Ch. 6: Noh Monsters, Only Men
Seigo was sitting in a visitation cell staring at a plane of glass, gray walls and floors, and an empty blue chair, wondering who had come to visit him. It had been three days since his interrogation and Nezu's offer so he had started to wonder how much longer he'd be there. He reached his still cuffed hand into his pocket and pulled a photo to look at it. It was the same photo that Naomasa had shown him at the start of his interrogation. It brought his thoughts back to what happened after he signed the paper…
"And with that, everything is in order!" Nezu cheered with an almost childlike glee, "Now, naturally, you'd like to leave here as soon as possible," Seigo could feel his brow furrow in response, "but I'm afraid it won't be that easy."
"You remember this photo, correct?" Naomasa pulled out of his trench coat pocket the photo of four-year-old "Izuku" and his mother playing together. "I'm sure you realized by now that she has yet to show up in any way. Well, we've hit a bit of a snag in contacting her," Naomasa admitted as he handed the photo to Seigo.
"I just assumed I didn't get to see her until the interrogation was over…" Seigo sadly remarked as he examined the picture in greater detail. The first time he looked at it, it gave him a massive headache that only gave him a faint voice talking to him but he couldn't make out the words. This time, it was far clearer as Seigo closed his eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Izuku!" It was a woman's voice that Seigo could only assume belonged to the woman in the photo
'Sorry? What was she sorry for?' Seigo felt dizzy as more memories started to pour in, his memories bouncing from one scene to the next.
"I think you added ten thousand views on this video yourself," his mother said as she typed away on the keyboard as Izuku banged his head up and down in his seat, clutching his All Might action figure with all the strength a child could manage.
"Help me!" Izuku threw open a door at the cry for help.
"I am here!" he shouted in an All Might onesie as his mother sat under a blanket.
"You should just give up," a mustached doctor told him bluntly as the scene shifted quickly to a hospital.
"Are you sure?"
"You see Mrs. Midoriya, I'm afraid that Young Izuku is quirkless,"
'Quirkless...? That's right… I was quirkless... '
"Mom… d-do you think I can still be a hero…?" The boy asked with large tears in his eyes.
As Seigo felt more and more of his memories return to him, he suddenly snapped his eyes open at the sound of Nezu's voice.
"Young Saichirou?" Seigo took a quick look around the room at the other three men who all gave looks of concern for him. "Are you alright?"
"I… remember my mom…" Seigo said as he clutched his head.
"That's good to hear," Naomasa sighed with a smile. It was reassuring that it wasn't anything too serious. "Did you remember anything else?" Seigo shook his head at the question before speaking.
"All the memories are things having to do with my mother. Us playing together, the day I found out I was quirkless, her playing me a video of All Might's debut but anything outside time spent with her is still missing…" Seigo confessed as he rubbed his aching temples. He suddenly had the urge to go to sleep.
"I asked this question before and got an answer I wasn't expecting but maybe now we'll get a different one," Naomasa stated, grabbing Seigo's attention despite the headache he was experiencing, "Who are you? Seigo Saichirou or... Izuku Midoriya?" Seigo felt like his head was splitting open at the question.
'My name is…'
Seigo heard a door open to his left on the other side of the glass, allowing the emaciated man that he knew was secretly the Number One Hero in Japan: All Might. Though he knew he couldn't say that as he noted the cameras recording them both as All Might sat down.
"Good morning, Young Saichirou… or is it Midoriya now? You weren't very clear last time I was here."
"To be honest, it feels like my name but it also feels like the name of an old friend that I haven't seen in ages…" Seigo admitted as he looked All Might in his sunken blue eyes. "But, if they find my mother and she comes to get me, I guess it's for the best if I am Izuku Midoriya…"
"You don't sound sure about that."
"It is what it is," Izuku said with a shrug, "I was missing a whole ten years' worth of memories and I can only remember the times with my mother and my name now," Izuku took one more look at the photo of his mother before putting it back in his pocket. He hadn't had any new memories since Naomasa let him keep it and he doubted he'd get more from it, "Speaking of names, I don't think you ever told me yours," Izuku said with a smile as he gestured to the camera behind All Might, netting a smile from the Number One Hero.
"I guess that would be a slight problem if you didn't have anything to call me," All Might joked as he faced Midoriya, "Toshinori Yagi, All Might's 'secretary'," Yagi explained with a knowing wink.
"Understood, Mr. Yagi," Izuku's emphasis on his name made Yagi a bit concerned. It would seem the cocky part of Izuku was returning to form. "So, what did you want to talk about?" Yagi's smile faded as he began to speak.
"A few things but the most important is what happened a few nights ago when you were captured," Yagi leaned close to the glass as if he was trying to convey a secret, speaking in a low voice, "Do you honestly not remember anything about what happened after you saw Shigaraki?"
"Nothing that I didn't already say…" Izuku lied as he scratched his head. It would still be problematic to admit to the voices in his head telling him to kill Shigaraki, Kurogiri and All For One, "In fact, I still haven't been told what exactly happened. Detective Tsukauchi was vague and didn't explain anything."
"There's a reason for that," Izuku couldn't help but shrink under the intense gaze of Yagi. Even if he was smaller than normal, it was still All Might. "What if I told you that you and All Might had fought that night?"
Yagi could tell that Izuku was taken aback as the gasp of shock and him nearly falling backwards out of his chair proved to him. The boy was in complete disbelief.
"I wouldn't believe that! I would think I would remember fighting All Might at least a little! It's the greatest hero in the world we're talking about here! Even crazier is that I would stay and fight if I saw him coming my way!"
"Well, you did and it wasn't pretty," Yagi said with an amused smile, "Let me be clear, we believe you have a quirk that even you aren't aware of and it might just be the strongest quirk I've ever seen since… you know what," Izuku knew what he was referring to: One For All. The quirk that All Might had was one that had been passed down from person to person, gaining strength with each succession. At first it was only as strong as a normal man. Now, it had such power that All Might could demolish a building with his pinkie… from the other side of the street. To have a quirk that strong would be the gift of a lifetime for any hero hopeful… if only the gift was from a better source.
"As strong as that…? Why…? How…?" Izuku looked like his whole world was falling apart. He had power like that? Why couldn't he remember any of it? What the hell was going on with him?
"I can't answer any of that. And unfortunately, under the current circumstances, we're unable to tell you exactly what happened right now," Yagi said as he pointed at the camera. The full story would have to wait. "In more lighthearted news, we've managed to get in touch with Inko Midoriya, your mother," A gasp of surprise fell out of Izuku's mouth. "Due to her being in the States, we had to have her flown in. It's actually the reason it's taken so long to get you out of here," Yagi admitted as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "From what I'm told, she'll be here soon as well as with someone else." Izuku's brow rose inquisitively at the statement.
"Someone else? My dad?"
"No, unfortunately," Yagi said with a sigh, "Due to the abrupt nature of your... 'reappearance', he was unable to secure time off to come here though I'm sure you can talk to him on the phone later," Yagi's tone turned somewhat grave, as if Death himself was paying him a visit, "No, the person coming with her will be the Pro Hero, Eraserhead." Izuku could feel himself gulp at the tone that Yagi had revealed that piece of information. Eraserhead: Quirk: Erasure. From what Izuku could figure out, it allows him to cancel out the quirks of anyone he lays his gaze on. A man to be feared since one look from him and Targeted Warp, his number one escape option goes right out the window with the rest of his quirks. At that point, he's a fifteen-year-old with basic aikido and whatever he can get his hands on to save him.
"Why him, exactly?"
"Two reasons that I know for sure but there may be more I don't know about," Yagi rubbed the back of his neck as he looked towards the door for a second before refocusing on Izuku, "The first is because of… that night, he's been placed in charge of training you," Izuku stared at Yagi, puzzled by that statement.
"Training me? Let me guess, the 'mystery quirk' that no one will talk about, right?" he said, snark palpable in the air.
"I promise we'll explain everything when your mother arrives," Yagi reassured with a smile, "She needs to hear this as much as you do after all and Eraser has never been fond of explaining things twice. He'd call it a 'waste of time'," Yagi let out a chuckle as he thought about the overly serious hero. His smile didn't fade when he continued, "The other reason is because of Young Eri," Izuku had to will himself not to fly out of the chair and remain calm. He needed to be patient before he does something that could make things worse.
"What about her?" The serious look in Izuku's eyes caused Yagi's smile to drop as he answered his question.
"We'll need to train her quirk for not only her safety but the safety of those she would come into contact with, but we've got a problem. Despite all the info we could get from the computer in the storage garage you were staying in, we don't know… anything really about how it works. Eri herself, doesn't even know how to turn it on and that's a massivered flag," Yagi explained as Izuku listened, "If she can't turn it on, naturally, she can't turn it back off again."
"Right… I ran into the same problem with her myself," Izuku admitted, "I quickly realized it would be too dangerous to train after I remembered what was written by Overhaul. 'Can rewind living people'."
"The key word there is 'living', correct?" Yagi interjected, earning a nod from Izuku.
"It's possible it could work on plants but I won't know, Eri would always freeze up at the thought of using her quirk whenever I asked, saying she didn't want to make the tree… 'disappear'," Izuku sighed, "And even if it could work on the dead, I'm not one to go grave-digging for corpses."
"It seemed the trauma didn't start with Overhaul…"
"No… according to Eri… she first used her quirk on her dad…" Izuku revealed with a somber tone.
"Chisaki?" Yagi asked, confused.
"No, her real dad," Izuku clarified, "But, she doesn't remember the event clearly, only getting bits and pieces from others, like Overhaul."
"Not the most reliable of sources," Yagi snarked.
"Yeah, but to someone as young as her, it didn't matter," Izuku remarked with venom in his voice, "It's not hard to make a four-year-old believe anything, even if that was killing your own dad."
'I guess you would know, since she called you "her big brother",' Yagi thought to himself, trying his best to not let the comment slip out, lest he anger Izuku by making even the broadest of comparisons to Overhaul. "In any event, we'll be having you present for Young Eri's training. It would be easier for all parties involved if she had a face she trusted."
"Especially when the face she has to look at is Eraserhead's, right?" Izuku joked as he let out a light chuckle. The door to the room suddenly opened, revealing the devil himself, eyes red and black hair standing up.
"Want to say something to me, Noh?" Eraserhead darkly asked, voice low and threatening.
"Eep?!" Izuku had faced many dangerous situations… but he might have been trapped in the worst of them all. The only thing between him and a clearly pissed-off Pro Hero was the plane of glass. He blinked, causing his long hair to fall back down, partially obscuring the area around his now black eyes. He quickly pulled out some eye drops as he spoke.
"Mrs. Midoriya, you're free to come in now," Izuku quickly snapped out of his fear and quickly looked towards the door with anticipation, waiting for his mother to walk in. After a few tense moments, a green haired, stout woman in a pink blouse and knee length skirt walked in with her eyes closed and her body stiff. Slowly, fearfully, she opened her eyes to look at the boy they said was her son and take in every bit of his features. The green messy hair, the green eyes, his freckles, even his facial structure from ears to chin.
And then the waterworks started.
"OH, MY BABY, IZUKUUUUUU!" Izuku was taken aback as the crying woman in front of him ran at the glass and slammed her hands into it to get as close as physically as two literal rivers of tears flowed out of her eyes, "IT REALLY IS YOUUUUUU!"
Now that he had the chance, Izuku pulled out the photo from earlier and compared the two women. Outside of the obvious weight gain, looking ten years or so older and having her eyes replaced with fire hoses, she was a perfect match.
"...Mom…?"
"Oh," Inko quickly gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, the tears not stopping, "My baby… YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH WE'VE MISSED YOUUUHUHUHU!" Izuku could feel tears of his own falling down his face as he let out a sad chuckle. Though it's been so long since he's seen her, his heart felt like it was about to burst as he took in his crying mother. He couldn't deny it: This was his mother.
"As much as I hate to put the family reunion on hold, we need to get your son processed so we can leave. You can spend time catching up afterwards," Eraserhead piped up as Yagi stood from his chair. The mother and son waterfall duo quickly calmed down, eyes still red and noses stuffy. Eraserhead walked up to the glass, staring down Izuku with a tired look, "Izuku Midoriya, as of today, you're officially on probation for your crimes as Noh. You and your mother have been made aware of the conditions of your probation so I'll skip formalities and leave that to the police. You'll be placed in your mother's care and from now until the date of the Entrance Exam, you will submit to a special training course to get you into acceptable condition," Eraserhead's tone was level, bored even, but to Izuku, he could feel the hostility. If it wasn't clear before, it was now…
Eraserhead wasn't happy about this arrangement.
As the four were driven in Yagi's large SUV, a vehicle that would fit someone as tall as the Number One Hero when he was in his skinny form, the car ride was one of relative silence though for Izuku, it was rather nice. His quirk suppressing cuffs were off though now he had an itchy as hell anklet strapped to him to keep tabs on him as well as monitor his quirk usage. He was reunited with his loving but overly emotional mother for the first time in eleven long years as she sat next to him and wouldn't stop hugging him with tears in her eyes as if he would suddenly disappear again. All Might, the hero he looked up to more than anyone else, was personally giving them a ride to where they would be staying. They even gave him his quirk analysis notebooks back. The only problem was…
"So, now that we're free of the cameras, we can talk about what happened," Eraserhead, or Shouta Aizawa as he clarified to the Midoriyas, broke the silence that permeated the vehicle.
"You sure it's a good idea to talk about it now?" Yagi near pleaded, not wanting to broach the heavy topic, "Can't you let them have their happy reunion first?"
"It's another hour until we reach Musutafu so it's more efficient to talk about it now," Aizawa coldly reasoned, "Besides, he needs to be told if I'm going to train him how to use it. I'm sure the suspense is killing them now that I've brought it up," Aizawa, beneath his scarf, gave Yagi a knowing smirk to say to him, 'I'm telling him now, and there's nothing you can do to stop me.'
"This is about the mysterious quirk Mr. Yagi mentioned, right?" Izuku asked from the safety of Inko's unyielding hug.
"The very same. Though I guess it would be best to explain what happened that night from our perspective since you have no memory of this," Aizawa tapped Yagi on the arm, "You explain it, you were there at the start of the fight," Yagi had to quickly cover his mouth as he coughed up blood.
'Damn it, Aizawa! Just tell her I'm All Might why don't you!'Yagi glared out of the corner of his eyes before refocusing on the road. He had to explain what had happened without revealing he was All Might, "Fine, I was in Hosu helping All Might wrap up a case we just finished closing…"
"Alright, Toshi," Naomasa began with a smile on this face as he and the incognito Symbol of Peace as they strolled out of the police station, "What do you say we get something to eat to celebrate! I hear there's this nice sushi place a few streets away," he offered as he pointed in the general direction of the sushi place.
"You know I can barely eat, Naomasa," Yagi replied with a wide smile and a laugh, "Though I wouldn't mind treating you at the very least! It was that intel you got for us that helped us find their hideout so quickly!"
"In that case, we're bringing Tamakawa," Naomasa said with a smirk, causing Yagi's smile to fade in a flash.
"No, please! I've seen that man eat sushi like he was at an all-you-can-eat buffet!" Yagi reached into his wallet, 'Is a hundred thousand yen enough? I might have to make a withdrawal…'
Suddenly, without any warning, a huge explosion rocked the surrounding area as the two men turned towards the sound. Across town, rising above the surrounding buildings even at night, was a clearly visible plume of dust and debris.
"A villain attack?!" Naomasa shouted in shock before quickly regaining composure. "Toshi, how much time do you have left today?!"
"One hour," Yagi replied before running out of sight to change into All Might, "Plenty of time to handle this!" With those words, All Might jumped into the sky and began bouncing from rooftop to rooftop at speeds too fast for a normal person to follow. By the time he arrived, he found a building reduced to nothing but rubble, as well as significant damage to the buildings in the surrounding area… but no villain. 'Strange… Why destroy a building and then run for it? Must have been an explosive of some sort.'
"So, you're here too, All Might," All Might turned to see the owner of the voice approaching him. He was clad in a black costume with white gauntlets but the most striking aspect of the costume was that it was set ablaze at various parts of the man's body, including his mustache.
"Endeavor, I wasn't aware that you were in town as well," All Might said in a pleasant tone of voice in an attempt to keep things civil. He was quite aware that Endeavor had it out for his spot as Number One Hero so he could tell that the scowl on the man's face was from distaste from being in his presence.
"I was doing an investigation when I saw the explosion," Endeavor spoke, barely containing his hatred as it laced his words, "The police should be here soon," All Might nodded before gesturing towards the ruined building.
"In that case, we should check to make sure no one was caught in the blast," All Might suggested before Endeavor walked past him, barely caring about the suggestion.
"You do that. I'm going to look for evidence to what caused the explosion in the first place," Endeavor spoke as he began to survey the scene for clues, "We might have a mad bomber on the-" Endeavor was cut off as a figure exploded out of the rubble. The figure was clad in all black that had been torn in several places, no doubt from the blast. But what was most striking is what happened when the figure looked towards All Might and Endeavor. Red, piercing eyes filled with nothing but anger, a freckled face contorted in a look of pure rage and teeth clenched together hard enough to crack stone. His hair was blood red and he was radiating an aura of the same color with red lightning sparking off of him every second or so. It was a boy, probably no older than 15-16 years old from what All Might could tell but as he approached the red-haired boy, he suddenly vanished from view at near imperceptibly fast speeds.
"Wha-" Suddenly sensing danger on his right, All Might smoothly dodged a swift kick from the boy, though the sheer wind pressure generated by the kick knocked him back several steps, preventing a counterattack. "Ooh… He's fast…" All Might grunted as he rubbed the spot of his right arm that shielded from most of the blow. His business suit was now a little torn from just the wind created by the strike. 'Yikes, this boy's stronger than he looks…' All Might was ripped from his thoughts as the boy continued his attack, attempting blow after blow on All Might who swiftly dodged them as best he could, before drilling a punch into the boy's stomach. "SMASH!"
The boy was launched down the street and slammed into an overturned car but quickly recovered, almost as if the blow or the landing didn't even faze him as he rocketed down the street again. Endeavor took this moment and shot a torrent of flames at the kid.
"Are you nuts?! You'll kill him!" All Might shouted, causing Endeavor to sneer.
"He took a blow from you like it was an annoyance," Endeavor pointed out, "I don't think we can afford to hold back," and he was right as the boy and an identical shadowy double of him appeared out of the fire with his clothes burning off to deliver two thunderous punches to Endeavor's jaw, sending him flying into All Might, knocking him backwards as well. All Might checked on Endeavor real quick to see that he was reeling heavily from the attack but would be fine. Then the boy started talking as his shadow double took its place at its master's side.
"Killed… him..." the boy stood with his arms limp and staring at the ground, almost as if he was about to fall asleep. His voice sounded like it had an echo attached to it as if several people were speaking in unison. All Might began to wonder if he was referring to Endeavor before the boy continued, "They… killed him… they… did something… to me…" All Might could only look on in confusion as he moved away from Endeavor, hoping to draw the boy's attention off of him until he recovered. Who was he talking about? "What… did they... do to me…?" The boy suddenly jerked his head up to All Might, eyes staring daggers into All Might's soul, "WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!" The boy roared as he and the double moved towards All Might again, raining another series of blows that were somehow even faster than before as he seemed to blink in and out of sight as loud popping noises blended into the sounds of battle, allowing the duo to get several clean hits in. The boy even warped the car from earlier and tried to slam it into the hero. All Might tried to counter but each time he tried, he was the one that missed as another pop and the boy vanished from sight, only to deliver another blow that caused even the Number One Hero to flinch, including one kick being driven into the stomach injury he had gotten five years ago. All Might coughed up blood and panicked as he remembered his fight with All For One and the blow that did this to him and immediately put all his power into his next punch to stop the threat but he had to halt himself before he could deliver it as the boy suddenly stopped moving and the shadow double disappeared in an instant.
His hair, while still mostly red, started to turn green going from the tips and slowly made its way to the roots. His eyes turned green and glassy while his face went vacant as the rage from before left him and was replaced with emptiness. He dropped to his knees before dropping to the ground, unconscious.
"That was close," All Might turned to look, seeing Eraserhead walking towards him as he dropped tear drops into his dry eyes and began blinking them away, "You looked ready to end that kid just now."
"He was far stronger than he looked, believe it or not. Power like his…" All Might began.
"Was almost like yours if you think about it," Eraserhead interjected as he examined the boy. All he had left on him was the barely-held together remnants of his burnt and torn clothes. He turned the boy over to get a look at his face. The boy was out cold and didn't look to be waking up anytime soon so Eraserhead pulled out a pair of cuffs and slapped them around his wrists. "There, should keep him from going anywhere."
All Might didn't hear him; he had another problem to think about...
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!"
'He must have mistaken me for someone else… almost as if he had no idea what was going on around him and was just lashing out uncontrollably at anything that happened into his line of sight. It was probably the explosion that activated his quirk and he lashed out… speaking of which…' All Might's mind wandered to the strange shadow double as well as the warping he performed during the fight, 'There can be no doubt about it. Those powers he showed have nothing to do with each other so the only conclusion is he has more than one quirk… and there's only one person who could do something like that…'
After the police arrived and loaded the now stirring boy into the back of a police transport, whose hair had finally lost all of its red at the time of his awakening, there was one final question on All Might's mind.
'Have I met that boy somewhere before?'
"I…" Izuku looked at his shoes in disbelief at what he was told. He had yet another quirk and it did… that to him…? Turned him into some kind of monster? "I…"
"My Izuku… did all that?" Inko asked, unsure of what to think of the situation. She was told by Aizawa everything about what happened with her son from the kidnapping by a supervillain to the numerous quirks that were implanted into him but this...
This was just unbelievable to the poor woman. Her son picked a fight with All Might? Her son was his biggest fan… but now... now what was she supposed to do for her son? She's been so disconnected from him that she barely even knows him anymore… or what he could do.
Izuku couldn't find any words to say about it so he kept his mouth shut for now. The thought that he would see All Might, the Symbol of Piece and the hero he looked up to and wanted to fight him sickened him. Even worse was that it wasn't his choice.
It was the choice of his new quirk.
"That quirk of his, we're unsure of what to call it but one thing's for certain," Aizawa dryly refocused on the main issue as he looked over his shoulder to the back seat, "He's uncontrollable in that form from what we can tell as his personality is completely different and he seems unable to recognize who's around him. So, he'll be spending time working with me to control it. This is my ultimatum for you, Problem Child," Izuku hesitantly looked up to Aizawa to meet his gaze. "You and I have four mouths until the Entrance Exam. If you can't learn to control that power to my liking before then, you can forget about taking it at all because I'm not letting a walking health hazard into U.A., am I understood?" Izuku nodded, causing Aizawa to pull a sheet of paper from his outfit and handed it to his mother, "This is the schedule I prepared and the complete list of the rules to be enforced on your probation. You'll follow it to the letter to ensure we make you worthy of being at U.A. but it's only going to work if you yourself work hard and keep your nose clean. One in every three hundred entrants actually pass this test and if you fail, that's likely it for you. So, be sure to give it your all and go beyond, plus ultra."
Izuku knew those words as All Might's and U.A.'s slogan but now… now it just made him feel sick when Aizawa says it in the most spiteful tone possible. He swallowed the saliva in his mouth and managed to work up the courage to just say it.
"You don't want me to pass, do you?" Izuku said, causing Inko to gasp and Yagi to grimace.
"Personally, I don't even want you to take the test," Aizawa began, not even bothering to look at Izuku, "You're clearly a very dangerous individual with a quirk no one has any idea how to control and the ones you do know are also dangerous in the hands of someone as irresponsible as you. You've already shown you have very little care for rules and laws with your lengthy stint as Noh as you basically did whatever you felt like doing and shown that you're a reckless child who has no idea how your actions affect those around you," Aizawa then turned to glare at Izuku, who stared back in defiance. "Excuse me if I believe having such a student is illogical."
"Now hold on-" Inko was about to protest but was cut off by Aizawa.
"I wasn't finished," Aizawa coldly stated, catching the Midoriyas off-guard. "You have four mouths to prove to me that you're willing to change and actually become the hero Nezu thinks you can be and prove a willingness to continue improving well after that. If you do, then I will treat you no differently then I would treat any other student and do everything in my power to make sure that you can become that hero. If you don't, you'll be thrown out of U.A. in a heartbeat regardless of your test results… out of a catapult."
Izuku now understood what Aizawa wanted from him: Effort and change. It was true what he was saying: Izuku, as Noh, basically did as he pleased in the search for answers and survival. This was his second chance but he had to prove to not just Aizawa but to everyone that he was going to actually make use of it and actually be deserving of the opportunity. Izuku put his best "bring it on" face and nodded to Aizawa's demands.
"Good," Aizawa said as he hid a pleased smile behind his scarf, "If you can keep that look for the next three years, then there's hope for you yet," The vehicle pulled up to the apartment complex they were going to be living in. It was the same one that they had lived in before but they had to get a different apartment since they moved out. The two pulled out a pair of suitcases from the back containing Inko's luggage as well as Izuku's clothes from his former hideout. There was also a very heavy duffel bag with Izuku's name on it as well. Aizawa rolled the window down to speak to the Midoriyas.
"We start with your and Eri's training tomorrow at Dagobah Beach. All Might told me it should be nice and secluded this time of year so less chance of someone getting hurt in the crossfire. Till then, focus on studying for the Entrance Exam. The duffel bag is full of books we borrowed from a nearby middle school for your grade level. Your score in the practical is worthless if you fail the written test," with that warning, Aizawa rolled up the window and the two drove off, leaving the Midoriyas to move into their new… old… their home. Until Izuku realized something.
He never asked where Eri was staying…
Meanwhile back in the SUV, Yagi turned to Aizawa when they reached a red light.
"You think, maybe, you're laying this on a bit too thick?" Aizawa sighed at the question, as if the answer was obvious.
"No, I don't," he answered bluntly, "If that boy thinks he has it hard now with just me, can you imagine for a second what would happen if anyone found out about his probation, his past, his multitude of quirks that he received from the most powerful villain in Japan, one of which lets him fight you on even ground?"
"It wouldn't be pretty… and it wasn't even since I was trying not to kill him,'' Yagi countered as they turned a corner and he refocused on the actual point, "With the way people view criminals as irredeemable monsters and the pack mentality that comes with it…"
"He'd be attacked from all directions in seconds," Aizawa finished, "Physical, emotional, you name it and we haven't even talked about the fact that he might just end up in the hero course. With his abilities and quirks, he'd have no problem passing the practical and if he dedicates enough time to studying, the written test won't be much of an issue. With a person that the media and the common citizen would immediately look at and say he has no business in a hero course and the influence that comes from that, do you really think I'm being harsh compared to what may happen?"
"But if he had some pillars of support, he'd be able to get through it," Yagi argued.
"You're right, it's what most people in his situation tend to lack," Aizawa agreed, "However, if he's not ready mentally for that adversity on his own, then even those same pillars might not be enough, no matter how many there are. Humans are emotional and because of that, we can be weak. Too often people turn to villainy not by choice but because all other routes through life were closed to them. Besides," Aizawa flashed a smirk at Yagi, "If he can stand up to me, he'll be fine right now under his own power. And if he proves himself, then I'll stand by him the same I would any student who's earned their place, as will all the other teachers at U.A."
"You intend to make him strong enough to deal with the burden he'll have to bear?"
"Though I'd rather not have to be the one to do it, I'm the one with Erasure and no classes to teach so I've got no place to argue with the logical choice."
"Ha, it's going to be a rough four months for him," Yagi chuckled,
"Good. Here's hoping it makes him stronger," Aizawa said as the vehicle pulled up to U.A.
As Aizawa walked into U.A. he stopped by the Nurse's Office to check in on the newest edition to U.A. High. He opened the door to see Eri receiving a bandage on the inside of her elbow as well as a few gummy bears while three of his co-workers tended to the girl.
'Why are Hizashi and Nemuri here?'
"Mmm!" Eri gushed as she ate the gummies, "They're so sweet!"
"See, little listener, it wasn't so bad, right?" Hizashi asked in his hammy radio host voice that Aizawa swears he wishes he had an off-switch to. Hizashi, or "Present Mic" was still in his hero outfit, decked from head to toe in leather with his popped collar hiding his directional speaker around his neck. His blond hair was slicked upwards by the ten tons of gel he used to get it that way. Eri, to her credit, smiled and nodded as she chewed on the fruity treat.
"It hurt a bit but it went away right away," Eri said joyfully as she rubbed her arm where the bandage was.
"Aw, who's a brave girl like I said?" Nemuri cooed as ruffled Eri's hair gently. Nemuri, known as "Midnight", was dressed in her skin-tight bodysuit and leotard to emphasize her… figure. Her dark hair flowed down her back as she kneeled down to Eri's level, forcing her to part it out of her eyes at times.
"Ah, Aizawa, you're back," Aizawa looked down to the ground to see the elderly owner of the voice.
"I take it you're done with the vaccinations, Recovery Girl?" Aizawa asked, despite knowing the answer.
"Yes, thankfully. The poor girl appears to never have had a shot once," Recovery Girl scratches her hair net covered bun in annoyance as she tapped her cane to the ground and straightened her doctor's coat that was too big for her as she dragged it on the floor, "It's horrible!"
"Just remember we've got to do Midoriya's shots tomorrow. He's likely hasn't had one in eleven years."
"You don't have to tell me that," Recovery Girl replied with a stern tone, "Even if I don't agree to the… extra shot we have to give him."
"So, Shouta my man, do you want us out so you can talk to the little lady?" Hizashi asked, seemingly bracing himself to be told to beat it.
"Not really," Shouta admitted with a shrug, "You two seem better equipped to take care of her than me."
"It's because I'm great with kids!" Nemuri boasted proudly as she poked Eri's cheek, earning a giggle from the little girl, "Isn't that right, Eri?"
"Maybe you should have become the Mom Hero instead of the 18 Hero!" Almost as soon as the words fell out of the blabbermouth hero's lips, Nemuri's head snapped in his direction.
"Hizashi?" Her face was peaceful and happy; her voice was carrying the tone of a murder in-progress.
"Y-Yes?" Hizashi seemed to catch on to how screwed he was now as the cheerfully enraged heroine walked up to him with a joyful smile.
"How many bones would you break if I threw you off the roof?"
"A-all of them?"
"That's right! Such a smart man you are," her serene face gave way to a death glare, "Don't make me."
"If you're going to punish him, don't do it in front of a child!" Recovery Girl shouted from her chair as she typed something on her computer, not even looking at the sight behind her, "Take it outside!"
"Okay!" Nemuri grabbed Hizashi by the ear and led him out of the room, "I'll teach you to mock my youth!"
"No, no! I want to live!" Hizashi grabbed the door frame, desperate to escape Nemuri's grasp, "I WANT TO LIIIIVE!"
"OUT!" Recovery Girl shouted as he prepared her cane. *Bonk* *Slam* "No hospital manners with that man, I swear!"
"Hehehehehehe!" Aizawa turned to see that Eri was having a giggle fit at Hizashi's expense as she fell back into the bed she was sitting on, laughing all the way down. Her laugh was even bringing a smile to Shouta's face. "Mr. Hizashi's so goofy!"
"Yeah, he's a goofball alright," Aizawa remarked before kneeling down next to Eri, "So, here's the deal, you'll be able to see your brother tomorrow as we need to begin his training as well as yours."
"Twain… ning? Like that thing Big Bro does with all those punches and kicks?"
"Not exactly," Aizawa sighed as he rubbed his forehead, moving strands of hair out of his eyes, "We're going to be training you to use your quirk safely," Eri seized up immediately like she saw a giant spider, fear filling her face as she shuffled away from Aizawa.
"No… I… I don't want to make people disappear…"
"We're not going to make anyone disappear. We've already got an idea on how to use your quirk safely without hurting anyone."
'But… what if something goes wrong…?"
"That's what I'm here for," Aizawa reassured her as best as he could, even if wasn't good at this, "My quirk will let me turn yours off in an instant so you don't need to worry about a thing. We just need to do a few things and everything will be fine," Eri looked into Aizawa's eyes with trepidation. "Don't worry, Midoriya will be right there as well," Eri's fear turned to confusion.
"Medooreya?"
"Right, I forgot to mention that part," Aizawa said as he scratched his head in annoyance, "I should explain..."
"Izuku, honey, how's the unpacking coming?" Inko asked as she knocked on the door to Izuku's new room. The door wasn't quite closed so the knocking opened it slightly. The mother poked her head in to see her son lying on his new bed, staring at the ceiling. "Honey, are you okay?" The boy remained silent, filling the mother with anxiety at her son giving her the silent treatment. 'Is he upset with me? Was I being too clingy on the way here when I was scared to let go of him? Does he not remember me as his mother? My son is an amnesiac and I don't know what to do! What am I supposed to do for him?!'
"Mom?" Inko was pulled from her anxiety attack as Izuku looked at her, concerned as he pulled himself into a seated position on the edge of the bed, "Are you okay?" The question was thrown back at her... and she only had one answer.
"No… No, I'm not…" She admitted to her son as she took a seat on the bed next to him, tears threatening to spill over again, "I… I didn't know what happened to my only son… for eleven long years… I didn't know where, I didn't know how, I didn't even know why!" She cried as the tears finally fell down her cheeks again, "You were diagnosed as 'quirkless' and I didn't know what to do when you looked at me and asked if you could still become a hero! All I could think to do was say sorry to you for not being able to help you live your dream… and then two days later, you disappeared… I thought that you had run away, that it was somehow my fault as a horrible mother that you couldn't stand living here anymore..." Izuku could feel tears running down his face as well as he looked at his mother. For eleven years, she carried a burden of guilt. Without a second thought, he quickly wrapped his arms around his crying mother.
"I don't blame you for anything," Izuku declared, causing his mother to gasp quietly, "If I think about how I felt back then, they may not have been the words that little me wanted to hear, but I could never hate my mom for something that was and never will be her fault."
"Izuku…" Inko returned the hug to her son, "Thank you…" The two hugged for a good while until they both stopped crying, "Look at me," Inko said as she wiped the tears from her eyes with a weak smile, "I'm supposed to welcome you back home and now I'm just unloading all this baggage on you… I'm a pathetic mother,"
"No, you're not," Izuku reassured, "I honestly can't imagine what it's been like for you but I promise from this point on, it'll all be better now!"
"My own son has had all these horrible things happen to him and I'm the one that needs cheering up? How is that not pathetic?!" Izuku sighed a bit as Inko's anxiety broke through again. He didn't really know how to approach that.
"Maybe we should change topics… did you need something from me?"
"Oh, that's right!" Inko exclaimed as she snapped her fingers, "We need to call your father, Hisashi! He needs to hear from his son!" Inko quickly pulled out her phone and dialed up her husband but after it rang for about thirty seconds,
"Hi, you've reached Hisashi Midoriya, I'm unable to take your call right now, so please your name and a brief message and I may get back to you, thank you," Hisashi's voice came through the speaker, causing a brief flash in Izuku's mind, but nowhere near as powerful as his previous recollections. The voice was familiar… and that was about it.
*Beep*
"Hisashi, it's Inko," she said into the speaker, "We got back from the police station so your son's free to speak when you get the chance so call us back soon," Inko hit end call and put the phone away. "It's a little after five now so he'd be asleep in San Francisco… speaking of which… I think I've been feeling jet lag since we got home so I think we should eat dinner and I'll head to bed…" Inko staggered to her feet and walked up to the door, "It should be done in about fifteen minutes so be sure to wash up, okay?" Inko flashed a shaky smile and walked out.
"Hey, Mom?" Izuku asked as he ran to the doorway, "Did the rules Mr. Aizawa gave you say anything about having guests?"
"Guests? Inko gasped before the first happy smile since she walked into his room came to her face, "You mean you made some friends while you were gone?"
"Yeah and…" He thought about what to say for a second before continuing, "We all agreed that we would go to U.A. together so they need to know about everything that's happened. Can you check for me?" Inko's smile widened at the thought of her son having friends who shared a dream with him.
"I'd be happy to!"