Chapter 9: Reunited Beyond Death
All Might collapsed to his knees as he shrank down, arms wrapped hesitantly around the master he had lost. Toshinori held her loosely for a second, seemingly unsure what to do. Then, the dam burst. He gathered Nana tightly in his arms, buried his face in her hair, and sobbed.
"Nana! Oh, god, NANA!"
The scene that unfolded before Izuku was an odd combination of heartwarming and gut wrenching he'd never experienced before. He'd known it would be an emotional event for both of them; how could it be anything else? He'd obviously misjudged the scale of it, however, considering he now bore witness to two of the greatest heroes he knew of completely breaking down in each other's arms.
This wasn't just friends who'd been reunited after they thought all hope was lost. It wasn't even what he'd have expected from a master and student who thought they'd lost one another forever. There was something deeper here. It was…
The realization hit Izuku like a ton of bricks. It was like when he'd first seen his mother after the USJ incident. The way she'd clung to him. The way he'd hugged her back, the stress and fear all crashing in at once now that he felt completely and utterly safe in her arms.
He was witnessing a mother and son, reunited beyond death.
Izuku had to smother a sob of his own as the enormity of what this must mean to them slammed home. He glanced upwards and caught Torino as he wiped something from his own wrinkled cheek, alone in his realm in the sky. The sight left a ball of guilt festering in Izuku's stomach. How much must it hurt Torino to see Nana, but be separated from her by whatever rules kept the spaces apart?
'Can I change that?'
Carefully, Izuku reached upwards with his will. Through it, he could feel the Vestige Realm around him, and its connection to Yoichi. He pushed beyond it, into the expanse of nothingness beyond. He'd done so before, when he initiated the creation of his own personal Dagobah Beach. He pushed further.
Suddenly, there was a wall. A barrier he couldn't push past, a frictionless surface impossible to grasp. Try as he might, he couldn't breach it, couldn't interact with it at all.
Above, Torino's gaze snapped from Nana and Toshinori to look down at Izuku. "You doing something?"
"Oh, you could feel that?" Izuku asked. At the answering nod, he grimaced. "I was trying to see if I could pull you down here, but I don't think I can. I'm sorry I can't…"
Izuku choked up, unable to finish.
"This is already more than I could have ever hoped for." Torino smiled with a gentleness Izuku wouldn't have thought possible before that moment. The lines creasing his face deepened and tears rolled along them. "Thank you, Izuku."
Izuku's attention was wrenched back downward by a massive arm closing around his shoulders. It tightened to squeeze him between it, Toshinori's chest, and Nana's shoulder.
"Thank you, my boy. Thank you." Toshinori whispered brokenly. "This is… the most wonderful gift I've ever been given."
"I can't thank you enough, Izuku." Nana's arm snaked out from between Izuku's stomach and Toshinori's ribs to find its way around his back, squeezing Izuku all the closer. "I thought the next time I'd see Toshi was after he died, and his Vestige appeared in here like the rest of us. As much as I wanted to talk to him again, I was terrified of the day I would. Thank you for bringing him here without something as awful as his death being the cost."
Izuku pulled Nana close with one arm, then managed to get the other about half way around Toshinori's broad back. "I'm happy about that too. I'd kind of like to keep him for a while."
A watery laugh burst from Nana, and she grinned at him through her tears. "We can work out a custody agreement. I call dibs on the weekends."
Toshinori snorted a surprised chuckle, which sounded absolutely disgusting given his nose was running. "Aren't those usually for children?"
"Oh, as if you're not crying like a big baby right now."
"And you're not?"
"Nope." Nana buried her face in Toshinori's chest again. Her next words were muffled, but still just barely audible. "Can't see my face, can't prove anything!"
Toshinori bellowed a laugh, the smile on his face more brilliant than any Izuku had ever seen. "God I've missed you."
"You too, big guy." Nana murmured. Then, louder; "And Sorahiko too, I guess."
"Hey!" Torino called from above, mock indignation in his voice.
"Thank you, Izuku." Nana smiled wider even as she choked down another sob. "Thank you for letting me have this again."
"You're welcome. But Yoichi and Kinenkō deserve some credit too." Izuku replied. "Yoichi helped set everything up with the personal realms so that Kudo and Bruce could step away for this, rather than just staring at a wall or something and ruining the moment. And Kinenkō's the only reason we can do it at all."
Toshinori spun around sharply to face the thrones again. Izuku caught sight of Kinenkō just as he un-subtly stepped out of sight behind Toshinori's throne, while Yoichi's eyes went wide and he raised his hands wardingley. "It was Izuku's idea, I just-"
"Come'ere!" Toshinori and Nana roared in unison, then shot towards the First user as Torino cackled from above.
Once Toshinori and Nana had been convinced to release their captives, Toshinori had finally realized the condition he was in. The sheer joy he radiated at the simple act of taking a deep breath had been bittersweet, but nonetheless an unexpected blessing. Toshinori had spent a few minutes marvling at his restored health before he'd turned his attention towards the Vestiges around him once more.
Toshinori's introduction went relatively smoothly after that. Yoichi had taken to mock-pouting in his throne once he'd been put down, but wasn't particularly convincing. Kinenkō had been nervous, and Toshinori visibly unsure what to make of him, but with Izuku to guide the interaction it hadn't been too bad. Hikage had given his greeting and immediately passed the walking force of personality on to Daigoro, who was still periodically giggling when he glanced Yoichi's way.
Izuku had suspected that Daigoro and Toshinori would get along, but he'd underestimated them in grand fashion. Daigoro had immediately segwayed his greeting into an appreciative discussion of Toshinori's sense of showmanship and spectacle. Evidently, Daigoro had similar tendencies during his time as a hero, though the darker nature of his Quirk had lent itself towards a more 'Heroic Rebel' brand. They'd immediately began bouncing stories off of one another, grins growing wider and laughs growing louder with each one.
Nana, who now stood tucked against Toshinori's side, had shared a glance with En as the exuberant duo chatted enthusiastically next to them. Izuku didn't think he'd ever seen a look convey 'This might have been a mistake' quite so clearly, and doubted he would ever see its match. It had taken Nana actively working her way into the conversation to remind the two that others were still present, at which point Daigoro bowed out in favor of En.
"Toshinori!" Izuku couldn't see En's mouth past his collar, but the way his eyes crinkled suggested a smile. "It's an honor to finally meet you. I've heard a great deal."
"The honor is entirely mine, En." Toshinori replied, then bowed. Deeply . "I cannot possibly thank you enough for what you and yours gave to protect Nana, and by extension, myself."
En went rigid for a moment, then closed his eyes as he breathed deeply. After a moment, he returned the bow. "I am glad their efforts weren't in vain. I'm sure they would be as well. Nana did an amazing job of hobbling All for One's empire, and when you returned, you continued her work with aplomb. I didn't expect any of us to pose a serious threat to him for another few generations, but you very nearly saw our cause to its end. Even if he managed to evade death, you did far more than I could have even dreamed."
"I still intend to see it done." Toshinori said grimly. "My time isn't up quite yet."
En nodded in response.
Izuku looked between the three of them, obviously missing some important context. Nana noticed his confusion first, and deftly slipped from Toshinori's side. She slung an arm around Izuku's shoulders and guided him towards the opposite side of the room. Izuku glanced behind them to see En and Toshinori watch them go. After a pause, En nodded towards Nana, then he and Toshinori continued their conversation.
"I take it Toshi never explained much of our specific history?"
Izuku shook his head. "Not really. I never got a chance to read any of the notes that were left behind either."
"Those were mostly dry case files and research into All for One. Daigoro's contribution had a bit more personal information, but that was mostly in his memoir for Hikage." Nana said. "That's actually the only reason we knew anything about One for All's earlier history."
Izuku glanced in Daigoro's direction, and found the man quietly leaning against Hikage's throne as he fiddled with a strange multicolored cube. Hikage meditated in his seat, but Izuku thought he could see a faint upwards tilt to the stoic man's lips.
"After that, it was just a bunch of information that's wildly outdated now. I honestly don't think I included many specifics on what happened to En and his team as a precaution." Nana grimaced faintly. "Granted, if anyone had managed to get their hands on my notes that probably would have been a moot point, but it pays to be safe."
"So… what happened?"
Nana glanced at Toshinori and En again, then turned her attention back to Izuku. She looked vaguely ill.
"I assume you've heard about the Kamikura Slaughter?"
A chill ran through Izuku like someone had dumped ice water into his veins. "...A-as in one of the single greatest losses of Japanese life in the 22nd century? The one where the government told the First Responders to evacuate, because they were just adding to the death count?"
"Unfortunately, yes." Nana nodded grimly.
"Of course that's what you meant. Nothing else would be called that." Izuku muttered distantly. "Did En rescue you from it? Is that what Toshinori meant?"
"He did, in a way, but that's just the beginning." Nana sighed. "The Slaughter was All for One hunting En."
"Oh." Izuku said. He glanced around for a place to sit. Thankfully, someone conjured a chair for him to drop into as his legs gave out, because he certainly couldn't manage it at that moment. "The history books say it was a terror attack from a hidden MLA cell."
"They said that about a lot of things, in those times." Nana carefully sat in her own chair, and the two of them gazed out into the swirling darkness beyond the border of the ruins. "All for One ambushed En and one of his sidekicks while they were investigating a drug ring. I don't know most of the specifics, and I wouldn't recommend asking En about them either. In the end, All for One incinerated both the sidekick and En's legs in one attack. Somehow, En managed to escape through the sewers anyway."
Izuku raised a shaking hand to his mouth. He tried to speak, but found that words escaped him.
"He stumbled on me when he dragged himself out of a storm drain. We were acquainted, but I wouldn't have called us friends. But given his condition, I was his only choice. I accepted One for All willingly, though I didn't really have the full picture of what it entailed at the time." Nana continued. "It kicked in pretty quickly for me, and I got to figure out flight on my way out of the disaster zone. En guided me to one of his hide-y holes half way across Japan, and gave me the debrief on the way."
Nana swallowed hard, eyes unfocused. For all she'd warned Izuku off asking En about the events she was describing, she certainly wasn't having an easy time of it herself. Izuku doubted anyone who'd survived that disaster would.
"Once we got there, he was barely hanging on. He contacted his second in command and introduced me as his successor, then told them to start Operation Smoketrail. The last thing he did was tell me to get out on the streets, make myself seen, and not to use One for All in any obvious way for as long as I could." Nana said. "So I did. I stayed out for two days, only used Float the way it was before I received the power. Rasen was furious with me, because he knew I was supposed to be in Kamikura. I hadn't even thought to tell my fiancee where I was. He only found out I survived because someone he knew saw me on TV. Sorahiko was pissed too."
Tears trailed down Nana's cheeks again as she stared out into the void. Above, Izuku saw Gran Torino watching them, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. When he noticed Izuku looking up at him, Torino patted himself on the shoulder, then pointed to Nana. Izuku took the hint and placed his own hand on her shoulder, then gave it a light squeeze.
Nana startled. Her head snapped around to look at him, but she relaxed under his hand as her eyes cleared. "You don't have to tell me the rest. This is clearly an awful memory for you."
"I'm almost done anyway." Nana shook her head. "En's second got in touch with me through her Telepathy Quirk around then, and told me where to find En's stash of research on All for One. She never told me her name, or any of the names of his sidekicks. En never has either. All I know is that they spent almost 16 years leading All for One on a wild goose chase across most of Asia."
"16 years?" Izuku breathed out in awe. "They managed to evade All for One for that long?"
Nana nodded solemnly. "I think they were greater heroes than I ever was for that. They took the brunt of All for One's focus off of Japan for the better part of two decades. As near as I can figure, they convinced him that En was still alive and hiding in another country. In that time, I was able to live a mostly normal life while being a hero and poking holes in his organization." The tears returned, though there was a hint of a smile beneath them. "I got married. I had a 'Quirk Awakening' a year later that I claimed turned Float into a kind of Tactile Telekinesis, so I could use more of One for All. I had my Son." Nana choked up at the mention of her child. "I met Toshi, and the crazy little bastard actually convinced me he could be a hero to the whole world."
For a moment, Nana's smile turned brilliant as she glanced over her shoulder. Izuku followed her gaze, and found Toshinori looking back at them, only stopped from rushing to them by En's hand on his shoulder. Toshinori considered them a moment, then sent a small, reassuring smile their way.
Nana turned back towards Izuku, and set her shoulders. "They held out the entirety of my time as the Seventh holder, into Toshinori's second year at UA. That's the last time we got an update, at least. After that… we never heard from any of En's team again."
"All for One found them?" Izuku asked quietly.
"We don't know. Something definitely happened to the second in command, otherwise she would have contacted us at some point. But one day, her usual check-ins just… didn't come anymore." Nana stared out into the void once more, and looked like she was about to say something before she bit her lip. A moment later, she continued. "Once I got here, one of the first things En asked me about was what happened to them. He was against the entire plan from the start, but when they insisted, he agreed to it as a failsafe. He was both proud and horrified by how long they managed to keep it going, but more than anything he felt awful that they did that because of him."
"That's… Incredible. Horrifying. They must have been amazing."
Nana nodded. "Most of them were Vigilantes before En got to them, from his stories. He'd keep an eye on them for a while, try to figure out what made them tick. If he liked what he saw, he'd catch them, then give them the option of going through the Hero Onboarding System, like he did with Daigoro. He stuck his neck out for them, and they repaid him with loyalty unlike damn near anything I've ever seen."
Izuku nodded absently, then belatedly latched onto something he'd nearly missed. "Daigoro was a vigilante?"
"Yep." Nana said, popping the P. "His story is his to tell, obviously, but I don't think he'd care that I mentioned that. He was the first stray En picked up, back when he was still fresh out of The Academy. Daigoro didn't have One for All yet, but I'd still call it an impressive achievement. They worked together for years."
"I really need to get a more in-depth explanation of One for All's history at some point." Izuku muttered. "The lives you've all lived… I'm sure you all have things I could learn from."
"Oh, you've got that right." Nana chuckled. "I'd like to think we were all spectacular in our own ways. Then again, you'll also get stories like the time I used Sorahiko as a potato gun, or the Origins of Wall Fight…"
Izuku snorted. "I got that story earlier."
Nana glared upwards at Torino. "I can't believe you stole that opportunity from me!"
"The kid asked!" Torino cackled, hands raised innocently. "And the Big Lug was gonna tell it wrong!"
"Don't make me come over there!" Toshinori called from the other side of the ruins.
Nana blew a raspberry at him.
Afterwards, they sat quietly for a time as Izuku digested everything he'd just learned. En had seemed rather unobtrusive when Izuku had first met him, but he'd clearly underestimated him. In retrospect, it was obvious; No wielder of One for All would have led an average life. Every one of them had probably experienced things that would send Izuku reeling. What might the others have seen or done in their time? How many historic events had they been part of, or even been behind? How many history books could be rewritten with the knowledge that lived on within One for All?
Izuku was broken from his contemplations by a tapping sound. He glanced around, then finally found the culprit; his own hand. The excitement of the introduction and the suspense of Nana's explanation had kept him thoroughly distracted, but now that he had a moment to think, he was made aware of Boon once more. It was… less overwhelming than it had been, which Izuku took to mean he was finally acclimating a bit better, but it was still a lot to deal with. He clenched his hand into a fist to stop the incessant tapping.
"I was wondering when you'd notice." Nana glanced at his hand, then grinned. "At least you know that you can stick around in here with most of Boon in effect."
Izuku hummed in agreement. "It was probably just the shock of Boon rushing back in that woke me up the first time. Then again, I'm not actually asleep right now, so maybe that makes a difference…"
Nana chuckled and wiped her mostly dry cheeks. "Well, it works for now. I'd take that win, if I were you."
"Fair point." Izuku conceded.
Nana stood, and gestured back the way they came. Izuku stood as well, and the chairs they had been sitting in vanished. Izuku glanced around, and saw Yoichi give him a small wave. Izuku returned it gratefully, then he and Nana returned to En and Toshinori.
Izuku wasn't sure what to say. Or do. The enormity of what he'd learned still spun in his head. In the end, Izuku just… kind of gave En a silent nod of acknowledgement. From the slight crinkle of his eyes, it seemed the message was received and appreciated.
"Well. I don't know about anyone else, but I think I'd like to lay down for a bit. If there weren't any sun chairs in my yard before, there are now." Nana said. A nostalgic look flashed across Toshinori's face, and Nana smiled widely. "Anyone who wants to can join me."
Nana sent En a specific glance. He hesitated for a moment, then slowly nodded. "...It would be good to see it, I think."
Nana nodded, then swept her gaze around the room.
Daigoro glanced down at the silent Hikage, then back to Nana. "I think I'll pass. You lot deserve a chance to catch up in private."
Kinenkō, who was starting to look a bit transparent around the edges regardless, nodded his head in Daigoro's direction.
"I agree with the others. It feels like I should be able to transplant Sorahiko's bubble to your realm, so you should all go catch up and relax." Yoichi called. "Plus, I can finally go on a proper comic binge for the first time in… longer than I'd like to consider."
"You do that." Nana turned. "Izuku?"
Izuku considered for a moment, then slightly shook his head. "Maybe later. I…"
All for One had caused the Kamikura Slaughter. He'd BEEN the Kamikura Slaughter. Objectively, Izuku knew the ancient villain had been able to match All Might in his prime, but something about this felt different. He knew the death figures. He'd seen pictures of the aftermath. There was a memorial holiday for it every year. It was an event that had altered the course of Japan's history over 50 years ago, and still shook the people who witnessed it to their core.
"I need to train. I don't have long before I go back to UA, and I need to get everything as under control as it can be before then." Izuku finished. "Daigoro? Hikage? Would you mind giving me some tips on working with your Quirks while I'm here?"
Hikage opened one eye, then nodded. Daigoro glared at the cube in his hand, the sides of which were one square away from a uniform color, then chucked it over his shoulder and into the darkness beyond. "Sure thing, kid."
Izuku looked back towards Nana apologetically, but saw only understanding on her and Toshinori's faces. "You're still welcome to join us later, Izuku."
"Thank you. I'll be sure to drop in before the night is over." Izuku smiled at her. "I hope all of you enjoy this! I know things have been pretty heavy so far, but this was intended to be a happy surprise."
"It has been, Young Izuku." Toshinori smiled widely. "I look forward to seeing you again later. Best of luck, my boy!"
Izuku looked around him as the world resolved. He was in a clearing on a forested mountain, the peak a massive edifice in the near distance. The clearing was a combination of bare stone and lush grass, while the dense undergrowth along most of the perimeter blocked his line of sight after a few feet.
One section of the perimeter was demarcated by a stony embankment, which stretched maybe 30 feet above the ground at its tallest. Within that ridge was the opening to a cave, though a makeshift curtain of dried plants and vines covered it.
Not far from the opening was a bolder that had been split down the middle. Hikage sat atop one of the broken halves, having returned to his meditation as soon as they arrived. Daigoro stepped up behind Izuku and patted him on the shoulder, then nodded towards the flattest of the bare stone sections. They both set off in that direction.
"Well." Daigoro started. "I'd be happy to say I have a perfect solution to your troubles with Blackwhip…"
"But you can't." Izuku finished, confirming his fears.
"Oh, I absolutely could. I'd just be lying through my teeth." Daigoro corrected with a smirk. "I can still pull off some of my old tricks, but… I think that's because Blackwhip's familiar with me, so it's more willing to cooperate. That, or it's humoring me."
"...humoring you." Izuku stared at Daigoro as the man shrugged.
"Listen, it's not like I have the communication thing down to an exact science. All I have is that the techniques I can most consistently make work get a similar response." Daigoro raised one finger, which sprouted a single wiggling strand of Blackwhip from the tip. "Blackwhip feels nostalgic. It's like it remembers doing the same thing in the past, and it thinks its fun."
Daigoro looked towards the woods, then snapped out an arm. Blackwhip shot from his palm and splashed across a tree branch, then went taught. He clenched his hand and tugged. The branch sheared off, flew across the distance, and snapped into his outstretched palm. "For instance, that works just about as well as it used to. But if I tried something new, things wouldn't go anywhere near that smoothly. I think Blackwhip is trying to work with me more than it did you, but that's probably just because it's familiar with me."
Izuku considered the black tendrils that still clung to the branch, then summoned his own. They writhed up from his palm, then waved in the air. "Daigoro… how do work with Blackwhip? Like, how do you give it instructions?"
Daigoro considered for a moment. "I think of Blackwhip as an extension of myself. That's probably obvious, but-"
Izuku slapped his forehead.
"...Or maybe it wasn't." Daigoro blinked. "What were you doing?"
"For the most part, I was telling it what to do, or pushing it in a certain direction." Izuku said. "I think I got closer to what you're describing with the parachute plan, but it wasn't really a conscious decision."
"That actually worked waaaaaay better than I expected it to." Daigoro chuckled. "I think Blackwhip was more cooperative because you let it have some fun trying to catch Torino first, then gave it a specific goal."
The threads of Blackwhip wiggled faster, and a sense of happiness rolled off them.
An absent smile found its way onto Izuku's face as he watched the swaying tendrils. 'An extension of myself…'
Izuku hesitated for a moment, then raised an arm towards the treeline. He tried to grasp the power of Blackwhip, but it resisted his attempt at direct control. Izuku pulled back, then… extended a metaphorical hand to it instead. 'Help?'
Blackwhip responded better this time, and the dark energy pooled in his palm with far less difficulty than before. Once there, Izuku found he could… feel it, in a way. It wasn't quite like a numb limb tingling back to life, but that was the closest analogy he could think of. How he hadn't felt it before was a mystery to him, though it seemed likely that his frame of mind had something to do with it.
'Quirks are a part of the person.' Izuku considered. 'Thinking of Blackwhip as something separate from me might have been a big part of the problem.'
Cautiously, Izuku tried to picture his arm extending as a dark mass, reaching towards a branch he could pick out. Blackwhip shot from his palm to splash against the branch he'd focused on. Through his connection to it, Izuku could feel a sense of satisfaction from Blackwhip.
"It really likes grabbing things." Izuku observed.
"Damn right it does." Daigoro laughed. "It's good at it too!"
The thrumming satisfaction redoubled.
"Ok, so now I just-" Izuku tugged at the branch through Blackwhip. Izuku, much lighter than Daigoro, was yanked towards the branch even as it ripped free and hurtled towards him. He lost his grip on Blackwhip, which in turn launched out additional threads to grip the ground and the branch alike. With this additional leverage, it swung the branch upwards, just high enough to miss Izuku's head, and whipped it down onto the stone ground. The branch exploded violently into wooden shrapnel, most of which showered Daigoro.
Blackwhip vibrated with what, now that Izuku felt it, was definitely a sense of nostalgia.
Daigoro spat out a wood chip, then brushed himself off. "That would be the New Moon Suplex. I… uh… wouldn't let it do that to anyone you want getting back up in the next day or so. It was always a good finisher, but I think it might be a little too Mortal Kombat for your tastes now."
"Yeah, no, that seems like it would be bad." Izuku shook his head, which dislodged bits of bark and a mostly intact twig from his hair.
"But hey! That seemed to work pretty well, at least in the first half!" Daigoro encouraged him. "Assuming that was the branch you were aiming for."
"It was!" Izuku said, then blinked as another twig still lodged in his hair flopped down between his eyes. He focused, then… the twig vanished, as did whatever had fallen down the back of his shirt. He glanced down, and found that he now wore his hero costume instead of the clothes Toshinori had gotten him. That was better. "Let me try that again."
Izuku hauled himself to his feet, then gathered Blackwhip in his hand. He paused, then glanced at it. Or, well, his glove. 'Right. Lets see here…'
It wasn't as easy as simply conjuring his costume. Much as Yoichi, Kinenkō, and himself had discovered earlier, it was easy enough to recreate something they were familiar with. It was harder to alter things in ways you hadn't seen, however. Izuku had discovered that limitation himself when he tried to create an action figure of Yoichi to… mixed success. In retrospect, using a figurine of Miruko he'd seen as a base because they both had white hair had been a deeply ill-considered idea.
"What's a Miruko?" Daigoro asked.
"Nothing!" Izuku squeaked, then raised his other hand from his chin to block his mouth, and any other traitorous mutters that might escape. They'd both agreed that Daigoro in particular could never know. Neither would ever live it down.
It took a few minutes, but Izuku eventually managed what he'd intended. Though they were far from perfect, his glove now featured several alterations. Each fingertip and the palm of his glove had a pad on it that would hopefully mimic the properties of DNA fabric. On the back of the glove were four small vents, one above each of his knuckles. That would serve to test another method of releasing Blackwhip, and let him utilize the strands while his hands were closed.
That dealt with, Izuku once again summoned Blackwhip, though this time with far more focus on where it emerged. The DNA pad on his palm seemed to work well, as Blackwhip pressed through the surface as if it were his own skin. Izuku wasn't sure how faithful his reconstruction of the material was, but hopefully it would have a similar result in real life. His fingertips seemed to overall work as well, though from the way the gloves bulged around the edges of the pads, he'd need to be careful how much of Blackwhip he used through them.
The vents on his knuckles, though, had an unforeseen side effect.
"Uh…" Daigoro muttered as he looked over Izuku's shoulder. "I think it's playing peek-a-boo?"
Blackwhip shot out from one of the vents, wiggled, then retracted with a giddy thrum. A moment later, it repeated the process from another vent, then another.
"Yeah, I think it is." Izuku grinned. "I'm definitely getting those added."
Blackwhip shot tendrils from all four vents and twirled exuberantly.
"I'm glad you like the idea!" Izuku smiled at the small black filaments. "Are you up for some practice? See if we can't figure out how to work together?"
More wiggling, and a bubbly vibration of excitement.
"I'll take that as a yes!" Izuku raised his modified hand and focused on the same tree as before. His last attempt had broken several branches in the process, one of which dangled from just a few bits of frayed wood. Once again, Izuku reached out through Blackwhip, and tendrils shot from his palm to latch onto the branch. With a slight lean backwards and a yank, it shot towards him, then smacked into his waiting palm.
Izuku hissed slightly at the stinging sensation in his fingers, but the worst of the impact seemed to have been absorbed by Blackwhip. Carefully, Izuku released it, then let go of Blackwhip. The tendrils wiggled happily around the branch before they retreated into his hand.
"Nicely done, kid!" Daigoro cheered. "That's a definite improvement!"
"Yeah, that went way better than before!" Izuku agreed, then tossed the branch aside. "Any other techniques you think would be useful to start with, until Blackwhip and I get used to each other?"
"A few. That was one of the two it seems to like the most, which makes sense. Grabbing is its favorite." Daigoro chuckled. "It's a good thing, too, because that's the core of my kit. You can use it to swing around, you can set traps, you can make a hammock, all kinds of things with just a few alterations to how you handle it. Once you get the basic version down pat, we can work on expanding what you can do with it. As for some of the other basics…"
Daigoro whipped around to face the ridge, and flicked one of the cartridges in his bandolier with his thumb. It popped out and spun through the air for a moment before two strands of Blackwhip leapt up to catch it. The filaments brough the cartridge back down to hang between the index and middle finger of Daigoro's left hand, which he'd raised in front of him. With his right, he grasped it, then pulled it back like a slingshot.
"Blackwhip also likes to throw."
Daigoro released his grip, and Blackwhip snapped the cartridge forward with a sharp thwip . Izuku could hardly see it move until Hikage casually snatched it from the air about a foot from his face. In a motion that looked practiced, he returned the lump of metal to Daigoro at speed, which the large man barely managed to duck under. Izuku heard the resonant thunk as it struck a tree somewhere in the forest behind them, and decided he wouldn't be trying his luck in the same way.
"I was wondering when you'd do that." Hikage sighed.
"Just like old times, eh?" Daigoro chortled.
Hikage said nothing, but Izuku was sure he could see a small smile this time.
"You've made fast progress." Hikage said as he hefted another rock. Izuku wasn't entirely sure why he'd insisted on gathering the stones himself rather than conjuring copies of the first one, but wasn't going to ask. Not when the Fourth user had already demonstrated an alarming accuracy with the improvised projectiles.
"Thank youAGH!" Izuku yelped as a pang shot through his head, and he leapt to the side to avoid a rock aimed towards his feet. He nearly ate the second rock, which he'd almost dodged into. He stumbled, but managed to throw himself backwards and out of its path before something occurred to him. 'Wait, danger sense didn't warn-'
Izuku's train of thought was cut off yet again as a third rock crashed into his shoulder. The impact stung and sent him spinning through the air, but thanks to Full Cowling the strike didn't do any real damage. Frankly, he wasn't sure what even counted as 'Real Damage' here.
Izuku struck the ground in a roll, then popped back to his feet. He scanned around, but didn't see another-
Izuku glanced up just in time to dodge the fourth rock, which had been thrown in a high arc to come down just a bit to the side of him. Yet again, no sign from Danger Sense.
"Well done." Hikage said, then reached for another rock.
"Hold on a second!" Izuku yelped, holding up his hands. Hikage blinked, then absently began tossing the head sized stone to himself like someone would a baseball. "Did you disable Danger Sense?"
"No."
"Then why didn't it warn me of the last three rocks?"
"I didn't aim for you."
Izuku stared down at the large rock embedded in the grass next to him. It likely would have either concussed him or taken off his ear on its way to dislocate his shoulder if he hadn't dodged. "...you didn't aim for me."
"No."
Izuku glanced to the treeline, where a smugly grinning Daigoro lay in a Blackwhip hammock as he watched Izuku be pelted. Izuku returned his gaze to Hikage, half way expecting to see the rock on its way to rearrange his face, but it was still in Hikage's hand.
"So Danger Sense can't warn me if the attack isn't aimed directly at me?" Izuku asked. "If someone leads the shot while trying to shoot me, it wouldn't pick up on it?"
"It would."
Izuku rubbed the bridge of his nose, then looked back at Hikage. 'Wait, was that a hint of a smirk I just saw? Is he- Oh. Oh I see why he and Daigoro get along.'
"So someone trying to shoot where I'll be would trigger Danger Sense, but you throwing rocks where I'll be won't."
"No."
Izuku took a very, very deep breath, then let it out. He considered for a moment, breaking apart the deeply unhelpful responses he'd received. 'Obviously, I know intent matters. Intent is what Danger Sense is picking up on. So what's the difference between the two? There's no way he just randomly threw the rocks where I'd be… So maybe…?'
"Does Danger Sense have a blind spot of some kind?"
"In a sense." Hikage nodded. Then, thankfully, he elaborated. "It didn't warn you because I was aiming for things that weren't you. You just happened to be in the way."
"But they were still perfectly placed to hit me, or get close to it." Izuku countered, then considered. "You figured out how I would dodge, then threw a rock at something else in a way that could hit me. But because you intended to hit something else, Danger Sense didn't pick up on it?"
"Yes."
Izuku sighed, then brushed crumbs or rock off his shoulder. "That seems like a very specific flaw in its awareness. How often did it come into play?"
"Many times, but only two people used it deliberately." Hikage answered. "The battlefield is a hectic place."
It clicked. "You were trying to warn me about stray shots?"
Danger.
"Yes." Hikage nodded to him, then whipped around and hurled his rock at Daigoro. The Fifth User's Blackwhip hammock dropped a foot, and the rock sailed over him harmlessly. "Had you been in the way, Danger Sense would have warned you about the attack against him, but not that you were also in its path. Few would realize this weakness, or be able to void their intent as I do. But it shows a core weakness of Danger Sense."
"It reads intent, but intent isn't a perfect reflection of what an action causes." Izuku realized. "It won't warn me about accidents, and it might even be possible for people to trick it by 'intending' to do something that they don't consider an attack."
"Very good." Hikage began to walk towards Izuku, away from his pile of rocks. "Now for its offensive use."
Izuku blinked. "It has an offensive use?"
"Punch me."
Izuku hesitated. He had a well-founded suspicion that doing so wouldn't end well for him, but he doubted doing nothing would be much better. He squared himself, then darted out the quickest jab he could-
Izuku blinked the stars out of his eyes as he stared up towards the void sky above. He wasn't sure when exactly he'd ended up on his back, but he certainly was now. The grass tickled his cheeks, while the back and sides of his head and body were held firmly in place by the soil he'd been driven into. His lower body was embedded even more deeply from the feel of it. Once again, he'd received no warning pang.
"Did you intend to hit the ground with me, instead of hitting me with the ground?"
"No." Hikage loomed over him with a tiny, almost invisible smirk. He released Izuku's arm, and it flopped limply onto the ground above his head. "I turned Danger Sense off."
"HAHAHA!" Daigoro's bellowing laugh echoed across the clearing.
'Blackwhip. We can grab and throw more things later if you drop him.'
"HAHAHahaaaaAAAAAAA-"
THUD.
'Thank you.'
A strand of Blackwhip emerged from his forehead and happily wiggled at the upper edge of his vision.
With a groan, Izuku used his free arm to peel himself from the ground, then shook the lingering shock from his system. Hikage glanced at Daigoro's prone form on the forest floor, then nodded appreciatively at Izuku.
"So, what was I supposed to learn from that?" Izuku glared pointedly at the uncannily accurate earthen imprint of his suit. "Clearly, you were able to see the attack coming a mile away and respond."
"The moment you fully committed, I started to counter." Hikage said. "Danger Sense can reveal not just where an attack is aimed, but both the type of attack and its point of origin. With that and experience, you can take advantage of likely openings before they happen."
Izuku hummed appreciatively.
"I've enabled Danger Sense. I'll attack now."
"Wha-"
DANGER
The attack was coming for his head. Izuku focused, and the throb of Danger Sense seemed to unfold in his mind's eye for a second. 'Punch with the left hand aimed for the center of my forehead, moderate force.'
Izuku twisted even as the punch lanced towards him, and he grasped the arm as it extended. He turned in order to throw Hikage, then-
DANGER
'Right knee approaching kidney, high force.' Izuku let go with one hand and reached behind his back to push the incoming strike wide-
DANGER
'Right elbow… head…' Izuku winced as he jerked his head to the side. He suspected it wouldn't be enough, but-
DANGER
Hikage used his momentum to roll with Izuku's original throw, then retaliated with a throw of his own. Izuku was too overwhelmed by the sequence of events to do more than lash out with a desperate swipe as he passed through the peak of his arc, then he was once again on his back, ears deep in the soft earth.
"Skilled combatants can still counter your counter attacks." Hikage said, evidently feeling more forthcoming than before. Maybe he felt bad for planting Izuku like a bed of flowers. Maybe Izuku had just lain in his hole for longer than he realized, and even Hikage had gotten impatient. "Perhaps another with Danger Sense is an unfair first opponent for this. Daigoro?"
Daigoro groaned, still sprawled across the rocks and roots where he'd fallen.
"I will tell him about the time you-"
"So, you need a sparring partner?" Daigoro asked, a hand covered with Blackwhip firmly planted over Hikage's impassive face. "Lucky me."
"...I'm sorry about the hammock?" Izuku offered.
"Nah, it's fine. That was well done." Daigoro waved Izuku's concerns away flippantly. Then, like a switch had been flipped, he smirked darkly. "Besides, Blackwhip's all excited about some Grabbing and Throwing , and this is a GREAT opportunity for that."
"Uh. I'm supposed to be practicing counters?"
"Cool. Counter this, Punk! "
"Rough time?" Yoichi glanced at Izuku over a comic book.
Izuku groaned at him from his position face down on the floor of the ruins, where he'd willed himself to appear after Hikage had deemed his progress acceptable. Blackwhip still wiggled happily from his cheek. It had greatly enjoyed getting to grab him and chuck him back and forth across the forest clearing, or outright into the woods, so often in the past few hours.
Daigoro hadn't been mean about it, though that hadn't lessened the intensity of the practice. Some level of legitimate threat was required for Danger Sense to function, which was the entire point. All the same, Izuku could have done with a little less time dangling upside down in Blackwhip's grasp. Or a little more time. The preference had been entirely dependent on if he was airborne at the time.
"From what I could pick up on, it seemed like you were doing pretty good!" Yoichi said as he carefully closed his comic and set it on a small table next to his throne. "For having the Quirks all of, what, a little more than two and a half days now? You're making great progress!"
"Tell that to the army of me-shaped pits all over Hikage's little slice of paradise." Izuku grumbled as he dragged himself upright. "I can make the grime disappear at will, and I still feel like I need a shower."
"In fairness, you probably do." Yoichi snorted. "Pretty sure whatever you did to wear out Boon before you got here would have left you more than deserving of one."
Izuku grimaced. "Yeah, that probably won't be a great sensory experience once I leave."
"Eh, that's later Izuku's problem." Yoichi smiled. "For now, I think you've earned a break."
"As much as I want to keep going, I think I need one. Mentally, if not physically." Izuku rubbed his eyes, more out of habit than anything. "Would I be interrupting anything if I went to Nana's realm?"
Yoichi raised an eyebrow at him. "You could check yourself, you know."
"You're already aware of more things from their past than I am. I don't want to accidentally spy on something they'd prefer to keep private."
"So you'll throw me under the bus instead, huh? There were plenty of things we didn't see in Toshinori's time."
"You have a point." Izuku said guiltily. "I'm sorry. I'll just reach out to Nana-"
"Nah, it's fine. I'm just messing with you a bit." Yoichi waved him off. "You're fine to jump in."
"Thank you."
Izuku took a step forward, and the ruins blurred into a new form. While the sky remained the same swirling darkness, as seemed inescapable in the Vestige Realm, it now once again featured the sight of Gran Torino's apartment hanging upside down above him.
Much like Hikage's realm, he found himself in a grove surrounded by tall trees, though these ones were Red Cedars. In the center of this clearing, however, was a house. It was modern style with two stories from what Izuku could see, and painted a light blue where it wasn't constructed from wood likely harvested from the surrounding trees. He couldn't see anyone from where he stood, but Torino's bubble of reality seemed centered somewhere behind the house, which looked to have a fenced in yard.
As Izuku jogged his way around the house, he heard a loud laugh that couldn't be mistaken for anyone other than Toshinori, and a smile broke across his face. Izuku glanced upwards, and caught sight of Gran Torino in his rocking chair, a steaming drink in his hands and a massive stack of Taiyaki on a table next to him. Torino noticed him, and gave a little wave as Izuku rounded the corner of the house and jumped the fence into the back yard.
Toshinori lay on a yard chair, a titanic bottle of something Izuku guessed to be alcoholic in one hand and a tub of ice cream in the other, what looked to be a soup spoon buried in it. Next to him, a table with a selection of crunchy junk food looked like it had been ravaged by a bear. On the opposite side of the table, Nana relaxed on her own chair, a smile on her face as she watched Toshinori pour a concerning amount of whatever it was in the bottle down his throat.
Past Nana, En lay in the grass rather than a chair. He'd discarded his jacket in favor of a black tank top, and looked more content than Izuku had seen him before. That wasn't really saying much, given Izuku hadn't known him long, but the sight still struck him.
"Ah, Izuku!" Nana called once she noticed him. "Thanks for coming by! How did your training montage go?"
Izuku jogged to a stop just before them, then tilted his head to the side. He smacked the upward side while he conjured a small stream of dirt from the opposite ear. "It went well."
Toshinori snorted a short stream of alcohol out of his nose, then began to laugh and cough simultaneously.
Torino started cackling.
"Yeah, that tracks for those two." Nana got out between her own giggles. "One's overenthusiastic, the other's like a less openly snarky version of Torino."
"Openly seems to be the operative word there." Izuku groused. "Pulled his punches about as well, too."
"Oh ho! A challenger!" Torino laughed from above. "A shame I can't come down there and compare notes with him!"
"We're never letting them in the same room again." Izuku told Nana and En quickly. "Not allowed."
En huffed, one eye open. "Best of luck telling Hikage what to do. He's spent years perfecting his antisocial skills."
Toshinori glanced at En, then up towards Torino. "Oh god, there really are two of them."
"Hey!"
Once their banter had run its course, Nana had told Izuku to take a seat wherever he liked. He'd spawned a partly reclined sunchair, much like what she herself sat in but with more cushions. Izuku wasn't actually sore, but the thought of something soft and comfortable had sounded fantastic.
"So." Izuku said. "What were you talking about before I showed up?"
"Toshi was regaling us with some stories of his time in the states." Nana said. "What did you say you were going to talk about next?"
"Ah! That would be the…" Toshinori glanced at his mostly empty bottle. "...Slightly ironic story about how David decided to cure his inventor's block by getting drunk and putting pieces together."
"That sound… safe." Izuku offered hesitantly.
"The off switch was inside the thing, behind a massive wall of lasers and knives on randomly moving tentacles." Toshinori reminisced. "The knives weren't much of a threat after a few minutes, because the lasers cut all of them off. Granted, that turned them into short lived, half molten projectiles that flew out of the top, but at least it took them out of the equation."
"Um…" Nana eyed him warily. "What exactly was the thing even supposed to do?"
"Other than burn away most of my clothes when I dropped through the lasers to turn it off?" Toshinori blew out a breath. "I think it was supposed to be a really, really big toaster? He just forgot the bread."
Silence.
"He was crushing hard on a girl with a gigantism Quirk at the time. I'd bet money it was for her. Never got a clear answer, unfortunately, given he didn't remember any of it the day after."
More silence.
"How was your college experience more insane than my time in The Academy?" En asked. He sounded somewhere between baffled and offended at the idea.
"David." Toshinori nodded sagely, as though that explained everything. Maybe it did. "That incident in particular actually helped prepare me for a real nasty villain I faced in Wisconsin…"