Chapter 24: The Days Go By
Izuku stood, then carefully pulled Inko up and into a hug. "Thank you, Mom."
"Of course, sweetie." Inko murmured as her arms tightened around his ribs. "I love you, Izuku."
Izuku smiled into her hair. Even now, a hug from his mother eased his worries. "I love you too, Mom."
Izuku sat in the middle of an empty street in one of UA's faux cities. Around him were a variety of objects, most of which Aizawa had brought for their Tuesday evening training. They ranged from a baseball to an empty duffle bag to a chunk of brickwork the size of Izuku's torso. Toshinori had pilfered that from another nearby faux-city, one which was still in ruins after one of 3B's classes.
He'd done an exercise similar to this a few times with Blackwhip, when he was getting used to the sensations it translated to him. The principles remained the same, even if the Quirk was completely different. With a deep breath, Izuku once more closed his eyes, then cast outward with Attraction.
It wasn't like the sensations he received from Blackwhip, so much as a selective awareness of their size and location. Even with his eyes closed, he could have reached out and grabbed the baseball behind him without much difficulty. The chunk of brickwork, however, was dramatically less distinct to his new sense. He could forcibly make it more clear to his mind's eye if he focused on it, but it was drastically more difficult.
Izuku returned his focus to the baseball, then intensifiedthat focus. The ball jolted where it sat as his psionic grasp closed on it, then he willed it to rise upwards. It jolted quickly into movement before he eased up on his focus, which slowed its rise until it settled into position several feet in the air.
Izuku repeated the process with a basketball, his backpack, and several other items. Each additional object he brought under his control made his grip on the others more tenuous, until his entire collection was wobbling in the air. The headache he was developing certainly wasn't helping anything either.
Then, he made them start spinning around him.
One of the several upgrades that Attraction had received was a greater range of movement. While it wasn't especially good at moving things directly away from him, it could cause objects to move in just about every other direction quite easily. He suspected that might have been Float's influence, though there was a lot of testing to be done.
It was still best at making things move towards him, as the textured imprint on his forehead from the Basketball attested.
Slowly, Izuku opened his eyes. His grip briefly wavered as he did so, but he managed to reassert control before anything could entirely slip free of his control. His reward was the sight of a whirlwind ring of glowing objects orbiting him.
He couldn't even hope to count the number of times he'd dreamed of a moment like this throughout his life. He'd spent so much time sitting in his room as a child, trying desperately to make his All Might plush float towards him. Now that it had finally become a reality, he couldn't help the smile that split his face, nor the prickling in the corners of his eyes. Just as he used to imagine, he lifted a hand, then gently pulled the baseball out of its orbit and into his palm-
With a discordant thrum, Blackwhip shot from his forearm, latched onto his backpack, then reeled it in quickly. The green glow around the objects winked out as Izuku's focus shattered, then everything flew in different directions as their momentum carried them away.
"What the…" Izuku stared owlishly at the bag still firmly affixed to his arm. Blackwhip thrummed at him, an indignant mix of anger and…
A laugh bubbled up out of Izuku's throat. "Blackwhip, are you jealous?!"
Blackwhip dropped the backpack and retreated in a way that couldn't be mistaken for anything other than pouting.
"Oh my goodness. It never occurred to me that Attraction might cause a problem like this!" Inko covered her mouth in a doomed attempt to contain her giggles, gold and green eyes twinkling.
As he'd planned, the Quirk Transfer had in fact been a trade. Kinenkō's vestige had faded to a power avatar as the transfer had completed, a golden figure that burned brighter than Tensei but a bit more dimly than Inko's own. Boon's potency had dropped, but what remained was still stronger than most Quirks. A bit longer, and it seemed likely he'd have a complete copy.
For the most part, Inko's reception of Boon had gone as expected; She'd immediately started jittering like someone had poured caffeine into her veins, and had been very eager to divide the energy up. She'd struggled to navigate the transfer at first, but she'd managed to split it well enough after a few misfires.
Izuku had been surprised that Kinenkō hadn't been of more help to her. Then, Kinenkō's vestige had reacted to the Boon infusion and had returned to full form. He'd seemed almost groggy, and had asked why they hadn't done the transfer.
That had spawned an extensive discussion, but they hadn't had the information to reach a definitive conclusion. Their working theory was little more than that vestiges couldn't manifest in some people, and were rendered comatose by the transfer.
It had been a reminder that, despite all the progress he'd made, there was still a great deal about One for All that he didn't know about. There were still plenty of secrets to uncover and surprises to be had.
One of which was apparently that Blackwhip was quite jealous and possessive.
…In retrospect, he probably should have expected it.
"I'll be sure to make up for it. Maybe some mobility practice before we wrap up?" Izuku smiled as a strand of Blackwhip poked back out of his arm, a tentative thrum of excitement reaching him. He gave it a few pats, then turned his attention back to the chunk of masonry.
Despite his best efforts, it had proved far more difficult than the rest. It seemed that the "Small Objects" restriction had expanded into what he'd call "Medium Object" range, but the mass of brick and concrete was just on the outer limit of what it could handle. He hadn't managed to actually grasp this object yet, but he'd gotten close. He wasn't going to give up this time.
With gritted teeth and a flare of will, he brought his focus down on the masonry. As before, it was only dimly visible to the sense that Attraction came with. He pushed harder, imagining the green glow of attraction engulfing his target, of it responding to his will. It resisted, almost slippery in an abstract way, until he suddenly managed to find traction and grab. With a jolt, he suddenly felt the brickwork yield and fall under his sway.
Izuku slowly let out his breath, careful not to let his focus slip. That had been strenuous, and he REALLY didn't want to go through it a second time if he lost control now. With a little more force than before, he tried to make it rise-
The brickwork shot upwards and out of Attraction's relatively small range, green glow winking out as it sailed off. Thankfully, it didn't get all that far before All Might caught it with casual ease. Nearby, he heard his mother yelp in surprise.
Aizawa just grunted as Izuku heard him type out his notes.
"...Huh. I thought I'd need to try harder to move that, so I put extra oomph into it. As it turns out, once I actually had a grip on it, it moved just as easily as the baseball." Izuku murmured slowly as All Might put the wayward chunk of rubble back where it had started. His new sense faintly registered All Might's costume, but didn't even begin to register the man within. Attraction couldn't affect living things, even if All Might hadn't been far beyond its size limit. "Mom, did you ever notice a difference between the things you pulled on?"
Inko considered that for a second, then tipped her head side to side indecisively. "Maybe a little bit? Though that might have just been due to size. The heaviest thing I remember pulling to me was my cast iron pan, but I was more focused on keeping my control steady rather than how hard it was to actually move."
Izuku absently tapped his chin with a knuckle. "Well, it might be an enhancement of a natural feature, or it might be that tiny bit of Melding with Gearshift that Recovery Girl pointed out. Probably both. Either way, we'll need to be very careful how hard we try to move anything. It can get things moving pretty quick now. Hopefully it'll be more intuitive for you, given how much experience you had with it before..."
That line of thinking had brought to mind a new application to experiment with. His mother had been able to grip small parts of an object that was made of multiple pieces, something she'd made occasional use of in day to day life. Putting on puppet shows with his action figures and stuffed animals had been a childhood favorite, but more often she'd used it to open or close doors. The principal should theoretically be applicable here.
Izuku returned his focus to the bricks, albeit with a different goal in first, it was as uniformly out of focus as it had been before. But Izuku's goal wasn't to grasp the whole chunk this time; He wanted to grab one particular brick near the center. The more he focused on that goal, the clearer his target became. After a moment, the lone brick was clearly visible to his senses, and he was able to grab it as easily as he had any other similarly sized object.
"Ah HA! There we… go?" Izuku blinked, then frowned. He'd tried to lift the brick, but the chunk barely budged. He put more force behind the movement, brow furrowed in focus.
The brickwork shifted, rising to balance on a corner but failing to leave the ground.
Izuku escalated the pressure again, and it finally rose slowly into the air, dragged upwards along with the brick. Unfortunately, his success was marred by his worsening headache. This had actually been MORE mentally taxing than simply asserting control over the whole object, and the force he'd needed to put behind it would have shot anything else he'd practiced with up several stories into the air.
"It seems like moving any two objects under Attraction's control takes an equal amount of effort, but that effect does not extend to anything attached to those objects." Izuku glared at another brick, unconsciously extending a hand as he brought it under his control. The strain he was feeling lessened sharply, though it was still more difficult than any two individual items he'd lifted before.
"It doesn't seem like this is a workable way to completely cheat the size restriction, or at least it isn't yet." Izuku said, frowning at the partly glowing piece of rubble.
He experimentally pulled on a few percent of Full Cowling. A quick probe showed that it wasn't any easier to grasp the brickwork as a whole; Apparently, medium was as large as the Quirk would be going. However, he found that the strain of supporting the rubble by just two bricks had noticeably lessened. With a flex of will, he managed to maneuver it with substantially less effort than before, though it was still more difficult than controlling the whole object.
Izuku carefully settled the rubble back into the ground, then released his control over it. Doing so was a small relief; his headache had been getting pretty nasty towards the end. It was nothing compared to some of the other things he'd done to himself, but he was trying to be a little better about not pushing himself to those extents when he didn't absolutely need to.
Aizawa finished typing a last note, then flipped his laptop closed. "We have a few minutes left. If you're going to do mobility drills, you'd best do them now."
Izuku nodded as he took a deep breath, then easily flipped himself to his feet. Blackwhip eagerly wiggled out from his forearm, wrapping around it and thrumming. Izuku smiled at the feeling, then cast a cord up to the edge of a nearby rooftop. With a yank, he surged upwards to run along the wall, wind in his face and a thrill in his heart. He climbed higher and higher, until he shot out beyond the rooftops with a whoop and a thrum of exhilaration.
Izuku twisted in the air, looking out beyond the city skyline from his aerial vantage. The forest that dominated the UA campus extended around him like a verdant sea, with cityscape islands connected only by winding roads. He could see the buildings of Musutafu's business district against the horizon, glinting in the light.
Just before he dropped back below the rooftops of his own faux-city, something caught his eye. He could barely see it, but there was someone walking down the path to the nearest of the other cities.
'Looks like I'm not the only one getting some extra training tonight.'
The formula was a familiar one.
A complex series of elements bonded together into fibrous strands, all packed into a dense yet soft wood. Specifically, the wood of a lime tree, as was traditional. Part of her was intimately aware of the fact that this part of the formula was one she not just could change, but probably should; Lime was easy to carve, but was just as easily damaged by accident. White Oak or maybe Hickory would hold up better, especially given she didn't have to struggle with carving the hard woods or worry about them cracking as they dried out.
Over the wood went a blend of titanium and oxygen in just the right ratios to create fine granular Titanium Oxide, bound together with a glucose base to create an already dried white Gouache paint. A slightly smaller area received Hematite instead to create a vibrant red. Smaller still were the sections of black, and lastly the parts that matched her own skin tone.
Once the material, shape, and color was established, it was a simple task to iterate the process, making each smaller than the last.
Final step complete, Momo pulled down the neckline of her gym uniform with a finger and popped the Matryoshka doll out in a flash of multicolored light. It fell neatly into her other hand, the weight and texture identical to almost every other version she'd made. All the same, she inspected this one critically.
'...Well, it's not as cute as the ones based on my old suit were...' Momo hummed contemplatively. 'But I don't think I'm all that upset about it. There's something amusing about the juxtaposition.'
She popped the first doll open, then the second, then the third, and so on until she reached the tenth. She didn't find any defects, but she hadn't really expected to; If she could make one thing with absolute perfection, this would be it. She'd only gone through the steps to distract herself from her nerves.
There was a faint clink. "Well isn't that a fancy li'l figurine."
Evidently, she'd distracted herself entirely too well, because she hadn't heard anyone approach. The sudden voice from a few feet behind her made her jolt violently, accidentally flinging the nesting dolls away.
A series of jangling footsteps approached rapidly, then flew past her before she could even fully turn around. Snipe snatched the doll out of the air as he skidded to a stop, the spurs on his boots still rattling.
"How did you sneak up on me with those things on?" Momo blurted, then blushed in embarrassment at her outburst. "I apologize, I-"
"Naw, it's m'own fault." Snipe rubbed the back of his head, then clicked his heels together. When he next stepped forward, the spurs were silent. "Forgot I had 'em silenced from class earlier. It's a useful trick; Villains think they know where I am if the clinkin' stops somewhere. Only remembered 'em when ya' didn't notice me comin'."
Snipe proffered the Matryoshka doll, head tilted slightly to the side in contrition. Momo took it, then stuffed it in her bag.
"So. Given ya' requested me in particular, I'm guessin' ya' want a rundown on guns?" Snipe leaned against the side of one of the buildings, arms crossed. "Near unlimited ammo, can pop the right firearm out in a pinch, can't really be disarmed. With a Quirk like yours, you'd be a fierce fighter with 'em."
"Maybe another time. I… I actually need to work on my snap decision making. I keep freezing up under pressure. I have so many options, and I need to get better at choosing the best one on the spot." Momo winced at the admission. "Iida suggested that you'd be a good teacher to help with that."
"Mini-Ten singled me out, huh? He's a smart one, that's fer sure. Remember the little squirt from Tensei's graduation. Still hard ta' believe that was so long ago." Snipe chuckled fondly, though it turned into a sad sigh at the end. No doubt he was remembering just what condition Iida's brother was in now. Snipe pushed off the wall, hands falling to his hips. "I trust he gave ya' a characteristically in-depth rundown of why I'd be a good fit?"
Momo nodded. "Your arsenal. He suggested you because you use a variety of specialized bullets to compensate for the lack of piercing power your Quirk can cause. You're extremely skilled at identifying the best tool for the job in the middle of combat, which is exactly what I need."
"Bullseye." Snipe drawled, then flicked back his cape to pull a magazine from his back. He tapped his fingers in a complex pattern along an unremarkable corner, and a panel opened with a hiss. Within, a dizzying number of bullets in all shapes, sizes, and colors were arrayed multiple layers deep. "Each o' these represent a different solution to a dozen different problems. Net rounds, stun rounds, sleeping gas rounds courtesy o' Midnight, grappling shots, self-deploying landmines, remote speaker systems... You name it, I've probably shot it at somethin' it in the past."
Snipe slid the magazine closed, then returned it to his back.
"Yer' Quirk is leagues more complicated than anything I've ever worked with. But the basics are universal. The most important thing ya' can do is learn what to ignore." Snipe's relaxed posture and tone shifted, suddenly the very picture of a seasoned teacher delving into a lecture. "It's easy to ascribe too much importance ta' things that probably won't matter. That just bogs down any decision yer' tryin' ta' make with 'maybes' and 'could happens' rather than focusin' on the 'definitelys' and 'probablys.' So, what we're gonna focus on is helping you grok situations fast, strip them down to the key points, and quickly find answers for those."
Momo nodded, the spark of hope she'd been holding onto growing brighter. All of this made sense, and the confidence Snipe spoke with made it really feel like this was something she could do. The doubts were there, but they felt a little less overwhelming. "How do we start?"
"Slooooowly." Snipe replied, his drawl returning. The hero glanced around, then nodded over towards a bench nearby. "I'll give you situations based on some of the fights I've been in, and we'll pick 'em apart down to the most important bits. Once ya' get the hang o' that, ya' get to do the same thing while I'm applyin' some pressure. Then we just keep crankin' things up 'til you can do it under combat conditions. It won't be immediate, but I have every confidence yer' gonna pick it up quick."
The prospect was daunting, but Momo refused to let it stop her. "What's the first example?"
Snipe nodded in what she took to be approval. "Let's start with a simple one. There's a villain able to walk on walls running down a busy street…"
To say that Inko was surprised to wake up in the Vestige Realm, standing in the ruins she'd only seen from afar, would be an understatement.
Yes, she had Attraction back. Yes, she knew that she couldappear within the realm as a result of that newfound connection. But tonight was supposed to be one of Izuku's rest nights. She was already concerned that him getting a full night's rest every night wasn't the norm. If he was skipping rest nights under her nose, they were going to have words-
Behind her, someone cleared their throat. Inko yelped, then looked over her shoulder to find Yoichi, Kudo, and Nana sitting in their serious air around Kudo wasn't surprising from their previous encounters, but seeing the same from the other two made her wary.
"...Izuku isn't here, is he?" Inko asked warily.
Yoichi shook his head. "No. He's resting, as he should be."
Inko turned to fully face the three past users. "Well then. What did you want to talk to me about? You clearly brought me here with a goal in mind."
A small smirk quirked the corner of Kudo's mouth. "Straight to the point, then. We're going to be making sure you can use your new Quirk."
Inko frowned. "I appreciate the offer, but I'm sure I can work on my control without causing too much damage. It's certainly stronger now, but the basics seem mostly the same."
"Be that as it may, we're not talking about your day to day use." Kudo shook his head. "I meant use your Quirk in combat."
Inko stared at him for a long moment, the silence of the ruins deafening. Surely she couldn't possibly have heard him right.
"...I know I talked about wanting to help Izuku, but I thought I made it clear that I didn't necessarily mean in a fight." Inko said. "If it came to that, I'm sure he'd be able to use Attraction far better than I would. I'm not a hero."
"We're not expecting you to join him on the battlefield or anything even remotely similar to that." Yoichi clarified. "But we think it's important that you can defend yourself. Especially given what Attraction is now capable of."
"Wasn't my becoming a member of UA's staff supposed to protect me?" Inko asked, still reeling at the idea of herself fighting someone, even if in self defense. "I'll be surrounded by heroes and UA's security systems. If anything can get through that, what will I be able to do against it?"
Kudo cocked an eyebrow. "And you intend to remain on campus from now until the day All for One and every last one of his loyalists are dead or in prison?"
"Well… No…" Inko admitted. "But I still can't imagine I'd be able to do much. I'm not a fighter. Sure, I've been around Mitsuki long enough that I can shout someone down if I need to, but actually fighting them?"
Kudo looked frustrated, and seemed about to say something, but then Nana raised her hand. Kudo glanced at her, then settled back into his throne. As he did so, Nana herself floated up and over to hover before Inko, face somber.
"You might be right. Even with training, you might not be able to stop whoever All for One will send after you." Nana admitted, which sent a cold shock through Inko. The way Nana spoke, it sounded as if it was a foregone conclusion. Like she knew it would happen. Like… like she knew from experience.
She'd mentioned a husband and son in passing, but had never spoken of them at length. She'd skirted around the subject, and Inko had gotten the impression it wasn't something she should question.
But now… she had to know.
"...Your family." Inko whispered, dread crawling through her like a swarm of spiders. "He did something to them, didn't he?"
Nana's jaw snapped shut, cutting off whatever she was going to say next as a brief moment of pain flashed through her eyes. It was gone in a flash, but Inko hadn't missed it.
Nana slowly exhaled, then nodded. "He went after them. Rasen, my husband, didn't survive. But Toshi was babysitting when he saw the HeroNet alert and knew what Rasen's office building being leveled might mean. He took Kotaro and ran across a quarter of Japan to make sure he was safe. All for One still turned my house into a crater, but at least nobody was in it."
Nana pursed her lips, looking away for a moment as the muscles in her jaw danced. "I… I had to put Kotaro somewhere safe after that. So I flew to another city and left him in foster care. I never told anyone where, to give him the best chance of staying out of all this that I could. If I'd managed to beat All for One, I'd have stopped at nothing to find him and get him back, but… Needless to say, I never saw him again."
Inko's heart lurched in her chest. Part of her immediately rejected the concept of ever giving up Izuku. He was everything to her. She didn't think she could live knowing she'd never see him smile or hear his musings on Quirks or just be near him again. But… she also knew she'd do anything for him and his safety.
Even if that meant making the hardest choice a mother could.
"I'm…" Inko swallowed past the lump in her throat, eyes burning with the familiar feeling of tears. "I'm so sorry, Nana."
Their eyes met, and they shared a moment of mutual understanding. Some of Nana's tension seemed to ease, her face softening.
"You might not be able to stop someone All for One sends after you. But do you really want to just accept that, when there's something you might be able to do about it?" Nana's words almost sounded like a plea. "Your Quirk gives you a chance to survive, especially if its new power catches them by surprise. You wouldn't have to defeat them, simply survive until someone could come to help. If there's even a chance that this will help you in the future…"
"Then I'll do it." Inko blinked away her lingering tears and stood as tall as someone of her stature could. "For Izuku's sake, and my own, I'll do it."
A soft smile, tinged with lingering sadness and fresh relief, found its way onto Nana's face. She reached out to clasp Inko's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"Good." Kudo stood from his throne, then stepped forwards. "In the interest of saving time, let's begin."
With a gesture, a large metal device appeared on Kudo's forearm, which he then brought to bear a few feet to Inko's left. It didn't take much guesswork to realize it was probably some persuasion of firearm.
"I'll start off with some slowed projectiles." Kudo said. "Try to grab them as they pass through your range."
Nana glanced backwards at the Second user, then returned her gaze to Inko questioningly.
"I'll be ok." Inko patted the hand still on her shoulder. She took a deep breath as Nana floated back, then she squared herself up to Kudo. "Fire away."
The weight of the bench press's bar was heavy in Izuku's hands, held just before his chest. The cushion beneath him was pressed flat to the metal it was mounted on, barely doing anything with over 1,500lbs of weight pressing down on it. A stream of One for All coursed through him, enough to let him use the max weight for reps but not enough to make it too easy.
Sato stood over him, eyes locked firmly on the bar in his hands. They'd taken to spotting for each other, given the weights they worked with were beyond what the rest of the class could handle. Ochako was the only other one who could usually spot for either of them, but she was working on flexibility training with Ashido, Asui, Ojiro, and Hagakure downstairs.
With a sharp exhale, Izuku heaved the bar upwards with a clink of metal.
'22.'
The buzz of power suffusing him was always a temptation when he worked out like this. He spent so much time pushing the limit of what he could use that sitting between 3% and 4% felt lazy.
'23.'
Unfortunately, short of moving to the floor and having classmates sit on the weights, there wasn't much he could do to increase the weight he was lifting. Even then, the bar would probably give out before he reached a weight that fully challenged him.
'24.'
He was so close to fully adapting to 7%, he could almost taste it. Each time he tapped into it, the strain was more and more negligible. It was a tangible proof of his progress, tantalizingly close but not quite yet in his grasp. He wanted to push harder, but his options were limited.
'25.'
What he really needed was a way to add resistance to his movements, rather than extra weight. He'd tried resistance bands, but they'd proved either too weak to offer him much compared to what he was already lifting, or so unwieldy that they did more harm than good.
'26.'
Perhaps he should go talk to someone in support? Maybe they could rig up some kind of device to resist his movements. He had a feeling that if Hatsume got involved it would turn into something resembling a villain detainment device, but maybe that was exactly what he needed. Something to push against him and bind… him… up.
'27. Also, I'm an idiot.'
Izuku paused his reps, then sent a quick sequence of thoughts and feelings to Blackwhip. At first, it sent back hesitation and confusion, which was surprising. After all, he was asking it to do something it actively enjoyed. But once he confirmed that yes, he actually wanted Blackwhip to try and restrict him, began to engulf him. Blackwhip stretched out from his back, coiled around his chest, and worked its way up his arms until it tightened around his wrists like a brace.
"...Um." Sato stared down at the spectacle warily. Several others around the room did likewise, even Dark Shadow eyeing the scene sceptically. "Whatcha doing there, Midoriya?"
"Sorry, kind of got caught up in an idea." Izuku apologized, then experimentally tried to push the bar up. In response, Blackwhip tightened around him. The layers that covered his arms contracted, straining to keep his arms from extending. Blackwhip thrummed quizzically at him, notes of worry and confusion still clearly present.
'You're doing good!' Izuku reassured it, sending happiness through their link, followed by a series of emotions and thoughts he hoped would help convey his goal. 'I'm going to use more of One for All. I need you to keep resisting exactly as much as you are right now. Can you do that?'
Blackwhip lightly squeezed his arms, and he felt a pulse of resolve ripple through their connection.
Izuku took a deep breath, then called forth 6% and heaved the bar upwards. Blackwhip continued to resist him, but now he could push past it to fully extend his arms.
'28!'
Izuku smiled in satisfaction as he slowly lowered the bar back to his chest. Blackwhip thrummed with a tentative happiness of its own; Even if it didn't get to pull harder than he pushed, it was still getting to pull and bind and squeeze.
"Mind if I go to 40?" Izuku asked, glancing up at Sato. "I want to test this out a bit more."
Sato eyed Blackwhip appreciatively, then nodded. "If you're willing to try and make that work for me, sure. Been dying to really push myself this morning."
Izuku grinned as Blackwhip thrummed excitedly, then reset his grip on the bar. "I'll see what I can do!"
Ochako groaned. She wasn't completely sure if it was more out of discomfort or embarrassment.
Training with Thirteen had been going extremely well; She'd especially impressed the hero with her knowledge of structures and stability in collapse scenarios, courtesy of her parents. Years of listening to them talk, seeing diagrams, and visiting construction sites with them had ingrained a working understanding into her.
The setups hadn't been anywhere near as complex as the USJ had provided, but the lack of pressure had given her more time to consider her approach. That had led to a few much cleaner extractions on several occasions, and let her spot more subtle problems she'd likely have missed back at the USJ.
Then, in her final exercise, she'd tried to use Zero Gravity on a piece of rubble and had unexpectedly slammed headlong into her limit. That piece of rubble had, by happenstance, been an iceberg; Only a small piece of a very, very large chunk of destroyed building buried below. Added to the weight of the other rubble she'd pushed aside, she'd barely had time to realize what had happened before she'd painted the concrete with what was left of her lunch.
She'd only just had the awareness to check where the weightless rubble was before she released her Quirk, sending it all clattering to the had picked her up with ease, and had brought her to a bench to recover. The hero had even clambered out of her bulkley suit and started rubbing Ochako's back to help with the nausea.
"I'm fine now." Ochako lied through her teeth, stomach roiling. "Sorry about that."
The hand on her back stilled as Thirteen gave her a flat look, which made for an interesting effect with her event horizon eyes. "I sincerely doubt that, Uraraka. If your Quirk does to you what weightlessness did to me, you're probably barely able to speak without a… secondary eruption."
Based on the feeling of acid in her throat, Ochako literally couldn't argue that point. At her silence, Thirteen's hand resumed movement.
It really did help.
Once Ochako was confident in her ability to speak without anything else trying to make a break for it, she glanced at Thirteen. "You've been in zero gravity before?"
Thirteen's eyes lit up, and a smile crossed her lips.
"Technically, no. I managed to save up for one of those parabolic flights that let you feel weightless for a minute. It was fantastic… except for the fact that I got really nauseous towards the end." Thirteen's smile turned self deprecating. "Thankfully, they had plenty of emergency bags on hand. Not my proudest moment, but definitely still worth it."
"That sounds so cool!" Ochako said eagerly. "I'd love to do that some day!"
Thirteen looked bemused. "Can't you already do that whenever you want?"
Ochako blushed, but shook her head. "I can, but… I guess it's because I'm curious if there's a difference between what my Quirk does and how it feels to be naturally weightless. And since I doubt I'll be going to actual outer space any time soon… well, unless I fall asleep outside again…"
"Well that sounds like a story." Thirteen arched her eyebrows, leaning back into the bench.
"Little toddler Ochako decided to manifest her Quirk while she was napping after a picnic. My parents were bird watching, and didn't notice until I drifted into view a foot above them. Ochako giggled as Thirteen's mouth fell open. "And that's the story of why I had to wear gloves and a retractable dog leash whenever we went outside for the next year or so."
Thirteen snorted a surprised laugh, a vantablack hand shooting up to cover her mouth. "Well, I'm certainly glad they caught you."
"I wouldn't have gone much higher. It still happens when I forget my sleeping gloves, and I usually wake up about halfway to the ceiling." Ochako rubbed the back of her head, embarrassed. "But anyway, that's the first and last time I made a break for the stars. Admittedly, rebellious 7 year old Ochako was tempted to jam a fish bowl on her head, build a slingshot, and go on an adventure… thankfully I never went through with that…"
Thirteen shook her head, snickering quietly.
"Well, if you ever decide to take a properly equipped field trip to space, I'd appreciate you keeping me in mind." Thirteen tipped her head back to gaze up towards the sky. "I've been watching the stars for as long as I can remember. It's always been my dream to be among them some day."
"You'll be the first on my invite list." Ochako looked upwards as well. She watched the clouds swirl overhead, but found herself imagining the starry sky beyond. "Who knows, maybe I can get my costume rated for vacuum somehow. Swap the new fans for propulsion jets too. I'd just need to figure out how to justify that as helpful for heroics work."
"Pioneer space rescue heroics." Thirteen grinned. "That, or talk to Nezu. He's managed some absolutely insane things for the students over the years. Getting spacefaring capabilities built into your suit might not even be that hard for him, at least compared to other things he's done in the past."
Ochako glanced to the side, expecting some sign the hero was joking. She couldn't spot any. "...You're serious?"
Thirteen glanced at her, then nudged her own costume with a foot. "He got me gloves able to withstand forces reminiscent of Black Holes back when I was a student. I use a DNA lining for it now, but back then? What he got made for me was basically a miracle, even if they still needed to be replaced just about every week. He probably wouldn't hand you a space suit unless you had a pretty compelling case, but if you did? He'd do the same for you as he did for the students who needed full body DNA suits."
"Well. I guess I'll have to work on that." Ochako took a deep breath, then let it out in a slow sigh of relief. Some time during their conversation, her stomach had finally settled. "I'm feeling much better now. Thank you… for everything, really. It's been so incredible to get training from my favorite hero, but getting to talk with you made it all even better."
Thirteen perked up. "I'm your favorite?"
"You're a space themed rescue hero with a gravitation Quirk." Ochako said with a small blush. "That aside, you're just about everything I aspire to be as a hero."
A slow grin split Thirteen's face. "I'll actually need two hands to count how many people have told me that I'm their favorite now!"
…She couldn't have heard that right. There was no way. "But you're awesome!"
"I'd like to think so, and I appreciate that you do as well." Thirteen smiled warmly. "But I'm also a Hero with an extremely destructive Quirk who rarely ever uses it in combat, which frustrates the battle junkies. I'm a rescue hero who's Quirk is purely destructive, which makes for an awkward match many don't find especially compelling. My space theme isn't exactly unique either, and there are far more popular heroes like Starbright who draw that audience. I'm generally well regarded, but I'm not especially popular, much less many people's favorite."
Ochako frowned at that. She'd always been confused by the gulf between Thirteen's rank and her professional reputation. She was widely known and respected in the hero community as someone who was exceptionally skilled at their job. She'd saved countless lives and proved herself an authority on rescue work, all despite having only been a pro for 10 years and a teacher for 4.
Which had made the fact that she consistently ranked in the low to mid 2,000s baffling. Sure, both specializing in rescue heroics and being a teacher tended to make retaining higher ranks difficult, but there were always exceptions for the exceptional. After all, Wash and The Pussycats were highly ranked, and they primarily focused on rescue work.
Unfortunately, Thirteen's explanation didn't really improve the situation. All it did was take Ochako from baffled to… disappointed. Even if she knew that the top quarter of hero ranks were highly contested, the fact that such an incredible hero could be pushed so far down them for such shallow reasons rubbed her the wrong way.
"People clearly don't appreciate everything you do for society then. Or at least they don't appreciate you enough."Ochako huffed, arms crossed. "You save so many lives, you massively speed up disaster recovery, and you help train others to do the same. You're incredible, an' if people can't see that, then it's their loss."
For a moment, Thirteen looked surprised, though it quickly melted into a fond smile. "Thank you, Uraraka. But while I appreciate your passion on the subject, don't let it upset you. Popularity's importance can be an unfortunate shortfall of the hero system at times, but my ranking has never really mattered to me anyway. I get to do two of my dream jobs and take home more than enough to get by, regardless of whatever arbitrary number I'm assigned."
Ochako wilted a little, embarrassed by her tirade. Of course Thirteen wouldn't care about her rank; She was far more concerned with helping people than getting recognition for doing so.
Then Thirteen reached over and gently placed a hand on Ochako's shoulder.
"Besides, no amount of distant admiration could mean more to me than the genuine appreciation of someone like you. Someone who I inspired to try and make the world a better place." Thirteen softly squeezed Ochako's arm. "You have the makings of a truly exceptional hero, Uraraka. I cant wait for the day I see Uravity in the headlines."
"I… um…!" Ochako faltered, caught off guard.
A wave of scattered thoughts and emotions swept through her. The old familiar doubt reared up, insisting that she'd set out on this path for selfish reasons. But that was something she'd moved past, and it was swept away in the rising tide. Excitement at the idea that Thirteen wasn't just pleased by her performance, but really thought that she could be great.Pride from that realization, mixed with nervousness about living up to the expectation.
She pushed that uncertainty down. She didn't have the luxury to doubt herself, not if she wanted to be a hero. Not if she was going to help Izuku against the monsters lurking in the dark.
In place of her nervousness, another emotion rose up, this one woven through the rest and all the more powerful for it.
Resolve.
She'd live up to the belief that her parents, Izuku, Thirteen, and everyone else had in her. More than that, she'd surpass their expectations. She wouldn't accept anything less from herself.
"Thank you, Thirteen." Ochako said, voice firm. She stood, then looked back towards the rubble. "We have enough time left to finish the exercise, right?"
Thirteen squinted in the direction of the sun, then at the slowly lengthening shadows on the ground around them.
"I'd say so." Thirteen nodded, then began clambering back into her costume. Just before she was about to close the dome over her head, she paused. "You're also welcome to call me Kurose as long as we're not in class."
Another bubble of excitement swelled in Ochako's chest, but she managed to keep it from bursting out in some kind of fangirl-y giggle.
"Ok then, Kurose." Ochako flexed her fingers as she turned to eye up the mound of rubble, earning a few pops from her knuckles. "Let's see if I can do a bit better this time."
Breaking: Another powerful storm has struck, causing widespread damage in Matsumoto. Citizens northwest of the city and in surrounding areas are advised to take immediate shelter with food and water as a precaution. Meteorologists remain baffled by the recent chain of storms which have grown far beyond expected ranges. Casualty reports from these storms have entered the triple digits, and now include 17 Heroes.
Izuku's grip tightened around the clipboard in his hand as he read the subtitles on the muted TV, mathematics review sheets forgotten. He knew it was storm season, but even then the frequency and severity of these freak storm escalations was unsettling.
Usually, this level of destruction and injury was reserved for Typhoons. If thunderstorms were causing such damage and injury this year, he didn't even want to consider what an even bigger storm might do.
"Hey Midoriya? Could you check my work?"
Izuku blinked, then looked around. Almost all of his classmates were spread across the lounge, toiling over their own practice sheets. They had a mathematics review test Friday morning, and what had started as a small night before review group had expanded to include all but Bakugo. Thankfully, Tenya had brought enough sheets that the entire class could get two if they so chose, which Izuku had.
At the far end of the couch, Kirishima flapped his sheet lightly, a questioning grin on his face. With a nod and a wave, Kirishima stood and navigated his way through their scattered classmates.
"Thanks, man. I think I got most of this down, but I feel like my brain is gonna start leaking out if I redo question 19 again." Kirishima grimaced. "Turns out 2nd time isn't the charm. Or the 3rd."
Izuku scanned down the sheet, brow furrowed. He recognized a few from his own sheets, only one of which had any mistakes, and that only a misplaced point. A quick once over of the others looked mostly right, though he mentally marked one or two as needing a closer look.
Then he hit 19 and his eyes nearly went cross.
"Ouch. That's a rough one." Izuku murmured as he pulled out a sheet of scrap paper and started writing out his work.
"Ok, so it wasn't just me. That's a relief." Kirishima relaxed a bit, then settled onto the couch to watch Izuku work. After a minute, he snapped his fingers and tapped next to the calculation Izuku had just finished. "Ah, I think that's where I went wrong!"
Izuku nodded in agreement. "Yep. All three attempts were correct until here, though two look to have gone further wrong past this point. You were actually pretty close on your first attempt."
Kirishima blew a sharp breath through his nose, arms crossed and face chagrined. Then he shrugged and turned a jagged smile towards Izuku. "Thanks for the help, man!"
"Gladly!" Izuku returned the smile, then went back to check over the other questions he'd made note of. He proved to be right about two of them, though it appeared that one was due to a smudged 8 half way through being treated as a 3 instead of a mathematical error. The shared problem with the misplaced point that he'd made note of actually proved to have been a mistake on Izuku's part, which he quickly corrected on his own sheet.
"Ok, I think everything else is correct! Nicely done!" Izuku handed Kirashima's paper back to him. "Anything else I can help with?"
Kirishima hesitated for a moment. "Well, it's not math related, so it can wait if you want to get back to studying."
Izuku glanced back at his second sheet, which was only half finished, then back to Kirashima. "A quick break probably wouldn't hurt."
He'd barely finished speaking before Ashido slapped her pencil down onto the table and leaned back in her chair. "Music to my ears, Midori!"
Tenya frowned as he looked up from Kaminari's sheet, but a subtle gesture from Yaoyorozu gave him pause. After a moment of consideration, he spoke. "Those who wish to may take a break, but don't procrastinate too long. We only have two hours before curfew."
All around the room, pencils and pens clattered to tables or were tucked into more Yaoyorozu-made clipboards. Sero laced his fingers together and stretched his arms overhead, releasing a series of cracks and pops that made Jiro grimace.
Next to Izuku, Ochako released a yawn and slumped into his side; She'd been overjoyed to tell him all about her training session with Thirteen, but it had left her utterly exhausted. The way she was leaning on him left his arm uncomfortably pinned to his ribs, so he tentatively shifted to drape it around her shoulders. They both blushed, but that didn't keep Ochako from snuggling in closer and looking up at him with a smile.
She had a little smudge of ink on her cheek. She'd probably tapped the tip of her pen against it rather than the back, as she tended to do while working through assignments. It somehow made her look even more adorable, and that was before the half-lidded sleepy eyes were factored in. He had to look back to Kirishima to keep from being incapacitated by cute-overload.
"You don't have to answer now, I just wanted to run it past you." Kirishima jerked his head in Kaminari's direction. "He mentioned your impromptu costume brainstorming session from the other day, and I was wondering if I could get your input on mine. I'm mostly happy with it, but it feels like a waste not to use the extra budget if I have it."
"Be careful, Kirishima." Ochako giggled from under Izuku's arm. "That's less asking Izuku a favor and more giving him an opportunity."
Izuku was already too busy brainstorming to agree with her. She was completely right; This was more a gift than anything, as far as he was concerned. "What were you already considering?"
"After the USJ training, I'm thinking about adding some rubberized sleeves. Some of the dummies in the Conflagration Zone got a little cut up while I was carrying them around with Hardening active." Kirishima frowned, clearly unhappy with his performance. "I don't know much about DNA materials, but I've heard they can be tricky with transformation Quirks. I figured you or Yaoyorozu would be the people to ask about that."
An odd look came over Yaoyorozu's face, but a brief moment of eye contact with Tenya seemed to ease whatever was bothering her.
"I think the sleeves are a fantastic addition!" Izuku turned his focus back onto Kirishima. "And you're right about transformation Quirks having some particular complications regarding DNA materials. For the most part, they're localized alterations rather than an effect that can be propagated, but that's not always the case. It really depends on how your Quirk works. Is it specifically the outside surfaces of your body? Or does it use a specific material as a conduit? I think Keratin is present in just about everywhere I've seen you use your Quirk…"
Kirishima looked vaguely surprised, then gave Izuku a shark-toothed grin. "You're spot on, man! According to the tests, my Quirk factor is actually in the Keratin my body produces. I also have a vestigial mutation that makes me produce more of it, and it gets built into more parts of my body, like my teeth and bones. I even have a whole layer of it around my eyes, instead of just in my cornea."
Kirishima reached up to tap one hardened eye with a fingernail, making a sharp clicking sound like two rocks striking one another. Nearby, Aoyama squirmed uncomfortably at the sight.
"The outside of my body is where most of the Keratin goes, so that's where Hardening can have the biggest effect. But it also toughens up most of my organs too, which is a big part of why I can tank hits that should turn me into soup."
Yaoyorozu drummed her nails on the table, looking thoughtful. "Given that the Keratin is the vehicle for the Quirk Factor, you should be compatible with several kinds of DNA material. Fabric and Leather for anything flexible, pure Keratin from the fingernail for rigid sections."
Izuku nodded absently. "She's right. Most of that would be out of budget for a first draft, but you could probably get a fair bit of DNA Fabric with the allocations. How open would you be to a shirt?"
Ashido snorted. "Good luck with that. He seems pretty fond of running around half naked."
"I'll have you know that my costume doesn't have a shirt for a practical reason, thank you very much! If villains see attacks bouncing off armor or gear, they can brush it off and try to aim for chinks in it. If they see their attacks hit your bare skin and stop dead, though? Then they start to doubt." Kirishima thumped his chest with a hardened fist, the crack muffled by his shirt. "Villains fight harder when they think fighting harder will accomplish something. If I can shake that belief, then that gives me an opening."
"Also, you're proud of your muscles and want to show them off." Ashido teased.
"They're manly." Kirishima replied matter-of-factly, without a hint of denial. "Sue me for wanting to have something eye-catching to make up for the fact that Hardening isn't exactly flashy."
"If you're worried about your Quirk not being attention grabbing enough, try asking Midoriya about it too." Hagakure piped up from the far end of the group. "I vented for a few seconds about my Quirk not being useful for rescue after we finished the Conflagration Zone. He responded by dropping a thesis on the spot that completely upended what I thought I knew about it. And he did it with just a few tidbits of information from me. He'll probably figure out how to turn you into a living ruby or something."
Tenya nodded absently as he crisply wrote out an explanation on Kaminari's sheet. "That does sound about right. The amount he can glean from a mere few pieces of information never ceases to amaze."
Izuku blinked in surprise, then raised his hands placatingly. "It's really not that big of a deal. I was just hypothesizing-"
"Like how you hypothesized about the different ways I could influence inertia? You know, when you experienced it twice and months apart, then put together a shockingly accurate theory about how it worked?" Ochako lightly elbowed him in the ribs, then looked back towards Hagakure. "Have you had a chance to test whatever he suggested?"
"His idea about invisible speaker marbles for my costume didn't pan out, but his Quirk analysis? Ohhhhh yeah." Hagakure shimmied in her seat. "I borrowed an infrared motion tracker from the support department. It could definitely follow me, which was… Kind of unnerving, you know? It was a little faint, but it could definitely see me."
Hagakure pulled in on herself slightly for a moment, and Yaoyorozu reached over to rub her back comfortingly. Disconcerting was likely a big understatement, considering she'd been confident enough in her invisibility to walk around naked in public. Having that confidence ripped away must have been horrible, but it was better she learned of it now than when someone used it against her.
"But he was also right about my being able to hide from it! I'm not very good at it yet, but I've managed to make my hand completely invisible to it for a few seconds!" Hagakure perked back up again. "I don't think I've said thank you since, so thank you Midoriya!"
"I'm glad I could help!" Izuku replied. "I'm sure you'll get the hang of it soon!"
"That's awesome!" Kirishima cheered, then looked back to Izuku. "I'm not sure that Hardening has that much for you to work with, though. It just does one thing, and doesn't have a lot of wiggle room."
Izuku extended a hand to Kirishima, who clasped it with his own. "Turn Hardening on and off a few times while I take a look."
As Izuku watched, Kirishima's skin shifted. The texture changed as it turned into something resembling stone, with craggy ridges and sharp edges. Unsurprisingly, his calloused knuckles seemed to shift even further than the rest of his skin, as did his fingernails and the area around them; Both were more dense in Keratin than skin, so it made sense.
Kirishima's hand returned to normal, then shifted back a moment later. Izuku inspected it closely, then ran a finger over the back of the hand. "The pattern of ridges is different."
"Yeah. It's a little different each time." Kirishima shrugged. "Does that matter?"
"It might." Izuku said, then tapped the back of Kirishima's hand. "Can you try to make a ridge here?"
Kirishima's first few attempts weren't promising. However, the more he tried, the more a small ridge began to consistently form near or beneath Izuku's finger.
"I guess that's a yes?" Kirishima grunted, glaring at his own hand in concentration. "I always just focus on where and how much Hardening will reinforce me. Trying to finely control the details of how it changes my skin is… really weird. Cool, but I'm not sure how useful it would be."
"What's the smallest area you can use Hardening on?" Izuku asked.
"Pretty small. Maybe the size of my thumbnail…" Kirishima cocked an eyebrow at him, then glanced back down at his hand consideringly. After a moment, his eyes lit up in realization, then his brow furrowed in focus. Slowly, a sharp ridge of hardened skin began to rise from the back of his hand, then became more pronounced. After a few seconds, the ridge had formed into a jagged peak protruding from the back of Kirishima's hand like a thorn. It didn't extend far, but it was exactly what Izuku had been hoping to see.
"Fantastic!" Izuku smiled encouragingly. "Can you try to do the same thing while you're already using your Quirk?"
After another few moments of focus, Kirishima pumped a hardened fist in victory, one with another small spike extending from it.
"Hell yeah man!" Kirishima cheered, smile splitting his face. "It takes more out of me to push Hardening up that far, but in short bursts and in small patches… I could spike my knuckles before a punch! I could grow thorns right before someone tries to hit me! This is perfect!"
"And that's just the beginning! You'd be an even bigger nightmare to grapple! If you timed it right, you could use this to trap or even break a villain's weapons! With finer control of how Hardening forms, you could even turn your arms into saws to cut through rubble!" Izuku nodded enthusiastically. "But then there's also taking this in the opposite direction. What if you could mask the fact that you're hardened at all by keeping everything smooth instead of jagged? You might be able to trick people into attacking a 'weak point' that's just as protected, or make people second guess whether or not you're using your Quirk at all!"
"Taking a blow to my stomach because they think it's undefended, only to bruise their knuckles while I deck 'em in the jaw! That'd be so damn manly!" Kirishima barked a laugh, then clapped Izuku on the shoulder. "This is fantastic, bro! Thank you! Got any other revelations floating around in that brain of yours?"
Bruce pulsed.
Izuku hesitated, shying away from the connection. After what Bruce had told him about his history with Hikage, he was… conflicted. He'd liked the man, and it was clear that the other Vestiges, Hikage obviously excluded, were on good terms with him despite what he'd done. But Izuku couldn't just ignore it. Bruce had betrayed Hikage, and no amount of logic or reasoning could change that fact.
Then, Hikage pulsed.
That was exceptionally rare. Save for the incident in the hospital, he didn't think Hikage had EVER initiated a conversation with him, and even that hadn't been intentional. Carefully, Izuku pulled on a sliver of One for All, then reached out to Hikage.
'Bruce is as invaluable a resource as any of us.' Hikage said, blunt as ever. 'Do not reject him for my sake.'
'You know he told me?' Izuku asked, surprised.
'Your reaction confirmed it.' Hikage said flatly as he began to pull back. 'It doesn't change the fact that he is one of us. Trust him.'
'But… what he did to you…' Izuku thought. 'How can I trust him, when he betrayed you like that? You were the first to help me while I was struggling against Stain. I don't want to return the favor by acting like what Bruce did to you was ok.'
A wave of exasperation flowed through the link, though Izuku thought he picked up on a faint note of… fondness buried within. 'I resent Bruce for his betrayal, but… I understand why he felt forced into what he did.'
There was a pause as Hikage seemed to collect himself, then continued.
'I do not forgive him. In most things, I do not trust him. But I know EXACTLY how dedicated he is to ensuring victory against All for One. In this, our goals still align.' Hikage said, voice low. 'His training is valuable, as are his insights. Do not reject these in a misguided attempt to support me in my grief.'
With that, Hikage pulled away, leaving Izuku alone with his thoughts.
'...Well.' Izuku sighed inwardly. 'It's not like I can just ignore Bruce after THAT.'
He was still wary of the Third Wielder, and would remain so. The betrayal he'd committed wasn't something Izuku could ignore, no matter what anyone said. But faced with enemies like All for One and the League, Hikage was right; He couldn't afford to refuse the help of someone with as much experience as Bruce clearly had.
There was also Bruce's obvious regret to consider. While he might have remained firm in his belief that his actions had been necessary, it was obvious that he loathed that it had been, and himself by extension. He'd carried that self recrimination for over a century, and it was clear it hadn't dulled in that time.
Izuku wouldn't forget what Bruce had done. But perhaps he could give the man a chance, as the other Vestiges clearly had.
Izuku took a deep breath, then opened himself to the rest of the Vestiges. "What's your suggestion, Bruce?"
He could feel Bruce's surprise, which was quickly followed by more than a little relief. It occurred to Izuku that Bruce genuinely hadn't expected him to respond, or at least not favorably.
'I was wondering what he does to maintain his Meta Ability.'Bruce said. 'A diet to keep his nutrients up? Any special treatments he uses to keep it in working order? If he can improve the foundation Hardening is built on, that could lead to a comprehensive enhancement.'
Izuku nodded, then returned his attention to Kirishima. "Do you need to do any kind of maintenance for your Quirk?"
"Not that much, really." Kirishima shook his head. "I eat lots of meat and veggies to keep up with how much Keratin I produce. I have to use some conditioner or lotion here and there because Hardening can dry me out if I use it too much, but that's about it. It's not exactly a high maintenance Quirk."
'Heh. Minato would have taken him to task for doing so little.' Bruce chuckled. 'If his skin is the primary conduit for his Meta Ability, Kirishima should be pampering the hell out of it instead of spot fixing problems after they appear. I seem to recall one of Minato's favorite products claimed to thicken skin, among half a dozen other things. That seems like it would be a perfect place for him to start.'
"Have you ever considered a more involved skincare routine?" Izuku asked. "I hear skin thickening creams exist. Even if they don't, or they don't literally thicken your skin in a way that Hardening can capitalize on, it's possible that keeping your skin in the best possible condition could have beneficial effects."
Kirishima cocked his head to the side, one eyebrow arched skeptically. All the same, he seemed to give the idea due consideration, and before long he began to slowly nod. "I can't say I'd ever considered that, but it might be worth giving it a shot. It's not like it can hurt, and if it does something to make my Quirk better…"
Ashido shot to her feet with a delighted gasp, her chair nearly toppling over behind her. "Spa day! Spa day! Spa day!"
Kirishima glanced at her over his shoulder, then laughed. "You know what? Sure! Spa day it is!"
Ashido whooped in joy, then began taking a head count of who wanted to join in. Yaoyorozu was quick to offer supplies, to which Aoyama began making suggestions with equal speed.
Kirishima watched Ashido as she organized plans for a lingering moment, then turned back to Izuku. "Thank you, man. This is… way beyond what I was expecting. Seriously, you're incredible at this."
"It wasn't- ow!" Izuku jumped, then glanced down. Ochako was staring up at him, elbow yet again firmly wedged in his ribs and a supremely unimpressed look on her face. Izuku nodded with a sign, then looked back up at Kirishima. "You're welcome. I hope some of my ideas end up being helpful."
"Oh, they will." Kirishima rubbed his hands together, eyes narrowing as his grin widened. "We kind of got off track from the costume thing, but you've given me enough that I have a few ideas. But the thorns thing? Once I get better at it, that's going to be a really useful move!"
"Yeah, no kidding. My one win condition against you was cocooning all the sharp parts. Now that's ALL of you." Sero griped with exaggerated despair, then glanced towards Izuku. "So how do I get in on the analysis? Is it a queue system, a lottery, or do we need a referral?"
"Me too! Can't let myself fall behind, now can I?" Ashido called, though she never moved her focus off of Kirishima. She had his face squished between her hands as she examined his complexion up close and personal. "You'll be my reference, right Horn Buddy?"
Kirishima, for his part, looked like he was desperately trying not to let Ashido's complete disregard for personal space fluster him. He managed to get a garbled sound that mighthave been agreement past his squashed lips, but eventually settled on a thumbs up for the sake of clarity.
Before long, others joined in on the request. Soon, just about everyone in the room had expressed an interest in getting Izuku's input on their Quirk. The sheer volume had rapidly become overwhelming, but thankfully Tenya had stepped in to try and wrangle the thinly veiled chaos back into a study group.
As Izuku worked through another math problem in the quiet that followed, ideas danced through his mind. He couldn't have kept the smile off his face even if he'd tried.