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The students of UA were used to experimenting with their quirks, and with using them both in and out of combat in creative ways. They were encouraged to explore and learn, were given access to specialist training spaces, quirk counsellors, endless academic resources and the help of any pro hero working at the school, and it showed.
That encouragement and access only increased when all of the students moved into dorms, but one effect that no-one had expected (except probably for Nedzu, because he always seemed to know everything), was the keen interest in incredibly mundane uses of quirks, and the revelations that came with it.
—
Most people had had their quirks in some form since they were four years old, and so it wasn't really a surprise when Izuku moved into the dorms and suddenly people were using their quirks for anything and everything.
Kaminari was the most obvious one, had been using himself as a portable charger since the first day of class, and Yaoyorozu had been making stationary and medical supplies as soon as she had gotten comfortable, but actually living with the class opened Izuku up to a whole new world of quirks he had never even thought of before.
He saw Uraraka floating things she needed next to her to keep space on her desk clear, watched as Kirishima used the sharp edge of a hardened finger to help peel an orange, and saw Todoroki making perfect ice cubes with his quirk, rather than just going to the freezer.
He had seen quirks used like this before, even when it came to his mom. She had stopped using hers so much after his quirkless diagnosis.
He had always seen quirks as something special, something amazing, kept for special occasions or to be used whenever the need called, and his own felt almost sacred, a power passed down from a great hero to him, new and overwhelming, so it was odd to see so many people using their power for things that were so… mundane.
It opened up a whole new world for him.
—
The first thing he used One For All for was rearranging his room.
This was, obviously, just as he was moving in, and so slightly more out of necessity than any kind of curiosity or want to learn, but he let the power boost his strength and make the task of moving things that much easier.
He knew on some level he should probably be using his normal muscles power, using the opportunity to train in a way he hadn’t since clearing the beach, but he honestly just wanted to get things done, and was so fast about it, he even offered to help other people with their moves.
He lugged Jirou’s sound system from the lift into place, helped shove Yaoyorozu’s comically large bed into the too small room, and carried a seemingly endless stream of suitcases up the stairs when one of the lifts broke.
When the day was over, he was tired, but not as sore as he could have been, and in some ways, One For All felt more like his own than it even had before, the use of it in a mundane setting changing his outlook.
—
The next thing he did was after Blackwhip manifests.
He needed to learn to control it, and while initially it was too uncontrolled to do anywhere but reinforced gyms, he eventually found himself wanting to improve his reflexes and dexterity, and felt confident enough to test the waters in a more casual setting.
He started small, using tiny whips to bring things on his desk closer, to grab things from the opposite side of his room, and then he moved on to using them in the rest of the dorms.
The first time it happened, he had been walking past Tokoyami in the middle of the night when the other boy had sneezed, dropping the mug of water he had been carrying, and he had, on instinct, shot out a whip to catch the handle.
He clipped it a little, knocking a little bit of water out and onto the floor, before he managed to steady it, and finally made eye contact with Tokoyami.
They stared at each other for a moment while Izuku transferred the mug from whip to hand, and then Tokoyami thanked him quietly before they both went on their way.
Izuku found himself doing a lot more similar things over the coming weeks, picking up and catching dropped items, retrieving socks from under washers, and reaching things off high shelves.
He had gotten much more comfortable with this new manifestation of One For All, and the training was nothing to scoff at either.
—
Next was float.
He found himself struggling in training with feeling himself in the air, and so took a more casual approach.
He started by watching Uraraka just existing in the dorms, looked at how objects affected by her quirk behaved, and thought about what might happen if he was one of them.
He spent a lot of time floating around his room, looking at things from different angles just for fun or to jog his brain, and then sometimes let himself bob along the ceilings of the dorm, helping his friends search for lost items from a different angle.
It was… nice. Being able to let himself leave the ground. It was so much gentler than anything else his quirk let him do, and sometimes he got a sense that that feeling would have been reflected in its owner if he had ever gotten to meet her.
—
Izuku didn’t know what One For All would throw at him next, but whatever it ended up being, he would tackle it in more ways than one.
