Chapter 2: News, Quest, Conversation
Coffee grounds, 1 lb bag: +15 STA per 8 oz liquid
STA: 59/59
Celery stalk: +6 HP, +5 STA per stick
HP: 120/120
STA: 59/59
"Izuku, dear, why are you staring at celery like a mass murderer who has just found a victim?"
Izuku blinks back to reality. "What?"
"You've been looking at the celery like you plan to do something unspeakable to it." His mom clarifies. "Is there something I should know?"
"Mom!" Izuku flushes bright red. "No, it's just that getting my Analysis skill over 50 gave me the ability to see which foods will add hit points or stamina points. Celery adds some of both!"
Inko laughs. "And you were thinking about trying it out to see if it worked?"
"Yes." He admits sheepishly. "Coffee adds a lot of stamina points, but I already know that caffeine wears off after a while and I don't really like coffee."
"Well, go ahead and try the celery. There's no time like the present for finding out." She urges him. "Also, you don't know what you're missing out on with not liking coffee."
He makes a face. "It's bitter. And you look like you haven't slept in a week if you don't get your morning coffee. I'd rather spare myself the addiction."
She slaps a hand over her heart. "Betrayed! By my own son!"
Izuku giggles at her dramatics and peels a stick of celery off, rinses it and takes a knife to the ends before sticking it in his mouth. Once he's done eating it, he Analyses the celery again.
Celery stalk: +6 HP, +5 STA per stick
HP: 125/120
STA: 63/59
"Huh. I guess it doesn't add the full amount if my points are already full. Diminishing returns, maybe?" He pausits. "I wonder how long the boost will last?"
"I'm sure you'll find out. Oh, but I came in here because I wanted to know if you want to open your letter from UA."
He makes a sound like a teakettle and slaps his hand over his mouth in embarrassment. "Eh ee."
"What was that?"
Izuku removes his hand and takes a deep breath before repeating himself. "Yes, please."
His mom's eyes crinkle in amusement as he makes grabby hands at the letter she's holding. She hands it over and he sits at the table to open it. A disc…? Falls out. And a hologram projects itself into the air above the disc.
"I AM HERE as a projection! You might have been wondering why you haven't been able to get in contract with me lately? The truth is that you're looking at UA's newest teacher!" There's some unintelligible background noise and All Might turns his head to the side. "Who's showboating? Wait, I have to do how many of these things!?" All Might's projection turns his head back. "Ahem. Izuku Midoriya, you passed the written test with a respectable 96%. You got 14 villain points in the practical, which sadly is not enough to pass. But wait! What kind of hero school would we be if we didn't reward people acting like heroes and helping others? Look at this!" The recording cuts to cement slab girl trying to give him her points because he saved her. She is reassured that he doesn't need her points and then the recording cuts back to All Might. "You got 41 rescue points for helping out Miss Uraraka and passed the exam with flying colors! Welcome to your hero academia!"
The hologram freezes, then shuts itself off, but Izuku doesn't care. He's too busy crying in relief and happiness and his mom is right there with him, blubbering too.
"Oh, Izuku! I'm so proud of you!" She gives him a side hug, since he's sitting.
"Thanks, mom." He sniffles putting his hands on her arm to hold her in place for a moment longer.
~
You are lost.
Uh. What? He knows that, but why is his quirk telling him that? "Do you know where I am and how to get to the classroom?"
Yes.
"Then can you show me how to get there?"
"Sure thing, underclassman! You must be a first year. What class?"
Izuku jumps in shock, then turns to find a blond boy with a wide smile looking at him expectantly. "U-Um. Class 1A."
"Oh nice! We're both class A! I'm a third year. Follow me!"
He does, since the guy has offered and his quirk is being oddly unhelpful.
"There you go! See, it's that door right down there."
"Th-Thanks."
"Sure thing. Well, I'll be seeing you around, underclassman!"
Did he…? Did he forget to introduce himself? Izuku sweat drops, then approaches the 1A door, which is massive. He hopes he can move it. Fortunately, it swings open easily at his push.
Inside he sees Kacchan with his feet on his desk, being scolded by Scoldy Robot boy. He nopes out of joining that conversation and slips into the seat designated his by the seating chart.
Then Scoldy Robot boy turns and introduces himself as Tenya Iida and apologizes for not seeing that he was the better candidate and says that he saw the true meaning of the test.
"Er. I just did what anyone would do if they saw someone in trouble like that."
Iida emotes at him more while Kacchan tsks loudly and slumps further into his seat in front of Izuku.
"Oh, plain boy with the muscles! Thanks for saving me!"
Well, it's not the worst thing he's been called. "It's Izuku Midoriya. And you're welcome."
"I'm Ochako Uraraka. It's nice to meet you properly! Have you-?"
"If you think you're here to make friends, think again." A scruffy man says gruffly.
Quest: Impress your teacher
Izuku winces, because impressing the man who has just finished scolding them seems like a tall order. He takes the uniform that is handed to him and scurries for the changing room. Taking too long will definitely not impress Aizawa sensei.
~
He's not sure how he's supposed to impress his teacher when they're doing physical tests with quirks. OFA is still locked and the rest of his quirk…doesn't really help him. Still, he pushes himself and gives his best effort. His training hasn't really made him faster, but lifting trash for about ten months has given him impressive endurance and he knows he's probably pretty strong now, too. So he does alright in the long distance running test at least.
Izuku is watching Yaoyorozu apply a clamp to the grip test when a wisp of an idea starts churning in his brain. Apparently his quirk agrees, because when it's his turn, a pane pops up.
Hack device?
Yes | No
"Yes." He mumbles, putting his hands on the device. A moment later, the digital display maxes out.
Aizawa sensei raises an eyebrow and writes the score down. Hopefully that means he's not displeased with his method. He had said they could use their quirks in any way to complete the test, but Izuku is used to having teachers getting irritated at him for things they said were okay.
Whatever the case, he doubts that he's impressed him.
When it's his turn for the ball throw, his quirk asks again,
Hack device?
Yes | No
This time he has more confidence when he replies, "Yes." He doesn't throw the ball, curious as to whether he'll be made to or not, but the measuring device beeps and displays an infinity symbol, like it did with Uraraka's throw.
"No way. He didn't even throw it! Isn't that cheating?"
Aizawa sensei shoots the speaker a tired look and writes down the score. "I did say you could use any method to employ your quirks."
Izuku's just happy that the teacher isn't mad at him. That and that there's no chance of him coming last now.
After class, Aizawa sensei sends them back to change and pick up a syllabus.
He complies, then walks to the train station with Uraraka and Iida, who are pretty nice, before they part ways to go home. Even though he told them that his quirk is an information type, they seem to be under the impression that it's some sort of tech hack. At least Uraraka seems pretty impressed with it, though Iida seems more confused than anything that someone with a nonphysical quirk would want to be a hero.
Izuku is unlocking his door when a window pops up.
Quest accomplished
Accept rewards? Yes | No
"Yes."
Quest rewards
+512 EXP
+1 StP
+1 WIS
After applying the stat point to VIT, he realizes something. "Wait. How do you know the quest succeeded?"
… UA cameras were hacked until confirmation was received
Izuku chokes on thin air and spends a minute coughing like he's dying.
"You-! You hacked UA's cameras!?"
The principal determined that the intrusion was due to a student's quirk and allowed it as long as only Aizawa was followed.
That's…That's concerning. "How much trouble am I going to get in for this?"
None. Probably.
Well that's not concerning at all. None is good. But 'probably'? That's like saying Kacchan probably won't get mad at him for existing. Yeah, no. He's screwed isn't he?
~
Izuku stares at his list of skills.
Skills:
Reading: Level 75
Writing: Level 63
Studying | Retaining Knowledge: Level 52
Analysis: Level 52
Fashion Knowledge: Level 3
Cooking and Baking: Level 14
Collecting: Level 64
Stealth: Level 2
Doing Laundry: Level 1
Cleaning: Level 24
Organizing: Level 32
Magic: Level 0. Locked.
Ghostly Communication: Level 0. Talk with the ghosts of OFA in your head to level skill.
Why, exactly, does OFA have ghosts? And does he want to talk to them? The 'in your head' part probably means he doesn't need to talk aloud and have people think he's crazy if he's talking to them, right? Well, there's no time like the present, he guesses.
'Hello? Ghosts? Are you friendly?'
'%*%* -it! He knows abou- %*?'
'Hey kid! %*%*%* term vestiges. Just %*%%*.'
'Can he e- %*%*%?'
'%*%*%* quirk %* awesome! We've %*%*% tv on these cushy c- %*%*%* here.'
Ghostly Communication: Level 1
Just that little bit leveled it up? Nice. And from the snatches he could hear, the ghosts are friendly.
'Sorry, I didn't catch all of that. The skill is still too low level for me to hear everything.'
'Skill? This damned %*% gave you a %*% to talk to us with? And here I thought %*%*%%*% part.'
'So that means %*%*%* talk, the more he'll h- *% us?'
'Yeah, that sounds about right.' Izuku admits. 'One of you said that you prefer to be called vestiges, not ghosts, right?'
'That's ri- %*, kid.'
Ghostly Communication: Level 2
'Okay. I'll try to remember that.'
'Don't worry about %* if you can't.' A female voice says. 'We can %*%* remind you and it %*%*%* matter what you think of %* as.'
'Can I ask your names? I'm Izuku Midoriya.'
'I'm En, kid.'
'Hika- %*.'
'Can you repeat that?'
'Oh sure. %* Hikage.'
'I'm Nana Shimura. Y- %* %* Toshinori 'Hi' for me.'The female voice says.
'I'm right here.' All Might's voice complains. Which, what?
'It's not the same. Besides %*%*%* mean.'
Ghostly Communication: Level 3
'Ignore them. I'm Yoichi, the first %*%. Your quirk works like a video game, r- %*%?'
'That's right.'
'Very cool. Anyways. As %*%*% levels up, see if you get a text opt- %* or a voice with video chat opt-%*. That should make it easier to tell who is who.'
'Alright." He acknowledges.
'And I'm Banjo. The %*%*% stubborn %*% aren't ready to share their n- %*% with you %*.'
'O-Oh. Well, it's nice to meet all of you. Um. I-Is All Might's, erm, vestige in there too? Or did I hear wrong? And Nana wants me to tell the, erm, non-vestige All Might 'hi' for her?'
'Yeah, kid.' En's voice says. 'It's actually pretty c- %*. Your quirk gave Toshinori *%*%* voice. Before that he was just %*% and had to mime stuff.'
Ghostly Communication: Level 4
'Oh. That's neat. Um. And I'll tell All Might 'hi' for you, Shimura-san.'
'Just call me Nana, kid. I live rent free in your head, after all.'
Izuku snickers at that. 'Alright, Nana. I'll, um, I'll talk to you all later?'
'Before you go,' Yoichi says. 'We need to tell you that OFA has reached singularity, so you'll be getting %* our quirks at some point. %** not sure when, though. Your quirk %* have messed with it.'
Izuku's eyes widen in shock. 'O-Oh! I'll, um, I'll ask it, then.'
'Ask it?' Banjo queries.
'Y-Yeah. I'm pretty sure it's sentient.'
'Wow, kid.' En says in a stunned tone.
'That explains a lot.' Hikage agrees.
'No wonder it gave OFA a complete overhaul.' Yoichi says wonderingly.
96% chance that ghostly vestige Yoichi is your uncle by blood.
Izuku sputters.
'Are you alright, kid?' Nana asks in concern.
'U-Um. Yeah. Just. My quirk just informed me that there's a 96% chance that Yoichi is my biological uncle.' He winces at the cacophony of voices that provokes. 'I'm, um. I'm going to let you all talk about that on your own, because you're kinda loud right now.'
'Sorry, kid.' En says.
'Yeah, sorry about that, kid.' Nana affirms. 'You don't happen to know who your father is, by chance?'
'U-Um, no. My quirk refuses to tell me because it's too dangerous to know, but I know he's a villain. My biological father, that is. My real dad isn't.'
Nana coos for some reason, like what he said was cute for some reason, which is a little disturbing.
'For what it's worth,' Yoichi says. 'I'm happy to have you as a nephew, even if it turns out to not be a blood connection. And %*% quirk is right, it is very dangerous for you to know, but it might be more dangerous for you to not know if he's not actually dead. %* Toshinori there's a chance that %* alive and have him tell you about him. Knowledge is power, after all.'
'O-Oh. Y-Yeah. I'll do that, then. Thanks, Yoichi oji.'Izuku acknowledges, brain spinning with possibilities.
Chapter 3: Nedzu, Indoor Battle Exercise
Aizawa sensei tells them homeroom is a study period for the day and warns them not to wake him up and makes to get into his sleeping bag before pausing, walking back to the podium and writing something down.
"Midoriya, here's a hall pass. Nedzu wants to talk to you."
Izuku jolts, then gets up and takes the pass from his perpetually tired teacher. When he's in the hall, he remembers that he doesn't know where the principal's office is. "Tell me where to turn to get to the principal's office."
Go straight ahead. Take elevator 2 down a floor and then elevator 1 up two floors. The office is to the right of the foyer that the elevator opens up on.
"Thanks." At least his quirk isn't playing games with him this time. Or maybe it's because he asked this time? Whichever the case, he's grateful.
~
The door swings open silently before he can knock, making a shiver travel down Izuku's spine.
"Am I a dog, a mouse or a bear? It doesn't matter, because I'm the principal. Call me Nedzu. Please, come in and take a seat."
He obeys nervously. "You, um, you wanted to see me Nedzu, sir?"
"Yes. You see, I quite enjoyed the games we played yesterday and I wondered if you would be willing to play another game of chess with me today."
Izuku freezes. "What?"
The Player played three games of chess with Nedzu yesterday at his request.
Score: 1 win | 2 losses
Nedzu looks slightly surprised at his reaction. "Is that so surprising? It's tough to find opponents that give me trouble winning."
He manages to not hyperventilate out of sheer panic. "Um. Nedzu. Sir. I'm about 99.999% sure my quirk is sentient. I didn't play chess with you, it- he- she- they- Um, do you have a gender?"
It or he is fine.
"Okay. He played with you. My quirk, that is. Its name is The Player."
"My. How interesting. That's not what it's called on your quirk registration." Nedzu observes, bright eyed with attentiveness.
"Yeah, um. It was my quirk doctor's suggestion. She said to never tell anyone I didn't fully trust about the extent of my quirk, but I'm pretty sure you have a bunch of it already figured out, or will shortly. Pleasedon't tell anyone. She said I should avoid the HPSC's attention too and-"
Nedzu holds up a hand-paw. "Not to fear, I am excellent at keeping secrets. Since you are All Might's successor, I should also let you know that I know about One for All and Yagi's failing health. Does that ease your mind?"
Izuku nods. "If All Might trusts you, then I do too."
"Now then. I have a hypothesis. Please tell me if I'm wrong. Your quirk in its original form was much like your official quirk description, but the addition of One for All powered it up and allowed it to become fully sentient. It now, instead of allowing you access to the internet and private networks, accesses those things for you."
"Uh. No and Yes."
"Oh? Do tell."
"It was sentient from the beginning. It's actually locked One for All's strength until I reach 50 in strength."
"50 in strength?"
"Yeah, it gives me stats and stuff like a video game. So, um. The only real thing I've gotten from One for All yet is the skill Ghostly Communication. It lets me talk to the vestiges in One for All. It's really cool. AllMight'sintheretooeventhoughhe'saliveandheandfiveotherstalkedtomeand-"
You are muttering.
"Eep! S-Sorry. I didn't mean to mutter."
"Not to worry, my ears are quite sharp. So there are six ghosts in One for All?"
"Eight. Two of them didn't want to talk to me, though. But I don't really mind, because my quirk said that I'm probably related to Uncle Yoichi – that's the first – biologically. Which is really exciting because I've never had any family that I remember except mom and dad. But my biological father is a villain whom my quirk refuses to tell me about, and Uncle Yoichi said I should ask All Might about him because it's possible that he's not dead." Izuku breaks off the word vomit and turns red in embarrassment. "Um."
Nedzu looks faintly disturbed. "I see. If what you're implying is true, then All Might should indeed be the one to tell you about his worst enemy. Now, if it's okay with you, I'd like to turn the subject back to your quirk. Are you sure that Ghostly Communication is the only thing One for All added to your quirk?"
"W-Well, no. I haven't checked the player overview since getting it."
"Then now is a good time to check."
"S-See player overview."
Izuku Midoriya
Quirk: The Player
Stats.
Inventory, limited. You now have ten inventory slots. Level reward.
Information search.
Skills.
Displays, limited. Locked. You can now show certain displays to other people. Level reward.
Spells. Locked until INT 75.
Dungeons. Locked until INT 100 + WIS 100 +STR 50 + VIT 50 + DEX 50.
Crafting. Locked until Dungeons are unlocked.
Quirks. Locked.
His eyes widen in surprise as he rereads the list to be sure. "Oh, that's new. Show Nedzu player overview?"
A pale blue pane pops up in from of Nedzu, who looks rapt as he reads it. "How many inventory slots did you have before?"
"Five."
"And I presume that you couldn't show the screens to others before getting the level reward?"
"Y-Yeah."
"Are the other locked tabs new since getting One for All?"
"Yeah. Although I had a locked Magic skill before getting it. Maybe only because I requested it, but it was there."
"Fascinating implications. I wonder if the choice in power ups is due to it trying to fulfill your expressed interest or because it's a common RPG mechanic?"
Both.
"It says 'both'." Izuku relays, feeling a little flustered at his quirk's thoughtfulness.
"Very interesting! I presume Quirks refers to One for All's super strength aspect. You did mention that it is locked."
"Um, actually." Izuku squints as he tries to recall. In vain. "Uncle Yoichi said something about quirks, but I can't remember what. I'll…ask him later." He decides, after getting a distinct impression of snoring when he mentally reaches out to Yoichi oji.
"May I see your stats?" Nedzu asks politely.
"Sure. Show Nedzu stats?"
Restricted Access
Must reach level 10 to show stats and skills pages to others.
"He says I'm not high enough level yet to show them to you."
"Disappointing. Ah, well. Perhaps you could read them to me instead?"
"Oh. Y-Yeah. Strength 39, vitality 21, dexterity 13, intelligence 48 and wisdom 49. Um, do you want the others?"
"No, that is sufficient for now. Back to our original subject, would you like to play a game of chess with me?"
"I don't know how."
"I would be delighted to teach you."
"Are you sure you don't want to play against my quirk instead?"
"I will, of course, be happy to play future games after hours with it. For now, I'd like to play against you."
"O-Oh. Okay."
"Excellent! Tea?"
"Y-Yes, please."
~
The class bell rings and Izuku pauses mid-reach for a pawn.
"Ah. You had best get to your next class. Don't worry, we can finish next time. Next Tuesday, same time?"
Quest: Establish a routine visit to Nedzu.
Well, if his quirk thinks so. This has got to be the easiest quest yet.
"As long as Aizawa sensei is okay with it."
Nedzu laughs. "I'll make sure he has a hall pass waiting for you."
Quest accomplished.
Quest rewards.
+500 EXP
+1 INT
+1 WIS
+1 StP
~
"Where's Midoriya?" Ectoplasm asks with a faint frown.
"With Nedzu!" Half the class choruses.
Ah. Well the kid probably isn't in trouble this early into the year and this early in the day. Hopefully this is a onetime thing.
The door slams open and Midoriya skitters inside, looking out of breath as the bell rings to start class. "Sorry I'm late!"
Ectoplasm shrugs. "Just shut the door and get in your seat."
"Yes, sensei!" Midoriya says and complies hastily.
~
Quest: Win the battle exercise.
Right. He already intended to do that.
Izuku stares at the paper-mâché bomb in his arms, then looks at Yaoyorozu. "I have an idea. Inventory."
His inventory pops up showing five filled and five empty slots. He shoves the fake bomb into one of the slots.
Momo stares, then shakes herself. "Should I make a decoy?"
"That's a good idea. Maybe make it the wrong shape so we don't confuse All Might sensei into thinking it's the real thing?"
"Oh, that would be bad. That's not hard. I'll just make it round instead of oblong."
"Should be good for a first glance. Kacc- er, Bakugou won't be focused on it anyways, he'll come after me. You'll just need a way to keep Shouji's attention off of it long enough to fool him."
Yaoyorozu nods. "Should we lure them into the same room? It seems to me that it would be more efficient to divide and conquer."
"Yeah, that's a good idea. I wouldn't want you to get hurt in the crossf-" Izuku breaks off as his quirk pops up a pane.
Suggestion: Create fakes for every room.
He stares at it for a long moment, then laughs delightedly. "Show Yaoyorozu suggestion."
A pale blue pane pops up in front of her, showing the same thing.
She looks at it, nods after a moment, then looks back at him. "I can do that. Is your quirk sentient?"
"It is!"
"Thank you for the suggestion, quirk. It's a good one." She says politely. "Do you have a name?"
I do. It's a secret.
"Oh."
"You can call it 'Find and Keep'. That's the official name for him." Izuku offers.
~
"He got past me to the bomb." Yaoyorozu informs him. Then a moment later. "I managed to get capture tape on him."
"Shouji has been captured." All Might's voice says at the same time.
Shouji must say something too, because Kacchan's face lights up with rage. "Another fake! Where's the real one, Deku!?"
"Why don't you find out?" He taunts before he thinks the sentence through and whips around and runs like hell for the first floor stairs, Kacchan hot on his heels, swearing and palms cracking off explosions to push him along faster. There's a precarious moment where he almost misses the step and goes sliding down the stairs, but he hops and manages to land on a step properly and from there is slightly more careful as he pelts down the stairs as fast as he can manage. Using the bannister, he makes a sharp turn at the bottom, managing to just barely dodge Kacchan's fist as he overshoots his target.
"Die! Fucking Deku!"
Eventually though, Kacchan corners him and lifts one of his gauntlets to aim at him. "These are designed to store my sweat. Try dodging this."
"Bakugou, stop! You'll kill him!"
Izuku's eyes widen in horror and he lunges for Kacchan's arm.
"Not if he dodges!" He retorts and pulls the trigger.
Izuku manages to shove Kacchan's arm upwards just as the gauntlet goes off. It punches a hole through the ceiling and the blow back throws him against the wall and Kacchan backwards halfway across the room.
Ouch. He's definitely got some bruises and burns from this. But on the bright side, he's still alive and unmaimed, so that has to count for something. Izuku laughs breathily and realizes his ears are ringing when he can barely hear himself. He raises his voice. "Here's a clue, Kacchan. The bomb isn't on the first floor."
"Bakugou, if you do that again, you're disqualified." All Might says sternly.
Realization passes over Kacchan's face. "You fucker. I don't have time to find it. At least I can take you out."
Izuku isn't in a position to run again, but he manages to block a few of the punches Kacchan throws at him. Kacchan's a genius at fighting, though, so it's not long before he's flat on his face on the floor, with his arms pulled painfully behind his back so he can't struggle.
"Villains win."
Ah, the time must've expired.
Quest accomplished.
Quest rewards.
+734 EXP
+2 DEX
+1 WIS
+1 StP
Kacchan lets off a short scream of frustration and lets go of him.
He rolls over and rubs at his shoulders for a moment before getting to his feet, a wide grin stretched across his face. He beat Kacchan!
"Young Midoriya, please return the bomb."
"Okay, All Might sensei." He says and smirks at Kacchan as he pulls it out of Inventory.
There's a beat of silence, then Kacchan breaks into unrepeatable swearing.
Chapter 4: Class Reps, Break in, Conversation
"You have something to do today that will be important to your futures." Aizawa sensei says and pauses before adding, "You need to choose class representatives. I don't care how you do it, but have it done by the end of class." Then he climbs in his sleeping bag and apparently goes to sleep.
Izuku doubts that he's actually asleep. Leaving a class functionally unsupervised wouldn't be smart, and Aizawa definitely isn't stupid. That aside, he winces at the sudden escalation of noise as everyone starts shouting about how they'd be best for the position.
Iida insists that a vote is the only fair way to choose, because obviously those with more votes will win.
"Actually," Izuku finds himself saying and only cringes a little when all eyes turn to him. "I-I think we should choose among the girls for class reps. Because there's still more discrimination against females in heroics and having the position on their records will give them more opportunities."
There's a giant beat of silence before Yaoyorozu says, "I don't think-"
"I like it! That's so manly, Midoriya!" Kirishima interrupts her.
"Once again you prove you are the better man, Midoriya." Iida also talks right over her. "We will give the girls this opportunity, as it will mean more to them."
"Don't fucking tell me what to do." Kacchan mutters, but with no heat to it.
Yaoyorozu makes a ballot box and small papers to write on and everyone casts their votes.
Iida writes the results on the board.
Ashido - 4
Asui – 2
Hagakure – 2
Jiro – 2
Uraraka – 2
Yaoyorozu – 8
"Yaoyorozu is our class rep and Ashido is our vice rep." Iida announces.
"Please call me Momo or Yaomomo. My surname is rather difficult." Yaoyorozu says as she stands and bows. "I promise to do my best as your class representative."
"Hell, yeah!" Ashido cheers. "I'm going to be the best vice rep ever."
And that is that and they move on with their day.
~
"Young Midoriya, would you like to eat lunch with me?" All Might says, appearing out of…somewhere, a bento looking comically tiny dangling from his hand.
He sneaks a glance at Momo, who has chosen to walk next to him.
She gives him a tiny nod of encouragement.
"Of course." He says and follows All Might to a nook on the fourth floor with a table and two chairs, which he had not suspected of existing.
All Might takes a seat and deflates. "Nedzu says that you need to talk to me?"
"A-Ah, yes." Izuku replies, taken off guard as he sits as well. "How do I-? No, wait. First you need to know that there's been some developments with my quirk. One for All has expanded its functions, which I sort of found out the first day I had it, but didn't realize the extent of until Nedzu asked me to check yesterday. Basically it updated itself. It now has a couple new tabs on the overview and a couple new skills."
"Maybe get to the point, kid." En prods.
"Which brings me to what I need to ask you about. One of my new skills is called-"
A piercing sound interrupts him and causes All Might to puff back up into his hero form as an alert is issued.
"Young Midoriya, please stay here and enjoy your lunch. I need to go help with this."
And then All Might is gone, before Izuku has even the presence of mind to shut his mouth.
Okay. Well, that just happened. Looks like he's going to have to ask All Might about that another day. Maybe he should go find out what exactly a level 3 alert is?
Quest: Stay put.
He stares at the text pane with mild betrayal for a long moment, then huffs and opens his bento. As much as he'd like to find out, he does trust his quirk to have his best interests at heart. "You could at least tell me why." He complains.
There is a dangerous intruder in the school. Encountering the intruder is inadvisable in the extreme.
Oh, that makes sense.
"Wait. Shouldn't I at least tell the teachers?"
You would just be a distraction at this moment.
Well, ouch.
"Then I should tell them later?"
You could.
In other words, his quirk doesn't care or maybe just trusts the teachers to figure it out on their own. Nedzu can probably put together what happened from the security footage later. But what if he doesn't? No, he definitely needs to tell them. He can tell Aizawa sensei, who will know if Nedzu needs the information or not. But after lunch. That should be soon enough. Since he literally has a quest to keep him from doing it right now.
Sometimes he hates quests.
~
He's only partway through eating when another pane pops up.
Quest accomplished.
Quest rewards.
+202 Exp.
+2 WIS
+1 StP
That fast? He should- No, he should wait until he's done eating, shouldn't he? He absently puts the stat point into vitality.
Izuku Midoriya
Level 6
Exp. 6731/8000
STR: 39
VIT: 24
DEX: 15
INT: 49
WIS: 53
HP: 144/144
MP: 0/0 Locked.
STA: 63/63
StP: 0
When he gets back to class, everyone is babbling about the press breaking in and Emergency Exit Iida. Whatever that means.
Then he realizes that this is English class, so Aizawa sensei won't be here. As if to emphasize that, Yamada sensei comes in right then.
"Yo. Get in your seats, kids." He admonishes in English.
Hesitating briefly, Izuku makes the choice and goes up front to ask.
"Yamada sensei?"
"What's up, listener?"
"Can I get a hall pass? I need to talk to Aizawa sensei."
"Is it an emergency?" Yamada sensei asks, lowering his voice.
Izuku lowers his too. "I have information about the break in."
Yamada sensei goes still, then nods and writes him out a hall pass. "You know where the teacher's lounge is, listener?"
"Yes, sensei."
~
One of Ectoplasm's clones stops him in the hall until he shows him the hall pass. Other than that, finding the teacher's lounge is easy enough. He doesn't even have to rely on his quirk to get there.
Aizawa is on the couch and opens his eyes as Izuku enters, before sighing and sitting up. "What's wrong, Midoriya?"
"It's about the break in."
"It was just the press. Someone eroded the gate."
"No, it wasn't. I wasn't sure what the alarm meant so I was going to go find out, but my quirk gave me a quest to stay put. When I asked why, it said that there was a dangerous intruder that it didn't want me to run into." He explains.
Aizawa sensei hesitates, then sighs. "Thank you for bringing this to me. We are aware. Just don't tell your classmates. The last thing we need is panic. What's this about 'quests'? And how did your quirk know about the intruder?"
Izuku freezes as he realizes suddenly that he screwed up. "Um. Th-The Find part of my quirk is information gathering? It can access internet and…uh, stuff."
"Hm. That explains how it knew, if it can access UA's system, which by the way is beyond the scope of what your quirk description implies, but what about the 'quests'?"
He sags a little, because he doesn't have a good explanation for that other than the truth. After a moment, he decides that UA wouldn't employ heroes who aren't trustworthy. "Um. My quirk is sentient. It can access pretty much anything connected to the internet as far as I can tell, even encrypted stuff. And, um. I-It works like a video game sort of, with stats and stuff and it gives quests that give experience and allow me to level up."
Aizawa sensei stares at him until he shifts on his feet uncomfortably, then blinks. "Has it been recommended to you to keep the full extent of your quirk to yourself?"
"What? Oh. Y-Yes, sensei. Sorry. I'm not supposed to tell people I don't trust an-and I don't know you very well. B-But I should've told you because-"
His teacher holds up a hand to stop him. "Midoriya, I understand. I'm glad you're telling me now, because that will allow me to better plan how to train you, but whoever told you to be cautious was very much in the right. The HPSC would kill to get its hands on an information gathering quirk of that ability, never mind the other aspects of your quirk. Not to mention how you would be targeted by other unscrupulous parties if word got out. You don't know me and there's no good reason for you to trust me so soon into the school year. I'm not upset that you didn't tell me sooner. Understood?"
"Y-Yes, sensei." He says in bewilderment. Teachers are never this nice to him, even though most of them aren't outright mean.
"Now, can you tell me how stats work for you?"
"Oh! Um. I can only add stat points to vitality. Strength, dexterity, intelligence and wisdom have to be leveled up by improving my physical strength, agility, how much I know, and decisions I make or analysis. Respectively. Hit points is six times my vitality and stamina is my strength plus vitality. Some drinks and foods can buff my hit points or stamina or both. Some of the buffs last longer than others. And mana points is locked, so I don't know how that works. And-"
"Might as well tell him, kid. He's your teacher. He's here to help you." Nana urges.
He hesitates a beat longer, then takes a deep breath and adds, "And when I hit fifty strength I should unlock super strength. That's like. An extra ability."
Aizawa sensei blinks slowly. "And what is the Keep part of your quirk about?"
"Oh, that's inventory. It only has ten slots, but I can put multiple items in a slot if they're in a container or all the same. And I might get more slots in the future because I started off with five."
"I see. So you're telling me that your sentient quirk gives you virtually unlimited information access, access to your own pocket dimension to store things, will give you super strength and most likely will give you magic as well? Am I missing anything?"
"It also lets me level up skills and I can use them to perform at the top of my current proficiency in them. And talk to ghosts in my head."
"Ghosts." Aizawa sensei repeats, deadpan.
"Vestiges." Uncle Yoichi corrects meticulously in his head, sounding just the slightest bit sulky.
"There's eight of them."
"Right. And you've only had your quirk a bit under a year, is that correct?"
"Yes. Mom helped me get it registered less than a week after I got it."
His teacher sighs. "Well, now I know why Nedzu wants weekly meetings with you. I expect you to not use your quirk or your ghosts to help with tests, problem child. Tests are a measure of what you know, not the resources at your fingertips."
"Killjoy." A voice, that must be the second or third vestige because he doesn't recognize it, complains.
Izuku nods frantically. "I wouldn't. I swear, Aizawa sensei. I don't think my quirk would let me anyways."
"Good. I believe you, problem child. Now I have a 'quest' for you. Get yourself back to class and do well on that pop quiz Yamada has for your class today."
"Yes, sensei!" Izuku says, even as a pane surprises him by popping into existence.
Teacher issued quest: Get back to class and score well on the English pop quiz.
He didn't know that could happen!
"Uh, sensei? My quirk just gave me a 'teacher issued quest' for that. I just thought you should know."
"Thank you, problem child. Now off you go."
"Yes, sensei!" He hurries out of the teachers' lounge and back through the halls to his class room.
When he gets there, the rest of the class is already working on the quiz. Yamada sensei gives him a questioning look, then an encouraging smile and motions to his desk. Fortunately, it appears that his quiz is already laying on his desk, so he can start on it as soon as he slides into his chair. Now, he just has to do well on this quiz.
Chapter 5: Find-san and USJ
Ashido whistles loudly for attention. "Alright everyone, line up. You can sit anywhere you want once we're on the bus, but we still have to get through the door without squishing."
Iida looks like he wants to protest, but Izuku's not sure which part he wants to protest. Maybe the sitting anywhere part? At least Iida keeps quiet instead of arguing with her. Which is something of an accomplishment, give that it's obvious that the boy is militant about rule following. Still, he's pretty sure there are no rules for where you sit in the bus other than 'not in the driver's seat'.
Everyone settles down on the bus pretty quickly. Asui and Yaomomo and Uraraka sit near him on the open benches facing inwards, while Iida goes to the back and sits next to Kacchan for some reason. Possibly to argue with him? Weird hobby, but whatever floats his boat.
Asui says, "I'm blunt and say what I think. Midoriya, isn't your quirk a little weird? The cameras showed floating words and you were able to make the bomb disappear and reappear."
"Ah." He picks at the seam of his pants nervously. "Yes? I mean it does both things. It's called Find and Keep and he goes by he/it pronouns. Um. He's sentient. He can access most things on the internet for information and um, it has an Inventory too. Only ten slots, though. I mostly use it to store my backpack and keys, things like that. I might use the extra slots to carry hero supplies after this, though."
He doesn't find out what Asui has to say to that, because apparently Tokoyami and Dark Shadow are sitting close enough to overhear them and suddenly he has a close up of an excited bird shadow.
"Your quirk is sentient? Like me?"
Izuku is surprised when a pale blue text pane pops up between them, though it's a bit tricky reading it backwards.
Yes. I am sentient.
"That's so cool! I'm Dark Shadow. Can I call you Find-san?"
Yes. It is nice to meet you, Dark Shadow.
"Um, not to interrupt, but… Could you two maybe take this conversation somewhere that isn't right in front of my face?" Izuku asks.
The light blue pane obligingly disappears and reforms over the rear edge of the bench seats, closer to Tokoyami.
Dark Shadow looks shocked and looks back and forth between them for a moment, before retreating so it's face to text with the pane.
Izuku looks back at the girls to gauge their reactions. Uraraka is giggling, Asui looks amused and Yaomomo looks to be politely suppressing laughter.
"I doubt that it's often that two sentient quirks meet." Yaomomo says.
"We're witnessing history here." Uraraka agrees with a giggle.
"It is quite interesting to watch." Asui adds, then looks at them. "I'm in agreement with Momo on names, please call me Tsu instead of Asui."
"Oh! Then call me Ochako."
Then all three of them look at him expectantly. "Uh, um. I guess you can call me Izuku?"
"Not Deku?" Ura- Ochako asks.
He frowns at her. "No. That's just an insult Kacchan uses for me because he thinks I'm useless."
"Oh, sorry. I thought it sounded like dekiru. Y'know, 'I can do it!'"
"Um, with the right accent I guess? I kind of like that. No one has ever said it that way be-"
Two panes pop up. A normal one in front of him.
Don't let her call you Deku.
And a pale blue one in front of Ura- Ochako.
Do NOT call him Deku. I will hack your grades and change them to zero if you do.
Ochako blinks, blinks again, then laughs. "I guess Find-san has some pretty strong feelings on the matter. I'll just call you Izuku."
"Appreciated." Izuku says absently, then finishes decoding the backwards text in front of Ochako and scolds his quirk. "There's no need to threaten her."
Hmph.
He gapes at the response, then shakes his head. "Okay, okay, you win."
There's a muffled snort from the seat in front of them, but when he looks, Aizawa sensei is slumped down and facing forwards. Maybe he was mistaken? Oh, who is he kidding? Aizawa sensei can definitely overhear them and there's no way he's actually napping.
~
Thirteen sensei has just finished warning about the dangers of improperly used quirks when someone gasps and points and simultaneously a pane pops up in front of Izuku.
Emergency quest: Survive
Optional quest: Help your classmates and teachers survive
Optional quest: Defeat villains
Optional quest: Outsmart villains
Notice: The following have been allowed for the duration of event
Super strength is temporarily unlocked
+100 STR
+100 VIT
+100 DEX
Oh shit!
"No, those are real villains." Aizawa sensei replies to some question. "Thirteen, stay with the kids and protect them. I'll stall them. Kaminari, try and boost the signal and see if you can get through to warn the school."
All relevant parties have been notified.
"Wait! Aizawa sensei! You can't-" No, he can't stop his teacher from doing the dumbest thing possible, can he? Adults never listen. "Um. Find-san says it's taken care of."
"Good. And don't worry about me, you don't get to be a pro without having more than one trick." Aizawa sensei says and leaps down the stairs to face the frankly terrifying number of villains.
Izuku bites his lip and retreats with the rest of the class. Except the portal villain ambushes them, dodges Kacchan and Kirishima, turns Thirteen's quirk back on her and drops them all through portals.
Then he's trying not to drown while a villain comes at him, until something snatches him out of the water and dumps him on the boat in the middle of the shipwreck zone next to Tsu and Mineta. He coughs a few times to clear his throat, then looks at them.
"So, either of you have a plan?"
Mineta looks terrified. "We're gonna die!"
"I was hoping you would have one, since you seem to be good at them." Tsu says calmly.
"Um." Shit. Okay. "What are your quirks?"
"I can do anything a frog can do, including spitting out my stomach to clean it and excreting a mild poison. It's only strong enough to make someone itch, though." Tsu says promptly.
"Mine is Pop-off. I can pull these off and more appear, but if I do too many at a time my scalp starts bleeding. They're sticky and stick to everything but me."
"Are they strong enough to stick two people together?"
"Yeah. We're going to die, aren't we?"
He thinks about the notification from earlier and what that means for him. "I think I have a plan."
On Super Strength, spread out the energy instead of confining it to one limb or you'll shatter your bones.
Well ouch. Good to know, though.
Also, do not go above 35%.
Okay, that's limiting, but still a lot of power to work with if he's right.
"Asui, can y-?"
"I told you to call me Tsu."
"Right." He says sheepishly, but the villains have gotten tired of waiting to see what they'll do and a hand shaped wave of water slams into the shipwreck, cracking it in half. "Tsu, how far do you think you can jump carrying both of us?"
"About three quarters of the way."
"That should be plenty. Tsu, you do that. Mineta, throw all your hair balls into the water near the villains and I'll make sure that they catch the villains."
Tsu gives him a dubious look, but nods. Mineta apparently doesn't know enough about Izuku's quirk to doubt him and begins to pull off purple sticky spheres and lob them at the villains. He focuses on drawing up the energy of OFA and spreading it throughout his body, only wavering when green lightning starts crackling around him. When Mineta's scalp starts bleeding, Tsu picks them both up under her each arm, bravely ignoring Izuku's lightning, and leaps. Izuku waits until they're right over the villains before punching downwards with 20%.
"USJ Smash!"
The bottom of the lake shows for a long instant, before the water rushes back in, pulling the villains willy-nilly with it along with Mineta's hairballs and sticking them together in a yelling, cursing mass of frustration.
Izuku doesn't really get to see it, though, because the blowback of the smash alters their trajectory, sending them tumbling wildly through the air. Fortunately they are still going forward, so they end up more or less belly flopping right where Tsu aimed at and after a frantic moment are able to stand up and wade towards the shore.
As they step out of the water, they look over to the main plaza in time to see Aizawa sensei pulling away from the leader, arm streaming blood, and they hurry towards him with the intention of helping. Then they freeze in horror as a moment later they see him get smashed into the ground by the hulking black villain with its brain on the outside.
The leader tsks and walks towards them. "I guess All Might really isn't coming, but we can hurt his pride by killing some kids first."
His hand lifts towards Tsu's face, only to be interrupted when the door of the USJ blows off, revealing All Might at the top of the stairs. All Might is not smiling when he tugs off his tie and says, "There's no need to be afraid anymore. Why? Because I Am Here."
"I knew that would draw All Might out!" The leader crows, a manic grin on his face.
It's enough to break the fear and Izuku finally has the presence of mind to punch the leader. His hit does nothing, caught on the stomach of the weird brain villain, but Izuku gets close enough that in the process of getting between them the villain knocks the leader backwards onto the floor. The leader curses as he gets back to his feet. Izuku stares up at the weird brain villain (Nomu the leader calls it?) in shock. That was a full 35%! It should've at least moved it!
Simultaneously, All Might has moved, swiftly defeating all the remaining villains in the plaza and getting Aizawa sensei out of reach. While the leader curses and Izuku stares, All Might grabs the three of them and deposits them at the top of the stairs next to Aizawa sensei, who is sitting up and wrapping a bandage around his damaged arm. No wait, that's his capture weapon.
The ensuing fight is brutal and Izuku finds himself jumping back in to help, ignoring Aizawa sensei's heartfelt curse behind him because he knows All Might needs to finish this fight fast. Then Kacchan and Todoroki show up at the same time that the other teachers do, All Might finishes off the still regenerating Nomu while the portal villain tries to get away from Kacchan and rescue the leader, only to have his quirk erased by Aizawa sensei and be knocked out with a punch from Kacchan. Snipe sensei shoots the leader as he reaches for Todoroki, so he's ends up cursing and screaming in rage while favoring his injured hands and leg.
That lasts until Midnight sensei goes over and knocks him out with her gas.
Then it's just the teachers taking care of the rest of the villains and making sure the other students get out okay. Cementoss puts up a wall separating All Might from view and Izuku just kind of sinks to the floor as his legs give out in the aftermath of adrenaline.
Notice:
Super Strength is now locked.
+100 STR is no longer active.
+100 VIT is no longer active.
+100 DEX is no longer active.
Quest accomplished
Quest rewards
+38400 Exp.
+4 levels
+1 StP
+4 StP
Optional quest accomplished
Quest rewards
+1 StP
Optional quest accomplished
Quest rewards
+1 StP
Optional quest accomplished
+2 WIS
+1 StP
He stares at the panes uncomprehendingly until the information slowly sinks in. Somehow, just in this one (terrifying) event, he's jumped four levels as well as gained stupid amounts of experience, 2 points in wisdom and 8 stat points.
Izuku really feels that the rewards are not worth the terror and threats to his life. Yeah, no. Sometimes he hates quests.