Archive of Our Own ^beta

Then

Izuku was used to disappointment. His entire world came crashing down around him on his fourth birthday the moment the world ‘quirkless’ left his doctor’s mouth. The real pain didn’t set in until he asked his mom if he could still be a hero and only got the famous Midoriya tears, a bone crushing hug, and endless apologies. Something broke in him that day. Something that he wasn’t quite able to put a name to shattered into tiny little pieces that he simply didn’t have the energy or ability to put back together.

Now, with his fifth birthday approaching, he couldn’t fight the anxiety that settled in his chest mercilessly weighing him down. The day his soulmate mark or marks were supposed to appear. 

Logically, he knew that he had no reason to be anxious. He had done hours upon hours of fact checking and there were no reported cases of anyone not having a soulmate mark. Still, the fact that everyone else around him had been showing gradual signs of their marks appearing but he hadn’t was downright stressful. Just because something had never been reported doesn’t mean it didn’t happen and with his luck… Well he wasn’t going to let himself get too excited.

He let out an exhausted sigh and rolled over in bed, eyes wandering until they landed on the limited edition All Might clock- he won it in a raffle that Present Mic’s radio station hosted- resting on his nightstand. 

11:47 P.M.

He blinked.

11:48 P.M.

Rolling onto his stomach, he buried his head into his pillow and let out a muffled screech. His eyes ached with how dry they were and he knew it was because he was exhausted but he just couldn’t get his racing heart to calm down enough to sleep.

‘I should just count myself lucky school isn’t in session,’ he thought bitterly.

Soulmates had been around for as long as recorded history. No one really knew why, even after so many centuries of research there still weren’t any logical answers. It was just something that happened. One of the unexplainable phenomena of the human race. 

They might not know why but through extensive studying they had discovered some inherent truths about soulmarks. 

One: Soulmarks can appear in an instant or gradually but they are always fully visible by the fifth birthday.

Two: Soulmarks cannot be destroyed. They will appear clear and visible even over severe scar tissue.

Three: Soulmarks will occasionally react depending on the strength of emotions from one or both owners.

Four: Soulmates do not have to be romantic. Many people have platonic or familial soulmates.

Five: Most people have more than one soulmate. In fact, it’s extremely rare for someone to only have one.

Six: Soulmates can find each other through the patterns of their soulmarks but it’s not necessarily an accurate method of detection because some patterns are more common than others- like flowers and animals. Skin contact is the go to way to guarantee whether or not you’re soulmates. Most people describe initial contact as a jolt followed by warmth washing over your body- like the sun on a cool day.

Seven: After the initial interaction- skin contact or not, soulmates can communicate via writing on the skin. It’s just another way to bind people together.

Izuku went over the list again and again as the seconds ticked by. He could vaguely remember seeing his mother writing little notes on her skin occasionally but it had been a while since he had seen her do that. He couldn’t help but think of how amazing that would be. The ability to communicate with the people that mattered the most whenever you wanted. 

He said he wasn’t going to get his hopes up but it was probably a little late for that. He just wanted someone to be close to. He let out a wistful sigh and closed his eyes. 

He woke with bright light streaming through the window and settling over his eyes. It took a few moments for his mind to register that he had somehow managed to fall asleep but once he did he shot up in the bed. He swung his feet off the side and padded over to the floor length mirror on his closet door but didn’t turn his gaze away from the carpet.

His hands clenched in the fabric of his shirt and after a few long moments of anxiety he finally looked up. His breath hitched when he saw something peeking out from under his collar and the right sleeve of his shirt. Wasting no more time he ripped the shirt off and dropped it on the floor. Lavender flowers wrapped around his  upper right arm before flaring out around his neck and chest. Soft looking gold tinted clouds decorated his left chest and shoulder.

Tears stung his eyes as relieved giggles bubbled up and escaped, filling the room with laughter. He traced over the patterns delicately, as if they would disappear in a moment's notice. He slowly turned to his right to get a better look at the clouds. He took in the pattern that extended down his back before another splash of color caught his eye and he found himself spinning around to get a better look. A dark patch of skin decorated with the vibrant colors of a galaxy rested over his right shoulder blade and crept up close to his hairline.

He grinned widely as he was completely overwhelmed with emotion. He had three soulmates. Three people he was tied to. He couldn’t wait to meet them.

Izuku had been on cloud nine for weeks after that. Nothing had brought down the sheer euphoria that he felt. At least not until he went back to school and reality slammed into him with the force of a runaway train.

Having soulmates didn’t make the quirklessness go away. Having soulmates didn’t mean he wasn’t Deku anymore. Having soulmates didn’t make his mother’s life any easier. Having soulmates didn’t make his life any better for himself so why would he make someone else’s life better?

Having soulmates just meant that they would have to share the burden of a quirkless soulmate. It didn’t make him good enough. It didn’t stop Kacchan from trying to burn away his soulmarks. He was just thankful the decorative marks covered the starburst scarring as well as they did. His mother didn’t need to see that. She didn’t need one more thing to worry about.

Eventually he came to the conclusion that he would do his soulmates a favor and stay out of their lives as best as he could. They were better off without a quirkless Deku dragging them down. 

His resolve didn’t stop him from gently tracing the beautiful patterns on bad days. It didn’t stop the voice in the back of his mind that held out hope that maybe, by some miracle, they would want him. He squashed that voice as best as he could. Getting his hopes up again was not a good idea.

Now

He woke up one morning knowing from the bottom of his heart that something bad was going to happen. He was immediately proven correct when the teacher brought up Yuuei. He thought the worst part was going to be Kacchan telling him to take a swan dive off the roof. There was no way it could have gotten worse, right? 

‘What a joke,’ he thought as he was drowning in thick disgusting sludge. His vision blurred and he could have sworn he heard a loud clanging just as he lost consciousness.

He was woken by someone shaking his shoulder. Gentle but firm. His eyes fluttered open and he was greeted with bright blond hair, a wide grin, and barely visible blue eyes.

‘Holy shit that’s All Might,’ his mind screeched as he shot up. 

“Thank goodness you’re awake! Thought I’d lost you for a moment there,” All Might’s voice boomed, echoing through the tunnel they were under.

“All Might can you-,” he cut off abruptly when he saw his notebook open to one of the few pristine pages. All Might’s signature was scrawled across the page. He barely restrained an excited squeal- not that that did any good when a strangled wheeze left his mouth.

“Sorry you got caught up in my heroing! The sewer system is surprisingly complicated,” All Might said as he tucked two bottles in his pockets and bent down, stretching slightly as he prepared to take off.

“Wait,” Izuku shouted as he lunged forward. He barely managed to grip onto his hero’s- thankfully durable- pants before they were both soaring through the air.

It wasn’t long until they landed on the roof of a building far far from the overpass they were under mere seconds ago. He didn’t have much time so he sucked in a breath and practically shouted his question in a single breath before he lost the grip he had on his desperation and courage. He asked and, despite his better judgement, gave into that sliver of hope.

Part of him wishes he could say he was disappointed. Angry. Depressed. Something. But by this point he was just numb. Maybe that was for the better.

He blankly watched All Might leave and his grip tightened around the straps of his backpack before he let out a quiet sigh. It was barely audible over the static in his ears. He registered putting one foot in front of the other but when he blinked he was already walking down the street. In the back of his mind he was glad he wasn’t too far from home.

The abrupt familiar sound of explosions snapped him out of his mind and his head snapped toward a crowd not far down the street. He hesitantly walked over internally debating on whether or not he should even bother until his eyes landed on the disgusting mass of sludge. 

He could still taste it in the back of his mouth. Could still feel the oppressive liquid clogging his throat. The memory of it nearly made him gag. Then his gaze locked with crimson eyes and, before he knew it, he was running. Despite everything and- on a lesser note- everyone screaming at him to stop.

He wildly swung his backpack before taking the momentary distraction to dig his hands into the thick sludge until he was gripping tightly onto Kacchan’s uniform and pulled. Unfortunately, he was more of a runner and less of a weight lifter so it didn’t do much. But his grip was firm enough to secure him in place when All Might dropped in from the sky and sent the sludge flying.

Flashing lights and loud scoldings took a backseat in his mind as he came down from the adrenaline high. He’s pretty sure he heard an indignant cry from one of the heroes as he just stared at them blankly before picking up his soiled backpack and started the walk home on shaking legs.

He barely registered Kacchan catching up with him and vanishing just as quickly. Probably to make sure Aunt Mitsuki didn’t have a stroke worrying about him. The attack was all over the news.

He did snap out of it when All Might skidded to a halt in front of him.

“All Might-” he started, surprised.

“I’m so glad I caught up with you, kid,” All Might interrupted. He was slightly breathless, the missing lung probably wasn’t helping. “I needed to tell you I was wrong!” Blue eyes stared down at him with resolve.

“What,” he croaked out in confusion.

“I was wrong. When I said that you couldn’t be a hero I was wrong. Being a hero means doing the right thing even when it seems impossible. You inspired me today, kid. I have been bitter about my situation and I took that out on you. I’m sorry for that,” All Might said before straightening and giving him a grin. “You can be a hero and I would like to help you get there. I would like you to inherit my quirk.”

Izuku could have sworn he heard a record scratch as everything went silent around them. He stared blankly up at the number one hero for a moment.

“Huh,” finally came out of his mouth. Inheriting quirks sounded like some kind of outlandish fantasy power.

All Might chuckled before explaining, “My quirk is called One For All. It’s a quirk that has been passed down for generations. One person takes the quirk and cultivates it before passing it down. I’ve been searching for the person who would become my successor and I believe that person is you. The one person who acted when no one else did. But we can talk about specifics later. Give me your phone number. I’m going to text you a place to meet this weekend. We can discuss the details there.”

Training was brutal. He had been cleaning the beach for months and he was exhausted physically and mentally. He found himself constantly busy bouncing between school and training; he barely had time for anything else. He ran twice as much as usual to build up his endurance. Cleaning the beach was weight training without the expensive gym membership. He’d also made sure to stretch. A lot. The last thing he wanted was to fall behind because he wasn’t taking precautions. But he was also ahead of schedule. All Might suspected he would have just enough time to really enjoy the results of his hard work.

It didn’t help that he had the added stress of trying to placate his mother. He loved his mom and he would always appreciate everything that she did for him but having to convince her to let him leave the apartment every single day to train was starting to wear on him. He could deal with the disapproval she held for his dreams, he’d been dealing with that for a decade now, but going through the same speech every single morning until she let him go was just exhausting.

But it was okay because for now he was enjoying the last few moments of his break laying back in the sand with a great view of the sunset.

“Alright, Young Midoriya. Fifteen more minutes then you can head home for the day. I have someone I want you to meet tomorrow and trust me when I say you will want to be well rested when you do,” All Might said with a fond grin. He bent over and extended his hand.

Izuku returned the grin and took the offered hand. A sudden heat shot up his arm settling over the golden clouds that decorated his left chest and shoulder. His heart started racing and he wasn’t sure if it was fear or excitement.

Green and blue gazes locked. Both in a state of shock as they processed this new revelation.

Before he could even register Izuku was pulled up from the ground and into the warmest hug he’d ever had. He found himself tearing up as his hands gripped onto the white shirt. All Might was his soulmate. He found one.

Toshinori hadn’t expected the rush. The familiar warmth that spread over his body that he hadn’t felt since he met Nana. The sheer adoration that settled in his bones. He had grown so fond of Midoriya over the past few months, hell he had already known that there was something special about his boy, but this wasn’t at all what he expected when he offered Midoriya One For All. 

He had lost hope of ever finding the one responsible for the wondrous clouds stretching across his chest from shoulder to shoulder dipping just beneath his collarbone decades ago. To think he’d been in front of him for months and he hadn’t even known.

He was going to do right by his boy.

He held back the sympathetic grimace as he watched Izuku eat sand for the fourth time in a row. He had introduced his protege to Gran the day after their revelation several months ago. He hadn’t even known they were soulmates when he had called Gran but his old teacher almost softened at the information.

Gran insisted on combat training and Toshinori agreed wholeheartedly. All of the muscle Izuku was building wouldn’t be much good if he didn’t know how to use it. He did restrict it to light sparring at the beginning but it gradually got tougher as the entrance exam loomed closer. He didn’t trust his boy to mind his limits as he should. In his determination Izuku had already proven that he would go beyond his capabilities if he thought it would help.

Another thing Toshinori was discreetly looking into. Izuku’s behavior was alarming no matter how good he was at making excuses. If anything it only added to the army of red flags that kept popping up. 

Unfortunately Yagi Toshinori doesn’t hold the same weight that All Might does. He’d hit wall after wall and he wasn’t going to risk exposing Izuku to the vultures by throwing his weight as the number one hero around to get answers. He wanted Izuku to thrive in his environment and that wouldn’t happen until he started to heal. He was going to have to resort to drastic measures if he wanted to get anywhere which is exactly why he had asked for a one on one meeting with Nedzu. It would take place after the entrance exams finished and all students were sent home. The entrance exams that will take place tomorrow.

“Alright! Now do it with your quirk,” Gran shouted as he launched off one of the obstacles he had set up to more efficiently use his quirk after the beach had been pristinely cleaned. He gave Izuku limited mercy and absolutely no time to overthink.

Toshinori was starting to suspect that Gran adored Izuku just as much as he did.

Luminescent green lightning sparked to life around his successor’s body as he did something neither of them expected. He leaped off the sand in one smooth movement and held out an arm before flicking one of his fingers. An air blast straight to the sandy beach. It formed a smokescreen as gravity slowly dragged the particles back down to earth to settle.

When it did it revealed Gran standing over Izuku, who was pinned to the beach, both trying to clear their mouths of sand.

“Not a bad idea kid. Smokescreens can give you time to carry out a finishing attack. Obviously it won’t work everywhere but it would be a good idea to incorporate some kind of air filter into your hero costume,” Gran said while taking his foot off Izuku’s chest. “We’re done for today. Rest up because you have an exam to take tomorrow.”

Izuku gave a quick nod and ran off but almost immediately doubled back to grab a quick hug from the both of them before taking off once more. It was the perfect time for a talk.

“So, what do you think,” Toshinori asked as he turned his attention away from the distant form of his boy.

“He’s quick. At the beginning of this week he was shattering his bones and now it’s like he’s a natural. It’s a good thing you called me in though. There’s no telling how bad it could have gotten if he had continued the way he was,” Gran said with a slightly concerned frown.

He winced at the thought of the incident. A quick trip to Recovery Girl had fixed him up but it still wasn’t a pretty sight. Luckily, the problem was easily solvable. And one he probably wouldn’t have been able to figure out if it hadn’t been for Gran. He’d never had those kinds of issues with One For All and little experience as a teacher. If there was one thing the past few months with Izuku and Gran had done it was convincing him to invest in some teaching manuals and handbooks.

“Yes, the last thing he needs is permanent damage. This should make it easier for his practical exam tomorrow as well,” he said. He pursed his lips as he thought of how to broach the topic of his meeting with Nedzu.

Gran took one look at him and let out a sigh. “If you’ve got something to say- say it. And don’t look at me like that, you’re just as easy to read as you were when you were a teenager.”

He fought off a chuckle unsuccessfully before all the humor drained from him. “I’m going to meet with Nedzu tomorrow. I was hoping you would come with.”

“Tsukauchi couldn’t make any headway then,” Gran observed with a frown. “Yeah, I’ll go with you. The rat already extended an invitation to watch the entrance exams. I think he’s trying to con me back into a teaching job.”

“Are you considering it?”

He snorted. “I’m too old to be teaching high schoolers.”

“I think Izuku would disagree with you there.”

“Izuku, huh? Finally dropped the surnames have you?”

“Yes, but since you’re changing the subject I’m guessing it’s a solid no for you?”

“I’ll stick around to make sure I’m not far away if the kid needs me but I have no intention of teaching again.”

“He doesn’t have many good teachers so I’m sure that will mean a lot to him. It certainly means a lot to me.”

“Don’t get sappy.”

Toshinori grinned. This was the perfect opportunity to poke fun at his old sensei. “You know, I was originally worried about calling you here after my first lesson with you. Now, it may just be my imagination but it seems like you have a soft spot for Izuku.”

“Eh? Who’re you again?”

He laughed. The old forgetful act was the ultimate denial but boy was it telling. Gran only confirmed his suspicions. He really adores Izuku- not that he was one to talk.

The written exam was a piece of cake. In fact, he may have overstudied for it because he got through it a hell of a lot faster than anyone else. It just gave him plenty of time to look over all of his answers a few times and make sure he hadn’t messed up somewhere.

The explanation about the robots made him frown but he was pretty sure that the percentage of One For All he could handle would hold out enough for him to get the points to pass.

He took the first few minutes off the bus to stretch a bit. It wouldn’t do to fail because he didn’t take proper precautions. It was also a great distraction from the anxiety that he’d been feeling for the past two weeks. It seemed to hit its peak this morning, which came as no surprise, and ever since he woke he’s been irritated at every single little thing that’s gone wrong.

He slept through his first two alarms. He couldn’t take a hot shower because the water heater decided today was the perfect day to break down. He didn’t have time to go on his morning jog or eat breakfast so he’d had to settle for a sprint to the station and two protein bars he had stashed in his backpack for emergencies. Then he ran into Bakugo on his way to the written exam. Then he tripped and nearly broke his nose, he probably would have- knowing his luck- if that girl hadn’t been there. Then he was called out in front of the entire auditorium which was insanely mortifying and almost a scene straight out of some of his nightmares. At this point, all he wanted to do was break some robots and take a long nap.

His eyes scanned through the crowd of examinees who would be his competition before they landed on a familiar head of brown hair. He probably had enough time to thank her for her help this morning. He’d been too stunned to form words like a normal person earlier.

A hand landed on his shoulder and he jumped acting on instinct as he whirled around and gripped the hand in a near crushing grasp, Gran’s sneak attacks had apparently engrained themselves into his reflexes. He caught up to reality before he did anything else embarrassing like throwing him halfway across the waiting area. His mood only soured more when he was verbally reprimanded for the second time by the same person.

“Alright! GO,” Present Mic shouted indicating the beginning of the exam.

Every training session with Gran kicked in and lightning sparked off his body as he shot forward like a bullet leaving the group behind. Robots shattered to pieces under the strength of One For All but they didn’t seem all that tough to begin with. He’s pretty sure he could have taken his jacket off and wrapped his hand to take them out without his quirk which made him feel a little bit better. Maybe the test wasn’t as ridiculously unfair as he originally thought.

A flash of army green caught his eye and he turned around. A two pointer was heading straight for some purple haired student with their back turned. He launched off a nearby lamppost- they were serious about the urban realism- for the extra momentum and felt the metal crush beneath his feet. He and the remains of the robot skidded to a halt in front of the boy who had turned at the noise.

“Are you okay,” Izuku asked. He didn’t see any scratches but if the rubble had hit the boy he would have felt bad.

All he got was an irritated frown for his question. “I didn’t ask for your help.”

“I never said you did. You should be careful though. Situational awareness and all.” Izuku gave the boy a critical onceover before he ripped off the sharp but lightweight tail from the two pointer and tossed it over to Purple. He looked like he had more lean muscle from running rather than lifting weights. Kind of like Izuku did a year ago. “Use that. The robots aren’t very strong so this should give you a leg up. But if you can manage to sneak up on them they have off buttons on the back. That’s gotta count somehow.”

Suspicious eyes stared up at him before Purple nodded slowly. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” With that he propelled himself off buildings like he’d seen Gran do dozens of times and started back on the course of taking down robots.

He skidded to a stop down the street from the entrance when everything started shaking. Now he was sure Yuuei had top notch equipment but simulating an earthquake seemed like a bit much for an entrance exam. His eyes wandered until they landed on the giant robot making its way down the street. 

‘I think I’d prefer the earthquake,’ he thought.

Other examinees were running past him to safety and he was about to turn around and book it when he heard it. Someone crying for help. He scanned the area until he caught sight of the girl from earlier. He didn’t miss the people still running past. There was no way in hell he was the only one who heard her. Did any of these people even care? Weren’t they here to get into the hero course?

He shoved down the rage as best as he could as he turned to face what could only be the zero pointer and moved. Dodging examinees left and right as he ran to stop that girl from being crushed. Launching himself into the air, he held out an arm gripping onto his wrist to hopefully minimize any kickback and pushed One For All to the highest percentage he could go. 

He flicked his fingers and felt fire ripping through his arm. Black tendrils shot through the air and brutally shredded the zero pointer into tiny little pieces. And they didn’t stop. It was like they were trying to devour everything in sight. To destroy and break and shatter everything they touched.

He vaguely heard someone call out to him but all that escaped was a whimper of pain, though that was probably better than the scream that he’d been holding back. 

Suddenly, he was calm. Everything turned muted. He was aware of what was happening around him but he couldn’t react. The black tendrils faded, sinking back into his skin but they were the only things keeping him up in the air and when they disappeared gravity started working again. Normally, he would have been able to work with the sudden shift but the fogginess covering his brain, which had to be some kind of brainwashing, was keeping him from moving.

SLAP

The pain in his cheek snapped him back to reality and he was floating, safe from becoming a spot on the pavement. The girl from before. He would really have to thank her, she’d saved him from vicious gravity twice now.

He touched the ground and gripped onto his shaking arm. It was throbbing and he wasn’t quite sure where the pain was the worst. He’s pretty sure he fractured something.

The silence drew his attention to his surroundings. A group of examinees were staring at him. He recognized the one with blue hair and glasses and he probably would have laughed at the ridiculous shocked expression Glasses had any other time. Then there was the gravity girl who looked a lot more green than usual- was she puking rainbows? That was kind of fascinating in a really gross way. Finally, Purple was crouching in front of him- Izuku wasn’t sure if Purple was disturbed or impressed.

He let out a near hysterical laugh and flopped back on the ground. It was starting to hit him that he almost became a pancake.

The examination room was silent for a few excruciatingly long moments before confused murmuring filled the empty space.

“What the hell is that kid’s quirk,” Vlad King asked. “I thought it was some kind of enhancement so where did the tentacles come from?”

“That quirk looked vaguely familiar,” Eraserhead said as he stared at the screen. “There was an underground hero that I heard stories of. He was the inspiration for my capture weapon. He went by Lariat. He had something similar, probably a watered down version of that.”

“That still doesn’t explain the enhancement aspect,” Snipe commented.

“It’s not completely uncommon for someone to inherit quirk aspects from both parents or even two different ancestors,” Midnight commented. “We’ve already seen one kid like that in the recommendation exams. Todoroki Shouto, remember?”

“All valid assumptions that I’m sure can be clarified upon further inspection,” Nedzu cheerfully said. “For now it’s time to escort the uninjured examinees off the premises. Yagi, Torino. I believe we have a meeting to get to.”

Toshinori shook himself from his stupor. “Oh, yes of course.”

Before he knew it he found himself in Nedzu’s personal office. The principal pressed a button and several locks clicked into place, successfully sealing the room off. Any and all recording devices were likely turned off as well.

“What the hell was that,” Gran asked with disbelief in his voice.

“That’s what I would like to know,” Nedzu started, “Yagi, you said Midoriya Izuku was quirkless correct?”

“Yes, throughout the entire time I’ve known him he never once showed signs of any kind of quirk development. Not even a hint of being a late bloomer and that quirk is nothing like what he has told me of his parents’ quirks,” Toshinori said. The only thing he could think of was that All For One had somehow gotten his hands on Izuku, and boy did that set his nerves on edge. That man was supposed to be dead. The idea that he had gotten close enough to Izuku to drop a quirk into him. But that makes no sense either, because why would he just give Izuku a quirk?

Nedzu hummed as he busied himself with preparing a pot of tea.

“What’s going on in that brain of yours? I know you have to have some kind of idea,” Gran said with narrowed eyes.

“Well, when you informed me of the origin of your quirk and its counterpart I spent quite a bit of time thinking about them both. They are unprecedented. There have been no other quirks similar to either of them. The closest I can think of are copy quirks but none have the sheer capacity or encompass near the parameters that All For One and One For All have. That being said, perhaps One For All is not as dissimilar from All For One as previously thought.” Nedzu set out three cups on a tray and brought it over to the table.

“What do you mean exactly,” Toshinori asked.

“You explained that One For All is a stockpiling quirk but that’s a very general term. Do you know what exactly it’s stockpiling?”

Gran had a dawning realization on his face. “You’re suggesting that One For All collects quirks in a similar way to All For One. That was the quirk of one of the previous holders.”

“Mhm, I am. You heard Eraserhead’s comparison. He said that Lariat’s quirk was a watered down version of what Midoriya manifested. It could very well be that Lariat was one of the holders of One For All.”

“That means that he’s likely going to be developing even more quirks as time goes on,” Toshinori said. “And we have no idea what’s coming.”

“Have no fear, Yagi. I fully intend on looking into who the previous holders are. I do not like to be blindsided and I do not want any unexpected accidents. Quirk manifestations can be dangerous. We’re lucky that today’s incident didn’t end terribly.” Nedzu took a sip of his tea. “I would like to inform Eraserhead of what is going on. His quirk will be vital to ensuring minimal damage to both Midoriya and his surroundings. Eraserhead will also be his homeroom teacher and he does not need to be in the dark about something so important.”

Toshinori perked up a bit at that. “So Izuku got in?”

Gran snorted. “That’s what you got out of all that? Of course the kid got in. You saw his performance.”

Nedzu smiled. “Yes, Yagi. By my initial calculations Midoriya did qualify for the hero course. We have yet to tack on rescue points. That will be a matter of reviewing every examinee therefore it will take a week or so to assign the rescue points and then you will be recording the acceptance videos for the hero course.”

He nodded and picked up the teacup. He felt much better now that he had banished the mental image of All For One coming near his son. “Of course. I would be honored.”

Gran leaned back in his chair with a sigh.

Nedzu’s eyes glinted and a small smile spread across his face. “Torino. Are you perhaps reconsidering your previous… adamant rejection of my offer?”

Gran glared at the rat for a few long moments. “I’m not going to teach a class.”

“But you want to be close in case anything goes wrong. Midoriya trusts you and you have plenty of experience in dealing with his quirk. I won’t force you to teach a class, but how about becoming a teacher’s assistant?”

“Fine.”

“Before I call in Eraserhead, what was the original reason you called this meeting? Or is this something that he should be privy to as well?”

He and Gran shared a look before he turned to Nedzu. “If Eraserhead is going to be his homeroom teacher he should probably be made aware of this as well. It’s about certain concerns I have regarding Izuku’s previous education.”

Shouta was completely exhausted. Patrol the previous night had gone hours over schedule thanks to some idiots deciding to have a gang war at three in the morning and with the exams today he was required to arrive early. He’d managed to get in a fifteen minute nap but the only thing that ended up accomplishing was irritating him. He was looking forward to going home with his husband and sleeping until noon tomorrow. Alas, fate seemed to have it out for what was left of his sanity and just as he settled down in the passenger seat of Hizashi’s car a familiar text tone sounded. Nedzu’s text tone.

A noise that was an ungodly amalgamation of a sob, hysteria, and fury escaped from his throat before he could stop it.

Hizashi winced sympathetically. “Do you want me to wait for you,” he asked.

“Please. Hopefully it’s nothing serious and I’ll be right back. I’ll text you if it’s gonna take longer, though. There’s no need for you to wait around for who knows how long,” Shouta said as he leaned over and gave his husband a kiss. He got out of the car and made his way down the halls to Nedzu’s office.

The door opened before he could touch the handle and revealed Nedzu, All Might, and the old pro Gran Torino sitting at the table Nedzu reserved for personal meetings. There was a fresh steaming cup of coffee prepared just the way he likes it sitting right in front of the open seat.

“Son of a bitch,” he grumbled under his breath and took out his phone to tell Hizashi to leave without him. If Nedzu brought out the coffee for Shouta that meant this was going to take a while.

He was lost. He had no earthly idea where he was; all he knew was that it was dark. Shadows wrapped around him in a way that normally would have felt suffocating but instead it was almost comforting. Like a weighted blanket. It numbed whatever alarm he normally would have felt at the inability to speak or move and replaced it with blessed neutrality.

This had to be some kind of dream. He was just too calm. There was no restlessness. No anxiety. It was weird . The last thing he remembered was fracturing his arm against the zero pointer because instead of the air blast he was expecting he got black tendrils- he absolutely refused to call them tentacles, no way in hell- that lashed out violently at the offending robot and probably anything else it viewed as a threat.

Flashes of color drew him from his thoughts and his gaze shifted from the makeshift void that he supposes counts as the floor. Bright blotches of glowing color were in front of him. They were vaguely human shaped but he couldn’t make out any kind of features. Features or not, he could still feel their stares burning into him.

He blinked and suddenly vibrant glowing green was flooding his vision. He was so close to it he could just barely make out their eyes. Just as green as their aura with pale white pupils. It was an eerie mirror of his own eyes.

He blinked again and was somewhere far different than the shadowy void he had been in seconds ago.The smell of antiseptic and bright fluorescent lights invaded his senses as he pushed himself into a sitting position.

“Oh, good. You were out longer than I thought you would be. I must admit I didn’t expect to see you again so soon, dearie. You only fractured your arm this time, which is much better than the state it was in before. Still, I don’t want this to become a habit, understand me,” Recovery Girl asked seriously.

He quickly nodded. “Yeah, of course,” he replied automatically. He still wasn’t quite sure what happened with his quirk. All Might had never had black tendrils sprout out of nowhere.

Recovery Girl’s expression softened a bit. “You can go ahead and head home if you want. I’m sure your mother is waiting for you.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” He slid off the bed and grimaced at the gross feeling of his workout clothes sticking to his skin. He was going to go home and take a shower and eat whatever he could find in the kitchen because holy shit he felt like he was starving all of a sudden. But that’s usually what happens when the sun is setting and all you’ve had to eat were a couple of protein bars.

He made a mental note to text All Might as soon as possible. They really needed to figure out what was up with One For All and why he was sprouting new quirk aspects that he’d never heard of before.

But he could worry about that tomorrow. The world wasn’t going to end if he at least tried to relax for one night.

Hopefully.

It had been two days and he hadn’t been able to get a hold of All Might at all. It was radio silence and that was alarming, even when Gran told him not to worry. There was nothing on the news indicating All Might had been injured in a fight but that wasn’t saying much because there was nothing on the fight that scarred him so badly six years ago.

Eventually Gran got tired of his anxiety induced texts and told him to go to Dagobah in the morning. Which was now. Granted the sun hadn’t quite risen yet, but Gran didn’t specify a time and he would much rather arrive early than late- it also helped that his mother was still asleep right now so he didn’t have to bargain his way out of the apartment for once.

But he was in luck for once! Gran was standing on the platform that led down to the beach. He was leaning against the railing casually gazing off at the sun barely peeking over the ocean.

And he wasn’t alone.

Warning bells rang in his head as he slowed to a stop a reasonable distance away. Just enough to observe and stay off the radar of the old pro and hopefully the new guy. The new guy who looked vaguely familiar. He could have sworn he’d seen him somewhere before but he just couldn’t place where.

He hesitantly strode forward, a far cry from the outright sprint he had taken to get here, until he was on the edge of the platform.

“Good, you’re here. Let’s go kid,” Gran said. He swiftly turned from the railing and walked over to a car parked nearby.

The man eyed Izuku up and down before opening the backseat door for the both of them. Izuku got in behind Gran and took a seat trying his best not to fidget.

“So, where are we going,” he eventually asked.

“We’re going to Yuuei. There’s a private training room booked for us. We won’t be disturbed and it’s secure enough that we can have the conversation I know you’re dying to have.”

His eyes briefly shot to the man sitting with them. “What about-”

“All Might can’t come at the moment but don’t worry about him.” Gran nodded toward the stranger. “He’s been made aware of your quirk. We’ll talk more about it when we get to Yuuei.”

Izuku fell silent but his eyes wouldn’t stop wandering to the man as he tried his best to ignore the tense atmosphere in the car. He let out a silent sigh of relief when they came to a stop and piled out of the car. Then came the equally awkward walk through the woods within Yuuei’s walls until they came across a secluded building labeled Gym Upsilon.

He was ushered in and, when the door closed behind them, several more thick doors slid shut and just as many locks loudly clicked into place. Gran wasn’t kidding about security. There weren’t even windows, just thick reinforced walls.

“Alright, kid. I’m sure you have some questions. Before you ask them we’re going to give you the breakdown of the running theory we’ve come up with. Nothing is for sure but Nedzu is usually pretty good at speculation,” Gran began. “But before we get to that I’m gonna ruin the surprise for you. You passed the entrance exam. You can wait until the letters are sent out for the details but you’ll be in class 1-A and this,” he motioned to tall, dark, and scary, “is going to be your homeroom teacher.”

His new homeroom teacher finally spoke for the first time and said, “My name is Aizawa Shouta. I feel I should get this out of the way now by saying that I’m not going to go any easier on you despite your circumstances. However, you do have potential and as long as you continue to show you have potential your spot in my class is secure. That being said, you have a lot of catching up to do. You’ll be doing regular classes during the day but after school you will have extra training sessions. We’ll be sitting down before you leave today to come up with a schedule that works for the both of us.”

Gran nodded his approval and they sat him down and explained their theory of what was going on with One For All. Unfortunately, they didn’t have a lot of information at the moment but they were working on tracking down the previous holders of the quirk or at least narrow down the potential quirks he was going to get. 

Thankfully they already knew what to expect out of one: Float. Shimura Nana’s quirk. It wasn’t even a dent in the list but it was a start. Gran even met the sixth holder, however briefly that was, and while he wasn’t aware of his name or quirk they had a solid description to go through with the records which was more than they could say for the rest. Though they did have some suspicions of the original owner of the black tendrils. They believed it was called Blackwhip.

It was going to be a long process but it was better than being blindsided at the worst time.

Izuku left Gym Upsilon after an emotionally draining conversation, a few hours worth of training with Blackwhip, and a detailed schedule to go over with his mother- not that he was looking forward to having that conversation. For now he would be training at Gym Upsilon four afternoons out of the week after his school let out. It would be a tight schedule to make but as long as Izuku managed to avoid his bullies he was sure he could handle it because he had an edge now that he didn’t have before.

He wasn’t the same person that sat there and took whatever they gave him. He knew his worth.

He had nothing to be nervous about. He already knew he got in. And yet, as he held the thick envelope in his shaking hands he couldn’t stop the swell of anxiety. The feeling that maybe they were just saying he passed to appease him- it was a stupid voice whispering his every doubt but it was persistent and loud and it had over a decade to do its damage.

But he was never going to know for sure until he opened the damn thing. Clenching his eyes shut he ripped open the side of the envelope only to open them with a quiet ‘huh’ as something clattered loudly onto his desk.

A hologram popped up from a small round disk and he saw All Might in all his glory. A wide smile, that actually seemed pleased- proud even, adorned his face.

“Young Midoriya! You managed to score a solid twenty-eight villain points during your entrance exam! Unfortunately this is not quite enough to pass-”

Izuku’s heart sank as he fought off the sting of tears. He knew it. Gran was just going easy on him.

“-However! There is another point system which was not mentioned during your briefing. Rescue points! Point values are assigned based on how you act during the exam. On whether or not you step in when someone is in need. Due to your many heroic acts during the exam you have been assigned sixty rescue points! That means you not only passed the exam with flying colors but you also scored first place. So welcome to your hero academia! I look forward to seeing you within the halls of Yuuei.”

The hologram cut off leaving Izuku alone to process the shock. He did pass. He passed. He passed in first place . Near hysterical laughter poured from his mouth as he rubbed the tears off his cheeks. He did it.

A soft ding drew his attention to his phone and a text from All Might was front and center. He immediately picked it up and opened it.

Cirrus: I take it you got the letter?

Cumulus: I did! I can’t believe I got first!

Cirrus: Why don’t you head over to Dagobah so we can talk in person?

Cumulus: Okay! Be there in five!

Cirrus: Don’t get caught using your quirk in public

Cumulus: Be there in five, give or take a few minutes!

‘Things are really starting to look up for me,’ he thought as he hurriedly tugged his shoes on. He couldn’t be late to meet with his soulmate.

Toshinori knew the moment Izuku got his letter. He could feel the overwhelming happiness that settled in his chest. He could feel the clouds on his skin start to heat, but not in an uncomfortable way more along the lines of the feel of sunlight on a cool day.

He invited his boy to Dagobah and knew he would take it as a training session but that wasn’t the goal of today. Today was a day of celebration. Izuku wasn’t going to have as much time to simply relax and let go once he started at Yuuei. Toshinori had seen the schedule Aizawa and Izuku had agreed upon and with Yuuei’s curriculum he would be very busy.

So he was going to take Izuku out to lunch and then they were going to go to the hero con that was in town and then, depending on how late they got out of there, dinner as well. He’d heard his boy mention it and he’d seemed bummed about not being able to go. This seemed like the perfect time to surprise him.

He turned his gaze to the street that Izuku quickly zoomed around, coming into full view. The brilliant smile that lit up his face made Toshinori’s heart warm.

“Nana, I think you’d be proud of this one,” he whispered to himself as he briefly placed his hand over the small faded turtle resting on his bicep before striding forward. He had a great day planned for his son and he wasn’t going to disappoint.