Chapter 2: I Break Some Bones And Find Out I Have Ghosts In My Head.
The past nine months have been the most grueling, exhausting, painful nine months of Izuku Midoriya's life. Every day consisted of two things: clearing out a bunch of trash and whatever specific lesson was planned.
Saturdays were for combat training where Toshinori would teach him how to fight hand to hand. Izuku already had a small foundation for fighting; he had studied boxing for the past few years since that was the closest to All Might's combat style. Unfortunately, the teenager had a lot of bad habits that took time to break. Being self taught had more downsides than he expected.
Sundays were stealth practice. Izuku would clear out about half of his normal amount of trash to create obstacles and pathways for navigation, and he would have to move through it without being caught by Toshinori. Izuku was remarkably proficient at this. Unsurprisingly, hiding from bullies for ten years teaches you to be silent.
Mondays, Toshinori taught him how to handle PR. Everything from bloodthirsty reporters looking to ruin a hero's career, to terrified civilians needing someone to smile and tell them it will all be okay. The number one hero also assisted Izuku with his stutter and mumbling problems, finding a virtual speech therapist for the boy.
Tuesdays were essentially a half day. The green haired teen would clear out a small section of trash on the direct shoreline, then the two of them would sit on the sand and let the sound of the crashing waves guide them into meditation. Izuku learned to clear his mind and let stress exit his body through his breath.
Wednesdays were Izuku's favorite. Toshinori brought recordings of villain attacks and UA hero course training sessions (courtesy of Nezu). Izuku was tasked with learning a villain's tells on the fly and predicting what they would do next. For the student recordings, he was given a brief description of a hero hopeful's quirk and asked how he would personally use it for heroics. Afterwards, they would compare the differences in Izuku's analysis versus the student's performance. There were a few times where the boy's estimations were far above what the student realized they were capable of, and Toshinori asked Nezu to inform their heroics teacher of their findings.
Thursdays had intensive strength training. Izuku would clear out even more trash than normal, and afterwards he went through a variety of stretches and exercises, then finished the day with a 5 kilometer run. The run wouldn't have been that bad, except for the fact that it was on the beach and he had All Might on his back.
Fridays were when he would rest. Toshinori would show Izuku the amount of progress he made for the week, and they would simply hang out for a few hours. It was so cool to the fanboy that he got to hang out with All Might. He asked so many questions on the first day that Toshinori thought his head would explode.
"Rest up, my boy. Tomorrow, you will become the Ninth." All Might ruffled his successor's hair, incredibly proud of the progress he had made. The boy had exceeded every expectation set for him.
"T- thank you… All Might." Izuku was trying to clean up his tears but was unsuccessful. His emotions overcame him and he decided to hug the giant of a man in front of him. All Might returned the hug and patted the boy's back.
"There's still one thing you need to do to inherit my power."
"Oh, what is it?" Izuku backed away in order to get a better look at the man.
All Might plucked a hair off the top of his head and stretched his arm out in front of himself.
"EAT THIS!"
"W- WHAT??"
"You must consume some of my DNA in order to transfer the quirk. This is the least weird way of doing it! Now eat! EAT!"
Last night, All Might said it should take a few hours for [One for All] to settle in my system, so I should be able to use it today. I hope everything went well with the transfer. I've still got the feeling of his hair in my throat…
Izuku was incredibly nervous. He didn't want to disappoint his hero. He put on his clothes for the day, a T-Shirt that said "T-Shirt", some gym shorts, his favorite red shoes, and he was off. He decided to walk to the beach instead of jog because he didn't want to accidentally activate his quirk. He brought two notebooks with him, "Hero Analysis for the Future: Volume 1", and "Superpower Analysis: Volume 1". The first one was supposed to be a sort of sequel series to his original quirkless analysis books. He started it right after his training with Toshinori began, since he wasn't going to be quirkless anymore. The second book was going to be split between ideas for super moves and a guide on how to use [One for All]. He didn't want to forget anything accidentally, and he also thought it would be a good idea to have something to give his future successor.
Upon arrival at Takobah, Izuku took a moment to truly appreciate his work. He admired it the day prior, but his head was too filled with the joy of being finished. Today, however, he took it all in. Every grain of sand, every wave crashing into the shore, every seagull squawking overhead. It brought tears to the boy's eyes. He held them back, wanting to be composed for when Toshinori arrived.
A loud crash echoed from several feet behind him. "BOOYAH, I AM HERE!"
Izuku snapped his head around and reared back his arm to throw a punch at the unsuspected booming noise, only to stop when he saw All Might standing in a small crater wearing… a yellow pinstripe suit?
Izuku, still tense from the sudden disturbance, didn't notice the red streaks running down his arm, nor the green electricity cascading around it.
"I'm sorry for startling you, my boy! I just need to test and break in this new suit I bought. Pretty snazzy, eh?" All Might smiled at his successor before noticing the fading glow of his arm. "It looks like [One for All] transferred! I knew I felt it leave me, but that confirms that it's within you now."
Izuku, confused, looked at his arm and marveled at the appearance.
Holy whoa, that looks so cool! I wonder why All Might doesn't glow like this? Maybe it manifests differently for every user. I'll have to ask him what his master looked like when they used [One for All].
"What should we do now? Is there some kind of routine you want me to go through in order to see how strong I am? Should we go somewhere else instead of the beach, now that it's clean and people might show up? Ooh! There's a fancy quirk gym about ten kilometers from here, I'm sure they have a bunch of-"
"Nonsense! You're going to punch the ocean as hard as you can!"
He can't be serious…
"We need to discover your maximum in the safest way possible. I pulled a few strings and made sure this section of the coast was completely clear of any boats or divers for a short while. I even got a few aquatic heroes to relocate all the fishes, so don't worry about hurting anything. Once I get I gauge for how much strength you can output, we'll head out to a more specialized training area that I'm certain you'll enjoy."
Izuku stared at his master for a few moments before letting out a deep breath. "All right, All Might, I'll give it all I've got. You got any suggestions for how to activate [One for All]?"
"Clench your buttcheeks and yell 'SMASH!'"
...here goes nothing I guess.
Izuku steadied himself. He took a few steps towards the ocean, right up to the furthest point that high tide could reach, and placed his feet shoulder width apart. He closed his eyes, trying to feel for the power that now resided within. He was met with a hurricane of energy, unstable and screaming for release.
He pulled his arm back, concentrating as much of the energy as he could within it. His heart was beating out of his chest, his mind was racing at a thousand miles an hour, his buttcheeks were clenched.
"SMASH!"
A thunderous crack echoed for miles. The sand exploded around Izuku. The ocean split in two, the water disappearing from where it once resided. The force of the punch traveled for more than a kilometer before the sea returned to rest.
And Izuku shattered every bone in his right arm.
"AHHHH OH-MY-GOD-OH-MY-GOD-OH-MY-GOD-ALL-MIGHT-WHAT-HAPPENED-IT-HURTS-SO-MUCH-OW-OW-OW-OW-FUUUUCK!!" Izuku was cradling the jagged limb to his chest. It was the most agonizing pain he'd ever experienced. He knew it was beyond serious. He had an incredible pain tolerance, having grown up with explosions aimed at him weekly. He felt [One for All]'s energy dissipate within him, waiting to be called on once more.
"Izuku, I need you to keep your arm as stable as possible. I'm going to jump us somewhere you can be taken care of!" All Might gently lifted Izuku into his arms, princess style, and after Izuku nodded his head, he leapt into the sky. He was lucky UA was so close, he only needed one jump to reach the entrance to the school building. Once they landed, he burst through the doors and rushed to the nurses office.
I really hope Chiyo isn't feeling angry today...
Recovery Girl was startled by the frantic form of All Might with a screaming boy in his arms entering her office. "What the hell did you do, you big oaf?"
All Might laid the boy down onto one of the nearby beds and turned to speak to her. "His arm is broken badly, I need you to heal him please. I'll explain fully once he's taken care of."
The youthful heroine hopped off her chair and made her way towards the injured boy and placed a kiss on his hand. Nearly immediately, the boy's wails stopped and his arm shifted itself back into place. She cleaned up the remaining blood on his arm and gave him a few gummies. "These will help replenish your body with nutrients. Rest your arm for the rest of the day and you'll be good as new tomorrow, sweetie."
"Thank you, Recovery Girl! Your quirk is amazing, seeing it in person is so cool. How much energy does it take for you to use it? Can you use it on yourself? Have you tried to use it offensively? You could attack and kiss a villain repeatedly to make them super fatigued and then arrest them. Is human anatomical knowledge required to use your quirk or does it just work automa-"
"That's enough questions, young man. Please, just lie down while Toshinori here explains exactly what happened to you." Izuku didn't think an elderly woman could look so angry.
"Oh, uh, haha, well I, uh..." All Might closed the door and released his hold on his muscle form before turning back to face Recovery Girl. "This is the boy I spoke to you about. My successor. He just inherited [One for All] and I asked him to show me his strongest punch. I didn't expect the quirk to have this much of a drawback, he's trained all his life and is in perfect shape." Izuku's heart warmed from the praise of his master.
"You mean to tell me that you had this boy use the maximum output of a quirk that can level cities, as his first assignment?" Recovery Girl raised her cane as she was speaking.
Toshinori's face was filled with fear. "...yes." He lowered his head, accepting the consequences of his actions.
Recovery Girl stomped her way towards the number one hero and began wailing on his shins with her cane. It was quite a sight for Izuku, seeing his mentor in so much fear from a nurse.
Well, at least I know not to get on her bad side. That cane looks like it hurts.
"You're lucky he didn't blow his arm off. He's good to go, now get out of her before I tell the principal that you have an unauthorized guest on school premises. You're lucky it's the weekend. I need to get back to my papers, now shoo."
The two of them were ushered out into the hallway when Izuku realized where he was. "Holy whoa! I'm at UA!! This is so cool. I've always dreamt of attending here. It looks even cooler in person!"
Toshinori watched the bouncing form of his successor shake with glee. "Um, young Midoriya, we're just in a hallway, it can't be that exciting, can it?"
"Of course it's exciting! This is the place yo- I mean, this is the place All Might went to school! So many great heroes got their start here, it's amazing!" Izuku was getting much better at hiding Toshinori's identity, but was still prone to slip ups in moments of excitement.
"Well, we should get going. You're not technically allowed to be here, and I don't want Nezu getting his hands on you right now."
"Getting his hands on me? What's that supposed to mean?"
"That rodent is made of pure will and wit."
Didn't really answer my question.
"So, can you finally tell me where we're going, now that we're in Tokyo?" Toshinori asked Izuku if he would come with him to a 'special training area' and after agreeing, they ended up in Tokyo.
"We're headed to my agency. There, I have a gym set up underground and a bunch of different machines to help with quirk training." After a few moments of silence, Toshinori glanced at his successor, only to see a look of shellshock on his face.
"i get to see might tower…I GET TO SEE MIGHT TOWER?!?" Izuku started vibrating uncontrollably.
"Oh-my-goodness-I-get-to-go-inside-Might-Tower-and-actually-train-there-this-is-so-cool-I- wonder-how-many-heroes-are-there-right-now-or-maybe-it's-empty-because-it's-still-morning-or-maybe-there-are-some-there-getting-warmed-up-for-their-daily-patrols-and-" Izuku spiraled into more muttering about heroes for the next fifteen minutes before arriving at Might Tower.
They pulled into the underground parking garage and headed towards an elevator. "Just remember our cover story, yeah? I'm scouting talent for UA and you've shown some great potential and whatnot."
Izuku nodded. "Right!" They had created this cover story not long into the boy's training when his mother asked where he was going every day. Toshinori came over to their apartment one evening for dinner and explained to Inko that he was All Might's personal secretary and one of his duties is to scout future heroes, and that All Might wanted to know more about the boy who scolded heroes on live television. After finding him, he saw familiar signs of a latent quirk and decided he needed proper training. When Inko asked about the price, Toshinori assured her that it was all paid for as part of All Might's Future Hero program.
They made their way to the gym level and Toshinori gave Izuku some gym clothes to change into. The boy took them and headed to the changing room. Toshinori tried to make himself busy deciding on the first exercise. "Hm. I suppose we should try just calling up the power and keeping it active while stationary. Don't want any more mishaps haha."
After a few minutes, the newly quirked teenager emerged in the new clothes. He jogged his way towards his mentor and looked around at the room. "This place is seriously high tech. The treadmills alone look more expensive than any gym I've ever been to. What do you have planned first?"
"Those treadmills probably are more expensive than any gym you've been to. They're designed to withstand my top speeds. You gotta break mach 10 before they even start to stress." Izuku's eyes widened at the statement. He began quietly mumbling something about 'amazing technology' before Toshinori patted his back to bring him back to the present moment. "For our first test, I think you should try calling up the power of [One for All] but keep still. Simply let the power flow through you."
Izuku nodded his head and his face took a determined look. "Got it! Let's grab a yoga mat so I can get into a meditative position." They went to the area meant for warm ups and stretches and laid out a rubber mat for Izuku to sit on. He took his seat, crossing his legs and placing his hands on his knees, and closed his eyes.
He called on the ocean of strength once more. The boy reached out towards the powerful strands of energy, connecting with the nearest one. Images flashed by of a life that wasn't his. He had a son, a little boy named Kotaro. He was best friends with Sorahiko. He trained Toshinori. He died at the hands of All for One. He was Nana Shimura.
"Whoa, guys that feels weird. Is he looking through my memories right now?"
"...hello? Can you hear me?" Izuku was unsure of exactly what was happening, but he made sure to keep his cool. This had to just be something All Might forgot to mention, right?
"Holy shit, kid, you're actually talking to me? Like you heard me just then?"
"Yes! Um, hi, I guess. Is this normal? All Might didn't say anything about voices in my head so either he somehow forgot or I'm going crazy."
"Haha, don't worry kid. Toshi didn't mess anything up this time. I'm the vestige of Nana Shimura, the Seventh wielder of [One for All]. I'm not too sure how long you'll be able to talk to me, but know this: [One for All] finally hit singularity. You've got all the vestiges of the past users in your mind watching over you. Don't worry about privacy and stuff, we know how to block out anything improper. Eventually, all of us will be able to speak to you freely and easily. It shouldn't take more than a month, somehow that punch you threw earlier sped up the process."
"Oh, um, o- okay! That sounds really cool actually! I get to have a bunch of heroes in my head for guidance and I guess I'll never be lonely haha. Wait, is All Might in there? He should have a vestige too since he passed on the quirk, right?"
"Uh, something like that yeah. Toshi's vestige appeared not too long ago, but he's different from the rest of us. He's just kinda... ghostly? More of a ghost than the rest of us I suppose. He can't really speak, only able to communicate through his eyes and sending vague emotions to us. We think it's either because he's still alive or because he was quirkless prior to [One for All].
"Oh okay I gue-... ALL MIGHT WAS QUIRKLESS??"Izuku had never considered that possibility before. He thought Toshinori's quirk had to do with him buffing up or some kind of durability enhancer. That means I'll be able to get as strong as, if not stronger than, All Might one day. Holy whoa…
"Guessing he never mentioned that to you. My boy's getting old I guess. Going back to what you said before, no, you don't have a bunch of heroes in your head. The only heroes in here are Fifth, Sixth, me, and now Eighth. Fifth was part of the first generation of heroes, meanwhile the world was different for the other four. How are you feeling? Is [One for All] stressing your body right now, or do you think you can keep going?"
"It feels like my brain is trying to run a 400 meter dash, I think. It's kinda hard to tell what's happening outside my mind right now. I think I'm in some kind of dream-like state." Izuku was acutely aware that he hadn't moved since beginning his meditation, but everything felt fuzzy. Almost like he was in a sensory deprivation pod.
"Okay, well I think you should wake back up and relax for the rest of the day. Practical experience will be your friend when it comes to our shared power, but you have to know when to take a break. We'll be watching over you Izuku, I know you'll make us proud. Tell Toshi I said hi."
The mental presence of the Seventh wielder faded as Izuku relinquished his hold on the strand of energy. He opened his eyes and saw that Toshinori was sitting in one of two chairs he had brought over for when they were in between exercises. "Okay so, don't freak out on me, but I just spoke with Nana Shimura inside of [One for All]. She says hi."
Toshinori looked like he'd seen a ghost, which isn't too far from reality. He leaned forward and spoke with a shaky voice. "Y- You what? Nana…" Slumping back into his chair, he rubbed his forehead. "You're certain that's what was happening, my boy?"
Izuku nodded. "Yes. She said that [One for All] hit singularity when you passed it on to me, and that soon enough I'll be able to speak to all of the past wielders. They're currently watching us in my head, so Nana can hear you. You even have a vestige there, but it's different from the others."
Toshinori scrunched his face. "This is a lot to take in, young Midoriya. I suspected that [One for All] kept at least some parts of its prior wielders. I've had a few visions of my master during intense battles. She'd always remind me to remember where I came from, and to keep a smile on my face. I never imagined it would be of this caliber."
Izuku stood from the ground and rubbed the back of his neck. "I think I should call it there for the day. I don't wanna go overboard, especially after Recovery Girl's treatment." Toshinori agreed and escorted them to the elevator, but Izuku noticed that he didn't push the button for the parking garage. "Um, why are we going to the fortieth floor?"
"Jeez, you must be more worn out than you realize. Let's just say I asked a few friends to stop by. Here, you'll want these." He handed the boy his "Hero Analysis for the Future: Volume 1" notebook and an All Might themed pen from his backpack that he'd been holding on to. Izuku still hadn't connected the dots.
As the elevator dinged at their arrival, the doors opened and Izuku saw three figures sitting at a nearby sofa. His eyes widened and he rushed towards them as he realized who they were.
"Oh my gosh, Gang Orca, Edgeshot, and Best Jeanist!! I can't believe you're all here. I have so many questions for all of you!! Like, Edgeshot, how much control do you have whenever you're stretched to your thinnest? How much force can you exert? Do you think you'd be able to puppeteer someone's body as a means of protecting yourself whilst further incapacitating an opponent? And Gang Orca! Your hypersonic blasts are so cool! Have you ever thought about using support gear to amplify or focus them? Do you think you could improve your hero costume by implementing moisturizing technology within it similar to how Endeavour's costume works to cool him off? Best Jeanist! Could you use your quirk to lift your own clothes and fly around? Are you able to control people's hair? Could you manipulate a villain's muscle fibers to temporarily paralyze them?" Izuku was vibrating in place whilst flipping between each hero's entry in his notebook.
Each hero was taken aback. They had all dealt with superfans before, but this kid was a different level. All the excitement of a fanboy, but with actually thoughtful questions. Edgeshot was the first to speak up.
"I'm amazed you were able to say all that in a single breath. Puppeteering was something I thought of in my second year of high school, but it wasn't very effective as a means of controlling a person. It was much less efficient than my Thousand Sheet Pierce."
Best Jeanist was staring at the ground in intense thought. "I've… never tried to fly before." His hands flexed and his costume tightened before beginning to float off the sofa. "Thank you, young man, for removing the wool over my eyes that I failed to notice." He landed on his feet and bowed towards Izuku. "To answer your other questions, I can only control woven fibers, so that wouldn't apply to the hairs on a person's head. If they were to tie their hair in a braid, however, I could manipulate it. And no, I cannot control fibers that I cannot see a portion of, so that excludes any internal fibers." He stood from his bow as Gang Orca spoke.
"Those are good ideas kid. I never really considered support gear due to how much time I spend in the water, but having separate suits for land and sea could certainly make me more effective. You planning on being a quirk analyst or something?"
The boy shook his head. "No sir, I've trained all my life to achieve my dream of becoming a hero. Quirk analysis is just a hobby of mine." Izuku looked at the floor as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Could I have your guys' autographs? It would mean a lot to me." The heroes smiled and took turns autographing their respective entries.
Toshinori placed a hand on Izuku's shoulder. "Thank you all for showing up on such short notice. I knew it'd make his day if he got to meet a few heroes." Izuku blushed at his words.
"Worry not, Mr. Yagi. My comrades and I were already in the area acquiring brunch. There's a fantastic new restaurant that opened up nearby. Their twisted pretzels are to die for."
After leaving Might Tower, Izuku returned home for the day. His arm was still sore and he didn't want to agitate it, lest he feel the wrath of Recovery Girl. His mother noticed he was holding his arm strangely at dinner.
"Izu, is your arm okay? You've been using your left hand all day."
Oh my gosh I never told her that I got my quirk.
"Oh um, haha, I uh, yeah it's okay. I um, might have manifested my quirk this morning and broke my arm." Izuku wished he could shrink into himself. His mother slowly looked up from her plate of food.
"Oh my, my ears must be failing me. It almost sounded like you said you broke your arm after using your quirk."
"no yeah that's what happened."
Inko took a long inhale through her nose. "Izuku. Why wasn't I informed as soon as it happened?" The stare she sent in her son's direction would haunt his dreams for weeks.
"mr. yagi and i got side tracked."
"Sidetracked?"
"...sidetracked."
"Izuku, baby, can you remind me of the biggest thing my quirk has been able to attract."
"an eight inch all might action figure."
"Do you remember how I used to pull butterflies to you?"
"yeah."
"You know that means I can use my quirk on living creatures, right?"
"yeah..."
"Please give me Mr. Yagi's phone number. I believe he's lost the rights to his eyeballs."
"I like her."
Chapter 3: The Ghosts In My Head Tell Me About All Might's Quirk.
"So uh, why aren't we gonna tell the kid about him getting our quirks?" Fifth was laying across a large couch facing First. It was First's idea to keep Izuku in the dark about the extra quirks. After watching him for eight and a half months, he had a good idea of how the kid operated. He'd work himself into the ground trying to unlock each quirk and eventually spread himself too thin.
"I don't want to overload him. You've seen how much he's been training since he became the Ninth, it's borderline unhealthy. Not to mention the fact that he'd end up throwing himself into dangerous situations in hopes of a quirk awakening. It's best to wait until he has a foundational understanding of [One for All]."
"I agree. Once he gets the hang of his 'Full Cowling' technique and into UA, we should let him know. Don't want him stressing about extra powers during the entrance exam."
"I'm more interested in why [One for All] is so much stronger than we expected. The boy is in near perfect shape, yet he can only access three percent of the stockpile before straining his muscles." This had perplexed the vestiges for the past two weeks. Izuku's physique was as good as a quirkless teenager could ever hope to be, but it was somehow too frail for [One for All].
"Yeah, if he'd gotten Seventh's [One for All], he'd be able to handle full power off the rip. He'd prob have to take more rest days than Eighth did, but he'd for sure be able to throw some punches. Eighth, I know you supercharged the hell out of [One for All] but there's no way you did that much right?"
Eighth shrugged.
"I have a theory."
"A game theory."
"Shut the fuck up." First stuck his tongue out at Second in response.
"Uh, sure. Anyway, I've been looking at everything we know that's different for the kid. Number one: [One for All] hit singularity, but that shouldn't be boosting the power more than a typical transfer. Number two: Eighth is in here with us, but all spectral and shit. None of us were spectral like him, even when our living counterparts were still alive. Number three: After using [One for All] for the first time, he started adapting faster than he should have. His body was on pace to adapt at around fifty-ish days, but now he's gonna be there after thirty. Number four: Both him and Eighth were quirkless before [One for All]. And most importantly, number five: He-"
"Thanks man! I didn't know I was your favorite."Fifth's joke left him with a smug look on his face. Third spoke through gritted teeth.
"As. I. Was. Saying. Number five: He can receive our quirks during moments of high stress or anxiety, so long as we're willing." Third looked at each vestige to make sure they were all following.
"Do you think him being quirkless made [One for All] stronger, since it doesn't have to use any energy empowering a quirk?" That was their leading theory for why Toshinori was able to grow so strong using [One for All]. The quirk was able to put one hundred percent of its power into enhancing his body, instead of investing a portion into a natural quirk.
"At first, yes. I thought that the stockpile just hadn't been activated yet since Midoriya was being careful, that he hadn't closed any loops in the metaphorical circuit. But I'm very confident that that line of thinking is wrong, because he did use it before that first punch. When Yagi scared him on the beach, he channeled it into his arm, he just didn't release it. If the circuit theory were true, then [One for All] should have gotten stronger in that moment, but it didn't. It wasn't until he punched the ocean that it got amplified. Remember how he was feeling when that happened?" Sixth leapt up from his perched position in his chair as his mind connected the dots.
"He- He was anxious! An- And worried, and stressed, the exact conditions he'd need to awaken one of our quirks!" Seventh turned to her predecessor, confused.
"Uh, wouldn't he have gotten my quirk then?" First's jaw dropped, coming to the same conclusion that Third and Sixth had already arrived at.
"No! He's supposed to unlock the most recent user's quirk. I thought, since Toshinori was quirkless, that it would simply skip over him, but it didn't! He must have unlocked Eighth's quirk!" Second put his hand up in protest.
"Hang on, old man. Yagi's a baseline, so there wouldn't be a meta-ability for Eighth to actually give him access to." Eighth's eyes widened as the realization hit him. He wasn't the only one.
"Eighth's quirk… is [One for All]..." Third snapped his fingers.
"Bingo. [One for All] meshed with his body better than any other user because he was quirkless. It was so ingrained within him that when his vestige arrived, [One for All] recognized itself as his natural quirk, meaning Eighth has, essentially, a copy of [One for All]. Eighth, how were you, not Yagi, feeling whenever Midoriya was charging up his attack?"
Pride. Joy. Desire. Acceptance.
"So the kid has, what, [Two for All] or something?"Third shook his head.
"No, not exactly. He has two copies of [One for All], one that contains us, and another that just has the strength and power that Yagi possessed." Fourth raised a hand, a confused look on his face.
"How can you be sure that this isn't causing a recursive loop with Eighth holding an endless number of our vestiges." First stepped in and cleared his throat.
"I think I'm best suited for that question. [One for All] makes changes to users' bodies, including their quirks. These changes are then stored within the quirk. However, the only changes that were made to Toshinori's body were the strength and durability adaptations. I believe those are what [One for All] recognized as Eighth's quirk, meaning he doesn't possess any copies of us. But, when Izuku passes [One for All] to his successor, I believe that's when the recursive loop would begin. Since Izuku would be receiving all of our powers, and because he started off quirkless, [One for All] might pull the same trick again and give Ninth a different copy, one that contains all of us. Since it's already attached itself to Eighth, it might not happen again. We'll just have to wait and see."
"So what, you're telling me this child is gonna be over twice as strong as Yagi was? He gonna be able to transfer Eighth's copy too?!" Second's eyes began to glow before he closed them and turned away.
"With the current information, we can't know for sure if he could transfer the copy. My gut feeling is that he can't, since it's still within [One for All] as whole, and it's always been an all or nothing transfer. However, Rules as Written, so to speak, I don't see a reason why he wouldn't be able to transfer it. It should still operate by the same logic as the original [One for All], so the bestowal aspect would be part of it. Only time will tell." Third folded his arms. Second seemed no less frustrated than before he spoke.
"[One for All] just got way stronger..."
Nervous. If Izuku had to choose just one word to describe his mental state over the course of the last month, it would be nervous. He'd made great strides in using [One for All], figuring out his mistake of concentrating power into just one or two limbs instead of throughout his entire body. He could reliably use three percent for an hour before getting too fatigued. He wasn't making any headway on communicating with the vestiges, however. He could only speak to one at a time for about a minute before a headache ensued. He was mostly guessing at which vestige he'd be speaking to whenever reaching for a strand. His favorite conversations were with First, he gave him recommendations for old shows and comics that surprisingly still held up. Second was still giving him the cold shoulder. First tried reassuring him that Second was just a grumpy guy, but Izuku had felt that kind of hostility before. Kacchan had been that way ever since Izuku was diagnosed as quirkless. He hoped to be able to reconcile with the vestige one day, but it was too big a task to start right now.
There it is, the doors of UA. These nerves must really be getting to me, my skin hasn't stopped buzzing all day.
"Fuck outta my way, Deku." Katsuki attempted to elbow Izuku out of the way, but he was fast enough to dodge before it connected. Katsuki looked at him with a mixture of anger and surprise before scoffing and heading inside.
Man, Kacchan's been a lot calmer ever since the sludge villain. I'm surprised he didn't yell at me for dodging. Oh well, nothing to complain about I guess.
Izuku took a deep breath in and began to walk towards the entrance.
This is it. My first steps at officially becoming a hero. I've trained all this time to get here, my whole life dedicated to this one goal.
He, after finishing his internal hype speech, tripped on his own foot and began to fall forwards.
Or I'll just die.
Before impacting, he felt a light tap on his left side and his weight disappeared. He started to spin uncontrollably before someone steadied his form and placed his feet on the ground.
"Sorry I used my quirk on you, but I thought it'd be a bad omen if you fell before taking the exam, ya know?"
A girl... is speaking to me?
He watched her bring her fingertips together and mutter 'Release' before walking away. "Good luck on the exam!"
I SPOKE TO A GIRL!
"Uh, he does know that he didn't actually say anything, right?" Fifth looked at the other vestiges, all of them shrugging.
Weird. It felt like someone was mocking me just now.
"Oh shit, is it happening? I thought First said it would be another two days before we'd be able to fully manifest." First shook his head.
"No Sixth, we're still on track for April 9th. It's just getting easier for him to feel us. If he tried speaking to us today, he'd probably last a lot longer than normal." Sixth nodded and thanked First for clearing his confusion.
The written exam was relatively easy for the boy, having studied extensively over the years. He turned to Katsuki next to him, seeing he was staring straight ahead at Present Mic on stage.
He still hasn't said anything to me since we sat down. Izuku was nervous, but he didn't let that stop him from nudging Katsuki with his elbow. "Hey Kacchan, are you okay? You're normally not this quiet and I'm just feeling a little worried about you."
That was the wrong thing to say, apparently.
Katsuki's face held a variety of emotions. Surprise, disgust, anger, contempt. His hands were balled into fists as they began to smoke.
"Sir! I apologize for interrupting with a question, but I cannot wait longer!" A blue haired boy with glasses stood and asked his question, punctuated with arm chops. "The UA Hero Course Entrance Exam Need to Know Pamphlet says that there are only three types of robots we will encounter, with point values of one, two, and three. However, the slideshow on stage shows the silhouette of four unique robots. If this is an error on behalf of UA, then I find it shameful!" Izuku was surprised at the audacity of the boy to call out UA to their face, but the formal boy was not finished. "And you there! With the messy hair!" He knife handed towards Izuku. "You've mumbled several times throughout this preparation lecture and even tried asking your neighbor a question. If you are not serious about this exam, then leave."
The Ninth wielder felt as if the core of his very being was attacked. He stood and defended himself without thinking. "Not serious? I noticed that my friend didn't seem to be acting like himself, so I was checking in on him. Meanwhile, you interrupted Present Mic when he was in the middle of speaking, even after he had explicitly told us to hold our questions until the end. If anyone here isn't taking this seriously, it's you!" Izuku blanched as his finished, realizing what he had done.
The spectacled teen seemed to realize his mistake. He bowed, keeping his knife hand extended in Izuku's direction. "I humbly apologize! You are correct, I should not have been criticizing you without complete knowledge of your situation." He raised himself and turned to bow towards Present Mic, but he cut him off.
"You ain't gotta apologize to me, little listener! You had a decent question, even if I was just about to explain it. The fourth kind of robot is worth zero points, it's meant to just be an obstacle you're supposed to avoid, so don't worry about it, yo!"
Izuku was standing outside of his test site when he noticed the nice girl from earlier. He swallowed his nerves and approached.
"H- hey. Hi. Um, I just, uh, wanted to say thank you! For, uh, when you saved me."
He did not do a good job at swallowing his nerves.
The nice girl, however, simply giggled to herself. "Don't worry about it! I'm sure you would have done the same in my shoes."
The nervous teen was about to respond when he heard Present Mic speak. "Alright, examinees, you ready? STAAAARRRTT!!"
Izuku wasted no time in powering up to three percent. He dashed through the entrance, searching for points. He saw two one-pointers waiting for an ambush in an alleyway, side by side. He ran towards them, arms crossed in an 'X' shape.
"Carolina Smash!"
He chopped off the robots' heads with a remarkable amount of ease. Huh, I guess they're made to be broken. That'd definitely help out anyone who doesn't have increased strength.
Navigating throughout the mock city, Izuku was racking up points with little effort. He noticed a boy with spiky red hair had a two-pointer sneaking up behind him. "On your six! Watch out!" The boy snapped his head around and connected a rock hard fist to the center of the robot, punching clean through it. The boy turned to Izuku with a smile and thumbs up.
"Thanks, man!"
Izuku nodded his head to the boy and was on his way deeper into the city when he felt the ground shake beneath him.
"What... the fuck is that?" The vestiges watched as Izuku stared at the massive robot trudging through the city. Izuku was just about to head the other direction when he heard a familiar voice scream.
"Ow, my leg! Help!" The pretty nice girl was trapped underneath a bunch of rubble. Her leg was pinned beneath debris that was kicked up from the street by the zero-pointer. Izuku wasted no time in heading her way.
The zero-pointer is approaching too quickly for me to try to dig her out. If she can make some of the debris float, it might help, but I can't guarantee that she's still able to use her quirk in these conditions. I have to get rid of zero-pointer. I can't punch it from down here, three percent would do nothing and one hundred percent would make it topple forwards from this angle. I have to attack it from high up.
Izuku ran as fast as three percent would allow, before crouching down. [One for All] Full Cowling: One Hundred Percent! He leapt into the air with both legs, cratering the ground beneath him. As he rocketed into the sky, he recalled the words of All Might from that morning. "Young Izuku, someone told me once that there is a difference between getting lucky and being deserving. One's an accident, the other a reward. You've earned this gift through valiant effort. Now, go out there and smash my expectations." This is my power. I've earned it.
"DETROIT SMASH!"
His fist connected with the metal face of the giant robot. The zero-pointer's head exploded alongside the rest of its body being blasted backwards and toppling over. Sadly, Izuku understood the Law of Conservation of Momentum, so he, too, was sent flying backwards. His arm and legs were shattered, flailing around uselessly whilst he was spiraling through the sky.
OhNoOhNoOhNo, what do I do?!? I could try to a New Hampshire Smash with my left arm to soften the blow of the landing, but I don't know how much strength it'll take so I'm likely to overshoot it and just end up in the sky again, that's not even considering the people below that I might injure with the attack. Izuku's mind was working in overdrive, searching for a solution. Seventh, however, already had one.
"C'mon Izuku, use [G-Direct]. I believe in you." She was focusing as hard as she could on the image of him using her power. As luck would have it, Izuku began to slow his descent.
The [One for All] wielder was filled with a sense of pride, as if his mother hugged him after taking his first steps. He felt like he had a bungee cord tied around his waist, stretching as it pulled against his momentum. There was a brief moment of complete weightlessness, before he started to fall upwards. He panicked and felt the bungee cord snap, releasing him to fall the remaining few meters. He landed on his good arm, trying to soften the impact. Izuku rolled onto his back and propped himself up on one arm while looking back to where the girl had been trapped. He could see the indention in the street where he took off a few dozen meters away, but what he noticed first was the girl. She was limping towards him, holding her stomach in pain.
"A- are you okay? Your arm doesn't look so good..." The boy was purposefully not checking his arm. He knew it was broken, he certainly felt it. It was just easier to ignore pain when he kept it out of sight.
"TIME'S UP EXAMINEES! REPORT TO THE NURSE'S OFFICE IF YOU HAVE ANY INJURIES, OTHERWISE, GET OUTTA HERE, YO!"
Well, I did my best. I lost track of my points after thirty, I hope that's enough to get into the hero course.
"Y- yeah, I'll be fine. I just gotta get to Recovery Girl." No sooner than he spoke those words, he heard a cane tap the ground next to his head.
"I'm right here young man." He watched as the nurse kissed his injured hand, causing a soothing warmth to spread in his body, fixing any damage he'd accrued throughout the exam. Izuku attempted to thank her, but it came out as 'thmkpgh oogph' before he passed out.
"Wake up. We need to speak."
Izuku opened his eyes to see eight figures before him. The scenery was strange, it looked like a room that had been abandoned for over a century, but the furniture was pristine. He recognized two of the vestiges, one being Seventh, who Toshinori had shown him a picture of after he spoke to her for the first time. The other, being Eighth. Eighth would have been hard to recognize as All Might to most people, but after ten months of time spent with the man, Izuku tell it was him by his eyes alone. They were filled with inspiring determination. He also guessed that the man with spiky hair facing the wall away from them was Second, but he couldn't be too sure.
"Hi everyone! I'm... to fin... eet you!" Izuku's words sounded like he was speaking underwater. He tried to feel his mouth to see if something was covering it, but when he reached for it, he was met with a buzzing blackness. He looked down at himself and saw his entire body was covered in the dark haze, all but a few fingers on his right hand, his eyes, and a foot. He felt a twinge of panic as he remembered how he got here in the first place.
"Don't worry Izuku. You're safe with Chiyo right now. Your mind isn't yet capable of processing the power of [One for All], so you can only manifest a small portion of yourself here. You're not a vestige."Seventh was able to calm him down with those words. The other vestiges began introducing themselves.
"Hey there champ, I'm Fifth." Fifth was smiling at pointing a thumb at himself, his other hand holding... jerky?
"Third over here." Third raised his hand.
"Sixth." Sixth waved politely.
"I'm First, it's nice to meet you properly."
"You're smart enough to realize that I'm not Second, based on the fact that I'm actually acknowledging you."
"Wow, you... cool... sai... need to... eak?" First approached Izuku and put a hand on his shoulder.
"I haven't been entirely honest with you, Izuku. There's more to [One for All] that I asked the others not to share with you. I felt it would be best to wait longer, enough time for the shock and awe to begin to dissipate and for you to look at the power as your own." Izuku felt offended at the secrecy for a brief moment before shaking those thoughts from his head.
I can't be mad at them for whatever this is. It makes sense not to drop too much stuff on me all at once. They're telling me now, so I can be prepared for whatever comes next.
Izuku was not prepared for what came next.
"Izuku, you're going to be gaining the quirks of every past user."
"WHA... AST USER.. UIRKS?!?" Izuku looked between every vestige, all of them returning a similar look, confirming the truth of Seventh's statement.
"Now, that's a pretty big bombshell, but don't be too stressed. We can only awaken our powers whenever you're in a moment of intense stress or panic. That's how you unlocked Seventh's quirk. It also happens from newest to oldest addition, so you'll gain mine next." Izuku took this information in.
"So... bungee... was? Yagi... described... fly..." Seventh smiled and stepped forward, gaining his attention.
"Yes, the 'bungee cord' was indeed my quirk. Never thought about it that way personally, but I'm not too offended. The power is called [G-Direct]. It allowed me to move the direction in which Earth's gravity was being applied to myself and anything I was touching. Essentially, it was simply having control over which way I would fall. I was even able to divide the acceleration in different directions, meaning I could hover in one spot, as long as I split the gravity in opposite directions." Izuku didn't know how to respond. He was overwhelmed with pure glee at the prospect of being able to fly. Seventh noticed this and chuckled.
"It's certainly an exciting power, little one. Just make sure you train it indoors to start off with. You'll be able to reach nearly 300 kilometers an hour travel speed if you're maximizing for aerodynamics. Otherwise, you'll be around 240."
"This... really exciting! I'll... rk hard... you proud!"
"That isn't all we need to tell you. There's a Symbol of Peace sized elephant in the room right now." This confused Izuku. Why does he sound so serious about All Might right now?
"Yes, we learned that [One for All] did something unexpected. It duplicated itself." Izuku's heart dropped.
"[One for All] recognized itself as Toshinori's unique power, so when Eighth arrived, he showed up with [One for All] as his quirk. There are now two stockpiles in which you gather your strength from. This is why you've had trouble with such low percentages, and why accessing the power has felt like you were fighting against a storm, rather than it guiding you. Long term, it shouldn't cause you problems, but you should still learn to distinguish between the two sources." Izuku listened to First and Third as they explained the full theory behind what happened to [One for All]. He found himself wanting to converse with Third more, the vestige's words being easy to follow. Shortly after they finished, Izuku felt the realm around him begin to darken.
"You're waking up now. Make sure you write down everything we spoke about, just in case we can't speak to you easily. I like those notebooks you keep. Reminds me of myself when I was your age."
"Goodb... one!! Tha... you... for... time."