class representative to partake."
All Might arrived to the Todoroki household. Shouto told him that he still wouldn't fire. If that notion was baffling before, now it was outright concerning. Perhaps his family members could help him understand the problem.
Upon arrival, the Number One Hero was immediately met by Natsuo glaring daggers at him. Fuyumi offered him some tea, but he told her that he needs to speak with Endeavor. They found him praying near Touya's shrine and decided to wait until he is done.
"What do you want?" Enji sounded distraught.
"I wish to talk about Todoroki-shonen. I need to know why he doesn't use his fire."
"Because he's a damn fool!" Enji almost screamed. "Rei went insane after Touya's death and poured boiling water on his face. After that he became reckless and stopped practicing the fire!"
"Liar!" Natsuo intervened. "Mother went insane because of you! You abused her and Shouto every day for years! She snapped because his fire side reminded her of you!"
"What the…" All Might expect drama, but not this much.
"Don't think you are innocent either!" Natsuo turned to the blond man.
"What did I do? I was just trying to protect Japan."
"Because of your stupid quirk father could never catch up to you. It drove him so mad that he looked for a woman with ice quirk to make a perfect successor. I'm not even sure he loved mo…"
"Stop!" Fuyumi closed his mouth.
"I always loved Rei! It wasn't my fault!" Enji was about to cry.
"Quiet!" All Might raised his voice. "Everyone will tell me their version. One by one."
Yagi thanked heavens he didn't have to use his time as hero because it was a long trauma dumping session. First Natsuo blamed him and Enji for screwing over their family; then Endeavor cried that he was raising Shouto to be strong, so that he wouldn't die when protecting the weak like his father. Fuyumi desperately tried to make everyone calm down.
All Might was torn between punching Endeavor in the face for what he did, punching himself in the face for not connecting the dots and indirectly causing this mess, and running away because he was about to turn into a skeleton. So much for a peaceful time, Yagi. People got complacent to the point where they expected All Might to stay forever, and his future replacement in the rankings practiced eugenics to try and surpass him.
Enji looked like he was on a verge of breakdown, likely because the truth was revealed and Shouto was weakened. No matter how Yagi felt about him, he needed him to stay in the hero work for as long as possible. All Might would have to retire in a year or two, and Endeavor was needed to hold the country until at least he picked a successor and helped him master One For All. This was a difficult decision, but Toshinori made his mind. He would tell them the truth. Not all of it, but enough to keep the Flame Hero motivated.
"What I'm about to show you is a very, VERY important secret. If you don't want to bear it, please leave." He looked at Natsuo and Fuyumi.
"What? You have a 'perfect successor' too?" Natsuo asked.
"No. It's about me, not anyone else."
"We should probably leave." Fuyumi dragged her brother away.
All Might took a deep breath and showed his skeletal form.
"What?!" Sorrow in Endeavor's voice was replaced by confusion. "How the hell the did this happen to you? You're All Might."
"Remember that incident from 6 years ago?"
"The classified one?"
"Yes. That guy did a LOT of damage to my body. My time as 'hero' has been dwindling ever since."
"Shit." Endeavor's tone became serious. "Does this mean you are going to retire?"
"Yes, probably after a year or two. I know you've been through a lot, and I honestly hate you after learning what you did, but I need you to be in best shape for as long as possible. Our country will take a hit after I'm gone, who knows what may happen if you start slacking or quit."
"I… I understand." Endeavor nodded.
"All this time spent training Shouto for nothing! By the time he graduated UA All Might would have been gone!" He thought. "Now he'll be beaten by someone else entirely."
"What about Shouto? What will happen to him at school?"
"I'm not sure." Yagi said. "Toyomitsu told me that he will have to expel him if he doesn't start using his entire quirk. Todoroki-shonen may put innocents in danger if he keeps disregarding his fire. Maybe I can change his mind now that I have context."
"Please, do. I hate being your debt, but I hate the thought of my son endangering others even more."
"I am not doing this for you." He buffed up again to swiftly leave the house.
Author's notes: Please leave comments!
I find it kind of ridiculous that Izuku is essential for every character's arc in canon. Here Todoroki faced consequences of his own decision.
Sorry if Camie doesn't sound authentic enough. I just can't write brainrot properly.