The crowd has calmed down somewhat, and since 1A students still had a few days without lessons, each decided to do their thing. Izuku brought Fujimi into his room to study Walk the Dinosaur. The blue haired boy began to undress, embarrassing his classmate in the process.
'Is... this really necessary?'
"You want me to use my quirk, yes? In that case, I'd rather not get my clothes torn." He stopped when only underwear was left.
"Then why don't you wear your hero costume?"
"It's still being repaired after the USJ."
"Damn it."
Setsuna opened the door and looked at the boys.
"Woops." She said playfully. "Should have knocked. Sorry not sorry!" And closed the door.
Both Midoriya was red like chili pepper, but Romero was only mildly blushing.
"She is a menace." Fujimi said.
"Agreed." Izuku took his notebook. "Okay. You can start talking."
"Where do I start?" Romero tapped his chin. "I guess transformations are a good point. I can turn myself into any known species of dinosaurs, fully or partially. This quirk was a big pain in the ass for the first few years, because I would randomly transform or spread my virus and freak everyone out. People sometimes called me a monster or laughed at me."
"I'm sorry to hear it!"
"Don't be. I punched every prick who laughed at my expense. Most of them had lame quirks anyway, like Lamp head or Extendable ears."
"He reminds me a bit of Kacchan." Izuku thought.
"Got a bit off track here. I trained to get a better hold of my ability, and now mishaps like that usually don't happen. I also studied what species of dinosaurs existed to know what to use in any situation."
"What are limitations of your transformations?"
"I am limited to species that I am aware of. They have to be real, so imaginary or faux dinos don't count." Fujimi snickered. "Reminds me of that time I disproved the existence of a freshly discovered species. The bones actually belonged to two separate guys, and apparently they mixed together when they fought."
"Your quirk helped science at such young age? So cool!" Stars appeared in Midoriya's eyes. "Wait, can you turn into a pterodactyl?"
"No, and you can't even imagine my disappointment when I found that out." He sighed. "I can transform parts of my body..."
His mouth, legs and arms began to mutate, but then went back to normal.
"Or I can do it fully… Huh?!" He turned towards the window. "Did you see that?"
"See what?" Izuku asked.
"Something small was outside. At least, I think there was something."
"But we are on the third floor." Midoriya walked to the balcony but didn't see anything. "Weird."
"I must be seeing things." Fujimi wanted to remove his undies.
"Don't you at least have that part from your suit?!"
"Do you want to study my quirk or not?"
"I do."
"Then stop being a prude." The blue haired boy transformed into a utahraptor after his classmate turned around.
Izuku couldn't help but poke his finger at the dinosaur's nose, then his tail, and then his teeth. Truly, a scary and powerful creature. Fujimi confirmed that he still has full consciousness but is unable to speak like a human. He used Attraction with his hands (palms?) without a problem and then turned back. When Midoriya asked to take the quirk, Romero cringed at first but obliged. Izuku reluctantly removed his clothes and started imagining himself as a microraptor.
His whole body was shrinking, his bones and muscles reshaping into a new form. The process wasn't painful, but it felt really strange. Then the blue gas began spreading out. Izuku panicked! He ran into a corner to hopefully not infect anyone else. Fujimi told him to breathe in and out and calm down. Midoriya imagined himself being human again and returned the quirk back.
"I think I'll let the pro handle this." He laughed nervously. "Tell me about your virus."
"I can spread it via gas and by injecting it into your bloodstream while imagining a certain species. The gas is flammable, heavier than air and can't penetrate gas masks. Still, it covers a very large area, so in some cases it is almost impossible to avoid. If my teeth or claws get into your blood, you also get turned. Other people resist this like any other disease, but everyone I tried it on succumbed pretty fast."
"Interesting. I heard that Endeavor never suffers from diseases due to his high body temperature. What if he can resist your quirk?"
"That would honestly suck."
"Can you partially transform other people?"
"No."
"Can you transform animals?"
"Yes."
"Okay. I think you should try to accumulate cut hair instead of throwing it out. Your future teammates might need costumes that can withstand transformations."
"Fine."
"If I ever run into a spare telepathic quirk, I'll make sure to give it to you. That would help with communication."
"Thanks."
"Wait, why isn't your quirk just called 'Dinosaur'?"
"That name was already taken, so my old man suggested a song as ancient as dinosaurs themselves." Fujimi let out a scary laughter.
"Why do you think you transform differently from other people?"
"I don't know. Maybe it's something in my body."
"Maybe." Izuku nodded. "You say your quirk is like a virus, right? What if your body has a special immune system?"
"How I am supposed to know that? My parents couldn't exactly afford medical experiments."
"But UA should be able to. I advice you to have your blood studied and compared to other blood of the same type."
"I doubt support course does blood analysis."
"Then ask Recovery Girl. She probably knows someone who can help."
"Alright, genius. I'll let you know if something interesting pops up."
Itsuka went to check up with Katsuki. She didn't like his attitude, but as a new vice rep she had to keep in touch with everybody. The blond boy was training his quirk by using it against Kiriahima's Hardening. It took some shouting from Kendou to grab his attention. He went to talk to her, while Ejirou had to go to the bathroom.
"What do you want, Ginger?" Bakugou asked.
"I'm making sure everyone is okay."
"I'm better than ever!"
"Yeah, sure." Itsuka rolled her eyes. "Do you have any proposals for the representative meeting?"
"I don't need that crap. Stop bothering me."
"Hey, I'm just trying to be friendly. You don't have to be a jerk all the time."
"Like I care about opinions of extras like you." Katsuki turned around and went back to training.
"You are welcome." Itsuka said before going to the meeting.
Momo and Itsuka went to the scheduled meeting of class representatives. They explained that Midoriya stepped down from his position after seeing himself as unworthy after USJ. People had reactions ranging from "good thing that guy is gone" to "whatever". Yaoyorozu brought forward the idea of dancing during the Sports Festival. 3rd years said that UA was planning to invite cheerleaders from America. The board agreed that UA students can join them if they want to. One of the 2nd years (also from USA) volunteered to teach people the cheer-leading routine. Mirio even suggested a competition between locals and whoever is going to visit. UA cheerleading must be Plus Ultra!
When Shino Sousaki returned to her apartment, her nephew Kouta clung to her leg while crying.
"Auntie!" He said through sobbing. "I thought I was going to lose you too!"
"I'm sorry, Kouta." She hugged the kid to try calming him down. "I know you wanted me to go into a safer place."
"UA isn't safe! Those idiots will probably attack again!"
"They won't."
"How can you say that?"
"Principal has promised everyone that security systems will be reworked."
"He's lying! Auntie, you need to stop heroing. You'll just get killed just like mom and dad!"
"I knew you would say that." Mandalay sighed. "I know you are scared, but I can't just abandon this work. If I wasn't present in USJ, the casualties would have been a lot worse."
"How many times will you keep saying this before you die?!" The boy almost screamed. "People will say you were a hero, and I'll have noone left!"
"I won't die, Kouta. I promise you that." The woman knelt and took her nephew's hands.
"That's what they said too!" He pulled away and stormed into his room.
"What a mess." Shino said to herself. "Not even a week into my new job and I already scared him to death. Hopefully this doesn't happen again." She then called Wild Wild Pussycats to reassure them as well.
Izuku finally received information from Nemuri regarding the Sports Festival and his spare quirks. He was told that he can give any quirk to any person, but the announcers will have to disclose this information to the public. Moreover, the teachers will take into consideration additional quirks given to students when evaluating their chances to transfer.
"That's as fair as it is going to get, I guess." He thought.
Setsuna walked into his room.
"Hi, Freckles."
"Hi."
"Were you having fun with Fujimi?" She grinned.
"Yeah. He told me a lot of things about his quirk."
"Do you think he'll let us borrow it? I have some ideas for our future dates."
"Dates?"
"Yeah. Even if you can't leave the campus right now, we can still do them. I was thinking of you turning into a mighty T-Rex and letting me ride you." She flew upwards in a horse rider pose. "And then I'd ride you in a different way, he he."
"But... don't you think we are going too fast?"
"Are we?" The girl returned to the ground. "Fine then. What ideas did you have in mind?"
"Not sure. Maybe we can just walk around holding hands?"
"How lewd!" Tokage said jokingly. "Alright."
Setsuna took Izuku's arm to dragged him out of the room. Midoriya was a bit blushing but chose to comply. They could walk outdoors for a bit before the quirk exchange would start.
"So... how did your parents react to the incident?" Izuku asked.
"They freaked out, but I convinced them that it won't happen again."
"Let's hope so."
"What did you do when I was away?"
"Analyzed a few quirks, watched anime and ran around with Pony. You?"
"Mostly just helped my mom clean up the house. She was asking when she and dad can see you!"
"I think we can meet up during Sports Festival."
"She also asked when to expect babies... kidding!" Her response caused him to blush again. "You are so easy to tease, Freckles."
"Thanks? About your parents. They weren't wary of me because of my quirk?"
"Are you kidding me? Your quirk is bad-ass, and they both agree with me."
"I'm glad to hear it." Midoriya smiled.
They saw a pair of upperclassmen kissing in the distance.
"You want us to do it too? Hmm?" Tsuna pushed her face closer to his.
"I... er... yes?"
"Then close your eyes and get those lips ready."
Izuku followed her order. He expected a brief kiss but instead got a very aggressive one. Tsuna wrapped herself around his body, her tongue literally detaching to assault his mouth from within. It was so sudden he almost fell on his back. Finally, she let go after seeing how much attention they were attracting. Midoriya spit out her tongue and tried giving it back, but it flew to lick his face before going to its rightful place.
"That was... intense." He was catching breath.
"That wasn't even my best!" She winked at him.
"I'm afraid to see what you'll try next."
"Whatever you guess, I'll make sure to outdo it, Freckles."
After receiving a complaint from Tenya for being late, they hurried to ground Alhpa were they could start the quirk exchange. On their way there Tokage told her boyfriend to take her Lizard Tail Splitter for the rest of the day. She viewed sharing her quirk like this as a way to deepen their bond. Izuku would have to try spending the rest of the day with his arms floating separately.
There was a pretty large commotion. Some came to see chaos unfold, others were curious to try a new quirk. Aizawa and Midoriya sat down to write which quirk goes to whom. Unsurprisingly, most people wanted to get a quirk but didn't want to give one. Stolen quirks were given according to Izuku's discretion, while most others were swapped randomly. Midoriya primarily focused on quirks of criminals and the Nomu. Yaoyorozu was here to provide equipment whenever necessary. Monoma was mostly present to offer advice since he had experience with many quirks. He tried being smug about 1B needing 'handouts' but Itsuka karate chopped his neck and told him to apologize.
Romero took the Sludge quirk. At first he looked like a lifeless puddle, but soon he got the hang out it. He even managed to use Zero Gravity by turning a piece of himself into a 'hand'. The fact he could easily take powerful hits and squeeze though tight holes was a nice bonus. Izuku was starting to appreciate benefits of this quirk. If the Sludge villain managed to keep several heroes at bay, what could a hero with his power do?
Shinsou was given Blade Tooth. It got out of control pretty fast so Eraserhead had to step in and use his quirk. Apparently, Moonfish had a really high degree of control if he never showed signs of trouble. Next time Hitoshi tried to extend his teeth very slowly, so that he wouldn't accidentally impale someone. Those teeth could legitimately break cement walls. This quirk must be a dentist's worst nightmare.
Silencer was given to Komori, who went to play Hide and Seek with Kyouka. She truly was unhearable when the quirk was active, but the side effects made it not viable to use for long periods of time. Coupled with Glamour, Invisibility or Himiko Toga's Transform, the user could become the world's best infiltrator.
Shouji was specifically chosen for the Rifle because Izuku thought it would make for a perfect combo. The heteromorph could now turn any of his arms into a deadly weapon, and he could also aim each of them separately by creating new eyes. Mezou did not want to give his quirk since he thought it would be like betraying his people. He looked pretty bad-ass when shooting a target dummy with 6 rifles. Ochako made sure to snap a photo for Snipe sensei.
Kirishima was testing the limits of Shock Absorption by punching with ever increasing strength. To everybody's surprise, almost nobody could break through this quirk. They wanted to test it against Nejire's ultimate move, but Aizawa deemed it too reckless. So far this quirk seemed invincible, which made sense given its original purpose in the Nomu. Ejirou was actually kind of sad that his own quirk was same but worse.
Testing Super Regeneration without risking major injuries was practically impossible, so Tetsutetsu settled for a small acid burn here, a cut there and some other tiny injuries. They were inflicted and swiftly healed one at a time, although acid burn took slightly more time. 1A could now understand how powerful that monster was before its powers were taken away. Even one of those two quirks seemed ridiculous, but together they were truly busted.
Most others were goofing around with new quirks or just watching. Manga was sketching things on a piece of paper, probably looking for inspiration. Tenya wanted everything to be in order and Saiko was probably thinking about something.
When Hagakure's Invisibility was taken away, she could finally see her hands, her feet and her face in a selfie camera. The emotional impact caused her to cry from joy, to the point where she said she needed comforting from her classmates. Her entire life she was dreaming of being noticed, and now the dream became a reality. Tooru was finally visible and very cute at the same time. In return, she got to play with Itsuka Kendou's big hands.
Ochako got Camie's quirk and imagined mochi raining down from the skies. She tried asking Momo for Creation but then realized she can't recreate mochi at an atomic level. For now, at least.
Fumikage took Daigo's quirk and tried stopping time. It was exhausting, but he found out that Dark Shadow can move in frozen time when it is tied to the same host as Holy Diver. Then Nejire took both sentient quirks (she apparently had 3 slots) to try showing them the skies. Since the blue haired girl trained her stamina a lot for Wave Motion, she could stop time over and over without much issues. Holy Diver could use Wave Motion without problems, but Dark Shadow struggled because it was too bright for her. Hadou told Tokoyami and Brando that their quirks are amazing and they can totally become the parts of new big three in due time.
Setsuna was having the best time of her life with Walk the Dinosaur, transforming into varies species in rapid succession. She walked far away in case she started leaking the virus, and Momo graciously offered her a large blanket to hide underneath. She then tried tail wrestling with Ojiro after partially transforming herself. She lost due to lack of experience, and Romero said he'd win. He also said that Tail is a lame quirk, but this time Tenya made him apologize.
Pony was cosplaying a dragon by flying around and spewing flames from her mouth. It looked so awesome that some guys couldn't resist making a photo. Hadou-sempai even sent hers to her mentor Ryukyu. She then imagined the Dragon Hero unleashing a hell storm on villains. So awesome! If only she could get this quirk to Tatsuma-sama. Inasa joined them up above, loudly proclaiming his admiration for fellow flying heroes.
Reiko got Invisibility and said that it paired nicely with Poltergeist. She asked Togata-sempai for his quirk (it was known from previous Sports Festivals) so she could complete her 'real ghost' cosplay, but he said that Permeation is too dangerous in unskilled hands. Yanagi then played tug-of-war against Attraction Utsushimi. Apparently Inko's quirk made up for limited direction by being stronger than generic telekinesis.
Ibara swapped with a Gen Ed girl Chikuchi Togeike. She could now reshape water into spikes and launch them, which did not suit her style at all. Chikuchi also did not like her new hairdo, but she was hoping to get on Izuku's good side so she didn't complain.
There were other students who Izuku didn't have time to observe personally. He tried sending his eyes and ears in different places, but his brain wasn't trained to perceive information like that. Instead, he asked everybody to write down their feedback, as well as how they adapted to new quirks. Midoriya began putting quirks back where they belong, although Tooru asked if she can take a token instead. She really wanted to be visible for longer. No problem, he can always ask class rep for more tokens. Setsuna kissed him again, this time while having a monstrous mouth. A lot of students blushed, especially Ochako. If Izuku had cuts in his mouth, he definitely would have caught the virus right now.
Everyone started asking him if they can take something permanently. It was a tricky decision, since so far the demand for quirks was far exceeded supply. He will hopefully get more from Tartarus, but that is only one or two extra visits before Sports Festival. On one hand, Izuku wanted to help less fortunate guys from Gen Ed. Fujimi and Camie were almost Mashirao and Tooru but better, which would be funny if it wasn't so sad. On the other hand, he already had his favorites: his girlfriend Tsuna and his best friends Ochako, Pony and Neito. On the third hand that he could in theory get by convincing Shouji, other guys in 1A and 1B would inevitably get screwed by him if they didn't get anything. On the fourth hand, he also wanted to keep at least some quirks for himself.
Izuku thought for a bit, ignoring Intelli's logical arguments, Monoma's rants about 1A priority and Hagakure's pleads. He then told everyone to write down which 2 quirks they would want to get, emphasizing that less desirable ones would be easier to obtain. He also gave them a warning from Nezu about new quirks being openly disclosed to the public. He would need to analyze the papers later. For now, he wanted to be alone for a bit.
On his way back to dorms, Izuku was stopped by young man of average height with long, blond hair, styled into a beehive-like hairstyle.
"Greetings, friend. My name is Futo Nagashira."
"Izuku Midoriya, but you already know that, don't you?"
"Indeed. I am here with a business proposition."
"Like what?"
"Most people in my course lack vision, but I see a bright future in front of you. Let me become your PR manager, and I will take care of public affairs for you."
"Heroes often hire PR managers." Izuku nodded. "But I don't have spare money. Most of it was spent on merchandise."
"For now, I can work for the idea. I'm sure it will pay off soon." Futo offered his hand.
"Alright then." Izuku shook it.
"Great! My first plan is to create a website where people can donate quirks. People with unattractive mutations, victims of prejudiced discrimination, retired heroes and many other individuals can provide us with powers."
"Good idea, actually. Why didn't I come up with it? Can you make this site?"
"No, but I know somebody who can."
"Awesome. Let me know when it is set up."
Midoriya spent the next few hours analyzing feedback and thinking, until he made the decision. He would keep Sludge since he can basically use it as transformation instead of mutation, as well as his parents' quirks. Rifle would go to Shouji since it just made a lot of sense. Shinsou could keep Blade Tooth for now, since almost nobody else wanted it, unless he quits heroics and gives it back. Silencer would go to Tooru to compliment Invisibility, but he will take it back if she doesn't get into his course. Shock Absorption would be given to Daigo as compensation for what happened in USJ, plus it would cover one of his main weaknesses. Super Regeneration (at least for now) would go to one of his close friends, probably Tsuna or Ochako. Everyone else would have to wait for more quirks to arrive.
All Might was standing in front of 1A dorms. He needed to talk with young Midoriya about All For One and One For All. At the same time, he was going to talk to young Todoroki about importance of giving it your all.
Author's notes: Please leave comments!
I switched from Word to Latex. Maybe it will help.
Chapters like this one are one of main reasons why I started this fic. What is a better way to insult All For One than using his quirk 'power of friendship' style?