Chapter 75 - 8-9

After one too many unexpected villain attacks this morning, Toshi arrived at UA shortly before deflating. He quickly left made his way to an extra staff room, checking the time to see that it was way after lunch. Toshi had no clue he'd been out that long, but he supposed he should've seen it coming since he'd started feeling the pain of his time running out. He checked his watch; Izuku's heroics class would have started by now. 

" Oh I'm an idiot, hope he won't be to disappointed I'm not there," Toshi sighed, deciding to try call Aizawa to see how it's going. The call went straight to voice mail, which was odd. He called Aizawa's work cell which was always on, and Toshi doubted that that Aizawa would forget to charge it. 

"Good afternoon, Yagi!" A chipper voice came from behind the man, making him jump. 

" OH! Nedzu, lovely seeing you here!" Toshi smiled nervously. He hadn't even heard the principal come in. " May I say that your fur is shining today!"  

"Well of course, it's keratin." Nedzu smiled, before pulling out a tablet. "I see you've had an eventful day this morning." The tablet lit up, showing news outlet headlines. They were all about Toshi, one even saying he solved 3 major incidents in an hour. 

"Of course, I understand it's instinctual for you to head into danger. It's what makes you a hero after all!" Nedzu started, pulling out a tea set. "But Yagi, you need to understand that you have other priorities now. Do you believe the other heroes are incapable of doing their jobs?" 

" O-of course not, Nedzu sir," Toshi bowed his head in guilt. 

"Then you have to let them do their jobs. You have students to train… not to mention your successor." 

" I understand sir, I was actually planning on leaving now to meet them, see how the students are doing!" Yoshi smiled. 

"Ah, I'm not too sure that's currently a good idea. I doubt you would last until the end of the class in your hero form." Nedzu informed him, finishing his tea before filling another cup. "While I have you here, I thought I'd go over ways I can help you toe the line between instructor and hero…" 

" I had a bad feeling and left for here early, seeing young Iida confirmed my fears. " All-Might frowned, looking over the conditions of his students. " I'm sorry. While I was talking to Nedzu, you all were fighting for your lives." He looked down and counted the villains, before giving a slight smirk 

Izuku was so relieved. He wasn't that sure he'd last long against Shigaraki and that Noumu, not even considering if Kurogiri joined in. But with Toshi here, he could take on the Noumu while Izuku distracts the other two. He heard the villains start muttering to each other. 

"Oh god it's actually All-Might, I'm sweating just looking at him!" 

"Finally, I've always wanted a piece of him." 

"Don't flinch now, it's our job to kill him!" 

Before they could even make a move, Toshi came speeding down, taking them all out in a second leaving only the three heads. He stared them down before looking back at Tsu and Mineta who were carrying Aizawa up the stairs. 

" You two get him out quickly, he needs medical attention!" The hero instructed, before turning to Izuku. " Young man, I can handle it from here."  

Izuku looked into his eyes, and knew that Toshi was unsure. He was already out of time for the day, so he must be pushing his limit. 

"So fast, I hardly saw him come down here…" Shigaraki rasped out, grabbing mentor and students' attention. "But not as fast as expected. You truly are getting weaker after all, aren't you!" He laughed out. 

"To-All-Might, that big villain with its brain out!" Izuku exclaimed. "Even my 'Divinity' enhanced punch couldn't make it budge!" 

" Fear not, my boy." Toshi smiled. " It's all right… CAROLINA SMASH!"  

Toshi rushed towards the beast, making an X shape with his arms. Once within reach, he slashed down with both arms at full force. The Noumu didn't move, and instead threw a right hook that the hero had to duck under. The hero was shocked and went for a gut punch. 

" Impossible! My hits don't do a thing?" The hero exclaimed, blocking a blow from the beast. 

"Behold, my Noumu's special ability, shock absorption!" Shigaraki giggled with grim glee. "If you wanted to deal any damage, you'd have to gouge out its guts. Not like you'll have the chance to." 

Making his way behind the creature, Toshi grappled it by its waist. " Thanks for the monologue! If that's all it takes, then this'll be a piece of cake!" The man yelled, hoisting the Noumu up and German suplexing it into the ground. 

Watching from the other side of the brawl to Shigaraki, Izuku watched on in confusion. If they were here to kill Toshi, why would they tell him it's ability? There must be something he's missing, some other way they're planning on getting him. Izuku thought while Toshi wrestled the creature, when he remembered what Shigaraki said. He knew about Toshi's weakness, which meant he probably also knew of his weak spot. 

He went to warn the hero but Toshi had already suplexed the beast into the ground, where a warp portal was waiting for him. The Noumu went into the portal first, its arms reaching out and grabbing the hero from the side, squeezing in at Toshi's wound. 

"Heh, trying to seal our tanks movements? Not a bad move but expected." Shigaraki smiled, walking in closer. "It was only the Noumu's duty to restrain you, while Kurogiri would be the one to finish you off!" 

Toshi tried struggling, but only ended up getting pulled halfway into the portal himself, " ow, shit!"  

"I do hate getting blood in my portals," Kurogiri sighed out. "But I suppose I'd make an exception for a man of your stature." 

Izuku was shocked. They were actually close to killing off the symbol of peace. His mind raced for ways to help Toshi. He could try erasure on the Noumu's quirks, but Aizawa tried it and it's strength didn't change; not to mention the chance of him erasing Toshi's quirk as well. Maybe he could try- 

"DIE YOU BASTARD!" Bakugo yelled out, breaking Izuku from his thoughts. The explosive boy shot out, landing on top of Kurogiri. "no funny business or I blow you to bits!" He growled out. 

The temperature dropped and ice shot along the ground, stopping once it slid along the Noumu's skin. 

"I heard about your plan to kill our teacher; the symbol of peace won't go down that easy." Todoroki stated, stepping forward. 

"COME ON!" Kirishima yelled, jumping out and throwing a haymaker at Shigaraki. The villain dodged and sent a hand for the boy, but Izuku flew in and kicked the villain away. 

"G-glad you guys could make it!" Izuku smiled. 

" Ice! I'm thankful for you boys' assistance. That things grip as weakened!" Toshi laughed, breaking away from the Noumu and landing between the boys. 

"Now aren't we in a pickle, you've blocked off our escape route." Shigaraki sighed, scratching his neck once again. 

"He, the pricks not that sharp, gave away that he had a real body in there!" Bakugo growled. 

"We're cornered," Shigaraki started. "And you're nearly unscathed! Kids these days are something else… NOUMU! KILL THE EXPLOSIVE ONE!" 

Hearing the command, the Noumu climbed through the portal, letting its frozen body crunch away, leaving only its left side intact. Izuku was shocked at the disgusting display. 

"Wha- didn't that thing have a shock absorber?" Izuku asked as Toshi blocked them off from seeing it. 

"When did I say that was Noumu's only ability?" Shigaraki smugly asked. "Our tank also has super regeneration!" He explained while the Noumu slowly started growing back its right half, starting with weak looking muscles until they grew to large strong veins of muscles, skin starting to cover over them. 

"Our Noumu has been artificially crafted to be at the peak of physical fitness! Able to withstand even your strength." Shigaraki roared as the Noumu shot at Bakugo. 

Bakugo wasn't even able to fully turn his head before the beast struck, sending a shockwave as its target want flying into the wall of the downpour zone. 

Izuku looked on in shock, before Kirishima yelled out, "Bakugo? How the hell did you dodge that!" He looked round, and saw that Bakugo was sat not far behind him. 

"I… I didn't." The boy said, looking at the beast. 

" Don't you know mercy? That's a child! " The roar of Toshi pulled Izuku's eyes back to the downpour walls. Stood in the crater was Toshi, a giant bruise on his arms from where the Noumu hit. He must have pushed Bakugo out of the way just before the creature hit. 

"We did what we had to; the boy was threatening my ally!" Shigaraki growled. Besides, that green haired brat there tried to hit me!" Shigaraki roared, pointing to Izuku. "Even with Noumu blocking it, his shockwave pushed me back into the floor. You call me a villain, but you praise your 'heroes' for such violent acts? Where's the justice in that! Why do you get to decide what violence is right and wrong? Just all violence after all." 

" You're insane," Toshi coughed out. " I've seen your kind before. Acting high and mighty, when you're just doing this for the hell of it!"  

"You see right through me, I'm impressed." Shigaraki giggled out, before going into a murderous laugh. 

"Todoroki, I have a plan!" Izuku whispered out to his classmates. "When I give a signal, cover the Noumu in as much ice as you can!" 

"Why the hell should we listen to you, freak!" Bakugo growled out. 

"Bro! It's not the time for arguing." Kirishima cut in. "What should me and Bakugo do?" 

"Go after the other two, make sure they don't get to me." 

" Boys, whatever you're thinking of doing, just escape." Toshi asked, though his tone left little room for argument. 

Before anyone could rebuttals, Shigaraki screamed out, "NOUMU, KILL THEM ALL!" 

"TODOROKI NOW!" Izuku ordered in response, and the boy quickly responded by sending ice up the creatures left side again. 

Izuku quickly jumped away from the boys, before raising his arms and waiting. The Noumu quickly broke its arm and leg off again letting them grow back, Izuku however had other plans. He activated 'Divinity' with both hands, struggling to hold them steady. The Noumu's arm started growing a patch of muscle, but it broke off before it could become strong enough. It started happening all along the creature's body, stopping the creature from effectively regenerating. 

"All-Might, attack while you can!" Izuku yelled, trying to keep 'divinity's focus on the creature. 

" You really should've gotten away, my boy," Toshi said, before smirking and blasting at the creature. " But I think I'll take you up on your offer!"  

Thanks to his immense strength, Toshi was able to resist the pull of 'Divinity' enough to stand and send a barrage of punches at the creature. 

"No, NO THAT LITTLE CHEAT!" Shigaraki screeched, running at Izuku. "I'll kill you!" 

He was blocked off by an explosion, sending him away as Bakugo, Todoroki and Kirishima got between him and Izuku. "I don't think so, hand job!" The blonde growled. 

Kurogiri, watching the conflict, tried to get behind Izuku. He sent a portal towards the boy but was stopped by a stone hitting the back of his metal brace. 

"Don't think you don't have your challengers!" Sero yelled out as Uraraka user her quirk on the debris on the staircase as ammo for Sero to swing. 

"Wha-what are yo-you guys doing h-here?" Izuku gasped out, feeling exhaustion start to set in. 

"You really think we'll stand aside and let you fight these guys alone? Uraraka smiled at him. 

"Midoriya, my boy!" Toshi yelled, getting Izuku's attention. " Its regeneration is slowing; you can stop now!"  

Izuku listened to his mentor, stopping 'Divinity's pull and feeling immediate pain in his broken arm. He was then pushed back by the force of Toshi's punches against the creature. His pull must have sucked the force in too, he was feeling extremely antsy from the buzzing it's created. 

" NOW TO SHOW THIS VILLAIN WHAT A HERO TRULY IS! " Toshi yelled, pushing the Noumu back with each punch. " Time to show you the meaning of the words… PLUS ULTRA!" He yelled, upper cutting the villain so hard that it went flying, smashing through the roof of the USJ. 

"No…" Shigaraki gasped, getting up after watching the spectacle. "No, no, no NO!" No this wasn't how it was meant to go, you're no weaker at all!" 

" Heh," Toshi gasped, out of breath and surrounded by smoke. "Even with Izuku's help… that took nearly 300 punches. Man, in my hay day that would've taken 5."  

Most of the students started going back up the stairs, confident that All-Might could take the last two on. Izuku stayed behind though, he could see that Toshi was on his last legs. He guessed that the hero couldn't even take a few steps without changing back. 

" Come on then, villains. I'll even give you a free hit!" Toshi taunted, hoping to scare the villains off. 

"Midoriya, you coming?" Kirishima asked as he walked past. 

"I-I-I-I'll join you in a minute," Izuku said, keeping an eye on the villains. 

"Shigaraki, look closely." Kurogiri suggested. "Despite it being less than we had hoped, the Noumu has succeeded in damaging All-Might." 

"…yeah, yeah you're right." Shigaraki agreed. "And our mobs are waking up, maybe we can overpower him." The villain shot at Toshi, hands out and Kurogiri beside him. They got closer, almost within reach. 

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Izuku roared, shooting towards the villains. Pushing the full buzzing of 'Divinity' into his good arm, Izuku shot out his strongest blast yet towards the two, throwing them back to the fountain. 

"You little shit!" Shigaraki growled, wiping water off of his face. Upon releasing his stored energy Izuku nearly fainted, only being caught by his mentor. 

"I'm gonna kill that cheat!" Shigaraki growled, using his quirk on the fountain wall. He took another step forward when a sharp bang hit his hand, throwing him back. Two more bangs shot out, one hitting each of his legs. 

"Class representative Iida reporting for duty!" The voice of Iida called out. Izuku lazily looked back as his friend appeared, the UA staff right behind him. 

"I apologise for the delay students, but you can all rest now." Nedzu chirped out, nodding towards the teachers. The first to step forwards was Present Mic, shouting out " YEAAAAAHHHHHH! " Knocking the villains that had woken up back down. 

"Nemuri, please go assure that they won't be getting back up," nedzu ordered, with midnight nodding before running down. 

"Shit," Shigaraki sighed. "We need to go, he shot me!" 

Kurogiri quickly opened a portal, letting Shigaraki start to step through. The mist man paused when he started to get sucked away. He looked over at Izuku, seeing the boy still down in the hero's arms. "Then that means…" 

"I won't let you… get away!" 13 growled out, stepping down the final stairs with Ashido's aid. 

"Looks like we failed this time." Shigaraki scoffed, glaring at Toshi and Izuku. "But I'll get you next time… both of you!" He pulled his other foot into the portal, letting the mist disappear behind them. 

Silence rang out as 13 sealed the caps on their fingers. With the exit of Shigaraki and Kurogiri the USJ attack was officially over. 

Toshi fell to his knees, holding onto Izuku as the boy's eyes closed, falling unconscious. 

"Izuku!" 13 gasped out, limping over to the pair. As Ashido left them, the hero knelt down, wiping the hair out of Izuku's eyes. "Oh, Inko's going to kill me." 

" You know young Midoriya and his family?"Toshi asked out, his form starting to shift back to his skinny form. 

"Yeah…" 13 winced out. "I'll tell you about it later, we need to get out of here." 

"MIDORIYA!" Kirishima yelled out, running towards the three. 

" Shit, I can't let him see me like this." Toshi coughed out. 

"It's ok, young man, we're fine!" 13 called out, wincing as they raised their arm. Just before Toshi's form came into view, the ground rose up, creating a wall between them. 

"It's ok young man, go meet your class at the entrance." Cementoss said. "We can take care of the injured. 

"O-oh, yes sir!" Kirishima saluted, running back up the stairs. 

" Thanks, Cementoss, you saved my hide!" Toshi smiled, slowly getting to his feet. 

"My pleasure All-Might. I'm a big fan actually!" The cement hero smiled out. "Are you three good to head to the infirmary?" 

"I will need some assistance walking," 13 said, as the four made their way to a back exit. 

Izuku slowly woke up in the training room. That was odd, he's never woken up somewhere that wasn't his bedroom before. 

" So, you're the ninth?" A gruff voice called out from the door. Izuku shot to his feet, turning round to find who the unfamiliar voice belonged to. The figure leaning against the wall near the door was a bulky man that Izuku recognised. He was one of the figures from the paintings, a past user! 

" You don't look like much?" The man inquired, stepping closer, eyeing Izuku closely. " Though I guess none of us did at the start!" His expression turned into a gleeful smirk. 

"Y-you're a past user!" Izuku helped out, rushing forward to greet him. 

" Yep!" The man called out. " The names Banjo Daigoro, but recently I've been called the fifth. Pleasure to meet ya kid!" The man put a hand out to shake it. Izuku took it, but yelled when Banjo pulled him in and lifted him up into a crushing hug. Izuku didn't realise how tall the man was before now. 

" So, first has filled me in on the situation, gotta say this is one hell of a twist!" He joked, putting Izuku down. " By the way, I saw you use my quirk there. Not bad for a first timer."  

"Y- your quirk?" Izuku questioned. "WAIT! Was it that whip one? It must have been, right?" 

" Heh, for such a smart guy, you really are dense sometimes." Banjo smirked, putting his arm over Izuku's shoulder and leading him outside. " It's on my picture in the entrance, but yeah. I call it 'BlackWhip'." He brought up his other arm, letting wisps of his quirk come out, spiralling out the going back into his hand. " It's one hell of a quirk, basically the perfect tool!"  

"Woah, that's so cool!" Izuku chirped. He has tried looking for information on the previous users but couldn't find much information on them except for Shimura. "S-so do you know why you took a while to show up here?" 

" Not really, but I'm guessing it's due to you getting my quirk." Banjo explained, entering the library. " Before this I was just floating in space, then I felt you use my quirk and got to see it in action. Next thing I knew, I was at the front door. " 

"That's where I found him." Yoichi called, standing up from his cask to greet them. "Good to see you're ok Ninth, that was quite the worrying situation." 

"Y-you saw that?" Izuku asked. 

"Parts of it, that beast was quite the peculiarity." Yoichi pondered, walking over to the bookshelf. "It seems like you collected some more quirks from the encounter though." 

"Really? Izuku asked, running over to the shelf. On the end of the shelf were 3 new books. Izuku pulled one out and gave it a skim through. There were words, but too faint to make them out. 

"O-oh god. I wonder who I got them from." Izuku questioned, putting the book back. 

"I'm not too sure, but I can sense that they're all full body quirks." The first explained. 

" So, this is the quirk shelf you told me about first?" Banjo remarked, pulling out the 'anti-gravity' book out and reading through it. " It's quite something. Familiar too."  

W-wait, how long have I been out?" Izuku interrupted, looking over at Yoichi. 

"A couple hours, you'll likely wake up very soon." He explained, before looking at banjo. "Izuku, why don't you go up to your room and wait to wake up, I need to finish showing Fifth around." 

"O-oh, uh sure." Izuku said, slightly confused. The tone Yoichi used was an odd one, but Izuku just presumed he was excited to finally have another user here. 

As Izuku left, banjo turned back to Yoichi. " Alright, I wanna know what's really going on. There's something you're not telling the kid!"  

As Izuku came to his senses, he slowly opened his eyes, and felt the buzzing over his skin of new quirks developing. The bright white of the ceiling clued Izuku into where he was. He turned his head seeing Toshi beside him, bandages over his old wound. 

" Ah, my boy. You're awake!" The hero smiled out. 

"T-Toshi, what happened?" Izuku asked, trying to sit up. He winced slightly as he put pressure on his sore arm. 

" The villains escaped, but not before we managed to take down that Noumu. I heard that the police found the creature and detained it." The hero explained. He stopped as the door opened, recovery girl walking in. 

"Ah good, you're both awake." She said sitting down at her desk. "Listen, I really can't blame either of you for ending up here, considering what happened." 

" No, I was reckless. If only I'd have saved some time for classes." Toshi chided himself. The hero sat up, looking at his bandages. " It seems I still have a lot of learning to do myself!"  

There was a pause, before Izuku decided to speak up. "S-some things happened with my quirks today." 

"What kind of things?" Recovery girl asked, as she and Toshi both turned to him. 

"W-well for starters I have 3 new quirks growing in." Izuku said, "I don't know much, but they're all full body." 

"Interesting," Recovery girl chimed in. "That lowers the possibility of what they could be severely!" 

"Y-yeah…" Izuku started. "The other thing, well its, um its…" Izuku quietened off, trying to send Toshi a subtle signal. 

" My boy, if it's about One For All, then you can speak freely. " Toshi reassured. 

"W-what!" Izuku jumped. 

"Who do you think's been healing the dumb oaf all these years?" Recovery girl joked. 

"O-oh, well who else knows?" Izuku asked, looking at his mentor. 

" Well, other than recovery girl there's Nedzu, my old sidekick Nighteye, my best friend in the police force, and my old m-m-mentor." Toshi shakily finished. 

"Coward!" Recovery girl yelled out, hid by a fake cough. 

"Woah- w-wait, anyway. About One For All… another past user appeared." He told them. 

" Really? Who is it?" Toshi asked. 

"Um, the f-fifth user." Izuku explained. "He said he appeared once I used his quirk." 

"You can use the past users' quirks?" Recovery asked, pulling out a clipboard. 

"U-uh apparently. I mean the first speculated that I'd be able to, I-it's just that I've not been able to before today." Izuku told them, trying to pull out the 'Black Whip'. It wasn't nearly as successful as at the USJ, only coming out as a single tint wisp smaller in length than a finger. 

" It's not as… powerful, as I'd imagined." Toshi deflated. 

"A-at the USJ, it was able to hold back the Noumu." Izuku informed him, letting the wisp disappear into his hand. 

Before anyone could say anything else, a knock sounded from the door. It opened, revealing a man of average height and build, he wore a beige trench coat and matching hat covering his brown short hair. 

"Coming in, hope I'm not intruding!" The man called, smiling at recovery girl. He approached the beds, giving the two a nod. "It's been a while All-Might!" 

"NAOMASA? They really brought you in?" Toshi yelped in surprise. 

"T-Toshi, is it ok for him to see you like this?" Izuku asked, shaking slightly. 

" Oh, don't worry my boy. This is the best friend I told you about!" Toshi smiled, giving Izuku a nod. 

"I didn't know you talked about me," Tsukauchi joked, taking his hat off. "Hello young man, you must be his successor! I'm Tsukauchi Naomasa," He turned back to Toshi. "Sorry to be barging in, but I'll need both of your statements about the villains." 

" W-wait! " Toshi called out, interrupting him. "Before that, what about the students… and Eraserhead and 13?" 

Hearing the worry for everyone else, Tsukauchi gave a slight sad smile. "Don't worry, the students are all find apart from your boy. The worst of it is just some nicks and bruises." The man paused slightly. "As for the heroes, Aizawa is in emergency care, but he's stable. 13 thankfully just had some minor skin lacerations, recovery girl was able to fix her up no bother! I heard your boy was to thanks for minimising the injuries." He smiled. 

"I-I was just trying to help…" Izuku squeaked out. 

" You did wonderfully my boy!" Toshi waved. 

"It's a good thing you lot did such a good job, though. It may have been quite different for the students otherwise." Tsukauchi said, taking out a small notepad. 

" Nonsense, it was the kids that were the real heroes. I even ended up getting their help to take down the Noumu." The hero confessed. 

"Sounds like they'll make great heroes one day." Tsukauchi smiled. "Now let's get onto the statements. 

Recovery girl left the room, letting the two men give the detective their statements alone. Izuku started it off by explaining the villains' entrance and what he overheard, then going onto how Kurogiri split the students off. He then went over how they got Iida to escape, and how Izuku got punched to the flood zone. He told the two how he helped Tsu and Mineta escape the flood zone and saw Aizawa get beaten by the Noumu. He took a pause before explaining how Shigaraki then went to try kill the students, but Izuku tried to hold them off to let the others escape. Toshi then entered, explaining how he passed Iida as he made his way over, and arrived as quick as possible. The two then took turns explaining how they held off the villains, working together to beat the Noumu, which is when the rest of the heroes arrived. 

"Thank you both for your time, I'll call Toshi if I have any more questions from either of you." Tsukauchi said, putting his notepad away. "We should meet up sometime Toshinori, I'd have loved to meet your successor sometime." He laughed, giving the man a quick hug. He then walked over to Izuku. 

"Good to meet you, young man. I can't wait to see the great things you do!" He smiled, putting his hand out for a handshake. 

Izuku paused slightly. "Uh, I don't have my gloves on, and if I touched you, I'd get a copy of your quirk." He explained. 

Tsukauchi paused, before smiling slightly. "Don't worry young man, I trust you'll do good things with it." He said, letting Izuku shake his hand. "It's called lie detector; lets you know if someone's lying." The detective explained. Before heading to the door. 

"Get rest you two, have a good day." He called back as he left. Almost as soon as the door closed, it burst open again, someone running in towards Izuku. 

"IZUUU, oh I was so worried about you! Inko is on her way, she'll be any minute now!" The figure yelled as they grabbed onto Izuku. The first think he noticed was the dark blue hair with blonde sitting at the centre of their head. 

"A-Aunty Anan, what are you doing here!" Izuku asked, glad that he was still wearing his long-sleeved uniform. 

She sniffed away a tear, before backing up "did you really not recognise me in uniform?" She joked out, giving a teary laugh. 

" W-wait, this is how you know young Izuku?"Toshi asked, mouth agape. 

"Wha?" Izuku asked, looking between the two as his aunty started giggling. "Wait… WAIT! You're 13?!" 

"Yeah." She cheered. "You know, Izu. You really saved my ass today. Thank you." 

"O-of course." Izuku muttered out. "I just can't believe that YOU are 13… Uraraka's gonna freak out!" 

"You mean that brunette you were with?" Anan smirked. "I bet Inko will love her!" 

"AUNTYYYY!" Izuku groaned out, making both her and Toshi laugh out. "Not you too! Half the class already thinks we're together!" 

"IZUKUUUUUUUU!" a flood of tears came blasting through the door, alerting everyone to Inko's entrance. She came rushing in, pulling her boy into a hug. "Oh, my boy! Are you ok? I heard you got hurt! What happened?" She cried out. 

"I-Inko, it's ok. Izuku's fine now." Anan said, pulling her sister back to a seat she pulled over. 

"Oh Anan, I thought you said he wouldn't be hurt so early?" Inko sniffed, wiping away her tears. 

" I'm sorry, Inko. It's my fault, I should've been in class from the start!" Toshi apologised, bowing as far as he could without hurting himself. 

"W-wait, does mum know?" Izuku asked, worried that they gave his secret away. 

" Not to worry young man, I told her after your quirk awakened." Toshi assured. " That way she would know that I can keep you safe if something were to go awry during training!"  

"O-oh, ok," Izuku sighed in relief. 

" You know, Inko, it was only due to your son that I was able to beat the villain." Toshi told them, surprising both Inko and Anan. " His quirk wore down the creature's stamina so that it's quirks would give out quicker."  

"He also saved me," Anan said, pulling the back of her shirt up to show Inko white patches of skin. "Because of him it was only surface level wounds." 

Hearing what her baby boy accomplished, inko nearly started crying all over again. "I-I-I'm just glad that you're all ok." She sniffed, before turning to her sister "Anan, you should stay with us tonight. 

"A-are you sure?" She asked." I don't want to intrude or anything-" 

"Aunty, you're family. Come on please!" Izuku begged. "I've not seen you in years!" 

"…ok," she relented, before pulling the two into a hug. "I've missed you both so much!" 

"Ah shit!" Shigaraki yelled, falling to the ground as he stepped through the portal into the bar. "Those bastards shot me!" 

He got up, pushing with his good hand until he was sitting on the wooden floor. "We… we were utterly beaten. Our mobs couldn't even beat those kids!" He seethed. "You were wrong, sensei, All Might wasn't weaker at all!" 

" No, I wasn't." A booming voice came from a monitor sitting on the wall beside the staff only door. " I was simply over optimistic. At least we used a cover name like the 'league of villains'."  

" What became of the project me and sensei worked on? How did it perform?" A nasally voice asked from the monitor. 

"I'm afraid it was sent flying, and without precise coordinates I couldn't retrieve it." Kurogiri informed the screen as he helped Shigaraki to a booth. 

" Even after loading it full of power to rival All-Might's?" The booming voice asked. "I suppose it can't be helped. What a shame."  

"Power like…" Shigaraki muttered, before glaring at the screen. "There… there was this kid, some brat that was cheating! He had too many abilities!" The blue haired man spat out. 

" Oh? Do tell…" the first voice inquired. 

"He… he could erase quirks, he had wings to fly, he could suck stuff into his fingers and even had super strength! He's a dirty cheat!" The villain ranted. 

" Is that so?" The voice chuckled. " In that case, keep an eye on the boy."  

After getting an all clear from recovery girl, Izuku, his mother, his aunt and Toshi all left. Toshi offered to buy them all dinner, and the family happily accepted, none of them mentally prepared to even make dinner tonight. The four arrived at the Midoriya house, enjoying a takeaway pizza. After Toshi left for the night, Inko gave her sister her bed, taking Izuku's while the boy took out a futon. 

After Izuku woke up in the dream mansion, he spent most of the night with banjo getting to know him and trying to use his quirk. It turned out that banjo was a massive movie buff, as well as liking to DJ and work out. 

Using his quirk though seemed to be a challenge for Izuku. It turned out that its control was partially based on emotion, particularly anger. So, the stronger Izuku felt, the stronger 'Black Whip' was but also the harder it was to control. By the end of the night Izuku could reliably take out a single tendril, but it didn't reach much further than he could with his hand. 

Waking up, Izuku realised he stopped feeling the buzzing of his quirks coming in, which meant that both his mystery quirks and 'lie detector" had formed. He grabbed a shirt, shimmying into it. He was slightly confused when it was tighter than usual but thought nothing of it. He walked out of his room and went to make a drink before his run. 

"Morning Izu, you sleep well?" His aunt asked, sitting at the table. 

"Y-yeah, it was alright. Yours?" He asked, getting his bottle from a cabinet. 

"It was fine once I got on my side, the pressure on my back wasn't nice." Anan complained. She took a drink of her cup, which smelled like coffee to Izuku. Her phone went off, so his aunt checked it, sighing before putting it back in her pocket. 

"Looks like classes are cancelled for the rest of the week." She sighed. "And I won't be able to get back to bed!" She dramatically groaned out, putting her head on the table. 

"O-oh." Izuku deflated. Before getting back to filling his bottle. 

"I guess that means we have some time to catch up!" Anan sat up, smiling. "It's been too long! Last time I saw you, you were hardly up to my head!" She laughed quietly. 

"Well, that was a few years ago, I've missed you aunty." Izuku smiled, giving her a hug. 

"Awe I've missed you too my little Izu. So, what are you doing up this early?" She asked, taking a bite of her toast. 

"W-well I always do a morning jog. I-I usually work out too, and I'm feeling fine so I think I might do that." Izuku explained. 

"Really? After what happened yesterday, the damage you took?" Anan asked. 

"Y-yeah, it'll help distract me anyway." Izuku sighed, tying his shoes. He didn't want to think about what happened at the USJ. Everyone had said Izuku did well there, but all he could think of was how despite him trying his best Aizawa was still in urgent care and his aunty got hurt. Even All Might got damaged in his wound. Izuku could have been better. He should've been better. He was trusted with the world's most powerful quirk, yet he could only handle 7% of it without straining himself. 

"Hey, wait up!" Anan called out, shoving her toast in her mouth and running to the doorway. "If I have the day off then I'd at least like to join your morning run." 

"Yeah, that sounds nice." Izuku smiled as she put her shoes on. 

Approaching the beach, Izuku started to slow. He felt amazing this morning, more so than usual. It was like his body wasn't even feeling the numbing soreness that a workout brought. 

"Jeez, Izu. When the hell did you get so fast?" Anan huffed our, slowly catching up to him. He looked over and saw her drenched in sweat. 

"What do you mean?" Izuku asked, "I wasn't using any quirks, or going full speed?" 

"Could've fooled me," she joked, gasping for air. "Looks like you could've outrun cars!" 

"Wha- n-no way I could do that!" Izuku yelped. It would likely take him using 10 percent at a minimum to catch up to a car, let alone go faster than it. 

"Izu, how long does it usually take you to get here?" Anan asked, taking a swig of a water bottle she brought. 

"Uhh, like 20 minutes at that pace?" Izuku questioned, before looking at his watch. His eyes bulged, likely due to 'face morph', when he looked down. It had been nearly 10 minutes since he left." H-h-h-how am I here so early?" He squeezed out. 

"Dunno, but your lucky I work on stamina a lot. I had to sprint the whole way just to still get here a couple minutes after you!" She groaned. 

"B-but that was just a light jog?" Izuku pondered. His mind was racing. It had to be one of his new quirks, right? There was no other explanation. But what could the quirk be, some kind of heteromorph speed boost? That's the only explanation, since Izuku didn't feel anything activate. 

"Uhh, Izu? You in there?" Anan called out, throwing her bottle at his head Izuku didn't see it coming, but despite the metal lid hitting his face, Izuku didn't feel any pain from it, not even a slight ringing. 

"Hey, what was that for?" Izuku asked. 

"You were in your own little world," Anan explained, picking up her bottle. "You feel ok? 

"Y-yea, I didn't feel a thing…" Izuku trailed off. Pain nullification? Was that another quirk? Or what if it was something else? 

Everything clicked in place for Izuku. His clothes got tighter, and he was running faster, which could mean a muscular enhancer. There was also pain nullification, which could be due to something like shock absorption… Izuku remembered that he was hit by and sucked up pieces of the Noumu. Did he gain the Noumu's quirks? 

"A-aunty, I have an idea." He spoke, before running up to the shoreline. 

"IZU! What are you doing!" Anan called out, trying to catch up. 

"Quirk experimentation!" He yelled, powering One For All into his arm, not trying to hold back. Izuku punched, the sea splitting as the force of 9 generations blasted through his arm. Phase one was complete as Izuku noticed his arm was shredded. 

"Oh my god, Izuku!" Anan shrieked, finally reaching her nephew and seeing his arm. "I'll call recovery girl!" 

"No! No it's ok!" Izuku said, hoping he was right. He eventually found out he was when his arm started to fix itself, first pulling his broken bones back into his arm, before the skin puffed up to normal and lost its red colour. He held his arm up. It looked brand new. 

"I-Izu, what was that?" Anan asked, her voice slightly shaken. 

"Th-that Noumu…" Izuku said, his mouth spreading into a smile. "I've got its quirks!" 

Chapter 9

After a sold half an hour of being scolded by his aunt for his recklessness, Izuku and Anan made their way home from their jog, Izuku making sure to go slow enough for Anan to keep pace. The rest of the day mostly consisted of the three family members recuperating from the previous day. Izuku also spent some time analysis his new quirks. 

He first wrote about 'Lie-Detector'. It was simple enough, having used it on both his mother and aunt multiple times. It turned out that it was a passive quirk, always turned on. Similar to his 'location map'. He could see it being very useful for investigation and villain identification; Izuku had seen many cases where heteromorphs were wrongly identified as villains due to always active quirks, so a quirk like 'Lie-Detector' would solve that instantly. He found out it didn't work over call or text, so it had to be in person speech. It also really helped with Izuku's anxiety. 

Based on Shigaraki's monologues, Izuku presumed that each of the Noumu's abilities are separate quirks. That meant that the regeneration, shock absorption, and physical enhancement were the three unknowns that Izuku gained. His 'Muscle Enhancement' was the easiest to test, due to the other two relying on Izuku being attacked. Izuku ended up being able to lift about anything he could find surprisingly easily, even lifting the fridge with a single hand. He ended up going for another run and tried sprinting as fast as he could, and he ended up running faster than cars driving past him. Izuku was surprised, both by how strong and fast he was and also how weak the quirk was compared to the Noumu. Izuku couldn't see the quirk developing to that level, even with extreme training. 

The only other quirk Izuku could test out was his regenerative quirk. Sadly his mother and aunty didn't let him cut a hand off to test how strong it is, but Izuku was still able to test out other uses of his regeneration. The easiest to identify was how he seemed to not be feeling any soreness or fatigue while sprinting. Izuku wasn't sure if it was actually his regeneration, or a sub-ability of his 'Muscle Enhancement'. Izuku was going to bet it was his regeneration. He supposed Shigaraki calling it 'super regeneration' was fitting. 

Izuku had to go completely off of speculation for his 'shock absorption'. Easiest to guess was that it wouldn't be as powerful as the Noumu's, like 'muscle enhancement'. The rest of his analysis was mainly guessing how it and 'super regeneration' would interact. 

Once Izuku got to the dream mansion, he decided to compare his guesses to the quirk shelf. 

" Hey, little dude! How's your day gone?" The voice of Banjo boomed as the man appeared at the top floor of the library. 

"O-oh, hey banjo!" Izuku greeted, pulling out the book on 'super regeneration'. "My days been alright. Just, uh, decompressing and testing my new quirks. How about you, are you settling in well?" He asked. 

" Yeah, it's great! Did you know this place has TWO cinema rooms?" Banjo asked excitedly. " God Hikage will love it!" He smiled, looking off into space. 

The large man jumped over the rails, landing next to Izuku with a thud. " So what you up to, kid?"  

"U-uh, well I was just making sure my analysis was right," Izuku explained, putting the notebook back on the shelf. "But I was thinking that I'd rearrange the bookshelf." 

" Hmm…" Banjo hummed. " I don't see BlackWhip anywhere?" 

"Oh, it's in here!" Izuku told him, giving him the One For All book. 

" Aw man!" The man sighed dejectedly. " I was hoping it got a full book to itself!"  

"Oh, s-sorry Banjo. I'm not sure how I could change it?" Izuku apologised, before looking up to the bookshelf. 

" So, little man." Banjo started, putting the One For All book back. " What do ya think of my quirk? Gonna be a good one for your arsenal, right?"  

"Y-yeah!" Izuku exclaimed, taking some of the books off of the shelf and onto the table next to him. "I-it's actually kinda the perfect quirk to get right now." 

"Watch out, Ninth." Yoichi called as he came in. "Don't want to inflate his ego any more than it already is." He joked, taking a book off of a shelf and leaving again. 

" Ah, shut up you neek!" Banjo yelled over light-heartedly, before turning back to Izuku. " Anyway dude, obviously my quirk is amazing, but why's it perfect for you?"  

"W-well, once I g-get some control of it, I'll have gotten access to an area I've been lacking." Izuku explained, shuffling books into different places. "B-before now, I've only really focused on melee style usage. T-the only quirk I have that effects things I'm not touching pulls them closer to me. B-but 'BlackWhip' will give me some range." The boy explained, tying different configurations of books. 

"Ahaha!" Banjo laughed. " It'll help with restraint and mobility too! My quirk is the best!" The man cheered before taking a look at Izuku, who had put the final book back on the shelf. " Uh, what's this kid?"  

"O-oh, well I wasn't really sure how to rearrange the books," Izuku chuckled, embarrassed. "I t-tried put a couple ways, a-and I think I l-like this arrangement best. M-my first idea was to organise them by use type!" Izuku explained. "You know, things like mobility, combat or stealth. But then I realised that there are quirks that fit into multiple categories, or not in any column that well. So after a couple more options I just decided to go for the easy route of the three quirk types; emitters, transformations and heteromorph." 

Banjo inspected the shelf as Izuku explained his process, taking another minute before he replied. " I dunno little man, I'd have colour coordinated it!"  

"Uh, I'm not really sure how that would help?" Izuku asked, confused. "Although I guess I've never really considered the importance of the colours on the books? Maybe I should try figure it out, I mean it has to be important somehow, after all how else would you exchange the changing colours on the One For All book?" 

Banjo decided to break Izuku out of his muttering by giving the boy a pat on the shoulder that was maybe just a little too hard. " Ahahahaha, calm down little man! You can do that later, cuz I'm training you on BlackWhip!"  

"W-what!" Izuku yelped as he was dragged through to the training room. "B-but I'm not able to use a quirk in here until I have control of it?" 

"Bah! A load of Bologna!" Banjo scoffed, creating space between him and Izuku. " It's part of One For All now, and you can control that, right? So it'll be easy to use it!"  

"I-I guess that makes sense…" Izuku relented. He still wasn't sure about it though. 

" Alright, dude. Give it a go!" Banjo instructed, bringing out his own BlackWhip. 

Izuku tried to follow along. He remembered his predecessor's words about it being tied to emotion, so he let his feelings go. Memories of the disaster he'd gone through the day before came flooding back; memories he'd tried his hardest to forget. The image of Aizawa being crushed by the Noumu, the thought of Izuku's own aunty being destroyed by her own quirk, the idea of Izuku's friends being attacked by villains that wanted to kill him. He hated it. He hated that he was so weak that he couldn't save them, he knew it was dumb but he felt responsible for his teachers getting hurt. 

The emotions piled up inside Izuku until they burst out, black tendrils shooting out at every angle from Izuku's body. 

" Woah, kid!" banjo yelped, using his quirk to pull him to the ceiling out of Izuku's range as the 'BlackWhip' destroyed the room in its reach. " Shut it off!"  

In an instant the tendrils receded. Izuku falling back as he looked at his red skin, before his 'super regeneration' kicked in making it return to normal. 

"Well... at least we know I can use it," Izuku tried to joke. 

" C'mon kid, this is what I told you!" Banjo sighed, falling back to the floor. " You need to be in control of your emotions! Let them control you and the quirk will go rampant! Try again, and this time control it."  

" Ok... I can do this." Izuku reassured himself, crouching as he held a hand in preparation for the quirk. As he let the emotion flow back, Izuku tried directing the flow of what he let in. Instead of the self doubt and anger he had towards himself, Izuku tried letting in his protective rage at the villains. The determination to become strong enough to scare villains with his presence like Toshi does; to become strong enough that he can save everyone. 

The tendrils appeared again, but slower with less appearing. Instead of the eldritch mass that appeared last time, a total of three whips came out, only stretching about a metre before curling back into themselves in a defensive stance. 

" Alright, little man, you did it!" Banjo cheered out before creating a long strand of his own BlackWhip. " Now that you're able to make strands, lets see how well you can defend with them!" the man roared while laughing. He then followed up by raising his quirk strand, and whipping it down to strike at Izuku. 

The boy tried to block, his whips instinctively becoming thicker to block. Only his 'Shock Absorption' stopped him from being thrown back as Banjo's BlackWhip broke through Izuku's and whipped him right across the chest. 

"Hey, w-what was that for!" Izuku asked, slightly annoyed. 

" C'mon kid, bring it back out! Or else we'll be testing how much that 'shock absorption' of yours can handle!" Banjo laughed, creating a strand of BlackWhip in each hand. 

Izuku hurriedly tried activating his quirk, only managing to create a strand moments before Banjo's whip struck it, instantly making Izuku break his concentration. 

" C'mon little dude, you gotta be quicker than that!" Banjo yelled, using his quirk to swing across the room before trying to strike Izuku again. This time Izuku was able to call up his 'BlackWhip' quicker, though still only a couple strands came out which wasn't enough to block the blow. Izuku really wished his 'shock absorption' extended to his 'BlackWhip'. 

" Not bad, little dude!" Banjo called out, swinging to another area of the room and opening a panel, taking a ball out. " Next step, CATCH!"  

Izuku looked up, and saw Banjo throw the ball as fast as he could at the boy's head. Izuku ducked, falling back as the ball scuffed his hair. 

Banjo sighed, pulling out another ball before swinging around the room, giving Izuku no time to follow as the man threw the ball at him. Izuku turned and thinking that the ball was too close already, he activated 'big fist' and stopped the ball in its tracks. 

" No, man!" Banjo called out, this time using his quiet to take two balls out. " You gotta use BlackWhip, that's why we're doing this!" 

Izuku sighed, letting 'BlackWhip' come out before he dodged out of the way of the first ball. He saw the second ball fire to his right, so let one of the strands shoot out towards it. He almost caught it, but the speed of the ball let it slip through the tendril's grip. 

" C'mon kid, you can do it! Again!" The hero called, taking more balls and throwing them at Izuku. Izuku tried using 'BlackWhip' to catch them, but the balls kept slipping through his grip. The training lasted 5 minutes, Izuku getting more and more annoyed until he snapped. 

"I can't do it! How is this meant to help me, I can't even concentrate?" He sighed out, stopping and looking at Banjo. 

The hero just let himself drop to the ground and smirked. " Dude, that's the point!" He laughed, pointing behind Izuku. He turned round, and saw that out of his back a tendril of 'BlackWhip' had slithered out, and caught one of the balls in its grip. "Little guy, First filled me in on what I missed. You overthink."  

"W-wha… when did I even catch that? Wait what do you mean?" Izuku asked, dumbfounded. 

" You caught it maybe halfway through?" Banjo guessed, walking up to Izuku. " And think back to your wings. What did First tell you to get you to use them right?"  

"Uh… he made me realise that I had to not focus on it?" Izuku remembered. 

" Exactly!" Banjo laughed. " That's your problem, kid! You overthink things, meaning you end up having to manually move each section of 'BlackWhip' manually. Quirks, especially ones like mine, know how themselves work. They're kinda semi-sentient. So, if you instead just use the feeling of what you want to do, the quirk will fill in the rest!" 

"R-really?" Izuku questioned. He was sure that it wasn't as simple as that, but Banjo's training tactics did work so maybe he was right. It was his original quirk after all. 

" yeah dude. I can't count the times I had to wrestle control with it, if anything your version seems much more tame." Banjo joked. " I'm kinda jealous. So, wanna get back to practicing?"  

"Y-yes sir!" Izuku yelled. 

The rest of the night was filled with Banjo teaching Izuku the basics of his quirk. After more projectile catching, they tried Izuku chasing Banjo and trying to tag him with a strand of 'BlackWhip'. Banjo's training was a fun mix of militaristic drilling and fun games. By the end of the night, Izuku was able to consistently call up and use 'BlackWhip', though only for basic things. 

After Izuku woke up, his day was mostly spent relaxing, on his mother's orders. His aunty had to leave, saying she was healthy enough to head home now. She promised to visit more frequently though. Once the weekend arrived Izuku went back to training, making sure to try strengthening his quirks as hard as he could without passing out. 

Heading back to U.A. on Monday was an odd experience for Izuku. It never really sunk in that what happened at the USJ would become massive news, so Izuku wasn't expecting it when he got on his morning train and everyone started staring at him. He could tell it wasn't actually him they were recognising, just his U.A. uniform. It didn't make him feel any better though, he was still uncomfortable when it comes to attention. 

Izuku quickly made his way off of the train and got to class. Once he got in, Izuku could feel the tension lingering from when everyone last met. 

"Midoriya, good morning! How are you doing today?" Iida called, walking up to the boy. 

"H-hi, Iida. I'm fine, how has your weekend been?" Izuku asked, walking over to put his bag down. 

"It was as good as it could have been, my parents wouldn't leave me alone!" Iida tried joking, before looking around to his classmates. "I'm just glad that everyone seems to be doing ok." 

"Y-yeah," Izuku agreed, before sensing Uraraka making her way to the classroom. "Back in a second!" 

Izuku quickly left the room, turning left and nearly immediately running over Uraraka. 

"AAH!" Uraraka yelped, almost falling back before Izuku caught her. 

"Oh s-sorry U-Uraraka. H-how are you?" Izuku stuttered, hoping he wasn't making a fool of himself. 

"Hi Mido, don't worry that was my fault. Wasn't watching where I was going." She smiled, "I'm doing… well I'm just happy I'm back in class." She sighed. 

"Yeah, I was really worried about you!" Izuku confessed. 

"What? But you were the one we were all worried about!" Uraraka exclaimed. "Y-you were beat by that beast; you collapsed and were hospitalised!" 

Izuku paused, then lifted his gloved hands to wipe the tears forming in her eyes. "Hey, hey d-don't worry, I'm fine! Recovery girl did a great job, not to mention the Noumu gave me some good quirks to help protect me!" He smirked, loving the way her eyes lit up at the sentence. 

"New quirks? Ooh what are they?" She asked, jumping up and down in excitement. 

"Come on, I'll tell you in class." He smiled as they walked back in. 

"Come on everyone, class is about to start. Everyone to their seats!" Iida called out just before the first bell rang. 

"Dude, you're the only one still standing?" Kaminari called out. 

Iida looked around, noticing that he was right. "O-oh." He sighed, before heading to his seat. Izuku looked around and noticed that there was one seat empty. He guessed that they still went through with removing Bakugo from the hero course. He frowned and sighed slightly, hoping the boy was doing ok. 

"So, do you think Aizawa will be in today?" Uraraka asked, swinging her chair back to lean against Izuku's table. 

"I dunno, he got pretty hurt!" Jiro replied. 

"So was Izuku, but he's looking fine." Sero interjected, pointing at the boy. 

"Y-yeah but I got a q-quirk that helped with that." He explained. 

"Oh cool! What is it?" Mineta asked, leaning into the conversation. 

"Well, it's-" Izuku was cut off by the slam of the door opening. The students all looked over and saw Aizawa step in. He was in an arm cast and had bandages covering half of his face, only one eye and his mouth visible. 

"Morning everyone," Aizawa greeted, a bit too nonchalantly for Izuku's liking considering the state he was in. 

"Aizawa, it's good to see that you're alright!" Iida called out. 

"I wouldn't call that alright." Kirishima exclaimed. 

"Don't worry, the old lady just went overboard with her treatment." Aizawa sighed, taking his place on his podium. "You should all be worrying about yourselves… your battles not over yet." 

"Wha-" the students yelled. 

"M-m-more v-villains?" Mineta yelped out. 

"Worse…" Aizawa started, "you all have the U.A. sports festival coming up." 

"Woah, that's like a regular school thing!" Mina cheered out! 

"But is it such a good idea to hold it so soon?" Jiro asked aloud. 

"Yeah, that's the kinda thing villains would love to infiltrate!" Kaminari called. 

"That's enough everyone." Aizawa growled, using his quirk to quieten everyone. "I understand your concerns. The entire staff wanted to at least postpone the festival. Management insisted on it going on as planned, however, so we've gotten them to pay for extra security; triple the hero security and even five times the police presence." 

Aizawa walked around his podium, making sure his whole class was paying attention, "you'll all want to train your hardest in these next couple weeks, you only get 3 chances to prove yourselves. In the past, the Olympics has been the most viewed televised sporting event. Due in part to the rise of quirks viewership has gone down, and in its place is the U.A. sports festival." 

"A-are they really gonna disregard the students' welfare in the case the villains show up?" Mineta cowered out. 

"Mineta," Izuku started, turning to the boy. "This isn't something that the villains could stop, haven't you seen the festival before?" 

"Of course I have!" Mineta cried, "it's just that-" 

"Mineta, this will be our chance to prove ourselves to the top pros, they'll surely all be watching." Yaoyorozu interjected, "they'll all be scouting out for potential recruits." 

"Yeah, I'm thinking of starting off as a sidekick once I graduate. I'll get a great boost that way!" Kaminari cheered. 

"Yeah, but some of them get stuck as sidekicks forever." Jiro chuckled. "You seem like just that kinda dumbass!" 

"Hey! Not cool." He sulked at the jab. 

"Remember everyone," Aizawa called out, gathering back the students attention. "This is an opportunity that hero students can't overlook. Getting noticed by the right kind of hero will get you much further than you could naturally get a lot quicker." 

With his speech over, Aizawa collected his things up. "The staff have a meeting, so your next period will be a study period. Midoriya, meet me outside for a second." 

Izuku looked up, and saw his teacher nod his head towards the door, before walking out. Izuku quickly got up to follow him. Meeting him outside, Izuku readied for whatever the talk could be. 

"Midoriya… I'd just like to thank you for last week." Aizawa calmly stated. 

"…huh?" Izuku paused. 

"As much as I hate that you students had to get involved, if it weren't for you I'd be a lot worse." Aizawa explained. "The old woman guessed that one more hit to the head could've permanently damaged my eyes." The implication went unsaid. 

"N-no it's ok Aizawa, I-I just wish I could've been stronger." Izuku frowned, looking at his hands. "If I were strong enough, I could've stopped you from getting hurt at all or I could've stopped Aunt Anan from getting her back injured." 

"Kid." Aizawa sighed, making Izuku look into his uncovered eye. "It's not your job to be strong enough, not yet. The fact that you could achieve the things you did was already amazing. The level of skill you have belongs on someone that's already a pro hero! Not to mention the amount of time you've actually had your quirk, you're an anomaly. But it's not your time to be protecting everyone, not yet." Aizawa paused, letting his words sink in. "… so 'Aunt Anan'? I'll have to make sure she's not giving you higher grades than necessary." Aizawa said in a monotone voice, but Izuku could tell that he was joking around. 

"Alright kid, get back to class." Aizawa drawled, starting to walk away from the boy. "Your friends are probably wondering what's going on." 

With the conversation over, Izuku slid back into class, and froze at the sight of Uraraka standing at the front of the room. 

"Everyone, I'm gonna do my best! Let's crush the sports festival." She smiled, oozing out malice from her strongman pose. 

"Woah, who knew Uraraka could be so fierce!" Mina smiled out, whispering to Tsu. 

Mineta snuck up behind them. "Maybe she's on her-" he was cut off by Tsu's tongue slapping him into a table. 

Uraraka turned, facing towards Izuku, her glare sharpening at him. "You hear that Izuku, I'm gonna crush you!" 

Izuku gulped. "…huh?" 

Aizawa slinked into the meeting room through one of the exits in Nedzu's vent system. He didn't want to drag attention to himself, so the actual door was a no-go. Landing directly next to his seat, Aizawa slid into it as he took note of everyone else sitting around the table that circled the room. 

Yagi was on the chair closest to the door, talking to detective Tsukauchi. There was also some of first year teaching staff. Midnight and mic, who were already plotting something based on the glances they sent his way. Vlad king was creating mini sculptures using his quirk. Cementoss, ectoplasm and morlock were playing some card game while they waited for the meeting to start. Snipe had stolen some of the cards and was throwing them at hound-dog who looked like he was starting to want to break the man, and Shota couldn't blame him. Power-loader looked to be half asleep on his chair, no doubt up late working on some tool for student training. Some of the more full-time staff, like recovery girl, lunch rush and 13 were present, talking about something between themselves. There were also some 2 nd and 3 rd year teachers that he couldn't name due to the lack of interaction they had. 

"I'm glad to see that everyone is now here!" Nedzu greeted, hopping into his own chair. "Now I'm sure most of you are aware, but this meeting is mainly to discuss the case on the 'league of villains'. To do that, we have our liaison, detective Tsukauchi Naomasa." 

"Hello everyone," the detective smiled, stepping into the middle of the room. "I'll start off by discussing that we've confirmed that apart from the two leaders that had escaped, all villains have been caught. Detained villains confirmed they hadn't met anyone else that stayed behind." 

"Just because there were no other villains seen, it doesn't mean that there are no others." Vlad noted out. 

"I know, but it does mean that there are at the moment no coordinated break outs or repeated attacks planned." 

"What information do you have on the two that did escape?" Midnight asked, leaning in. 

"Beyond the physical and quirk description… nothing," Tsukauchi sighed out. "Neither the name 'Shigaraki Tomura' or his decay quirk has any matches in our databases. It's the same with Kurogiri." 

"So they're ghosts?" One of the third-year teachers asked. 

"Maybe they were brought up in the underground? I was." Shota decided to chime in. 

"Possibly. Could you check any of your contacts?" Nedzu asked and got a nod in return. 

"The problem is, once the ringleader Shigaraki heals from 'em gunshots I gave 'im, he'll surely try somethin else." Snipe pointed out. 

"Heh, ringleader…" Yagi chuckled to himself. 

"What is it, Yagi?" Nedzu asked, noticing the man's frown. 

"Well sir, he just doesn't seem like the kind of person that could attract that many villains."Yagi started explaining. "A plan of this size, normally even an A rank villain squad wouldn't dream of going through with it! And that Noumu, he was showing off its powers like someone shows off a new car, all while not explaining his at all." He took a pause to collect his thoughts. "… everything about him, it's as though he's a toddler that's used to getting everything he wants. A man-child."  

"So what, he's just some kid with power or something?" Vlad asked. 

"You're right, Yagi." Tsukauchi interrupted. "All of the villains we caught the other day, every one of them swore allegiance to Shigaraki. They followed him without question." 

"Yo, a normal villain doesn't get that kinda influence without publicly introducing themselves. Most don't get that at all!" Present mic called out, Aizawa using his quirk on him before his voice can activate. 

"With so many heroes in action these days, maybe villainy has felt too much pressure." Nedzu guessed. "It's possible that this simple minded evil simply won them over." 

"…A man child," Aizawa sighed out. "So he's just like our students, he has room to grow." He frowned, looking around as the staff realised what that could mean. 

"Ah yes, that brings us to our most important points!" Nedzu called out. "I'm sure you're all wondering why not the entire staff is here." 

"I thought it was one of your games." Shota interrupted. 

"The actual reason is that while the entire staff is trustworthy and competent, not everyone can be trusted with every secret." Nedzu explained, looking across at his staff. 

"What does that mean, nedzu?" Power-loader asked. 

"It means that those of you at this table have been judged to be trustworthy enough to hear the next pieces of information." He paused, before continuing. "Though know that if anyone hears of what is about to be told, then the full might of both UA and the mighty agency will crash down onto you." 

"What is this about, you rat." Recovery girl asked. 

"The Noumu," Tsukauchi instead answered. "Thanks to our research, it's brought to light some disturbing facts." 

"What is it?" One of the third-year teachers asked. 

"During our detainment of the Noumu it acted as though it couldn't hear or understand a thing. Further testing showed that although it can move if we lead it, the beast is completely brain dead." 

"What?" Midnight blinked, looking slightly more pale. 

"We also found out that the beast has the DNA of at least 4 different criminals, and thanks to Izuku Midoriya we also know that it has multiple quirks." 

"So-so that's beast…" Cementoss stopped, unable to finish his sentence. 

"The evidence all shows that the creature known as Noumu is a genetically altered lab experiment." Tsukauchi said lowly. 

"H-how does someone even do this? Surely someone can't be this inhumane!" Mic yelled. 

"There's one person, and he gets much worse than this." Yagi frowned. 

"That's the second point that must not leave this room." Nedzu interjected. 

"If our theories are correct, then we are facing a threat much greater than anticipated." Tsukauchi explained, putting a hand on Yagi's shoulder. 

"There… there was a villain, one born at the very dawn of quirks." Yagi started, looking pale and emotionless. "He had a special quirk that let him take the very quirk factor of others and use them for himself or give them to others. Somewhere along the way, he picked up a quirk the let him live well beyond the human lifespan." He paused, patting his chest where his wound was. "He's the villain that gave me this… I-I thought I killed him though."  

"How do you know this, Yagi." Shota asked, glaring at the hero. 

"My master, she was killed by the monster. She and I are part of a line of heroes that opposed his rule. I was the first one to battle him and live." He explained, a tear falling from his eye. 

Shota noticed that Tsukauchi didn't twitch during the explanation, meaning he was telling the truth. 

"So you're saying this villain that can steal quirks is still alive?" Vlad kind asked, a twinge of fear in his voice. 

"There's been no confirmation as of yet, but it's likely." Tsukauchi said. 

"I-if he's alive, he'll be as badly damaged as I am," Yagi breathed out. "I… I crushed his skull in with my hands."  

Shota winced at the remark. A hero never liked having to use lethal attacks against a villain, but that sounded personal. 

"If this guy is so powerful, why haven't we heard of him?" Ectoplasm asked. 

"Because those of us that do know of him have worked tirelessly to ensure the public has no knowledge of him." Nedzu explained. "Imagine what a villain would do if they could access more powerful quirks due to his ability to swap quirks. He feeds off of people's deepest desires, imagine a heteromorph going to him to gain a less 'unsightly' quirk; they'd then become indebted to him. That's how he grew to power in the first place." 

"I don't thinks it's working as well as you think." Aizawa called out. "In the underground I've always heard whispers of a puppet master. They usually called him 'the boogieman' or 'the quirk thief'. It's even used as scary tales to make kids behave." 

"That's the point, young Aizawa." Yagi spoke up. "Because of those kids' stories, any real rumours of him will be downplayed to make believe."  

The table went silent, still reeling from the info drops they'd all heard. Shota especially found it hard to take in. As a child he'd been bullied by being called the quirk boogieman, but to find out that such a person actually existed, dead or not? 

"And if he's alive, you think he'll come after us?" 13 asked, being one of the first to digest the information. 

"The man himself will be after me." Yagi frowned. "But due to the students stopping Shigaraki, he may focus on them instead."  

"Then… then I guess we'll have to train the students up faster, as fast as possible." Shota scowled. 

"Until they can be caught, it's our only option." Nedzu nodded, "well, I think this is an acceptable place to end our meeting. Everyone can go back to their classes now!" 

As the teachers started leaving and heading to do their work, Shota stayed seated, glaring holes into Yagi who also stayed seating after noticing Aizawa's gaze. Once Nedzu left through the vent system the two were left alone. 

"Is there something I can help with, young Aizawa?" Yagi asked. 

"You said you're from a line of heroes that oppose the quirk thief." He started. 

"All For One, that's what he calls himself." Yagi tried explaining. 

"That doesn't matter. Midoriya… have you roped him into this." Aizawa glared as he slowly marched towards the other man. 

"Uh, well you see-" Yagi was cut off as Shota used his capture scarf to drag the man up close by his throat. 

"It's a simple yes or no, Yagi!" He growled out. 

"… yes." The gaunt man relented. 

"Yagi, if this All For One guy can steal a quirk with just a touch, what's to stop him from stealing Midoriya's quirk and all the others that he's gathered?" 

"That's what I was trying to tell you," Yagi coughed out. "The predecessor can sense if the successor is capable of withstanding the pull of his quirk. Our line of heroes are able to battle him without having our quirks stolen."  

"And how the fuck is that meant to work?" Shota deadpanned. 

"How am I meant to know?" Yagi asked. "It's just a feeling I have. Maybe it's due to the first hero being related to All For One?"  

Shota stood silent for a moment, trying to examine Yagi's face. "Fine… but if that boy is hurt because of this, you'll never work as a hero or a teacher again." 

Leaving Yagi with that, Aizawa Shota left the meeting room with a lot of information to research. 

The ring of the bell that signalled the start of 4 thperiod made Izuku smile. His free period has been changed to his exclusive lesson with Recovery Girl using her quirk. Izuku quickly packed his things and headed for the door. 

"Mido, wanna hang together?" Uraraka called out, walking up behind him. 

"O-oh, sorry Uraraka, I actually have a class in this slot now." He sighed. At least he had 2 more free periods with her. 

"Oh, yeah it's ok," she said, though her voice sounded less happy. "What class is it?" 

"W-well the third-year hero course students train in this period, so Recovery girl is letting me practice with her quirk on them!" Izuku explained as the two walked along the hallways. 

Woah really?" Uraraka awed. "That's so cool! I'm so jealous Mido." 

"Aha," Izuku chuckled, his cheeks feeling hot. "I'm just glad that I'm finally getting to train it. I want to make sure I can heal you back to health anytime you need it!" He smiled. 

"Aww you're so sweet!" Uraraka squealed, pulling Izuku into a hug. Izuku went red before realising he should hug her back. 

"If you two are going to run off into a closet, at least wear protection!" The voice of Recovery girl came from beside them, making both teens jump away from each other. 

"O-oh R-R-Recovery G-Girl, I s-swear I was o-on my way to y-your office!" Izuku yelped out. 

"Yeah, and you made it." The old lady deadpanned, pointing her cane to the door with her name on it. 

"O-oh, I'll see you later, Mido!" Uraraka smiled, her cuddles flush as she rushed away. 

"Well, come on in, lover boy." Recovery Girl chuckled as she walked into her office. 

"I-it wasn't like that!" Izuku exclaimed as he followed her. Recovery girl chose to ignore him, instead pulling out a sheet of paper. 

"Ok, so today the third year A-class is conducting 2v2 battles similar to the ones you did last week." She started, sitting on her chair as Izuku listened in. "You'd think that due to their greater control they'd have less accidents, but the third years like putting more power into their attacks to subdue each other quicker; That and showing off!" She scoffed. 

Recovery girl pulled up her main monitor, opening up a camera feed. Izuku pulled up the spare chair as Recovery girl flicked through different screens. 

"So, from here I'm able to see each of the different training facilities so that I'm not completely surprised when someone comes in injured. It helps to know what happened." She explained, switching to a screen that showed a group of people walking towards a skyscraper. 

"Woah, the third years are taught by Scholiast!" Izuku gasped. Scholiast was a hero that Izuku had lots of trouble finding information on online, it was nearly as hard to find as Aizawa. He had a quirk he called countermeasure. If he viewed something, he could analyse it and figure a solution to it, be it finding an answer to a riddle or a counter to an opponents fighting style. 

"Yes, he's only been teaching for a couple of years, but he's taken to it like a fish in water!" Recovery girl said as some of the students started entering the building. 

The first couple of rounds went by fairly easily. The main premise of their exercise was the same, but the third years had a much larger building to search through. Izuku was glad he brought his analysis books, because he was able to see so many interesting quirks that he'd only gotten small glimpses of at the televised sports festivals. One boy could create animal parts on his body, another could turn their arms into vines with spiked on the ends of them, which reminded Izuku of Kamui Woods. 

The third match was where it went wrong. A girl that could shoot spiral light beams out of her arms and legs was in a fight with a boy that could shoot his arms forward like a jackhammer. The two had taken up a whole floor with their fight. Izuku was having trouble telling who had the advantage in the fight at first, but the boy with the jackhammer Quirk had less stamina. He was taking more telegraphed swings and overextending them. 

"Well, I'll get a bed ready!" Recovery girl groaned, getting out of her chair. 

"H-huh, why?" Izuku asked, looking at the screen more. 

"The boy's getting to reckless with his swings, he's taking down all the load bearing pillars!" She complained. Izuku looked back at the screen and realised she was right. The boys overextended swings kept hitting the pillars in the middle of the room. 

"W-what do you want me to do?" Izuku asked, getting out of his seat. 

"Just keep watching for now," recovery girl instructed. "You need to know which one's getting hurt after all." 

Right as she finished talking, the boy on screen smashed one last wall with his Quirk, sending the whole building down. Izuku didn't see either of them manage to make it out before the ceiling collapsed in on them, so he relayed it to Recovery girl. 

Moments later, some of the rubble moved, revealing the boy. Izuku guessed he must have used his Quirk to drill out. The boy dragged out the girl, laying her down on a large flat piece of rubble while he dusted himself off. The boy seemed to be worse off, though they both looked in bad shape. 

"It seems like they'll both need some healing!" Izuku called out as he watched robots drag the two students away on stretchers. 

"Alright, I'll take the boy, then help show you how to treat the girl." Recovery girl said, finishing the second bed as the injured students arrived in the doorway. The boy was carted to the further bed, as Izuku took the girl to the closer bed. 

"Hi there, I'm Hado Nejire, but you can call me Nejire chan. What are you doing here, are you helping recovery girl? Is it due to your Quirk? What is your Quirk? Mine is wave motion, it's pretty cool, It even lets me fly! Are you going to be the one healing me?" The girl said all at once. Izuku was shocked at the speed she spoke at but could follow along well enough. 

"H-hi Nejire Chan. I'm Midoriya Izuku, and I am here to help heal you. Due to my Quirk I copied Recovery girls quirk, so she's teaching me to use it. That's cool, mine lets me fly too!" He replied, hoping he had answered everything well enough. 

Nejire-Chan smiled in response, letting her head sink into the pillow. "You were able to keep up, I like you. Only YuYu-Chan has been able to do that, it must mean you're special like her." She smiles, her voice becoming groggy. 

"Alright Hado, I see you've been introduced to Midoriya here?" Recovery girl asked, finishing up with the boy next to her. 

"Yep, he's nice!" She slurred as she turned face first into the pillows. 

"That's good. Did he tell you his Quirk?" She asked, looking up at Izuku. 

"Kinda," she shrugged. "He said he could fly and copied your Quirk." 

"That's it, he can copy and keep quirks, is it ok if he copies your Quirk while he heals you?" Recovery girl asked as she looked over Nejire. 

"Yea sure, means I'll have a wave buddy!" She groggily cheered. 

"Ok, well Midoriya are you ready?" Recovery girl asked. 

"H-how do I start?" Izuku replied, looking over the bruised body of Nejire. 

"Start off with the visible wounds, all the bruises and cuts. I believe you've already done things like that?" She stated. 

"Y-yep" Izuku stuttered, reminded of his first hero training day with Uraraka. Izuku looked over Nejire's bruises, looking for the worst spot which was a giant bruise covering her entire shoulder up to her neck, with giant cuts all along it. Izuku kissed the spot, activating 'heal' and letting the bruises and cuts mend themselves. 

"Well done, now that that's done, I'll check for any broken bones." Recovery girl explained. After a couple minutes, she found that only Nejire's left leg had broken bones. 

"She got incredibly lucky. With her Quirk, any more damage and she wouldn't have been able to heal in one go!" Recovery girl grumbled. "Come here boy, do you see how the skin hasn't fully healed here?" 

Izuku looked to where she was pointing and saw that the skin on her leg still looked red and had small sections poking forward. 

"Y-yeah. How do I fix that?" Izuku asked. 

"When you kiss the leg, try imagining the bones moving back into place and being clued together. That should be good enough to heal it." Recovery girl explained. 

"O-ok," Izuku sighed, leaning in to give one final kiss to Nejire. As Izuku leant back from the kiss, he saw her skin flatten out, and the redness fade to normal. 

"Well done, for a first time big heal that went pretty well!" Recovery girl smiled, waking back to her desk. "The boy should be fine in 15 minutes or so, the girl will likely be out until lunch at least. Let's let them rest." 

"Yes ma'am." Izuku replied, walking to recovery girl. She was checking the security cameras, flipping to different screens until she found the students again. 

"Well, it seems like the rest of them got by without anything warranting our help." She informed him, before turning back to Izuku. "So, kid. This is the basics of what your special training will be. I found when training up my own Quirk that on the job training worked best, so that's what you're getting. Every Monday you'll be here with me healing anyone that needs it." 

"Got it, that sounds simple enough." Izuku commented, writing it down in his notebook. 

"The rat will probably want you to record any quirks you end up copying too, so I'd suggest doing that." She sighed. 

"Th-the rat?" Izuku questioned, looking confused. 

"Nedzu, the rat probably has his eye on us as we speak!" She lamented. 

" Of course, always checking up on my staff and students!" The principals voice chirped from the tannoy. 

Recovery girl shook her head at the principal's antics, looking at the time on her watch. "Alright young man, lunch will be starting soon, why don't you go find your friends before the stampede starts." 

"Yes ma'am, Izuku smiled. "B-but could I know anything about Nejire-Chan's Quirk?" 

"It's called wave-motion, but I overheard her tell you that. It's all your getting." She said as she waved him out. "Now shoo!" 

After running into Uraraka, who bombarded him with questions on how the class went, they both made their way to where Iida's current class was. As the bell rung the students made their way out of the room, Iida coming out last. 

"Ah, hello you two. How was your study period?" He asked, stepping alongside them as the three made their way along the corridor. 

"Mido got to heal a third year hero student!" Uraraka exclaimed excitedly. Iida looked over at Izuku with a questioning look, who nodded in confirmation. 

"Really? Well I hope it was in a safe environment!" He commented. 

"Yeah don't worry. Recovery girl is helping train me with her Quirk. I'll tell you about it later!" Izuku smiled. "Hey, Uraraka, I don't think we ever asked. Why did you end up deciding to be a hero?" 

Uraraka looked up at his question, then quickly looked between Izuku and Iida. 

"Uhh, well you see…" she paused, rubbing the beck of her head in embarrassment. "I kinda did it for the money. I-I know it's not as noble as you two or anything!" 

"Nonsense!" Iida cut in. "Wanting to take care of oneself is completely understandable." 

"Oh, n-no it's not for me." Uraraka started explaining. "My parents own a small construction company, out in Mie. We don't get too much work though; it all goes to the larger companies so we're really broke." 

"Oh, if you were able to use your Quirk, you'd be saving them so much money!" Izuku realised. 

"I know! It's what I always told them, but they always wanted me to do what I dreamed of." She told them, "I-I want to become a hero so I can make enough money that my parents can live in peace, without having to worry about their next pay check." She kept her face forward, not wanting to see what her friends thought. 

"Bravo! That is amazing!" Iida called out. She turned and saw him clapping enthusiastically. Izuku smiled at her with a warm smile that made her feel fuzzy inside. 

"That's amazing Uraraka. You'll do great!" He warmly stated. 

" AHA! There you are young Midoriya!" The voice of Toshi bellowed as he slid into the corridor. 

" Would you care to have lunch with me?" He asked, holding up a lunch pack in one hand. 

Uraraka fought back a giggle before leaning to Iida, "he's like a teenage girl!" 

"Uhh," Izuku looked to the other two, who gave him a nod. "Yeah sure." 

As the four split, Iida and Uraraka continued towards the lunch queue. "I wonder what's up with Mido?" 

"Well I heard that he led the charge against the villains, even helping All Might with that Noumu!" Iida explained, before guessing, "so it's likely to do with that." 

"Yeah!" Uraraka agreed, "and it's like Tsu said on the bus, that strength could be All Might's, so maybe he wants to do special training like Mido has with Recovery girl!" 

As the two continued to guess what it could be, a head of half red half white hair listened in on the two, his frown momentarily turning to a scowl.