Chapter 4: help
Isa Tsuneyo has had his fair share of problematic patients. It comes with the territory. People came to therapists like him to help them with problems in life. From stress, depression, regret, and bad choices in life. People come to him if they realise they need help to turn their lives around, and his current client is no different. Ok, there were some issues to start with, but over the past three months, he had seen some significant improvements from his young client.
"So, tell me again, the moment you believe everything started to go downhill for you?" Isa asked calmly.
His client sighed. "When I was four when my quirk first manifested," Katsuki Bakugo replied, laying back on the sofa as he examined his hands. "Everyone around me thought it was great, as did I. Even Izumi thought it was great. And yet, despite praising me, I treated her like shit".
"And why did you start bullying Izumi ?" Isa asked.
"It started after we went for a walk in a forest with some friends," Katsuki replied. "I fell off a fallen tree trunk into a shallow river below, and she came down and offered to help me. At the time, my young, idiotic mind thought she thought I was weak, so I lashed out at her. And I kept lashing out at her for the next ten fucking years. Calling her a quirkless Deku, beating her, using my quirk on her. Telling her to jump off a fucking building!" he shouted before he stood up and walked around the room. "I was allowed to get away with this shit. No one bothered to get in the way as they didn't want to get in the way of such a promising individual. So they let it continue and ignored it because, in their eyes, I could do no wrong and didn't care what happened to the one quirkless girl in school. For ten years, I bullied the first friend I ever made! All because I thought she looked down at me and for being quirkless! No one stopped me. No one took me to the side and told me what I was doing was wrong and unheroic. That I wasn't acting like a fucking hero despite drilling it into the heads of everyone around me that I was going to be the number one hero one day! Heroes don't just fight villains. They save people, too. I just never noticed it until now! I was always too focused on the fighting, watching heroes like All Might beat up villains, never noticing that they were saving people too. I wanted to be the number one hero, just like All Might, but All Might never went about telling quirkless children to jump off a fucking building! Someone should have known that what I was doing was unheroic, that I was acting more like a villain than a hero! But they didn't! And now I'm stuck in this bullshit situation after telling a girl to jump off a fucking building!".
"Yes, that's it. Let it all out!" Isa said calmly. The boy had a lot of pent-up frustration and anger, and let it out like this helped calm him down.
Katsuki sighed, breathing heavily as he sat back down. "I think I did," he said before he gave himself a few moments to cool down. "The teachers at Aldera Middle School should have known what I was doing was wrong, that I wasn't acting like the hero I so often said I would become. Their teachers, for fucks sake! They're supposed to look after the students under their care, not prioritise my future over that of a quirkless girl! I'm glad I won't have to deal with their bullshit anymore. Most of the staff were arrested for negligence".
"And how's Aldera been since Izumi left?" Isa asked. It was good that the kid was getting this off his chest. It's far too easy just to bottle up these emotions and let them fester for too long.
"Well, the new teachers are a lot more observant this time, actually calling me out for my shit," Katsuki replied as he lay on the sofa. "The students, not so much. They're all glad she's gone, but unfortunately, it's for all the wrong reasons. They're glad that the quirkless Deku is no longer around to mess up their progress. Some of them are even disappointed that she survived her suicide attempt. It's almost horrifying how much some of the students hate her. I'm glad none of them will be coming with me to UA next year. Or Shiketsu High if I fail to get into the former".
"Oh, that's a change from last time," Isa remarked. "Last time you said you were adamant about getting into UA".
"That was when we were starting. And this shit was still fresh," Katsuki said. "Now that I've had time to think about it, I realise that my chances to get into UA may be slim. Aldera is not a big school but is right on UA's doorstep. Word of what happened would have reached their ears. Plus, being a hero school, they're bound to do background checks on all of their students, and mine will have some massive red flags on it. So, I have a few backup options, just in case. If anything, I think I don't deserve to go to UA. They're the top hero school in the country, and I'm the most unheroic person imaginable," he said before he closed his eyes. "I'm just glad Izumi was transferred to a new school. But, I can't help but wish that it was done years ago".
"And why do you think that?" Isa asked.
"Because she should have stopped following me years ago, maybe even a decade," Katsuki replied. "Despite everything I did to her, she still thought I was her friend, even going as far as to try and rekindle our friendship. And yet, everywhere we went, I turned everyone against her because they all saw me as brilliant and did not want to get in my way. And when they saw me bully Izumi, they also turned on her. She asked me out once, on a date, of all things. My response to her asking me out was to blast her in the face with my quick and tell her to fuck off. I ruined any chance of her getting a boyfriend because, after that, everyone she asked out afterwards did the same thing. I don't understand why she kept trying or why she kept following me around".
"Do you think she kept following you because she admired you?" Isa asked.
"Probably," Katsuki replied with a frown. "She was the first person to say I had an awesome quirk, which was true. My quirk is awesome. Yet I kept treating her like shit and thinking she was useless. Did I ever say how smart she was? She was the biggest hero fan I ever knew. Whilst I was more interested in their fights, she would always be interested in their quirks. She had notebooks that she would write people's quirks, how they functioned, and how they could improve them. I never told her I got the idea to propel myself through the air with my explosions from her. She once made an offhand remark, and I rewarded her with a blast to the face telling her to shut up. I just wish I could go back in time and change how I treated her. Maybe then she wouldn't have jumped off a building. Looking back now, my reason for hating her was so bloody childish, and yet, I never tried to change".
Isa nodded. In his time as a therapist, he had seen plenty of people who regretted their life choices. Sadly most often, after their actions had caused someone else great pain and suffering. And for Katsuki, the ten years spent bullying one girl was starting to come back to haunt him.
The rest of the session continued as usual, with shouting and swearing. He had noticed that he'd been swearing a lot less since their first session, he did say he was attending anger management sessions as well, so it was good that he was receiving more than just therapy.
When their session ended, Katsuki walked out without a word. His mother, Mitsuki, was waiting outside in the waiting room, sitting a few chairs away from a guy with long hair and wearing sunglasses.
When Mitsuki saw her son leave the room, she stood and walked alongside him. Neither of them spoke on the way home. This was a difficult time for both of them. Inko was an old friend of Mitsuki, and it horrified her that Katsuki had been bullying Inko's daughter for so long without either of them knowing. Izumi was such a sweet girl, undeserving of such treatment. And yet, her son tormented her for ten years without her ever knowing.
Katsuki, meanwhile, was going through hell. Izumi's attempt at suicide had hit him hard. At first, he thought it was a lie she came up with to get attention whilst the 'heroes', who, if we're being honest, had no right to call themselves that since they were just standing around doing nothing whilst he suffocated, told her off. But when police started investigating Aldera and arrested several of its staff for negligence, Izumi's transfer to a new school, and the massive news report about the incident, it started to look a lot more real. And it horrified him. He meant it as a joke when he commented about jumping off of a building. Although, he was starting to think that he didn't.
It was shocking that he wasn't arrested too. He was the one who told her to jump, after all. Instead, he ended up in therapy and anger management sessions, something he was initially against but was now glad he was taking. Because now he had a chance of salvaging his dream of becoming a hero, just not the one he wanted to become.
The number one spot would be forever out of his reach, but that felt good to him now. The old him wouldn't have agreed, but the old him didn't have to deal with the trauma caused by being directly involved in a girl's suicide attempt. He could not become just like All Might, let alone surpass him. He was too violent, too selfish. Everything he had done was the further his own goals, not anyone else's. Heroes are supposed to fight villains and help people; the old him wouldn't have done that. He wouldn't have done that at all.
If he wanted to become a hero, then he needed to change. Not drastically that he became a different person, just enough so that he stops calling people extras. This mess would also leave a very dark mark on his record, plus with all his wrongdoings now on his records because his old teachers kept them off it for some stupid reason, no hero school would accept him now unless he changed and improved. Nobody wants a hero who discriminates against quirkless people.
There was another thing that was bothering him. Izumi. He needed to apologise to her, but he lacked the courage to do so. The last time he saw her was during that sludge villain incident. She looked broken, barely holding herself together. The 'heroes' should have been able to see her state, and yet, they pushed her too far. He didn't know how she would react to seeing him again, especially since the last thing he had said to her was to jump off a building. He decided to keep his distance from her until things for them calmed down. Then, he'll think about apologising to her.
He just hoped that, wherever she was now, life was moving a lot smoother for her.
Meanwhile.
Izumi collapsed face-first onto her bed, tired and worn out. She had finished combat training with Sir Nighteye for today, and she was exhausted. It was a good thing she wasn't clearing the beach today, as she didn't have the strength to move anything right now.
"Who knew training to fight could be so hard," Izumi remarked, head buried into her pillow. "I know I'm going to have to learn how to fight at some point, but it's not easy".
"Fighting never is," Durandal said, lying beside her bed. "It takes years and years of training to get good at it, and you always have to keep training, lest your skills degrade. It's easier for a machine, as you can just program us, still doesn't mean we can master it easier than you can. Besides, at least you are getting trained to fight before entering UA. It'll give you a slight advantage over the other students".
Izumi nodded. At least now she could do more than just punch the problem. Nighteye said that she still had a lot of work, but at least she'll have the basics down by the time she applies to UA.
Speaking of work, Nighteye had given her a few things to do to help improve her analytical skills. Mock CCTV videos for analyst training to watch that required her to write down as much as she could about their quirk, how they were using it, and anything else that was out of the ordinary. Of course, the videos were fake, with the criminal caught on camera being an actor. They were for training purposes.
Well, that's what she thought anyway. Last week he had given her an unassuming video of someone with what she was told was a telekinesis-like quirk. But, after observing the video, she realised that was not the case, and in fact, the guy had a magnetism quirk that allowed him to control magnetic objects. She didn't think much of it when she returned the completed work to him. But when a report in the news about Sir Nighteye taking down a thief who could control magnetic objects, she got suspicious. One call later revealed that, yes, Sir Nighteye had sent her footage from an actual investigation he was doing.
As expected, Izumi was over the moon that she was able to help out Sir Nighteye with one of his investigations. Inko, on the other hand, was a little cross that the man had done without any warning or permission but was placated a bit due to him having nothing but praise for her. Izumi's analysis of the thief's quirk made catching him much easier. But he did say that he would ask permission first the next time he wants to ask her for help like this. Which had nothing to do with her slowly bringing one of his Hyper-Density Seals towards her with her quirk and saying, "That could easily be something else".
Izumi had no idea why, after her mother said that, Sir Nighteye crossed his legs. She suspected her mother had threatened to do something to him, but she wasn't sure what.
She wasn't the only one who was improving. Hitoshi and Neito were also training as well. They were mainly getting stronger, though, as there wasn't much they could do to improve their quirks right now, not without getting into trouble. But they could do some light experimentation. Neito had found out how long he could copy someone's quirk from a loose piece of hair about a week before he could no longer copy their quirk from it. Whilst it was a good amount of time, getting people to give him a strand of their hair would be difficult at times, especially if they didn't have hair. Plus, he was still limited to three quirks at a time. Another problem would be identifying the hair's origin and how easy it was to lose it. Might need to come up with something to put them in for his hero costume.
Hitoshi was more focused on physical training, as, unlike Neito, his quirk wouldn't be useful during the practical part of the exam. Izumi allowed him to practice using his quirk on her to get some practice using it. If felt strange, she didn't know she was under his control until after he broke his control over her. The first time he used it on her, she didn't think he had used it until she noticed she wasn't standing where she was previously. It was slightly horrifying but also rather impressive. They also discovered a few weaknesses. Whilst the target couldn't escape from his mind control, it was remarkably easy for others to break his control. Something as simple as a rough nudge on the shoulder of the target was enough to break Hitoshi's control over them. Not something to worry about in a one-on-one fight, but against several people, it wouldn't be much good at stopping them. Messing up their communications and making them mistrust their comrade's voices, on the other hand, can seriously affect their cohesion and make taking them down easier.
But, even with all the work they've put in now, they still had a long way to go before the UA entrance exam, and a lot can happen in the time between. So they had to keep training to be ready for the exam.
Anyway, back to her work. Once she had recovered enough from the workout, she got off her bed, sat at her desk, opened her laptop and went to work. She watched Sir Nighteye's video and noted what she observed. It was a simple robbery. The thief turned his finger into a key, letting him walk in and ransack the place. Yet the most interesting thing was that the alarm never went off, not even when one of the displays was smashed open. Something smelt fishy about this.
"This is starting to look more like an inside job," Izumi remarked, noting her observations. "Probably an attempt at insurance fraud by the owner. There are a lot of valuables in there, after all".
Durandal nodded, not speaking, knowing this was a test for Izumi. He could see it was insurance fraud, but this wasn't a test for him. You can't learn anything if you had a robot answering all of the questions for you after all. In fact, it would be detrimental to her.
Once Izumi was done examining the video, she sent it off to Sir Nighteye before doing a little investigation of her own. She opened up YouTube and looked up a video of one of All Might's fights, specificity, his only fight against Doctor Paxton. Well, calling that a fight would be an understatement. It was more like an embarrassing string of Paxton sending a powerful robot to fight All Might, only for All Might to smash it up in one punch. It was hilarious how annoyed the man was getting. Sadly, All Might could not catch him there and then, as the last machine Paxton sent against All Might was a lot tougher and much harder to destroy, giving the madman his chance to escape.
"Why are you studying my creator?" Durandal asked, "You've been looking up a lot of stuff about him recently. Why?".
"Because I want to learn more about you, but as you said, you don't know much about the body your inhabiting," Izumi replied as she watched All Might effortlessly smash a robot into pieces. "If I watch what his other robots can do, it might give us more of an idea of what you are capable of".
Durandal looked at the video Izumi was watching before looking back at her. "I see your point. This body didn't exactly come with an instruction manual," he remarked before he looked back at the video. "Plus, it feels good to see the bald fuck getting his shit kicked in.
Izumi nodded, continuing to watch the video. Paxton was a tall and thin man with long limbs and fingers. He lacked hair of any kind on his face, even eyebrows. His eyes were covered by goggles with camera lenses on them. He looked plain, but more often or not, the plain ones are the deadly ones. He also spoke with a British accent.
The madman wasn't standing, he was sitting in a small one-man fighter with VTOL functions, floating in the middle of a street, surrounded by his machines, most of which had been reduced to scrap metal. All Might standing several meters away, with even more destroyed robots around him. Some of Paxton's best if his rather annoyed ranting was anything to go by.
All Might made dealing with Paxton look easy. Like the Symbol of Peace could have dealt with him there and then. If it wasn't for Paxton's All Might Buster, then his rain of terror would have ended there and then.
Unfortunately, this was just a one-off. Every other battle Paxton was directly involved in ended in either his victory or a minor defeat. The man was a genius in more than robotics. He knew how to fight battles and win them.
He also knew how to break people. Not physically, but mentally. It was no secret that he was a great therapist, but his training also helped him break people. He knew what to say to cause someone to fold in on themselves, how to say it, and when to say it. He has faced hundreds of heroes and mentally broke the ones he didn't kill. So many heroes from across the globe. Mantis, Earl Grey, Liberty, Endeavor, Medved, and many others. Whilst some like Endeavor were able to recover and return to hero work, others like Earl Grey weren't so lucky, quilting the hero job even after their recovery.
Some just never recovered.
She knew how dangerous Paxton was. Everyone did. But only after she started researching the man did she realise the true extent of the damage he had done. Over five thousand heroes either dead or broken by him across the globe. Thousands died, several nations were crippled, economies ruined, and cities ruined. He brought war to the entire world, which no one prepared for. It was shocking how much damage one man could cause, how vast his empire was, and how many of his more dangerous subordinates were still unaccounted for.
Many people who worked for him were arrested after he died, with more being found as time passed. They were still uncovering his bases and minions to this day, but his more dangerous minions and machines were still out there. Argonaut, Mechanist, BNK3R, STEALTH, The Therapist, ARK, and many others who are still out there. Nobody knew where they were, but it was frightening to know that such dangerous individuals were still at large.
Hell, The Band, a group of robots that played boss music for him, were still at large. The man had a massive fucking ego and liked music playing in the background while fighting. And whilst she had to admit that the man had good taste in music, the fact he was playing it whilst his forces were killing people didn't make it any better. Although, did he need a bunch of robots to play the music live and not play it over a loudspeaker?
Anyway, Paxton was dangerous, and so were his machines. His robots were all built for war and were highly versatile. It was quite easy for them to be reconfigured to perform various duties. But since Durandal was a more high-end robot, he would be different. So she focused on Paxton's more advanced machines, mainly those with positronic brains. But that turned out to be more difficult. She couldn't find anything on them besides their names and the fact they had positronic brains. She couldn't even find a video of them in action. Not even the more commonly known ones had anything on them.
"This reeks of a cover-up," Durandal remarked as Izumi closed another empty web page that just had a blurry image of the robot in question, its name, and confirmation that it had a positronic brain. "Someone doesn't want the world to know what his high-end machines were capable of. Can't blame them. Some of them were downright terrifying, like his All Might Buster. He made that thing to kill All Might, it failed, yes, but as you saw, it gave All Might a lot of trouble before he was able to destroy it".
"You think someone's trying to prevent people from replicating them?" Izumi asked.
"Probably. They were his most dangerous machines, after all," Durandal replied. "Or it's one of his minions doing it, keeping their long-dead master's secrets hidden from the general public. Besides, all his robots, except the larger ones, were bipedal. He didn't have many quadrupedal ones. So chances are we're not going to learn much about what I can do from them".
Izumi sighed. "So you are telling me that I spent the last hour looking up his robots for nothing?".
"Well, when you put it like that, then yeah, you kind of did," Durandal replied. "At least it wasn't all for nothing. You found that compilation of him getting punched in the face and running away in his underpants to the Benny Hill theme. That was funny. For the man who caused so much chaos and killed so many, he got into a lot of embarrassing and hilarious situations".
Izumi nodded with a smirk. For such an evil man, he had an embarrassing amount of hilarious fuck ups that would have made him a laughing stock if it wasn't for all of the destruction and death he caused.
Well, it wasn't all for nothing. They had found something about him by complete accident too. The loyalty program and biometric lock can be, in a way, fooled. For some reason, Durandal obeys Inko's orders without hesitation or reluctance. At first, all three of them were confused, as Paxton's biometric lock is supposed to only work for the person it's locked to. After a little testing, they found out why he was just as obedient towards Inko as he was to Izumi. She was her mother. They were related very closely, with very smiler genetics. Because of their biological relationship, the biometric lock is fooled into thinking that the order is coming from Izumi when it's really coming from Inko. Durandal theorised that Paxton never found this out because he had no family, so this weakness was overlooked. Not something that could be abused as he had no children, but it was something.
There was then a knock on the door "Izumi!" her mother called from the other side. "It's almost time!".
A massive smile formed on Izumi's face as she turned towards the door. "Coming!" she said loudly before she turned off her computer and rushed towards the door. Durandal followed close behind as she left her room and followed her mother towards the living room. The two sat on the sofa opposite the TV while Durandal sat on the floor in front of them. Inko got out the remote and turned on the TV, but she didn't switch the TV channel. Instead, she brought up a video-telephony service they had, one capable of handling calls between the Earth and the Moon.
Inko quickly imputed a code to a meeting room and waited. The main screen was black save for a small rectangle at the bottom of the screen that showed them the view of the webcam positioned on top of the TV.
The two waited patiently for a few moments before the black screen changed to show a man with short fluffy red hair with freckles on his face, wearing a black shirt and sitting at a desk. A note at the top left-hand side of the screen also said, 'Time Delay: 2.5 seconds'.
The man smiled as he saw them. "Izumi, Inko! How're my two favourite girls doing?".
Inko smiled. "We're doing fine, dear," she said as Izumi beamed, smiling so brightly that she could have flash-banged someone with it. "How are you doing yourself, Hisashi?".
The man smiled. "I'm doing fine. We're heading back to the plant, so I have some time off until we reach it," Hisashi Midoriya replied. "Been a very productive month for us, and busy".
"Well, it's good to hear you're doing fine," Inko said, glad her husband was doing fine.
Hisashi Midoriya had always wanted to go to the moon, even when he was young. So, when the moon colony project started, he signed on to help with the Helium Three mining. Although he didn't expect to be one of the few to be selected to go up there. It was his dream come true. Unfortunately, by the time confirmation came through, he was selected, he had gotten married and had a child, and sadly, he couldn't bring them to the moon with him. It did not help that his daughter dreamed of becoming a hero, and she could not achieve that on the moon. So, after a long family discussion, Inko and Izumi told him to accept, as it was his dream to go to the moon, on one condition, made by a three-year-old Izumi. Whilst he's up there, he buys any exclusive hero merch that's sold up there for her. Something he agreed to in an instant. Izumi was his darling little girl, and he wanted to do every he could to help her achieve her dream of becoming a hero, supporting his wife and daughter despite being so far away from them.
Durandal had also remarked that had Izumi been born a boy, she would have looked a lot like his father.
Hisashi nodded before he turned towards his daughter. "Izumi, how're things going down on your end?" he asked whilst he maintained his smile. There was a hint of worry in his voice. It may have been three months since she tried to end her life, but he still worried about her. He so desperately wanted to visit and be with them during this trying time, but sadly he couldn't afford to go home, as return trips to the Earth and back aren't cheap. He didn't have enough holiday time to cover the trip and the time to spend with his family. So the best he could do was send a little more their way to help.
"I've been well," Izumi said with a smile. She always enjoyed speaking to her father. The man understood what it felt like to be told repeatedly to give up on your dream. But he had always been a source of inspection, as, despite all the odds, he archived his dream and went to the moon. It was one of the things that helped keep her going for all these years. "Isa said that I've improved greatly since our first session but still have a long way to go," she said, frowning slightly, wishing her father could be here in person. "But I am making progress. Hopefully, I'll be better by the time I apply to UA. I've been training a lot, too".
"That's good to hear," Hisashi said with a smile, glad his daughter was recovering. He was horrified when he found out what had happened to her and how the school she attended did nothing to help or stop the bullying. A part of him wished that he never went to the moon. That way, he would have been down there to help her, which might have hurt her drive to become a hero. "Remember, don't be disheartened if you don't manage to get into the hero course on day one. You still have the UA sports festival to prove your worth as a hero".
Izumi nodded franticly with a smile on her face. Not a year went by that she didn't watch the UA sports festival, as it was an opportunity for the students there to show off their quirks. Another reason for holding the sports festival so early into the year was to give students who didn't do well during the entrance exam but still want to become heroes a chance to get onto the hero course. Many useful quirks aren't useful in fighting robots, so they often fail to get in. The festival gives them another chance at that. Even if she failed, then she would still have another chance. It was the same story for almost every top hero school in the world, the Millennium Academy in Germany, Guardian High School in Russia, Great Britain's prestigious Hellsing High School, and The Avengers Academy in America, just to name a few. And yes, she also watched their sports festivals to see their student's quirks in action.
"Don't worry. I'm aware it is possible and am prepared for it," Izumi said. "But I have Durandal with me as well, so I should be fine!" she said as her robot companion raised his head.
"That's the spirit!" Hisashi said with a smile, "And how's your friend Durandal doing? Still keeping an eye on you?".
"I've still been making sure she's safe if that's what you're worried about," Durandal replied. He didn't say much during these meetings, preferring to speak only if Hisashi talked directly or if the conversation involved him. "Apart from a few places, I haven't left her side," those places being the girls changing room and toilets. The other girls didn't like having him come in with her and kept telling her to leave him outside, and since she didn't want to make any enemies, she complied without a word.
"Well, I'm glad you're looking after my baby girl. She needs all the help she can get right now," Hisashi said as his smile faded slightly. "I don't know what I would do if I lost either of you two".
Inko nodded. She knew just how much her husband loved them, and whilst it was heartbreaking that he couldn't be there for them, he was doing his best to help his daughter during these trying times.
"Oh yes, Father, that package you sent us arrived yesterday," Izumi said with a smile, brightening the mood.
"Finally," Hisashi said, sounding relieved. He'd been waiting for that to arrive for over two months now. "I was wondering when it would reach you. Did you enjoy the gifts I sent you two?".
"We did," Izumi said as she and Inko nodded. Hisashi had sent Izumi a lot of hero merch exclusively sold on the moon, including a limited edition of All Might in his fictitious Luna costume. A 'what if' costume that was designed just in case All Might needed to go to the moon. Inko meanwhile got, among a few other things, a new sewing machine since the old one broke and she wanted to get back into sewing, also some fabric to practice with.
"That's good to hear," Hisashi said with a smile. "Glad to see you two like the gifts. I wish I could do more, but I'm still stuck up here. Don't worry, I will be with you sometime next year. Just stay strong for me, Izumi. We'll get through this together".
Izumi smiled. "Thank you, Father," she beamed, happy tears falling from her eyes. Despite being so far away, Hisashi has been the most supportive of her, doing everything he could to help her. "I love you".
"I love you too. Both of you," Hisashi said with a smile before he looked to the left quickly. "And that's all the time I have available, sadly," he said, looking back towards them. "I'll talk to you girls next week," he said before waving them goodbye, Inko and Izumi doing the same before he ended the call.
Izumi waited a few moments before she put an arm around her mother and hugged her closely whilst petting Durandal. Seeing her father always put a smile on the young girl's face. Even though he was hundreds of thousands of miles away, the man still cared deeply for his family. And next year, he was coming home.
'Just you wait father' Izumi thought with a smile 'I will make you proud'.
Chapter 5: One for All
Ten months, ten long months since Izumi had accepted to take One for All and started her training. Working hard to clear Takoba Municipal Beach Park and learning how to fight from Sir Nighteye, all under the watchful and terrifying eye of her mother, Inko.
Izumi had been making great progress towards making herself ready to receive One for All, removing the trash from the beach. There were a few hiccups along the way, times when she overexerted herself and collapsed, not helped by her exercising when she wasn't supposed to. Inko had stopped her from most of her unauthorised exercise sessions, but she couldn't stop all of them. She was determined, yes, just a bit too determined.
Her combat training was going well, too, Sir Nighteye had taught her the basics, but he had a few issues with her fighting style. Mainly the fact she was mimicking All Might far too much. While he was impressed that she could replicate his fighting style, it not only didn't suit her but also made it look like she was trying to imitate All Might. So he taught her something more suitable: to incorporate kicks into her combat style. She still had a way to go before she could truly develop her style, but at least now she didn't look like she was imitating All Might.
On the morning of the UA entrance exam, All Might and Sir Nighteye were heading towards Takoba Municipal Beach. Izumi has long since learned their real names. The two wore casual winter clothing as they walked down the path towards the beach.
"You're sure it's ok to give it to her on the day of the exam?" Mirai asked as they walked. "Doesn't give her much time to practice using it".
"I need to make sure she's strong enough to handle it," Toshinori replied in his deflated form. "Her limbs would explode if she's not strong enough, so I don't want to take any chances with this. I'm sorry, but I've caused too much harm to her already".
Mirai frowned before he fixed his glasses. "Well, she'll have enough time to absorb it properly by the time of the exam. But if she uses it without knowing how to handle it, she could break every bone in her body. You'll have to give her some very good advice on how to handle it".
Toshinori nodded. The last thing he wanted was for his successor to break every bone in her body on day one. Recovery Girl would be pissed.
Suddenly, the two heard a loud cry. Recognising it was a human making the noise, the two rushed towards the source, which was the beach.
They soon reached the beach and were shocked by what they saw. Izumi was standing atop a small pile of trash that was not on the beach, letting out a loud scream. She had removed her shirt but was wearing a tank top underneath it. Before her was Takoba Municipal Beach, completely clear of trash and junk. And not just the section she was told to clear, but the entire beach. Inko and Durandal were also standing beside the last pile of trash.
"Holy cow!" Mirai remarked, shocked by how clean the beach was.
"She cleaned the entire beach, even the parts I didn't tell her to clear," Toshinori remarked, shocked that she was able to do all this by herself. "She even cleared the remains of the ship," he added. "Holy...stinking...SUPERCRAP!".
"Young Izumi!" Toshinori said in his muscular form.
Izumi panted as she looked down at Toshinori. Smiling, she climbed down from the pile and walked up to him. "I did it!".
"Indeed you did!" Toshinori replied with a large smile. "You've done what I asked for and more! You've cleared the entire beach! Well done!" he said as Izumi beamed at the praise. He then got out his phone and showed her a photo of Izumi from ten months ago. "Here, look at this! This was you ten months ago! Not the strongest-looking person in the world, but look at you now!".
Izumi looked surprised before she looked to the left, seeing her mother holding a mirror for her. The difference was like night and day. Her skinny body was gone, replaced by one with more muscle mass. Toshinori also noticed that Inko had also lost some weight, not a lot, but it was obvious that she had been exercising as well.
"Quite the difference, you see!" Toshinori said, "You've improved quite a lot since we first met! Enough to be able to inherit One for All!".
Izumi smiled at the news. Finally, it was time. Ten months of hard work were finally about to pay off. She would finally get a quirk. To have to power to become a hero. Inko and Durandal walked beside her, all three waiting in anticipation for Toshinori to pass on his quirk.
With his signature smile, Toshinori plucked a single strand of hair from his head and held it out in front of him. "Eat this!".
Any anticipation and awe the three had for this moment was insistently lost, replaced by a mix of shock, surprise and disgust. "This is how One for All is passed on? By eating a piece of hair!?" Durandal exclaimed, stating what was on Izumi's and Inko's minds.
"My daughter has to eat your hair!!!" Inko said, sounding horrified.
"It's the only way to transfer One for All," Mirai said calmly, calming the two women down. "One for All can only be passed on by ingesting the DNA of the previous wielder and if it's done so willingly. You can't just eat a piece of his hair and expect to receive it. He has to willingly give to you as well".
"So, this is the only way then," Izumi said, looking back towards the strand of hair. It made some sense for it to work like that, as it prevents it from being transferred by accident or to someone who randomly eats his hair. With a sigh, she ate the strand of hair, which instantly became the most disgusting thing she had ever eaten. "So, how long till I start feeling its effects?".
"It'll take a while for you to digest the hair fully, but once it's done, you should be able to access the power stored in One for All," Toshinori replied.
"And what about advice on how to use it during the entrance exam?" Izumi asked.
"Simple! Clench your butt-cheeks super tight and scream smash from the bottom of your heart!!!" Toshinori replied with a smile.
"That's it!" Inko said, sounding annoyed. "That's all the advice you can give her? What about power control? How is she supposed to know how much she can safely use without breaking herself? You told me you'd teach her how to use it safely! How is this supposed to help her?".
Toshinori took a step back in fear. "I'm sorry, but, to be frank, when I first received One for All, I could use it at full power! Although, in my case, I was a lot bigger than Izumi at the time! But I'm sur-" and was promptly cut off by someone coming out of nowhere and kicking Toshinori square in the face, sending him flying onto his back and making him change into his deflated state.
The new arrival landed on the floor, allowing Izumi to get a better look at them. Toshinori attacker was a short, old man with a beard wearing a white and yellow hero costume with a cape. Yet she had no idea who this man was. Whoever he was, he probably knew All Might, if the look of abstract terror on Sir Nighteye's face was anything to go by.
"Really Toshinori, that's the best advice you can give your successor," the old man said as Toshinori sat up and looked at the man, looking downright terrified. "And here I thought all those lessons I beat into you stuck".
Neither Toshinori nor Mirai spoke, as both men looked too frightened to speak. And since neither of them was willing to say anything, Izumi decided to speak up. "And, who are you?".
The old man turned around to face her. "You can call me Gran Torino. I'm Toshinori's old home-room teacher".
"All Might's, home-room, teacher?" Izumi said, sounding confused as she processed what she was just told. After a bit, a smile formed on her face "All Might's home-room teacher!!! You taught All Might!? Why am I only finding out about this now!?".
While Izumi looked like someone who had just won the lottery, Toshinori and Mirai looked like they were regretting their life choices "Mirai, why is he here?" Toshinori asked.
"I'm here because I knew you'd mess up your successor's training, just like you messed up your first meeting with her," Gran Torino replied as he turned to face him. "I may be retired, but I pay attention to the news, especially about you, Toshinori. And whilst I admit that you two did a good job preparing her to receive One for All, your explanation on how to use it leaves much to be desired," he said, causing Toshinori to gulp.
"Finally, someone who agrees with me," Inko said with a smile. "You wouldn't have any advice for my daughter that is better than 'clench your butt-cheeks and scream'?".
"Let's not jump to conclusions just yet," Gran Torino replied. "Mirai here has yet to contribute yet," he said before turning towards Mirai, who looked terrified. With good reason.
"Well, I was about to suggest she think of One for All like a reservoir held back by a dam. Only letting out small amounts of it at a time," Mirai replied nervously, sounding like he was trying to avoid sharing the same fate at Toshinori. "As well as having it flow over her entire body so that it's not concentrated in one location".
Gran Torino looked at Mirai with an unimpressed look before he shrugged. "Eh, better than Toshinori's advice," he said before he turned towards Izumi. "Did you get that all, kid?".
Izumi nodded, having written all that info down into one of her notebooks. As well as a few things she could observe about Gran Torino. For an old man, he was fast, and by the looks of things, both Toshinori and Mirai feared him. She also noticed that jets of air shot out of his boots after he hit Toshinori, so it was probably his quirk. Such an ability would give him incredible speed and kicking power and the ability to fly short distances. The air probably came from his lungs, so he'd be limited by-.
"Hay, kid. I know you may be interested in my quirk, but don't you have more important things to worry about?" Gran Torino asked.
Izumi froze before she looked up at him, realising that she had been muttering again, "Sorry".
"Don't worry about it. We all have our hobbies," Gran Torino said, "Just remember, you've accepted a great responsibility by accepting One for All. Don't abuse it or use it as an excuse to punch the largest thing you see. Right Toshinori?".
Toshinori sighed. "I'm never going to live that down, aren't I?".
Gran Torino smirked before turning back to Izumi. "You three should be heading off now. All this training would be for nothing if you miss the entrance exam".
"Right!" Izumi said with a nod. "Thank you, sir," she said with a bow before she was about to walk off. "Oh wait, before I forgot!" she said before she rushed over to her bag and got some pieces of paper. She sorted them out before rushing over to Mirai. "These are for you. They're about that man who appearers to be able to drive people insane. Should help you catch the guy".
Mirai could get over his fear of Gran Torino for long enough to take the pages from her and look at them. "Ah, thank you. Just in time, too. We were planning to apprehend him today. This should make the arrest easier".
"You're welcome," Izumi said with a bright smile. "I'll see you two after the exam!" she said as she rushed back to her bag and shirt, picked them up and rejoined Inko and Durandal, and the three walked off.
Toshinori smiled as he watched Izumi walk away, ready to face the UA entrance exam. He was so proud of her. To have come so far under such circumstances was quite impressive. It reminded him an awful lot of his own training, and despite fucking it all up at the start, he was able to help her get through it. Nana would have liked her.
His thought processes were interrupted by a large book whacking him on the head. "I'm not done with you yet, Toshinori," Gran Torino said, holding said book. "I have one more lesson for you," he said as he showed him the book and smiled as a look of horror appeared on Toshinori's face. "I'm going to teach you how to be a teacher!".
Later that day.
Izumi stood in awe as she stood at the entrance gate of UA. She never thought this day would come when she could walk the halls of UA. To have a chance to attend this most prestigious school. It was a dream come true. She had already contacted Hitoshi and Neito and wished them both luck. She wondered if she could see them here, but that was unlikely with the thousands of other students here. Hopefully, their training would help them, especially Hitoshi.
"Hay, Izumi," Durandal said, standing beside her. "You aren't going to pass the exam standing around".
Izumi looked down at her mechanical companion and nodded. "Right, let's go!" she said before walking towards UA's entrance, joining hundreds of other students as they approached the school. This was the best day of her life, and nothing could bring it down. Well, save for one thing.
Someone bumped into Izumi's shoulder. It was only a light bump, but it was noticeable. She turned towards the person who had just bumped into her and froze, noticing the familiar glare staring back at her. "Katsuki," she shivered as Katsuki walked past her, glaring at her for a few seconds before looking ahead of him and walking off towards the entrance.
Izumi froze as she watched him walk away, as memories of the past ten years flooded back to her. Of course, he was here, he wanted to become a hero just as much as she did, and he made it no secret that he would apply here. Izumi had been hoping that she could avoid him here, but it appeared that fate had other ideas.
"Izumi!" Durandal said, bringing her back to reality. "I'm going to guess that was Katsuki Bakugo, the boy who bullied you for ten years?" he asked. Izumi nodded, not wanting to go over this right now. She thought she was over this, that thanks to all the therapy, she wouldn't act this way when she saw him again.
"Hay, you're going to be fine," Durandal said. "You're just suffering from slight shock from seeing him again. You haven't seen him for ten months, after all. It shouldn't happen again," he said as calmly as he could.
"Ok," Izumi said, a sense of calm flowing over her. Thanks to Durandal's emotional support programs, he always knew what to say to help her. She looked up towards UA and smiled. "Alright, UA, here I co-," she said as she walked forward and tripped.
She silently apologised to All Might, Sir Nighteye, and her mother for failing them and making a fool of herself. Freezing up as the ground came closer and closer, only to notice that it wasn't coming any closer. She quickly realised that she had stopped falling mid-fall, but why? Whatever it was, she felt weightless.
"Are you ok?" a cheerful female voice asked to the side of her as she suddenly found herself standing upright. "I stopped you with my Quirk. I'm sorry I didn't ask first, but… I figured you wouldn't mind me catching you".
Izumi turned her head towards the voice's source and saw a cute brunette girl with pink cheeks standing beside her. She had a friendly smile on her face. She blushed slightly as she looked at her. "Ur, thank you, for, that," she said nervously.
"You're welcome," the girl said as she placed her hands together, and Izumi suddenly felt her weight return to her. Izumi couldn't help but notice the pads on the girl's hands. "This is all nerve-wracking, isn't it? Well, I guess I'll see you inside. Bye!" she said, giving her a friendly wave before heading towards the school.
Izumi watched the girl walk away, the blush still on her face. "I finally talked to a girl!".
"Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean, I finally talked to a girl? You are a girl!" Durandal asked, sounding confused.
"I know that, but," Izumi said as her blush got slightly brighter "Apart from my mother, I've never spoken to another girl before".
"What!" Durandal said, sounding surprised. "But, you've changed with other girls before. Surely you spoke with them?".
Izumi shook her head. "No, I just got changed quietly. I've only ever spoken to boys".
"Wait. Are you telling me you've never spoken to a member of the same sex? Holy crap! What the hell did Katsuki do to you?!".
"I... Asked him out," Izumi replied quietly.
"Oh," Durandal said, realising exactly what had happened. "And he didn't take it too well, didn't he?" he asked, getting a nod from Izumi. "And he wasn't the only one. And they all responded the same way. Shit. Why didn't you bring this up with Isa? He could have helped you with this".
"I'm sorry. I just, didn't want to bring it up," Izumi said, sounding ashamed. "It's just that, I-, I was scared of where that conversation would lead".
Durandal looked at her with red eyes. If he could, he would have had a concerned look on his face. Thanks to his advanced processors, he was quickly able to deduce what she was worried about. She was Bi, and after being rejected by so many boys, she was afraid of the same thing happening to any girls she was interested in, so she kept her distance and never told anyone about it, not even her parents. "Hay, Izumi. I know you're worried about this, but it's fine. I'm sure that your parents will accept whatever sexual orientation you may have. But you can worry about it later. Right now, you have a written and practical exam to pass. So, let's focus on getting you into UA and on course to become a hero!".
Izumi looked at Durandal and nodded. She spent the past ten months training for this day, and she could ill afford to waste it worrying about her sexual orientation. Even if it worried her, it was something she could deal with later. Right now, she wasn't going to put all that hard effort to waste. She had an exam to pass and was going to give it her all.
She rushed towards the school and made her way towards the examination room, Durandal beside her.
Some more time later
The exam went well, as far as Izumi could tell. Durandal wasn't allowed near her whilst she was taking the exam, but thanks to being registered as an emotional support animal, he was allowed to wait close by, just to keep an eye on her.
After the exam, they had a half-hour break for lunch before the briefing for the practical part of the exam. Since she had a big breakfast (which included a strand of All Might's hair), Izumi only had a small lunch. She had a good reason to, she needed to see if she could use One for All before the practical exam. Thankfully, Durandal had something to help with that.
"You sure this will work?" Izumi asked as the two found a secluded spot and sat down.
"I'm sure," Durandal replied. "When in armoured wolf mode, I can monitor your vitals. It's possible that I can use that function to monitor your activation of One for All. But you have to be wearing me first. Time is of the essence, so we don't have time to remove your skirt".
"Right," Izumi said with a nod. She hadn't used Durandal's armoured wolf form much, only a few times to show to her mother, All Might and Sir Nighteye. She never actually practised fighting in that mode. Well, at least she wouldn't have to fight in it. "Activate Armoured Wolf mode," she said after tying her fluffy hair into a ponytail.
Durandal complied as he got up, splinting open and reconnoitring himself so that he could form a suit of armour around her, her hair poking out of the back. "Alright, I'm monitoring your vitals-, holy cow".
"What is it?" Izumi asked, sounding concerned.
"Er, well, I can tell you have a quirk now. As well as see just how much power is stored inside of it," Durandal replied, and a display appeared on her HUD. "Good lord. I can see why All Might wanted you to bulk up, there is a lot of energy stored inside One for All. Jesus, it's like you've got a fusion reactor inside of you. I am glad One for All is a stockpile quirk. I dread to think what Paxton would have done with this much power".
Izumi nodded nervously, sharing Durandal's dread. "Well, at least he can't get his hands on it anymore. So, now that we know how much power I have, how do I access it? Sir Nighteye only told me how to portion off a small amount of it, not how to use it in the first place".
"Well, all I can do is suggest that you breathe, loosen up a bit, and try and call upon One for All," Durandal said calmly. "I'll be monitoring you to see if anything happens, so I'll notify you if anything happens".
"Ok," Izumi said before she closed her eyes and breathed, calming her mind as she tried to call upon One for All. Not easy when you've never had a quirk before, but it was better to try and activate it now and find out how much you could use now, then later during the exam itself.
Her eyes suddenly shot open as she felt something pulse across her body. "Wow! Well, that happened!" Durandal remarked, sounding surprised.
"I take it I just activated One for All?" Izumi asked.
"By the looks of it, yes," Durandal replied. "Try doing it again".
With a nod, Izumi tried to recreate the pules, succeeding several times before holding it. She could feel the power contained within One for All, like a great ocean filled with power. She felt that she could drown in it, succumbing to its power and breaking herself with it if she wasn't careful. She could see why Sir Nighteye recommended she think of it like a dam, holding the energy back and letting only a small amount out. If she flooded her body with that much power, she risked killing herself with it.
She closed her eyes and imagined a great dam holding back the energy held within One for All. She then imagined lowering the floodgates just enough for one percent of One for All to pass through. With that one percent, she imagined it coursing through her body.
"Izumi, I don't wish to worry you, but there's currently green lightning arcing around your body, and your veins are glowing red," Durandal remarked, sounding worried.
Izumi quickly opened her eyes and looked at her body. There was indeed green lightning arcing around her body, but thanks to wearing Durandal, she couldn't see her skin. Durandal realised this and brought up another screen on her HUD, showing a reflection of her face, seeing a glowing red X on her face. It was the same all across her body. "This must be One for All! It's functioning differently than it did for All Might, but I guess it operates differently depending on the user".
"Looks like it," Durandal observed. "Try and see if you can move. It'll be pointless if you can move with it active,".
Izumi nodded before she moved her arms and legs, walking around for a bit. She felt fine. "Ok, I can move. Good. Now let's try-" she said before she was cut off by a voice over the intercom asking for all exam attendees to head to the lecture hall. "Oh no, I lost track of time! Deactivate armoured wolf mode!".
Durandal complied as his armoured form detached from her body and reformed into his wolf form. "Looks like you'll be stuck with one percent during the exam," he remarked as the two started to make their way towards the lecture hall. "Don't worry, now you can control it. We can find out your limits later. One percent should be enough to get by for now".
"I hope so," Izumi said calmly. Even if she could only use one percent, it was still better than nothing. She smiled as they made their way towards the lecture hall, ready to face the practical exam
A good half a minute after Izumi and Durandal left the area, a figure appeared leaning against a wall, close to where the two had previously been standing. Deactivating a cloaking field as she stood up. She wore a simple dark bodysuit with two plates underneath her chest and light boots. She had a belt around her waist and a mask covering her face.
"Well, I see what Toshinori meant by 'she's a fast learner'," the woman remarked before she reactivated her cloaking field and vanished.
Sometime later.
The introduction to the practical exam went well, for the most part. Seeing Present Mic in person was awesome, but his attempts to rally excitement out of the students there fell flat. And whilst a boy with blue hair and glasses called her out for her mumbling, the teachers managed to get him to calm down a bit.
The practical exam itself was, as expected, against robots. Paxton's robots. Despite only showing a black silhouette, thanks to all the research she did into the man, she was able to recognise them.
One pointer was his basic Strider robots, human-sized machines that either used particle guns or blades. The Two pointers were his Minotaur robots, larger machines that carried heavier weapons. The three-pointers were his tripod walkers, large mech-sized machines with particle cannons and missiles.
And then there were the zero-pointers, the Titans. Massive six-legged walkers with a humanoid upper torso but lack a head and have four large arms. Those things could easily destroy a city and have done so before. At least she knows what they'll be getting into with those.
When the presentation finished, Present Mic asked if anyone had any questions. Izumi's hand immediately went up. "What are the limitations on support equipment, robot assistants, and strength-enhancing equipment such as powered exoskeletons?" she had asked. Since Durandal covered all three of those things, she wanted to be sure if she could bring him along.
"Good question," Present Mic had replied. "There is no limit on what support equipment you can bring in. This includes an armoured suit and powered exoskeletons. Robot assistants, on the other hand, are a lot more restricted. Fully autonomous robots that can act independently of their owner are not allowed to participate in the exam. Only machines that are controlled directly by the participant with some form of controller are allowed in".
Izumi nodded as she sat back down. Looks like she would be using Durandal's armoured wolf mode for the practical exam since he is a fully autonomous robot and wouldn't be allowed to operate independently during the exam. Good thing she registered him as support equipment. This worried her slightly, as this would be the very first time she fought something in that mode, and they still didn't know much about it. She had coincided with going without him but had rejected it the moment she saw Katsuki getting into the same testing area she was going to.
She initially wondered why that was the case but then remembered that students from the same school were being put into different testing grounds. And she didn't go to the same school as him anymore. It didn't help that it meant that Hitoshi and Neito were also going to different testing grounds so they couldn't help each other. That is probably the reason why they were spitting them up.
Also, participants were required to put on their support equipment before getting onto the bus, so there she was, sitting in the bus with Durandal covering her in armoured wolf mode. The top half of his head retracted back so her face was visible. Getting mixed looks from everyone else on the bus.
If there was one thing that was making her feel better was that the nice girl from before was on the bus as well.
"I don't think this was a good idea," she murmured, feeling very nervous and shivering.
"Believe me, wearing me is better than me not accompanying you into the Exam," Durandal replied, keeping his voice low so that only Izumi could hear him. "You only have access to one percent of One for All. Maybe a bit more, thanks to the actuators fitted into me, which are boosting your physical strength and speed. Unfortunately, we have zero training in this mode, and fighting in armour is a lot different from fighting outside of it. I've reduced the strength of the actuators so you don't accidentally hurt yourself, and increased power to the compressors to reduce kickback and ease the stress on your body. Should stop you from breaking yourself".
Izumi nodded before she focused on trying to calm her nerves. Not easy when you're on the same bus as someone who bullied you for ten years, as well as having what felt like everyone looking at you. 'Ok, just breathe in, and breathe out. Breath in, breath-'.
"Excuse me!" a voice said to her side rather loudly, causing her to let out a panicked yelp and fall off her seat. Durandal instinctively lowered the helmet so that it covered her face, just in case.
"Oh go-, I'm so sorry about that," the voice said apologetically. Izumi noticed someone was crouching down beside her. Looking up, she saw the blue-haired boy from before who had called her out. Who Durandal had said had a stick up his arse. "My apologies, I didn't mean to scare you there".
"It's ok," Izumi said, breathing heavily as Durandal lifted back the top of his head again. That didn't do her nerves any good/ "J-j-just very nervous right now".
"Hay blue hair," Durandal added. "Next time you want to talk to someone, make sure they're not trying to calm themselves down due to stress. It's not very heroic and could sabotage them".
The blue-haired boy was silent for a moment before bowed sharply. "My apologies. It was not my intention to sabotage you. I suppose my own nerves are getting the better of me, and are causing me not to notice things that should be obvious, such as your nervous state. Still, that is a poor excuse on my part, and I apologise for any distress I may have caused you".
"T-that's ok," Izumi said, still somewhat unnerved. "Everyone handles stress, differently".
"Indeed," the boy said, "Well, I wish you luck during the exam," he said before he walked back to his seat and sat back down.
"Well, at least he knows when he's in the wrong," Durandal remarked quietly. "Still has a stick up his arse though".
Izumi didn't respond. She just sat there breathing in and out slowly, trying to calm herself down as the bus came to a stop. She stood up as people started to file out, walking away from the bus and crowding around the entrance to the testing site. Once again, she saw Katsuki in the crowd but couldn't see the nice girl from earlier.
"Hey," a familiar voice said softly beside her. She turned her head to see the nice girl from earlier standing beside her, looking at her with a worried expression on her face. "Are you ok? I saw you freak out on the bus and wanted to make sure you're ok".
"I'm fine," Izumi replied. "Just rather stressed out, that's all".
"Yeah, I'm guessing most of us are a bit stressed out," the girl said. "Where's the robot dog you were with earlier?".
"I'm wearing him," Izumi replied, pointing at the armour she was wearing, followed by Durandal adding a "Yo".
The girl looked at her with a rather confused look on her face. "You have a shifter robot? I thought such robots were exclusively used on the Moon?".
"Is that what this kind of robot is called?" Izumi asked, never realising that there was a designation for such a robot.
The girl's reply was cut off by the voice of Present Mic yelling out, "And, START!".
"Talk later; exam now!" Durandal said as he lowered Izumi's helmet to cover her head fully.
"Sorry, we'll talk later," Izumi said apologetically as she rushed off with the rest of the students, the nice girl quickly following behind. As she ran, she powered up One for All at 1 percent, combined with the enhancements thanks to wearing Durandal, which allowed her to overtake the others.
The students quickly spread out across the grounds, searching the area for robots to destroy. Izumi was among the first to find a group of three one-pointer/Strider with blades on each arm. She charged towards the robot and clenched her fist before smashing it into its chest. It promptly crumpled like it was made of cardboard.
"Looks like these things are designed to be destroyed," Durandal remarked as Izumi destroyed the other two machines. "Paxton would never allow machines this fragile to see the light of day".
Izumi nodded as she rushed towards the next robot. She could do this; even with 1 percent she could still win. All she needed to do was destroyed enough robots. Durandal seemed happy to smash up many of Paxton's machines, even if they were inferior copies.
The next ten minutes were a blur of activity, running about destroying robots and helping out other examines who were in trouble. She wasn't going just to stand by and watch someone get hurt after all. Even if it did hurt her chances. Even so, she was doing well.
Her train of thought was suddenly cut off when she heard a loud scream. Turning around, she saw another girl get slammed into a wall, whilst a nearby three-pointer got destroyed by another examinee. She quickly rushed over to the girl's side and crouched down beside her. "Are you ok?".
The girl let out a cry of pain as she griped her right leg, which was twisted and bent in ways it shouldn't be. "No, I think it's broken," she replied through gritted teeth. The girl looked up at her, and Izumi was almost surprised by her golden yellow cat-like eyes. She recognised them. It was the girl who was also seeing Isa, who she allowed to go ahead of her. She couldn't remember her name, but the eyes were distinct enough to remember them. Guess she wanted to become a hero, too.
"Izumi, I know this might heavily damage your chances, but we can't leave her here," Durandal said.
"Don't worry, I wasn't going to," Izumi said before she helped the girl up and carried her off in a fireman carry.
"W-w-why are you helping me?" the girl asked, looking rather surprised that Izumi was helping her. "What about the exam?".
"I'm not leaving you out here. It's far too dangerous," Izumi replied as she carried the cat-eyed girl. "You could easily get caught up in something. What happened anyway?".
"I was kicking a three-pointer when its missile rack exploded on me and sent me flying," the cat-eyed girl replied. "It wasn't even the part I hit".
"Yeah, we've been seeing that a lot," Durandal remarked. "A lot of the three-pointers we have encountered either had destroyed missile racks or had them explode for no apparent reason. Guess the batch of missiles they're using are defective".
"Looks like UA is going to have some words with the manufacture after this," Izumi remarked before the ground shuddered, and there was the sound of something very large coming their way.
Izumi quickly turned around to see the massive form of a zero pointer smashing through one of the buildings, shaking the earth with each step. She had seen these robots before, but they were so much larger in person and scarier.
Izumi didn't say a word as she turned to run, doing what all the other students were doing. Only to stop when she heard someone cry out for help. She turned around and saw the nice girl from earlier, her ankle trapped underneath some rubble as the zero pointer rapidly approached her.
And no one was turning back to help her.
She would have rushed off to help her, but she was already carrying someone, and she couldn't risk putting them in danger as well. She couldn't help her.
"Put me down!" the cat-eyed girl she was carrying said.
"What?" Izumi asked, sounding confused.
"I'll be fine. I've had worse," the girl said calmly. "But you can't help that other girl whilst carrying me. So put me down and go help her!".
Izumi's heart sank when the girl said that she's had worse, but quickly complied. "I'll come back for you!" she said before she rushed towards the zero pointer. As she ran, her mind raced as she tried to devise a way to save the nice girl. She couldn't dig her out as the robot was too close, and pulling her out could risk causing more harm to her.
She then remembered how All Might took out these things, jumping up and smashing them in the chest. Normally the rear legs would be able to keep them upright, but when punched by All Might, the rear legs crumpled.
In her mind, she opened the flood gates holding the full power of One for All back and poured it into her legs as she leapt into the air. Then, she poured it into her right arm and with a loud "SMASH!" punched the zero pointer with everything she had.
The massive robot recoiled back from the punch, its rear legs breaking up as it fell. She smiled as she realised her plan had succeeded, only to be replaced by a look of horror when she realised how high up she was, that her legs and right arm were broken, and that she was falling.
Her body seized up as she fell, unable to move or think. Her mind reverted to ten months ago, to the building she had met All Might on, the one she jumped off of. She messed up. She messed up big time. All that training, all the planning, the work she put into getting here, only for it to be wasted by meeting the same fate she avoided ten months ago. She couldn't die, not now, but there was nothing she could do to prevent it, only stare as the ground came ever closer.
"Izumi!!!" Durandal shouted, bringing her back to reality. She blinked a few times as, strangely, she could see Durandal's face in front of her. "Izumi, are you alright?".
"W-w-w-what?" Izumi asked, looking around with horrified and confused eyes. She was no longer falling. Instead, she was lying on the ground, completely fine "What happened?" she asked weakly.
"That girl with the gravity manipulation quirk from earlier used it on you again," Durandal replied calmly. "Stopped you just before you hit the ground. Best guess is that you went into shock due to the fall. Going to have to bring that up during your next therapy session. Also, Recovery Girl healed you".
"Recovery Girl," Izumi said shakily, still finding it hard to believe she survived. She looked to Durandal's side, seeing the short form of the Youthful Heroine, Recovery Girl standing beside him.
"Don't you worry; I've already healed you, and Durandal informed me of how it happened," Recovery Girl said. "Still, I'm surprised you're still conscious after that. With wounds like yours, you should have passed out when I used my quirk".
"I think it might have something to do with Izumi's quirk still being active," Durandal remarked.
Izumi's eyes widened in surprise as she slowly raised her hand, noticing the lightning and glowing veins. She didn't even realise she had One for All still coursing through her. She closed her eyes as she deactivated One for All, opening them and standing back up.
"I suggest you take these," Recovery Girl said, passing Izumi some gummy bears. "These will help with the fatigue. Just don't eat them all at once," she said before she patted Durandal's head with a bare hand. "I must admit, you have quite the loyal and useful companion here. I just wish my last dog was as loyal as him. Well, take care now," she said before she walked off.
Izumi watched Recovery Girl leave, still feeling very shaken up. Looks like she wasn't as close to recovering as she first thought. There was still lingering trauma from when she jumped, resulting in her getting a new fear. A fear of heights. She wondered why it took so long to find out about it, but she guessed it was because she had never been anywhere so high.
"Hey," the voice of the nice girl said gently beside her. "Are you ok?".
Izumi looked to her side, tears forming in her eyes as she saw the girl who had saved her, a worried expression on the girl's face. Without thinking, she rushed forwards the hugged the girl tightly. "Thank you," she cried as tears fell from her eyes.
The nice girl stood there with a surprised look, which quickly shifted to a worried look. She knew the girl was nervous but didn't think it was this bad. What had happened to this girl to make her so fragile?
"Your welcome," the nice girl said as gently as possible. It was clear that the fall had traumatised her greatly, but she refused to go into it, as now was not the time to ask.
"Izumi," Durandal said as he walked up beside them "I've called your mother and told her what happened, she's on her way to pick you up. I think it's better if you don't walk home".
Izumi nodded but held onto the hug for a few more moments before she broke off. "S-s-sorry about that," she said nervously, shaking as she did.
"It's ok," the nice girl replied. "You needed it. Hay ur, if it's alright, can I stay with you for a bit, just till your mother gets here. You look like you could do with someone to talk to for a bit".
Izumi's eyes widened in surprise, "You would do that for me?".
The nice girl nodded. "You saved me from that zero pointer, and the entire thing left you shaken. So it's only fair that I stick around for a bit, just to make sure you are ok".
More tears started to fall from Izumi's eyes. "Thank you," she said before the three started to walk off. "Oh, I never got your name".
"Oh, right. It's Ochaco Uraraka," the nice girl replied with a kind and friendly smile.