Chapter 7
MazeBuilder: Good to see you back in the land of the living
SetInStone: No need for sarcasm, I assure you I was on a case that required my full attention.
MazeBuilder: So this has nothing to do with the fact that I know who the successor is and approve of them?
SetInStone: While I am certainly not pleased, and do believe it had been foolishness to dismiss my candidate, I am a professional. I would not let something like that hinder working relations.
In front of his computer, Nezu sighed. Sasaki Mirai always had too many emotions, how he could be so out of touch with them was a mystery to the principal gerbil (he still giggled at how the staff reacted to that discovery). He only hoped that when Midoriya and him met, it would all resolve amicably.
MazeBuilder: So why are you back now?
SetInStone: If you would have waited for a minute before messaging me privately, you would have seen. I need help analyzing some criminal activities attributed to the yakuza, I was planning on requesting a group discussion.
It was only the third day, and Izuku already had so many notes and questions for his classmates. It would be torture to wait until the end of the day to go over them. Well, hopefully the teachers wouldn't work him too hard in the following classes. He spent some of yesterday preparing hand outs and exercises for the upcoming classes (and shared them with the teachers so the curriculum would be standardized between all the classes), so it shouldn't be too bad.
He and Ectoplasm were passing out a mathematical assessment quiz to start the lesson (Izuku insisted), when the PA system blared to life from the hidden speakers in the corners or the ceiling. "Class 1-A Midoriya Izuku, Class 1-A Midoriya Izuku, please check your phone". His classmates were staring at him in the silence left by Nezu's voice, and Izuku took out his phone with a blush.
--
SetInStone: @GreenLotus, I apologize for my abrupt absence, I was on an important case.
GreenLotus: its okay mazebuilder told me already
SetInStone: Good, I am glad I did not cause you any undue worry.
MazeBuilder: Now that we've gotten the pleasantries out of the way why don't we get to business?
GreenLotus: oh is there something you need help with?
SetInStone: Indeed. I have encountered some stumbling blocks is a case I'm working on, and would appreciate your analytical expertise. I could send you the files, I am employing a new encryption method that I hope woll pose more of a challenge to you.
GreenLotus: sure sounds good! :)
MazeBuilder: How about we meet in person? I happen to be near GreenLotus and we can be at your agency in a couple of hours
GreenLotus: no prob if you can get me out early
Izuku put down his phone when he saw he wasn't getting a response, and went to help a few classmates with raised hand (Mina, Kaminari, Hagakure, and Yoarashi).
He only had a few minutes to make rounds before the door opened. Nezu came in with a phone in hand, and called to him, "Izuku are you ready?"
"Principal Nezu Midoriya-san is currently aiding me in class, please wait until the lesson is over..." Izuku sweat-dropped at Ectoplasm's attempts to keep him in class, but Nezu simply laughed.
"Overruled, this is important"!
"Ummm, Nezu, will I be back in time for 1-B's heroics?" Izuku was hesitant to miss it, since it wasgoing to be their first lesson.
"Probably not, so I'll make sure All Might records everything, besides, let him know you met SetInStone later and it'll be fine." The principal grinned as if he knew something Izuku didn't, (which was probably true, Izuku reckoned).
Izuku heard Mina's voice as he left the class, "Ectoplasm-sensei, does this mean we don't need to finish the quiz?"
Mirai Sasaki was curious. When in the last year did Nezu meet GreenLotus, and why were they together? Not for the first time he regretted his childish silence. Even if it was unfair that Nezu knew the successor to OFA before him, it wasn't Nezu who was to blame.
Not at all. In fact, Mirai was quite clear that the blame was split between him and All Might fairly equally, each more stubborn than the other over the most foolish of points. However he was self aware enough to admit that it stung, to be so far from his friend's life that he was only made aware retroactively, and that Mirio, a perfect inheritor, was completely overlooked.
A knock on his door shook him out of his commiserations. "Sir, Nezu is here to see you with a... guest?"
His secretary, a lean short man around Mirai's age, looked more hesitant than usual around him. "Yes, I've been expecting them. Is something the matter? Prepare some tea for us please and tell them I'll see them in the meeting room. Ah, does the guest seem like a fan?"
Nighteye Agency prided itself on impeccable public image - they had to, since any smudge on them would by association be a smudge on All Might. Therefore all administrative personnel were trained to recognize fans and direct them to differently decorated sitting rooms. His secretary chuckled, "If he told me he's the number two fan of All Might, I would think that no one is number one..."
Mirai was used to the roundabout way of speaking, and quickly understood what the man was trying to say. "Alright, then lead them to my office then".
He wasn't a vain man, nor was he a materialistic one. The one vice he allowed himself though, was his All Might merchandise collection. If GreenLotus was a fan, then his poster and figure laden office would make the best impression possible. (And maybe, just maybe, Mirai wanted to show off before a colleague he'd never met in person before).
They could be heard from down the hall, although the words themselves were muffled. A frantic, fairly high-pitched, voice shooting rapidly, interspersed by Nezu's familiar chuckles. His secretary opened the door for them, with a tray of tea in one hand, and Mirai saw exactly why his secretary seemed so hesitant earlier.
"Ican'tbelieveitSirNighteyeismyfriendNezuyouknewaboutit!" Nezu laughed at the hyperventilating kid's energy, but now that Mirai could see his face (familiar by now even if not human), and hear him clearly, this was a sort of laughter he hadn't ever heard from Nezu before. It wasn't a victory laugh, or a schadenfreude laugh, or an I-know-something-you-don't laugh. If Mirai wasn't mistaken, and he rarely was, it was an indulgent, kind, laugh.
"I do know Izuku, and I would have told you earlier had I not wished to keep the surprise. Besides, until he was back to full communication there would have been no point. This will be a good opportunity to update Sasaki-Kun on several topics". All the heuristics of this interaction led Mirai to a very implausible conclusion: The short green haired boy in a U.A. school uniform was his online colleague of almost ten years, GreenLotus.
The boy stopped looking between him and Nezu, and started gazing around the office. Well, at least impressing him wouldn't be as hard as Mirai feared. "You're handling this much better than Aizawa-kun did, and you have much more to be surprised by". Nezu took a seat as the kid was scrambling around the room.
"Is he really GreenLotus? Does his quirk affect his outward appearance, or did I give Awata quirk advice from a ten year old?" Mirai could hardly conceal his mirth. It was funny in all the best ways, his sidekick had been begging him to set her up with 'his mysterious analyst friend' ever since he gave her some advice about her combat style.
He could see that Nezu shared his amusement, "Well, he's fifteen now, so maybe Bubble Girl shouldn't lose hope..."
"OH MY GOD- " They turned to the GreenLotus (Mirai would ask his name soon), "The redacted Gal Might figurine from when All Might was hit with a body altering quirk while busting a corrupt politician's backroom meeting! That's almost as incredible as knowing that SetInStone is actually you ,Sir Nighteye! I can't believe one of the coolest heroes ever is my frien-"
The kid froze suddenly, and the color drained from his face, "Oh, ummm, sorry, I... I just assumed that since me and Nezu are actual friends, I mean in real life, then you would be too, since we're in the same groupchat... but yeah it makes sense if you wouldn't... I mean, haha, you probably have so much on your hands, ummm, right, so... you wanted some help analyzing something?"
Mirai tried orienting himself after the roller coaster of emotions he just witnessed, "Well, anyone who's as diligent and intelligent as you, as well as being Nezu's friend is obviously someone that I would like to call a friend. That you're a fan of All Might ensures already that we have much in common. I'm Sasaki Mirai, hero name Sir Nighteye." Mirai stood and bowed slightly, extending a hand to shake.
It looked for a moment as if he said something wrong, since the kid was tearing up, but the wobbly smile accompanying those tears made him hold his tongue, "I'm Midoriya Izuku, It's an honor to meet you both as one of my idols and one of my two closest friends". Izuku bowed at the waist, and shook Mirai's hand, "You can call me Izuku, if you want".
"Please, call me Mirai then". It was a puzzle for him, how could someone who has worked with them for so long, and already be close with Nezu, immediately assume his presence would be unwanted. The body language, the fear of rejection, the fact that a teenager's closest friends were two online near strangers (well, that was unfair, they did talk several times a week for years now, but mostly about quirk theory and heroics). All those behaviors were typical of someone shunned by society, not a genius who was widely regarded among quirk theorists worldwide.
"Yes! I'll be in your care!" Izuku smiled and took a seat.
"I believe we have several points to discuss," Nezu spoke up, "but we should start with yours, Mirai, since ours isn't urgent even though it is important".
"Oh ummm Nezu can-"
"Oh of course Izuku, yes, this should only take a short while and is probably my favorite part of introducing you to heroes!" Now Mirai heard the schadenfreude in Nezu's voice, but what did that have to do with what Izuku wanted-
"Si- ummm, Mirai, I have some basic questions about your quirk, and maybe some ideas?" He handed over a notebook (when did he take it out?)
Mirai chuckled softly as he took the notebook, "Well my quirk is a well kept secret, it's actually touch activated future visio-" "Future vision that you can use once per day, yeah!"
Nezu cackled in his seat, but when he turned to the rat with a question in his eyes, Nezu shook his head slightly. No one told him, and Izuku figured it out? "How did you figure out the once a day part? And the touch part? and the future sight part"
"Well, your main style of combat is medium-close range, even though you almost always use martial arts to deflect and defend, and your accuracy implies you can keep your effectiveness up at a much higher distance. So you clearly need to be able to touch your adversaries. Other than that, after eighty-six percent of the times you deflected or defended with your hand against an opponent, you both stopped getting hit, and aimed your projectiles in advance. This was also the primary clue to the activation limit. If we look only at the first instance of you touching someone, then the combat improvement rises to ninety-five percent, and for all instances after that, which are significantly fewer, any improvement ceases to be statistically significant. And, this is the one I'm least sure about but still, you were thirty-eight percent less likely to engage in close combat against enemies towards evenings. I also think you need eye contact, which is why you stay highly mobile in a circular movement pattern."
Mirai looked at the notebook in his hands, the glee radiating off of Nezu was palpable. Mirai could only think of one reason why - If Izuku already knew that much about his quirk, Foresight, what questions did he have?
He opened the notebook on a spread dedicated to him. Sketches and diagrams of him in various combat poses, suggestions and questions about support gear. And on the next page, a much more in depth deduction about his quirk, how it integrated with his fighting style (as well as weaknesses in his style, patterns he fell into too easily).
The questions were more like a battery of tests to run, with hypotheses regarding the results. Most of them were already things that Mirai tried, like predicting a coin flip, or trying to forcefully change a prediction, but when put together they were meant to test a much more detailed hypothesis regarding his quirk. Mirai always tested one thing, could he change a future that he saw? The answer was no. But if he understood what Izuku was asking correctly, he may have been completely mistaken.
Completely, about everything.
Mirai's hands were shaking. It would take weeks to run these tests, but the logic was flawless. If this were true, then Mirai's quirk wasn't Foresight.
It was probability manipulation.
Izuku was getting nervous. What if Mirai (He knew Sir Nighteye's name!!) didn't like his analysis, what if he thought it was creepy or dumb, he must have already thought of all of these things. Why did he think-
No! Izuku shushed the internal voice, like he talked about with Nezu and Hound Dog (U.A.'s councilor, who was great at his job).
--
"Let me rephrase what you told me, to make sure that I understood what you wanted to say without assumptions on my part, okay?" Hound Dog sat on a couch in front of him, in his cozy office. Nezu had thought that maybe counseling or therapy could be good, and that if it were up to him it would be mandatory for heroes.
"Yeah, s-sure"
Hound dog leaned forward, with his elbows on his knees, "You don't always understand human behavior patterns, and your quirk is completely blind to patterns that involve you in some way?"
"Oh not exactly, no. Ummm, let me see if I can explain. There's no such thing, for my quirk, as a human behavior pattern... ummm... or any type of pattern. Well, there are patterns in the physical world and non physical, but... ummm... Okay, so it's like this".
Izuku collected himself and breathed in deeply, "A pattern that I could see is for example how often you smile in reaction to certain stimuli, as well as the degree of curvature and tensing of other facial muscles are involved in each smile. So I can know if you smile in manner X seventy percent of the time when meeting person A, and smile Y ninety percent of the time when meeting person B. That alone doesn't tell me what each smile means. If I look into it more, then maybe Person A is a neighbor whom you see most mornings, and person B is your boss. Additionally, I can look at what I call pattern fractals, what behavior patterns come before or after that specific pattern. Are you grumpy in the mornings? Do you seem more tense after seeing your boss?"
Looking across the room to Hound Dog's couch, the hero looked to be deep in thought. "Right, so I don't know anything about those smiles, I only recognize the pattern. I have to learn and infer from other patterns what that means. After that I can tell with a high level of certainty that Smile Y is your fake smile, associated with certain muscle contours in certain manners, and Smile X is a genuine smile, associated with other contours and features."
Hound Dog wrote something down on a notepad, and then gestured for Izuku to continue, "and all patterns are like that, for me I mean. I can recognize that Vlad King's Blood Whips make a Sine Wave that correlates to the amount of solidified blood he has, but I don't understand what that means without looking deeper and more. I can recognize the dimensions and patterns in which a wall is cracked, but without also comparing it to patterns of strengthening and ballistic quirks, I won't know what caused it, and without being aware of the information regarding the area the damaged building is in, including country, prefecture, neighborhood, heroes on patrol and their patterns, and more, I won't be able to tell you anything beyond the degrees between each pair of cracks."
"So, I'll try to rephrase again if you please. Your quirk doesn't give you an understanding of patterns, but only a perfect recognition of them? That means you need to know what other patterns to look at in order to glean actual information from those patterns?"
"Yes! Wow you're really good Hound Dog!" Finally a really good way to explain his quirk!
"Ah, and human interactions and behaviors are hard to understand even for me, so no wonder it outwardly looks like you sometimes don't get them as well as others." Then Hound Dog leaned back and smiled widely. "That makes my next point easier to come across, Izuku. You don't recognize patterns involving you, so you panic and assume the worst. But you don't need your quirk to recognize patterns, it only helps, right?"
Izuku nodded hesitantly, he wasn't sure where this was headed.
"And you definitely don't need your quirk to learn something from a pattern, you just said so yourself".
Again, Izuku nodded his head.
"Well, if I were to show you hypothetical medical results, in which one value was lower than others, something visible to the eye, no need for a fine tuned understanding, and asked you to point out the outlier, you could do that even if the results were yours, right?"
A third slow nod.
"And if those results showed a vitamin D deficiency, what would that mean?"
"It would mean I probably don't go outside to often, since if it were pathological there would be additional information in the test results". Izuku answered immediately.
Hound Dog clapped, "Exactly! If you ever find yourself panicking and thinking the worst, try to tell yourself what patterns you can see without your quirk, and what you can learn from them. Your quirk only shows you what patterns to look at. It's your brilliant mind that knows what to make of them."
--
As he looked at Mirai staring at his notebook, he forcefully bit the inside of his cheek.
Two patterns.
First, whenever I don't recognize a pattern regarding myself, I assume a bad scenario even though it never pans out. From this pattern I deduce that it is an involuntary anxiety-driven response that most of the time does not correlate to reality.
Second, almost every time I show a hero my notes and questions about them, they end up very thankful and learn from it. Even when not, no one has been mad or complained. From this pattern I deduce that... I should wait for Mirai's reaction before deciding how he thinks.
"Izuku?" Nezu's voice jolted Izuku out of his calming techniques, "Are you okay?"
"Oh haha yeah, sorry" Izuku scratched the back of his head shyly, looking toward Mirai to see what he thought.
Mirai handed him back the notebook (signed!) with a stony face. "Izuku, truly what you propose is remarkable. The supplementary data regarding similar known quirks is a solid basis for your hypothesis, and the battery of tests you drew out is certainly something I will prioritize after this case. I- I can't really explain how much this means to me. Believing that what I see is unalterable... Set In Stone... was horrible. But if it's the opposite, if what I see is unalterable because that is how I saw it, and there is a way to change things by seeing them again and shifting the probabilities..."
Nezu was (once again) shocked by his friend. He never talked about Sir Nighteye with Izuku before that, but if he had known that Izuku was sitting on this hypothesis for nearly a year, he would have done everything he could to bring the two together sooner. On the bright side, this should make the whole successor of All Might issue easier to handle.
Mirai wiped a tear, and Nezu could understand why.
"I want you to have her Izuku. You are far worthier than me, I gave up in the face of my quirk while you kept asking questions. You are the only one who could keep her safe".
Izuku's jaw dropped, "Mirai, are you sure? I can only imagine what she must mean to you".
Mirai scrunched up his face and nodded.
They had only met today, who were they talking about? It couldn't actually be Bubble Girl, right?"Could you enlighten me as to who you are talking about?"
Both of the green-haired All-Might fanatics turned to him, and looked at him with a very specific gaze. It was the gaze he wore when he encountered a bureaucrat that was exactly the right combination of smug and ignorant, with a dash of not being able to read the room. Nezu suddenly understood why so many people were scared of saying something dumb next to him.
Mirai held Izuku's hands. "I'm sure Izuku, she deserves the best, and I know that you are a much better man for her than me".
The boy nodded, Nezu was genuinely baffled.
Mirai took a small safe out from under his desk, got up and went to one of his locked cabinets. He put his fingers on a print scanner and let a sensor scan his eye.
Oh, Nezu thought, of course.
With a shaking hand, he opened the velvet-lined lock box.
I shouldn't have even been surprised.
He slowly lifted a silk cloth and gently wrapped it around it, and put it into the safe.
It. not her. Nezu sighed, at least Izuku looked happy with his new Gal Might figurine.
"Okay! So what case do you want help with?" Izuku asked, much happier than he expected to be.
"It's a quirk enhancing drug operation, I think it's linked to the yakuza, but I'm probably missing something. We've only apprehended small dealers, and they don't know enough to lead the investigation anywhere. I hope that between your and Nezu's intelligence quirks we-"
"Ah, oh, ummmm... I don't have an intelligence quirk... I didn't mean to lead you on." Izuku interrupted hesitantly.
Mirai looked gobsmacked "But, you always notice the tiniest things and..." he gestured at where Izuku held the notebook on his lap.
Izuku scratched his head, "Yeah, my quirk allows me to recognize patterns, but not understand them. So I can see the pattern of when you touch people more and when less, and the distances from which you fight most, but then it's kind of up to me to make sense of it all".
Clapping his hands, Mirai looked impressed "That just means you are far smarter than I originally gave you credit for, and I already thought highly of you!"
Izuku glanced at Nezu and saw the principal gerbil give a small nod.
Bracing himself, Izuku continued, "that's actually not all of it... ummm, more of my quirk manifested this year, until last year I thought it was only recognizing patterns, but there's two more parts to it".
Mirai looked interested, "Oh, is this what you based your Quirk Inheritance Paradigm on?"
He shook is head no, "I published the preliminary version of AQIP around six months before I fully understood my quirk, since both my parents are emitters, and I was researching to try and find out what the other parts of my own quirk were. It's called Danmaku, it allows me to telekinetically shoot small objects in patterns, the patterns change depending on what the objects are."
Nezu cleared his throat and gestured for Izuku to continue, "and... well... I actually unlocked that part of my quirk training... for a different part of my quirk... ummm..." Izuku shut his eyes tight and breathed in "IinheritedOneForAllfromAllMightanditmademyquirkevolvemore!"
Izuku was sitting in front of him with his eyes closed, as if he were waiting for judgement. If it was Mirai from two hours ago sitting there, he would have received judgement, and not a lenient one. but now Mirai already knew him. No, that wasn't accurate. Mirai had known Izuku for years, but now he finally knew how extraordinary Izuku was.
He sighed slowly, "If I had a hat, I would eat it right now."
Izuku opened his eyes to see Mirai's ponderous expression, "I spent the last ten months believing that no one would be a better candidate to inherit that quirk than one of my interns, but now I can't disagree with All Might's choice at all".
"But don't you think it should have gone to someone with a complementary quirk? One that could benefit most from the power infusion?" Izuku still looked like he didn't believe himself worthy.
Mirai chuckled lightly but amicably. "Izuku, We've been colleagues online for almost ten years. I'm not sure if you realize how you are perceived there. Those forums aren't hobbyists or theorycrafters. You have legitimately been helping heroes solve crimes and improving their quirks for years. Do you remember around five years ago I sent you a quirk profile?"
Izuku tilted his head for a second, and then his eyes widened "Bubble Girl? But she must have been sixteen back..."
"Exactly, I received an intern with an interesting quirk that she wanted to use for heroics, but without a lot of ideas how. I asked you for help, and five years later that girl is a sidekick in my agency. She still asks about you sometimes. You..." Mirai suddenly burst out laughing "you probably don't know how many scientific articles cite you, everyone thinks that you post all of your work online for free because of some ideology, but you actually just don't understand how influential you are Izuku".
Nezu joined in the laughter, "You're right Mirai, I can't believe we haven't ever talked about it Izuku," Nezu wiped a tear away from his eye, "With the training and preparations for OFA, and your quirk and the school year and preparing for All Might's retirement, it slipped my mind. You should consider publishing in a journal, if only to get a sense of proportion as to your effect on modern quirk theory".
Mirai tilted his head "Preparing for All Might's retirement?"
Nezu and Izuku exchanged a look, "Yes, in actuality, it wasn't All Might that recruited Izuku, more like the other way around. You see, All Might brought Izuku to my office, wanting to introduce me to a young boy who had, all by himself, figured out that All Might was running out of time..."
His eyes widened at Nezu's words
"Yes, he realized that All Might was heading toward retirement, and even without knowing that OFA was inheritable, made a long and elaborate plan of action to prepare the world of heroics for the end of All Might's career. Imagine my surprise when that very same boy pointed at the printed manuscript of AQIP on my desk, which I had printed to read and review at my leisure..."
Izuku groaned in embarrassment and covered his face with his hands when Nezu continued his story, "and said please don't judge me on that, I'm sure it'll be better after my friend MazeBuilder goes over it..."
Kaku Hondai has been in the employ of the Nighteye Agency for almost five years. He's has seen his boss meet everyone from fellow heroes to government officials, brand sponsors and terminally ill children, contest winners and villains in reform programs. All those meetings were in one of the multiple meeting rooms in the agency. Never in his own personal office. Never mixing business with personal life. The meetings were all short and to the point: Give the kids a tour and answer their questions. Decline the brand deal if the brand was harmful and didn't donate enough to charities. Assist the heroes with their case. A simple in and out, even when Nezu was the one to visit.
That wasn't the only weird thing though.
Since he was promoted to Sir Nighteye's secretary, Hondai liked to think that he knew what sort of man his boss was. Sasaki Mirai was a stern man, but fair. He had an odd, subdued, sense of humor. Sure, his boss liked to laugh, and everyone had a joke book stashed away for a rainy day, but it was always a chuckle or a nasal exhale.
So what was different about this meeting? Hondai knew to mind his own business, but who the hell did Nezu bring with him? For the last four and a half hours Hondai could hear three voices laughing loudly and heartily behind closed doors.
Chapter 8: Stage 2: Rescue Mission of Eight Precepts
"You don't understand Mirio! This man can change your life!" Despite himself, Togata Mirio couldn't help but be excited. For the last two years, ever since he started interning at the Nighteye Agency, his senior, Bubble Girl, would mention him.
This mysterious analyst who helped her when she was a young intern like him, and totally changed her life. She didn't mention him often, but whenever she did a good job, or made a difficult capture, she would say that it was thanks to him and then start blushing so hard her blue skin would turn purple. The two of them couldn't have looked more different, standing outside of the Nighteye Agency: He was tall and muscular with blond hair and a face that was somehow expressive even though the features on it were reduced to the most basic of caricatures. She was short and slender, her face a mask of sternness that almost didn't give away her excitement.
"Guess I'm in luck then Bubble girl! I can't believe he just happens to be here. Think he'll help us on a case?" He made sure to smile at his blue haired senior, trying to convey that he shared her enthusiasm.
"Or maybe Sir called him to help you? You know, you've got a handle on your quirk, but you never know... this guy, the way he-"
Mirio interrupted her with good natured exasperation, "Yeah I know, he can change my life, geez! Sir told me to wait at the entrance after school, so they should be here soon".
Not a minute after he said that, the agency doors opened and Sir walked toward them, followed by a green haired kid in the U.A. school uniform. They seemed to be chatting about something quite animatedly, and then Sir gestured toward him and Bubble Girl.
Well, time to break the ice, Miro thought "Good afternoon Sir, and hello! I'm Togata Mirio, hero name: Lemillion, since I want to save a million people"!
The boy's eyes were shining in excitement, maybe he was a hero fan who won one of those contests?
"Wow Lemillion I've heard so much about you! I've also seen the recording of you in the sports festival, your use of a really difficult quirk is amazing! Do you mind signing my notebook?" Mirio was shocked! He had a fan? Someone who wanted his signature? Right as Mirio took the notebook he noticed Sir smiling, the kind of smile he had when there was some funny joke that he knew and you didn't, and he knew that you didn't.
As Mirio opened the notebook, he heard Bubble Girl ask "By the way Sir, isn't Mr. Lotus coming today?"
as for what Sir answered, Mirio couldn't tell. He was way too busy reading through the most detailed analysis of himself he had ever seen. Suggestions and questions that were enlightening as they were scary. Permiating something solid into his own body and then shooting it out? How does his quirk interact with gasses? If light passes through him, why is he still visible when intangible? Why can he sometimes permeate his clothes? The kid thoguht those last two were the most important, since until he could clearly answer them, he didn't actually understand his quirk.
He looked up, and saw Bubble Girl looking pale, with tears in her eyes. The kid was blushing, but he still held out his hand toward Sir Nighteye. "I told you she wouldn't believe you, you had to take the bet..."
Sir Nighteye was laughing, but Mirio could tell he was also slightly angry. He reached into his breast pocket and took out a rigid plastic placard - No, a card in a plastic protector, "Here you go Izuku, I can't believe that the only one your missing is the ultra-rare crossover alternate art number forty-two of All-Might wearing Endeavor's costume".
"Well, Endeavor threatened to sue, there was only a single printing, a-and I was sick the day before release so my mom wouldn't let me camp outside the store..." Mirio was trying to keep up.
"Excuse me..." "Midoriya Izuku! Nice to meet you!" Midoriya bowed.
"Right, Midoriya-san, did you write these notes? Could you help me test them out?" Midoriya smiled shyly.
"Y-yeah, I hope you like it, I think your quirk is really interesting and Mirai told me we could chat while we were on our way to check out some details on a case". Wait, he called Sir by his given name? And didn't Sir also call him Izuku?
"W-wait, Midoriya-san, are you by any chance the quirk analyst Mr. Lotus?" No way. No. Way.
"Oh yeah, GreenLotus is my online handle, because... and..." He answered while pointing to his hair and eyes respectively.
"But..." He looked at Bubble Girl, who was on the verge of tears, "you're fifteen".
"Oh, yeah... I guess I am?"
"But Bubble Girl... She..." He pointed between him and Bubble Girl, who looked increasingly distressed. Midoriya only blushed, which made Mirio regret not listening in on what exactly was said between the three.
They took an agency car to a suspect site. Izuku was sure that this was the most likely to yield further clues, but he would have to see it in person. If not, then there were a few other locations to check out. Mirai had explained that they were tracking down the base of a Trigger distributor, likely yakuza. Honestly, Izuku was pretty nervous, Trigger was a really dangerous drug, boosting someones quirk but also whittling away at their mind.
The three heroes were in suits, while Izuku was wearing a face mask just in case there would be people who could notice his presence, though it was agreed he would split off from them and scope the area alone as a civilian.
That was only part of the plan. The heroes had to make sure not to arouse suspicion either, so it was framed as a teaching excursion for an intern, which Lemillion was. That cover was helped by Nezu's presence.
Silently, Izuku suspected things would go wrong, and he suspected that Nezu suspected that he suspected things could go wrong. He didn't say anything to Mirai, but the truth was that the location was more than a little likely under observation. But Izuku knew that he needed his own eyes on the ground. He could identify patterns through images and videos, but he couldn't know if there were patterns he missed, since one can't detect an absence in those cases.
Still, Nezu said nothing, silently riding on Mirai's shoulder until they reached his destination. They both looked at him with concern, they cared about him, he realized. "Be careful Izuku, we'll meet up in thirty minutes at the agreed upon point". Izuku nodded to Nezu, and exited the car.
It was a scant fourteen seconds later that things did, in fact, go wrong.
Mirai was worried about Izuku. After getting over his shock, he realized that the boy was his friend of many years. Their inside jokes from forums and chat rooms transitioned fluently to jokes around the table. He didn't realize the immensity of the intimacy of sitting face to face with friends, until he had it.
After Izuku left to his designated patrol area, they remained in silence. "I know Mirai, it takes you by surprise, doesn't it?".
Mirai let out a chuckle at Nezu's words, until they heard their comms flair. "Stop, give her back!" Izuku's voice, panicked.
A muffled reply came from whoever Izuku was talking to, and the three heroes and heroics student charged out of the car. As they ran, they saw Izuku confronting a tall hooded man with a plague mask, with a small man in a completely black suit, also with a plague mask, riding his shoulder. The man had some arrow shaped appendage, (hair Mirai thought), retracting from Izuku back under his hood.
Some paralyzing quirk, Izuku wasn't moving. Then Mirai heard a whimper - The tall one was holding a little girl, she was also paralyzed, but tears still spilled out of her terrified eyes. She was dresseed in rags, her white hair dirty and matted. Then the villains (what else could they be?) noticed them and cursed.
"Fuck, FUCK! Heroes! We need to get the hell out of here!" The small one shouted in a surprisingly deep voice.
The tall one handed him the girl, "Take her to the young master, I'll delay them". He turned to the heroes, "You shouldn't have come, but now that you're here, I, Chronostasis, will make sure you stay.
"G-Gi-Give E-Eri B-BACK!" Izuku stuttered through his paralysis, surprising the tall one. Before he could respond, several things happened at once: Green lightning enveloped Izuku, and an empty translucent bar appeared below his feet as he rose to the air. Above the villains' heads, red halos with a notch on them appeared, in the same translucence that was under Izuku. Finally, the same green lightning enveloping Izuku seemed to flutter around the two villains as well.
The villain didn't seem to understand what was happening, but the short one yelled at him "It's like Trigger! I'm stronger now!". Suddenly the small black suit deflated, and a giant muscular man with spiky hair (but still a plague mask) emerged from it. He sunk partially into the ground of the alley way, still holding the child, and suddenly the ground moved.
Izuku, meanwhile, wasn't idle, nor were the rest of the heroes. Nezu leapt from Sir Nighteye to Lemillion, "Lemillion, Bubble Girl, evacuate civilians and cordon off the perimeter, then call for back up". Luckily those two were behind, still at the entrance to the alley, so they could turn away quickly. Even luckier, they were both trained well, and immediately followed Nezu's orders.
The alley expanded, becoming wider and longer. Along it several large trapdoors formed, and from the closest one several yakuza emerged and looked around, trying to figure out what was going on.
Sir Nighteye drew his weighted Seals, and threw them toward the villain, who introduced himself as Chronostasis. They really should have come up with a name for Izuku, he thought as he yelled for his (young and untrained) friend to retreat, "Lotus, retreat, let the pros handle it!"
The boy was instead flitting around and shooting black energy bullets that were enveloped in a pink glow. As they hit the villain they did some damage, but less than Sir Nighteye would expect. Instead, the red halo above him started to empty out, turning gradually grey, as the grey bar beneath Izuku was filling up, becoming gradually red. The Villain shot out pale hair arrows, that extended several meters ahead of him and then retracted back. Izuku was deftly avoiding them, and as Sir Nighteye joined the fray dodging became easier, since Chronostasis had to split his attention between them.
"Ha you fools! I don't know what you did, but I have more arrows than ever, and without the drawbacks of Trigger!" The villain laughed, but was still fairly calm. One of the arrows hit Izuku, and he suddenly slowed down. "Tch, you're supposed to freeze completely." The villain growled, "Still, it's worth the trade off!"
Sir Nighteye jumped ahead of Izuku, taking the brunt of the attacks until the slowing effect wore off. At least Izuku could still shoot energy bullets. "Nighteye, his arrows can only change direction once, and only in an obtuse angle. Any arrow that has passed you can't hit you, and any arrow that changed direction can be safely dodged. He's limited to nine at a time." He would make a great hero, still analyzing and helping, not panicking at all as he was fighting his first villain.
"He'll also change when the red halo around him reaches the notch, I don't know how, but he'll get stronger and his attack patterns will change. My quirk made him stronger but also less flexible, it forces him into a pattern". Izuku spoke in a low voice, making sure the villain wouldn't hear. Sir Nighteye nodded, and Izuku suddenly returned to his normal speed, "The slowing effect is for nine seconds!" he yelled as he split off from Sir Nighteye to divert Chronostasis' attention.
"Shit Chrono something is wrong! I can't merge all the way, and I can connect the base to the ground!" The half sunk villain who had the girl yelled, distracting Chronostasis further.
"Take the girl and escape! The young master will realize something is going on and come, then it's our win! Don't stay and fight just because you're pissed off Mimic!" Chrono yelled back, but the moment he turned his head was the moment a hyper-density seal struck him in the sternum, bringing the red halo around him below the notch.
The villain started glowing, and then his hair shot out, multiple arrows of it extending in all directions. It tore away his hood and his mask, revealing a pale man with dark, sunken eyes. He looked surprised for only a moment, and then he grinned evilly, "looks like this is it for you!" His hair started whirling rapidly behind him, like a many handed clock, and the glow of the lightning around him became increasingly brighter.
A beam of energy shot out, and to Sir Nighteye's horror, it was headed straight to Izuku. Nighteye leapt and shoved Izuku out of the way, taking the brunt of the beam. Huh, he thought, no physical damage? When he tried moving though he understood. He was completely frozen for an indeterminate amount of time.
From his place, he saw Izuku fly around and shoot energy bullets at the villain, his red halo still decreasing, but the amount of arrows he could control was greater than nine now, and their flexibility seemed to increase as well, each making multiple turns. Izuku was having a hard time dodging and aiming, but then he faltered and his eyes widened. He flew straight up and focused everything on dodging, but still released bullets. Only, these bullets were glowing pale blue, and they seemed to hone in on the villain no matter where Izuku was shooting them from.
Chronostasis was so surprised that he let too many bullets past his guard, and when the halo around him emptied, he simply... fainted.
Izuku landed in front of Sir Nighteye, and his eyes were burning with determination. Sir Nighteye tried to say something, and found that though he was frozen, he could still speak, "Wait for the pros, Lotus, don't do anyth-"
"I promised her, Nighteye. I have to do it". He helped move Mirai to a more comfortable position, and then Mirai, in his panic, lost control. He activated his quirk by mistake. The last time he did it was with All Might, and the results this time were as gruesome as the last. He saw Izuku reaching the girl, but right as he reached out to remove her from some yakuza persons arms, a spear of earth impaled him. Izuku would die.
"Please, don't, I saw-"
Izuku turned away, "What kind of hero would I be if I didn't?" and before Mirai could utter a word, Izuku flew off.
Luckily he had heard Nana's voice in his head, telling him to connect with float while shooting. He wasn't sure how she knew, but somehow it changed his bullets into homing bullets. Sure, they shot out slower and less in number, and if he wasn't mistaken they didn't do as much damage, but they caught Chronostasis off guard, and now that Izuku had to fly through groups of thugs, they were perfect for knocking them out without focusing on them too hard.
He could see Mimic ahead of him, still half merged with the ground and holding a frightened and shivering Eri in his arms. He had taken some damage, as signified by the greyed out part of the halo around him, but only an insignificant amount.
The alley around them kept morphing, at this point resembling a large street, except the ground was grey and cracked concrete, and the buildings surrounding it were close knit and lacked doors. Well, except for the trapdoors on the ground. Izuku could hear a news helicopter above him, and hoped that meant backup would come soon.
As Mimic passed a particularly large trapdoor, two yakuza emerged that looked to be... different than the thugs around them. The moment Izuku realized that, red halos appeared above them as well. One of them was enormous and muscular, with giant steel gauntlets on his arms. The second was thin, and had a black cloak on, as well as a wide rimmed bowler hat. They both had the black plague masks that most of the yakuza here wore.
The halos around them were different than usual. Instead of one at the two thirds point, the thin one with a hat had three notches sectioning his halo into four equal parts, the muscular one had one notch at the halfway point, and a second notch just a fraction above the endpoint of the halo.
"What did you do to us?" The thin one yelled while drawing a gun and shooting at him. Izuku evaded easily, and focused for a moment to switch back to his stronger but more linear pink bullets.
Izuku was planning on ignoring the question, but he felt some tingling of danger, "My quirk empowers both my enemies and me, I don't know exactly why or how!" The moment he answered the prickling instinct faded, and Izuku saw that one of the four sections of the mans halo suddenly flared and became grey. All the while he was firing his bullets at the bigger guy, who seemed like a close range fighter and could only pick up debris to throw at him.
"Why are you attacking us? What's your goal and who do you work for? Who are you?" The man became panicked at the sight of his comrade being bombarded, as well as his halo suddenly emptying. Izuku thought that even if he didn't know what exactly that meant, he saw his ally's halo empty as he was hit by bullets, and could probably make some deductions.
Unfortunately for him, Izuku quickly made some deductions of his own. A mental quirk, probably triggered by questions. His first question was panicked, but now it looks like he has them planned out. Plus, it's unknown how his quirk was empowered, but he took damage when his question was answered. After coming to those conclusions, and feeling another hint of danger, Izuku answered the first three questions rapidly. "I'm attacking you because I saw you kidnap a little girl, my goal is to save Eri, and I'm not working for anyone!"
With each answer another portion of the villains halo emptied, and when Izuku answered the third question (fourth overall), the masked yakuza promptly fainted, allowing Izuku to maintain his anonymity. The muscular yakuza saw his ally fall, "Shit! Shin! What the hell did you do to us? What is this fucking light show?"
Izuku smirked and didn't answer, the villain had no real long range options, and out in the open Izuku had a big advantage. That changed when the villain's halo reached the half point notch. Suddenly, he was enveloped by an orange barrier that soaked up all the bullets Izuku was firing. With each bullet that hit it, the halo replenished itself. To his dismay, he saw that the notch also reappeared.
They both stopped and stared at each other. "It's over for the Shie Hassaikai, isn't it brat? Even if we beat you there're probably heroes on the way?"
Izuku nodded, "Yeah, you should give up and turn yourself in!"
"Hah, fat chance. I know a lost cause when I see it. But I also know that if you'll waste time on me then the girl will get away... So, here's to never meeting again." The villain turned and started to walk away. Izuku was torn inside. The way the villain wasn't even running was a taunt by itself.
Then he remembered the little girl's trembling voice when she told him her name, and asked him to help her. Izuku kept flying forward, and spoke to his comm, "Nezu, this is Lotus, I have a few unconscious villains and plenty of thugs, one of the villains is getting away. Large, muscular, around two meters, male. Wearing a plague mask but may have removed it. Nighteye is out of commission but safe. I'm heading further inside, they're trying to make an escape with Eri, the girl they kidnapped."
"Roger that Lotus. We have eyes on Nighteye, not the villain. Backup is on the way, but the terrain is weird. Ryukyu is attempting aerial infiltration, I'm connecting you to the HeroComm network". Nezu answered swiftly and efficiently, and then Izuku heard some static from the comm in his ear.
"-ldings are to tight together! we need to use the front entrance." A female voice Izuku didn't recognize.
"Stand down Nejire-chan, I have eyes from above. I see Lotus flying ahead, but I'm too big to land between the roofs. Nezu, is Lotus on the comm?" Ryukyu herself was asking for him!
Right, hyperventilate later, save Eri now. "Ryukyu, this is Lotus, I'm on the comms and moving to apprehend the villains. One of them has a quirk that allows him to merge with the ground and manipulate the terrain. It should allow him to merge with any sort of object, but it's limited in flexibility somehow. Can you fly over with a rope and let heroes slide down? I think the alley is still stretching, so every moment we wait I get further away from the entrance".
A moment of silence followed his question. "I didn't... ahem, yes! Nejire-chan, Bubble Girl, Rock Lock, meet me in front of the bank, Rock Lock get a rope on the way". Three voices echoed their assent.
Izuku rushed onward, not wanting to loose track of Eri. He could make out the spiky hair of the villain called Mimic, and even though he was faster, every time he had to stop and fight the villain would regain his lead.
"You're telling me that that kid is in your class?" Intelli asked her fellow recommended student, the tall girl with the spiky ponytail... Yaoyorozu! That was her name. They were looking at shaky footage from civilian cellphones before other heroes evacuated them.
They could see an alley from various different angles, all taken from windows at different heights, that was expanding and shifting in inexplicable ways. Within that alley a green-haired blur was flying, wearing a school uniform and a face mask. The kid was swerving and dodging bullets like mad, while shooting weird energy projectiles. All sorts of lights and circles and lines were floating around him and a villain he and Sir Nighteye fought, some dude with arrow hair?
The camera cut away to scenes of the police cordoning off the area with the help of heroes.
Yaoyorozu looked a bit conflicted, "Yeah, he's in our class, but he's also the TA? He was supposed to be at your class' heroics class today, but Nezu called him out for something urgent".
That certainly seems urgent, Intelli thought as she stared at the screen projecting the news. All Might was supposed to be teaching them heroics, but he got some urgent notification, and next thing they knew the teachers all gathered them together (with the third years and half the second years? There were way less of them...), dismissed the non-heroics classes, and pulled up the news.
"Hey, that's Mirio! And Nejire!" A third year girl shouted, as the screen flashed to show a blond hero with a smiley face-like face redirecting civilians along with a hero with long periwinkle hair who was flying around and shooting energy spirals from her hands to propel herself.
The reported on screen was blue skinned and had long sleek lavender color hair, she spoke clearly into her microphone, even though she was on a noisy news helicopter, "This is Chitose Kizuki from Shoowaysha News, live from the scene of an active hero operation. With me is pro hero and principal of U.A. High school, Nezu".
The older hero students were obviously shocked, if the mutters of Holy crap, and no way, were any indicator. When one of them saw Intelli shooting a curious glance they explained, "Nezu almost never takes an active part in a field mission. Even when he's on break from managing the school, he's more on the planning and analysis side of heroics".
"Good afternoon Nezu, what can you tell us about this operation, and the lone hero who is combating those villains alone?" His face twitched, almost imperceptibly. But Intelli wasn't a regular girl. She had studied extensively on rodents, in an attempt to answer Nezu's famous question. She didn't know the answer, but she could definitely see his agitation at the leading question.
"Good afternoon Chitose-san. I want to clarify something: This was not meant to be an operation on any scale. Rather, this was meant to be an internship learning event. However, the criminal group known as the Shie Haissaikai decided to launch an all out attack, catching our students and us unaware, and capturing a child as a hostage. I assure you that were this planned, civilian evacuation would have been organized prior to the engagement".
The camera zoomed in on the class 1-A student, fighting a villain who grew and shot out crystals and one who created energy barriers to limit the green haired kid's maneuverability. Intelli heard several of his classmates yell out in worry every time he barely dodged a sharp shard of crystal or slammed into a barrier by mistake. (From those reactions she gathered his name was Midoriya Izuku, good to know).
The camera returned its focus to Chitose, with Midoriya's battle in the background. "I see, I'm sure that will put us all at ease, thank you. Is there anything you can share with us about the heroics student down there? His showing is quite impressive. Are those energy arcs around the villains part of his quirk? Witnesses report that heroes in the comm are referring to him as Lotus, that was a previously unknown name, is he a new transfer to U.A.?"
"I hope you will forgive me for not disclosing information on a student. I assure you though, that Lotus has been authorized to use his quirk and act according to his judgement until a pro hero can make their way to him and take over". Nezu's speech became clipped, and now it was obvious to anyone that he was dissatisfied with the reporter's line of questioning.
Chitose just smiled at him and nodded, "Of course not Nezu, I only wanted to let the grateful civilians to know who they should thank! I hope we'll see more of Lotus in this year's third year sports festival! One final question and then I promise I'll change the topic" Chitose gave an overacted pout, that somehow was self aware enough to be endearing rather than off-putting, "Why is his hero name Lotus?"
Nezu peered down from the helicopter and grinned. "I think you should zoom in and see for yourself." The camera panned back to Midoriya, the transluscent red bar under him started flashing red, and he flew a dozen meters away from the villains.
"Is he... retreating?" Chitose asked, for once seeming unsure, but still excited. Midoriya then turned back to them, and a giant lotus made of the black energy that his bullets were made of formed behind him.
"That's what Izuku used to destroy the Zero-Pointer and save me!" A class 1-A girl yelled. Some of her own classmates looked surprised, and as one they leaned forward to get a closer look. Intelli exchanged a look with Yaoyorozu, now they recognized the move, from the observation room of the practical exam.
The lotus glowed pink, and its petals detached and spun behind him, each the size of a fully grown human. The crystal shards that were flung toward him disintegrated before reaching him, and the barrier villain stacked multiple glowing energy barriers between them.
The petals froze, and a giant beam of energy shot out from them to the two villains. The barriers shattered immediately, the beam moving so fast that it wasn't impeded in the slightest. When the beam ended, both villains were unconscious on the ground, the camera zooming in and catching their chests rising and falling. Intelli heard Yaoyorozu mutter next to her "They would have loved to get a hero student killing villains on live video, the scandal would be immense".
The focus returned to Chitose and Nezu, in the background Midoriya flew onward. "Well I certainly see what you mean, that is one impressive quirk!"
Nezu chuckled, "I assure you Chitose-san, his quirk is perhaps the least remarkable thing about Lotus, as any pro who has worked with him can attest to."
Her interest caught, she probed further, "Oh? Has he worked with pros other than the staff at U.A.? Is that typical of many hero students?"
The principal's fur bristled, "Are you asking about a heroics student's experience, habits, and training, on live television? One that is in the midst of live combat?"
Right as Chitose was about to answer, she received some transmission to her earpiece, "It looks like reinforcements are on the way!" The camera rose and turned, and at the helicopter's height was the dragoon hero, Ryukyu. On a rope dangling from her claws, three heroes were hanging, though Intelli couldn't recognize any of them.
Third and second year students obviously could, since one of them gasped loudly, "Nejire! What are they thinking? She should be taking care of civilians!"
Unsurprisingly, the hero on the screen didn't hear or respond. Instead, the three of them lowered themselves through the narrowing roofs to the alley.
Using his Lotus Beam took less out of him than he expected, probably since he waited for a long while after his energy bar was full. That proved the hypothesis that the energy bar could overflow. He heard from his earpiece that reinforcements were arriving, and turned to see three heroes descending from a rope. He recognized Rock Lock and Bubble Girl, but not the third woman. As they sprinted toward him, the alley's expansion sped up rapidly, and they couldn't get closer. Izuku was debating what to do, when a trapdoor near the three of them opened and a few villains climbed out to attack them.
He came to a decision, "This is Lotus. I'm going ahead by myself, I need to prioritize saving the hostage. Besides, if I go back to help, there's a chance that my quirk will enhance the villains".
Without waiting for a response, Izuku dashed forward. He saw the spiky haired villain Mimic handing Eri to a tall man in a black dress shirt and slacks, with a fur collared bomber jacket, plague mask, and white surgical gloves. The man was standing alone at the end of the alley. Mimic escaped through some crack in the walls, but Izuku hardly noticed him. He couldn't tear his gaze away from how Eri was shaking like a leaf, looking in abject terror at the villain.
"So, you're the hero who's caused all this trouble, try to take my daughter away, destroying my property and brutalizing my subordinates. I will give you one chance to leave." His voice was cold and measured, but Izuku could tell it was laced with fury.
"I'll never leave without Eri. You can give up and come with me, the courts will take that into account in your sentencing. I don't recognize you so you're not a wanted villain, right?" Izuku was broadcasting everything from his comm, hoping that someone would be able to fill him in quickly.
The man chuckled grimly, and the air around him became heavy with killing intent. Izuku's comm flaired, "That's Chisaki Kai, codenamed Overhaul. Leader of the yakuza group known as the Shie Hassaikai. Regarded as highly dangerous, quirk unknown but has violent applications. Lotus... be careful... Sir Nighteye and me won't be able to forgive ourselves if one of our closest friends won't come back from this." Nezu's voice was laden with worry, and the fact that he said everything over the comms, for everyone to hear, was evidence enough that his emotions triumphed over his logic.
The auburn haired man slowly took off the glove on his right hand with his teeth, his left arm still holding Eri. "so be it" he said, and placed his bare hand on the ground. Izuku dodged to the right, and as a spear of earth jutted out where he was standing, the familiar red halo appeared over Chisaki, with only the one standard notch two thirds of the way down. Though Overhaul's mouth was covered, Izuku could tell he was frowning.
Izuku dodged and swerved in the air, while crisscrossing grey spears emerged rapidly from the concrete and the walls enclosing them. "Each spear lasts for nine seconds before it recedes into the ground, each spear can only emerge within one meter of the previous spear. Each spear can point in an angle between twenty to seventy degrees, but must be within fifteen degrees of the previous spear's angle". Unknown to Izuku, his mutters filled the comms, and since most of the other fighting dies down, the heroes all listened in.
Back in U.A., Eraserhead made an executive decision, and broadcasted the comms to the heroics students. If there was ever a chance to show them why Midoriya was a TA, it was now. Besides, it might make it easier to convince the upper years to let him analyze them, as well.
He could see it working, the students all paled at the speed Midoriya was muttering, since those mutters had to be simultaneous with rapid evasion of extremely lethal spikes. Sure, he was using this as a moment to help Midoriya going forward, but there was no way in hell the kid wasn't about to serve detention for that stunt. Eraserhead felt a calming hand on his shoulder, "It'll be okay Sho, the little listener is doing great, and I'm sure backup will arrive in no time".
Contrary to what his husband said, there was no progress seen. Izuku was rapidly dodging, but the Villain was also raising concrete barriers to block the bullets. Something needed to change and tip the scales, and the weird energy meter beneath Izuku still wasn't full. right as Eraserhead thought that, the color around Izuku's energy bullets changed.
"-nine creations per second, but split between barriers and spikes. I need to find a way to bypass his barriers, but I'm barely keeping up the pace. This might become a battle of attrition, but I have more win conditions than him - I need to wait for backup, or charge my Lotus Beam again. And I also need not to slip up," Izuku let out a nerve filled laugh, "Easy peazy lemon squeazy".
Listen up brat, I have a soft spot for kids like her, so I'm giving you more access to Fa Jin just this once. Focus on it like you did with Nana's Float. Izuku heard the voice of the vestige, and listened by instinct. He focused on the feeling of letting energy charge and then release. He felt something click, and when he shot out bullets, the stood still, hovering in the air before him. Still, he kept releasing them, and it looked like he was leaving a trail of floating black energy balls behind him.
It felt like minutes, but in just a second after they were released, the black bullets started glowing in a dim red, that grew in intensity. When the color reached the strength of the regular bullets' pink glow and the Float style bullets' sky-blue glow, they shot out toward Overhaul lightning fast. Not only were these bullets faster, but they were also much stronger, and Izuku heard the barriers shattering.
"All right! Energy bullets - Fa Jin Style! Overhaul needs to remain in place and touch the ground to activate his quirk, so evasion is out of the question for him. This should be exactly what I need. don't worry Eri, I swear I'll save you!" Izuku kept talking, staying focused and hyping himself up. He started moving much more erratically, focusing more on dodging than attacking, since he released much less Fa Jin Style bullets per second, and they would shoot out on their own after a delay.
He saw the halo above Overhaul empty in an increasing pace, and just hoped that when it would reach the notch that he would still have a handle on things. "Just a few hits more before the notch, Will it be an increase in speed, flexibility, or complexity? A combination? Think Izuku, You don't have enough samples of enhancing quirked individuals to make a guess, so plan for the worst, an increase in all. Shorten my dodging distance now so that my Lotus Beam will charge faster and be ready right after the notch".
Izuku slowed down his firing, and his dodges became hair-thin. He did this gradually, so that the villain would think he was getting tired, but he grinned as his bar was almost full. "Any second now... Yes!" The bar glowed red and Izuku increased his rate of fire again, bringing Overhaul's halo below the notch. As he did so, he realized he was wrong. The increase wasn't in any of those things, or even all of them. It was a form change.
The ground rose up around Overhaul, and somehow melted into his body? His proportions grew and his shape changed, turning into a two story tall monstrous humanoid. With six long arms and concrete-bone plating merged into his flesh, he looked truly terrifying.
Somehow though, Izuku didn't notice that at all. The only thing Izuku saw was Eri, falling from his arms to the ground.
He heard yelling, and realized it was his own voice. A primal fear overtook him, and he shot at near teleportation speed to the falling child. He sighed in relief as she fell into his arms. "It's okay Eri, I caught you, you're okay now." His green lightning jumped from him to the crying girl, releasing her from her paralysis. As his quirk enveloped her, he noticed a small horn on her forehead grow and curl in a spiral, like a drill. A white glow emanated from below him, around where his Lotus Beam meter was, but Izuku couldn't look at it right then.
Eri's red eyes looked up at him with a mix of emotions from fear to relief to disbelief, but before he could say anything, she started shrieking. He wanted to calm her down, but when he opened his mouth, he could only let out a wet gargle, as viscous red blood spilled out. Oh, he thought, as he looked down. He saw a grey concrete spear impaling his chest. "Sorry Nezu, Mirai... All Might, I let you down..." His voice grew weaker, "Kiri... Ochako..."
Chitose was shocked, her horror was mixed with elation, she got the best story imaginable! Live! She knew it was fucked up, but there was something inside her that cared more about exposing the darkest truths of the world than anything else. She calmed herself before she planned what to say, how distraught to look. She had a few seconds while the camera was focused on the former hero student, it would take the audience a bit to recover from that.
"Nooooooooooo nooooooo NOOOOOO IZUKU NOOOO!" Midoriya Inko felt her spirit leave her body. Her baby boy. Her Izuku. Her Hero.
The auditorium in U.A. was silent. They heard his final words, his plan. It would have succeeded if he hadn't sacrificed himself to save the girl. Uraraka and Kirishima were weeping, but everyone looked deeply affected. They all jumped when someone roared behind them.
All Might fell to his knees, crying loudly, stronger than the rest of the students together. They were shocked at seeing their hero like this, "Izuku I'm sorry. I let you down. How could I ever not be proud of you. This... you were a hero through and through", All Might grit his teeth as blood spilled out of his mouth. "The torch I passed on to you, you told me to pass to everyone. I won't let you down again Izuku. The torch that you gave me. The future of heroics. I won't let you down".
No one aside from the teachers knew exactly what he meant, but they realized there was probably a deeper relationship between Midoriya and All Might that they weren't aware of.
"Wait, look!" Yoarashi yelled. "Below his feet!" They all turned back to the screen. Below Izuku's still hovering form, three balls of white light were still glowing, and so was the red energy bar above those balls.
"Those aren't white balls! Those are faces!" A girl with goggles and pink dreadlocks from 1-B pointed. "They look like that girl he saved!"
Right as they all realized that, one of the white balls shattered and Midoriya and Eri were enveloped by a multicolored prismatic light.
"Geez Izuku, you wanna give a ghost a heart attack?" Nana joked as she looked at Izuku.
"Wh-what? Am I dead? h-how?" He looked around, shocked.
Bruce, the spiky haired user of Fa Jin crouched next to him, "I let you use Fa Jin... and you didn't suck. Don't think you made a mistake. Every single one of us... almost, died protecting someone who needed protecting".
Izuku perked up, looking around. He saw Nana and Bruce, as well as Yoichi and the bald fifth user who he didn't get introduced to yet. Another vestige was visible now though, a man with chin length sharp white hair, and two scars running down the left side of his face.
The new vestige patted his shoulder, "Don't worry kiddo, I think you'll be fine. Yoichi kept saying something about a one-up. Anyways, I'm Shinomori Hikage, my quirk is Danger Sense. You awakened it but haven't integrated it yet, but it let's us see a complete sphere around you, instead of through your eyes. Now look!"
Izuku tried, and found he could view his body in the third person, he saw that his quirk was still active, the energy bar full, the halo around Overhaul still a little below the notch, and... Miniature caricatures of Eri's face below his feet? Before he could comprehend what he was looking at, one of the spheres broke and a white light flashed before his eyes.
--
When the light receded, he was awake. In the real world scant seconds had passed. He idly noted that he could see in two perspectives now, through his own eyes and from a third person view. Danger Sense integrated... He saw that Eri's horn shrunk - if before it twisted around itself three times, now there were only two twists. Three twists, three little faces...
All of that information rushed through his mind and he immediately acted, "Don't worry Eri, I won't let something silly like that stop me from saving you!" The crying girl looked up at him in shock, as he flew up and farther from Overhaul, who noticed that Izuku somehow wasn't dead. "Time to make Bruce proud, Lotus Beam - Fa Jin Style!"
The red energy bar emptied, and the giant black lotus spawned behind Izuku. This time though, instead of glowing pink, it glowed in Fa Jin Style red. Like the standard Lotus beam, the nine petals split apart. Instead of spinning together though, each petal pulsed slowly and started growing into a new lotus. While this was happening Izuku put his all into dodging, staying ahead of Overhauls attacks. When the nine petals finished blooming, each into its own lotus flower, the Lotus Beam shot out. Except, instead of one, it was nine beams, each almost as strong as the standard one. Overhaul was bombarded with beams, and the remainder of his halo flickered out in moments.
When the beams ended and the dust cleared, Izuku stood panting and gasping, hugging the white haired girl to close to him, over the prone form of Chisaki Kai.