Next few days everyone was preoccupied with training and preparation. Fagum-sensei's training and dietary plans came in handy for this. Izuku borrowed Holy Diver and went to the reserved outdoor pool (thanks, Tenya) to test his other theory. Sadly, that quirk couldn't help him stay underwater for longer. Well, at last he got a chance to practice Water Manipulation by making other boys swim against the current. Katsuki challenged others into a swimming race across the pool. He came first, but does it really count if he just flew over the water?
Midnight-sensei told everyone to think about hero names. They were going to be announced at Sports Festival, so they would likely stick forever. It would require a lot of thinking to come up with something good.
"All For One?"He thought. "It would be kind of funny to steal that man's alias, but... No. It sounds selfish even in a vacuum.That name was crossed out.
The Symbol Of Hope: One For All. Will All Might be okay if use this name? I don't ever recall his quirk's official name, so it should be finem right? A star was placed next to that one.
"One for All Hero: Musketeer. Sounds good to me. I'll leave it as maybe." Another star.
"Vault. I mean, it makes sense given that I collect quirks, but it sounds lame." Crossed out.
Arsenal. Yeah, now this sounds powerful, just like All Might. Star.
Isan, as in legacy. This one sounds pretty deep and and thought provonking, heh. Star.
All For None? No, makes me sound like I'm never giving anything to anyone. Crossed out.
Equalizer? I'm kind of similar to Eraserhead. I should discuss it someone later on. Star.
Itsuka Kendou had to temporarily suspend her teachings because of class representative work, her own preparations and occasional time spent with Kaminari. She was always confident in herself, but lately that feeling has been dwindling. She knew her quirk isn't very flashy, but UA had so many ridiculous ones, it was almost suffocating. A guy who can freeze buildings in seconds, a girl can make any tool or weapon, another guy who can take away your quirk permanently. It was hard to stand out with a gigantification variant. Of course, Itsuka knew that she is clever and skilled, but it didn't completely stop intrusive thoughts from creeping into her head. She need someone to speak to about all of this, so she went to Momo's room.
"Yaomomo, could talk?"
"Of course, I'm always ready to listen."
They sat down on a giant bed.
"Lately I've been feeling like no matter what I do, I can't keep up with the strong ones. Romero, Brando, Bakugou, all of them have something special besides just war power. And now that Midoriya keeps giving quirks, this keeps getting worse. I know that he has the best intentions, but the way things keep developing, I might be outclassed when it comes to showing myself."
"Yes, I understand you." Yaoyorozu knew well that her quirk likely belonged in Kendou "special" list. "Do you want me to talk to Midoriya-san about this?"
"No. It's something I have to do myself. I just needed someone to vent to, sorry."
"No need apologize. As class representative, it is my duty to take care of my classmates." Momo playfully ran her palm through her hair.
"Thanks, I really appreciate it. Don't hesitate to talk to me too."
Itsuka found Izuku training Fire Breath on an empty field, probably in case he has to fight Todoroki. As soon as she asked him about helping with her quirk, a notebook materialized in his hands.
"Is that another quirk?" She asked.
"Maybe..." He responded as they sat down on a nearest bench. "Tell me about Big Fist."
"There is not much to tell, really. I can make my fists large on demand, which makes them stronger and tougher than normal. I can't adjust their sizes, it's a binary thing. I can, however, affect only one arm at a time." Kendou made her left hand large.
"Do your hands feel heavy when they are large?"
"No, they feel totally normal." Her big fist showed thumbs down.
"Interesting. Maybe you have a vestigial mutation that makes your spine super tough? Do you struggle with swimming with quirk active?"
"Yup, so I'm not the best fighter in water."
"Let me borrow the quirk, for a sec."
Midoriya brought the grip measuring device from week 1 quirk test. His result was worse than Kendou's with or without the quirk, which likely meant that the quirk's power scales with user's own. Aside from slight embarrassment that a girl is stronger than him, it was a neat discovery. He then asked her to pick up heavy weights without Big Fist, which she did just fine. She could likely knock out anyone in 1A if quirks were off the table. Kendou's ability to run and jump was somehow not hindered by extra mass, but it was weaker without her quirk. This cemented Izuku's idea that Big Fist somehow makes user's whole body stronger to accommodate for large hands. One thing Midoriya picked up from Daigo's and Katsuki's self-launches is using abilities with a lot of force for unconventional mobility. The blonds couldn't jump high like All Might, but they could still achieve similar results with a bit of creativity. Green head asked his vice president to try jumping higher by rapidly growing on shrinking her hands. It had to be done while crouching, but it allowed Itsuka to have a bit more mobility.
"This is all interesting." She said after the study was over. "But I also wanted to talk about extra quirks. I don't think you are being fair with the way you give them. Did Daigo really need Shock Absorption? He already has one of the most busted abilities I heard about."
"It's... I owed him, okay? It was my fault he almost died then, so I had to pay him back. As for others, I'm trying to be fair whenever possible. Shinsou was down for anything, Shouji had more arms so arm based quirk makes sense on him, Hagakure... Well, that's another story. I really wish I could give everyone something special, but reality puts hard limits right now.
"I know, it's just." Kendou sighed. "It's really hard to for me stand out with just my fists."
"I get it." Izuku patted her on the shoulder. "I'll try to give you something decent after this week's quirk exchange. Just don't tell others, okay?"
"Thanks." Itsuka hugged him. "I hope it will help me show myself."
"Damn."Izuku thought. "Almost everyone depends quirks from me. I guess no matter what, someone will suffer as a result."
When Midoriya returned to his room, he found a pair of disembodied boobs lying on his desk. Next to them was a note "From Tsuna, with love. Use them however you wish, I already grew a replacement."
Izuku tried poking them, looking at them from every angle, then after confirming they are real, he hid them inside his wardrobe. He wasn't sure what to do with them.
Fumikage Tokoyami was always a bit of a loner. His appearance, quirk and (lately) attitude pushed most people away from him. UA was a nice change of pace, where he was able to find kindred spirits. Reiko Yanagi shared his fascination with darkness and swords, while Daigo Brando had a quirk very similar to his own. He wanted to spend more time with them together, so he invited them to his room for a tarot reading session. The rules were very simple: they had to ask themselves a question, then pick up a card that fate assigned. The main question on everyone's mind was whether then can win the Sports Festival. Daigo got upright Chariot (control), Fumi had reversed Wheel of Fortune (bad luck) and Reiko's card was upright Moon (illusion). Then they asked themselves about love: Daigo - reversed Moon (confusion), Reiko - upright World (fulfillment), Fumikage - upright Sun (joy). After such depressing fortune telling, Tokoyami and Yanagi tried talking to spirits with an Ouija board with their eyes closed. Dark Shadow showed her childhood photos to Holy Diver, while Brando was playing on his phone out of boredom. He got bored so much that he decided to use time stop to mess with the Oujia board so that it reads "DIO DIO". That made up for spending time in this dark room for so long.
Ochako was pumping weights alongside other strong students. She was determined to achieve good results in the competition. Not only did she feel obligation for her parents, but the new phone from UA and nice clothes she bought from that poker money gave her extra motivation. Uraraka wanted more nice things in her life, even if it meant fighting tooth and nail. Izuku also gave her an excellent quirk that can portray her as unstoppable. She had to go Plus Ultra in every aspect and do everything within her power: punch hard, run fast, use Zero Gravity to its full potential. She even tied her legs to the floor and exercised while weightless. Her lunch sadly left through the mouth after a stunt like that.
Katsuki has become quieter ever since USJ attack. He still yelled a lot, but it wasn't as loud. At times he would just stand in one place and stare at a wall, mentally coming back to that moment. His friend Ejrou noticed this after one of their training sessions.
"You okay, bro?" He asked. "Something on your mind?"
"I'm fine, Shitty hair." Bakugou answered with slight aggravation in his voice.
"If there is a problem, talk to me, please. I am very good listener."
"LISTEN." The ash blond switched to his usual volume. "I am fine. I... I fucked up. I killed that guy when I didn't have to. How can I be the greatest hero I fucked up so early?"
"You are being too hard on yourself, bro. It wasn't your fault things turned that way. You need to accept it and move on."
"What do YOU know about failure?" Katsuki glared daggers.
"A lot." Kirishima said. "There was a moment when a villain almost attacked my friends, and I did nothing. If Mina wasn't there to send him elsewhere, they could have been hurt. I use that day as reminder that I can always strive to be better. You can do it too."
"Whatever you say." Bakugou stood up to go back into his room. A little bit of playing drums to calm his nerves.
The bird boy wanted to know a bit more about his quirk and how it can be developed, so he paid visit to Izuku is his room.
"Ok, so your quirk is broadly similar to Holy Diver, except it has much larger range and weakness to light."
"Indeed." Tokoyami said.
"You guys can speak within your minds too, right?"
"Right!" Dark Shadow answered after popping out.
"Do you think you can overpower other strength based students?"
"We did a few sparring matches with Daigo and Holy Diver in different levels of illumination. They were stronger in most situations, except in intense dark. Kendou was a bit easier to manage."
"Do you take damage when Fumikage takes damage?"
"No. Am I supposed to?" DS scratched her head.
"I guess not."
"Do you think we have some sort of extra ability too? I wish we could stop time."
""You could always try getting shot."Izuku muttered.
"What?" Tokoyami was a bit confused.
"Nothing! What I mean is, he understood his full potential when in grave danger. It's not something we can safely replicate."
"Truly, a dark revelation." The bird boy spoke.
"Dark Shadow, your maximum length is 50 meters, but what about maximum size in other ways? Can you make yourself larger?"
"If it's dark enough, yes. I can change my shape if needed."
"What if you tried to become an armor set?"
"What?" Both quirk and its user asked in unison.
"What if you changed your shape to cover Tokoyami-kun's body?"
"Why would we even do that?"
"Daigo said he's going to wear more protection because he is still vulnerable. His quirk has one set shape, and it can't protect him in this manner. I imagine there would be opponents that can move past Dark Shadow and go directly for you, Fumikage. Tenya, for example, can probably do that."
"I see." Tokoyami nodded. "I have a theory about Invisibility."
"Hagakure's quirk? What about it?"
"I am weakened by light." The quirk said. "We read that invisibility occurs when someone is refracting light away from themselves. What if it allowed us to stay at full power at any moment?"
"That makes a lot of sense, actually. We'll need to test this one later."
Mei and Momo
It was time for another quirk exchange. Only 2 weeks until Sports Festival were left, so this was pretty much the last chance to get new quirks and have time to adapt to them. There were more participants, each eager to try something new. This time Izuku also asked everyone to leave their contact information.
Setsuna took Brainwashing and took three boys from Gen Ed (Ojiro, Aoyama, Sato) under her control. Her head did hurt, but the ego boost from having them carry her around was worth it. She then tried making them use their quirks: tails swing and sugar-induced strength. Yuga claimed he is quirkless with a poker face. After master-servant role-play was over, they asked her to influence Izuku's decision-making.
Shouji, Shinsou and Hagakure showed signs of progress with their new quirks. Mezou put on special bracelets to prevent accidental activations, Hitoshi was eating more than before and Tooru tried her best to fight against Silencer's side effects.
Pony, Inasa and Nejire were racing through the skies above UA territory. Hadou was the most experienced one, so her speed was unmatched. Then they tried doing the same thing with quirks swapped. Tsunotori couldn't probably lift herself with the winds, Yaorashi felt like Wave Motion is similar enough that he could get by, and Hadou also struggled with Horn Cannon because its inherent mechanisms were different.
Tokoyami's theory was correct, and he felt much stronger after becoming invisible. It was like going straight into a pitch black room. His breathing became heavy from trying not to lose control. So this combo removed one of his main weaknesses but made another one more extreme. Perhaps Tooru's prior offer was worth considering, at least for Fumikage's sake. Good thing Momo could make a cloak for him to undress behind.
Monoma was given Horns, and he could not find any additional use case or hidden utility within that quirk. It was just pair a horns, which according to Tsunoroti and Ashido looked cute.
Ochako asked to borrow Creation and made mocchi. Was it necessary? No, but it would be something worth remembering. Not everyday a girl gets a chance to make her favorite food out of thin air. She was almost jealous of Yaomomo's cool quirk. Mei, who miraculously wasn't in the workshop, also wanted to get her hands on Creation. Sadly, Power Loader had to intervene and take the little mechanic away.
Romero took Plant Transformation, which could use properties of various plants, such as roses and Venus flytraps. Overall, this quirk had a lot of potential, but it would require a lot of studying and creativity to make the most out of. Since it had decent physical applications, someone without a combat oriented quirk would highly benefit from it. Shiozaki's Vines could change themselves too, which was quite unexpected.
Todoroki and Bakugou came as well, unlike the last time. They didn't participate in exchange, which probably meant they were scouting out the future competition. It made sense Midoriya's head. Their quirks were great, but everybody else has been slowly catching up. As long as those two didn't cause trouble, it was all good.
Kaminari and Electricity control were like a match made in Heaven. In theory, Denki would able to direct his attacks much better even without support gear. In practice, however, he had to go home for family reasons. Thus, Manga had to stop drawing sketches for once and use his quirk to generate electricity.
Extra arms would be useful for anyone, but especially useful for those who had touch based quirks. Yui's Size quirk worked just fine with additional limbs, and Itsuka with 4 Big fists looked absolutely terrifying, even next to 6 arms with guns in each.
Water Manipulation was a limited form of Telekinesis, so Reiko's experience was very helpful here. This ability could only affect liquid water and had a 20 meter range, but the extent of its control was quite high. Yanagi made a hand and waved it at everybody, then she created a pseudo sword and swung it through target dummies. When the same quirk was given to Camie, she could only make simple spikes due to lack of practice. Interestingly, Mina's acid could be controlled when it was heavily diluted. So, the quirk could use other liquids, as long they were mostly water.
Minoru Mineta got to use Zero Gravity and almost flew away into space. Thank goodness Nejire was nearby to safely get him back. He thanked the world for being so close to her boobs.
Hagakure took Navel Laser and aside from a slight stomach ache, she got the hang of it pretty quickly. A fast and hard-hitting beam of destruction was bad enough, but it was even worse when coming from an invisible source. Tooru immediately asked Izuku to remove her quirk again before she could leave.
Tsuyu tried having her quirk taken, only to regret it 30 seconds later and ask for it back. Something about losing her mutant features felt extremely uncomfortable.
"Damn, is this how Sludge man feels now?"Midoriya thought to himself.
Ibara's quirk was incompatible with Hair manipulation (which strangely made sense now). Meanwhile, Shishida could turn all the hair on his body into drills. Saiko had reasonably long hair, so she was able to fire off chunks of it like projectiles. In a way, it was similar to Shouji's Rifle quirk, except much weaker. That was expected from an F-Tier villain's quirk.
Time was up, so all quirks were returned and Izuku started reading through the feedback. He had to choose who to give power and who to leave with nothing. Midoriya took Hagakure to the side agreed to her deal. Her parents arrived a few hours later to donate their quirks, all from Nezu's permission. They also looked beautiful and needed time to process being visible for the first time. Izuku took away Silencer and gave her Navel Laser, in addition to wishing her good luck. Tooru nodded and took her quirk from a token, fully intending to prepare for the event.
Tokoyami was given one of the spare Invisibilities, so Midoriya went right to him.
"Fumikage-kun, you can have this." Izuku said while handing over a piece of paper with "Invis" written on it.
"Isn't this the quirk of that girl from 1C?"
"No, it's from her mother. Or father, I'm not completely sure."
"I see. It's mutation type, correct?"
"You got that right."
"So we have to come to you to have it off?" Dark Shadow appeared to ask.
"Yes, that's how all mutations work."
"Interesting. It means that if we were to accept this gift, our fates would be intertwined due to shadows looming forever. Unless you were to cast them away." Fumikage put his hand under his beak.
"Say what?"
"He said we'd have have to constantly ask you to remove this quirk whenever it's needed." Dark Shadow explained. "We'd probably have to go to the same agency, or at least city."
"Does it mean you don't want this quirk?"
"No, we will take the cloak and the chain that comes alongside it." The bird boy the quirk from the paper. "My uniform will still be visible, but it shouldn't be that big of an issue with Dark Shadow's range."
"Maybe you should go and ask support department to try something?"
"I heard they are expensive to maintain, but I will see what they can offer. You have our sincerest gratitude, Midoriya."
"Don't mention it." Izuku smiled before walking away.
Setsuna said she can wait for another time, and that Izuku should give a quirk to one of the boys who helped her. Izuku decided to call Mashirao Ojiro and let him have extra arms. He was apparently trained in martial arts, so he should ideally make the most use out of those appendages.
"I'm not sure about that." Tail boy responded over the phone call. "That would probably throw me off balance, and I wouldn't be able to readjust within just 2 weeks. Do you have anything else I could make use of?"
"Water and Electricity control need those things, Horns is useless. I can give Invisibility or Hair control."
"I have plenty of hair on my tail, so I guess I'll take it."
With that conversation over, Drill Hair now had a new user.
As Izuku's close friend, Neito was due some extra power. Midoriya chose to give Extra Arms, so that Monoma would have at least something at base. He even offered Horns as free addition, since the copycat has so many slots. Monoma was skeptical at first but agreed after Tsunotori pleaded. Now the two of them could be horn buddies.
Shiozaki got blessed with Plant Transformation, which everyone saw coming. She promised to name a flower after Midoriya in return.
Izuku tried giving another set of Invisibility to Momo for all the work she puts in for everyone. She appreciated the gesture but did not agree. Something about this whole ordeal still felt off to her. Everyone else also figured out that invis is permanent unless green head is nearby, so 1A guys decided not to bother with it.
Midoriya went to 1B to hand over the final few quirks. Mina got her hands on Water Manipulation, which made her so happy that she hugged Izuku, which caused him to blush. Hair Projectile was intended for Shishida, but he insisted to giving it to Intelli instead. Jurota wanted her to have the best chances, as intelligence is sadly overlooked on the hero scene. Saiko invited Izuku to a tea party, but he refused. Reiko took Invisibility because it would help her connection with supernatural.
"I guess chuuni like Yanagi-san and Tokoyami-kun think alike."Midoriya concluded in his mind.
There was a bit of a fight for Electricity control. Mineta and Jirou wanted Kaminari to have it, while Manga asked to take it for himself. In the end, Izuku decided to just flip a coin and let chance settle this. Heads meant the aspiring artist got an upper hand. Fukidashi was grateful and promised a free commission.
Another week has come to an end, so everyone got a chance to relax a bit. Katsuki and Ochako were the only who went back to training to not waste any time. Ibara and Itsuka went to tend the garden, Momo was challenged to a chess match by Saiko etc. Izuku went to Pony's room to watch more of that magical girl anime.
The main character got a twin/clone due to a weird accident. At first wanted to kill the original and steal her life, but eventually they made peace and learned to coexist. The 'sister' originated from memories that were sealed away for girl's safety. Over time, they developed into a separate personality that used the magical incident to escape. Midoriya appreciated the message about acceptance and forgiveness. The bathing episode where girls were naked was a bit too much for him. Pony seemed to like it though.
After that, he and Setsuna were invited by Mina into her room. The alien girl wanted to thank Midoriya, so she tried teaching them how to break dance. Her moves and curves were so good, Izuku had a little trouble concentrating. A few hours later the 1A duo got the basics of spinning and maintaining balance. Then they suddenly remembered the cheerleader training is about to start, so they had to muster more stamina to get by. The UA cheerleader outfits sure looked cute.
Despite her intelligence, Momo could not beat the 1B President in chess. Was that mind quirk that good? In any case, they discussed tea and potential inter-class activities. Saiko proudly demonstrated her newly acquired shooting skills by landing a bullseye on a dart board. Yaoyorozu would have stayed for longer if not for dance training. When asked about she wants to do it, she said she thinks it's what normal people would do.
Tired, but not completely exhausted, Momo was preparing for her mall date. Was date even a right word? She didn't feel romantic attraction to anyone yet, and in the novels she read this feeling was akin to butterflies in the stomach. All she felt was pity and sadness when thinking about Todoroki-san and Brando-san. Why wasn't there a novel for that kind of situation?
The quartet got to the largest mall in Tokyo on a limousine. Camie immediately dragged everyone through the clothing shops. She wanted to buy this and that, for herself and everybody else. Momo and Shouto both volunteered to pay up, both trying to one up each other. Eventually, the girl conceded and let Todoroki pay for expenses. Boys were tasked with carrying over all the clothes they bought. Then they went to the nearest photo booth to make fun memories.
First were Daigo and Shouto. The latter was keeping a poker face and didn't notice the former photo-bombing him with hand gestures. Next was Shouto and Momo, where the girl put her hand on the boy's shoulder to pull him closer and out her head near his. She did the same thing with Daigo. Camie took Shouto's chin, made him face her and put her lips forward, expecting a kiss that never came. She tried the same with Momo, but all she got heavy blushing. At least the blond obliged.
The four of them stopped by in a restaurant. While they were waiting for an order, Todoroki decided to speak up.
"I feel like I can trust you three." He said. "Do you mind if I tell you something personal?"
"Of course we don't mind." Yaoyorozu responded. "You can trust us."
Shouto told them about his father's dream, the quirk marriage, the incident with his mother, how he rejected his fire side and came to UA with the goal of spiting Endeavor. He mentioned his talks All Might but skipped over the injury part.
"It hurts me to say it, but I think his fire should be used, for people's sake at least. The problem is that I still don't want to give my father credit."
"Oh my GOD!" Yaomomo resisted an urge to cry. "It's even worse than I imagined."
"That's totally fucked up, fam." Camie lost all appetite.
"I'm sorry if this was too much, I just wanted to get help with my situation."
"Can't Midoriya help? Like take fire part and give it away?"
"He said he won't even try splitting quirks, as it is too risky."
"Fooey." Utsushimi made a thinking face expression. "Are you sure you can't give your whole quirk?"
"I'm sure. My mother ice's is the reminder of her love. What should I do then?" Shouto looked Momo in the eyes.
"I... err..." She didn't know what to say.
"I think you should stop being a hypocrite." Daigo replied.
"What?" Todoroki was surprised.
"You say that you hate your father, yet you are doing almost everything he wants. You didn't run away from home or go to a general course. Hell, you didn't even try to enter UA with your own merits, no no no. You had Endeavor make a recommendation for you. For someone who claims to hate his father, you seem quite comfortable with getting everything from him on a silver platter. Even the money you spent on these stupid set of clothes probably come from him."
The temperature in the restaurant began to decrease.
"You have no idea how much pain I've been through."
"Really? I've been through pain too. My father left us, my mother was killed by a villain. I've had nothing except my quirk and my brains. You still have a home, siblings who I presume love you and your mother is still alive."
"What does it have to do with anything?" Todoroki started speaking louder. "My pain isn't going to go away just because you had it worse."
"Guys..." Camie tried to intervene.
"You are acting like you're a martyr and don't appreciate what you still have. I'd take your cards over mine any day. So stop whining and being a hypocrite."
"Listen here, you..."
Shouto was dragged away by Camie.
"You guys need some time away from each other." She said.
"We were making so much progress." Yaomomo said to herself as she saw them walking away. "This is going to be harder than I hoped for."
Author's notes: Please leave comments!
In this AU, people are naturally better at handling quirks that aren't theirs compared to canon.
There won't be new chapters for a while.
Honestly, some of the tropes in this fic are present because I want to be a contrarian.
Momo is one of my favorite characters.