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Breathing heavily, Shimura Nana stared up at the crowd in abject confusion. The last thing she'd known, she and the other vestiges had been struggling to find a way to snap Izuku out of the purple-haired boy's brainwashing quirk. They could hardly do any less for the newest host of One for All, knowing how much placing well in the Sports Festival meant to him. They'd been pouring their collective willpower into trying to do... something... anything... and then suddenly there had been a falling sensation and now she was here? On the outside? In... she glanced down at herself, taking in the notable lack of breasts along with the blue, white, and red outfit that she was wearing. Yeah, she was definitely in Izuku's body at the moment.
Cool!
Huh. Well, this was definitely new and interesting. Which had been in short supply since she'd become part of One for All upon her death. Just... forty years of watching Toshi be the best hero that the world had ever seen. Which honestly hadn't been that interesting given that he was essentially Saitama with really cool hair. Although to be fair, there was that one time he'd beaten the everliving shit out of All for One. That memory had lived rent free in her head for the last five years.
Nana turned to face the purple-haired boy - Shinso? - and reached up to scratch her head uncertainly. What were the rules of this entire thing? Much to her chagrin, her and the other vestiges had been engaged in a... rather heated discussion... before the whole bodynapping thing grabbed their attention. But if she was in control for the moment, she knew she had a duty to help Izuku achieve the victory that he needed to move on in the tournament. But did she just... punch the boy? What counted as victory? God, this was what she got for not paying attention.
'You need to either get him out of the ring, get him to surrender, or I guess knock him out? That doesn't happen much at Sports Festivals because most students aren't really comfortable with intentionally causing that sort of damage to their classmates.'
Nana perked up at the familiar voice. 'Izuku? Is that you?'
There was a brief pause and then the voice returned, considerably more excited. 'Hi! Um, who are you, and what are you doing with my body?'
'...did Toshi really not tell you about the rest of us? I mean, yeah, he couldn't exactly communicate coherently with us, but he was at least aware that we existed.' There was a long stretch of silence, finally broken by Nana's exasperated sigh. 'I'm Shimura Nana. The seventh holder of One for All, and Toshi's mentor.'
There was a low murmur in the back of her head as the other vestiges began chiming in, and then Izuku returned. 'Toshi? Do you mean... Yagi Toshinori? You were... All Might's mentor?'
Nana smiled brightly. 'That's me! I found him when he was just an idealistic quirkless boy and helped him become the hero that he is today!'
'All Might was quirkless?!'
Oops. Toshi hadn't revealed that yet, had he? Shit. Awkward. Nana chuckled sheepishly. 'Well, now that we can talk to you, we can have lots of long chats but for now... let's take care of the Shinso situation. Out of the three options that you gave me, knocking him out of the ring seems like the best option. Oh! Oh! Can I Detroit Smash him? I've wanted to Detroit Smash something for literally the past forty years.'
As she drew her fist back, Izuku let out a panicked squawk in her head. 'Please don't! I can't really use One for All without breaking myself yet. I was planning to use the finger flick trick for most of the tournament; maybe you can flick him out of bounds if you really want to use One for All obviously?'
Nana rolled her eyes at Izuku's alarm, wishing they were both corporeal so she could physically hug the skittish boy. He really needed to calm down and trust that she wouldn't do something destructive to their shared body. 'Kid, relax. I was using One for All before your mother was born. I know what I'm doing. Here, watch carefully and see if you can't learn a thing or two.'
Reaching deep down into herself, Nana submerged himself into the well of energy that comprised One for All these days. It was considerably, almost unfathomably deeper than when she'd held the quirk for herself, but she still managed to restrain herself to only pulling up as much power as she'd been able to use. Compared to the power that Toshi had at his disposal - and now Izuku had at his - it wasn't all that impressive but it had still been enough to make her a capable hero back in her day.
Green lightning leapt up around her body as she balanced the power and let it flow through her body, and she felt Izuku fidgeting anxiously at the back of her mind. 'This is... is this really what my quirk is supposed to be like?'
'Mmhmm. The lightning is definitely new but you have so much power that I'm not surprised that some of it is leaking out. But I've been watching and... kid, Toshi isn't known as Big Right Arm Guy. He's All Might. Think about how he buffs up. And then compare that to how you've been using the power.' As Izuku pondered that, Nana bounded forward into the middle of the arena before shouting what had become two of her favorite words over the past few decades. "Detroit... Smash!"
Wind howled across the ring, picking up Shinso and flinging him back out of bounds. Nana winced as her arm erupted in prickly tingles; perhaps she'd overdone it a little bit. Or Izuku was still rawer than she thought. But hey. Unlike Izuku, she hadn't broken anything or even... pausing, she rolled up the sleeve of her gym uniform. Which she still had, so she'd definitely done better than Izuku's previous attempt at throwing a punch. Nope. Not even a bruise. Izuku seemed dumbfounded at the sight. 'Is it really that simple? All Might just told me to clench my butt cheeks and yell 'smash' but that didn't really help. I just had to... focus on using less and at the same time spread it out?'
Whooping, Nana did a backflip before instinctively drawing on her own quirk and catching herself in midair on the way down. As she hovered over the concrete floor of the arena, she stared downward in disbelief. 'Uh, that's not supposed to be happening. I mean, yeah, I consciously used my quirk to catch myself but... I wasn't supposed to be able to? I don't have a quirk? I'm a ghost? What's going on?'
'How am I supposed to know? You're the all knowing quirk ghost! You tell me!'
'I don't know either!' Nana waved over at the... rather scandalously dressed woman standing at the edge of the ring, who waved back uncertainly. The announcer was crowing about her sudden victory, which meant that it was time to make an exit. Was flying allowed? Hero course students were allowed to use their quirks at will, right? Turning toward the crowd, Nana quickly spotted the rest of the students that she recognized as Izuku's classmates sitting in a specific box about halfway up the side of the stadium. 'So, as I was saying before I got distracted-'
Izuku let out a nervous chuckle. 'Are we not still distracted by the fact that I'm flying? I feel like we should be focusing on that.'
Waving dismissively, Nana glided up out of the ring and headed toward the student seating box. 'Psh, nah, I've been using Float since I was literally four. I could do this in my sleep. So, as I was saying, your problem - at least as far as I see it - is that you're using One for All as an ultimate move instead of as your entire quirk. Think about how Toshi fights. Not only does he not buff up one limb at a time, but he also doesn't buff up just in time to punch. You need to become one with the quirk. Make it a part of you. Once you do that... once you truly accept that you have a quirk and that it's a part of you now? You're going to be unstoppable, kid.'
'Great idea. Fantastic idea. Can I try doing that? By, I don't know, having control of my body back?'
'But wait, we're flying! If I let go now, I'll die!'
'Funny. You're a real comedian, Miss Shimura.'
'Please, call me Nana. Miss Shimura makes me feel old.' Doing a spin in midair, Nana took one last long look at the crowd before coming in for a landing in front of Izuku's cutest - and quite possibly most excitable - classmate. And just as she expected, Ashido Mina let out a loud squeal before invading Nana's personal space, grabbing her by the biceps and shaking her excitedly. "Midori! You finally used your quirk without breaking anything! That's so cool! You were just... whoosh, and he went flying out of the ring! And now you can fly? Since when can you fly?"
Grinning widely, Nana grabbed Mina's hands and began bouncing up and down in time with the excitable rosette. "I... have no idea! I thought it'd be cool to do a backflip to celebrate my win and then I went up and didn't come back down! But now I'm back down, so no big deal. Also, has anyone ever told you how pretty you are?"
'...did you just call Mina pretty? As me?'
'You do think she's pretty!'
'Yes, but I'd never actually tell her that to her face! I'm way too shy for that!'
'Hold my beer and watch this.'
Blushing brightly, Mina fidgeted in place before pulling one hand free and bringing up to her cheek as she backed away a step. "Ehh? Midori?"
"It's true, though!" Nana gestured to Mina's fluffy hair - almost identical to Izuku's own curls - and curled horns. "My grandson thinks you're the prettiest girl in the entire class! He really likes your eyes! He wrote down... hold on, where is it?" Before Izuku could lodge a protest, she reached into her back pocket and pulled out his notebook, flipping it open to the page about Mina. Trailing her finger over the page, she found the part she was looking and made a noise of satisfaction. "There! He compared them to golden stars in the night sky."
'Is it too late to let the sludge villain kill me?'
"Oh my gosh, he did!" Mina's eyes raked back and forth over the page excitedly, taking in the copious notes that Izuku had made about her in the past two weeks. "He wants to touch my horns? Um, valid. That's like, a second date activity, though. They're sensitive. He has some cool ideas about uses for my quirk. Gonna need to try some of these. Maybe when it's my turn? No time like the present." Then her eyes landed on a specific comment and her blush darkened even further. "Um, wow. That one about my thighs is... a lot to unpack. I don't know if I'll ever be able to look at him the same way again."
'Does anyone know where Truck-kun is? I'm ready to be isekai'd now.'
Taking a deep breath, Mina fanned herself for a moment before turning back to Nana. "Wait, I know I'm easily distracted but... clearly you're not Midori. And you called him your grandson?"
Nina nodded rapidly. "Okay, so you know how his quirk is called Superpower and it came in the day of the entrance exam? The reason his quirk is so strong is that he has a hereditary quirk that's been stacking the... basically, the collected essence of our entire family line all the way back to the Dawn of Quirks. Each of us lives on in him, and he has the crystallized accumulation of all our power. That's where his strength comes from."
From the back of her head, Izuku peeked back out. 'That's actually not a terrible explanation for One for All. Although I'm pretty sure that if anyone tells Todoroki, he's going to be even more convinced that I'm All Might's son. Not that it'll matter, since I'm moving to Siberia as soon as I get control of my body back. Speaking of which... can I please have my body back? Pretty please?'
Perking up, Mina pantomimed throwing a punch. "So he's just like, punching with a bunch of people's strength and that's why he's so ridiculously strong? That's so cool! Although it's weird that there's evidently a bunch of ghosts living in his head. Wouldn't that make kissing or..." Blushing again, Mina gestured awkwardly with her hands. "Stuff? Awkward?"
The sound of someone clearing their throat made Mina and Nana both look over at the divider between their box and the next class's. A girl with silver hair and one visible blue eye was peering over the wall at them. "Did someone say ghosts?"
Nana nodded and raised her hand. "I'm sort of a ghost? There's seven of us in here; eight when Izuku's, err, dad dies. I somehow managed to take over when Shinso used his quirk on Izuku and now I'm just... here."
Brushing her hair out of her face, the girl's lips slowly curled up in a wide grin. "Spooky."
"Spooky." Grinning, Nana turned back to Mina. "To be honest, it's sort of like a reality show for us? We just sit there and watch the entire thing go by. We've been passing our time lately by arguing over shipping. It's been a while since we've been in a teenager. I've been shipping you and Izuku hard from the first day of school. Which is why I'm so excited that I'm here." She gestured down at herself. "Are you in the market for a boyfriend?"
'What the heck, Nana? That's completely cheating! You know I'm rooting for Izuku and Momo!'
'Banjo? Is that you?'
'IzuTooru superiority.'
'Hikage?'
'I'm personally fond of Tsuyu.'
'En?'
'Oh my gosh, is literally everybody in my head trying to ship me with somebody?' Izuku sounded incredibly exasperated as he elbowed his way back to the front. 'I am way too shy and anxious for any of this. Yes, Nana, I think Mina is pretty. But I have no idea what I'd do with a girlfriend even if she agreed to go out with me.'
Mina closed the notebook she was holding and tapped the corner of it against her chin. "Now that you mention it... kinda. But not like this." Nana cocked her head to the side and the rosette waved the notebook back and forth between the two of them. "If anybody's going to ask me out, it's going to be your actual grandson. I want to hear it from him directly, not you telling me how he feels. Does that make sense?"
Nodding rapidly, Nana reached out to grab the notebook and quickly tucked it back into Izuku's pocket. "That makes complete sense. I was just... being mischievous and giving things a little nudge because I knew that he'd never be brave enough to say it himself. Be gentle with him when he comes back. Especially about, uh, the thigh thing."
Mina shook her head slowly. "I don't think there's a way to come back from a girl discovering that a guy wants her to crush his head between her thighs."
"I mean, you could always just crush his head between your thighs. Just embrace it." As Mina brought her hands up to her face again and squirmed in place, Nana laughed and shot finger guns at the girl. "Have fun and good luck in the Sports Festival, Mina! I'll be rooting for you!"
And then, with her mission completely accomplished, she let the world go black.
Squinting at the sudden return of sunlight after being stuck in the vestige realm for the past few minutes, Izuku blinked a few times before realizing where he was and abruptly jerking back until he hit the railing on the edge of the box. "Ah! Ashido! I'm so sorry, I tried to get her to stop but-"
"Midori?" Mina looked him up and down as he nodded frantically before letting out a soft harumph. "Definitely Midori. How did your grandma think asking me out for you would work when you can't even call me by my name?"
Blushing, Izuku reached up and scratched the back of his head. "I mean, in my defense, you've never actually told me that I can call you by your first name."
Mina stared at him in disbelief. "I call you Midori! Nicknames are even more personal than first names! If I can call you Midori, then you can absolutely call me Mina! Or... I don't know what you'd want to call me but if you have any ideas for a nickname, I'm all ears."
"I've never actually given anyone a nickname before. I, err, haven't really done the first name thing much either? I haven't... friendsed?" At Mina's sympathetic look, Izuku inhaled; he didn't need her pity and he wasn't seeking it. That was a sure way to drag down what was already going to be an awkward conversation. "But if you're okay with me using your name or a nickname, could I maybe call you... Kimina?"
Mina cocked her head to the side as she stared at him curiously. "There's a bunch of kanji that can be read as 'ki'. Which one were you thinking of?"
Gathering his courage, Izuku smiled uncertainly at the rosette. "The on'yomi reading of the word for princess?"
"Oh my gosh, is that rizz I'm seeing? Does Midori have rizz?" Batting her eyelashes playfully, Mina leaned in. "I love it. You can absolutely call me Kimina. It's got an old world, sophisticated feeling to it. So... my eyes remind you of stars in the night sky, eh?"
Groaning, Izuku ducked his head and shook it resignedly. "I can't really deny it since you've seen my notebook. I can't believe... my grandmother... showed you that. I am... so, so sorry about the whole thigh thing."
Mina leaned in and lowered her voice conspiratorially. "If you're down bad for my thighs, I've gotta know... you're a Miruko simp, aren't you?" Izuku nodded in embarrassment, and Mina reached out to pat his shoulder. "That's so based. Don't worry, Midori, I would let her Luna Tijeras me too."
Was that going a little far? Izuku pondered for a moment before deciding that no, if Miruko wanted to, she could absolutely rip his head off with her thighs and he would thank her for it. Well, metaphorically speaking. Since, you know, no head anymore. Still. What a way to go. "So... you are really pretty, you know."
Mina raised an eyebrow expectantly. "And?"
Shifting from foot to foot, Izuku squirmed awkwardly. "And I, uh, like you?"
Her grin widened as Mina leaned in even closer. "And?"
Taking a deep breath, Izuku summoned what little confidence he had. Clearly Mina wasn't repulsed by the idea. And he did in fact like her. Also, he didn't know whether or not Nana could hijack his body again at will-
'I can't. Or at least I don't think I can.'
'Oh God, you can talk to me whenever you want now? I don't like this development at all!'
'Oh stop complaining and ask the girl out already. I can only hold the others back for so long.'
So yeah. Either he asked her out of his own volition or who knew what embarrassment the vestiges might have in store for him if they ever saw the light of day again. "Kimina, will you go out with me?"
There was a loud crunch and Izuku and Mina both turned to look over at where Hagakure Tooru, Yaoyorozu Momo, and Jirou Kyouka were sharing a tub of popcorn while watching them. Kyouka waved negligently. "Don't mind us. This is definitely more interesting than the Sports Festival, though."
Letting out a soft squeal, Momo nodded excitedly. "This is just like that one manga I read!"
Mina made shushing noises as she waved her hands at them. "You are ruining the atmosphere! Shush!" Turning back to Izuku, she smiled brightly. "I would love to go on a date with you! Maybe tomorrow, to celebrate my victory in the Sports Festival?"
Ah, her boundless energy, confidence, and enthusiasm. Some of Izuku's favorite things about Mina. Along with, well, her toned thighs. Grinning back at her, he held out his hand. "You'll have to beat me first. See you in the finals?" As Mina eagerly shook his hand to seal the deal, something occurred to him and he leaned in before lowering his voice a bit. "This makes you my girlfriend now, right?"
Mina giggled and nodded. "Absolutely. We are now officially the first couple in 1-A. First of many, I hope, but definitely the first."
Instead of releasing Mina's hand, Izuku hesitantly shifted their positions so that he could intertwine their fingers. "Do you want to hold hands and watch the next few matches with me?"
"I do!" Looking down at their hands, Mina furrowed her brow in thought. "Isn't that your writing hand? What about taking notes?"
Hmm. She was right. On one hand, this was his first exposure to a number of new and interesting quirks from 1-B. And he'd have a chance to see his classmates use their quirks again, possibly in interesting new ways given that they'd all been training hard for the Sports Festival. On the other, non-dominant hand that he couldn't write with despite his best attempts? "Sometimes other things are more important than my notes."
Squealing, Mina bounced up and down excitedly before turning back to their audience and gesturing excitedly at Izuku. "Rizz! Midori has rizz!"
Kyouka calmly speared a piece of popcorn with one of her jacks and brought it up to her mouth. "I can see that. Who knew Green has unexpected depths?"
Izuku blushed and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. He was just being honest? Evidently that was attractive? Good to know. Unless she asked if an outfit made her butt look big. Izuku knew next to nothing when it came to women, but even he knew that was a trap. Tugging gently on Mina's hand, he led her over to the nearest open seat. Which… had Ochako sitting directly next to it. Hmm. How did he-
"Hmm. Hold hands? Or…" Before Izuku could figure out his conundrum, Mina pushed him down into the seat before planting herself on his lap. "Hold me!"
Blush darkening, Izuku hesitantly wrapped his arms around Mina as the rosette leaned in and pressed herself against him. Wow. Mina smelled good. Like lavender. Lavender was possibly his new favorite scent.
'I lost out on IzuMomo… for this?'
'Hush, Banjo, they're adorable.'
Hesitantly shifting Mina into a slightly more comfortable position, Izuku found himself glancing from the field to Mina and then back to the field… and then back to Mina. He grinned shyly at her. "You really are pretty, though."
Mina reached up to tousle his fluffy curls. "You said that already. You can keep saying it, though. I like hearing it." Reaching up, the rosette rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "How do you feel about dancing? On our date?"
After considering it for a few seconds, Izuku shrugged uncertainly. "I'm pretty sure I have two left feet so I'd probably just embarrass both of us."
"You're joking, right? I mean, I've only seen you fight once but you have great footwork. You may not know how to dance but with a little instruction, I bet you'd be great at it! And I'm a really good teacher!" Leaning in, Mina batted her eyelashes at him. "Let's go dancing, Midori!"
Izuku nodded eagerly. If she wanted to go dancing, then evidently they were going dancing. He was still worried that he would be bad at it, but if she believed in him? Maybe he should believe in himself too. "Dancing sounds fun. Are there any good hero merchandise shops in Chiba? They're… kind of my thing."
Cocking her head to the side, Mina considered the question. "I mean, where aren't there hero merchandise shops? I'm sure we can find one for you, though. So maybe like... dancing in the afternoon, then a little shopping, dinner, and then get you back on the train home at a reasonable hour?"
"That actually sounds like a lot of fun, Kimina." And it did. Something for her, something for him, something for them, and organized intelligently so that they wouldn't need to drag whatever he bought with them on the more active part of the date. Was dating really just that simple? Doing whatever the two of them liked? Huh. Neat. And they were both hero students so no matter what else they turned out to have - or not have - in common, there was always something to fall back on. Speaking of which... "Who do you think is going to win the next round?"
"You're joking, right? What is Sero going to do against Todoroki?"