Chapter Text
What an exhausting day..
Walking through the grey city back home was not a new routine in the slightest. Today was nothing special, just a regular day at U.A. High School.
Although his right hand was twitching after their combat training, still not out of the ordinary, however uncomfortable it was. All the bone breaking resulted in having tremors every once in a while.
The way back to the apartment was rather silent. Izuku was alone this time. Sometimes it was a thing that he needed space, so a polite decline of his friends’ offer to hang out had been used. Thankfully, it didn’t sound too concerning, so they let it be.
Hopping on the train, he found an empty seat closer to the corner of the carriage. It was strange that so few people were here at the usual rush hour, but contemplating the insides and looking out of the window, the answer came by itself. Oh. It must be the weather. Dark clouds have been covering the sky since morning. It seemed nobody wanted to go outside because of it.
He chuckled softly to the side; it was his weather. No matter how much time he has spent with Katsuki, who loathed every second of rain, Izuku could never bring himself not to enjoy the quiet and calm that even the most torrential downpours gave him.
Soon after arriving at the house, he entered after unlocking the door. Greeted with silence, Izuku took off his red shoes and walked further down the hallway. Turn to the kitchen, and on the table he could see a note, probably put there by his mum.
‘Sweetie, I’ve got a night shift today. Had to leave early. Food is in the fridge, take care.
- Mum’
A hum left his mouth in acknowledgement of the news. As if someone can hear it. With a sigh, the piece of paper was placed back and forgotten.
Thinking about what to do, Izuku found nothing better than to turn on the kettle to make some tea later. The low whistling sound filled the air, bringing some comfort to an otherwise empty apartment.
While the water was in the process of boiling, he decided to check his phone. There were no messages, so it left him with the news. Even though it has already been a few weeks since the Kamino Ward Incident was reported, every second article was about it.
Izuku felt sick reading the reports and speculations about the future of Japan. And that video.. It honestly just made him feel even more nauseated. “You’re next.”
Shaking his head, he put the phone away and stood up to the cupboard. Izuku searched through the collection in the cabinet, failing in his attempts to avoid anything All Might-themed. A kind huff escaped his lips. I really am a fanboy.
Thankfully, a plain white cup was up there among the rest. Its new place was on the kitchen countertop. Some tea leaves in the cup, and now hot water was being poured inside.
Swirling, the water came into contact with dried leaves, which enthusiastically birthed a new colour, turning the liquid rich brown.
With the steaming cup in his hands, Izuku headed to the living room. A coffee table filled with books and some magazines also shared the space with his tea now. Not wishing to read anything, Izuku took his own notebook to occupy his mind with it. When a pen appeared in his hand, it came as second nature, as if moving on its own.
Scribbling something about [One For All], his hand came to a halt. Guilt started building up in him once again, but before the feeling could spiral out of control, there came a light chilling sensation.
(“Don’t, Ninth,” a calm melodic voice spoke to him. “You’ve done nothing wrong.”
“Nana, I..”
“Ninth, we all agreed it would be better to keep us and our quirks a secret from Eighth for now.” This was a different person; a man with a rougher voice — Fourth.
“I know, but it still feels wrong..”
“We understand, Izuku,” Yoichi, the first user, said.
“Thank you,” he smiled sadly.)
After the Sports Festival and simultaneously his first meeting with the vestiges, he decided to speak with All Might about the strange vision.
It turned out not to be the best choice. At first, the man listened, but after the talk, he asked if Izuku felt well, which was a complete throw-off for him. The guy was worried about his mental health and whether he had a concussion earlier, so the conversation went nowhere. Although he did acknowledge knowing who Izuku talked about, the man found it strange that he actually spoke with the vestiges.
Luck was on his side, though. Not even before the internships began he had met his, as it turned out, predecessors.
Leaving his mentor behind, all kinds of things were going through his head. That was rather.. disappointing? I didn’t expect All Might to react like this at all.
Izuku’s thoughts were filled with worries because of the questions in his head, which he simply couldn’t answer. It was driving him insane.
At least he had a few free days till Monday to think this all through. Maybe it was really just a hallucination? Can Shinsou’s quirk cause them? I’ll have to ask about it later.
At home, all the fatigue from the tournament has finally caught up with him. Giving his mother only a short greeting, he went straight to his room to simply fall asleep. Drifting off, a strange feeling accompanied him.
Even though Izuku was sure that he had fallen asleep, at the moment, it didn’t seem so. He was in an unknown place. It was pretty dark here, and his body was covered in some dark fog.
At first glance, he didn’t catch the figures around him, but this time they were clearly visible. A scream almost left Izuku’s mouth, but a strange substance blocked it, decreasing it to a muffled sound.
“Sorry,” a woman with dark hair put in a high ponytail said, “didn’t mean to scare you.”
His attempt to answer was repeatedly blocked by the green fog, at which he cursed in his head.
“Yes, Ninth. That’s rather inconvenient,” the words came from a thin, even sickly-thin, man who had white hair down to his shoulders.
You can read my mind? It sounded stupid, but what wasn’t in this absurd situation?
“Yes, it is a possibility,” the same man replied. “You can call me First or Yoichi.”
By First do you mean..? Without a chance to end the thought, he was interrupted.
“You’re a clever one,” Yoichi grinned. “And yes, you think in the right direction. I am the first [One For All] user.”
After that first meeting, the reality became akin to his own room. He often appeared there when he fell asleep and spoke with different users, which was quite interesting, to say the least. It’s not like you get a chance to speak with people from decades or centuries before your birth every day.
However, the most important part was when they talked about the quirk itself. As it later turned out, his quirk had just started developing, and it would only grow stronger. From the words of First, he would start to acquire the quirks of previous users, which would be a rather difficult evolution feature to explain.
Vestiges, unsatisfied with the reaction of Eighth to his student’s worries, argued with him to not reveal this detail about [One For All] unless absolutely necessary or until a later date. Nana Shimura, All Might’s mentor, was especially upset about it. She didn’t expect her student to act like that, but assuring him that no such problems would arise with other powers since their holders would help with the training themselves, they agreed on it.
And in the present, especially after Kamino, Izuku didn’t have the courage or desire to share that bit about his quirk. This whole ‘future Symbol of Peace’ topic really felt rather imposed. It was never his plan to become a new Symbol of Peace, but a hero who could help anyone in need. Thankfully, Gran Torino was better in that department. He understood that it was not Izuku’s plan after their first interaction and accepted his decision. Sorahiko himself was not fond of the idea of the second coming of All Might, since it was already proven that society was truly unstable like that. Yagi Toshinori, on the other hand, was pretty persistent..
Currently, Izuku possessed not only his [Strength Enhancement], but three other quirks as well. It was entertaining to play around with new powers, even if he couldn’t test them in real combat.
First, he acquired [Blackwhip], and it was the only one known to the public. It would have been difficult to cover its existence since it appeared in the middle of the battle with Stain in Hosu. However, with the help of the event, it could also be explained as a stress-induced quirk awakening, which had its own benefits.
Later, [Float] activated. It happened in a much more regulated environment. Still, it didn’t help him not to freak out. You know, waking up near the ceiling was a really fun experience.
The last addition to his arsenal was [Danger Sense]. He was really glad it appeared when it did, because he wasn’t sure he’d survive the fight with Muscular without it kicking in.
Coming back to his senses, Izuku checked the time and was surprised when faced with a ‘21.36’ on his phone screen. Looking out the window, it was already pretty dark outside, but he didn’t feel like staying inside right now. He needed to clear his mind.
A hoodie over his head, through the front door, and he was out. Taking a deep breath of fresh air, which had a petrichor smell to it, to fill his lungs, a chill ran through him. It was unusually cool weather for a summer month. He also expected that it would rain today; it was on the forecast earlier, so the clouds made perfect sense.
Still, Izuku wanted to go for a walk. Wandering the city, he stumbled upon one of his favourite places.
For whatever reason, roofs always captivated him, so why not today? The back door of the building was not well maintained, so it was easy to open the thing. Climbing the stairs, here he was on top with the world under his feet.
With high hopes of having a peaceful night, he moved closer to the edge. However, today wouldn’t be such, it seemed.
As he approached his usual spot, Izuku discovered it wasn’t empty, as it usually was. Weird. Someone sat there with their legs dangling off the roof. Getting a better look at the person who looked familiar, a small smile stretched his lips. Wait. Is that.. Mei?
Quietly, so as not to disturb the girl, who didn’t even react to his appearance, he sat near her. Serenity was the best way to describe the look on her face. Mei’s eyes were dull and looked at something far away, unfocused. A notebook in her lap was wide open, and a fresh sketch of her latest obsession was there.
In a rather strange sequence of events, Mei had taken a special interest in aerial technologies. After the Sports Festival, which ended with the success of her jetpack and hover boots, it became her new goal to create a more stable and manoeuvrable way to move in the air.
With ideas, as always, all over the place, it would be difficult to get a clear understanding of the blueprints, but Izuku was used to the ways her mind worked. He could even say that it was kind of similar: how they expressed their passions. Moreover, while working together on his gear, they bonded over it.
Softly, not to scare her, Izuku called out, “Mei?” The girl in question immediately turned to face him. Her usual manic grin creeped onto her face as recognition settled in.
“Izuku!” The yell was almost loud enough to deafen his right ear. She practically jumped from her spot. Action filled with such excitement almost cost Mei her precious notes, which would’ve fallen to the ground if she had not caught them in time.
“Yes,” a small smile graced his face, “that’s me.” Bending over the shoulder of his friend, Izuku was thoroughly studying pages with new drawings and almost indecipherable words scattered around them. His finger landed on one of the blueprints. “Are these gloves to stabilise movement when in air?” he asked, curious as to what their purpose was exactly. It wasn’t always easy to predict what the meaning behind a specific design was.
Mei’s eyes lit up with newfound energy. She always liked to ramble about her inventions, but not many could keep up with the thought process. On the other hand, not many were able to go along with Izuku’s mumbling about quirks. It could be said that they’ve found each other the day they met. “Yes! I’m integrating them into the whole project! It’ll be much easier to move in more precise directions using propulsions from your fingers and palms!”
At the end of the explanation, Mei inhaled deeply, which made Izuku chuckle. “Don’t forget to breathe. That’s an interesting idea.” Trying to remember all the details of the current project, a question came to his mind. “So is it going to be more of a package deal rather than a single device? You’ve already presented a modified version of hover boots to me.”
The girl further beamed at him, which logically shouldn’t be possible. “Exactly! I’m going to use boots and gloves to make movement simpler and more precise. I also plan to add some back piece to decrease the size of boots, but not to damage the output of the device.”
As the speaking continued, Mei took a pencil from behind her ear and got back to her notebook once again. Words flowing like water soon died down and were replaced by the sound of wind and the occasional hoots of cars.
The air of serenity settled back. It was a rare sight of the pair, but they both appreciated these scarce moments of peace and quiet. Things have changed a lot since their first interactions. It was not like their manic energy dissipated, but they were now more comfortable around one another.
After the Sports Festival he was supposed to meet up with Hatsume at the Support labs. He promised.
(“It was more like a demand,” the voice of En sounded.)
Izuku was startled. It was going to be difficult to get used to hearing someone else’s thoughts in his head.
Here he was, in front of the massive door, which led to one of the Support Course rooms.
Knocking on it, there was no answer. Maybe no one is inside? Without a response, Izuku took it upon himself to enter. Hope everything is fine. With a weak push, the door opened, and something immediately bumped into him.
“Get down!” Something, as it turned out a person, screamed, and now they were sprawled in the hall. A single second later, a loud explosion came from behind the entrance, and black smoke followed.
“Wh-what happened?” He tried to have a better look at whoever was the reason for their fall, but finding familiar features of Hatsume, Izuku could only blush profusely. Is she lying on me!?
“Sorry,” the girl said, not seemingly concerned at all. Then her eyes concentrated on Izuku, whose face was progressively becoming redder. “Ten Million! You’ve come!”
“Y-yes,” he answered, unsure. “Can w-we get up?”
Hatsume looked at him with a perplexed expression, but then it seemed to click, “Oh, right!” She climbed to her feet and dragged him in the direction of the room. “Come on! We’ve got so many babies to make for you!”
The fact that she was holding his hand did not help the situation at all. “Babies!?”
“Yes. Babies,” the girl repeated as if nothing was wrong with the statement.
(“She’s an energetic one, isn’t she?” Fifth said amused.
“This isn’t funny!” Izuku quickly protested.
“Right,” the man snickered.)
“Izuku?” Mei’s voice shook him out of the memories. “Do you ever feel useless?”
The question made him freeze for a moment, reminding him of the past, of the time before UA, before having [One For All], before finding friends, before–
Shaking his head to get rid of unpleasant thoughts, he turned back to Mei. Looking nowhere in particular, she had the same expression on her face, if a little sadder.
Not knowing what to do, Izuku put his hand on her shoulder. “I guess,” he considered what to say, but quickly gave up his internal debate, “everyone feels like that sometimes.”
“It sounds about right.”
Her answer didn’t seem great at all, which worried him. Bad feelings waking up in his mind about his life, middle school, Katsuki..
“Mei,” he said with unease settling at the bottom of his stomach, “is everything alright?”
The girl just hummed, pulling her legs up and hugging them tightly. Silence, only interrupted by the noise of the wind, fell between the pair. The wind up here was getting colder as the thunder could be heard from a distance.
A light squeeze to the shoulder seemed to get the attention of his friend. “Mei, please,” he stressed the word, “talk to me.”
She sighed quietly. “I think I’m fine. It’s just,” Mei paused, but Izuku encouraged her to speak further with another squeeze, “I want to help.” Hesitantly, she continued, “I know that I’m a great support engineer, but sometimes I just feel like what I do is not enough. I know I can’t really fight or whatever, but I want to be more useful to people,” turning her head to him, “to my friends, to you.”
The words were kind, and Izuku felt something warm blooming inside his chest. “Mei,” he said softly, moving closer and circling the girl into a side hug. “You’re the best friend I can ask for.”
Mei leaned into him. “Well, I try,” she mocked him lightheartedly. “I still want to do more,” she said. “Sometimes you seem so distant and sad, but I can’t seem to do anything about it.” Her features darkened for a split second. “And you know? If it’s me who notices it, then it’s bad.”
After digesting her words, Izuku felt guilty. It was true that he kept a lot of things a secret, but he hadn’t meant it to be like this. Thinking, an idea found its way to his head. Maybe I should? No, I can’t really..
(“Izuku,” hearing Nana’s voice calmed him down, “you trust her.”
“Yes, but–”
“Then you should do it.” Second’s harsh tone brought his attention to it. “You won’t be able to keep it a secret forever, you know?”
“It’s fine to tell someone.” These words came from Yoichi. “It’s not good for you to hide it from everyone.”
Giving it a moment to rethink it all, he came to the conclusion.)
“Hey,” Izuku wanted to get the attention of Mei, who was now looking at the parts of the starry sky that were not yet clouded, “you know, I’m actually quirkless.” At the statement, she turned around and looked at him, as if he had said something funny. Izuku closed his eyes to avoid seeing her reaction. Please, don’t get mad, don’t turn away–
“What?!” Mei grabbed him by the shoulders and started violently shaking him. “You’ve got some explaining to do! What the hell were you using then?!”
Squinting at her, he asked, “Aren’t you angry? Or, like upset?” She stopped, but now her focus shifted to intently studying his face, looking for something.
“Why would I be?” This simple yet important sentence caused a relieved sigh to leave his mouth. “It’s not like I care about quirks that much, and I thought you knew about it,” she said with a pout.
A somewhat hysterical laughter erupted from Izuku’s throat. Trying to calm down, he’s done a simple breathing exercise. “Sorry,” a tear rolled down his cheek, “it’s just, like, not considered normal.”
“Dumbass,” Mei said, giving him a tight hug, as if to relay the message that she’s here and not going anywhere. “You’re stuck with me.” After a few moments of sitting like this, she pulled away, but didn’t let go completely. “I still need some explanations to hear.”
“Yeah, right,” he said, wiping his eyes from the leftover wetness. Taking a deep breath, he started to speak, telling her about his quirk’s history, its purpose, and how he had got it. Explaining new developments and why he had kept it a secret from everyone, even his mentors and closest people.
As he told her everything, it felt as if an enormous weight had been lifted off of him. Some kind of weightlessness settled in his chest. Huh. It must’ve been really downing on me, hasn’t it?
After a short moment of silence, Mei spoke, “So you have what now? Four?” He nodded quietly. “And you’ll have seven as the end result?” One more nod. “That’s great!” She shook him by the collar, her eyes sparkling. “Just imagine how many babies we can make for you to test!? Oh, oh! I’ve got an idea already–”
Her enthusiastic speech was interrupted by Izuku’s sudden laughter. Mei looked at him, zooming in, but a second later joined in on his antics.
Laughing, the two didn’t quite notice the light rain that had started. Calming down at last, Izuku looked at his friend, whose tank top was now wet. “Mei, aren’t you cold?”
She gave him a smile, a genuine one, “Well, it’s rather unfavourable weather for my outfit.”
Izuku threw a look at the sky; the rain was only seeming to intensify. Letting out a small sigh, he took off his hoodie and handed it to Mei. “You can have it.”
Taking a curious look at the piece of clothing, studying the material with her quirk, the girl took it from his hand to put it on. “Thanks.”
Rushing to the roof entrance, the laughter has started once again. Sprinting down the stairs, Izuku asked, “Mei! Are you hungry?”
“I’m literally starving!”
Soaking wet but otherwise cheerful, the pair entered a round-the-clock cafe they stumbled upon. Inside, it was actually warm and comfortable. Choosing one of the tables and sitting down, they were almost immediately approached by a waiter.
“Good night, dear guests,” a young man smiled, giving them menus. “Would you need a little longer, or are you ready to order right away?”
“Nope,” Mei chimed in. “I’d like a chocolate tart and a cup of hot chocolate.”
This made Izuku chuckle, “Isn’t it a little too much chocolate?” For what he received a kick under the table.
“It’s never too much.”
“Whatever you say,” he said, turning to the waiter, who seemed amused by the exchange. “I’d like a tiramisu and black tea with sugar, please.”
“Noted, please wait for your order. It shouldn’t take long.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Ten minutes later, and here they were enjoying their night snack. Mei was ecstatic. Chocolate was a product she had never disregarded, so the girl was more than pleased. Maybe a little more hyperactive than usual.
After a short rest, they decided it was time to leave the place and head home. Although Izuku stopped at the exit, looking disapprovingly at her.
“What?”
Instead of saying something, he put his finger on one of Mei’s cheeks to rub out chocolate smears. Doing it almost subconsciously, since he always had to make Mei clean off the grease, he didn’t realise what he had done at first, but seeing blush appear on the girl’s face, it hit him. Izuku not only blushed himself, but also started apologising profusely.
In an embarrassed, but not uncomfortable, silence, they went through the front door just to be met with a downpour that was still going strong. Not really willing to stay inside for too long, they chose to go despite the rain.
Sprinting through the streets, they had to make a stop at one of the bus stops to catch their breath.
That was when Mei spoke, “Hey, Izuku..?” She took his hand so that he looked at her. A questioning look on his face. “Can I stay at yours? I don’t feel like being alone tonight,” she asked with uncertainty in her voice.
This brought back the blush from earlier. “Sure..?” he answered hesitantly.
Looking around, Mei couldn’t find anything outright interesting. It was a simple, yet cosy, apartment. The only thing that really caught her eye were several pictures in the hall. There were only two people on most of them: Izuku and his mother. However, there was one in the corner with a man too. It was probably the father.
Izuku led her further inside to the living room and asked her to wait for him, so she was studying her new surroundings. The most interesting part seemed to be the coffee table. Some books were littered across it, as well as a cold cup of tea. She felt a bit thirsty, certainly not because of the amount of chocolate she had consumed before, and taking a sip shouldn’t be a problem.
Surprisingly, Izuku was back fast and already in a new set of clothes. He wore a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, which were much more suitable for the current month of August. There was also some fabric in his hands, but Mei didn’t want to question it since he would probably explain it himself.
And guess what? She was correct. “So, um, Mei,” speaking with a sheepish smile, Izuku held the thing out to her. “I thought you wouldn’t be too happy to sleep in damp clothes, so I brought you something fresh. The bathroom is right on the left. You can change there,” he motioned to the black door on that side.
“Thank you, Izuku!” Mei yelled before running off in the direction. Quickly changing into an outfit almost identical to Izuku’s, she got back and caught him watching TV.
Flipping down next to him, Mei took one look at the show and decided that she wasn’t interested in it. Instead, she leaned onto his shoulder but got no reaction. With a closer examination, she reached the conclusion that he had fallen asleep.
An annoying urge was acting up in her. For some unfathomable reason, Mei really liked that time they hugged on the rooftop, and she wanted to do it now. She glanced at her friend again. Well, it wouldn’t hurt.
Reaching under his arms, Mei circled her own around him and pressed closer. Unfortunately, she didn’t measure her push’s strength correctly. Crap! As a result of her action, Izuku fell on the couch, and she was now lying on top of him. Panic took over Mei for a short while, but ended as she understood that Izuku didn’t wake up. Thank goodness.
Leaving it be, she just made herself comfortable and snuggled up to his chest. She relaxed and let her mind wander to the dream realm, unaware of the way the other’s arms hugged her in return, under the sounds of rolls of thunder and rain.
The night was rather quiet.