Chapter Text
Izuku sighed and flopped down on the tattered couch. The UA dorms weren’t bad – in fact they were just as Plus Ultra as the rest of the school – but being around so many people was exhausting. And since Halfway House was, strictly speaking, a training facility, he and his agents were free to come here anytime, as long as they were back before curfew. This was his space, even more than the apartment he’d grown up in. Maybe he’d drop in on his mom before returning to UA, since he wasn’t seeing her every day now …
“Earth to Deku! You in there, nerd?” Kacchan was holding a cup of coffee under his nose.
“Thanks, Kacchan. I’m fine, just … peopled out.”
Meanwhile, Shouto was sweeping the floor, one stroke at a time. The chores had worked out so that Kacchan did the cooking, Shouto the cleaning, and Izuku did the shopping. “Do we need to restock on anything?”
“Just the fucking usual.” Protein shake mix, fruit snacks, coffee, soba – even stocking only non-perishables, they went through a lot of groceries. Most other things he could scrounge for free or nearly so; his latest score was a stack of tatami mats, listed as free to whoever could carry them away. There had been enough to cover the upstairs as well as the small side office on the ground floor. The training room gear was salvaged from the UA dumpsters after Aizawa tipped him off – the equipment had been ‘retired’ in surprisingly good condition. Izuku hummed and added jelly pouches to his shopping list.
No quirk training today; instead, Izuku brought out a skipping rope. While one of them skipped, the other two turned the rope; this exercised agility, stamina, cooperation and, with Izuku calling directions, taking orders.
“Double dutch! Now, criss-cross!”
“I’m fucking killing this, Deku!”
Shouto just smiled, because Number One Hero Endeavor wouldn’t be caught dead doing something this frivolous. If they had another person, Izuku could have two of them skipping at once … his phone chimed, signalling someone at the door. “Halt!” He checked the camera feed.
“Sir Nighteye? What’s he doing here?”
“Well, he is psychic,” said Shouto. Either that, or he’d read the police report about the Stain incident.
“I’ll go see what he wants. Sho-kun, will you clean up here?”
“Understood.” Kacchan already had his sweaty hands in a tub of clay.
Izuku went to the door. “Sir Nighteye, this is a surprise. What brings you to Halfway House?”
Nighteye studied him with a slight frown. “You’re All Might’s successor?”
“Um, yes …? Would you like to come in?”
“Hmm.” Nighteye accepted the invitation but he didn’t look impressed. He did a double take at their autographed couch, and sat at the kitchen table. “I came to see if All Might’s successor lived up to expectations.”
Whose expectations? His own? That was a long trip to make just to be judgemental. Izuku shrugged and said, “Aizawa-sensei says that a hero should always expect the unexpected.”
His agents came into the room; Kacchan grabbed a silicone mold and started pressing his clay into it, while Shouto poured glasses of water. “Some matters are best discussed privately,” said Sir Nighteye.
“If you mean One For All, they both know.”
Nighteye’s frown deepened. “This information is not to be taken lightly – ”
“Are you saying I can’t keep a fucking secret?” growled Kacchan.
“Kacchan.” Izuku touched his arm.
Sir Nighteye continued, “Thus far, I have seen nothing to suggest that you can live up to All Might’s legacy, Midoriya Izuku.”
“Are you fucking shitting me?” said Kacchan. “They’re two of a fucking kind.”
Nighteye shook his head. “All Might is bold and fearless and always saves people with a smile. That’s what the holder of One For All should be! If only he had discussed his decision with me; I had already found him the perfect vessel.”
Shouto spoke up. “You call them a vessel. My father calls me a masterpiece. Are we not people to you?”
Nighteye floundered for a response. Izuku asked, “Who was your candidate?”
“Togata Mirio, Lemillion.” Izuku knew the name; he was a third year student at UA. He’d seen him at the Sports Festival last year, laughing off his spectacular wardrobe malfunction. “You must agree that he is far more like All Might than you are.”
“Fuck your negging already,” said Kacchan. “You know what your fucking problem is? You picked out the next All Might. He picked the next fucking Toshinori Yagi.”
It was true; Lemillion was already becoming the kind of hero he wanted to be. One For All wouldn’t change his life as it had Izuku’s, or Yagi’s. It wasn’t even the quirk itself – though the strength enhancement was nice – but what it meant. All Might wasn’t Number One anymore, but he would always be Eighth. And Izuku was doing better in so many ways.
“Where the fuck do you get off picking All Might’s successor, anyway?” Kacchan continued. “Just because you were his sidekick once upon a fucking time doesn’t give you a fucking say. You’re nothing but a shitty butthurt fanboy.”
Nighteye drew himself up. “I’ll have you know that no one is a stronger supporter of All Might than I am!”
The door alert chimed again. “Sorry for barging in,” called an all too familiar voice, as Stain stepped into the room. Sir Nighteye stiffened; Izuku pinched his nose.
“Stain-san, are you trying to get caught?”
“Wasn’t expecting you to have company.” Stain set down the cardboard box he was carrying, without taking his eyes off the hero. He started to speak, but was distracted by the couch. Specifically, All Might’s autograph, right next to his own. “Holy shit.” He pulled out his phone to take a picture.
“What are you doing here?” demanded Sir Nighteye.
Stain ignored him and addressed Izuku. “I owe you for your hospitality last time, so I brought some stuff.”
“Oh? That’s very kind of you,” he replied. Not what he expected from the Hero Killer, but it was a lot better than getting stabbed.
“Did you pay for any of it?” asked Nighteye. Shouldn’t he know not to provoke unnecessary tension?
“If you must know, I picked up some gigs freelance writing. Not that the likes of you got any right to judge me.”
“And why not, you – ”
Izuku held up a hand. “If you’re going to fight, can you please take it outside?”
Stain nodded. “The couch is precious and must be protected.”
“Oh, I think I read your article, too: ‘Why All Might will always be #1’”
“That was you, Potato Face?” put in Kacchan. “Guess your writing isn’t complete shit.”
Maybe there was a way to solve this without violence. Izuku turned to his board game shelf. “Perhaps the pen is mightier than the sword,” commented Shouto.
“Heh. We gonna settle this like men, then?”
“No.” Izuku thumped a box on the table: All Might’s All Star Trivia Challenge. “You’re going to settle this like fanboys.”
***
Aizawa sighed as he read Midoriya’s report. There was a photo attached of Stain and Sir Nighteye staring each other down over a game board. “And you didn’t even call the police this time, Problem Child?”
“That was the deal – if Stain lost, he’d turn himself in, and if he won, he’d walk.”
And keeping one’s word was vital in the underground; Aizawa had made that point in his own lessons. “And Sir Nighteye went along with it.”
Midoriya nodded vigorously. “I think they really connected.”
Aizawa felt the start of a migraine coming on.
***
Izuku got to meet Lemillion later that week, when Class 1A was learning about Super Moves with the Big Three. His quirk was so cool! Izuku wondered if Mirio knew he’d been considered as a successor to All Might. Did Yagi-sensei know? He had said he wasn’t on speaking terms with Nighteye lately. He was watching the exercise as Mirio challenged 1A to a fight all at once.
“How do we fight a guy we can’t hit?” yelped Kaminari. “Mido-bro, help!”
They were all looking at him, again. He’d done a little analysis of Mirio’s quirk, based on his Sports Festival videos, and with what he’s observed just now –
“Change positions! Do that whenever he goes underground!” While Mirio was intangible, he couldn’t see, hear, or change direction. “Sensors, spread out, call which way he’s going when he dives.” He took care only to speak while Mirio was underground and intangible, but Mirio wouldn’t take long to catch on.
“North-east!” called Jirou. As students moved away from the quadrant, Izuku said, “Kacchan, Aoyama, stay on top of him – Ashido, Mineta, Sho-kun, you too!” Dazzle and distract, surround him with obstacles to dodge so he literally had no room to breathe – not even air affected him while he was intangible … but gravity still did.
“Uraraka, you’re up! Iida, get her into position.”
“Yes, Sir!”
Huh? … No time to think about it. Aside from Uraraka, who else – ? “Tokoyami, Shinsou, back her up.” Dark Shadow might be able to interact with Mirio while he was phased. And if Shinsou could catch him with brainwashing, the fight would be over.
The next time Mirio went underground, the class sensors called out his path and the students Izuku named got into position, while everyone else moved out of the way. It almost worked.
Mirio dodged Uraraka’s swipe at the last moment, and changed his tactics to aim straight for Izuku. If he was going to be that way about it … “Strike team, on me!” Izuku held his ground. Mirio emerged right underneath him; Shouto threw up a wall of ice but Mirio phased right through it. Izuku reached for One For All –
Instead of green lightning, he got dark vine-like tentacles. They wrapped around a startled Mirio and held him in place. “Stop!” called All Might.
***
Later, Izuku cautiously practised summoning the dark tendrils. “They feel like part of One For All,” he said.
Gran Torino squinted at him through his phone screen. “The Fifth holder’s quirk was called Blackwhip – this could be it.”
Did that mean – “Does that mean I can use the quirks of previous holders?” All Might hadn’t been able to do that.
Kacchan snorted. “Your bullshit quirk has been upgraded to complete bullshit.”
The First’s quirk was One For All itself; Yagi-sensei didn’t have his own quirk, so, six other quirks he might have access to. “Besides Blackwhip, what would there be?”
Yagi shook his head. “I only really know about Nana’s quirk, Float.”
Gran Torino added, “I know the names of the previous holder’s quirks, but as for how they work – there’s no one alive who knows that.”
Izuku had an idea. A terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea. “There is one person.”