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Izuku blinked groggily and tried to rub his eyes. His limbs delayed in movement before giving up entirely. This wasn’t good.
Voices surrounded his body, swarming around his brain. None of them formed any decipherable words; it was like listening to someone speak a foreign language or trying to put a puzzle together, but all the pieces belonged to different puzzles.
What had happened? Why was he on the ground?
The class had been…training? Yeah. Something like that. They were doing something that required the use of one of the emptier gyms. All Might hadn’t been teaching the class. Aizawa-sensei wasn’t teaching either, but he’d been present…right?
The muddled voices got louder as Izuku tried to force his brain to remember how he’d ended up in this situation.
Heroics class began and Aizawa-sensei stood in front of them all, looking tired as ever.
“Today,” their teacher began, “we’ll be having a guest come in and demonstrate different hand-to-hand combat techniques.” Mina and Kirishima cheered together and Uraraka sported a determined look in her eyes. Izuku watched his classmates absorb the new information before looking back at the underground hero. “However- “he pointedly interrupted the ruckus, “these techniques will be practiced without the use of your quirks.”
The excitement in the room dropped a little bit but some of it remained. Izuku couldn’t help but feel the shot of adrenaline that flooded his veins at the mention of not being able to use his quirk. It’s not that he’d become reliant on his quirk, he just felt more comfortable with the familiar thrum of One For All running through his veins.
A tall man stepped through the gym doors and cheerfully waved to them all. He looked like an average guy except for the two extra eyes he had on his cheeks.
“A vision quirk?” Izuku thought, “Or maybe it’s more of a sentient quirk like Dark Shadow and the extra eyes belonged to the quirk itself!” The possibilities of the stranger’s quirk flooded his thoughts, and he couldn’t help the excited shake of his hands.
Aizawa-sensei nodded at the man before turning back to the eager students, “Class 1-A, this is See-King. He’s an underground hero who primarily focuses on reconnaissance and street-fighting,” See-King nodded to the group of them and grinned energetically. “Today, he will be showing you different combat styles that you may find more comfortable for your stature. The focus of today is to find the hand-to-hand style that most fits your body, not your quirk.” The dark-haired man finished the introduction and backed away to a far-off wall of the gym, giving his fellow undergrounder the floor.
“Thanks for having me, Eraser!” See-King stepped forward, “It’s an honor to help teach little heroes such as yourselves!”
Izuku could have sworn that Aizawa-sensei rolled his eyes at the other hero’s exuberance.
“Like your sensei said, I will be teaching you while you are, essentially, quirkless.”
It felt instinctual for him and Kacchan to glance at each other upon hearing that word. Izuku swallowed his anxiety that the word pelted him with and tuned back into what See-King was explaining.
“-mutation quirks. For you, I want you to focus more on your form, not your strength. Get your body acquainted with the basics first before applying your quirks to it. For the rest of you, we will run drills in each hand-to-hand category I am knowledgeable of. By the end of the class, I want each of you to tell me the style that you feel best-suits you and I will give you exercises to practice on your own. Sound good?”
The instructions seemed simple enough.
That’s right- See-King was teaching them combat styles. Izuku could remember having difficulty choosing just one style to focus on, despite the hero’s best attempts.
His despondent arms itched with electricity. One For All trying to help him; clawing at his skin.
Izuku’s blurred vision fought to piece together a clear image. A dark blob was standing over him. What did the blob want? Why was it yelling at him?
Sweat clung to his freckled skin like a rash. Why was he sweating?
Izuku had been favoring the techniques used in Taekkyeon along with Tokoyami and Aoyama. The
heavy use of leg strength and unexpected force felt familiar in the sense that it felt like his Shoot Style.
Too soon, the familiarity became his downfall as Izuku sent a sharp kick into the air and One For All wrapped around his leg, ready to be of use.
See-King had been observing the group of four (even without them present, Dark Shadow wouldn’t go unacknowledged on Izuku’s watch) and frowned disappointingly, “Try to control your quirk, kid. This is a quirkless training session.”
Izuku flushed under the scolding gaze, the older hero’s third eye seeming to emphasize the look of upset, “I’m- I’m sorry, Mr. See-King!” He apologized hurriedly, “Sometimes my quirk just- it just flares like that and I prom-promise it wasn’t on purpose,” he fidgeted with his hands in a way that used to bring comfort but now only sharpened his bone-deep aches.
See-King’s expression softened, “I believe you, kid. But still- it’s a quirk-free training period and you need to learn without it. I have something that could help keep that power of yours contained, if you want to try it.” He’d phrased the last sentence like a question but Izuku knew that he wouldn’t actually get a choice.
His curls bounced as he nodded, “I’ll tr-try it.”
One For All passed over his skin like a wave. Like a warning.
But what had happened next?
“...didn’t...-ction...call…”
The blobs were speaking. Izuku wanted to laugh at the nonsensical words thrown together. The dark blob wasn’t making any sense. How funny.
“...-zuku? Can...-e?”
Why wasn’t the dark silhouette understanding that Izuku’s mind was a puzzle that had been thrown at a wall and some of the pieces were swallowed by a dog and one fell into a crack and three didn’t even belong to that puzzle in the first place and nothing was making sense.
Why was nothing making sense?
The three-eyed pro approached him with a black case clutched in his hands. It looked almost like the case Iida kept his glasses in. Izuku could feel Tokoyami’s analytical gaze accessing the situation along with him.
See-King opened the case reveling a small syringe and three vials.
Izuku swallowed the saliva that pooled in his throat as he forgot to breathe. He knew what was in those vials.
“Don’t worry,” See-King soothed uselessly, “it’s just a mild quirk suppressant. I figured a few of you tiny heroes would be a little too powerful to contain yourselves. I brought these as a contingency plan.”
He explained it so easily. Like Izuku’s skin wasn’t crawling at the thought of being without his quirk. Like One For All wasn’t pacing like an anxious lion in captivity. Like the vestiges haunting his mind weren’t furiously arguing with each other over the mere idea of being injected with a suppressant of any kind.
“Do I...Do I have to?” His eyes finally rose from staring at the toxic blue liquid to give See-King a pleading look. His hesitance had clearly been projecting as Izuku could see Tokoyami slowly step closer out of the corner of his eye.
The hero shrugged, “I’m just trying to make sure you get the same type of training that your classmates do.” See-King very clearly didn’t answer his question and Izuku couldn’t help the anxiety flooding through him. So overwhelmed by the position he was put into, he’d almost missed Tokoyami stepping away. Where he was going- Izuku had no idea. Though, the lack of his friend’s presence amplified the heart-in-throat fear that choked him.
Not trusting his voice, Izuku stuck his right arm out, offering it to See-King. It felt less like an offer and more like a sacrifice.
See-King grinned, “Atta boy! I knew you had that hero’s spark in you!” Normally, praise like that from a pro-hero would make Izuku preen; it was clear that the hero in front of him couldn’t even remember his name.
Izuku winced as the needle pierced his vein. The second that See-King plunged the electric blue quirk-suppressant into his bloodstream, he could feel every part of his body fighting back.
“-eizure...hold...-zuku!”
One For All was gnawing on his veins like a starving rodent. Cold swept through his body before heat took over and everything was too much.
Everyone was too loud, his body was too warm, One For All was too angry-
but there was nothing.
Izuku’s mind was a puddle riddled with flesh-eating bacteria and nothing could save him.
As he recalled the events that led up to this very moment, the dark blobs blurred together. Izuku’s tensed muscles that crackled with frustrated lightning began to finally relax.
The buzz of unconsciousness welcomed him gratefully.
Becoming aware of his surroundings once again felt like climbing up a mudslide. Rhythmic beeping stabbed into his ears as the smell of antiseptic invaded his nose.
Izuku clenched his hand and sagged in relief when his bones obeyed him. His skin still felt woven and his muscles were sore from tensing repeatedly- but One For All was there and it was warm and it was welcoming.
“Midoriya?”
He still couldn’t will his eyes to open, exhaustion dragging him down like a cinder block. Izuku willed his vocal chords to work as he hmm’d in acknowledgment.
A familiar exhausted sigh swept over him, “Don’t push yourself. Your body’s been through a lot today,” Aizawa-sensei informed him. It was weird to hear the older man take a softer tone of voice.
Izuku mutely uncoiled his hand and tried to reach towards his teacher’s voice. A calloused hand, leaking of hesitance, settled over his palm.
“Go back to sleep, Problem Child.”
He swallowed his confused thoughts, “Stay?” he croaked. Kami, his voice was wrecked. Had he been yelling?
Aizawa-sensei’s hand tightened, “I’ll be here,” he promised, “I’ll stay. Get some rest.”
With the comfort of his sensei’s presence and his quirk rightfully running through his veins, Izuku allowed himself to rest.