Chapter 1: Prologue
Summary:
Prologue
Notes:
"Normal text" = speaking
"Italics" = speaking through a device (including AI when in any form not holographic)
"Bold" = Allmight speaking
'Normal text' = thoughts
Bold Italics = written text
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Hall of Records, Iacon City, Cybertron
4 million years ago.
A robot runs through the ancient halls that form the Iacon Hall of Records, his face an image of distress.
As he searches the various libraries and archives for his mentor, the bot can make out the distant sounds of violence and chaos in the streets outside. This had not been what he wanted. Yes, he had wanted change, the functionist caste system had oppressed Cybertron for too long, but this was not the change he had envisioned.
‘How could I have been so blind to his anger?’ The junior archivist thinks to himself, ‘Was he always like this, or did his worldview become twisted by his passion?’
The red and blue robot fails to find an answer to his question, and he fears he never will. But that is of little importance right now, as he finds the room, and the bot, he was looking for.
Entering the central database room, the young archivist approaches his mentor and boss.
“Alpha Trion!” The bot calls out, and a tall, red and purple bot, whose face plates mimicked a long, organic beard, turns from a computer terminal to address his subordinate.
“Yes, Orion?” The old bot replies.
“It’s Sentinel Prime… and the senate, they’re…” The young bot, Orion, struggles to find the words to describe what he had recently witnessed, “Megatronus… he… he killed Sentinel Prime… he’s trying to seize power for power for himself.”
The senior archivist sighs, “It is just as I feared, Megatronus’s noble intentions have been corrupted by his rage and anger, if he is not stopped then I fear he will bring Cybertron to ruin,”
“But who will stop him?” Orion asks, “With Sentinel Prime and most of the senators dead, the remaining security forces are struggling to hold back the Decepticons.”
Alpha Trion moves from his terminal to stand in front of his protégé, resting one hand on his shoulder in a gesture of comfort and reassurance.
“Then we are in need of a new leader, one who will be a light of hope in the darkness,”
“But who?” The young bot repeats his question.
Alpha Trion looks like he’s about to answer that question, but after a second, reconsiders, shaking his head.
“I’m afraid that question will have to be answered later,” The senior archivist removes his hand from Orion’s shoulder and reaches for a metal disk hanging around his neck, like a pendant. He removes the disk and hands it to Orion.
“Take this,” He says, handing over the disk “And head to the core of the planet, to Vector Sigma. There is an artefact there, one not kept in the archives, that cannot be allowed to fall into Megatronus’s hands, you are to retrieve it, at all costs. No doubt, Megatronus is already headed there, but he will be slowed by the security. This disk is a key that will give you access. understood?”
“Yes sir,” Orion salutes his boss, before faltering slightly “But… what about the rest of the Decepticons and the remaining Autobots?”
“Have faith young bot, a leader will soon emerge.” The old bot says before pointing out the door, “Now go!”
Prompted by his mentor’s command, Orion takes the disk given to him and begins running out of the Hall of Records, unaware that it would be the last time he would see his mentor. Once he’s outside, he transforms his body, so that his physical appearance no longer resembles that of a giant, bipedal robot, but instead a rather simple, alien, truck.
In his vehicle mode, Orion is able to cover much ground as he tries to avoid the many pockets of fighting between Megatronus’s Deceptions, and the remaining Autobot security forces, before eventually going underground, descending to the core of Cybertron itself.
Just as Alpha Trion had said, the disk grants Orion access to Vector Sigma, what many considered to be the brain of Primus, just as the All-Spark was his heart. As Orion enters the sacred chamber he looks around, trying to find the artefact that his mentor had mentioned, but he sees nothing except a large console that presumably allowed cybertronians to interact with the supercomputer that was Vector Sigma.
Seeing nothing else in the room, Orion approaches the console on the far side of the cylindrical room. As he does so, he sees a slot the exact size and shape of his disk. Going on a hunch, Orion inserts the disk into the slot.
Suddenly, the entire chamber, which had previously only been dimly lit, lights up with a dazzling blue light.
“ORION PAX,” A voice calls out, no, not a voice, multiple voices, speaking in chorus as one.
Hearing his name called out from all around him, Orion recoils from the console, taking a few paces out into the middle of the chamber.
“Who are you?” The young archivist questions.
“WE,” The voices continue in chorus, “ARE THE DYNASTY OF PRIMES, A LINEAGE OF POWER THAT HAS BEEN PASSED DOWN FROM THE THIRTEEN TO COUNTLESS PRIMES OVER THE EONS.”
“And what do you want from me?” Orion asks, equal parts confused and afraid.
“YOU,” The voices explain, “HAVE BEEN CHOSEN TO LEAD OUR PEOPLE, TO BRING AN END TO THE COMING CONFLICT, AND TO RESTORE PEACE AND HARMONY TO CYBERTRON.”
“Me?” Orion asks in disbelief, “But I am only an archivist, neither a warrior nor a leader. Surely there are others better suited to be a prime. Prowl, Ultra Magnus, someone from the Elite guard?”
“A PRIME IS MORE THAN JUST A WARRIOR,” The primes of the past counter, “THEY ARE A SYMBOL OF OUR SPECIES, AN IDEAL, ONE THAT HAS DIMINISHED OVER THE MILLENIA. YOU WILL BE THE ONE TO RESTORE THAT IDEAL AND BRING PEACE AND FREEDOM TO CYBERTRON.”
A thousand different thoughts cycle through Orion’s processor, he had so many questions, but right now, there was only one that was important.
“How?” He asks.
“WITH THIS,” The voices reply as a hole in the middle of the chamber opens up and a golden sphere, with two silvery handles, floats up from the hole in a beam of light. In the middle of the sphere is a glowing blue crystal.
“IT IS THE MATRIX OF LEADERSHIP, AND WITH IT, YOU SHALL LIGHT OUR SPECIES’ DARKEST HOUR.”
As the voices finish talking, a beam of light shoots out from the crystal inside the matrix, washing over Orion completely.
As the young bot baths in the light of the Matrix, he feels his form begin to change. Not in the way most cybertronians changed, into their alt-mode, but into an entirely new body: bigger, stronger.
The body of a Prime.
When the light eventually fades, Orion finds himself standing several feet taller, and his, once-average, build has been replaced with a far bulkier frame.
“NOW,” The voices of the Primes declare with an air of finality, “GO FORTH, OPTIMUS PRIME.”
And with that, the bright light of Vector Sigma fades back to the dimness it was when Orion, now Optimus, first arrived.
Seeing the Matrix still floating in the middle of the room, Optimus begins to reach out and take it. But before he can, the sound of cybertronians fighting, metal clashing with metal, draws his attention to the door to the chamber.
A second later, the door blasts open in an explosion, and a red and white femme-bot, with wings extending from her back, is sent flying through the blown-out doorway, landing at Optimus’s feet, groaning.
“Elita!” Optimus cries, immediately kneeling to help the red femme off the floor.
“Orion?” The smaller robot asks in confusion as she rises to stand.
“Actually, it’s Optimus Prime now,” The former archivist gently corrects.
“Prime?” Elita’s eyes go wide with surprise.
But before either of the two bots can say anything else, they are interrupted by a cruel, mocking laugh.
“Hah, but of course,” a harsh, gravelly voice scoffs, as a tall, imposing figure of grey and red, with a large cannon mounted on his right arm steps into the Vector Sigma chamber.
“Why am I not surprised that the old rust bucket sent you here to stop me, Orion,”
“It’s Optimus now,” The prime corrects, a little more forcefully than he had with Elita.
“Is that so, well, you may call me Megatron, it is only fitting that we have new names as I usher in a new era for Cybertron,”
“Megatron,” Optimus's voice changes to a more pleading tone, “It’s not too late, tell your followers to stand down, and I will show mercy. We can still have peace and freedom. I promise you, I will not allow us to go back to the old ways. While I deplore your actions, I still ultimately believe in your message of freedom for all cybertronians.
For a few seconds, Megatron almost seems to consider it. For as much rage filled his spark, he still considered Optimus his brother in the cause for Cybertronian liberation. However, it’s Elita-One’s next words that tip the balance.
“Besides,” The red femme-bot adds, “There’s nothing you can do about the Matrix, Optimus has already been chosen as the next prime,”
And with that, something in the grey robot snaps.
“Is that so?” He demands before levelling the cannon on his arm at the Matrix, still floating in the middle of the chamber. “Then if I cannot have the power of the primes, then neither can you, Orion,”
“Megatron, don’t-” Optimus cries out as he reaches out to grab the Matrix, but it’s too late. Megatron fires a blast from his cannon and hits the matrix, directly in its crystal.
The crystal erupts violently, splitting the gold casing around it, and sending Optimus and Elita flying backwards across the chamber, both crashing into the console for Vector Sigma.
“Farewell Orion,” Megatron calls out as turns to exit the now destroyed chamber, “May you become one with the All Spark.”
As the clank of Megatron’s footsteps quickly fades, Elita is the first to recover, having been shielded from most of the blast by Optimus.
“Optimus?” She calls out as she rises. She looks around her, at the remains of the supercomputer that had been Cybertron’s CPU, and sees Optimus Prime buried in the console for Vector Sigma.
“Optimus!” She cries out as she rushes to the large bot’s side to check if he still functions.
“Optimus?” She repeats as she tries to shake him awake.
“Orion!”
And upon hearing his old name, Optimus finally stirs.
“Ugh,” The red bot groans, “Elita-One?”
“Still here, dear, and mostly in one piece. You?”
“I’m… fine. Physically anyway.” Optimus admits.
“Good, can’t say the same for Vector Sigma though,” Elita sighs as she once again surveys the damage caused by the ruptured Matrix.
“As well as the Matrix of Leadership,” Optimus gloomily adds as he rises from where he had been flung, before approaching a nearby fragment of the Matrix casing on the floor and picking it up.
“What do we do now?” Elita asks as Optimus inspects the Matrix fragment in his hand as well as the others strewn across the floor.
“Now…” Optimus begins as he turns back to face his sparkmate, “We fight.”
A satisfied smile crosses Elita-One’s face. “Even without the Matrix?”
Optimus nods once, “Regardless of whether we have the Matrix, Megatron must be stopped. The Autobots need a leader to win this war and The dynasty of Primes chose me to unite our people, so I will fulfil that duty with all of my spark.”
“You know there will be some who will reject your position as Prime, right?” Elite asks as Optimus begins gathering all the remaining pieces of the Matrix casing. “Because of not having the Matrix,”
“Maybe,” Optimus concedes, as he stores the Matrix fragments in his chest, “I only hope that those who are true to the Autobot cause will accept me nonetheless, for it is that cause and its beliefs that will bind us together.”
“I just hope you’re right,” Elita sighs as the two bots hobble out of Vector Sigma together, “Or else this is going to be a very short war.”
Notes:
Hey y'all.
Welcome to my newest fic.
To those of you who are familiar with my other work, hello again.
To those of you who aren't, hello for the first time, I hope you enjoy this.
Not really much else to say for now.
See you next time.
T.S.S.
Chapter 2: How to Make Friends...
Summary:
A Young Izuku makes a new friend
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Suruga Ward, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, Earth
March, 2214
It’s a cool, early spring morning as Inko Midoriya walks up to the gates at the address she’d been given. She’s a young, Japanese woman, in her mid-twenties, dressed in her smartest skirt and blouse. She looks to her left and right, a metal railing fence atop a low stone wall, 2 meters tall, stretches for what feels like a mile on either side of the ornate gate. Part of her wonders if she’s at the right address, but she knows that she is, she’d checked 100 times.
As she looks up at the looming wrought iron entrance to the estate in front of her, Inko feels small fingers grip her right hand causing her to look down at a small boy with faint freckles on his cheeks, and fluffy green hair, like his mother. The only standout feature about him was his eyes. They were solid green, with no pupils, and black sclera.
“Is everything alright, Izuku?” Inko asks her son.
“Y-yes, M-mama,” The little boy stammers out, and Inko’s heart aches.
She had her suspicions about what was troubling her son but was unsure how to broach the subject with Izuku. She wished to respect her son’s privacy, not wanting to be overbearing, much like her own parents had been. And yet, she so dearly wished to alleviate whatever was troubling her son.
But before she can say anything more, the gates before Inko open, which the green-haired woman takes as an invitation from her prospective new employers.
“C’mon Izuku,” Inko says with a warm smile on her face, one that the boy mimics.
Passing through the open gateway, Inko leads Izuku up a long, winding driveway, lined by cherry trees, the walk is only about 5 minutes long. But considering that was the same amount of time it took Inko to walk to the shops, it was a lot for a driveway.
At the end of the driveway is a grand mansion, two stories tall, with a large colonnade in front of the main entrance, evocative of classical European designs.
As the two green-haired individuals climb the short flight of steps from the driveway to the front door, they approach the large, black, wooden, double doors, one of which swings open and a middle-aged man, with salt and pepper hair, dressed in a tailcoat, greets them.
“Miss Midoriya?” The man asks in a faint Irish accent.
“Um… yes… that’s me.” Inko honestly isn’t sure if she should bow or curtsy, to the man who she assumes is the butler, or something similar, going by his outfit.
“Please come in, Ma’am has been expecting you,”
“Oh, thank you,” Inko says with a slight bob of her head in gratitude.
Izuku also greets the man with a rather quiet, but polite, ‘thank you’,
As the Midoriyas enter the mansion, they find themselves in a large, open foyer, the height of the mansion, with a large, grand staircase in the middle leading to the top floor, and down which now, descends a woman.
The woman was, to not put too fine a word on it, beautiful. Tall, attractive, and with an hourglass figure that most models would kill to have. Her hair is short and naturally purple, cut into a professional bob. She’s wearing a plain white dress and a fine pearl necklace that, although they look simple, Inko suspects costs more than she makes in half a year, if not more.
“We’re glad you could come on such short notice,” The woman announces as she steps off the last stair and crosses the polished marble floor, before bowing in greeting.
“Thank you for giving me this opportunity,” Inko returns the bow to the woman, “I assume you are Lady Yaoyorozu?”
“Indeed, I am, but please, just Yaoyorozu-san will suffice,” The Yaoyorozu matriarch says with a warm smile. “I only go by my titles for formal occasions, when pomp and ceremony are necessary, this is not one of those occasions.”
“Of course,” Inko accepts, “I hope it’s alright, but I had to bring my son with me,”
“It is of no concern.” Lady Yaoyorozu waves one hand in the air in a dismissive gesture. “In fact, your devotion to your child may serve you well in our coming discussions, but first…”
The elegant woman turns back to the staircase that she had just descended and calls out.
“Momo, dear, could come and say hello to our guests, please?”
Not waiting for a response, Mrs Yaoyorozu turns back to face Inko. “Your son, how old is he?”
Deciding to give Izuku a chance to break his initial shyness, Inko gently pushes her son out from where he had decided to take refuge behind his mother’s skirt. And with a wordless gesture, Inko encourages her son to speak.
After a few seconds of silence, Izuku nervously swallows, before answering.
“I’m f-five, almost s-six,” he stammers out.
A brief look of concern crosses Mrs Yaoyorozu’s face, but it lasts barely a second, and Inko does not catch it. Nonetheless, the woman makes a mental note to ask about that later. For now, she makes a simple comment.
“My, you remind me of my daughter a little. She’s also five and is just a little bit shy around strangers. But if you’re anything like her, I imagine that you are a bright young boy, who just needs time to warm up to people.”
Mrs Yaoyorozu’s words bring an air of relief to Inko, and a part of her dares to hope that perhaps, this is exactly what Izuku needed.
As Lady Yaoyorozu was speaking, a girl, of similar height to Izuku, had appeared from one of the corridors that lead off from the landing at the top of the stairs, and was currently peeking out from behind the bannister, and once her mother had finished, she descends the stairs, grabbing Inko and Izuku’s attention, shortly followed by her mother.
“Ah, Momo, I’d like you to meet Inko Midoriya, who is applying to be our new housekeeper, and her son…”
Guiltily, Mrs Yaoyorozu looks to Inko, having realised that she never asked about the little boy’s name.
“Izuku,” Inko helpfully supplies, seeing the look.
“Izuku,” the Lady repeats, nodding her head once in gratitude. “Inko and Izuku Midoriya, this is my daughter Momo.”
The green-haired mother and son look at the girl opposite Izuku and quickly study her features. She’s clothed in a white and red polka-dot dress, with a red cardigan over it. The girl’s features bear some similarity to her mother’s only more youthful, and while Mrs Yaoyorozu’s hair was short and purple, Momo’s was jet black and tied back in a large ponytail, with a single spike of hair hanging down to the right of her face.
Izuku thinks Momo looks rather pretty, not that he’d admit such a thing aloud, but after a few seconds of taking in the girl opposite him, his attention is brought back to the elder Yaoyorozu when she begins to speak again.
“Momo,” The lady of the house says in a more formal tone. “Midoriya-san and I need to discuss business with your father in private. Would you be a dear and stay with Izuku while we do that?”
“Certainly, Mother,” Momo replies with a wide smile, that contrasts with Izuku’s own nervous expression. “Shall I show him my room?”
“Excellent idea,” Mrs Yaoyorozu praises her daughter, “Shall I send Dennis up with some tea and cakes as well?”
Momo’s eyes widen with joy, “Yes, please,”
Mrs Yaoyorozu lets out a slight chuckle at her daughter’s enthusiasm for tea. “Very, well then, if you’d like to show Izuku up to your room, I’ll send Dennis up in a few minutes.”
Momo nods once at her mother in acceptance, before turning to Izuku and holding out her hand for the green-haired boy to take. But as Momo holds out her hand, she notices that Izuku instinctively recoils from it, grasping onto the hem of his mother's skirt as he does so, causing both Momo and her mother to frown in concern.
Inko sees her son’s reaction, and her concerns about her son’s behaviour grow stronger. But that was an issue for later, and involved people not currently here, so she turns and bends down to kneel in front of her child.
“Hey, Izuku,” Inko whispers as she caresses her son’s cheek, “What’s wrong?”
“I’m… I’m s-scared M-mama,” Izuku whispers back, “W-What if Yaoyorozu-chan doesn’t l-like me, then you won’t get your n-new job.”
“I’m sure she’ll like you,” Inko reassures Izuku, “You’re kind, and intelligent, and wonderful, why wouldn’t she like you?”
“Because I’m weird,” Izuku says it as if it were a fact, and now it’s Inko’s turn to frown.
“Why do you think you’re weird?” Inko asks, dreading the answer.
“Because everyone at school says so,” Izuku mutters, barely audible.
Inko takes a deep breath to calm her nerves; now was not the time to lose her cool, not in front of someone who may be about to employ her, but later… later she would be having words with Izuku’s pre-school teacher… and probably Mitsuki as well, she admits. For now, all she could do was comfort and support her son.
“You are not weird,” Inko says firmly, and possibly a bit louder than she intended, but she doesn’t care right now, what was important was reassuring her son. “Different, yes, but that just makes you special. And those kids at school are just mean idiots.”
Izuku opens his mouth to protest, but Inko doesn’t allow him.
“Yes, even ‘Kacchan’, if he’s been calling you names as well, then he’s just as bad as the rest of them, if not worse because of your… friendship.”
Though if Inko’s suspicions were right, friendship is the last word she’d use to describe her child’s relationship with Mitsuki’s son.
“Now, I’m sure Momo is very eager to play with you,” She looks at the other child, “Right?”
Momo, having inadvertently listened to the conversation alongside her own mother, nods vigorously. Midoriya-kun was a guest in her family’s home, as her mother had taught her, you must always make a guest feel welcome regardless of anything.
Inko sees Momo nod and turns back to her own child. “See, I’m sure you will have a lovely time. If nothing else, you can always ask her about her quirk.” She suggests.
That was Inko’s trump card when it came to bringing Izuku out of his shell. No matter who he was with, or where he was, the subject of heroes and quirks always put a spring in Izuku’s step. And just as she’d hoped, Izuku’s nervous expression begins to brighten.
“I’d be happy to show you my quirk if you like,” Momo volunteers with gusto upon hearing Inko’s suggestion.
Momo is rewarded by the sight of Izuku turning towards her, his emerald-green eyes glowing bright with excitement. Literally, Momo realises with surprise as she can clearly see light shining from Izuku’s eyes for a few seconds.
“Really? you will?” Izuku asks, all signs of nervousness gone.
“Mhm,” Momo hums in confirmation as she nods before once again extending her hand to the green-haired boy and this time, Izuku accepts.
As Momo takes her new (potential) friend by the hand up the grand staircase to her bedroom suite, she notices something rather peculiar about the boy. His hand is cold. Not freezing cold, but certainly colder than anyone else she had met.
‘Is this why he thinks he’s weird?’ Momo thinks, ‘Maybe it’s just part of his quirk,’
She decides to hold off on asking about it till later, after all, it would be rude to interrogate her guest before she had a chance to properly introduce herself.
As Inko watches her son head off with Momo, she turns back to Mrs Yaoyorozu. “I have to thank you again for your patience, Yaoyorozu-san, I’m afraid I was unable to find a sitter on such short notice,”
That wasn’t technically true, she could have left Izuku in Mitsuki’s care, but in light of recent… events, this was perhaps the better option.
Again, Mrs Yaoyorozu waves one hand in a gesture of dismissal. “As I said earlier, your dedication to your son does you credit. Besides…” She pauses a second as she thinks about how to phrase her next words tactfully. “It seems like your son is in need of… good company right now.”
Inko sighs, “Yes, I’m sure you’ve noticed that Izuku is somewhat… withdrawn. I had already suspected that something might be going on at school, ever since the kids’ quirks started appearing…”
“I don’t mean to pry but…” Mrs Yaoyorozu begins softly, “But Izuku, he’s not…”
“Quirkless?” Inko finishes, “No,” she says with a soft shake of her head. “No, he has a quirk, but one of his… friends, Katsuki, ever since his own quirk came in, he’s been more… loud, aggressive, but…” Inko shakes her head again, this time to clear it of those thoughts. “That is a problem for tomorrow, the agency said you are in need of a housekeeper?”
“Ah, yes,” Mrs Yaoyorozu nods her head in understanding, “if you’d just like to follow me to the study, I’m sure my husband must be wondering what’s keeping us,”
As the two women head through a door downstairs, upstairs, Momo brings Izuku into her bedroom, well, technically it was a suite of rooms, but it was all ‘her room’.
Izuku, for his part, was in awe, the room he was currently in was almost the size of his and his mom’s entire apartment. And that was only one room, there were still two more doors that led off it.
“So, what do you think?” Momo asks, gesturing to the room around the two children.
“It’s… big,” Izuku says, somewhat dumbly.
“Really?” Momo asks, perplexed. “Mother and Father’s is twice as big as mine.”
“Huh?” Izuku looks at the other girl with a blank expression. The idea that just a bedroom could be twice the size of his entire home just didn’t compute.
“Anyway,” Momo continues, oblivious to the expression on Izuku’s face, “You wanted to know about my quirk?”
Izuku’s blank expression instantly morphs into one of excitement at the mention of the girl’s quirk, and once again, Momo notices the green-haired boy’s eyes glow, like brilliant, beautiful, green stars in the night sky.
“Yes, yes,” Izuku is bouncing on the balls of his feet. “But first…”
He takes off a bag on his back, which Momo can see is styled after All Might, with two large fabric horns representing the no. 1 hero’s iconic tufts of hair. Izuku opens the bright blue and red bag and takes out a notebook, with the title ‘Hero Analysis for the Future No. 1’ scribbled roughly in Kanji on the front, as well as a pencil.
“Okay,” Izuku says, notebook open to a blank page in his hand, “Tell me everything,”
Momo giggles at the green-haired boy’s antics, though a part of her admires her counterpart’s level of preparedness, to bring an actual notebook to record with.
“It’ll be more fun if I show you,” Momo teases, before hopping up onto her large, king-sized bed. “Come on,” She waves for Izuku to join her.
So, kicking off his shoes, Izuku hops up onto the very large, very soft bed, next to Momo.
“Okay, ready,”
Izuku has her pen hovering over the page of his notebook.
“Just give me a few seconds,” Momo says as she scrunches her eyes closed in a comical expression of concentration, while holding out her right arm, the sleeve of her cardigan rolled up.
“I just need to-”
Suddenly a patch on Momo’s arm begins glowing, and a second later, a round, wooden, brightly coloured doll emerges, before dropping onto Momo’s bed with a soft *PLOP*.
From the second Momo’s arm had started glowing, Izuku was entranced, and when the doll appeared, a million questions began firing off in his mind, questions he now asks in a million-words-a-minute mutter.
“thatwasamazinghowdidyoudothatdidyoumakethatwithyourbodyIassumeyoudidbecauseitecamefromyourarminsteadofappearinginmidairbutifitcamefromyourbodythenwhatdidyouusetomakeitfoodwateror-”
His stream of thought is broken by a loud giggle from Momo and Izuku looks at the ponytail girl sheepishly.
“Oh, sorry, I was muttering again,” Izuku apologises, causing the smile to fade from Momo’s face.
“Why are you saying sorry?” Momo frowns.
“Because I was being weird, and creepy,” Izuku explains as he curls in on himself.
“Says who?” Momo demands indignantly, wondering who would make fun of her new friend.
“Says Kacchan,” Izuku says glumly, “He says I’m a weird creepy stalker,”
“Just because you ask questions?” Momo questions, somewhat confused “Well then, I guess that makes two of us,”
Now it was Izuku’s turn to be confused. He frowns at Momo, his confusion obvious, so the black-haired girl explains.
“My quirk, it’s called Creation.” Momo begins to explain, and Izuku instantly uncurls to begin writing in his notebook, “I can create things using the fat in my body,”
Izuku nods in understanding, finding that answer to be logical, as Momo continues.
“Except in order to make things, I need to know how to make them, the materials, the pieces, even the paint. So, I usually end up asking a lot of questions about things I see so that I can try and recreate them with my quirk.”
“That is so cool,” Izuku comments as he finishes writing, “So what’s this?” He points to the doll.
“It’s based on one of my mother’s matry- matry-,”
Momo grunts in frustration as she tries to remember the name of her mother’s dolls, before slowly saying it phonetically.
“Mat-ry-osh-ka doll,”
Momo smiles with satisfaction that she remembered the name, while Izuku just looks at her confused, not sure how to spell that.
Seeing the look of confusion on Izuku’s face, Momo quickly explains.
“Russian nesting doll,”
Again, Izuku nods in understanding, before quickly writing more in his notebook.
“It’s the only thing I can make at the moment,” Momo continues to explain, “But I hope to be able to make anything I want to, in the future, when I become a hero.”
Izuku’s head shoots up, “You want to be a hero when you grow up?”
Momo nods her head vigorously.
“So do I!” Izuku exclaims.
“Is that why you write in that notebook?” Momo asks, to which Izuku also nods excitedly.
But before the two kids can talk any further there’s a knock at the door to Momo’s bedroom, and they both turn to look at the door, their excitement and energy settling back to normal levels.
“That’ll be Dennis with the tea,” Momo explains as she composes herself, before calling out, “Come in!”
The large wooden door opens and in walks the middle-aged man that had greeted Izuku and his mother at the front door, only now, he’s pushing a trolley with a teapot, teacups, saucers, and a three-tiered stand with small cakes on it. The butler, Dennis, pushes the trolley over to a small table with some chairs set around it, and Momo leads Izuku off the bed and to the table. The table is clearly designed for children, only coming up to the butler’s knees in height.
As Momo and Izuku take their seats, Dennis sets out two saucers and two cups that Izuku thinks look really fancy. Certainly, nicer than the ones mom had back home.
“What is it today, Dennis?” Momo asks as the salt-and-pepper-haired man begins pouring the tea into the two children’s cups.
“Gold Tips Imperial Ma’am, your favourite,” Dennis answers as he finishes filling Izuku’s cup, which causes Momo to smile gleefully.
Once he’s finished pouring the tea, Dennis places the multi-tiered cake stand on the table, alongside two small plates, and a pair of small tongs.
“Help yourself,” Momo gestures to the cake stand.
“That is a lot of cakes,” Izuku says in awe, looking at the display, unable to choose which of the fine pastries he wishes to eat.
“Because I use my body’s fat for my quirk, Mother insists I eat plenty, within reason of course. She says my quirk shouldn’t be an excuse to over-indulge. But I don’t think she’ll mind just this once, after all this is my first time hosting a tea party.”
“It is?” Izuku asks as he uses the small tongs to pick out a pastry consisting of two, bright yellow, small, round, disks sandwiching a cream filling.
“Mhmm,” Momo nods solemnly, as she accepts the tongs from Izuku, “I… don’t exactly have... many friends… actually, I don’t really have… any.” She admits sheepishly.
Instantly, Izuku rises to his feet, sending his chair over on its back.
“I’ll be your friend!”
He declares, startling Momo, causing her to accidentally drop the slice of Battenberg cake she’d picked up onto the table.
Downstairs, Inko and the Yaoyorozus look up at the ceiling of the study that they’re in, and Inko chuckles at her son’s enthusiastic outburst.
“Well, they certainly sound like they’re getting along well,” Mr Yaoyorozu comments.
The Yaoyorozu Patriarch is of average height, slightly taller than Inko, but still dwarfed by his wife. He’s dressed in a plain black suit, with a red tie, and his jet-black hair is cut short. He has a few wrinkles on his face, but not many.
“Yes,” Inko concurs, “Izuku, once he opens up, is quite eager to befriend people,” Inko chuckles before her face falls slightly. “It’s just too bad that most people aren’t eager to befriend him,”
“Oh?” Mrs Yaoyorozu looks questioningly at Inko.
“Izuku, he…” Inko begins, before stopping, debating how much she should reveal, before deciding to go with the safe option. “I will freely admit, he’s not a normal child, even within quirk standards.”
“If you don’t mind me asking,” Mr Yaoyorozu chimes in, “What is your son’s quirk?”
“Emotional eyes,” Inko answers, the lie rolls off her tongue easily after months of practice, “Whenever he feels strong emotions, his eyes begin to glow. Though it’s mostly just when he gets happy or excited.”
“I did notice that earlier, when Momo offered to show off her quirk, I initially thought it was a trick of the light.” Mrs Yaoyorozu comments.
“Yes,” Inko nods, “but aside from his quirk, Izuku also has a… genetic disorder, of sorts” she lies.
Inko sees the surprised, and slightly worried, looks on the Yaoyorozu’s faces, and quickly reassures them, “Oh, it’s nothing serious or life-threatening, but it does mean that Izuku won’t exactly be… normal. His outer limbs feel cold to touch.”
The two Yaoyorozus signal their understanding with slight gestures. “In this age of quirks, what is normal today?” Mr Yaoyorozu says, somewhat philosophically.
“Anyway,” Mrs Yaoyorozu decides that they had gone off-topic enough, “We were discussing your cooking abilities?”
“Yes,” Inko refocuses her attention back to the discussion of her upcoming employment.
Having finished their cups of tea, and about half of the cakes, Momo suggests that they play a game, the only question is, which game?
“Have you ever played heroes and villains before?” Izuku asks.
“No,” Momo shakes her head, “How do you play it?”
“It’s simple, one of us is the hero, the other is the villain. And the hero has to catch the villain and beat them.”
“Beat them? As in… hit them?” Momo asks hesitantly, concerned at the idea of such a rough game. To which Izuku nods innocently, “Doesn’t that seem a bit… violent?”
“I… guess,” Izuku twiddles his fingers, “Kacchan does sometimes hit me quite hard,”
“I don’t think he should be hitting you at all,” Momo states firmly, “All the books I’ve read on how to be a good friend all say that friends shouldn’t hit each other.”
“I know,” Izuku admits, “But Kacchan only lets me play with him and his friends if I’m the villain,”
“How about we make up our own game then?” Momo suggests.
“Our own game?” Izuku asks, intrigued.
“Yes,” Momo nods resolutely, “Heroes,”
“Heroes?” Izuku asks.
“Heroes,” Momo reiterates, “No villains, just heroes.”
“No villains…” Izuku repeats slowly, as he catches on to what Momo is suggesting. “So then… we just save people?”
“Or fight pretend villains. But we can be heroes together.”
“Yes!” Izuku‘s eyes begin to glow once more, which Momo takes as a good sign. “Which Hero do you want to be?”
“Um… I don’t know…” Momo suddenly realises that, although she wanted to be a hero when she grew up, she didn’t actually know many. “Who do you think I should be?”
“Um…” Izuku thinks to himself, before coming up with the easy solution “Do you want to be All Might?”
“Don’t you want to be All Might?” Momo counters, having seen Izuku’s backpack, she assumed her new friend would want to be the No.1 hero.
“I do it’s just…” Izuku was exactly familiar with too many other heroes currently, it was mainly just All Might and…
“Actually,” Izuku perks up as he remembers one hero his mother would sometimes talk about. “Do you want to be Nimbus?”
“Who?” Momo asks, her curiosity piqued.
“She’s a pro-hero, from when mom was our age.” Izuku explains, “Apparently she was like All Might before All Might existed,”
“But All Might’s been around forever!” Momo argues.
“I know!” Izuku exclaims in agreement, “But yeah, she was mom’s favourite pro when she was younger, apparently her quirk allowed her to fly and she was really, really strong.”
“What did she look like?” Momo asks, after all, if she’s going to pretend to be ‘Nimbus’, she wants to get all the details correct.
“Um…” Izuku thinks hard about the poster his mom showed him once, but he can’t remember much except for one thing. “She has the same hairstyle as mama,”
Momo tries to recall Midoriya-san’s hairstyle when she first met her in the foyer. To the best of her memory, it was a sort of half-bun, with the front of her hair hanging loose in two long bangs.
“Do you think you can do my hair like that?” She asks Izuku.
“I can try,” Izuku says, the glow in his eyes having not faded for the past few minutes.
After what had felt like hours, the talks between Inko and the Yaoyorozus had come to a satisfying end.
“Shall we go see what our children are up to?” Mrs Yaoyorozu offers as she opens the study door for Inko.
“Hopefully Izuku hasn’t exhausted poor Momo with all of his questions about her quirk,” Inko jokes as she leaves the study, followed by Mr Yaoyorozu with Mrs Yaoyorozu taking up the rear.
“I wouldn’t worry about that,” Mr Yaoyorozu reassures Inko, “Our daughter has quite the reserves of energy.”
“Though whether she inherits that trait from us or her quirk, remains to be seen,” Mrs Yaoyorozu adds.
The three adults make their way upstairs, and the Yaoyorozus show Inko to Momo’s bedroom. Just as they arrive at the doors to their daughter’s bedroom, the two Yaoyorozus and Inko hear a loud proclamation of ‘WE ARE HERE!’ ring from inside, confusing the two estate owners, and amusing Inko, who lets out a chuckle.
“Oh, dear,” Inko covers her mouth with one hand as she tries to stifle her laughter, “I must apologise, it appears my son has introduced your daughter to the game of Heroes and Villains,”
Curious as to what exactly their daughter was up to, the Yaoyorozus push open the door to their daughter’s bedroom and find both Momo and Izuku poised at the end of Momo’s bed, overlooking a collection of Momo’s dolls and stuffed toys arranged in a semi-circle between the bed and the door.
As soon as the door opens, the two children freeze what they’re doing, with Izuku posing with his hands on his hips while Momo has her arms crossed in front of her as she balances on the balls of her feet in an attempt to mimic floating in mid-air.
However, the most striking thing that draws the Yaoyorozus’ attention, is their daughter’s hairstyle, no longer in her usual ponytail, but rather in a crude imitation of Inko’s own hair.
As Inko joins the Yaoyorozus in their daughter’s room she too notices Momo’s new hairstyle, and the little girl’s entire appearance, from the pose, to the hairstyle, to her general complexion, is enough to cause Inko to feel a pang of nostalgia for her old childhood idol.
After a few seconds of silence, the Yaoyorozus recover enough of their wits to begin speaking again.
“I see that you’ve been having fun Momo,” Mrs Yaoyorozu speaks first.
“Yes Mother,” Momo replies as she jumps off the bed, “Midoirya-kun and I came up with a new game called Heroes.”
“Oh?” Her father raises one eyebrow questioningly at Momo. “Really?”
Momo nods her head, “Izuku introduced me to Nimbus.”
“Nimbus?” Mrs Yaoyorozu repeats.
“My favourite childhood hero,” Inko explains. “I… may… have taken inspiration from her in how I do my hair. Though I suppose that’s where Izuku gets his love of heroes from. Anyway…” Inko turns to her son, “Izuku, it’s time for us to go now,”
“Aww,” Both Momo and Izuku cry out in disappointment.
“Do we have to mama?” Izuku asks, the glow of excitement in his eyes dimming.
“I’m afraid so, we still have other things to do today.”
“Okay,” Izuku reluctantly accepts his mother’s decision as he gathers up his notebook and puts it back into his backpack.
“But…” Mrs Yaoyorozu decides to chime in, wanting her daughter’s new friend to leave on a high note, “I’m sure you’ll be able to see Momo again soon.”
At that, both Momo and Izuku perk up, the glow faintly returning to Izuku’s eyes.
“Does that mean…?” Izuku looks to his mother and Inko nods in response.
“Yes, starting next Monday, I will be the Yaoyorozus’ housekeeper, and so long as you promise to be on your best behaviour, I’m sure the Yaoyorozus’ will be happy to have you around while I work.”
“I assume you approve Peach?” Mr Yaoyorozu asks his daughter, to which Momo bows her head.
“Yes Father, thank you, Mother,”
“See you soon then?” Izuku asks, and Momo nods.
“See you soon.”
Notes:
Might write more here later, but right now wi-fi is unreliable.
All I will say is I hope you enjoyed.
Chapter 3: ...And Influence People
Summary:
The new friend meets the old.
It does not end well for all involved.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Aldera Municipal Park, Musutafu, Shizuoka Prefecture.
July 15, 2218
It had been over four years since Momo had first met her best friend Izuku, and today it was the green-haired boy’s 10th birthday.
Every time they had seen each other, Izuku had come to Momo’s home, but this time, at her request, Momo’s parents had taken the day off to drive Momo down from their house in Suruga to meet the Midoriyas at their home.
When they had approached Inko with their plan to surprise Izuku, the green-haired woman had wholeheartedly agreed with the idea of surprising Izuku with a visit from his best friend on his birthday. However, she had suggested that perhaps they would be better off surprising Izuku in the park he passes through to and from school.
So, here they were now, in the ‘quaint, little park’ near the Midoriyas’ home. While it was only about the size of the Yaoyorozus’ front lawn, Momo nonetheless found it rather beautiful, especially in the early summer afternoon. As the wealthy family takes their seats at the bench Inko had described to them, between the playground and an old fountain, Momo looks around, trying to find her friend.
Mrs Yaoyorozu notices her daughter’s searching and places a calming hand on her daughter’s shoulder.
“Patience, Momo,” The matriarch breathes, “Remember, Izuku goes to school, which means he’ll have only been dismissed a few minutes ago, give him some time. Midoriya-san specifically instructed him to come through the park, so he will be here.”
“Okay, Mother,” Momo stops her searching to look down at her lap, before looking up and across at the nearby playground and the various structures in it.
“Mother, Father,”
The two parents look at their daughter, prompting her to continue.
“May I play in the park while I wait for Izuku?”
The two elder Yaoyorozus both look at each other with uncertain looks. Usually, they liked to keep Momo close when they were out and about as a family. While they wanted to give their daughter as much freedom as possible, they weren’t naïve about the dangers they faced as a family due to their status. Especially given the amount of publicity they attracted due to their charity work and attendance at social functions alongside the country’s greatest heroes.
But after looking back at the play park and seeing that it’s barely 30 metres away from them, and in full view of the bench they were on, they decide that it’s a special day, so they should let their daughter live a little, though not without a few provisions.
“Okay,” Mrs Yaoyorozu agrees to her daughter’s request, “But…” She adds to temper her daughter’s visible excitement, “I want you to make sure that you can see us at all times, okay?”
Momo nods her head.
“And don’t talk to strangers,” Mr Yaoyorozu adds.
Again, Momo nods.
“And please try to keep your dress clean,” Mrs Yaoyorozu begs, before gesturing for Momo to go.
“I will Mother,” Momo promises as she slides off the bench and jogs over to the playground.
Momo had never actually been to a playground before, though she’d heard Izuku talk about it enough times. It was one of the places he often played in with his ‘friend’, ‘Kacchan’. Though as Momo had learnt more and more about this ‘Kacchan’ the more she doubted he actually was a friend. From what little Izuku had told her, and compared to what Momo had read, it sounded like Kacchan was more of a bully. Not that she had any physical evidence of it of course. And yet... despite always sounding excited whenever Izuku talked about 'Kacchan', Momo had never once seen her friend's eyes glow when talking about his other 'friend'.
As Momo has these thoughts, while she sits on one of the swings, idly kicking the air, she hears a muffled cry of pain come from one of the nearby bushes. Her initial instinct is to jump off the swing and approach the bush, fearing that someone might be hurt. However, as she nears the bushes, she remembers her parents' warnings about staying in their sight and away from strangers. So, she stops just in front of the foliage and is about to head back to her parents, when she hears a boy’s voice growl.
“Think you could just ignore me, huh, Deku?”
Momo frowns. To her knowledge, 'Deku' was a Japanese term for someone who was ‘good for nothing’. She’d learnt that after she’d overheard her father venting about a particularly lazy member of his research and development team. When her father had realised that Momo had overheard him, he had stressed to her that it was a rude and impolite way of referring to someone, even if it was sometimes true. And if there was one thing Momo prided herself on, aside from her brain, it was her manners.
This leaves Momo wondering who on earth the boy was talking to and why they were being so rude. Unfortunately, she receives an answer to her first question, when a familiar boy’s voice stutters in response.
“I’m s-sorry Kacchan,” Izuku’s voice whimpers, “B-but it’s my birthday and-”
“Do I look like I care about your stupid birthday, Deku?” The boy, who Momo assumes is ‘Kacchan’, shouts back. “You think that it makes you better than me? That you’re special?”
“Please…” Izuku sounds like he’s on the verge of tears, and that’s all it takes to prompt Momo to run head-first into the bushes.
“Shut up, you creepy nerd, know your place,” Kacchan growls just as Momo bursts through the bushes and finds Izuku, lying on his back, with a blonde boy, the same age as them, standing over him, small explosions crackling in his hands.
Immediately, both Izuku and ‘Kacchan’ turn their focus on the new arrival. The blonde looks annoyed, while Izuku’s face is a mask of fear.
“Who the fuck are you?” Kacchan spits out and Momo is initially taken aback by the boy’s foul language, which gives Izuku time to interject.
“She’s no one, just leave her alone,” Izuku begs, somewhat defiantly.
Izuku was scared. Scared and confused. Confused as to why Momo was here and more importantly, scared of what Kacchan would do to her if she tried to interfere.
Unfortunately for Izuku, Momo chooses to contradict her friend.
“I’m Izuku’s friend, his best friend.”
She glares at Kacchan, who steps away from Izuku and stomps a few paces to Momo, setting off several small explosive POPs in his hands as he does so.
“The fuck you talking about?! Deku doesn’t have any friends!” He spits.
“Yes. He. Does.” Momo stands her ground, not willing to let this bully intimidate her.
Unfortunately, that was her mistake. Kacchan launches himself at her, slightly aided by the small explosions in his hands, sending her sprawling on the grass, with Kacchan on top of her, pinning her by her shoulders.
“No. He. DOESN’T!” Kacchan yells, and in his anger, his quirk begins to activate in his right hand as Momo begins to feel an eerily warm sensation in her left shoulder, one that is getting hotter and hotter with every second.
“Now,” Kacchan’s voice has become a quiet growl, “You’re going to go back to whatever shitty hole in the ground you came from, and you’re never going to see Deku again, or else I’ll kill you, okay?”
Momo winces in pain as she can feel the heat increasing in her shoulder, but remains defiant to the end.
“No,” Momo spits out between gritted teeth, “Izuku is my friend, and I won’t leave him.”
Kacchan doesn’t say anything initially, he just growls as he increases the power of his quirk.
“Fine, you want to be friends with shitty Deku?” He sneers, “Then you can die with him.”
By now, smoke is rising in whisps from Momo’s shoulder, and she cries out in pain, tears beginning to stream down her face as the searing heat from the blonde boy’s hand becomes unbearable.
“LEAVE HER ALONE, KACCHAN!” Izuku shouts, his worst fear coming true, “SHE HASN’T DONE ANYTHING WRONG!”
He grabs at Kacchan’s right arm, trying to remove the source of Momo’s pain.
The good news is that Izuku succeeds in removing the pain from Momo’s shoulder.
The bad news is that it’s only because Kacchan swings his arm back to elbow Izuku in the face. But Izuku doesn’t care, at least he isn’t hurting Momo anymore.
As Izuku stumbles back from Kacchan’s blow, the blonde boy turns to face his original victim. He looks like he’s about to pounce on Izuku again. But before he can, several adults come crashing through the bushes separating the three kids from the playpark, Inko and the two Yaoyorozus.
Several Minutes Earlier
Mrs Yaoyorozu watches as her daughter explores the various pieces of play park equipment before she eventually settles on the swings.
“You know,” Her husband chimes in, as he moves across the bench to put one arm around her, “When we decided to get a new housekeeper all those years ago, I never would have thought it would result in Momo coming out her shell so much,”
“You were right,” Mrs Yaoyorozu concedes, “All she needed was a friend, one who sees Momo as more than her quirk or her status,”
“Yaoyorozu-san,” The two parents hear the familiar voice of Inko call out, and they both turn their heads towards the fountain, where they see Inko walking up the footpath with a basket in one hand and what looks like a rolled-up blanket in the other. “I see you found the park alright then.” She observes.
“Yes,” Mrs Yaoyorozu nods, “Dennis found it quite easily, and I must say it is a rather… serene place,”
Inko hums in agreement, “I used to come here with my boyfriend back in the day, before he… left, before… Izuku.” As she mentions her son, she quickly looks around.
“I assume he hasn’t shown up yet?”
“No,” Mr Yaoyorozu shakes his head in confrimation
“And Momo?” Inko asks, confused at the other girl’s absence.
“She wanted to play in the park over there while we-” Mrs Yaoyorozu gestures to the park Momo had gone to, but when she looks, she can no longer see Momo. “Where’s Momo?” She asks, her voice rising in pitch as she immediately fears the worst.
In an instant, all three adults rush over to the playground, Inko dropping the basket and blanket by the bench as she does so.
They enter the park, but still no sign of Momo.
Mrs Yaoyorozu is about to call out when they hear a familiar voice cry out from behind some bushes.
“LEAVE HER ALONE KACCHAN! SHE’S DONE NOTHING WRONG!”
Inko’s heart jumps into her mouth, it’s Izuku’s voice, and if he’s shouting, at Katsuki no less, then he must be truly desperate, and Inko can only imagine what must be happening to cause that.
Without hesitation, the three adults push through the bushes to find both Izuku and Momo lying on the ground, a blonde boy stands between them, with small explosions crackling in his palms. Izuku is clutching his nose in pain, but Momo… the left shoulder on her dress has been completely burned through and her shoulder is swollen and red, signs that it had been recently burned, and Inko could easily guess by who.
The Yaoyorozus are in complete shock at the scene before them, the idea that a child could be capable of such violence was beyond their comprehension.
But Inko?
Inko, however, sees red. She had already had a discussion with both Izuku’s teachers and Mitsuki a few years previously, and she had thought that had been the end of that. But apparently, she had been wrong. In fact, if what she saw was anything to go by, Katsuki’s behaviour had gotten worse, and now he was going to face the full brunt of a righteously angry Inko.
“KATSUKI BAKUGOU!” She roars, causing the blonde boy to flinch slightly. “WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING TO MY SON AND HIS FRIEND?!”
Katsuki is shell-shocked by the sheer violence in Inko’s voice.
“Auntie…?” He begins to speak but Inko doesn’t let him.
“THAT IS MIDORIYA-SAN TO YOU, AND YOU STILL HAVEN’T ANSWERED MY QUESTION!”
“I…” For a second Bakugou almost gives in, but as the initial shock wears off, his pride doesn’t let him, “IT’S NONE OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS!” He shouts back. “DEKU AND HIS BRAT WERE-,”
*SMACK*
The Yaoyorozus, already shocked at their daughter’s condition, are further taken aback by Inko delivering an open-handed slap across the cheek of the blonde boy.
“You will watch your mouth Katsuki,” Inko says in a harsh whisper as she drops down to eye level with the blonde, her anger having gone from red-hot to ice-cold. “Now, for once in your life, keep. Your. Mouth. Shut.”
With Katsuki having been silenced by the sudden impact of the slap, Inko turns to the other two children. Izuku had moved to help Momo while Inko had berated Katsuki.
Inko moves to join her son by kneeling next to Momo to get a better look at the poor girl’s shoulder. As she does so, the shock begins to wear off for the Yaoyorozus as they gather around their daughter. They see Momo’s shoulder, the swelling and redness having increased, and are horrified.
“What happened to her?” Mrs Yaoyorozu frowns, doing her best to remain calm and not explode like Inko had.
“She’s been burned, badly,” Inko explains as she looks at the shoulder. “If I were to guess, by Katsuki’s quirk. Am I right?” She looks questioningly at the two victims, who both nod their heads shakily, tears still streaming down both their faces from pain, anger, and fear.
“What do we do?” Mr Yaoyorozu asks, always one to look for a practical solution.
“Take Momo and Izuku back to the bench,” Inko instructs, “There’s a bottle of water in my basket, slowly pour some of it onto Momo’s shoulder, it’ll help cool down the burn, and hopefully clean away any infection. Ma’am-” She addresses Mrs Yaoyorozu- “call the emergency services, let them know what’s happened, and that they should send both police and an ambulance.”
“And you?” The Yaoyorozu Matriarch asks as she takes her phone out of her purse. “What will you be doing?”
“Keeping an eye on this one,” Inko says, looking pointedly at Katsuki, before firmly taking him by the wrist and leading him back to the bench.
As the party hurries back to the bench where the Yaoyorozus had sat earlier, Mrs Yaoyorozu opts not to call the police, but rather someone else. After a few seconds of ringing, the person on the other end picks up.
“Ume?” A woman asks.
“I need your help Nem,” the anxious and angry mother replies.
It took a little over 5 minutes for police and EMTs to arrive. When they do, after briefly examining Momo, the EMTs take her, and her father, to the nearest hospital, while Inko and Mrs Yaoyorozu give their statements to the police. The paramedics had also examined Izuku and, to Ume’s surprise, had found nothing wrong, so they left him in Inko’s care.
As Izuku is giving his statement to the police, a woman, with long, dark purple hair, dressed in a white bodysuit, under a black, leather leotard, and black knee boots strides through the police cordon and approaches Mrs Yaoyorozu.
“Ume!” the woman calls out, prompting the two women and Izuku to turn their heads towards her. While Inko doesn’t recognise the woman, both Izuku and Mrs Yaoyorozu do.
“Midnight?!” “Nemuri,”
While Izuku is equal parts confused and excited, Mrs Yaoyorozu’s voice sounds relieved,
“Oh, I’m so glad you’re here,”
Yaoyorozu opens her arms, and the two purple-haired women embrace, the woman identified as Nemuri rubbing Mrs Yaoyorozu on the back in a reassuring gesture.
After a few seconds, the two women break apart, and ‘Nemuri’ becomes slightly more business-like.
“Okay, what happened? On the phone, all you said was that Momo and her friend were attacked, what exactly happened?”
So, Mrs Yaoyorozu briefly recounts the events from less than half an hour earlier. Once she’s done, Nemuri has an indignant look on her face.
“And where is this Katsuki boy now?” She asks the nearby police officer.
“Currently in the back of my car, Ma’am,” The officer replies, “He was being rather… unruly, keeps insisting he did nothing wrong.”
Nemuri sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose, “Of course he does,” She mutters before speaking full volume again, “And his parents?”
“I’ve already called his mother,” Inko answers, “We are… or rather, we were, close friends, but after this…” She trails off.
Nemuri nods, “And Momo’s friend, Izuku?”
“This is him,” Inko answers once, more gesturing to her son, currently at her side. But when she and the other adults look at Izuku, they see that the green-haired boy’s eyes are glowing, and his whole demeanour has brightened.
“Well, he seems to be in a surprisingly good mood,” Nemuri observes.
“Trust us, he wasn’t like that earlier,” Inko answers, “though I think I know what’s improved his mood. By any chance, are you a pro-hero?” She asks the leather-clad woman.
Nemuri opens her mouth to answer, but Izuku beats her to it.
“Mom,” He says with a degree of awe, “That’s Midnight, the R-rated hero.”
“Oh?” Inko looks at her son, before looking to the pro for confirmation, who simply nods before addressing Izuku.
“I take it I have a fan then?” Midnight says as she squats down to Izuku’s level.
Izuku’s only reply is to nod his head vigorously.
“Well, you’re different to my… usual fanboys.” Midnight says with a joking smile, which only confuses Izuku. "Certainly a lot younger,"
“I’m kind of surprised they sent a pro-hero for this though,” Inko comments, wanting to move the conversation on.
“That’s because I was requested,” Nemuri explains as she rises from her squat, “Ume called me directly.”
Inko looks at the woman who was her employer. “You have Midnight’s phone number?”
Ume Yaoyorozu nods, “Nemuri is my 2nd cousin, once removed,” she explains.
“Though I was raised by Ume’s parents when I was younger,” Midnight adds, “We’re sisters in all but blood,”
“I must say, the similarities in your appearance are… noticeable,” Inko observes.
To her eye, the only noticeable differences between the two women were height and hairstyle. Mrs Yaoyorozu looked a little bit older, several inches taller and still had her hair cut short. In contrast, Midnight was younger and more fresh-faced, with her hair flowing freely down her back.
As Inko briefly inspects the other purple-haired hero, a commotion from a few meters away draws her and everyone else’s attention, as a woman begins berating the other police officer on the scene.
“I AM THAT BOY'S MOTHER, NOW LET ME THROUGH!”
“SIR!” the other officer calls out to his partner.
Everyone looks at the other officer and sees a blonde woman, in a black skirt, white top, and blue cardigan, looking very irate next to him.
“That would be Mitsuki, Katsuki’s mother,” Inko explains to the officer currently with them, “And that looks like Masaru next to her,” She points to a brunette man in slacks and a polo shirt, who was desperately trying to calm his wife.
The officer currently with Inko and the others gestures to his partner to let them through, and the blonde woman comes storming up to the group and looks like she’s about to lay into the policeman, when she suddenly notices the Midoriyas, and instantly calms.
“Inko, I got your phone call, what’s going on? What has the brat done now?” Mitsuki looks between Inko, Midnight, and the Police officer.
“Ma’am,” the officer speaks up, “Your son attacked this boy and his friend, seriously injuring one of them,”
“What?” Mitsuki initially looks stunned, before she explodes, “That brat! I thought I told him to cut that shit out years ago.”
“So had I,” Inko says with a hint of regret.
Mitsuki growls, before turning to the policeman, “Officer, how much trouble is Katsuki in?”
“Well…” The policeman scratches the back of his head, “No formal charges have been pressed… yet…” He trails off.
“But…” Mitsuki prompts him.
“But, from the EMT’s assessment of the burn, and the fact that your son is over ten, should the Yaoyorozus wish to do so, they could press assault charges against your son,” The officer finishes.
“Good,” Mitsuki says resolutely, catching everyone by surprise.
“Good?” Midnight questions, in her experience parents of these kinds of bullies always tried to cover for their child, not actively throw the book at them.
“Yes, good,” Mitsuki confirms, “I am at my wits end about that boy, I have tried everything to bring that monstrous ego of his under control, but nothing works, I suspect it’s largely because all his friends and teachers keep worshipping him like he’s God’s gift to quirks.”
Izuku sheepishly looks down at his feet, he knows he is somewhat guilty of praising Katsuki’s quirk. But it really was an amazing quirk for heroics, everyone knew that… right?
“If him being charged actually brings him to heel, I am all for it,” Mitsuki concludes.
“Well, as I said Ma’am,” The police officer explains, “It’ll all depend on the victim's parents,”
As he says that, he looks at Ume and Inko, who, in turn, look at each other before looking back at the officer.
“If… we were to press charges,” Ume asks slowly and carefully, looking between her cousin, and the policeman, “What would happen to Katsuki?”
“He’s a minor and a first-time offender,” Midnight answers, “odds are, he’ll likely be given counselling, maybe probation, and of course, he will be marked as a youth offender,”
“NO!” Izuku cries out reflexively, causing all the adults around her to look at him with concern as he clamps his hands over his mouth.
“Izuku?” Inko looks at her son with confusion, and Izuku now feels compelled to explain himself as he uncovers his mouth.
“You can’t do that to Kacchan, if you do, he can’t get into a hero school and then…”
“And then maybe he’ll finally learn his lesson,” Mitsuki cuts in as she crouches in front of Izuku. “I know you like to see the best in people Izuku, you are so much like your mother in that sense, but Katsuki needs to learn that his actions have consequences, that what he did to you and your friend was wrong.”
“But…” Izuku tries to argue again, but the arguments die in his mouth. He knew what Kacchan did was wrong, he had hurt Momo, badly. And he had used his quirk to do so, which technically made him a villain. But… he knew that Kacchan had the potential, the determination to be a great hero. But maybe… maybe this is what he needed to finally realise what a good hero was supposed to be like.
Izuku sighs as he slowly realises this, and lets his shoulders sag in defeat, “Okay,”
Inko sees the look on her son’s face and can only imagine how he’s feeling. So, she turns to the policeman.
“If it’s alright officer, I’d like to take my son to the hospital to see that his friend is okay.”
The officer nods, he more or less had all of the 10-year-old’s statement, and keeping the boy here wasn’t going to be productive.
“Nem, could you perhaps take Midoriya-san and Izuku to the hospital?” Ume asks, “They’re not family, so the hospital might not let them through otherwise,”
“Of course,” Nemuri nods her head, “Follow me,” She waves to the two green-haired women to follow her, and as they do so, Izuku’s eyes begin to glow once more at the prospect of being in a car with Midnight.
Once at the hospital, after flashing her hero credentials at the staff, Midnight leads the Midoriyas to the room where Momo had been taken. Inside they find Momo sitting on a hospital bed, her exposed left shoulder covered in bandages, her father standing to one side.
As soon as Izuku sees Momo he rushes to her, jumping up on the bed to give her a hug.
“Yaomomo!”
“Izuku!”
The two kids both exclaim as they embrace each other, before quickly separating as Momo winces in pain.
“Be gentle,” Inko warns,
“Sorry,” Izuku apologises.
As the two friends hug each other once more, gentler this time, Inko and Nemuri join Mr Yaoyorozu.
“Nemuri,” The man says in polite greeting.
“Sozin,” Nemuri replies, “How is she?”
The man sighs, “It was a third-degree burn,” He says, and Nemuri’s hands clench in anger, “The doctors say she'll need surgery. It will heal eventually but…”
“It’ll scar,” Nemuri realises.
Sozin nods, “It was almost her entire shoulder…” He takes a deep breath, before speaking in a hushed voice, so that the kids can’t hear him. “Midoriya-san, may I speak to you outside, please?”
Inko nods her head, and the two parents slip out of the room, leaving Nemuri to watch over their children.
Once they are outside, Inko says nothing, instead waiting for Sozin to speak, and after a few seconds of silence, while he collects his thoughts, he does.
“Inko,” He decides to address her personally, “before I say anything else, I want you to know that I do not lay any blame on you or Izuku for what happened,”
Inko nods her head in understanding, solemnly and wordlessly as Sozin continues.
“However, I must respectfully request that you cut your son off from all contact with that Bakugou boy. It is clear that he is a threat to Izuku, and by extension, that makes him a threat to Momo. While I value both the relationship our children have, as well as the relationship you have built with me and my wife, Momo is, and always will be, our first priority, just as I am sure that Izuku is yours.”
“Do not worry, Yaoyorozu-san,” Inko replies, “I can assure you that I will be looking for a new school for Izuku immediately. It has become apparent that Katsuki is not the only problem Izuku faces at Aldera.”
“Very well,” Sozin bows his head in recognition. “I will trust that you have the matter in your capable hands, as you usually do,”
Inko lets out a little smile, “That is what you pay me for,”
“Indeed, now then,” Sozin looks through the window to his daughter’s hospital room, and sees Nemuri on the bed in animated conversation with Momo and Izuku, “I think we had better save my in-law from being interrogated to death,”
Meanwhile, inside the hospital room, Izuku is buzzing with excitement, in large part due to the fact that (A) there was a Pro-hero in the room with him and (B) said hero was basically Momo’s aunt.
“Why didn’t you say you were related to a pro?” Izuku asks Momo.
“I didn’t know,” Momo answers truthfully, before turning to Nemuri, “You and Mother always said you work with law enforcement and social services,”
“Which is technically true,” Nemuri points out. “I work with both police and social workers.”
“But why didn’t you tell me you were a hero?” Momo asks, “Is that why haven’t I seen you for so long?”
“Well, the reason why I’ve been gone for so long... it’s because I’ve been busy with work,” Nemuri answers hesitantly, “As for why we didn’t tell you…”
“It’s because the details of your aunt's work isn’t suitable for children your age,” Sozin explains as he and Inko re-enter the room, causing Nemuri to grimace, and the two kids to look between the adults in confusion.
“What do you mean not suitable?” Izuku asks, “I watch heroes fight villains all the time.”
“Yes, but fighting villains is not all that a hero does,” Nemuri points out, and both Momo and Izuku nod.
“We know that Auntie,” Momo counters “A hero's job is to save people,”
Nemuri nods, part of her proud of her niece’s insight.
“That is true, and my job does involve saving people, especially women from people who... hurt them for money, as I said earlier it’s a subject that’s best left unexplained until you’re a little older,”
Both Izuku and Momo nod sagely in response to that. they were both aware that there were some things that were considered ‘adult stuff’.
“Now then,” Nemuri’s tone is a little bit more upbeat after the, rather sombre, previous conversation. “I imagine you probably want an autograph?” She says to Izuku, and the boy’s eyes light up so fast and so brightly, that they could’ve been flash bombs.
“Oh, that reminds me,” Momo exclaims, “I haven’t given you your birthday present yet,”
“Birth- It’s your birthday?” Midnight looks at Izuku with surprise, and the boy nods, “Then you’re definitely getting an autograph, I just need something to sign…”
As Midnight looks around, Momo sticks out her arm, and after a few seconds, a Matryoshka doll appears, with Midnight’s likeness on it. After it gently plops on the bed, Momo offers it to her aunt.
“What about this?” She asks.
“Yes, that’ll do very nicely.” Nemuri smiles as Sozin offers her a pen to sign with.
Taking the wooden nesting doll, Midnight quickly signs it with a flick of her wrist.
“Here you go,” She hands the doll to Izuku, who looks at it in awe, “Hopefully, your future birthdays will be less... eventful than this.”
Izuku carefully takes the doll and cradles it in his hands, the glow in his eyes had barely dimmed for the past few minutes.
“My first hero autograph…” He whispers, and Midnight feels a small warmth of satisfaction. There was always something special about being someone’s first.
“And the best part is that I made it so that it’ll fit inside your present from me,” Momo adds, before turning to her dad, “Father,” She prompts, and the raven-haired man reaches for a gift bag on the ground next to him. He picks up the bag and passes it to Nemuri, who passes it to Izuku.
The bag is colourful and shiny, and inside, Izuku finds two items, wrapped in tissue paper.
“I wrapped those myself,” Momo comments, “With… some help from Dennis.”
Izuku takes out the larger of the two items. Judging by the shape it’s another Matryoshka doll, but slightly larger than the Midnight one.
Despite his excitement, Izuku gently unwraps the tissue paper to reveal a large All Might Matryoshka.
“I know you said you like to collect All Might merchandise,” Momo explains, as Izuku inspects the wooden figure, “So I wanted to get you something, unique, bespoke, and well… to my knowledge, no one has ever made an All Might nesting doll so…”
“This is so cool,” Izuku utters, as Momo trails off, “Did you make this with your quirk?” He asks his friend, but Momo shakes her head.
“No, I had it custom-made by a woodcarver, but it’s still unique. Your other gift, however, I did make with my quirk.”
At that, Izuku takes out the other present inside the gift bag. It’s far smaller than the first, able to fit inside Izuku’s palm.
Again, Izuku carefully unwraps the gift, and inside is another Matryoshka, but instead of All Might, it has Momo’s face on it.
“I know we can’t always be together,” Momo begins softly, looking down at her hands, folded in her lap, “But when we’re apart, I hope that this will remind you that you’re not alone…”
Momo looks up from her lap at Izuku and sees her best friend crying. And yet, paradoxically, his eyes are still glowing bright, though the light is slightly foggy from the moisture in the boy’s eyes.
“Izuku…?” She begins, but before Momo can ask what’s wrong, Izuku tackles her in a massive bear hug, catching Momo by surprise.
“Thank you,” He whispers, “This is the best present someone has ever given me. But I don’t deserve it, not after today,”
“Yes, you do,” Momo says softly, but firmly as she reciprocates the hug, “Yes, you do.”
Notes:
Soooo, to start off, I'd just like to apologise for what I put Momo through in this chapter (And what's going to happen to her in the future because of this).
That being said, I did make sure that there was sufficient fluff at the end of the chapter.
Next chapter, Izuku meets Kyouka.
Chapter 4: Birds of a Feather
Summary:
The duo becomes a trio.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Takoba Elementary, Musutafu, Shizuoka Prefecture
1st September, 2218
Izuku was nervous.
It had been a little over 6 weeks since his birthday and the incident with Kacchan Bakugou. Fortunately, the incident had happened right before the summer holiday meaning that Inko only had to take him out of school for a few days before the holidays began, but during that holiday, Inko had a rather frank conversation with Izuku about putting some distance between him and Bakugou, which meant changing schools.
At the time, Izuku had actually been relieved. The damage done to Momo’s shoulder had awakened something in him, making Izuku finally realise that Bakugou’s actions and attitude were inexcusable. Sure, a part of him still believed he could be a great hero. But Bakugou would need to change a lot about himself first.
But now, here Izuku was, over a month later, standing outside his new classroom, in his new school, waiting to be introduced, and his nerves were a wreck. He’d already contemplated the worst-case scenario, that everyone would find him weird, and that he’d be alone again.
As he has that thought, Izuku’s hand reaches inside a pocket, where he can feel the mini Yaoyoroshka doll that Momo had given him for his birthday. As he runs his thumb over the painted wooden curves of the red and black figure, his nerves calm. Even if his classmates found him to be weird, he still had Momo.
The new school was Takoba Elementary, it was farther away from Inko and Izuku’s apartment than Aldera was, but the trade-off was that it was actually closer to Momo’s home, meaning that the journey after school would be shorter.
As Izuku stands in the corridor, just outside his classroom, his train of thought is broken by the sound of someone calling his name. He looks through the window in the door to his new classroom and sees the teacher beckoning him to come in. So, his nerves still on edge, Izuku opens the door and walks in, to be greeted by 20+ kids the same age as him.
“Everyone, this is Izuku Midoriya,” The teacher, a brunette called Miss Fairborne, introduces, “Izuku will be with us for the rest of the year.” She looks at the green-haired boy, “Why don’t you tell the class a little about yourself?”
Izuku swallows nervously but, with Yaoyoroshka in hand, speaks as confidently as he can.
“Hi, I’m Izuku Midoriya, I’m 10 years old and…” He hesitates as he tries to think of something else to say, then comes to an easy solution, “…and my favourite hero is All Might,”
“Thank You Izuku,” Miss Fairborne says, before a student calls out.
“What’s your quirk?”
Miss Fairborne turns back to her class to gently chide them,
“Now students, Izuku doesn’t have to share his quirk if he doesn’t want to. And remember, if you have a question, please raise your hand.”
“Can I though?” Izuku asks before clarifying “Share my quirk?”
“Only if you want to.” The teacher seems keen to stress that it was Izuku’s choice, which the boy appreciates, but nonetheless, he wishes to share.
“I want to,” Izuku nods his head emphatically.
Miss Fairborne gestures for him to go ahead.
“My quirk is called emotional eyes,” Izuku explains, “Basically my eyes glow when I get really excited.”
There’s some quiet muttering from the other students before Miss Fairborne quiets them.
“Well then, now that the class is familiar with you,” the teacher addresses Izuku, “If you’d just like to take the open seat there, next to Jirou, we can begin lessons for the day,” She points to an open seat, between the window and a girl with purple hair and funny looking earlobes.
As Izuku makes her way to his seat, he passes a different girl, with plaited blonde hair. As he passes the girl, she sniggers and says, in a stage whisper to the student next to her,
“Heh, figures, weird eyes sitting with weird ears,”
Mentally, Izuku sighs, he had hoped to make it atleast one day before-
“Kanzuki!” Miss Fairborne’s stern voice breaks Izuku out of his resignation, and he turns back to look at the teacher, who is now visibly displeased, “You can stay behind after school for that,”
“Wha-” The blonde girl tries to protest, but Fairborne is having none of it,
“No! No excuses,” The teacher scolds, “I’ve warned you before about name-calling and bullying, and I will not let you show a new student such disrespect. As such, you can stay behind and help clean this classroom,”
The blonde girl's expression is of pure shock, she looks like she’d just been physically slapped across the face.
As Izuku finishes the short walk to his new desk, he can hear the other students around her snigger at their classmate's misfortune, and as he takes his seat, he feels… lighter. Back in Aldera, his teachers would largely ignore Bakugou’s taunts and teasing, not necessarily encouraging it, but certainly not preventing it. The fact that his teacher was willing to immediately step in like that gives Izuku hope, and just briefly, his eyes glow faintly.
At lunchtime, Izuku decides to take advantage of the last of the good weather before autumn by sitting outside, under a tree, while he ate and wrote about all his new classmates’ quirks in his notebook. As he does so, he notices someone approaching where he is sitting and looks up to see the girl he had sat next to in class, Jirou.
“Hey,” Jirou calls out in greeting with a slight nod of her head.
“H-hey,” Izuku replies with a slight wave, pencil still in hand, unsure as to why the girl with the long ear lobes was approaching him.
“You mumble a lot, you know that, right?” Jirou asks, somewhat bluntly.
Izuku immediately looks crestfallen, “Oh, yeah, I’m sorry,”
“Don’t be,” Jirou deadpans, causing Izuku’s head to shoot up in surprise, “Sure, it was kinda annoying at first, but… your mutterings actually kinda helped during maths, the way you talked through those problems helped me understand it better,”
“Oh,” Izuku is caught off guard, no one had ever thanked him for his mutterings before. Sure, his mother and Momo accepted his muttering as one of his habits, but no one had ever thanked him for it, in fact, most found it creepy.
“Well, you’re welcome, I guess,” Izuku initially responds awkwardly, until he realises something, “Wait, you could understand what I was saying?”
“Uh-huh,” Jirou nods, before gesturing to her ears, and specifically her lobes, “My quirk gives me extendible audio jacks at the end of my ears, which means I have more sensitive hearing."
Immediately, Izuku’s eyes begin glowing as he becomes excited by the prospect of learning about a new quirk.
However, Jirou, upon seeing Izuku’s eyes glowing, remembers what he had said earlier.
“Your eyes glow when you’re excited, right?” Jirou asks warily.
“Yes,” Izuku nods.
“Do I want to know why you’re excited now?” Jirou was really hoping it wasn’t something creepy, her initial opinion of Izuku had been cautiously positive, and she didn’t want that ruined by finding out he was some kind of weirdo.
“Oh, I just get really excited about quirks, especially interesting ones like yours,” Izuku explains.
Jirou raises one eyebrow in a look of scepticism. “You think my quirk is interesting?”
Izuku nods vigorously.
“Why?” Jirou wonders.
Izuku opens his mouth, then realises that Jirou is still standing so he shifts to his left a little and gestures to a spot next to him under the tree.
“Do you want to sit down before I explain?”
Jirou makes a show of thinking for a few seconds before replying, “Sure,” Not wanting to seem too friendly to the boy just yet.
Once Jirou takes her seat on the ground next to Izuku, he explains, “Aside from the different applications of your quirk, yours is what I like to call a ‘techno-organic mutation’ quirk,”
Jirou looks at Izuku like he has just spoken gibberish, which, to her, he essentially had.
“A what?” She asks, understandably confused.
“A machine quirk,” Izuku clarifies, “part of your quirk involves something that would normally be considered technology, in this case, your jacks. Another good example would be the hero Ingenium and his quirk, Engine.”
Jirou nods in understanding. Now that he had explained it better, she got what Izuku was talking about.
“Why the fascination?” Jirou asks.
“I… don’t know," Izuku shrugs, "I just find it amazing how humans, living beings, are capable of growing machine parts, or machine-like,”
Jirou hums in appreciation of that point. As she does so, her eyes wander to the notebook in Izuku’s lap. It had been open when she first approached the green-haired boy, but now it was closed, and she could read the title on the front. “HERO ANALYSIS FOR THE FUTURE #7”
“What’s that?” She asks, pointing one of her jacks at the book.
Once he’s able to tear his eyes off the prehensile lobe, Izuku answers. “It’s all my notes and analysis of heroes and their quirks, as well as other people I meet.”
“People with interesting quirks?” Jirou probes with a teasing smile.
“Um… yeah,” Izuku admits, while nervously rubbing the back of his head.
“Am I in there?” Jirou questions, upon seeing Izuku’s reaction.
Izuku responds by opening the notebook to a page that contains a quick sketch of Jirou’s head, and paragraphs of text written in geometric symbols.
“What’s this?” Jirou asks, gesturing to the page.
“It’s you,” Izuku replies, “Sorry it’s only a rough sketch, I drew it while we were talking,”
Jirou shakes her head “No, not that, although it is a pretty good sketch. No, I meant this,” she now points directly to the text symbols.
“Oh, that,” Izuku says with dawning realisation, “That’s my code, to make sure no one reads my notes, it was Momo’s idea actually, considering I write about people’s potential weaknesses.”
Jirou looks at Izuku curiously. “Who’s Momo?”
“My friend,” Izuku replies without hesitation, “Well, my other friend if I’m counting you,”
“Are we friends?” Jirou asks, thinking that was a pretty big assumption for him to make.
“We can be if you want to,” Izuku offers.
“I… guess,” Jirou says with a false air of reluctance. “You’re not as annoying or as loud as the other boys in class, and you’re not dumb.”
Izuku just beams at her, with a massive grin and bright, glowing eyes, and Jirou almost has to squint the light is so bright.
“So, tell me about me Momo,” Kyouka asks.
It was mid-afternoon, and like Momo usually was at this time of day, she was eagerly awaiting Izuku’s arrival. His Mother had left a while ago to pick him up, and by Momo’s estimate, they should have arrived 10 minutes ago. Of course, Momo’s estimates relied on there being no delays, and if there had been a hero appearance, well... Izuku’s dedication to the study of heroes and quirks was one of the things Momo admired about him, but there were times when his penchant for getting distracted did annoy her, especially when it affected his punctuality like it was now.
As she feels, and then suppresses, that little nugget of annoyance, Momo hears the front door opening and closing in quick succession, indicating to her that Inko had returned with Izuku in tow. She quickly exits the lounge she was waiting in and makes her way to the foyer. She doesn’t run, as that would be undignified, instead she strides, or rather she strides as much as any ten-year-old can.
As Momo enters the main foyer, she finds Izuku, taking off his shoes, and she calls out to him in greeting.
“Izuku-kun,”
Izuku, upon hearing his friend, looks up and Momo can see his eyes glowing. Granted they usually were whenever he arrived, an unintentional gesture on his part that showed Momo just how happy he was, like a dog wagging its tale. But this time they’re glowing more than usual, and Momo soon finds out why.
“Yaomomo,” Izuku replies in greeting, “Guess what,” He runs over to Momo as soon as he’s stored his shoes.
“What?” Momo indulges her friend.
“I made a new friend today, at my new school,”
“You did?” Momo is both happy for her friend and curious to hear more.
Izuku nods his head enthusiastically.
“Well, let’s head up to my room and you can tell me more,” Momo replies before taking Izuku’s hand and the two children speed up the grand staircase to Momo’s Bedroom.
Once they are in Momo’s bedroom and sitting on her bed, Momo begins.
“So, tell me everything about school,” She requests before adding, “And remember to pause to give yourself time to breathe.”
Izuku gives a determined nod before answering.
“Well, my new teacher is really kind, she even stopped another kid from making fun of me,”
“As she should,” Momo declares.
“And then, after that, she sat me next to this girl with purple hair and these really cool ears.”
“Her ears were ‘cool’?”
Momo is confused for a second before she realises the implication of Izuku’s statement.
“Oh, she had an ear-related quirk, I assume?” She asks.
“Yup,” Izuku nods, “She has a techno-organic mutation,”
Momo sits up a little straighter hearing that.
“She does? What kind of technology does she have? Microphone ears? Sonar hearing?”
Momo was trying to think of sound-specific technologies particularly ones for listening, but she admittedly knew very few, (something to research later).
“Neither,” Izuku replies with a shake of his head, “She has extendible audio jacks at the end of her ear lobes.”
“Oh,” Momo’s curiosity, already piqued, now deepens. “Are they prehensile? Does she have a maximum reach? Do they work with normal devices? Can she listen through walls? Does she have heightened hearing?”
Izuku feels a warm glow in his chest at Momo’s questions. When they’d first met, Momo didn’t quite share his fascination with quirks. And to an extent, she still didn’t, her definition of ‘interesting quirks’ was nowhere near as broad as his was. However, when she did find an interesting quirk, her thought process was remarkably thorough, not to mention she was significantly more controlled and composed in her approach than Izuku. Once Momo finishes her questions, Izuku replies with rapid-fire answers to her questions.
“Yes. Don’t know. Yes, she uses it with her phone all the time. Yes, her parents have a rule against it at home, and yes, she actually overheard and even understood my muttering during maths class. She actually thanked me for my muttering in class.”
“She thanked you?!” Momo looks at Izuku in disbelief.
“I know!” Izuku is still surprised by that particular revelation, even hours later, “Apparently she heard me talking through several of the problems aloud, and it helped her understand the exercise better.”
“So, you two are friends now?” Momo asks.
“Uh-huh,” Izuku nods, “It was weird, she kinda pretended that she didn’t want to, saying that I wasn’t as annoying as the other boys. I think she does actually want to be my friend, she’s just…”
“Trying to maintain an image?” Momo suggests, “It’s like how I have to be really formal at galas and social events,”
“I guess,” Izuku shrugs, “Either way, she’s actually really nice, and she liked the drawing I made of her.”
“Can I see it?” Momo asks.
“Sure,” Izuku replies as he opens his bag and takes out his current notebook before flipping to the latest, the one on Jirou.
“Oh, she looks pretty,” Momo says as she looks at the sketch of the girl with the purple hair.
“That’s what I said,” Izuku adds, “But she didn’t believe me for some reason,”
This time it’s Momo’s time to shrug.
There are a few seconds of silence before Momo pipes up again.
“Do you think I’d be able to meet her sometime?” Momo asks.
“I… don’t know,” Izuku answers truthfully. “I guess… it’d be up to your parents… and her.”
“Hmm,” Momo hums in thought, “Ask her tomorrow then.”
Izuku nods in determined agreement, “I will,”
The next morning, Izuku gets to school earlier and makes his way to his classroom. There are already some students there when he arrives, but not many and they’re clustered in groups, except for the one person he was looking for.
Jirou.
She’s sitting at her desk, her head bobbing slightly back in forth, clearly tuned out to the rest of the world. As Izuku approaches her desk, he can see one of her jacks extended and plugged into her phone, obviously she was listening to music.
However, she isn’t as tuned out as she appears, because as Izuku approaches her desk. Her eyes open and she looks at Izuku, her jack retracting from her phone.
“Hey Green,” She calls out in greeting.
Izuku opens his mouth to speak, then frowns in confusion at the name.
“Green?” He asks.
“Yeah, cuz of your hair,” Jirou points with one of her jacks, her arms still crossed in front of her as she leans back in her chair.
“Oh, right,” Izuku realises, “Thanks, um… Purple,”
It was the first thing that came to his head. Izuku had just been given a nickname by his new friend and he wanted to return the favour. It was just unfortunate that his ability to name things sucked. But Jirou seems to like it as she gives him a slight smile.
“Huh, Purple…” Jirou shrugs, “That’s fair I guess. Green and Purple. Anyway…” The purple-haired girl unfolds her arms and leans forward, becoming more down to business. “You look like you want to ask me something.”
“I do actually,” Izuku says nervously, “I was wondering if you, um, wanted to, uh, meet my friend Yaoyorozu… at some point.”
“The one with the Ponytail?” Jirou asks, raising one eyebrow.
“Um… yes,” Izuku replies as he tries to push through his worries.
“You want me to meet your girlfriend?” Jirou asks, completely straight-faced.
“Ye-” Izuku stops halfway through his reply when he realises what Jirou had just said and blushes. “No.” He objects.
“So, you don’t want me to meet Yaoyorozu?” Jirou asks, a teasing smile beginning to break on her face.
“Yes, I do,” Izuku replies emphatically, “But she’s not my girlfriend.”
“Because she’s pretty?” Jirou’s face has turned from a slight smirk to a full-blown grin.
“A- I- She- But-” Izuku stammers out as all the blood in his brain seems to flood to his face, his cheeks turning cherry red, causing Jirou to burst into laughter.
“PFFT, you are too easy to wind up Green,” Jirou chuckles, “We’re going to have to work on that,” She swivels in her chair to put a reassuring hand on Izuku’s shoulder. “Chill Green, I’m only teasing, I’d actually like to meet your friend, if she wants to meet me that is,”
“She does,” Izuku replies instantly as the colour in his cheeks begins to return to normal. “But she wanted me to ask you first,”
“So, when do we want to meet?” Jirou asks.
“We’ll have to talk to her parents first,” Izuku answers.
Jirou shrugs fatalistically. “That’s fair,”
The rest of the school day goes as normal. At lunchtime, Jirou decides to share some of her music with Izuku as they sit and eat lunch outside. Izuku makes a note of the songs and the artists, wanting to check out more of their stuff later.
After school, Izuku goes to the Yaoyorozu estate as normal. At this point, it was almost a second home to him. He tells Momo about Jirou’s acceptance. Needless to say, Momo was thrilled at the idea of meeting Izuku’s new friend and possibly gaining a new friend of her own. So, they decide to approach their respective parents.
“…And so… you want to meet this… Jirou girl?” Ume asks once they finish explaining, to which her daughter nods, causing the Yaoyorozu matriarch to hum in thought.
“I’m not adverse to the idea of you making more friends,” Sozin chimes in while his wife thinks, “After all, a diverse set of friends will help you develop your social skills but…” he looks uncertainly at his wife.
“But after the… incident in the park,” Ume joins back in, “We’re concerned about your safety,”
Sozin nods in agreement with his wife, “That and we want to make sure that she becomes friends with you for the right reasons, that she wants to be friends with you, not your status.”
Momo nods sagely. This had been her parents' Modus Operandi for her childhood so far. It was why they had raised her with private tutors instead of sending her to elementary school. She was aware that her parents' status came with different challenges.
“Perhaps then, we can arrange for them to meet up somewhere… neutral,” Inko suggests, “where Momo can just be herself, without any indication of her family status,”
Both adult Yaoyorozus slowly nod their heads in consideration.
“It has to be somewhere safe though,” states Ume.
“What about our home?” Izuku pipes up, surprising everyone, not least his own mother.
“Our apartment?” Inko looks at her son with shock. While she kept her home clean and tidy, it was still rather… small.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Ume chimes in, “If you’re okay with that, Midoriya-san,”
“Um, sure…” Inko was still somewhat taken aback by the rapid pace of events, but she couldn’t think of any logical reason to object. She then chuckles as she has a thought, “At least it’ll allow Izuku to finally show off the full extent of his All Might collection.”
The suggestion is met with wide smiles from both Izuku and Momo.
The rest of the week is spent relaying messages between the various parties involved: Jirou, Jirou’s parents, Inko, and the Yaoyorozus. But, eventually, it’s settled that Momo and Jirou would meet up at the Midoriya apartment that weekend.
Ume and Momo show up first, their arrival is announced by a knock on the front door to the Midoriya’s apartment. Izuku runs up to the door, Inko just behind him. She opens the door for him, and the green-haired pair are greeted by Momo and her mother.
Ume was wearing slim-fit, black trousers and a loose, red, silk blouse. While Momo was wearing a plain white halter dress that exposed Momo’s burn scar. All things considered; it had healed remarkably well in such a relatively short amount of time, no longer red, swollen and blistering. The Yaoyorozus, being as rich as they were, were able to afford the best medical care for Momo both in and out of Japan. The worst of the damage had healed, but there was still a scar: a pale handprint that wrapped around Momo’s shoulder, a constant reminder to Izuku of his failure to protect his closest friend.
After the two pairs greet each other, Inko invites the Yaoyorozu mother and daughter into her home.
“You know, it feels weird being on the other side of this,” Ume says with a smile.
“Imagine how I feel,” Inko replies, as she shows the Yaoyorozus to the couch. “I’m afraid it’s not as big as you’re used to, but it’s what we have.”
“I don’t wish to be rude,” Ume says cautiously, “But, can you not afford something bigger? I can increase your paycheck if needs be,”
“Oh no,” Inko waves her hands in refusal, “That isn’t necessary, you pay me plenty, it’s just that we don’t really need somewhere bigger right now,” she explains, “Most of what you pay me goes into savings for the future,”
Ume nods in approval, “Sensible,”
“So, what time did Jirou say she would arrive?” Momo asks Izuku, but it’s Inko who answers.
“Jirou’s mother said they’d arrive sometime around-”
*KNOCK-KNOCK*
The sound of someone knocking on the front door interrupts Inko.
“Well, there’s your answer,” Inko finishes as she rises from the armchair she’d sat down in, Momo and Izuku also jump from their seats, while Ume remains on the couch.
Inko opens the door again, with her son and his friend behind her, and is greeted by two women. Both with dark purple hair, similar to Ume. The older woman, who looks roughly Inko’s age, has her hair cut straight, with bangs falling over the right side of her face. She’s wearing glasses, a white, collared, shell top, and a high-waisted pencil skirt. All in all, she looked rather professional compared to Inko and Ume.
The second purple-haired figure, however, is Jirou, who is dressed in jeans, a black and purple striped top, and a leather jacket, with headphones over her ears.
“You must be Inko Midoriya,” Jirou’s mother bows slightly in greeting.
“I am, and you must be Mika and Kyouka then. Please, come in,” Inko steps aside to let her two newest guests in.
Mika takes a seat on the couch, next to Ume, while Inko returns to her armchair.
The three kids, however, remain standing, slightly awkwardly, so Inko decides to prompt her son.
“Izuku, do you perhaps want to show Momo and Kyouka your room?” She suggests, and the quick flash in Izuku’s eyes tells her that was the right idea.
“Yes,” Izuku replies before leading his two friends down a short corridor that leads from the main living/dining room to the bedrooms and bathroom.
As the three kids leave, Mika looks at Inko, “Forgive me, but was I seeing things or…?”
“Did my son's eyes glow?” Inko finishes, “They did, it’s part of his quirk, they glow whenever he gets excited.”
“Ah,” Mika nods in acceptance, before engaging in further conversation with the other two women.
Meanwhile, Izuku leads Momo and Kyouka to his bedroom. It’s obvious which one is his, based on the fact that it has a large, plastic, All Might-themed name plaque stuck on it, with the name ‘Izuku’ crudely drawn on in felt-tip pen.
If Momo and Kyouka were honest, they aren’t completely surprised. Izuku made his love of heroes, and of All Might in particular, well known. However, despite knowing about Izuku’s hero worship, neither of them is fully prepared to see what’s behind the door.
As Izuku flings open the door to his room, the two girls are instantly blinded by a mass of blue, red, and yellow. Figures, posters, drawings, collectables, clothing, lamps, cups, curtains, even bedding; every conceivable type of All Might merchandise was on display in this room, like a live-in shrine to the No. 1 hero.
Momo is at a loss for words at the sight before her. While she knew the No. 1 was popular, she hadn’t conceived that he’d have such a… variety of merchandise.
Kyouka on the other hand was clutching her sides, laughing hysterically at the absurdity of the sight before her eyes.
“What?” Izuku looks at his friends with a look of confusion.
“It’s... um… well…” Momo tries to articulate her thoughts.
“It’s a lot, Green,” Kyouka comments, “I don’t think even my dad’s shine to Rock and Roll is this… extensive.”
“I just like All Might a lot,” Izuku says defensively.
“I know you do,” Momo says reassuringly, “It’s just... a lot to take in, like when you entered my room for the first time,”
Izuku concedes that point, he had been rather dumbstruck himself the first time he had entered Momo’s room.
“Anyway, I guess I should introduce you two,” Izuku says as he jumps up onto his All Might-adorned bed, Momo and Kyouka following shortly.
“Yaoyorozu, this is Jirou, Jirou, this is Yaoyorozu,” He gestured to each girl in turn.
“Hey,” “Hello,”
The two girls wave at each other awkwardly. There’s an awkward silence, as the three kids are unsure of what to do next.
In the ensuing silence, Jirou’s eyes wander, having gotten over the spectacle that was Izuku’s live-in shrine to All Might her gaze falls on Momo’s shoulder and in particular, her burn scar from Bakugou. Inevitably, the obvious question rises to the front of Kyouka’s mind.
“What happened to your shoulder?” She asks, pointing with one of her jacks to the large burn scar covering.
Instinctually, Momo reaches with her right hand to cover her left shoulder, her expression becoming more embarrassed. Izuku likewise becomes sheepish. Kyouka sees the others’ reactions and immediately regrets asking.
“If you don’t want to tell me…” she trails off, but Momo shakes her head, if Jirou was to be her friend, then she deserved to know.
“It was a villain attack,” Momo answers coldly, and Izuku initially gives her a brief look of surprise before accepting the truth of her statement. Though he still feels the need to clarify.
“It was my old friend, he attacked Momo in the park near my old school,”
Kyouka is immediately caught off-guard. Momo’s answer wasn’t surprising, villain attacks happen all the time, but Izuku’s? The idea that someone their age could leave such a massive scar was just unbelievable. But as she thinks Izuku’s statement through, she realises something.
“Is that why you joined us after the summer holiday?” Kyouka asks.
Izuku nods, “It happened just before the holidays, it allowed us time to recover without missing school,”
“Not that I would have anyway,” Momo mutters to herself, she was still being taught by private tutors after all.
“So, what happened to him, your old friend?” Kyouka asks, doubtful someone would have gotten off scot-free after an attack like that.
Momo and Izuku both briefly exchange glances before Izuku answers.
“He’s currently going to mandatory therapy, and if he gets caught using his quirk to attack someone like that again, he’ll be charged as a villain.”
“Whoa…” Kyouka looks at her new friends with shock, “So… why did he even do it? I mean, I’m not saying it’s your fault but…”
“It was my fault…” Izuku confesses, and immediately Momo rounds on him with a disapproving look.
“Izuku, how can you say that?”
“Because it’s true,” Izuku pleads, “I let Bakugou hurt you,”
“And I let Bakugou hurt you,” Momo tries to counter, but Izuku shakes his head.
“You couldn’t have known at the time, but I saw Bakugou jump at you, saw him use his quirk. I could have- I should have done something, but I didn’t. I froze.”
“But Izuku,” Momo says softly, hating Izuku’s self-loathing, “You did do something, you got Bakugou to stop using his quirk on me,”
“Not soon enough though,” Izuku argues, “You’re still hurt,”
Momo realises she won’t be able to convince Izuku that he’s not to blame, not yet. So she decides to change her approach.
“Then we’ll just have to learn from this.” She declares, earning looks of confusion from both Izuku and Jirou. So, she explains. “Regardless of who is to blame for my injuries, it can’t be changed. It happened. End of story. But what we can do is learn from our mistakes, so that next time-”
“Next time I won’t hesitate,” Izuku finishes, energy returning to his voice and Momo nods in agreement.
“We won’t hesitate,” Momo amends.
“We’ll be the heroes who never hesitate,” Izuku declares and a snort of laughter from Jirou gains Momo and Izuku’s attention.
“The heroes who never hesitate?” Jirou looks questioningly at the other two kids, “You realise how corny that sounds right?”
Izuku shrugs, “Well, All Might never hesitates, does he?” He counters, and Jirou has to concede that, no, All Might doesn’t hesitate.
“So, you two want to be heroes when you're older?” Jirou asks and both Momo and Izuku nod, causing Jirou to frown. “I don’t know about your Quirk,” the purple-haired girl says to Momo, before turning to Izuku, “But I definitely know your quirk isn’t suited for heroics, Green. I’m not trying to be rude, but glowing eyes aren’t exactly going to stop a villain.”
“I know,” Izuku admits, “But I want to be just like All Might, I want to save everyone with a smile.”
“And I want to be a hero who can do anything and everything,” Momo adds.
“So…” Jirou’s voice becomes softer as she tucks her knees up against her chest, “You really think anyone can become a hero… regardless of their quirk?” She looks up at Izuku, who nods his head with determination.
“I do,” He says, “I think anyone can be a hero, so long as they want to help people.”
A few seconds of silence pass before Izuku asks.
“Do you want to be a hero too, Jirou?”
Jirou initially opens her mouth to answer, takes a second to consider her words, and then speaks. “Yes but… my quirk, it’s not exactly suited for fighting villains either.”
“Well, you’re in good company there then,” Momo comments, “None of our quirks are inherently suited to fighting villains,”
“It just means we have to train harder than those with more powerful quirks,” Izuku adds, clenching his fists in determination as his eyes begin to glow again.
“You two are really set on becoming heroes, aren’t you?” Kyouka asks, a small smile creeping onto her face.
Both Momo and Izuku nod with determined expressions.
“You know…” Izuku thinks aloud, “We could always ask your Aunt Nemuri if she’d be willing to train us.”
Momo beams at the idea, “Of course, her quirk doesn’t give her any physical advantages as well, I’m sure she must be knowledgeable in how to fight physically stronger villains.”
“Wait… you’re related to a pro?” Kyouka asks Momo, who nods her head.
“My Mother’s cousin,” The taller girl explains.
“Who is she?” Kyouka’s curiosity now burned at the idea of one of her new friends being related to a pro.
Izuku and Momo both exchange excited looks before Izuku answers.
“Are you familiar with the Pro Hero Midnight?”
Notes:
Hey everyone, apologies for the long silence, I've been busy getting ready for college (5 years late).
Anyway, our duo is now a trio and I'm going to cover several things in my notes that I should have probably included in earlier chapters but just didn't.
First off, the prologue was inspired by SoundBluster's Shattered Glass comic, (See here https://www.deviantart.com/soundbluster/art/The-Falling-SG-Page-i-782014860) in which 'good' Megatron and 'evil' Optimus fight over the matrix, resulting in it being destroyed.
I chose this as Optimus' origin because (A) it gives Optimus a solid amount of guilt, being unable to initially stop Megatron, and (B) I like the idea of an Optimus who isn't imbued with the power of the Primes, but still chooses to do what's right (Kinda like TFA Optimus).
The second thing I wanted to note was Yaoyorozu's parents and their names. Her mother's name 'Ume' is the Japanese name for Plum. Simply because Momo is the Japanese name for Peach, and Momo' mother has purple hair. As I said, dumb. As for her father, he is named for Sozin from Avatar: The Last Airbender, because as it turns out the name 'Sozin' means 'revival and progress', a fitting name for the head of R&D.
Finally, if any of you have been paying attention the tags, you may have noticed the relationship tags have changed. After some thinking, I'm settling on IzuMomoJirou as the main 'pairing'. I know some people might object to a poly ship, to which I say, sorry but *Shrugs* my fic. I think they're a cute throuple, and I hope you'll keep reading, regardless.
Anyway, I think that's all I wanted to note for now. Next chapter will be the start of canon, i.e. Izuku meets All Might, and I promise it's going to be different to canon.
Quite different.
Anyway, I can't promise what my upload schedule is going to be like for the foreseeable future, I'll just upload when I can.
See you next time.
The_Spartan_Sangheili.
Chapter 5: Ignition Sequence
Summary:
Izuku and his friends have an encounter.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Takoba Ward, Musutafu, Shizuoka Prefecture
7th April, 2223.
School had finished for the day, and Izuku and Kyouka hurry out of Takoba Junior High, running lightly.
“Where did Momo say to meet up?” Jirou asks as she and Izuku jog down the street.
“The usual café,” Izuku replies, his eyes shining brighter than usual, “C’mon, we don’t want to keep her waiting,”
Having said that, Izuku begins picking up speed, forcing Jirou to run after him, muttering under her breath as she does so.
Several minutes later, the duo approaches a small café, with several tables set up outside for customers. And sitting at one of the tables, was Momo, in her own (nicer) middle school uniform.
The year following the ‘Bakugou incident’, Izuku, Momo, and Jirou had begun middle school, and Momo had begged her parents to let her enrol in the same school as Kyouka and Izuku. They had been reluctant to concede to that demand, preferring, instead, to send her to an exclusive private academy near Tokyo, but in the end, they had compromised with Momo, agreeing to send her to a private middle school in Musutafu, allowing her to meet up with Kyouka and Izuku after school. Sure, the trio had been disappointed that they wouldn’t be in middle school together, but that would all change when they eventually got into U.A..
As Izuku and Jirou see Momo, they slow their pace, or more accurately, Izuku comes to a dead stop and Kyouka crashes into his back, causing both teens to stumble and Kyouka to curse.
“Dammit Green, a little warning next time,”
“Sorry,” Izuku apologises.
The sudden collision and subsequent commotion draws Momo’s attention. She rises from her seat and approaches her two friends, her schoolbag on her back and a takeaway box in her arms.
“Are you two alright?” she asks, concern obvious on her face.
“We’re fine,” Kyouka’s annoyance quickly evaporates at Momo’s question, mostly, “Izuku was just slightly desperate to see you again, so he took off at a sprint as soon as we left school,”
“It was a light jog,” Izuku argues, “I’m just excited for this afternoon is all,”
“I believe we all are,” Momo says with a smile, “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited for what Aunt Nemuri has planned for us,”
“Okay, maybe I am excited as well,” Kyouka admits reluctantly before noticing the box in Momo’s hands. “So, what’s in the box?” she asks.
“Oh, right,” Momo remembers the box she’s carrying and holds the container up for her two friends to see, “I decided to get a small treat, to celebrate our last year of middle school, and the start of our proper training”
Momo then opens the box to reveal several red bean buns inside, “Bun?” She asks, offering the box to Izuku and Kyouka.
The two teens eagerly accept the offer, each taking a bun. Once Momo takes a bun for herself, the three friends begin slowly walking down the street, eating their buns as they do so. Unsurprisingly, the buns don’t last long. Once they finish eating, the three teens begin talking.
“So, how was your first day back at school?” Izuku asks Momo, and the taller girl gives him a slight smile.
“Classes were as interesting as always,” She replies, before sighing, “Though Monoma is still his, usual, preening self,”
Kyouka responds with a humourless chuckle, “Yeah, Kanzuki was mouthing off before class, bragging how she’s going to ‘ace’ the U.A. entrance exam,”
“I mean she did do well in the practice tests,” Izuku points out.
“Yeah, but she does absolutely no training,” Kyouka argues, “Whereas we…”
“Have Midnight,” Izuku grins, his eyes flashing briefly. “I wonder what she has planned for us today?”
“It will likely be nothing complicated to begin with,” Momo reasons, “She’ll most likely be building on the self-defence training she gave us last year, before giving us more advanced techniques,”
“Just so long as I don’t have to spar you again,” Kyouka groans, subconsciously rubbing one shoulder, “Your quirk gives you such an unfair weight advantage,”
Momo shakes her head in mock exasperation, while Izuku chuckles. When Midnight had begun giving them basic self-defence training, both as a consequence of the Bakugou incident and as a part of their training for U.A., they had quickly discovered, through sparring, that Momo weighed considerably more than she appeared. As it turned out, Momo’s body had adapted to her quirk, resulting in her fatty cells becoming super condensed, meaning 10-year-old Momo had been 50% heavier than Izuku and Kyouka and once the three friends had hit puberty, this had only increased to the point that Momo was now roughly 2x denser than the average teen. Something that was reflected in her physical appearance. Not only was she now taller than both Izuku and Kyouka, standing at a little over 6ft, but she had matured more, to the point where more than once she’d been mistaken for someone several years older than she actually was.
“I don’t mind sparing against you, Momo,” Izuku offers, and Kyouka rolls her eyes.
“Well, of course you don’t,” She retorts, “You barely feel pain, and don’t injure. I swear you have a second mutation aside from your eyes,”
“If it’s any consolation,” Momo chimes in, “If Aunt Nemuri does have us spar today, I promise to go easy on you,”
Immediately, Kyouka shakes her head in refusal, “That won’t do either of us any good. Unless I get a magical growth spurt, most of the villains I fight in the future are going to be bigger, stronger, and heavier than me, so I might as well get used to it now.”
Both Izuku and Momo look at their friend with a look of admiration.
“That’s surprisingly insightful of you, Kyouka,” Izuku jokes with a slight smile, one that Kyouka returns.
“Yeah, well, maybe hanging out with you two is finally having an effect on me,” The slim girl replies.
“You mean aside from the improved grades, fitness, and self-defence skills?” Momo asks with a raised eyebrow, and both Izuku and Kyouka look at her in mock horror.
“Momo Yaoyorozu… being sarcastic?” Kyouka mock gasps, before stage-whispering to Izuku, “I think we might be a bad influence on her, Green,”
“We?” Izuku looks accusingly at Kyouka, who just shrugs her shoulders and jacks while Momo chuckles softly at the by-play between her friends.
The teen trio continue to talk as they walk down the relatively quiet street to the train station, that is until they pass a seemingly normal alleyway, and Kyouka goes silent, stopping dead in her tracks. Immediately, Momo and Izuku both notice her reaction and are concerned.
“Kyouka, what’s wrong?” Izuku asks first, but the only response the purple-haired girl gives, is a single raised finger, a gesture for silence, before she plugs one of her jacks into one of the buildings that forms one side of the alley. She appears to be listening for something. After a few silent seconds, she gives her report.
“It’s a mugging,” she says bluntly, and both Izuku and Momo recoil slightly.
“Are you sure?” Momo asks, horrified at the idea.
Kyouka nods her head, certain. “I heard atleast one guy threaten someone, but by the sounds of it, there are others, I don’t know how many though.”
“We have to help,” Izuku declares as soon as Kyouka finishes, and Momo nods her head in agreement.
“It’s the right thing to do,” she says as she takes out her phone, but as she does so, before either of the two girls can react, Izuku bolts into the alleyway. It takes them a full second to realise what just happened, but once they do, Kyouka and Momo take off after him.
“Dammit Green, again?” Kyouka curses, “Why does he always rush off like that,”
“He’s just determined,” Momo reasons as she holds her phone up to her ear, waiting to connect with the police. “Besides, you know he’s not one to just stand by and let someone get hurt, not after…” She trails off, not feeling the need to say the rest, and she doesn’t have to as Kyouka nods in understanding.
“Still, one of these days, he’s going to get in over his head,” Kyouka grumbles.
“Then we just have to make sure he doesn’t,” Momo says just as she and Kyouka catch up to Izuku, who has stopped behind a large bin.
Kyouka opens her mouth to lay into Izuku, but the sound of a boy's voice cuts her off.
“I won’t ask you again old man, hand over all your money,”
The three teens look around the large waste bin and see three teenage boys, roughly their age, in school uniforms, cornering an older adult blonde man.
The man is tall, taller than Momo, and skinny, unnaturally so. The man has his hands raised in a placatory manner, trying to ward off the two boys. By his feet, are two bags of groceries.
“Is this really necessary?” The gaunt man pleads, “I don’t exactly keep much change on me,”
“Don’t care,” The first boy scowls, “Now cough it up,” And to emphasise his threat, he uses his quirk to extend his fingers in a poor attempt to seem threatening. But as he does so, Izuku’s eyes go wide with dawning realisation.
“I know that boy,” He whispers to his two friends, “He and the others used to hang around Bakugou before…” He trails off as he looks back at Momo, not wishing to bring up the incident in Aldera Park.
Momo understands his hesitancy and so gives him an out. “Before you transferred schools?” She suggests, and Izuku nods in gratitude.
“Yes, before that,” he says, before turning back to watch the three boys and their victim. “I didn’t recognise them at first, but then I recognised his quirk.”
At that, Kyouka rolls her eyes and gives an amused smile, “Of course, you’d recognise someone by their quirk,” she says.
“Either way, there’s only three of them,” Momo points out, “Perhaps if we make ourselves known, we can scare them off,”
Izuku nods in agreement, if they didn’t have to fight, then that'd be all for the better. But one way or another they were getting involved.
“Any luck with the police yet?” Kyouka asks, and Momo shakes her head.
“The line must be busy,” She surmises.
“Guess we’ll have to manage on our own,” Izuku says before stepping out from behind the bin, Momo and Kyouka quickly following him.
At first, neither the three boys nor the man notices the three teens' arrival, prompting Izuku to call out.
“Hey, you guys, leave him alone!”
Instantly, four pairs of eyes focus on the three new arrivals. The blonde man’s eyes go wide with surprise, while the delinquent boys just scowl at the interruption to their mugging. That is until the lead boy, the one who had extended his fingers, recognises Izuku, or rather…
“Deku?” The would-be mugger asks in confusion, before sneering, “Heh, Demon-Eyes-Deku, you come to rat us out, like you did with Bakugou?”
“Izuku didn’t ‘rat out’ anyone,” Momo replies, indignant at the insult thrown at her friend. “Bakugou used his quirk to hurt someone, and suffered the consequences for it,”
“Oh yeah?” The boy begins to retort, “What do you-” he cuts himself as he turns to look at Momo, and his sneer turns into something more akin to a leer. “Say, what’s a pretty girl like you, hanging out with freaks like these?” He jerks his head in the direction of Izuku and Kyouka.
Momo’s immediate reaction is to frown in disapproval at the boy. It was hardly the first time someone had tried to hit on her since she’d hit puberty, and while it was annoying, she was more incensed at the further insults hurled at her friends.
“These,” The tall girl gestures with an open hand to her two companions, “Are my friends. Now, I highly recommend you do as Izuku said, and leave this innocent man alone,”
‘Fingers’ scowls at the rebuff to his advances. “Oh yeah, and what are you going to do about it, slut?”
This time, it’s Izuku and Kyouka’s turn to get angry. It was one thing for insults to be hurled at them, they’d been called ‘weird’ and ‘freak’ all their lives, but insulting Momo? Some lines you don’t cross. The green-haired and purple-haired teens step towards the fingers boy, both glaring at him.
“Apologise,” Izuku demands while, Kyouka raises her jacks threateningly, ready to strike out.
“Make me,” The other boy challenges, and for a few seconds the two groups of teens stare each other down, before the older man, who had now become an interested spectator, clears his throat to gain the attention of all 6 youths.
“Children, is this really necessary?” He appeals to both his would-be muggers and would-be rescuers. “How about we all go our separate ways and forget about all this?”
“Shut up old man,” The fingers boy yells back, “We’re not leaving till we got what we get what we want,”
“Which is…?” The man prompts, dragging out the conversation.
“Your money, Demon Deku kissing the dirt,” The boy begins listing, before turning to Momo, “And you in my arms,” As he says that, he reaches out to grab Momo’s arm and as soon as his hand wraps around Momo’s wrist, everything goes wrong for the muggers.
The second Momo feels the boy grab her wrist, four years of self-defence training asserts itself. Immediately, she swiftly rotates her arm upwards, twisting the boy’s hand so that he’s forced to let go. As he does so, she follows up by driving her knee into the boy's stomach, sending him collapsing to the floor, clutching at his midriff, winded.
Having seen their friend get dispatched so easily by the tall girl, the smart thing for the other two muggers to do would have been to turn tail and run in the opposite direction. Instead, they decide to avenge their fallen comrade by charging at Izuku and Kyouka.
The boy attacking Izuku swings at him with his right fist. Izuku responds by swaying out of the way punch, before grabbing the attacking boy’s wrist, twisting so his back faced the other boy, and then Judo throwing him, so that he landed on the surface of the alley, face up.
Kyouka however, never even lets her attacker get near her. Instead, as the boy charges at her, she strikes out with one of her jacks. Embedding the metal tip of her lobe into the boy’s shoulder, before sending a pulse of her heartbeat through it and into the boy. The other teen immediately writhes in pain, before he too collapses to the floor, clutching at his shoulder.
All in all, from the moment Fingers grabs Momo, to the time when all three boys are lying on the floor in pain, takes barely a few seconds.
With their attackers dealt with, Izuku and Kyouka immediately turn to Momo.
“Are you alright?” Kyouka asks, concerned.
“I’m fine,” Momo brushes off their concern, “All he did was grab my wrist, and his grip really wasn’t that strong,”
Satisfied that Momo is unharmed, Izuku then turns to the blonde man they had initially come to save.
“What about you, are you alright sir?”
The man doesn’t respond at first, instead, he stares at the three teenagers with a mixture of admiration and surprise.
“Sir?” Momo prompts, and this time he responds, shaking his head to clear his mind.
“I’m… I’m fine,” The man reassures them before he bends down to pick up his scattered groceries. “Those boys simply startled me is all.”
“Here let us help you with that,” Izuku offers as he bends down to help the man.
“Oh, that’s not necessary.” The man tries to protest, but the three friends won’t let him.
“Please, we want to help.” Momo insists.
“Besides, we’d make pretty cruddy heroes if we just left you alone like this,” Kyouka adds as she uses her jacks to pick up a can of soup, before offering it to the man to put back in his shopping bag.
“You want to become heroes?” The man asks, and all three of them nod their heads with determined expressions. “Is that why you stepped in when you did?”
Izuku rubs the back of his head sheepishly, “That, and it was just the right thing to do,”
“You could have called the police, or the heroes,” The man points out.
“We could have,” Momo concedes, “ and we did try, but it’s more than likely that the muggers would have run off by the time they arrived,”
The Blonde accepts the logic behind that point, before frowning. “How did you know I was even here?” He asks, “We’re quite a distance from the street,”
“Oh, that would be me,” Kyouka replies, “My quirk gives me enhanced hearing.” she gestures to her lobes.
“A useful ability,” says the man, and Kyouka blushes slightly, not used to the praise, before turning her head around to face back down the alley, in the direction they had just come down.
“You hear something?” Izuku asks, and Kyouka nods.
“It’s the police,”
Izuku turns to look at Momo with admiration, “Good Job Momo, you got through to them in the end then?”
But Momo looks at Izuku in confusion. “Actually, I didn’t.”
The three teens all look at each other, confused as to who called the police, before the blonde man answers.
“That was me, I have a friend on the police force, and I alerted him as soon as those boys threatened me,”
“So that’s why you didn’t run off,” Momo realises, “I was wondering why you didn’t escape when we first confronted these three.” She gestures down at the three boys, still groaning on the ground.
“Yes, I was stalling for time,” The man confesses.
Just then, the sound of running footsteps echoes down the valley from the direction of the street. The four in the alleyway still standing turn to face the source of the sound and see a man in a tan trench coat, flanked by two uniformed police officers running towards them.
“Ah, Detective Tsukauchi,” The man calls out in greeting. “Glad you could finally make it,”
“Apologies Toshi,” The detective replies as he reaches the group in the alley. “I got here as fast as I could,”
He then surveys the scene before him and the three teens lying on the ground either dazed or in pain.
“Though it looks like we’re not needed,”
He then looks at the three teens still standing,
“Did you do this?” He asks, gesturing to the boys on the ground.
Before Izuku or his friends can respond, the blonde man answers for them.
“They did, Tsukauchi, but in their defence, they did try to de-escalate the situation to begin with, and only resorted to physical action when one of them laid a hand on the young lady here,” He gestures to Momo as he says, ‘young lady’.
“So… self-defence?” Tsukauchi raises an eyebrow in question at ‘Toshi’.
“They didn’t even use their quirks,” ‘Toshi’ shrugs.
Detective Tsukauchi nods slowly in understanding, his old friend was making sure his saviours didn’t get done for vigilantism.
“Very well, we’ll have to take you all down to the station to take your statements, your parents can then pick you up from there, if that’s alright?”
The three teens all exchange brief looks before nodding their assent, as the two other Police Officers begin handcuffing the failed delinquents and dragging them to their feet.
The three friends travel back to the police station with ‘Toshi’ in the detective's car. Once there, Detective Tsukauchi takes each of their statements individually, and they each recount the events of the afternoon, to the best of their ability. Once done, they wait in the front lobby, where ‘Toshi’ strikes up a conversation with them.
“I’m afraid, we’ve not actually been introduced properly yet,” He says to the three teens, “My name is Toshinori Yagi,”
The teens then give their names in turn.
“Izuku Midoriya,”
“Momo Yaoyorozu,”
“Kyouka Jirou,”
“A pleasure to meet you,” says Toshinori conversationally, “I’d just like to express my gratitude once more for what you did earlier. If there’s any way I repay you…” He reaches inside his trouser pocket and takes out his wallet, and immediately all three of his rescuers object.
“We can’t possibly take your money,” Momo cries.
“We didn’t do it for a reward,” Kyouka adds
“We just wanted to help,” Izuku concludes, but Toshinori tries once more as he opens his wallet and begins fishing for notes.
“Please, it’s the least I can do, I insist,”
Both Izuku and Kyouka look to Momo, out of the three of them, she was the most tactful, and they didn’t wish to offend the man.
“While we are grateful for your offer,” Momo says gracefully, “Respectfully, I’m afraid we must decline,”
Toshinori pauses for a second, before nodding in acceptance, closing his wallet and returning it to his pocket as he does so. Unseen by the 3 teens, the corners of his mouth are upturned in a subtle smile, that had been the answer he was hoping for.
“Very well,” He says, “If you won’t accept money, perhaps I can offer you something else.”
The three students look at him with puzzled expressions, curious as to what he is talking about.
“Earlier, you said that the three of you are planning on becoming heroes, correct?” He asks and gets three nods in reply.
“Am I right in assuming that you applying for U.A. this year?” He asks, and again three heads nod in unison.
“Then perhaps I can help you,” He then produces a business card from his pocket and hands it to Izuku, who is sitting in the middle of the trio.
Both Momo and Kyouka lean into Izuku to read the business card, and as they do so, all three pairs of eyes go wide as they read:
TOSHINORI YAGI
PERSONAL ASSISTANT
MIGHT TOWER
ROPPONGI, TOKYO
As soon as he reads the words ‘Might Tower’, Izuku’s eyes light up. He looks up at Toshinori and the gaunt blonde is forced to shield his eyes.
“Geez kid, watch where you point those things,”
“Oh, sorry,” Izuku apologises, as he takes a pair of sunglasses out of his schoolbag and puts them on. “It’s my quirk, my eyes glow when I get excited.”
“I guessed as much,” Toshinori says dryly.
“So, you’re a personal assistant… that works out of Might Tower?” Momo asks, “Does that mean…” She leaves the rest of her question unsaid, allowing Toshinori to finish it.
“I work for All Might? In a manner of speaking… yes,”
A faint green glow visible from behind Izuku’s sunglasses shows that his eyes have lit up again.
“So, how exactly do you plan on helping us get into U.A.?” Kyouka asks, somewhat sceptical.
Toshinori opens his mouth to answer, but before he can, the doors to the police station open and 5 adults come streaming in. Inko, The Yaoyorozus, Mika Jirou, and a man with shoulder-length, light-gold hair, who was Kyouka’s father, Kyotoku Jiro. Almost as soon as they enter the building Inko sees Izuku and his two friends and points them out to the four other adults, who then congregate around their children, bombarding them with questions.
“Izuku, are you alright?” Inko asks.
“We heard you were in a mugging, Peach,” Sozin explains.
“What happened, Rockstar?” Kyotoku worries.
“We’re fine, Dad,” Kyouka fiddles with one of her jacks as she tries to dismiss her father's concerns.
“Yeah, not even a scratch,” Izuku chimes in.
“Aunt Nemuri’s lessons self-defence lessons paid off,” Momo says by way of explanation.
“Besides we weren’t the victims of the mugging, we were the heroes,” Izuku adds.
At that, the 5 adults ease off.
“Wait, you weren’t the victims?” Mika asks.
“No, that, uh, that would be me,” Toshinori sheepishly admits, and for the first time since they’d arrived, the parents notice his presence. “I’m afraid I was caught unawares by some juvenile delinquents, your kids overheard my plight and intervened, fending off the muggers when they tried to attack.”
“Oh,” Inko says dumbly as the 5 parents absorb that information, before turning to face her son, “Your idea?” She asks with a knowing look.
Izuku knows better than to lie, so he just nods his head in confirmation.
“In Izuku’s defence, we went along with him,” Momo chimes in.
“And they did atleast try to call the police before they intervened,” Toshinori adds. “I must say they handled themselves quite well, you must be proud of them,”
“We are,” Sozin says with a hint of pride in his voice, and the other adults mutter their agreement.
“Your children also tell me that they plan to go to U.A.” Toshinori continues, “And as a gesture of gratitude for them helping me, I wish to help train them for U.A.,”
All five parents react with varying levels of surprise. It was a rather generous offer, especially for something as simple as confronting a mugger.
“Well, thank you,” Ume is the first to speak up, “That is certainly a generous offer but-” She’s about to tell Toshinori that her daughter and her friends already have a trainer, but Momo interrupts her.
“Mother, I hate to interrupt, but Mr Yagi here works with All Might,” She holds out the business card Toshinori had handed Izuku, for the parents to look at.
Ume shows the business card to her husband, before passing it to Inko and then the Jirous.
“So, you’re All Might’s personal assistant?” Sozin asks as the others inspect the card.
“I mostly do his paperwork and organise his public appearances,” Toshinori admits coyly, “But he does also ask me to keep an eye out for exceptional people looking to become heroes, people with more than just a flashy quirk, but those with strong spirit and character.”
“And you think our kids have that spirit?” Mika asks.
“I certainly believe they have potential, yes,” Toshinori nods determinedly.
“Perhaps we should discuss this with Nemuri,” Sozin whispers to his wife, “As their current trainer, I would certainly value her opinion in all this,”
“Agreed,” Ume replies, before addressing Toshinori.
“While I cannot speak for Midoriya-san or the Jirous,” She begins, “My husband and I are certainly intrigued by your offer. If you’d care to join us back at our home, we can discuss this further,” She then turns to Inko, Mika, and Kyotoku. “You three are welcome to join us if you too are interested in hearing out Mr Yagi.”
The other three parents express their agreement with the idea, and after signing out of the police station, the three families and Mr Yagi all make their way to the Yaoyorozu estate in their own cars, except for Toshinori, who accepts a lift from Inko in her small hatchback.
Once at the Yaoyorozu Estate, the group assembles in the main lounge, the various families occupying the different settees, armchairs, and ottomans. Toshinori, for his part, chooses to stand for the time being, but a gesture from Mrs Yaoyorozu asks him to hold off from talking just yet.
“I’d like to wait for my sister to arrive before you go any further,” She says, “She’s been training the children for the past few years, and I want her opinion on all this,”
“Um, certainly,” Toshinori rubs the back of his head nervously, “I hadn’t realised you already had someone training you,” he says to the three teens, “Though it certainly explains how you dealt with those delinquents so easily,”
Momo nods in agreement, “Aunt Nemuri has only been teaching us self-defence and basic fitness these past couple of years, but this year she’s planning to teach us more.”
Toshinori frowns as he thinks to himself, ‘Nemuri’, where had he heard that name before? No matter, while the presence of a pre-existing personal trainer complicated his plans, he could work around it.
The blonde man is broken out of his thoughts by the sound of a doorbell, shortly followed by the distant sound of the front door opening and closing.
“Ah, that’ll be Nemuri now,” Ume comments.
A few seconds later, the door to the lounge opens, and Dennis, the Yaoyorozu’s butler, and Inko’s coworker, steps through to announce the new arrival.
“Miss Kayama is here to see you, ma’am,” he says in his faint Irish accent.
Without a further word, Nemuri strides in, wearing her professional teaching clothes rather than her hero uniform, which consists of a grey skirt and suit jacket over a white blouse.
“Ume, what’s going on?” Nemuri asks, concerned, “Your text said there was a change of plans, what’s-“
The R-rated hero stops midsentence as she takes in the occupants of the room and notices Toshinori, standing in the centre.
At the same time, Toshinori recognises Nemuri.
“Midnight?” He asks, slightly confused.
“Toshinori?” Midnight replies in kind, very confused.
“What are you doing here?!” The two adults exclaim loudly at the same time, causing Mika and Kyouka to wince slightly.
“I’m family,” Nemuri replies first, “The better question is, why are you here?”
“You’re family?” Toshinori asks, before shaking his head, “Nevermind, I’m here because these three-” he gestures with an open hand to Izuku, Momo, and Kyouka- “Saved me from a group of muggers,”
Midnight purses her lips in an attempt to keep a straight face while raising one eyebrow questioningly at the gaunt man. “You?” she says in disbelief, “These three saved you from a group of muggers?”
Toshinori sighs, “Yes, the irony is not lost on me, I already received an earful from Tsukauchi when the police arrived.”
“I imagine you did,” Nemuri replies confidently, “I don’t think either him, or me, are going to let you forget this,”
“No, I don’t doubt that,” sighs Toshinori, “Especially not if we end up working together for the next few months,”
Nemuri frowns in confusion, “Next few months? But you don’t…” She trails off so as not to reveal confidential information. Wanting answers, Nemuri turns to her cousin, “Ume, can you explain what’s going on here?”
“Certainly,” The Yaoyorozu Matriarch agrees, “As a token of gratitude for saving him from the muggers, Mr Yagi has offered to help train Momo and her friends in preparation for U.A.”
Nemuri’s eyes go wide with surprise at that statement. “Oh, has he now?” She asks, and Toshinori nods earnestly.
“I take it you know the man?” Ume asks.
“You could say that,” Midnight says cryptically, before coming to a decision.
“Toshinori, can I have a word with you, in private?” She says, gesturing with her head at the door leading from the lounge into the hallway.
“Certainly,” Toshinori replies, following the purple-haired woman out into the hallway, and then into a small study opposite.
Once she’s certain that they’re alone, Midnight talks first.
“I take it then, by the fact that my sister referred to you as ‘Mr Yagi’, that you have not revealed your other identity yet?”
“No, I have not, I did not want that fact to influence their decision,”
Midnight nods her head in understanding. “That’s fair, if Izuku knew who you really were, he’d have accepted your offer with a second thought, I mean he likes me as Midnight, but he adores you, you’re his number one inspiration.”
“I must apologise, Miss Midnight,” Toshinori confesses, “I had no idea you were already training these kids, I’d hate to step on your toes.”
Midnight shrugs, “Tell me the truth Toshinori, does your training of these kids have anything to do with you applying to U.A. next year?”
“It does,” Toshinori replies cautiously.
Midnight takes a deep breath and sighs, taking a moment to think before speaking once more. “Are you ably to tell me why? I won’t pressure you if you can’t, I of all people understand that everyone has their secrets. But I care deeply for Momo and her friends.”
Toshinori takes a seat in a nearby chair, and rests his elbows on his knees, thinking long and hard about the answer he was going to give. He had the potential to change one of those kids' lives, massively, and hopefully for the better. And if he was going to be working with Midnight to train them for U.A., then she certainly deserved to know the true goal of his training. But before he revealed that, he wanted to make sure of something.
“The Yaoyorozus,” He asks, “You’re related to them?”
Midnight nods slowly, suspecting that this is building up to something. “Ume is my distant cousin,” She replies, “We share great-grandparents. When my own parents died, Ume’s took me in. When I decided to enter heroics, I went by my original family name, rather than my adopted one. Ever since, I’ve kept my connection to the Yaoyorozu a closely guarded secret, only a handful of close friends and co-workers know about my extended family. To the wider world, I was simply an orphan. Tragic as that seems.”
Toshinori nods slowly as he listens to Midnight’s explanation. “Well, it certainly seems you can keep a secret then,”
“I’d like to think so,” Midnight says with some pride, “I take it whatever you’re about to tell me is strictly confidential.”
Toshinori nods slowly, “More so than my injury.” He says, and that causes Midnight to stand a little straighter, clearly this was serious.
“Go on,” She prompts.
Toshinori takes a deep breath before diving in. “The simple truth is that I’m looking for a successor,” He says, “That’s partly why I plan to teach at U.A., plenty of potential heroes to scout out there,”
Midnight nods in acceptance, that did make some sense, but she doesn’t say anything, sensing that there’s more.
“That’s the simple truth, but it omits one key fact, I’m not simply looking for someone to fill my shoes as the next ‘Symbol of Peace’,” Toshinori continues, “I’m looking for someone to inherit my quirk.”
For a few seconds, the full meaning of Toshinori’s words don’t register with Midnight, but once they do, her eyes bulge out of her head.
“I- I’m sorry,” She stammers, “But… did you say… inherit… your quirk?”
Toshinori nods, “I’ll spare you the history lecture behind it for now,” he says, “All I will say is that it’s a transferable stockpiling quirk that dates back to the dawn of quirks, that was given to me by my mentor.”
“And because of your injury, you are now looking for someone to pass it down to as well,” Midnight guesses, which Toshinori confirms with a grim nod. “And you plan to give your quirk to one of those three kids out there?” Again, Toshinori nods.
“Do you know which one?” Midnight asks, and this time, Toshinori shakes his head in the negative.
“No, hence why I want to train all three of them, that way I can get to know them better, and thus help me make a decision.”
“That’s fair,” Midnight concedes, “Well, I was already planning on training them for U.A., I’m sure I can adjust my schedule so you can train them as well.”
“What exactly were you planning on teaching them?” Toshinori asks, curious.
“Mostly weapon skills,” Midnight answers, “None of their quirks provide them with any direct advantages in a fight, so like me, they’ll benefit from learning to use tools and weapons.”
“Like your whip?” Toshinori asks, and Midnight nods.
“Hmm,” The gaunt blonde hums in though as he considers this information, “Perhaps then, we can split the responsibility of training them,” he says, “In order to be able to inherit my quirk, they’ll need a tremendous amount of strength and fitness.”
“Well, they’re already fit,” Midnight points out, “I made sure of that, but I’m assuming they need to be ‘plus ultra’? So to speak.”
Toshinori nods, “My plan for them is going to be intense, but if I focus on their fitness, while you focus on their combat training…” he trails off as Midnight considers the proposal.
“We’ll have to work out timings and stuff, but I could agree to that.” She says, before adding a caveat, “One condition though,”
She says that as Toshinori begins to rise from his seat so that he’s caught half-sitting, half-standing.
“Yes?” He replies.
“You have to tell them who you are from the get-go,” Midnight demands, “You can keep the stuff about successors and inherited quirks quiet, for now, until you’re ready. But I think those three atleast deserve to know who’s training them.”
“I trust they can keep my injury and identity private?” Toshinori asks, and Midnight shrugs.
“Well, Midoriya’s not blabbed about me and Momo yet, so, I’d say so.”
Content that they’ve discussed all that they need, Nemuri and Toshinori re-enter the lounge, where 8 waiting pairs of eyes greet them. The two stand in the middle of the room, and Toshinori gestures for Nemuri to go first.
“After a brief discussion between us,” The off-duty pro begins, “Mr Yagi and I have come to an agreement that we will share the responsibility of training the three of you,” She says to Izuku, Momo, and Kyouka, who immediately react with excitement, prompting Izuku to re-don his sunglasses so as not to blind the others. “I will handle your combat skills…” she trails off.
“While I handle your physical conditioning,” Toshinori follows. “Fair warning though, this will be intense. As you are aware, your quirks are not primarily suited for combat.”
“That means,” Nemuri jumps back in, “You’re going to have to train harder and more intensely than other students.”
Kyouka feels a brief pang of uncertainty. Out of the three of them, she was probably the least physically abled and their training sounded like it was going to be intense. But she looks over at her two friends, sees the determined expressions on their faces, and the uncertainty is washed away. Even if it was hell, they were all going to get into U.A., Izuku and Momo wouldn’t let her fall behind.
“We’ll need time to figure out your training schedule properly,” Nemuri continues, “Give us till the weekend and we should have a plan drawn up,” She looks over at Toshinori, who nods his approval.
“That’s fair,” Ume comments, “You are both working professionals, after all. You still have jobs to attend to,”
“Well, I believe that takes care of that business for today,” Nemuri says with a tone of finality, “But we have one other thing to discuss, seeing as you’ll be working with Toshinori,” She gestures for the tall man to go ahead, before adding, “Oh, and Izuku, dear, you’ll want to keep your glasses on,”
Izuku, who had been reaching up to take his shades off, decides to lower his hand, somewhat confused. He assumes that this is going to be good news of some kind, but what, he can’t imagine.
Nodding his gratitude to his co-worker, Toshinori steps forward. “Miss Kayama is right, if I am to be your mentor for the coming 10 months, I need to be honest with you about who I am.” He takes a deep breath to prepare himself for what comes next, “For you see-”
There’s a puff of steam and Toshinori is briefly, and completely, obscured from the others in the room. Izuku tries to peer through the steam, to see his future trainer, but can’t, even with his eyes. However, the steam soon begins to clear, and where Toshinori once stood, stands a tall, muscular figure that Izuku had only seen on TV and in his dreams.
“I AM HERE!” The tall and proud figure of All-Might booms, and behind his sunglasses, Izuku’s eyes shine brighter than they had ever had before. Two seconds later, he passes out from the excitement.
Notes:
Surprise!
We ain't retreading canon today boys.
As I was thinking about how to set up Izuku meeting All Might, I went through several variations of the canon slime villain incident. The first draft saw Kyouka getting attacked by the slime creature, another saw Momo replacing Bakugou during the second attack. But, eventually, I realised that none of it would work within the context of Izuku's new childhood. Not to mention, now that he's in a different school, Izuku wouldn't be taking the same route home as Canon. (Especially not if he's heading to Momo's home to train after school).
So I came up with this instead. A situation which allows Izuku, Momo, and Kyouka to demonstrate their heroic potential to All Might. As well as a slight peek at Bakugou's current life, given that his old cronies have abandoned him.
Nothing more to add I think, other than the fact that I am dyyyyyyying for Transformers: One to come out in the UK.
As such, any spoilers about TF:One in the comments will be deleted. Opinions and basic reviews are fine, but any mention of plot is no-go.
Next chapter will see the trio begin their training. And perhaps the beginning of something more...
See you next time.
The_Spartan_Sangheili.
Chapter Text
TAKOBA BEACH, MUSUTAFU
12th April, 2223
Several days after their first meeting with Toshinori, or rather, All Might, the parents of Izuku, Momo, and Kyouka had all received messages from Midnight outlining their training schedule for the coming year. It was organised on a weekly basis, with Midnight and Toshinori training them on alternating days, with Sunday being a day to rest and recover. With shorter sessions after school during the week, and then a longer session at the weekend.
Everyone, both parents and children alike, agreed to the plan. There had also been diet recommendations, though Momo’s recommendations were slightly different to Izuku and Kyouka’s due to her quirk. With everyone in agreement on the plan, Toshinori had sent through a location for the kids to meet on Saturday morning, for their first training session with him.
Which is where the trio now were, standing on the edge of Takoba beach, in the early morning. Although, it wasn’t so much a beach, as it was a coastal junkyard, with so much scrap and debris and detritus piled up, that the only sand the three teens could see was a small patch just around the bottom of the stairs leading from the main promenade down to the beach.
“Are we sure this is the right place?” Momo asks, visibly uncertain.
“It is,” Izuku reassures her, “My mom used to come here when she was younger,”
Kyouka looks at the stretch of junk-covered beach before them, before looking back at Izuku sceptically.
Izuku sees the look and clarifies. “It probably wasn’t as bad back then. She hasn’t been here since I was born.”
“I’m sure Mr Yagi has his reasons for meeting us here,” Momo says, more to convince herself than the others.
“Indeed, I do, young Yaoyorozu” a familiar voice calls out, and the three friends all spin on their heels to face their newest mentor.
“All Might!” Izuku exclaims, his eyes lighting up with delight, much to Momo and Kyouka’s amusement.
“Shush kid,” the gaunt man immediately silences his enthusiastic student. “Not while we’re in public,”
“Oh, sorry All-” Izuku stops himself mid-sentence from repeating the same mistake. “Sorry, Yagi-San,”
“that’s alright,” Toshinori accepts the apology with grace, before moving on. “Now then, onto your training.”
The blonde man steps around the three teens to stand at the top of the steps leading down to the beach. His students follow his movements with eager enthusiasm.
“You’re wondering why I brought you to this beach for your training?” He asks rhetorically, “Two reasons, one, clearing all this junk will give you a varied workout to develop your various muscles. And two, heroes these days are all about showing off and capturing flashy villains, but things were different before quirks, Service was what mattered.”
“So, we’re cleaning this beach as an act of community service?” Momo surmises, approving of the idea. Part of her reason for becoming a hero was to give back to society and serve the people.
“Correct,” Toshinori says, his back still to the teens, “Heroes back then helped the community, even if it was kinda boring.”
He then points down the promenade to a rubbish skip, “I’ve hired a skip to be taken away at the end of each day. Before the entrance exam, you’ll restore the coastline for this entire section of beach.”
“The entire beach?” Kyouka exclaims in disbelief, before looking at her two friends, both of whom have determined looks on their faces.
“You two can’t seriously be agreeing with this?” She asks, and both Momo and Izuku nod their heads.
“If we wish to become the best,” Momo says, “Then we must train the hardest,”
“Go Beyond, Plus Ultra,” Izuku fist pumps the air.
“Young Midoriya and Yaoyorozu are right,” Toshinori says, glancing over his shoulder. “In order to get into U.A., you must have a plus ultra-attitude, anything less and you’ll be left behind.”
Inspired by her friend’s confidence and her own determination to get into U.A., Kyouka gives a grunt of approval.
“Very well,” Toshinori turns back around to his three students who have removed their coats and jackets to reveal their workout clothes. Izuku is in a T-shirt and shorts, Momo is wearing a tailor-made red sports bra and shorts, and Kyouka is wearing a purple ‘Dead Dope’ tank top over a black sports bra and leggings.
“You have ten months till the entrance exam,” Toshinori announces, “Between the three of you, you should have this beach cleared in no time. Now, get to it.”
Taking that as their signal, the three teens rush past their mentor and begin the long process of clearing the beach of all its rubbish.
THE YAOYOROZU ESTATE
13th April, 2223
The next day, all three teens were sore. While they were in decent shape for kids their age, yesterday’s workout cleaning the beach had been intense. Even Izuku, who normally didn’t feel pain from physical blows, was groaning.
“Have fun yesterday?” Midnight asks as her three pupils enter the private gym in the Yaoyorozu mansion.
“It was fine until this morning,” Kyouka groans, “I woke up and my arms just felt like lead. I’ve had to rely on my jacks to do stuff.”
“It’ll get better,” Midnight reassures them, “Remember when you started doing those exercises with me years ago? Didn’t your bodies ache for the first few weeks of that as well?”
“True,” Momo concedes, “And it’s all in the name of getting into U.A.”
“Exactly,” Midnight flashes her niece a smile, before getting down to business. “Today, you’re going to start learning combat skills.”
Immediately, the pain and weariness fades from the three teens’ minds. This is what they had been looking forward to.
“You know how to throw a punch, block a kick, and dodge a blow,” Midnight continues, seeing the renewed enthusiasm in her mentees’ eyes. “But as individuals with non-physical quirks, you’ll need to rely on more than just strength and your quirk in a fight.”
Midnight is currently wearing her full hero ensemble, including, a whip, which she removes from where it’s coiled on her hip.
“I myself use a whip for several reasons. It has reach but can be rolled up and stored discreetly. It can be an unpredictable weapon to face and is capable of tangling and ensnaring opponents, as well as disarming them of their own weapons. Not to mention the sound of a whip cracking can be intimidating to some… though not all. The final reason is that it matches my aesthetic as a hero. And while that shouldn’t be your first consideration when choosing a weapon, it should be something to keep in mind.”
All three teens nod their understanding.
“Having said that…” Midnight walks across from where she had been standing to a table on one side of the room, that has an array of martial weapons on it. “I’ve brought a selection of weapons with me, on loan from a friend, for you to choose from. Find something that you like the look of, and feel comfortable using. Today’s session will just be about finding the weapon you want to train with, and then next time we can begin training.”
And after a gesture from Midnight, the trio approach the table a take in the selection of weapons on offer. There are knives, swords, staffs, nun chucks, shuriken, throwing knives, and several other weapons that Izuku doesn’t recognise. One of them consists of a pair of short wooden sticks, about the length of his forearm, with perpendicular handles set at two-thirds of their length. He picks up the two sticks out of curiosity.
Nemuri notices the weapons Izuku is holding, and the furrow in his brow as he inspects them.
“They’re tonfas,” She explains, and Izuku looks up at her, the look on his face asking for an explanation, so she gives him one. “Traditional weapons from Okinawa, they’re non-lethal weapons designed for blocking and striking. Here-” She gestures for him to hand her one so she can demonstrate, so he does.
Nemuri takes the tonfa and holds the handle in a reverse grip so that the main length of the baton rests against the bottom of her forearm. She then makes a few mock swings with her arm, mimicking jabs and blocks against an imaginary opponent.
“As you can see,” Nemuri says once she finishes her brief demonstration, “It’s primarily a defensive weapon, that can also be used for jabbing.”
“a lot of those moves are similar to the self-defence training you gave us,” Izuku points out, “The blocking with the arms and jabs in particular,”
Midnight nods in appreciation of Izuku’s insight, “Exactly, while the finer points of using the tonfa will take time and practice, what I’ve already taught you will go a long way in helping you grasp the basics… that is if you want to use them,”
“I’ll certainly give them a try,” Izuku says as Nemuri hands him back the baton she’d borrowed.
“Well, there’s some training dummies over there if you want to get a feel for them,” She points to three padded posts set up on the other side of the gym.
Izuku nods in gratitude before jogging over to the posts and begins swinging and jabbing at the posts experimentally, getting a feel for the weight and feel of the weapons.
With Izuku seemingly taken care of for now, Nemuri turns her attention back to Momo and Kyouka who are both experimenting with their weapons of choice.
Starting with Momo, she’d picked out a simple Bo staff and was making swipes in the air with it.
“Interesting choice,” Nemuri comments, gaining her niece’s attention. “Is there a reason you chose the staff?” She can guess why but wants to hear it from Momo herself.
“Well, you said earlier that one of the considerations for your whip was that it worked with your aesthetic and hero persona,” Momo begins, “But another consideration for choosing a weapon is how well it works with one’s quirk. In my case, I want a weapon that I can easily replicate with my quirk without having to think about it. With a staff, I don’t have to worry about hilts, sharpness, or shape. I just simply have to make a rod out of my chosen material, either wood or, more likely, metal.”
Midnight nods in approval, clearly, her niece had thought her decision through. “You could also use your quirk to make modified staffs,” She points out, “For example, a staff with a taser, or cattle prod, built into the end of it,”
Momo looks at the staff in her hands, considering the idea, “I hadn’t thought of that,” she admits.
“Just something to think about,” Midnight says, “If you’re satisfied with your choice, you can go join Izuku by the training posts,” She points towards where Izuku is practising, and Momo bows her head in gratitude before joining her friend.
This then leaves Midnight with Kyouka, who, to the R-rated hero’s slight surprise is twirling several throwing knives with the end of her jacks. The sight is made even more surprising by the fact that Kyouka doesn’t seem to be focused on the projectiles, instead, her attention is focused on a balisong, or ‘Butterfly knife’, in her hands. She’s currently trying to flip it open like artists on the internet, by flicking her wrist. But all she succeeds in doing is bashing her knuckles. Fortunately, the blade is only a dull training knife, but the weight of the impact still hurts.
“Impressive,” Midnight comments after Kyouka’s latest attempt.
“What, bashing my knuckles with style?” Kyouka retorts sarcastically.
“No, the throwing knives,” Midnight gestures to Kyouka’s jacks, causing the punk girl to let them drop, the two knives now dangling from their hilts.
“Oh, yeah, a skill I picked up from my mom,” She says, bashfully “It was a party trick she used back in college, she’d use her jacks to spin darts, before throwing them at a dart board. She had really good accuracy too. I can do the spinning and throwing, I just struggle with throwing accurately.”
“We can work on that,” Midnight suggests, “If you can use your jacks to accurately throw projectiles, it’ll give you a unique skill, and it’ll keep your enemies off balance. If they’re having to worry about a knife in your hands and blades flying at them, it’ll create more openings for you to strike.”
Kyouka grins up at Midnight. She could imagine that scenario in her mind, and it held a certain appeal to her.
“Of course,” Midnight adds, “That’s going to take some skill to master. First, let us get you to a point where you can use either the knife or the throwing knives competently on their own, and then we can start developing your striking scorpion move.”
“Striking scorpion?” Kyouka asks.
“It’s the same principle,” Midnight explains as she begins walking Kyouka over to where her friends are practising. “If a scorpion’s prey focuses on the pincers, it gets stung by the tail, if it focuses on the tail, it gets pinched by the pincers. You understand?”
“Yeah, I get it now,” Kyouka nods her understanding.
“Good,” Midnight smiles, “Just one question though, there were several different knives on that table, why the balisong?”
“Oh,” Kyouka looks down at the practice blade in her hand, “Well, I kinda plan to make my costume have a punk aesthetic, y’know, leather jacket and such.”
“Yeah, I can imagine that,” Midnight comments, as she thinks of a certain blonde loudmouth friend of hers, well... the other blonde loudmouth, aside from Toshinori.
“Well, I figured a butterfly knife or a switchblade would match that aesthetic more than just a simple dagger or combat knife.” Kyouka finishes explaining.
“Well if you’re happy with it,” Midnight says as the two of them rejoin Izuku and Momo. “What about you two?” She says, addressing the two practising teens.
“No complaints, Aunt Nemuri,” Momo replies.
“Yeah, I quite like the feel of these” Izuku nods in agreement as he holds up his tonfa
“Good, perhaps we can begin training today after all then,” Midnight announces, much to the pleasure of three teens around her.
And so, for the next several months, that was how the trio’s days went. During the weekdays, after school, they’d either go down to Takoba and clear some more rubbish, or they’d go to Yaoyorozu’s home, and spar under Midnight’s guidance.
But once they got to the summer holiday, the training kicked into overdrive. With school out, the trio were able to spend all day training, either with Midnight or All Might.
TAKOBA BEACH, MUSUTAFU
2nd August 2223
Toshinori takes a deep breath as looks out over Takoba Beach. It had been several months since he had first met Midoriya, Yaoyorozu, and Jirou, and in that time, they had made phenomenal progress in clearing the beach. Even more so since the start of the holidays. They had taken a break yesterday to celebrate Jirou’s birthday, but now they were straight back to work.
Or, at least they had been.
As Toshinori thinks about Jirou’s 15th Birthday. He notices that the purple-haired girl is standing idly by the skip, staring down at the beach. He follows her line of sight and finds what she’s staring at.
Midoriya.
Who was currently in the process of hauling a washing machine up the beach, but he himself had gotten distracted by something. So Toshinori follows Izuku's gaze and discovers the initial cause of the pause in work.
Yaoyorozu.
Who was currently using her quirk to make additional rubbish bags to collect the smaller pieces of trash.
If Toshinori was honest, he wasn’t sure what exactly was distracting Midoriya. The fact that Yaoyorozu was a beautiful young woman, or the fact that she was using her quirk. Though the fond look on Midoriya’s face told him it was likely the former. However, Jirou’s expression wasn’t a fond one, rather, it almost seemed tortured, and Toshinori thought he knew what was going on. The classic tale of a girl who falls for a boy who has fallen for a different girl. A classic love triangle
At least, that’s what he thinks.
So he decides to try and offer some wisdom to Jirou, that would be what a mentor would do, right? That’s certainly what his mentor would do, his first one atleast.
“He’s a fine young lad isn’t he,” Toshinori says Jirou in a low tone so Izuku wouldn’t overhear them.
His sudden statement catches Kyouka by surprise, causing her to jump slightly, before turning to look at him in surprise.
“Huh?” She asks genuinely confused.
“Midoriya, he’s a fine boy, no?” Toshinori clarifies.
“Um… yeah, I guess, he’s a good friend…” Kyouka admits.
“More than a friend perhaps?” Toshinori raises an eyebrow at her in question.
“Huh?! What?! No!” Kyouka exclaims in a hushed tone, also not wanting Izuku, or Momo, to hear. “No, he’s… I…” She blusters, but Toshinori cuts her off.
“No need to explain, I saw everything from over there,” He points back to where he had initially been standing. “You have feelings for him, but he obviously has feelings for Yaoyorozu, so you don’t want to step in.”
Kyouka’s eyes go wide at that before she slumps her shoulders, “That’s… that’s not entirely it. I mean, it’s part of it, but not all of it.”
Toshinori looks curiously at Jirou, wondering what she meant.
“Yagi-San,” Kyouka begins again, “Have you ever had… feelings for someone?”
Slightly taken aback by the sudden question, Toshinori takes a second to collect his thoughts before he answers. “Yes, several times actually. Not that anything came of it, thanks to my dedication to being the symbol of peace. Why do you ask?”
“Have you ever had ‘feelings’ for more than one person at once?” She looks back out to where Izuku and Yaoyorozu are still on the beach, and Toshinori suddenly realises that he’s misinterpreted the whole situation.
“Oh, I am so sorry, young Jirou, I didn’t realise-” he begins to apologise but Jirou cuts him off with a wave of her hand.
“Eh, that’s okay, you’re not the one who loves both of her best friends.” She sighs.
“I take it you haven’t talked to them then?” Toshinori asks.
“Of course not,” Kyouka replies, slightly exasperated, “As you said, you’ve seen how Izuku looks at Momo. And as for Momo… I don’t even know if she likes girls… let alone me.”
“You could ask,” Toshinori gently suggests. “You’ll never know if you don’t ask.”
“Yeah, but what if I do ask and she says no, then things will be weird between us and…” Kyouka pauses, before muttering, “And I don’t want to lose my only friends. Besides,” Kyouka returns to her normal volume, “Even if Momo did like girls, that still leaves me in the position of having to choose one of them, right?”
Toshinori hums in thought, “Hmm, that’s true. I must confess, I’m not entirely familiar with the intricacies of romance,”
“Right,” Kyouka deadpans, “You said earlier that you never had a real relationship.”
Toshinori nods, “Correct… perhaps you can take up your concerns with Midnight instead, I gather she’s something of an expert on relationships.”
“Right…” Kyouka snarks, “Talk to the aunt of one of the two people I’ve got a crush on, cuz’ that’s going to end well for me.”
“Do you have a better idea?” Toshinori replies, and inside her mind, Kyouka has to admit that ‘no, she doesn’t’.
“Fine,” Kyouka concedes, “I’ll talk to her tomorrow, after training,”
“Very good,” Toshinori beams.
“By the way,” Kyouka asks, “Why the interest in my love life?”
“Simple,” Toshinori says with a knowing smile, “If you’re standing around pining for Midoriya and Yaoyorozu, you’re not training,”
Kyouka lets out a snort of laughter, “Seriously?”
“Very serious,” Toshinori says, now trying to hide his smile, “Speaking of which,”
He inflates himself up to his buff form and calls out, loudly and deliberately, “YOUNG MIDORIYA, ARE YOU STRUGGLING WITH THAT WASHING MACHINE?”
Kyouka is amused to see Izuku jump as he realises that he’d been caught standing around, and worse, staring at Yaoyorozu.
“N-No All Might!” Izuku calls back, “I just got distracted is all!”
Kyouka chuckles at Izuku’s response before looking over at Momo, who is curious as to what all the commotion is about. She was in her usual red sports bra and gym shorts, and if Kyouka was being completely honest with herself, it was a slightly distracting sight. Momo bore a striking resemblance to her mother, and shared her hourglass figure, albeit she was slightly chubbier due to her quirk. But still, Momo was the kind of girl most boys and some girls wanted to be with, and Kyouka was amongst them.
“I’m sure you were, Green” Kyouka says to herself in response to Izuku’s statement, “I’m sure you were.”
THE YAOYOROZU ESTATE
3rd August 2223
It was the next day, and Momo, Kyouka, and Izuku had just concluded their morning session of sparring with Midnight.
“Excellent work,” She says, giving them all a smile and a thumbs up, “Just a few things I want to point out before you head off to lunch. First, Izuku, you keep letting your guard drop too far, if you don’t keep you’re tonfas raised, you won’t be able to move fast enough to block a hit to the head.”
Izuku nods his understanding, as Midnight continues.
“Momo, you seem to be overthinking your moves, meaning you’re letting opportunities to strike pass, and likewise leaving yourself open to counter-attack,”
“Yes Midnight,” Momo bows at her waist to her aunt and instructor.
“And Kyouka…” Midnight pauses, Kyouka, who was normally a very attentive girl, had been… off all morning, not completely focused, as if she had something else on her mind. “Are you alright dear?” She asks, “You seemed a bit… distracted this morning,”
“Oh, um…” Kyouka nervously fiddles with one of her jacks. Truthfully, she had been a bit distracted, nervous about her upcoming conversation with Midnight about her feelings for Izuku and Momo. But she could hardly admit that in front of Izuku and Momo right now, so she lies. “Sorry, Midnight, I guess I’m just tired after yesterday is all,”
“Hmm,” Midnight is sceptical but decides not to push it for now. “Fine, just try to pay more attention after lunch,”
“Yes, Midnight,” Kyouka bows her head.
“Well, I’ve said my peace,” Midnight concludes, “Go have lunch and be back here in an hour.”
With that, the three students bow to their instructor before turning to leave the gym. But before they exit, Kyouka hangs back.
“I just need to talk to Midnight for a second,” She says to Momo and Izuku, who look at her curiously. “I’ll catch up with you in a minute, I promise, it’s nothing serious. I just need to talk to her about… something.”
Izuku and Momo both quickly exchange glances before looking back at Kyouka.
“Okay,” says Momo “We’ll be in the dining room if you need,”
“Is everything alright?” Izuku asks, understandably concerned for his friend.
“I’m fine,” Kyouka shrugs nonchalantly. “It’s just something only Midnight can really help me with,”
“Okay,” Izuku reluctantly accepts that answer, “See you in a bit,” He and Momo then exit the gym as Kyouka turns back to Midnight.
The R-rated hero is checking her phone when she hears Kyouka approaching and looks up.
“So, ready to talk about what really has you distracted then?” She asks sardonically.
Kyouka nods wordlessly.
“I assume this has to do with whatever you talked about with Toshinori yesterday,” Midnight adds and Kyouka’s eyes go wide with fear. “Don’t worry, he didn’t share any details, just gave me a heads up that you two had a talk yesterday, and that you may be coming to me for advice.”
“Um, yeah,” Kyouka confirms, “It was something that All Might didn’t really have enough experience to help me on, but he said that you did.”
Midnight lets out a single chuckle, “Well that could be a lot of things, given that he’s a man in his 50s, super strong, and the symbol of peace. While I’m a woman in her early thirties, with a sleep gas quirk and a symbol of all things, well…” Midnight trails off.
Kyouka blushes slightly at Midnight’s implication.
“So, what did you want to talk to me about?” Nemuri asks, becoming serious. Whatever Kyouka had wanted to talk about, it was clearly serious, or atleast important.
Kyouka takes a deep breath, wondering how to broach the topic. She decides to start by asking Midnight the same question she asked All Might yesterday.
“Midnight, have you ever had feelings, romantic feelings, for more than two people at once?”
Midnight mouths the word ‘oh’ as she realises what this is about, matters of the heart. No wonder All Might was ill-equipped to handle this. Fortunately, not only did she consider herself an expert on romantic affairs, but in Kyouka’s case, she was better equipped to handle it than most. But she realises that she has to tread carefully, especially considering who she suspects the objects of Kyouka’s affections are.
“By any chance, have you developed a crush on both Izuku and Momo?” Nemuri asks and is rewarded by a slight blush on Kyouka’s cheeks.
“Maybe,” Kyouka replies, avoiding eye contact with Nemuri.
“Okay, well to answer your question.” Nemuri continues, “Yes, I have.”
“Really?” Kyouka looks at her mentor with surprise, “Who?”
Midnight takes a breath before deciding that Kyouka deserves the truth, especially if this discussion is to be productive. “Two fellow teachers, one of whom I work with. The other I don’t.”
“Oh,” Kyouka says dumbly as she absorbs that information, before realising that Midnight was in a perfect position to help her.
“So then… how did you choose?” she asks.
“Choose?” Nemuri repeats, not understanding the question.
“Yeah, how did you choose who to ask out?” Kyouka clarifies, “How did you make that decision?”
Understanding dawns on Nemuri’s face before she smiles at the petite teen, “Simple, I didn’t,”
“Huh?” Kyouka is thoroughly confused, “What do you mean, you just… didn’t ask them?”
Nemuri shakes her head, “No, quite the opposite actually, I asked them both out. I sat them both down together and explained my feelings toward both of them and that, if they were willing, I wanted to form a polycule with them,”
“A poly-what?” Kyouka asks, unfamiliar with the term.
“A polycule,” Nemuri repeats patiently, “It’s the name for a polyamorous relationship.” She can see the next question forming on Kyouka’s lips, so cuts her off. “Polyamory is where someone has multiple, consenting, romantic partners. Sometimes those partners have their own partners or not. As it so happens, after I started dating my two partners, they got to know each other better as well and now all three of us are dating the other two.”
“That kinda sounds like a harem,” Kyouka says with a hint of disgust. Thanks to her quirk she’d heard one too many boys at school fantasizing with their friends about all the different women they’d want to be with, including the pro-hero standing before her.
Midnight sighs, “That is a… common misconception. Broadly speaking, a harem consists of multiple women, or individuals rather, competing for the affections of a single person. And is usually the delusional fantasy of horny men who view women as objects to be won. A polyamorous relationship, however, is built on mutual love and understanding, and as I said earlier, everyone in the relationship is free to have a relationship with other people, depending on the specifics of their polycule.”
“Oh, okay,” Kyouka says with dawning understanding, “So, for example, a harem would hypothetically see me competing with Momo for Izuku’s affection, but in a polycule, I could be in a relationship with both Izuku and Momo, and they could also be in a relationship together.”
“Exactly,” Nemuri confirms, “But I guess the question is, do you?”
“Do I?” Kyouka repeats, “Do I what?”
“Do you want to be in a relationship with both Momo and Izuku?” Nemuri asks softly, “All three of you, together?”
“Yes,” Kyouka blurts out, without thinking. She hadn’t realised it till Nemuri had said it, but that was exactly what she wanted, for her to be with Momo and Izuku, but for the two of them to also have each other. However, while that may be what she wanted, she was enough of a realist to know that it wasn’t what she was going to get.
“But that isn’t the real question,” Kyouka says, downhearted, “The real question is would they want to be with me,”
“And why not?” Nemuri asks, not likely the self-deprecating tone in Kyouka’s voice. “You’re a pretty, intelligent, young woman. Not to mention talented, both with the knives but also musical instruments, if what I’ve heard is true.”
Kyouka flinches, “Great, you’ve been talking to my dad,” She groans, “And sure, I’m those things, but look at me,”
She gestures to herself, and in particular her smaller-than-average chest. “I’m not exactly you or Mt Lady in the body department, especially not compared to Momo,”
“And you really think Izuku and Momo are so shallow that that’d matter to them?” Midnight asks, not believing for a second that Kyouka genuinely believed that. “Are there men and boys out there who’d reject you for that reason? Yes. It’s an unfortunate truth. Many men are pigs, I have met a lot of them, some of them are even my 'fans',” Midnight chuckles humourlessly. “But I do not think for a second, that Izuku and Momo would say no to you based on your looks. They have been your friends for longer than I have known you.”
“But I’ve seen the way Izuku looks at Momo, when she doesn’t notice, he’s smitten with her, even if he doesn’t know it.” Kyouka sighs, thinking back to yesterday.
“It’s the same look he gives you,” Nemuri points out.
“No, it isn’t!” Kyouka objects, rather loudly.
“Only because you don’t see it,” Nemuri counters, “As you said with Momo, he only looks when you don’t notice. He’s too polite like that. I pretend not to notice, but all three of you pay just a bit too much attention to each other during sparing.”
“Wait,” Kyouka’s head jerks up as her teacher finishes talking. “All three of us? Are you saying…” She almost dares to hope that Nemuri is implying what she hopes she’s implying.
“It’s not my place to say what my niece feels,” Nemuri warns, “but I’ve heard how she talks about you and Izuku in private. She admires you both, equally,”
Kyouka stands in silence as she absorbs that info. Eventually, she come to a decision. “Okay, so… maybe Momo and Izuku do like me. Maybe I’ll ask them both one day,”
“But not today?” Nemuri asks, smiling.
Kyouka shakes her head, “Yagi-san was right yesterday, the time I spend pining for Izuku and Momo is time I’m not training. Even if I asked them today, and they said yes. We wouldn’t exactly have time to actually date, we’re too busy training.”
Nemuri agrees with the wisdom of that. “So, you’re going to wait until U.A. then?”
“Maybe,” Kyouka says uncertainly, “I’ll see how we are after we get into U.A.”
“Fair enough,” Nemuri accepts Kyouka’s decision, “So long as you’re happy with your choice-”
“I wouldn’t say I’m happy,” Kyouka interjects, “But I can certainly live with it for now,”
“That’s good enough,” Nemuri says, before checking the time on her phone “Now then, you better go have lunch. Knowing my niece and Izuku, they’ll be beginning to worry about you.”
“Yes Midnight,” Kyouka bows in farewell, “And thank you,”
“Happy to help,” the pro-hero replies, “Now go.”
And without another word, Kyouka heads out of the room.
U.A. HIGH, MUSUTAFU
3rd September, 2223
Eventually, the summer comes to an end, and Momo, Izuku, and Kyouka return to the schedule of school, followed by training. But they weren’t the only ones returning to school. Toshinori finds himself visiting his Alma Mater, U.A. one lunchtime, seeking Midnight’s help.
“Five months,” the blonde man groans as he and Nemuri sit in an empty office in the hero school, drinking tea. “Five months and I still can’t decide who to give One For All to, all three of them are equally worthy,”
Nemuri smiles slightly as she takes a sip of tea, “I don’t suppose you thought to ask the kids themselves?” She asks.
“I did,” Toshinori replies, rubbing his forehead, “I ask them all of them, individually, if one of them could hypothetically receive unlimited power, to become stronger than even me, who would they want to have that power? And do you know what they said?”
“I think I can guess,” Nemuri says with a smirk, familiar with her kids’ mentalities.
“They all said that one of the others should have it, not themselves.” Toshinori groans. “Midoriya said it should be Yaoyorozu or Jirou. Jirou said it should be Midoriya or Yaoyorozu, and Yaoyorozu said it should be either Jirou or Midoriya. None of them wanted that hypothetical power for themselves. They all believe one of the other two is more worthy.”
“Which only proves that they themselves are worthy of your quirk,” Nemuri smiles, amused by Toshinori’s frustration.
“Yes, I’m aware of the old philosophy that he who least wants power is the most responsible to wield it.” Says Toshinori, “But that doesn’t help when all three of them don’t want it,”
“And that’s why you’ve come to me,” Nemuri brings the discussion to the present, “To get my opinion?”
Toshinori nods. “You were their first mentor, you’ve known these kids longer than I have, and you have a greater insight into them than I do.”
Nemuri nods in agreement with his logic. “Okay, so you want to know who I think should inherit your quirk. Do you want my nice answer or my honest answer?” She asks.
“There’s a difference?” Toshinori asks.
Nemuri nods, “One is my opinion as their teacher, the other is my personal opinion,”
“What’s your teacher opinion?” Toshinori pushes.
“That, as you said, they are all worthy of your quirk, and all equally deserve it,”
“And your personal opinion?” the gaunt man follows up.
“It should go to Izuku,” Nemuri says bluntly, which catches Toshinori by surprise. Nemuri sees the surprise and can guess the reason behind it.
“Let me guess,” She says, “You were expecting me to nominate Momo, my niece?”
“You’d hardly be the first pro-hero to be accused of nepotism,” Toshinori replies.
“No," Nemuir agrees, "but the fact of the matter is, while Momo may deserve One For All, the plain truth is that she doesn’t need it. Neither does Kyouka. But Izuku does.”
“Need?” Toshinori asks, not sure what she means.
Nemuri nods in confirmation. “If you don’t mind me asking, before your mentor gave you One For All, what was your quirk?”
Toshinori freezes in his seat; he hadn’t expected that line of questioning, but now that Midnight had mentioned it, she could see what she was driving at.
“I… I was actually quirkless,” Toshinori admits, and he sees the slight look of surprise on Midnight’s face, “I know, Japan’s No. 1 hero, the world’s symbol of peace, born powerless.” He smiles to himself at the irony.
“Then I guess you have some idea of the challenge Izuku is presented with,” Nemuri says.
“You don’t think he can be a hero without One For All?” Toshinori asks, it was a question he had applied to himself many decades ago.
But Nemuri shakes her head, “I think he can be a hero, he’s put his heart, mind, and body into training to become one. I just don’t think he can become the kind of hero he wants to be.”
“Right, the kind of hero who saves people with a smile.” Toshinori states, “The hero who never hesitates.”
“He wants to be like you,” Nemuri points out, and Toshinori sighs.
“I want him to be better than me, I want them all to be,”
“Then give him that chance,” Midnight begs, “Momo has her creation quirk, giving her limitless potential in the field. Kyouka has her jacks, giving her the ability to be amazing at surveillance, and search and rescue. Give Izuku One for All, and he could be the next symbol.”
Toshinori rests his head on his hands as he takes in what Midnight has said.
“Or don’t,” Nemuri tacks on, “It is only my opinion after all, it’s your quirk at the end of the day. Ultimately, it’s whoever you think should get it.”
“I suppose that’s true,” Toshinori admits, “Still, I appreciate your input.”
Nemuri shrugs, “I’m just as invested in those three as you are, possibly more.”
The two co-workers then sit in silence as they drink their tea for a few minutes before Nemuri speaks up again.
“Seeing as we’re here, why don’t we do a quick check-up on their progress? I haven’t had a chance to pop down to Takoba Beach recently, how are they doing?”
With the topic of conversation having moved away from who to give OFA, Toshinori’s expression brightens. “Exceedingly well to be honest,” He says with a hint of pride, “They took full advantage of the summer holiday to make a big push in clearing the beach. As it stands, we’re several weeks ahead of schedule. If they keep this up, they should be done by Christmas.”
“Huh, is that so?” Nemuri says in a ponderous tone. “Perhaps…” She leans forward in her chair as she has an idea. “I'm satisfied with their current progress in training. If, as you say, they finish their training with you on the beach by Christmas, perhaps we can enrol them into U.A. through the recommendations exam.”
“Right,” Toshinori says in agreement, “It takes place a few months before the regular entrance exam, just after New Year's. According to the original training schedule they never would have finished in time to take it, but now…?”
“It’s not a guaranteed chance that they’ll get in,” Nemuri points out, “But the candidate pool is certainly smaller. Only one problem.”
“Which is…?” Toshinori prompts.
“Only two recommended students per class, even if all three of them passed the recommendations exam, they'd end up with one of them being in the other class, and after having spent the past five years in separate schools I don’t think they’d appreciate it.”
“At the very least, I think we should give them the option.” Toshinori argues, and Nemuri nods in agreement, “By the way, what does the recommendation exam consist of?”
THE YAOYOROZU ESTATE
3rd September, 2223
“An Obstacle Course?!” Kyouka exclaims.
The three friends had met up with Midnight for their usual training session and had been surprised by the presence of All Might as well. Their two mentors had then explained their plan for the U.A. entrance exam, and specifically the recommendation exam. Part of this involved telling them what exactly the recommendation exam would be. While the public entrance exam was kept confidential, the recommendation exam was an open secret amongst pro-heroes.
“We have to run a 3-kilometer obstacle course, against 5 other people, in order to get into U.A.?” Kyouka continues to exclaim.
“Only if you take the recommendation exam,” Nemuri reminds her.
“Yeah, I’m out,” Kyouka says, “I’d rather face an army of robots, or whatever it is you guys have for the normal entrance exam, besides, I imagine the written test is harder too. Yeah, no. I think that’s better suited to these two,” She jerks a thumb at her two friends.
“Kyouka…” Momo begins, but Kyouka interjects.
“Look, I’m not saying I’m slow or dumb or unathletic,” says Kyouka, “I’m just saying that you two are faster and smarter than me, and if there’s only a limited number of spots for recommended students, then why try and compete against you two for them.”
“I... guess that makes sense,” Says Izuku. “It’s just…”
“You don’t want me to feel left out?” Kyouka guesses and both Momo and Izuku nod. That was exactly what they were thinking. “Look, so long as we all get into U.A., does it really matter how we do it?”
Momo and Izuku both look at each other and realise the sense of what she’s saying.
“No,” Momo declares, “U.A. is the goal.”
“And we get there however we can,” Izuku adds.
“Right, and you two can get in through the recommendation exam,” Kyouka then turns to Midnight and All Might. “They both need a sponsor to get into the exam, right?” Midnight nods in confirmation. “There, Midnight will sponsor Momo and All Might will sponsor Izuku. Enough said.”
“Is that what you two want to do?” Nemuri asks Momo and Izuku, and without hesitation, the two of them nod.
“But that means you have to pass the entrance exam,” Izuku says to Kyouka.
“Only if you pass yours,” The purple-haired teen retorts with a smile.
“Of course,” Nemuri interjects, “Your place in the recommendation entrance exam is entirely dependant on you finishing the clean up of Takoba Beach by the start of the new year. If not, then we bump you to the normal entrance exam. Is that understood?”
“Yes Midnight,” All three teens reply in unison.
“We’ll just have work even more plus ultra,” Izuku says, clenching his fists with determination.
“I’m not sure that’s grammatically correct,” Momo points out.
“Or physically possible,” Kyouka adds.
Both earn a groan from Izuku.
TAKOBA BEACH, MUSUTAFU
3rd January 2224
The winter had been long and gruelling as the trio dedicated themselves to clearing the beach in time for the recommendation entrance exam. But they had done it. January 1st, New Year’s Day, the trio had managed to clear the last scraps of rubbish from the beach.
So, on January 2nd, Nemuri and Toshinori announced that Momo and Izuku would in fact be taking the recommendation entrance exam. Much to the delight of the three teens, even Kyouka, despite the fact she wasn’t doing the exam with them. However, later that evening, Izuku received a message from All Might to meet him on the beach early the next morning, before the entrance exam.
So here Izuku was, standing on Takoba Beach, in the early hours of the morning, his second mentor standing before him.
“Before I go any further, I just wanted to say how proud I am of both you and your friends,” he says, a genuine smile on his face. “You have exceeded both mine and Midnight’s expectations.”
“Th-thank you All Might,” Izuku stammers out, in awe of being praised by his idol. “But why did you ask me here so early,”
“Because there’s something I have to do, before your entrance exam,” Toshinori explains. “And it involves the real reason for me training you and your friends.”
“The real reason?” Izuku repeats to himself aloud.
Toshinori nods, “As you and your friends know, my power is slowly weakening, thanks to my injury 5 years ago.”
Izuku nods as he listens, All Might had told them about this when they first agreed to let him train him and his friends.
“However, that is not the end, for you see, my quirk is a special one. Whenever I’m asked about it in interviews, I always avoid the question usually by making a joke at my expense.” Toshinori explains, “That’s because the world needs to believe that their Symbol of Peace is a natural-born hero like the rest of them. But I’m not, I wasn’t born with this power, rather it was given to me by someone else, and now I choose to give it to you. My quirk is yours to inherit?”
It takes a few seconds for the full magnitude of Toshinori’s statement to hit Izuku, but when it does, it floors him.
“Huh?!” He exclaims. “W-what are you talking about? What do you mean inherit?”
Toshinori laughs at the shocked look on Izuku’s face, “Bwahaha, you should see the look on your face right now!” He laughs again before becoming serious again, “But don’t worry, I won’t force this on you.”
“Oh,” Izuku calms down slightly, which gives his brain a chance to think. And He remembers a conversation he’d had with All Might several months ago. “Wait a minute, back during the summer, you asked me, that if one of the three of us had the chance to become more powerful than you, who would I pick to receive that power, is this what that was about?”
“Indeed, it was,” Toshinori says, impressed that Izuku remembered. “and you told me that you believed it should go to one of your friends instead of you.”
“Right,” Izuku nods, before looking around himself at the empty beach. “But… Momo and Kyouka aren’t here.”
“No, they aren’t” Toshinori shakes his head, “I didn’t want to disturb them this early in the morning. Frankly, the only reason you’re here now is because I only finally made my decision yesterday, after you finally completed cleaning the beach.”
“Wait, so, so was cleaning the beach a test, to see who was worthy of inheriting your quirk?” Izuku asks.
“No,” Toshinori shakes his head again. “All three of you proved your worthiness the day you came charging into that alley to save me. There were no cameras, no fame, in fact, it was a complete inconvenience to you, and you even turned down my reward. You came to my aid for the simple reason that it was the right thing to do… because it’s what a hero would do.”
“I’m honoured All Might,” Izuku says, slightly breathless, “But still… why me? Why not Momo or Kyouka, they ran into the alley as well.”
Toshinori chuckles, “That has been the question I have been pondering for almost 10 months, young Midoriya. Why should I give my power to one of you over the other two. But then it occurred to me yesterday. You led the charge that day you met me, didn’t you?”
“Um… I guess,” Izuku says coyly, “I mean… I did run into the alley first, but… it was just a knee-jerk reaction, I didn’t even really think about it until I got to the garbage bin where Momo and Kyouka caught up to me.”
“But that’s exactly my point, my boy,” Toshinori points out. “Many top heroes have stories about them from their school days and Most of their stories have one thing in common. Their bodies moved before they had a chance to think.”
Izuku’s eyes go wide as he realises that’s exactly what happened that April afternoon.
“You asked earlier if cleaning the beach was about proving worthiness.” Toshinori continues, “And I said it wasn’t. That’s because the real purpose of your training was to prepare one of you ro receive my quirk. One For All. After 10 months of training, your body is now ready.”
Izuku looks sceptically at All Might before lifting his shirt to reveal his still rather diminutive frame. “Are you sure about that All Might?” He asks, “I’m still as skinny and scrawny as I was back then. I haven’t changed at all. Granted, Momo hasn’t changed much visually either, but that’s due to her quirk’s lipid storage. But Kyouka? She’s got a six-pack and is definitely more muscular than when we started training.”
“I will concede, that you haven’t changed much visually,” Toshinori admits, “But I remember the feats you were doing in the last weeks on December. My boy, you were pulling and dragging junk twice as heavy as what Yaoyorozu and Jirou could handle. Not to mention, I’ve seen how hard you can hit training dummies. No, I believe you are both mentally and physically worthy of inheriting my quirk. SO, LISTEN UP!” Toshinori’s voice becomes grander and louder as he proclaims. “THIS IS YOUR CHOICE. DO YOU WANT MY AWESOME POWER OR NOT?”
Izuku thinks it through for a second. Momo and Kyouka. They both had awesome, wonderful quirks. Quirks that would be really useful for heroics. While he didn’t. That wasn’t going to stop him from being a hero. But if he had All Might’s quirk… his dreams could come true. To not just become a hero. But a hero who saves people with a smile. A hero who would never hesitate. And with that thought, he realises there was ever going to be one answer.
“Yes, All Might. I accept!” Izuku declares excitedly, before deflating slightly. “But… how exactly are you going to give me your power? I mean you can’t just transfer a quirk… can you?”
“Believe me kid, there’s a lot about quirk you don’t know,” Toshinori says with almost a dark tone. “But for now, all I will tell you is that this power is a stockpile that has been passed on from hero to hero, since the dawn of quirks, its true name… is One For All.”
“One… For… All…” Izuku whispers to himself.
“Yes, now then…” Toshinori begins as he takes a deep breath before buffing up into his All Might form.
“Young Midoriya,” The No. 1 hero begins to pontificate. “Someone once told me that there’s a difference between being lucky and deserving. One is an accident.” The giant blonde reaches up to his head an plucks one of his hairs, “The other is earned. Never get the two confused.”
Izuku looks up at his Idol with awe.
“Take that to heart, young man.” All Might continue as he holds out his hand holding his strand of hair to Izuku. “Now, eat this!”
Next time on 'The Quirk in our Sparks'
An exam ends in a disaster
Truths are revealed
And a stranger appears.
In 'False Start'
Notes:
The plot is picking up.
Izuku now has (or is about to have) One For All
Staying with the current chapter. This was essentially a training montage, just like in canon, with relevant highlights picked out, showing the start of their training, and them picking their weapons. Jirou had some heartfelt discussions with her mentors, and Toshinori had issues finding a successor, before eventually culminating in the passing on of OFA.
For those of you who are waiting for some Cybertroninan action... Fear not!
Next chapter will see the first appearance of an Autobot on Earth. As well as two of our trio attempt the Recommendations entrance exam.
See you next time.
The_Spartan_Sangheili.
Chapter 7: False Start
Summary:
The recommendation entrance exam does not go according to plan.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
U.A. HIGH SCHOOL, MUSUTAFU
3rd January 2224
Momo and Kyouka stand outside the entrance of U.A. High School, waiting for Izuku, with about 20 minutes to go till the recommendation entrance exam begins.
“Where is he?” Momo asks, more than slightly frustrated. While she knew that Izuku had a tendency to get distracted. But she also knew he had his priorities straight, and was more than dedicated to getting into U.A..
So why was he late?
“I honestly don’t know,” Kyouka replies, “He’s got the shortest distance to travel out of all of us, he should’ve been the first one here.”
“Perhaps something has happened to him,” Momo worries as she begins to think of all the possible scenarios that could have prevented Izuku from showing up.
“I’m sure he’s-” Kyouka begins, but stops as she picks up the sound of distant running feet. She looks down the footpath, in the direction of the sound and sees a familiar green-haired boy running towards them.
“There he is!” Kyouka exclaims, pointing out the running figure to Momo with one of her jacks.
Momo sighs with relief as Izuku catches up to them before her expression morphs back into annoyance.
“Izuku Midoriya, where have you been?” She scolds him, “The exam is going to start soon,”
“I know... sorry,” Izuku apologises as he pants, taking in lungfuls of air as he tries to catch his breath. “All Might… meeting… on beach,”
“You met with All Might on the beach?” Momo repeats, putting together the broken pieces of Izuku’s sentence. “Why?”
“Quirk,” Is all Izuku says as he takes another deep breath. “All Might… gave me… his quirk.”
Kyouka lets out a snort of laughter at that. “I’m sorry, Green, I must still be half asleep because it sounded like you said All Might gave you his quirk.”
Izuku nods vigorously, “He did,”
Momo frowns, concerned about her friend’s mental state. “Izuku, are you sure you didn’t dream it? It wouldn’t be the first time you’ve dreamt about being All Might,”
Izuku is already shaking his head in denial before Momo finishes speaking. “No, he sent me a message last night, see-” He holds up his phone to show his messages, including the one he got from All Might requesting to meet him on the beach. “You can even check my GPS, here,” he changes the screen on his phone to bring up the phone’s GPS data, which did indeed show that he was at the beach only an hour or so earlier.
“Wha- but- that doesn’t- how does that-?” Momo is at a loss for words as she struggles with the reality being presented before her. “How does that even work? That’s not possible. Physically or biologically. Quirks are inherently genetic.”
“Also, why you?” Kyouka adds, “Like no offense Green, but there are hundreds of preexisting heroes already out there. Why pick a relatively small teenage boy?”
“I… can’t remember,” Izuku says truthfully, “I'm pretty sure he actually explained it to me, but…” he trails off.
“You got caught up on the fact that All Might was giving you his quirk?” Momo guesses.
Izuku nods in confirmation. “I remember being on the beach, I remember him saying that our training was to prepare one of us for One For All, that’s the name of his quirk, and I remember him plucking one of his hairs and asking me to eat it to transfer his power, and that’s it.”
“Wait…” Kyouka recoils in disgust, as does Momo, “Green, are seriously telling me… you ate one of All Might’s hairs?”
Izuku nods weakly, preferring not to think about that particular aspect. Both Momo and Kyouk blanche and gag at the thought of it.
“Please tell me he atleast washed his hair,” Momo begs, and Izuku shrugs.
“That’s the bit you're caught up on?” Kyouka exclaims, before turning back to Izuku, “So... are you now stronger than All Might?”
“No, not yet,” Izuku says with a shake of his head. “All Might said it would take a few hours for the transfer to complete,”
“It’ll probably be as long as it takes for you to fully digest the hair,” Momo says, grimacing at the thought, before becoming business-like again. “But we’ll have to worry about that later, if we stay here, we’ll be late for the exam,”
“Right,” Izuku nods as the trio begins running into the campus, “Wait, Kyouka, why are you here, you’re not taking the exam.”
“No,” Kyouka replies, “But Midnight invited me as a special guest. Teacher’s privilege, I guess. She felt it wasn't it wasn’t right for me to just sit around at home. Also, she said I should ask you for your hero notebook.”
“My notebook?” Izuku repeats, “Why?”
“Dunno,” Kyouka replies with a shrug of her jacks, “She just did,”
The trio stops just inside the entrance to the main school building and Izuku fishes out his notebook, he wasn’t too worried about leaving it in someone else's possession, after all, the only three people who could read it were Him, Momo, and Kyouka. After he hands it to Kyouka, the trio split up. Momo and Izuku head to their written exam, while Kyouka goes off to find Midnight, to inform her of what had happened to Izuku.
Elsewhere in the main building of U.A., Nemuri finds Toshinori, in his true form, beaming. Obviously, he was pleased about something.
“What has you so excited?” she asks, thinking of several different potential answers.
“I finally did it,” Toshinori says with a hint of pride in his voice.
“Did what?” Nemuri asks.
“Made my decision about…” Toshinori looks around the corridor they are currently in, to make sure no one else is around, before whispering, “O. F. A.”
A smile broaches Nemuri’s lips, “You did? Good, it’s about time. Who are you going to give it to?”
“I gave it to Midoriya,” Toshinori replies, still smiling.
“See, I told you that he-” Nemuri stops midsentence as she realises what exactly Toshinori had said, “Did you say… ‘gave’?”
“Hmm?” Toshinori raises an eyebrow in question.
“Toshinori…” Nemuri asks slowly and quietly, “Did you already give your quirk to Izuku?”
“Yes, I did,” Toshinori replies, oblivious to the growing concern on Nemuri’s face, “This morning as a matter of fact, I wanted to make sure he had the best possible chance of passing the exam,”
“You… idiot!” Nemuri smacks her forehead in a mix of frustration, catching the blonde man opposite her by surprise.
“What?” Toshinori is confused by Midnight’s reaction, but before either of them has a chance to continue, they are interrupted by the sound of feet running down the corridor towards them.
They both turn towards the source of the sound and see that it’s only Kyouka.
“Midnight!” the teen calls, “Izuku, he said that-”
She stops herself when she sees All Might’s shrunken form.
“All Might,” Kyouka calls out again as she comes to a stop before the two adults. “Is it true, you gave Izuku your-?” she waves one hand in the air towards All Might, not wanting to completely vocalise her question.
“Yes, it is,” Toshinori replies, before looking back at Nemuri, “Though it appears that may have been a mistake.”
“To put it mildly,” Nemuri says, scathingly, “I know you meant well, but honestly, you should have waited until after the exam,”
“But with One For All, he’ll ace the exam,” Toshinori argues.
“Only if he had practice,” Kyouka counters, and Nemuri gestures to her in gratitude. “It took me years of training just to have as much control over my jacks as I do,”
“Instead, Izuku will be having to run the obstacle course while learning how to use an entirely new and unfamiliar quirk,” Nemuri adds, “please tell me you at least told him how to use your quirk,”
“Of course,” Toshinori retorts, somewhat indignant, and Nemuri realises that emotions are beginning to run high.
“Look, I know you care for him, we all do,” Nemuri says in a calming tone, gesturing to herself and Kyouka. “I’m just saying that giving your quirk to him, the morning of his exam, may not have been the wisest decision,”
“I guess not,” Toshinori rubs the back of his neck sheepishly as he realises the flaw in his plan and the unintended consequences of his eagerness. “I guess I just got excited about having finally decided on a successor after so many years.”
“Well, we can’t undo the transfer,” Nemuri says, “All we can really do now is be there for Izuku,”
“And Momo,” Kyouka adds, “She’s taking the exam alongside him. If something happens to him, it’ll probably affect her as well,”
“Oh, yeah,” Toshinori groans, another thing he’d overlooked.
Nemuri pats him on the back sympathetically, “Hey, no one’s perfect. Just maybe, next time, talk with your fellow mentor first before making these kinds of decisions. I am somewhat more experienced as an educator than you,”
“That is true,” Toshinori concedes. “Now, we should probably join our fellow heroes in the observation room,”
Nemuri nods in agreement and begins leading Toshinori and Kyouka through the school corridors.
“Wait, other heroes?” Kyouka asks as she follows after her two mentors, “Observation room?”
“Yes,” Midnight nods, “The sponsors of the recommendation applicants, like myself and All Might, why do you think I asked you to bring Izuku’s notebook?” She turns her head to throw a knowing smile over her shoulder at Kyouka, “I don’t think Izuku would forgive you if you were in the same room as so many pros and didn’t get atleast a few autographs.”
Kyouka’s eyes go wide as Nemuri says that. Izuku owed her big time for this.
After they had finished the written exam, Izuku, Momo, and the other several dozen recommendation applicants were escorted from their exam hall to a field outside where they could see the 3-kilometre obstacle course before them.
Now that he was out of the exam hall, Izuku could get a better look at some of the other applicants. There were several that stood out to him, there was one boy who stood head and shoulders above the others, with a shaved head, who seemed to be talking very enthusiastically with his neighbours. There was another boy, standing off on his own, with red and white hair, split down the middle. There was also a girl with a quirk that allowed her to detach her limbs and float them. However, his people-watching is brought to an abrupt end by movement to his immediate right, where Yaoyorozu is standing.
Izuku turns to see what exactly Momo is doing and is stunned to see her casually removing her trousers and t-shirt in the middle of the field.
“Momo!” Izuku exclaims, “What are you-” he stops outcry as he realises what exactly she’s doing.
As Momo takes off her outer garments, she reveals that she’s wearing her sports top and shorts underneath.
“Oh,” Izuku says with dawning realisation, “You’re wearing your workout clothes underneath.”
“Correct,” Momo replies as she begins neatly folding her clothes and putting them in her backpack. “I wanted to be appropriately dressed for the written exam, but I did not want to damage my clothes during the practical test.”
“Are you not cold?” an unfamiliar girl’s voice asks, in rather stiff Japanese with a southern English accent.
Both Momo and Izuku turn to find a blonde Caucasian girl looking at Momo with concern.
“Slightly, but I’m used to it,” Momo replies casually, “Besides, I need the skin exposure for my quirk.”
“Oh, I am very sorry for disturbing you then.” The girl replies, “It is just a bit unusual to see someone taking off clothes outside in winter.”
“That’s alright,” Momo replies, “I’m sure you were just concerned. I’m Momo Yaoyorozu by the way,” She says in greeting.
“Izuku Midoriya,” Izuku adds.
“My name is Kate Lethbridge-Stewart,” the blonde girl replies.
Again, Momo notices the very formal way in which Lethbridge-Stewart speaks. That, combined with her name, her complexion, and her accent, and Momo reasonably assumes that the blonde girl is not native Japanese. But she’s not one to go just on assumption, so she asks, tactfully.
“Lethbridge-Stewart, your accent, is that English?” Momo asks, and the other girl nods.
“Yes, it is. I was born in London. But my father serves in the military, and he was just transferred to Japan several months ago. So, I came with him. I am afraid my Japanese is not very good.” She apologises.
“Actually, I think your Japanese is okay,” Izuku replies in English, catching the girl by surprise.
“As is your English,” Kate replies, before reverting to Japanese. “Thank you, as you can imagine, it has been hard fitting in.”
“You’re welcome,” Momo replies with a short bow, always one to be polite to guests whether they be guests in her home or in her country.
“So, if you do not mind me asking, who are your sponsors?” Kate asks, “You do not have to tell me, I am simply curious. It makes a good conversation starter.”
Izuku and Momo both briefly exchange looks before replying.
“Midnight” says Momo
“Nedzu,” says Izuku.
To avoid any undue attention from the media or anyone else, it had been agreed that, publically, Nedzu, the principal of U.A., would be Izuku’s sponsor. Though on U.A.’s internal records, All Might would still be listed as his real sponsor.
But as Izuku mentions the rat principal of U.A., Kate frowns. “That is odd because I am also being sponsored by Nedzu.”
“Really?” Izuku replies, surprised.
“Yes, he and my father are old friends, they have a mutual acquaintance, and my father sometimes consults with Nedzu about his work. It is weird that he sponsored two candidates,”
“Maybe it’s a perk of being the head of U.A.” Momo reasons, trying to keep Izuku’s cover.
“Maybe…” Kate says, but she doesn’t sound convinced.
Fortunately, Izuku and Momo are saved from having to further maintain Izuku’s cover by the sound of Present Mic, one of the heroes working at U.A. calling out their names, among several others, to take their places at the start of the obstacle course.
So, after bidding farewell to Kate Lethbridge-Stewart. Momo and Izuku thread their way through the crowd of hopeful applicants to the start of the obstacle course. They line up alongside 4 other students, including the boy with red and white hair, whom Momo seems to recognise, and the tall boy with the shaved head.
They had been explained the rules back in the exam hall. It was a three-kilometre race. The top four times out of all the candidates would win. Quirks may be used to overcome the obstacles, but not on fellow examinees. Use of quirks on examinees would result in being barred from U.A. and that was it.
That meant that it wasn’t a simple race to be first, they each had to be the fastest they could possibly be. Izuku debates whether to use One For All at the beginning, but considering he couldn’t even feel the power within him yet, he resigns himself to relying on his raw speed.
‘It’s fine,’ He thinks, ‘Kyouka always says I’m unusual quick anyway,’
He briefly glances to his left, where Momo is standing. Momo notices him looking and smiles, encouragingly. Izuku returns the smile and as he does, a klaxon sounds signalling the start of the race.
From the observation room overlooking the obstacle course. Kyouka watches as two of the examinees leave her friends in the dust. One of them shoots off with a blast of air, while the other slides along on a path of ice.
“Whoa,” she gasps involuntarily, before looking up at Midnight, “Who were they?”
Midnight consults a clipboard in her hands with a list of all the examinees. While she had recused herself from the exam due to having sponsored a student, she was still a staff member of U.A..
“Hmm, candidate 41… Inasa Yoarashi, sponsor… Airjet.” She reads out before gesturing to a hero in the observation room with them.
Kyouka looks across the room to a hero watching eagerly, dressed in a crimson bodysuit, under white armour, with a jetpack on his back.
“As for, candidate 23, that’s Shouto Todoroki,” Midnight doesn’t need to consult her list for that one.
“Todoroki?” Kyouka repeats, “As in…”
She trails off as she looks across to the other side of the room, where a man with a flaming beard and hair, stands, arms crossed infront of his chest, scowling at the window infront of him.
“Yeah,” Toshinori says in a hushed tone. “He’s Endeavour’s youngest son.”
“Great,” Kyouka gulps nervously for her two friends, “So not only are they having to go up against that living tornado, but the son of the number two?”
“Relax,” Toshinori says as he puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder, “He may be the son of the number two, but you’ve been trained by the number one,”
*AHEM* Nemuri makes a show of clearing her throat.
“And Midnight, of course,” Toshinori amends, “No offence intended,”
“Just making sure,” Nemuri says sweetly.
Kyouka chuckles as she looks back at the intimating figure of Endeavour, only this time he isn’t scowling at the window. Instead, it seems Midnight’s unsubtle prompt to All Might had drawn his attention. And now he was not only staring at Kyouka, but he was not approaching her and her two mentors.
Midnight notices the flaming man approaching and greets him with a practised professional smile. “Endeavour, can I help you?” She asks.
“What is she doing here?” He asks sternly, pointing at Kyouka. “This area’s supposed to be restricted to U.A. staff and hero sponsors only.”
“She is here with special permission from Nedzu,” Midnight explains calmly. “That is all you need to know.”
Endeavour narrows his eyes with suspicion before a high-pitched voice from behind him interrupts.
“That is the truth Endeavour, Kyouka Jirou is here as my special guest.”
Endeavour turns around and finds himself looking down at an albino rodent-like creature standing on two legs, wearing a double-breasted suit with orange sneakers.
“Nedzu,” the No. 2 hero says in greeting.
“Endeavour,” The rodent-esque figure replies in kind. “Was there something else bothering you?”
The flaming hero just grunts before turning away, not saying another word.
Once she’s sure that Endeavour is out of earshot, Kyouka whispers, “Hard ass,”, forgetting that there are three other adults within earshot of her.
“Jirou!” Both Midnight and Toshinori hiss in disapproval.
“Sorry,” Kyouka replies, “But… he is though,”
“Regardless of his personality or his attitude,” Toshinori says, “he is still the number two hero in Japan, which earns him a certain level of respect.”
“Doesn’t give him an excuse to be a jerk,” Kyouka pouts, crossing both her arms and jacks.
“Maybe not,” Nedzu concedes, “But nonetheless, part of being a hero means having to work with people you might otherwise find unpleasant. Consider that your first lesson in heroics.”
“Um... Thank you, sir,” Kyouka unfolds her arms to give a short bow to Nedzu.
“Now then, Yagi,” Nedzu decides to change the topic of conversation. “How are the other two of your apprentices faring?”
Toshinori looks back out the window towards the obstacle course, where he can just make out where his two students are. “Yaoyorozu is doing well, she appears to have made a scooter or a bike, and is using it to keep up with the leaders but Midoriya…”
He looks nervously towards where he can see Midoriya, a significant distance behind even Yaoyorozu.
“Do you think he’ll use it?” Nedzu asks discreetly.
Kyouka looks at the principal with surprise, but neither Nemuri nor Toshinori reacts.
“I have my ways, Miss Jirou,” Nedzu comments, seeing the look, before turning back to Toshinori expecting an answer.
“He may have to,” Toshinori admits reluctantly. "if he wants to pass,"
Down on the obstacle course, Izuku was beginning to panic, he had just passed the two-kilometre mark and was entering the final third of the course, and he was still trailing behind Momo and the two leaders. Sure, he was ahead of the other two examinees in his head, but he couldn’t settle for fourth. Not when every second on the clock counted. He needed more speed, he needed-
He feels, in the pit of his stomach, a warmth. Subtle, but there. One For All. It had finally transferred.
‘This is it,’ Izuku thinks to himself. ‘If I use One For All now, it should put me ahead of the others, just in time to cross the finish,’
It would also mean overtaking Momo, but Izuku couldn’t worry about that now.
All Might had given him instructions on how to use his quirk. Granted they applied more for punching, but Izuku was certain he could apply the same principle to his legs. If he could channel the energy stockpile of OFA into his legs, he could supercharge his sprint. Launching himself across the course.
So, reaching deep within himself. He follows All Might’s instructions. He clenches his muscles, channels all of the energy he can feel into his legs, pushes off the ground and-
*BOOM*
Up in the observation room, Kyouka is rocked by the sudden explosion of noise. Reflexively she covers her ears. She looks over to where she had last seen Izuku and finds he isn’t there.
“Where is he?” She calls out. “Did Green win?”
“I don’t see him at the finishing line,” Toshinori reports looking towards the end of the obstacle course.
“Look, over there!” One of the other heroes in the room cries pointing across the field to a nearby building, that suddenly has a brand new hole in its side.
“Oh my god,” Nemuri gasps as she realises what’s happened. Izuku must have been launched by OFA off the course, sending him crashing into the building. Immediately she starts running to the exit.
“Nedzu, call Recovery Girl, and tell her to meet me over at that building.” She calls over her shoulder, as Kyouka and Toshinori chase after her. As equally concerned for Izuku’s safety as she was.
Nedzu nods, his cell phone already in his hands as he calls U.A.’s resident medic.
The next thing Izuku is aware of after using One For All is darkness and the sound of voices. He recognises some but not others.
He can hear his mother, she sounds angry and upset. He wonders why. He also wonders what his mother is doing here. She should be at work at the Yaoyorozu estate.
He can hear All Might, or Toshinori, he sounds… regretful? Apologetic? But he can’t think what All Might would have to be apologetic about. After all, he’d helped Izuku and his friends realise their dreams of becoming heroes. He’d even given him his quirk.
He can hear Midnight, Momo’s Aunt. She sounds placatory and calming. Most likely trying to calm down his mother. Again he wonders why his mother is so angry.
And then he hears the only two voices that mean more to him than even his mother. Momo and Kyouka. They sound closer than the adult voices. Like they’re standing next to him. And unlike the adults, he can make out what they’re saying.
“Hang in there Izuku,” Momo croons.
“You’re a stubborn guy, Green, you’ll make it,” Kyouka encourages.
They both sounded worried, and Izuku didn’t like that. He didn’t want people to be worried for him. So with all he can muster he tries to talk.
“Mo-mo…? Ky-ou-ka..?”
He can hear two sharp intakes of breath from his friends. Before they both start calling over the adults.
“Midoriya, can you open your eyes for me?” an elderly woman’s voice asks from the opposite side to Momo and Kyouka.
“Who…?” Izuku begins to ask.
“My name is Recovery Girl, U.A.’s head nurse,” The woman replies.
‘Recovery Girl?’ Izuku recognises the name and it’s like a switch in his brain was switched on.
His eyes shoot open with their familiar green glow, and he jerks upright from where he's laying on a hospital bed.
“Ohmygoshyou’rereallyrecoverygirl,” He begins to mutter, looking at the short, grey-haired, pro-hero in a doctor’s coat next to him. “youhaveoneofthestrongesthealingquirkswithoutyou-”
“Huh, that was easy,” Momo comments as Izuku continues to ramble.
“And yet entirely unsurprising,” Kyouka says with a teasing smile, “Maybe we should have told him Endeavour was here, that would’ve woken up in an instant.”
Izuku stops mid-mutter-spree to turn to face his friends. “Endeavour was here?” he asks, his eyes still glowing.
“Yes,” Momo says in a muted tone, “His son was also taking the recommendation exam, he was the one with the red and white hair,”
“Oh,” Izuku says as he recalls the boy with ice powers. As he thinks back to the race he suddenly remembers that he had used One For All and then… and then he had woken up in what was presumably U.A.’s nurse’s office. “What… happened?” He asks.
“You crashed into a wall, young Midoriya,” Toshinori answers, his face the picture of regret. “It seems when you used my quirk, you lost control and flew off the course.”
“Oh,” Izuku says dumbly realising the full magnitude of what happened.
“I am deeply sorry my boy,” Toshinori drops to his knees by Izuku’s bedside and bows at the waist in apology. “My rash decision and desperation to find a successor put both your body and your future at risk. If you would wish for me to no longer be your mentor, I will accept your decision.”
Izuku, as well as Momo and Kyouka, are taken aback by Toshinori’s actions, and Izuku immediately jumps out of bed, much to Recovery Girl’s unheard objections. He crouches next to All Might.
“That’s alright All Might, I don’t blame you for what happened. You’ve done a lot for me and my friends already, I’d like you to keep being my mentor.”
“My boy…” Toshinori begins as he rises from his kneeling, “You forgive too easily, especially after my actions ruined your first chance to get into U.A.”
“I suppose that’s my fault,” Inko says with a sigh, “I raised him too well, he’s certainly more forgiving than I am, you’re lucky Midnight vouched for you,”
“Yes ma’am,” Toshinori gulps nervously. Not wanting to relive the chewing out he’d just received from the Midoriya matriarch.
“And you!” Inko turns to face her son, the tone in her voice making him stand up straight, “The next time someone, anyone, tells you to meet them somewhere alone, early in the morning, tell me. Okay?”
“Y-Yes Mum,” Izuku bows his head, “S-sorry for worrying you,”
“That’s alright Izuku,” Inko’s tone softens as she embraces her son in a hug, “I’m just glad you’re alright.”
“Yes, Mr. Midoriya’s survival of that crash is quite spectacular,” a new voice says and the two Midoriyas separate to see the white-furred principal of U.A. with a tablet in his hands.
“You’re the principal of U.A.” Izuku gasps in awe.
“Indeed, I am,” the chimaera replies. “I may be a bear, I may be a rat, but I am most certainly the principal. And I must say, while you did not pass the recommendation exam, your performance was certainly eye-catching. For two reasons. The first is your survival, which I can only assume is thanks to One For All. But more interestingly was the initial incident that caused the crash.”
“you mean when I actually used One For All?” Izuku asks, and Nedzu nods.
“I decided to review the footage of the exam, just to see what exactly caused you to spin so far off course, and I think I found the answer.” Nedzu turns on his tablet and taps it a few times to bring up a blurred still from footage of the obstacle course. “Unfortunately, the image is blurred due to the speed you were moving, but if you’d all care to look at Mr Midoriya’s feet-”
Nedzu hands the tablet to Izuku and everyone else crowds around him, to peer over his shoulder. They look to where Nedzu had directed them, and as they do they are surprised by what they find.
“Are… are those wheels?” Momo asks.
Indeed, it was as Momo had stated, though the image was blurry, they could all make out what looked like wheels forming out of the bottom of Izuku’s feet.
“It can’t be…” Inko mutters, “Unless…” Her mind goes back to over 15 years ago, on Takoba Beach.
“It would certainly explain why Midoriya’s shoes got destroyed,” Toshinori comments, prompting Izuku to look down at his feet and realise, for the first time since he awoke, that he was barefoot.
“Aww,” he groans, “I liked those shoes,”
“I’m sure we can find you a new pair,” Momo pats him on the back reassuringly.
“But… how exactly did Izuku suddenly spawn wheels?” Kyouka asks, “Also, where are they now?”
Reflexively, everyone looks down at Izuku’s exposed feet, which are currently just normal, human, feet.
“Perhaps it’s related to One For All,” Momo guesses, “The wheels only appeared when Izuku used One For All, and now that he isn’t…” she gestures to Izuku’s feet again, and Izuku feels the need to reflexively wiggle them.
“The evidence does seem to support that,” Nedzu says in agreement.
“But All Might’s never sprouted wheels before,” Kyouka points out.
“No, I’m fairly certain I’d remember that,” Toshinori says, “But, One for All can enhance the preexisting quirks of its users. My mentor's quirk was float. She told me that before she received One for All, she could only move vertically by a few meters. But with One for All she could practically fly.”
“Only Izuku’s quirk doesn’t have anything to do with wheels or technology.” Nemuri highlights.
“No… it doesn’t,” Inko mutters in agreement, her brain working at 100 miles per hour. She had a strong suspicion as to what had caused Izuku’s reaction, but it couldn’t be… that had been a lifetime ago. More precisely, that had been Izuku’s lifetime ago.
“Well, I guess there’s only one way to know for sure,” Izuku says resolutely, “I just have to use One for All again.” He clenches his fists, ready to use All Might’s quirk again. But before he can, he’s stopped by outcries from everyone in the room, telling him to stop. One of the most prominent is Recovery Girl.
“Don’t you dare young man!” She scolds him, moving around the hospital bed to whack Izuku in the shins with her cane. “You already put one hole in a building around here, I won’t have you destroying my office as well.”
“Oh, sorry,” Izuku apologises while nursing his bruised shin.
“If you want to test your new quirk, go take it outside,” The hero nurse says before pointing to the door with her cane.
“Better yet,” Momo chimes in, “Perhaps we should take this back to my family’s estate. That way you can practice in private with plenty of space,” she suggests. “After all, we are supposed to be keeping this quirk's existence a secret, correct?” she directs that last part at Toshinori, who nods.
“So long as Recovery Girl is fine with you leaving,” Toshinori says.
“He’s fine to go,” she says, with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Barely a scratch on him.”
“Well, then,” Toshinori says, “I should probably come with you then, help you figure this out. Midnight, are you coming?”
“Obviously.” The R-rated hero replies, “You’ll need atleast one competent adult present.”
“I’ll join you as well,” Inko says, with the way things were progressing, certain truths were about to come to light, and if they did, she wanted to be there for Izuku. “The Yaoyorozus have given me the rest of the day off to tend to Izuku, so I’m going to make sure he stays okay.”
“That's fair,” Toshinori concedes.
So, after bidding farewell to Recovery Girl and Principal Nedzu. The assembled groups of adults and children make their way to the U.A. parking lot and leave the campus in their own vehicles. Momo, Izuku, and Kyouka ride together in the Yaoyorozu family car. While Inko, Nemuri, and Toshinori all ride in their personal vehicles.
But as the four-car convoy leaves the school campus, none of them notices a rider on a pink and white motorcycle following them.
Once the convoy reaches the Yaoyorozu Estate, the three teens and their adult chaperones all congregate on the lawn at the back of the Yaoyorozu estate, where they are covered on all sides by either the mansion or large rows of trees.
“Okay,” Momo says once they’re all gathered, “If we are to replicate the results, we first need to duplicate the scenario,”
“Right,” Izuku nods in agreement, “Which involves me using One for All to try and run.”
“If you don’t mind,” Momo says, as she uses her quirk to make a notebook and pencil, “Could you talk us through what you did... before you actually do it.”
“Um… sure,” Izuku agrees, uncertain, but trusting his friend’s methods. “It was kind of simple really, all I did was follow All Might’s instruction. I kinda just tensed my muscles, channelled All for One into my legs and then… jumped.”
Momo stops writing mid-sentence. “That’s it?” She asks, one eyebrow raised sceptically. A look that is mimicked on the faces of everyone else there bar Izuku and Toshinori.
“Um.. yeah,” Izuku shrugs helplessly. “I mean, All Might’s instructions were ‘Clench your butt cheeks kid and yell smash from the bottom of your heart,”
Everyone around Izuku freezes and you could have heard pin drop in the ensuing silence as Momo and Kyouka look at their friend in utter disbelief. While Inko and Nemuri both glare up at Toshinori.
Eventually, the silence is broken by Kyouka’s hysterical laughter. “PFFF-hahaha, seriously? He actually said that?” Kyouka says between fits of laughter, “All Might, the number one hero, legitimately said, ‘clench your butt cheeks’?” She doubles over again in a fit of laughter. While Momo continues to look dumbstruck and Izuku looks confused.
“Well… did you?” Inko asks icily. “Did you tell my son, after handing him your quirk, to use it by, quote, ‘clenching his butt cheeks and yelling smash’?” Her earlier concerns surrounding her son fade temporarily as her frustration with his teacher returns.
“I… may have said words to those effects,” Toshinori admits as he sweats bullets under Inko’s interrogation.
“Unbelievable,” Midnight groans pinching the bridge of her nose, ‘I can’t believe Nedzu actually plans on hiring,’ she thinks to herself. “Okay so, it looks like we have a lot of work ahead of us to help Izuku master One for All.”
“Agreed,” Momo says, having finally shaken herself from her daze of disbelief. “But… I think I may have solved one mystery atleast.”
“You have?” Izuku asks, as everyone focuses on Momo, who nods in answer to Izuku’s question.
“I can’t answer why it gave you wheels, but I think I know why you lost control.” Momo replies. “you said you channelled all of One for All into your legs, correct?”
Izuku nods.
“I think that’s the issue. One for All is a stockpile of energy dating back to the dawn of quirks. That’s over a century of accumulated energy, and you focused all of it in your legs. Frankly, it’s a miracle you only lost control, that much power should have shattered your legs.”
“But… I needed to use my legs,” Izuku argues, “So that’s where I channelled the energy.”
“Yes,” says Momo patiently, “But you can’t focus all the energy in one place. It’s like…” she thinks for a second before coming up with an apt analogy. “It’s like an electrical circuit. Say you’re a house, and the different parts of your body, are different appliances. You want to turn on the lights in your house, so you focus all the current from the mains into the lightbulbs. Except, when you do that, the bulbs all burst, or the fuses all blow because the current is too high. In this case, you have either one of two solutions. One, reduce the amount of current going through the circuit, or two…” she trails off hoping Izuku would realise what she’s getting at.
And he does.
“You could add more circuits in parallel,” Izuku realises, remembering what he had learned in middle school science. “You’re saying, if I spread One for All throughout my entire body, it should lessen the amount of energy going into each limb.”
“Hypothetically speaking,” Momo states.
“I guess that makes sense,” Kyouka adds, “Whenever you see All Might in his buff form, his entire body is puffed up, not just his legs and arms.”
“Oh… yeah,” Izuku says dumbly.
‘How can someone so smart be so clueless,’ Kyouka thinks to herself.
“Well it’s worth trying out using your whole body,” says Nemuri, “Our priority should be getting you to be able to use One For All safely, and then we can figure out the mystery of the wheels.”
“I suppose that’s the ‘wheel’ mystery here,” Izuku says with a grin. Earning a groan from the gathered group before he takes a few steps back from them, giving himself room to activate his quirk.
He then begins channelling the power of One for All, not in a specific limb, but throughout his entire body. As he does so, unnoticed by everyone else, a woman, with blonde hair, dressed in bright pink and white biker leathers hides in the bushes, watching the proceedings. The woman watches unblinking as Izuku begins glowing with energy, before, to the surprise of everyone including herself, his skin begins to flake away, revealing metal underneath. As that happens Izuku also seems to grow taller. Passing Momo, Midnight, and eventually Toshinori in height, till he stands at 10 feet tall.
By the time the glow fades, Izuku has completely changed. No longer is he a short, scrawny, 15-year-old boy. Instead, his appearance has become more mechanical, more robotic. His skin is now a plain silvery metal, almost like a metal mannequin. Gone is his skin, his hair, anything remotely organic. The only defining features that remain on his face are four dots where his freckles once were and his eyes, which are still solid green, but now more mechanical.
In the bushes, the blonde woman recoils in surprise, “A protoform?” She utters in disbelief, “But it can’t be… that’s what the energy signal was?”
Back in the group standing around Izuku, all five of them look up at the boy-turned-robot in surprise.
“Izuku?” Momo utters breathlessly.
“My boy…” Toshinori is likewise at a loss for words
“Green, are you good?” Kyouka calls out, while Inko just stares, wide-eyed, not saying anything.
The robot Izuku blinks several times before looking around himself, dazed and confused, before looking down at his friends, mentors, and mother.
“Guys?” He asks, initially confused as to why they’re so small, before looking at his hands, now chunky metal digits. His eyes grow wide with fear and he takes a few involuntary steps back.
“Wh- what- What happened to me? What happened to my body?” He cries out, his pitch increasing with fear as he speaks. Izuku keeps backpedalling, but now in his heavier robotic body, his coordination suffers, and he ends up tripping backwards, landing on his butt on the Yaoyorozu’s lawn.
“H-how did this happen?” He asks staring at his hands and body as the others rush to gather around him.
Inko opens her mouth to speak, finally deciding to tell the truth when she is interrupted by the sudden appearance of the blonde woman who had been hiding in the Yaoyorozu’s bushes.
“I believe I can help,” She says slowly crossing the lawn towards Izuku and the group surrounding him.
As soon as they are aware of the woman’s presence all five of the people surrounding Izuku spring to his defence.
All Might immediately puffs up into his buff form as Midnight draws her whip and Momo summons a staff with her quirk, while Kyouka raises her jacks threateningly.
Even Inko places herself between Izuku and the strange woman.
“What did you do to him?!” All Might demands with his fists clenched and raised.
The woman raises her hands in a non-threatening gesture of peace. “I’ve done nothing to him. I promise. I was simply tracking a strange energy signal. I first tracked it to the school, and then I followed it here.”
“One for All?” Midnight whispers to All Might out of the corner of her mouth.
“Must be,” All Might replies in kind. “What else?”
All Might then turns back to address the blonde woman.
“And you can explain what happened to young Midoriya?” he asks and the woman pulls an uncertain expression.
“Not exactly,” The woman admits, “Truthfully, I’ve never seen anything like what just happened before. But I can tell you what you are.”
“And why should we believe you?” Kyouka asks.
“Because we’re the same, me and him,” the point gestures to herself and Izuku.
All five of the people standing between Izuku and the woman slowly turn to look back at Izuku before slowly turning back to look at the woman sceptically.
“I think you might be missing a few inches,” Kyouka snarks.
“You need proof? That’s fair,” The woman shrugs before the sound of a motorcycle engine fills the air. The group of five plus Izuku look around to try and find where the noise is coming from. They find out a second later when a pink and white motorcycle, identical to the woman’s leathers, rips through the bushes the woman had initially appeared from.
The bike pulls up next to the woman and that’s when they all notice that the bike has no rider. It had driven itself through the bushes.
“Observe,” the woman says before her entire body disappears, surprising everyone present.
“She teleported?” Kyouka asks.
“No, it was a hologram,” Momo realises, “There was a brief flicker before she disappeared, like a video feed being interrupted.”
“Correct,” The woman’s voice replies, seemingly coming from the riderless motorbike. And before they know it, the bike begins shifting and changing before the group’s very eyes. The wheels retract and the front of the bike folds up as arms and legs begin forming from the bike’s frame, before eventually, a head appears. All in all, she stands at roughly the same height as Izuku.
Once the bike finishes transforming into a robot, it kneels before the group to talk to them.
“My name is Arcee,” The robot speaks gently with the blonde woman’s voice, “I am an Autobot from the planet Cybertron.”
“C-Cybertron?” Izuku repeats, “Are you saying you’re an alien?!” He exclaims, before realising the full implication of Arcee’s earlier statement, “Wait… are you saying I’m an alien?”
“That is correct,” Arcee nods her head.
“But- but I’m human,” Izuku protests, still prone on the ground. “I was born, on Earth, I have mom, she’s right there,”
Izuku gestures with one hand to Inko. But when he looks at his mother, she won’t meet his gaze, instead, she casts her eyes to the ground.
“Mom…?” Izuku begins hesitantly.
“I…” Inko begins but she falters, unsure how to start. She looks up at her now giant son and sees the fear and uncertainty in his eyes. Izuku needed to know the truth.
“I am your mother, Izuku” Inko says with certainty, “And I always will be, but I didn’t give birth to you.”
Izuku recoils involuntarily, as Inko continues.
“It’s time I told you the truth.”
Next time on The Quirk in our Sparks
The true origin of Izuku Midoriya
A Crash course in alien robot reproduction
And the start of a new life as a 10-foot-tall robot.
In 'Recalibration'.
Notes:
It's finally here.
Both the new chapter and Transformers: One in UK cinemas.
But seeing as we are avoiding spoilers here, we shall only talk about the chapter you've just (hopefully) read.
Some significant details to cover in this.
First off, Izuku now has OFA, (yay). And as some of you in the comments of previous chapters correctly guessed it was indeed the use of OFA that triggered Izuku's transformation (ha) into a cybertronian.
Why did it do that?
That's a mystery for a later date.
For now, Izuku is now a cybertronian. and he knows that thanks to our first Autobot (after the prologue): Arcee. Who is taking Bumblebee's spot as 'the introductory Autobot' and will be serving as Izuku's Autobot mentor for the time being? (Thank goodness she's a former teacher in some continuities.)
More about Arcee's presence on earth should hopefully be explained next chapter, along with Inko's tale of IZuku's 'birth'. I did debate whether to include it in this chapter, but I liked the way this chapter was ending and felt opening the next one with a flashback to Izuku's 'birth' would be good. So, yeah.
The other thing I want to highlight is the girl who talked to Izuku and Momo during the entrance exam. Kate Lethbridge-Stewart. She is not an OC. For those not familiar with her, she is a character from the TV show Doctor Who. I will say little else about her for now. For those of you questioning why a character from Doctor Who is appearing in a Transformers crossover fic, it's because back in the 80s, the UK Transformers Marvel comics 'technically' shared a continuity with Doctor Who thanks to a certain 'freelance peacekeeping agent' called Death's Head who had run-ins with both the Transformers and the 7th Doctor.
This means I can use UNIT as the 'human military agency'. Make a change from NEST, Sector Seven, or the US Military/FBI/CIA.
Does this mean the Brigadeer will be making an appearance?
Possibly.
Anyway, till next time.
The_Spartan_Sangheili.
Chapter 8: Recalibration
Summary:
Izuku learns his true origins, and forces across the galaxy begin to notice Earth.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
TAKOBA BEACH, MUSUTAFU
15th JULY, 15 YEARS AGO
It was a beautiful sunny day in the middle of summer in Takoba National Park. The sun was out, not a cloud in the sky, and a cool breeze was blowing.
But none of that mattered to recently single Inko Midoriya. To her, it could be lashing down with rain, and she wouldn’t care. Though if it were raining, she’d probably be back in her apartment, rather than out here on the beach.
But she liked the beach, she’d been coming here since she was a child. And one day she’d have liked to have brought her own child here.
And that was the whole problem.
A month ago, she had been lying in bed with her boyfriend, Hisashi, and she had brought up the idea of starting a family. However, that conversation had gone south quickly as Hisashi had announced that he had received a promotion at his job, which would involve a transfer to the USA. He expressed his desire to focus on his career while he was young.
In the end, Inko and Hisashi had realised that their aims in life were too different right now and that Hisashi just couldn’t give Inko the life she wanted, so he had dumped her. Inko had tried to push for a long-distance relationship. But Hisashi made it clear he just didn’t want that; he didn’t want to be tied down by a family.
Two weeks later he left for America, and here Inko was, still missing her boyfriend and lamenting the future she would never have with him.
As Inko trudges through the sand, she feels her phone vibrating in her pocket. She takes it out and Inko sighs as she sees that Mitsuki is trying to call her.
She hadn’t seen her best friend since Mitsuki had given birth to her son Katsuki several months ago. It had been the birth of Mitsuki’s son that had first prompted Inko to consider having a child of her own. She looks down at her phone again and debates whether to actually answer it.
Inko assumes Mitsuki has heard about the breakup between her and Hisashi and was calling to reassure her, in her own way. But honestly, Inko wasn’t in the mood to deal with Mitsuki’s particularly loud brand of encouragement. Especially as it would likely involve Mitsuki tearing into Hisashi just to make Inko feel better, and Inko wasn’t sure she could cope with that right now, her feelings for Hisashi were… complicated.
So, rather than deal with her boisterous best friend, Inko decides to decline the call, before replacing the phone in her skirt pocket.
With the momentary distraction gone, Inko continues to plod through the sand. Occasionally she would pass small pieces of trash, a rubber tyre here, a dented microwave there, but like the rest of her surroundings, she doesn’t pay much attention to them. Someone else would eventually get around to cleaning them up.
Such little attention does Inko pay to her surroundings that about 10 minutes after Mitsuki tries to call her, she ends up catching her foot on something hard in the sand, sending her falling face first into the beach, causing her to ingest a mouthful of sand.
“Bleh, pfft, ack,” Inko sputters as she immediately tries to push herself off of the beach, spitting out sand as she does, “What on earth-?” She begins as she turns to sit on her backside to see what she tripped over.
The green-haired woman looks back along she had been walking, to roughly where her foot had gotten caught, and she can see a faint glint of metal poking exposed above the sand.
Crawling on her hands and knees, Inko approaches the metal, it’s a blueish silver, polished smooth, and slightly curved. Clearly, whatever she had tripped over was buried deeper in the sand. Both out of a sense of curiosity as to what had tripped her, and a responsibility to make sure someone else doesn’t trip over it, Inko decides to uncover the object, using her quirk, Attraction of Small Objects, to pull out clumps of sand.
It takes her about 5 minutes to fully uncover the object, but once she does, she finds that it’s a metal pod, shaped like an egg and about the size of a coffee table. The pod is made of completely smooth, polished metal except for a rectangular groove in the surface outlining a hatch.
Curious as to what exactly this round metal pod was, Inko rests a hand on its surface. As soon as she does the pod begins to light up; a pattern of lines and circles like a circuit board begins to glow blue along the surface of the pod before the rectangular hatch on the pod lifts open.
There’s a faint hiss as the pod unseals, and as the hatch opens, Inko can barely believe what she sees before her. Sitting inside the pod, laid completely flat, like a doll, is a small silver body. It’s roughly the size of a baby, but Inko is hesitant to call it that, as proportionally it’s closer to a miniature man, like a silver artist’s mannequin.
Inko is initially taken aback by the sight, what was this thing? How did it get here? Presumably, it had been washed ashore by the currents that also brought in the various pieces of trash. But where had it come from originally? And, again, what was it? A robot? A statue?
Going against her better judgment, Inko reaches to pick up the strange silver mannequin. But as soon as she touches the object, it begins to glow, causing Inko to recoil, but even as she removes her hands from it, the figure continues to glow, before eventually it starts changing, morphing, like clay. Slowly, the figure’s body changes, transforming from its skinny mannequin shape to the more familiar, chubby, shape of a human baby.
Inko looks down at the silvery baby, and her confusion only deepens. Hesitantly, she reaches out to the silvery figure once more, a small part of her wondering (and hoping) if her wishes were being finally granted. Like last time, as soon as she picks up the silver baby, it begins to change again. However, instead of changing shape, its appearance changes. Its skin turns from a shiny silver to a pale tan, similar to Inko's. And like Inko, it grows green hair out of its bald head. Within under a minute, Inko goes from holding a silvery metal baby to a child that could have been mistaken as her own.
Inko looks down at the baby’s cute, round, face, notices the freckles on the child’s cheeks, and wonders how she got so lucky. Here she was, holding the very thing she’d wanted. A child.
She suddenly shakes her head violently, clearing those thoughts from her mind.
“Be serious Inko,” She says to herself aloud, “You’re a single woman, and you don’t even know who this baby belongs to, or where it came from.”
And yet… she had found it him on the beach, abandoned amongst trash. Clearly whoever made or created him, didn’t want him. And what else was she going to do? Put the baby up for adoption? She was fairly certain that this baby wasn’t normal. It certainly seemed obvious to her that the child wasn’t human. If he was taken in by another family who didn’t know who or what he was, who knows what would happen? If there was even one wrong incident, the baby might be taken away to be studied. At least if she kept him, she could give him a normal life, or normal enough.
She looks back down again at the baby, just in time to see him open his eyes, revealing that they’re solid green, with no pupils and black sclera. A second after his eyes open, he lets out a deafening wail, causing Inko to wince. If she weren’t holding the baby in her hands, she would have instantly covered her ears.
Immediately she begins trying to calm the baby by gently rocking it, humming a gentle melody to him as she does so, to no avail. As she tries to quiet her newfound child, she feels her phone begin to vibrate again.
Groaning to herself, Inko awkwardly shifts her new son into her left arm, cradling him, as she takes out her phone with her right hand. The baby continues to wail as she sees that it’s Mitsuki trying to call her once more, and it’s at that moment that she realises several things:
- She can’t do this completely on her own.
- She has to find some way to explain her newfound baby.
- She has to give her new child a name.
As she quickly scrambles to think of an explanation and a name for her son, she presses the accept button on her phone, holding the phone up to her ear.
“Hey, Mitsuki,” she says in greeting.
THE YAOYOROZU ESTATE,
3RD JANUARY, 2224 (PRESENT-DAY)
“About 15 minutes later, Mitsuki and Masaru picked me up from the beach,” Inko says as she finishes her story.
The green-haired mother looks up at the faces all around her. Her son, his friends, their mentors, and the new arrival, Arcee. All of them were staring at Inko with expressions of shock, surprise, and in Izuku’s case, hurt.
“Did they know?” Izuku says after a few seconds of silence, and Inko turns to look at Izuku with a puzzled expression on her face, so he clarifies. “The Bakugous… did they know about… this?” Izuku gesticulates in the air with one hand.
Immediately Inko shakes her head, “No, I told them I gave birth to you on the beach,”
“And they believed that?” Nemuri asks, sceptical that the blonde woman she’d met several years ago would believe such a flimsy story.
“I doubt it,” Inko replies, “But given the strong resemblance between me and baby Izuku at the time, I don’t think they had any reason to doubt he wasn’t mine, only that I was hiding the circumstances of his birth… which I guess I had. If they didn’t believe me, then they never said anything. I guess that speaks to the friendship we had back then.”
“I guess it does, especially considering that you would have shown no previous sign of being pregnant,” Momo points out.
“Well, I had been putting on some weight at the time…” Inko mutters to herself.
“But why… why hide this from me?” Izuku begs, shifting his position from where he had fallen on his back to kneeling before his mother, though he still towered over her.
Inko sighs, “I’m sorry Izuku,” She says looking him directly in the eyes, her tone sincere, “I only kept the truth from you so you could grow up with a normal childhood, one where you wouldn’t feel different, or outcast, because of what you were.” She lets out a single humourless chuckle, “Though I guess you did end up still being different, but that was because of who you are, not what you are.”
Izuku lets out a deep sigh as he thinks over his mother’s words, for he still considers Inko as his mother, even if she isn’t biologically. He could tell that his mother was sincere in her apology and that she never meant to hurt him. And if Izuku was honest, had she hurt him?
Yes, she had lied, or certainly hidden the truth, about his birth. But he had never had any indication to think that she was lying. Instead, it was as she had said, she had given him a normal childhood. Well, mostly normal. Certainly, more normal than he’d have otherwise had if the truth about what he was, was known.
But as Izuku thinks about that, another thought comes to him and he turns to Arcee, getting up off the ground as he does so.
“So, what exactly am I?” He asks, and Arcee’s head jerks up at the question, having previously been deep in thought herself.
“As I said earlier, we’re from the planet Cybertron,” Arcee replies. “If you’re asking about our species, we refer to ourselves as Cybertronians, but the galaxy at large calls us Transformers.”
“Transformers?” Izuku repeats questioningly.
“Presumably it has something to do with the fact that you were a motorcycle a few minutes ago.” Kyouka comments, to which Arcee nods.
“Correct,” The pink robot says, turning back to Izuku, “Our species, even amongst other inorganic races, possesses the unique ability to transform into vehicles, as you saw earlier.”
“Cool,” Izuku’s eyes light up briefly, and even Momo and Kyouka are intrigued by the sound of that, “Does that mean I can transform as well?”
“Not just yet,” Arcee cautions, “You’re still in the protoform stage of development, and by the sounds and looks of it your growth has been somewhat… tampered with.”
“This is all my fault, isn’t it?” Inko worries, “This is all because I touched that… metal pod,”
Arcee wiggles her head from side to side in an uncertain gesture. “Yes and no,” The pink robot drops to one knee to address Inko. “What you found on the beach that day, I believe, was sparkling,”
“A sparkling?” Inko repeats, not understanding.
Arcee nods, “Yes. Because we’re an inorganic species, cybertronians do not, cannot, reproduce as organic species can. It is generally considered one of the biggest flaws of our cyberbiology. Instead, new cybertronians are created in special places on Cybertron called ‘hotspots’. In these hotspots, sparks are formed within a small ball of sentio metallico, the living metal that forms our bodies. These balls are collected by specially designated bots and placed in pods where the sparks can begin to shape the ball of metal around it, forming an initial body. These are what we call sparklings, the first stage of a Cybertronian’s life. The sparkling then begins to grow and mould its body into a protoform, which is in essence an adolescent Cybertronian. Once fully grown, the protoform will then develop the necessary features for its alt-mode, its vehicle mode. Wings, wheels, engines, doors, whatever kibble it may need to properly transform. After that, the fully grown bot emerges from its pod, ready to begin integration into Cybertron society.”
“So then, what happened to Izuku,” Inko asks, “Why, when I picked up that… sparkling, did it turn into my son?”
Arcee hums, “Truthfully, I don’t know, I’m not an expert on the reproduction of our species, I mean, I know more than most, I used to be a teacher before the war, but at a guess…” She hums in thought again, “Our species, as a whole, is, at its spark, adaptable, we’re designed to be able to transform. It is generally theorised that a sparkling’s alt-mode and form can be influenced by the bots that handle them during harvesting and incubation. It’s possible, that upon encountering an organic being for the first time, the sparkling simply… adapted. It had no other template to go off of, other than you.”
“So, does that mean Ms Midoriya is Izuku’s mother after all?” Momo asks, looking for a way to comfort her friend. “I mean, if she donated her genetic material for the sparkling to create his organic part, that means that she still, sort of, gave birth to him.”
“Yeah, his eyes and hair, they could have only come from Ms Midoriya,” Kyouka adds.
“I guess so,” Arcee says in agreement, “Though I’m still not totally sure what exactly happened on that beach 15 years ago, nor am I sure what happened to reverse the effect, causing your body to restore itself to its proper form.”
The 5 humans on the lawn, plus Izuku, all exchange knowing looks. But decide not to say anything for now.
“So, what now?” Izuku asks, “Do I have to go back to Cybertron with you? Have you come to take me back?” He desperately hopes she says no, he doesn’t want to leave his friends and his mother behind.
Luckily, Arcee immediately shakes her head dispelling her fears. “Frankly, I don’t know what to do with you. There haven’t been any new Cybertronians in over a thousand years. And it’s been millions of years since we’ve had any new protoforms. Not to mention it’s impossible for us to return to Cybertron.”
“What, why?” Izuku asks.
Arcee sighs, and gestures for Izuku to sit, so he does before she too takes a seat on the Yaoyorozu’s lawn, opposite him.
“Over 4 million years ago, by your calendar, war broke out on Cybertron, when a revolutionary called Megatron overthrew the senate and killed Sentinel Prime, the leader of Cybertron at the time. The reasons for why he did it are… complicated, and best left to others to explain, but the long story short is that he led his army of dissidents, called the Decepticons to take over Cybertron. But they didn’t succeed at first. A bot rose up to stand against him, called Optimus Prime, leading a group called the Autobots. They fought valiantly against the Decepticons, but in the end, it was too much. The Autobots ended up fleeing the planet, taking refuge amongst the stars, on Cybertron’s colonies, uninhabited worlds, and even hiding amongst the populace of organic civilisations. Since then, we’ve been fighting the deceptions with the eventual goal of liberating Cybertron.”
“A noble cause indeed,” Toshinori says with grim approval, this ‘Megatron’ sounded an awful lot like his old foe, All For One, they certainly had the same megalomaniacal ambitions.
“Is that why you’re here then?” Momo asks “Hiding?”
Arcee shakes her head, “More like advance recon, I’m part of the Autobot Intelligence Corps, my mission is to land on organic worlds and keep an eye out for Decepticon infiltrators and Energon deposits.”
“Energon?” Izuku asks.
“The lifeblood of all sentient machines,” Arcee replies, “It’s our fuel source, both for us and our technology.”
“Right, because robots would need fuel, not food,” Momo reasons.
“More or less,” says the pink and white robot. “And after 4 million years of fighting, it’s become rare.”
“Oh,” Izuku says glumly, “So if we can’t go home, what’s going to happen to me?”
“Well, that’s entirely your choice,” Arcee says with a reassuring smile, “The Autobot cause is founded on the belief that freedom is the right of all sentient beings, if you want to join the Autobot cause, you can. But should you wish to remain on this planet, you are free to do so.”
“Yes,” Izuku replies instantly, as cool as exploring space would be, this was his home. “But does this mean I have to hide myself like you do,”
Arcee opens her mouth but then realises that she actually isn’t the best person to answer that question, so she turns to look at the obvious adults amongst the 5 organics. “Well, does he?” She asks.
“Not necessarily,” Toshinori rubs his chin as he thinks, looking at Nemuri for her opinion, “We could, theoretically, claim that you had a quirk awakening, your quirk is already listed as a mutation type, so this would just be an extension of that. Albeit, an extreme extension.”
“We can always get Nedzu to work his bureaucratic magic with the paperwork,” Nemuri adds, “He’ll need to know about all… this, anyway,” the off-duty hero teacher gestures vaguely at both Izuku and Arcee.
“And given that there are no Decepticons on this planet, you don’t need to hide from them either,” Arcee adds, “So if you wish to remain as you are, you can,”
“Except you can’t fit into most places being that big,” Momo points out, “Our home, your home, school, U.A.”
“Actually, he’d fit in U.A., Momo” Nemuri interjects, “We try to be as accommodating to as many different quirks as possible, including those that increase a person's size… within reason of course, but Izuku, could theoretically attend U.A. as he is,”
“That still doesn’t solve everywhere else though,” Izuku argues before he remembers what Arcee did earlier, “Oh, I know, I can do that thing you did earlier when you were human, but then you disappeared,” He says excitedly to Arcee, pointing at her, “I can do that too, right?”
Arcee chuckles at the junior bot’s excitement “Heh, yes, you can. Every cybertronian has a holomatter generator that can produce a holoform, it’s a necessary part of maintaining our disguise, after all, self-driving vehicles aren’t exactly common, certainly not on this planet.”
“That is such a weird thing to refer to casually,” Toshinori mutters, “Not on this planet,” he quotes.
“So, how do I turn on my holoform?!” Izuku asks eagerly, and Arcee holds up her hands in a gesture for Izuku to calm down.
“Whoa, pump the brakes young bot, first we need to finish your development into a fully grown cybertronian, which means you need an alt mode,”
If there had been any lingering doubts that the giant silvery robot was in fact Izuku, they were dispelled by the look of pure joy on Izuku’s face and the green glow in his eyes.
“So how do we do that?” He asks, still beaming.
“It’s actually quite simple really,” Arcee explains, “Although you weren’t formed with a natural alt mode, you should still possess the ability to scan one for yourself.”
“Scan?” Izuku repeats questioningly, tilting his head to one side.
Arcee nods, “Its generally typical for cybertronians to scan the local technology to adapt our alt modes, so we can better fit in, after all a human motorcycle would look significantly different to my cybertronian alt mode.”
“Oh, yeah,” Izuku and the five humans all realise the truth of that statement.
“So, I can just scan any vehicle?” Izuku asks, and Arcee wiggles her head from side to side.
“Within reason, you have to scan an alt-mode that matches your body size and shape. You, for example, are on the smaller and leaner end of the spectrum, like myself. So I’d recommend either a small four-wheeler or a two-wheeler, like myself.”
“Okay,” Izuku nods absently as he begins to think, “Could I just scan your alt-mode and copy that?”
Arcee shakes her head, “Afraid not, it has to be the original machine,”
“Oh,” Izuku deflates slightly, till he has another idea, so he turns to face his mom “I suppose I could always scan your car... if you don’t mind.” He says.
Inko shakes her head, “Anything I can do to help you Izuku,” She says.
“Or~r,” Momo chimes in as an idea hits her, “You could use Dennis’s motorcycle,”
Everyone looks at Momo curiously, except Inko and Nemuri, who know what Momo is talking about.
“Dennis has a motorcycle?” Izuku asks, confused as to how he never heard about this before.
“He does,” Inko confirms, “He sometimes talks about it when we’re both working in the kitchen,”
“It’s been in his family for generations,” Momo explains, “It’s a British pre-quirk model,” She says as she tries to recall the exact model, “A Triumph Bonneville if I recall, complete with a sidecar,”
“He likes to tinker with it on his days off,” Inko adds.
“That sounds suitable enough,” Arcee nods in approval, “Smaller bots like us benefit more from the agility of two-wheeled alt modes.”
“I’ll go ask Dennis if we can borrow it then,” Momo asks, “Kyouka, could you help me push it,”
Kyouka nods her head and Inko decides to let a hand as well.
“I’ll come with you too,” she says, “He might be more willing to lend you his motorbike if he knows I’ll be with you,”
Momo nods in agreement and Inko and the two girls hurry back across the lawn to the mansion to find the Yaoyorozus’ butler.
They’re gone several minutes and while the others wait, Izuku begins to twiddle his now-mechanical thumbs nervously.
Toshinori notices his student’s reaction and inquires about it.
“Is everything all right, Young Midoriya?” he asks and the robot teen jumps as he’s broken out of his thoughts.
“Huh? Oh… yeah,” Izuku says, still slightly distracted.
Toshinori isn’t convinced by that answer, but considering all that had happened today, he’d be surprised if Midoriya was okay.
Another minute of silence passes before Izuku speaks again, this time addressing Arcee.
“Arcee…” he begins tentatively, and the pink bot gestures for Izuku to go ahead, “You’ve been on… other planets, right?”
Arcee nods.
“And you’ve met other aliens, right?”
Again, Arcee nods wordlessly.
“How easy is it for a cybertronian to be friends with… non-transformers?” Izuku asks, and both Toshinori and Nemuri look at their student with slight concern.
“Depends really,” Arcee replies, “There are many organic worlds out there who openly support the Autobots, there are also many who are neutral towards us, and then there are a select few who will actively kill any cybertronian on sight.”
Izuku nods as he absorbs that information, before asking another question. “And what about if a cybertronian had… 'feelings' for an… ‘organic’ or even multiple ‘organics’,”
Toshinori and Nemuri both instantly exchange glances as they can see where this is going. Ever since Kyouka’s talk with the two of them about her own feelings for her two friends, they had paid closer attention to the behaviour of their three apprentices. And once they had begun actively looking for the signs, they had been obvious. Well, obvious to them, the kids were still seemingly oblivious. Though Kyouka had been paying more attention to Momo since Nemuri hinted about her niece’s feelings, it seemed the punk girl was either totally oblivious, in denial, or just biding her time.
Arcee purses her metallic lips as she considers her answer to Izuku, sensing that this is potentially related to the two human girls that had just left. “Well… it’s not impossible,” She begins cautiously and is instantly rewarded by Izuku letting out a sigh of relief. “I certainly know of atleast one Autobot, Powerglide, who has an organic partner.”
Izuku begins to smile like that was the answer he was hoping for, but Arcee isn’t done. She hates what she’s about to say next, but she has to. It wouldn’t be fair on the young bot to not give him all the facts.
“But,” Arcee continues, interrupting Izuku’s smile, "something to keep in mind is that we as Cybertronians have a long shelf life. I myself was only forged about 100 years before the start of the Great War, 4 million years ago.”
“Oh,” Izuku deflates entirely as the full implications of Arcee’s statement hits him, he was going to outlive his friends and family, everyone he knows.
Arcee sees Izuku’s sullen reaction and decides to lift his spirits. “However, if you have feelings for a certain someone, I’d encourage you to go for it, both of your friends seem like nice femmes,”
In an instant, Izuku’s expression goes from existential dread to teenage embarrassment, “Wha- no- ah- Momo and Kyouka are just my friends, I don’t-” he stammers but is interrupted by Toshinori resting a hand on the sitting bot’s knee
“Young Midoriya, if you have feelings for either Momo or Kyouka, there is nothing wrong with that,”
“I know,” Izuku mumbles, “It’s just…” he trails off as he pokes mindlessly at the ground, “I like them both, equally. And I don’t want to lose them, or make things weird between us,”
Again, Toshinori and Nemuri both exchange looks, that had more or less been Kyouka’s conundrum. They both separately consider hinting to Izuku about his friend’s feelings, but both decide that Izuku has enough on his plate right now. And Toshinori decides the best thing to do is to keep his student’s mind focused elsewhere.
“So, Arcee,” the gaunt blonde addresses the pink robot, “you said before the war on Cybertron you were a teacher, why exactly would robots need teachers?”
Arcee smiles and subtly nods in gratitude to Toshinori. She could recognise what the human was doing and was glad of it. She hadn’t enjoyed telling Izuku about the risks of forming attachments with organics as a Cybertroninan, but it had been necessary, he would have found out sooner or later, but now she wanted to move on from that painful subject and this was the perfect method.
“Simple really,” she says, addressing Toshinori, but keeping an eye on Izuku, “Although cybertronians come online ‘fully grown’, we don’t awaken pre-programmed, although we make look like it, we’re not mindless robots, simply mechanical life-forms. So, after a bot wakes for the first time, they are sent to tutors like me, who teach them the basics of reading, writing, mathematics, Cybertron’s history, etcetera.” Arcee is grateful to see that Izuku’s expression has returned to one of fascinated wonder as she continues to speak.
On the opposite side of the Yaoyorozu estate, at the front entrance of the mansion, the Jirous are being greeted by Ume, having contacted the couple earlier to let them know that their daughter was here after the entrance exam.
“So, how did they do?” Mika asks as the Yaoyorozu matriarch lets her guests in.
Ume’s slight grimace is enough to alert Mika and Kyotoku that something went wrong.
“What happened?” Mika asks, doing her best to hide her worry.
“Apparently, there was an… incident,” Ume says uncertainly, “They didn’t tell me what exactly, but apparently, Izuku crashed on the obstacle course, failing the exam,”
“Oh no” Mika gasps, covering her mouth with one hand in shock.
“Is he alright?” Kyotoku asks, concerned. He’d grown rather fond of the green-haired boy ever since he’d first met him, and thought rather highly of how he treats Kyouka.
“Izuku’s fine,” Ume waves one hand dismissively, “However, when the incident occurred, Momo had been one of the first to respond, costing her own spot as a recommendation student.”
“Oh,” Kyotoku says flatly, “I take it you aren’t thrilled about that?”
“Well, I’m certainly disappointed,” Ume admits, “But I don’t blame either Izuku or Momo for this, sometimes the unexpected happens, it’s not like Izuku purposefully caused Momo to fail. He was just unlucky, and Momo was… Momo,”
Both Jirous nod in understanding as they move into the front lounge to sit.
“So where are they now?” Mika asks.
“The rear lawn,” Ume answers, “Though I’m not sure why…” She trails off as something outside the lounge window catches Kyotoku’s attention.
“Does it have anything to do with a motorcycle, perhaps?” He asks, pointing out the window.
Frowning, Ume follows Kyotoku’s pointing finger out the window and sees Inko, Momo, and Kyouka pushing Dennis’s emerald-green vintage motorcycle across the driveway, presumably heading from the garage back around to the rear lawn.
“That’s Dennis’s motorbike,” Ume says aloud, almost to herself before striding out of the lounge to look for her Butler for some answers. The two Jirous, also curious, follow after her.
The three parents find the Yaoyorozu’s butler in the kitchen, reading a newspaper with a cup of tea on the table next to him.
“Dennis,” Ume calls out in greeting as she enters the kitchen.
“Yes, ma’am?” Dennis looks up from his newspaper as he hears his name.
“Are you aware that my daughter, her friend, and Inko are currently in possession of your family’s motorcycle?” asks Ume.
“I am, ma’am,” Dennis nods once.
“Do you know why?” Ume follows up.
“Not entirely ma’am, the young madam and Midoriya-san simply asked me if they could borrow it for Master Midoriya.”
“For Izuku?” Ume’s frown of confusion deepens. Why did Izuku need a motorbike, as far as she was aware he hadn’t had any driving lessons.
“Apparently,” Dennis replies.
“Well… thank you, Dennis,” the Yaoyorozu matriarch bows her head once in gratitude.
“Glad to be of service, ma’am,” Dennis returns the gesture before resuming his newspaper as Ume and the Jirous leave the kitchen to head towards the rear lawn. They exit the large mansion via the conservatory that has a pair of French doors that overlook the entirety of the back half of the Yaoyorozu estate. It also gives Ume and her two guests an unobstructed view of their daughters, their daughters' mentors, and Inko, standing alongside two large robots. One pink and white, the other, a uniform silver.
Taken aback by what she sees, Ume flings open the French doors and strides across the grass towards the group. As she does so, she and the Jirous bear witness to the silvery robot projecting a green light from its eyes, that seems to wash over Dennis’s Triumph sitting on the grass in front of it. After a few seconds, the green light fades and then the pink robot addresses the silvery one, though Ume is still too far away to hear what it says. A second later the silver bot takes a step back and begins to scrunch its face in concentration before its head then retracts into its body as it begins to transform from a silvery robot into an exact replica of Dennis’s Triumph, complete with the sidecar. The silver skin is rapidly replaced with metallic emerald-green paint.
By the time the robot finishes transforming, Ume has caught up with the group, who are all too distracted by the transformation to notice her arrival.
“What on earth is going on here?” She demands, causing everyone to jump and spin on their heels to face her.
“Mother!” Momo exclaims, upon seeing Ume.
“Mom? Dad?” Kyouka also exclaims seeing her own parents behind the Mrs Yaoyoorzu, “When did you get here?”
“Just a few minutes ago,” Mika answers, “We saw you pushing the motorcycle across the driveway.”
“Which brings me back to my question,” Ume says in a forceful, but not overly harsh, tone. “What is going on here? Not to mention, what is that?” She points up at Arcee, “And where is Izuku? Dennis said you needed the motorbike for him.”
“I’m here Mrs Yaoyorozu,” Izuku’s voice chimes out from the direction of the second motorbike, the one that had been a robot. “Whoa, this is weird, I’m talking without a mouth,”
“I suppose it would be weird for you,” Arcee comments.
“I’m sorry, Izuku, but… where are you?” Ume looks over at the motorbike, but fails to see Izuku, was he invisible? It was either that or…
“I’m the bike,” Izuku replies confirming Ume’s thoughts. “Hold let me just…” he cuts off just before the bike transforms back into a robot, only instead of a plain silver body, the robot was now the same dark shade of green as the bike, and it now had several additional features, such as wheels sticking out of the back of its calves, it had these little fins sticking out of its shoulder blades, and headlamps on his chest. All in all, the robot now looks like a robot made from a bike, and Ume now realises that the pink and white robot has the same additional features, wheels, fins, headlamps, etc.
Once Izuku is back in his robot form he waves at Momo’s mother, “Hello, Mrs Yaoyorozu… again,” He adds awkwardly.
Ume and the two Jirous are speechless. The robot spoke with Izuku’s voice, with his inflexions, it even had his freckles and the same eyes.
“But… how…” Ume gasps.
“I’m afraid that is mostly my fault,” Inko confesses.
“Your fault?” Ume frowns, confusion replacing her surprise.
Inko nods, before giving a brief explanation of how she found Izuku on the beach the day he was ‘born’.
“But you said…” Ume begins to argue once Inko finishes.
“I said I had Izuku after my boyfriend left for America,” Inko cuts off her employer, “I… I couldn’t bring myself to bad mouth Hisashi, so I made it seem like he left before he knew. What I said was technically the truth, even if it was deliberately misleading. I’m sorry for deceiving you.” Inko gives a deep bow at the waist.
Ume sighs and rubs her forehead as she processes everything. She looks up at the now-robotic Izuku, and then back at Inko, still bowed. In an instant, she understands why Inko did it. It was the same reason that she and her husband had homeschooled Momo for the first decade of her life.
“I- I understand why you did it Inko,” Ume says quietly, “You were simply trying to do what you thought was right by your child, I can forgive your slight… misdirection, so long as you aren’t hiding any more secrets that affect my family.”
As Inko stands upright once more as she shoots a look over at Toshinori. Technically speaking, there was one more secret she was keeping, that had already affected Momo, though she knew it wasn’t her secret to reveal. But she wasn’t sure whether it was Toshinori or Izuku’s secret now.
Ume catches the quick look Inko flashes Toshinori and instantly knows something going on.
“What?” she asks, looking between the two adults.
Toshinori purses his lips as he decides what he should say to Mrs Yaoyorozu, that is until Nemuri chimes in.
“Tell. Her. The. Truth.” The r-rated hero hisses, and instantly Toshinori’s head jerks around with a slight frown on his face.
“That's a bit presumptuous, isn’t it, Midnight?” Toshinori says in a low tone.
“Presumptuous?” Midnight arches her eyebrows in a bemused expression, “Need I remind you that it was your actions that directly led to both Momo and Izuku potentially losing their recommendation spots.”
Momo and Izuku both open their mouths to object, by Nemuri cuts them off with a raised hand, “I know you two are going to argue that it was your decisions that led to what happened, but you would never have made those decisions in the first place were it not Toshinori’s, poorly timed, though well-intentioned, actions.”
Ume glares suspiciously at Toshinori, wondering what on earth the number one pro had done.
“Also,” Nemuri returns to addressing Toshinori, “Setting aside the fact that I am not lying to my cousin about what happened to her daughter, at some point we are probably going to have to explain all this to Arcee anyway,”
The Pink transformer frowns in confusion, “What do I have to do with this?” she asks.
“I believe what my colleague is referring to,” Toshinori sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Is the surge of energy that led you to us in the first place. What you detected, and what we believe triggered Midoriya’s ‘growth spurt’, was my quirk, now Midoriya’s quirk.”
“Quirks are the outlier abilities that 80% of your population possess, correct?” Arcee asks, and everyone present nods in confirmation. “Okay, but… how exactly did your quirk affect Izuku?”
Toshinori subconsciously scratches the back of his head as he explains, “My quirk is a transferable stockpile of energy, over a century old passed down from one hero to another in secret. My current theory is that when I transferred that stockpile to Midoriya, and he used it on his entire body, it sort of… jumpstarted it, like charging up a flat car battery.”
“A spark-jump…” Arcee mutters, “Yes, that would make sense, except… not only did Izuku grow, but he also overwrote whatever biological adaptation he got from his mother, almost like a physical reset. A simple spark-jump wouldn’t do that…” the pink bot trails off as she tries to think through the problem. Deciding that she needs more information, she turns to her new green companion.
“Izuku, would you be willing to open your chest for me?” she asks politely.
Immediately Izuku recoils, “W- what?” He stammers, taken aback by the request.
“I simply wish to quickly examine your spark,” Arcee says, attempting to be reassuring, “Nothing more.”
“My spark?” Izuku asks, confused by the term.
“Oh, right,” Arcee face palms, as she remembers Izuku was new to all this, “The spark is something of a cross between the heart and the soul of Cybertronians. It’s a physical part of us that keeps us alive, but it’s also the source of our consciousness, and it’s located in the chest.”
“Um… okay,” Izuku slowly accepts Arcee’s answer, “And why do you want to look at mine?”
“I just want to see if it contains any clues as to what happened to you,” Arcee replies, “You just need to gently pull at the two halves of your chest, and it should open,”
Trusting Arcee, Izuku slowly touches his chest with his hands, finding a slight gap in his front plate, he digs his fingers in and slowly opens his chest to reveal his inner workings.
What Arcee had been expecting to find inside Izuku was a blue ball of energy, which was the spark. And she does find that. However, she also sees something else. Within the cavity in Izuku’s chest that was his spark chamber, surrounded by the energy of his spark, were several crystal shards fused together as a lump.
“Hmm, Interesting,” Arcee hums, leaning in to closer inspect the shards.
“What?” Izuku asks, “What is it?”
“I’m… not sure,” Arcee answers, as she stands upright once more, “There is certainly something different about your spark. But I’m not a medical bot, so I couldn’t tell you exactly what it is,” She lies, she recognised those crystals. She’d taught cybertronian history long enough to recognise one of its most important artefacts when she saw it. But it was impossible, the matrix had been destroyed at the start of the war…
Hadn’t it?
Shaking her head clear of those thoughts, she gestures for Izuku to close up his chest.
“So, let me see if I understand this correctly,” says Ume, “You-” she points at Toshinori- “Somehow gave Izuku your quirk, and when he used it, that caused the incident at the exam.”
Toshinori and Nemuri both nod in confirmation.
“Hmm, we’ll talk more about this later,” She says somewhat ominously to Toshinori, “For now, I want to know what the plan is going forward, I assume this now means all three of the children will be applying to U.A. through the normal entrance exam.”
“They will,” Nemuri nods, “I submitted the paperwork while Izuku was recovering,”
“Wait, can I even take part in the exam?” Izuku asks, more than slightly concerned, “Can I even enrol at U.A. like this?”
“I don’t see why not,” Nemuri shrugs.
“U.A. that’s the school when your children learn to become heroes, correct?” Arcee asks, having spent the past year on Earth, she had quickly familiarised herself with the local culture, including hero society.
Nemuri, Toshinori, and their three students all nod.
“Then I should probably stick around to teach you the basics of how to move and fight as a transformer,” Arcee says with a playful smile.
Izuku’s eyes light up with excitement, “You will?”
“I’ll have to clear it with superiors first,” Arcee cautions, “But, as I said, you’re the first protoform in millennia, they’ll likely be very invested in you and will want someone to keep an eye on you.”
“He’s really that important, huh?” Nemuri asks, and Arcee nods.
“Let me call command this evening, and if they say yes, we can begin your cybertronian training tomorrow, okay?”
Izuku nods vehemently. This was so exciting, in one day he’d not only been given All Might’s quirk, but he’d also discovered that: (A) alien robots exist, (B) he was one of them, and (C) he was now going to be trained to fight like them.
“This will also give you two a chance to explain what happened this morning, in detail,” Ume says to Toshinori and Nemuri.
“Will it help if I said that Midoriya-san has already lectured me for what I did?” Toshinori gulps nervously. He had quickly learned today that a mother’s wrath was nothing to be trifled with, let alone the wrath of two mothers.
“Perhaps,” Is all Ume says before turning and striding back across the lawn to her home. Leaving Izuku, Momo, and Kyouka pitying their mentor.
AUTOBOT ORBITAL COMMAND HUB, PLANET OPULUS
High above the large gas giant Opulus, a torus-shaped space station floats. This is the Autobot Orbital Command Hub, the headquarters for the galaxy-wide resistance against the Decepticon menace. Across the station bots of all different shapes and sizes move about, each with their own tasks, missions, and assignments to carry out. It is a veritable ant hive of biomechanical activity.
However, in the communications centre of the station, one bot is caught up in listening to the music of one of his favourite artists. The bot is primarily red, with grey legs and gold highlights, including a large golden rectangle covering most of his upper chest.
As he nods his head in time to the music he’s listening to, one of the screens comes online as Arcee tries to establish communication.
“This is Intel Bot Arcee to Autobot Command, come in Autobot Command,”
However, the Comm Bot doesn’t hear her over the music he’s listening to. So Arcee tries again.
“I repeat this Arcee to Autobot Command, does anyone read me?”
Again, the bot doesn’t notice, and now thoroughly annoyed, Arcee goes straight for the blunt solution.
“DAMMIT BLASTER, TURN OFF THAT MUSIC AND ANSWER THE PRIME-FORSAKEN COMMS!”
This time, the bot, named Blaster, hears Arcee with a start and pushes a button on his torso, which stops the music.
“Sorry,” Blaster apologises, “Who is this?”
“Intel bot Arcee,” the pink bot replies acidly, “Which you’d know if you were doing your job properly,”
“Sorry Cee,” Blaster apologises again, “Jazz just released a new collab with Geared Mal,”
“Really?” Arcee’s tone instantly changes to one of excitement, “I assume Aileron already bought a copy?”
Blaster chuckles, “You know her well, Optimus had to explicitly order her not to play it in Ops, she’s been dying all shift,”
“I can imagine,” Arcee chuckles before remembering why she had called and becomes all business again, “Anyway, I need you to patch me through to Optimus, I have an urgent message for him,”
Blaster nods his understanding, “Alright, I’ll get him on the horn,” before pushing another button on the console before him.
In the operations centre of the Autobot Headquarters, several bots work away at consoles in the circular room, while Optimus Prime, Elita-One, and several other bots discuss strategy around a circular holographic table. However, the Autobot leadership are interrupted by the sound of Blaster over the intercom.
“Comms to Ops,”
“This ops,” Optimus replies, “What is it, Blaster?”
“I have Arcee on channel one for you sir, she says it’s urgent,”
“Put her through then,” Optimus replies, as he notices one of the other bots in the room, a squat red and white femme bot with wings on her back sitting at a console, perk up at the mention of Arcee’s name.
A second later, Arcee appears on the main viewscreen in Ops.
“Arcee,” Optimus speaks first, “You’re early, you’re not due to report in for another stellar cycle,”
“I know sir, but I found something, or rather two somethings that I couldn’t delay reporting.”
“You’ve found cons?” Elita asks, immediately fearing the worst. But Arcee shakes her head.
“Fortunately, not, this is actually good news. The first thing I found was a protoform.”
Instantly everyone in the room, even the bots at the consoles stops and looks at the image of Arcee in surprise.
Optimus’s eyes are wide with shock, but he quickly regains his composure, “Repeat again Arcee, did you say you found a Protoform?”
“Affirmative sir,” Arcee nods, “He had been found by one of the locals as a sparkling, and somehow adapted to mimic the local population, growing up as one of them.”
“Like a naturally occurring Decepticon Pretender,” Elita mutters.
“Do you know where this protoform came from?” Optimus asks.
Arcee shakes her head, “No sir, the local who found the sparkling said she simply found him in a pod that washed up on the beach.”
“A pod?” Optimus repeats, frowning in confusion.
“Sir,” One of the other bots gathered in the middle of the room, a tall red, blue, and white bot, with a stern expression on his face, interjects
“You know I am one to avoid unnecessary speculation, but given that there have been no new Protoforms on Cybertron or any of the colonies since the Matrix was destroyed, there can only be one logical explanation for this protoform’s sudden appearance…”
“The Great Ark,” Elita utters under her breath and the other bot nods slowly.
“Though this is purely speculation,” he adds, “one protoform does not prove that the lost ship is on that planet, or that it even exists,”
“Your logic is sound Ultra Magnus,” Optimus addresses the bot, one of his most senior commanders, “But as you said, it is currently nothing more than speculation, nonetheless…” he turns back to address Arcee. “Arcee, what was the second thing you found?”
“Something… inexplicable, sir.” Arcee reports, “I initially found the Protoform by tracking these energy readings that I’m sending you now.”
A second later the readings appear on the central table, and one of the other senior bots, a white bot with a red cross on his shoulders, begins to study them.
“As you can see,” Arcee continues, “The readings match known Energon readings, but far stronger than almost anything else recorded.”
“Do you know what caused these readings Arcee?” Optimus asks.
“I believe so sir,” Arcee replies, “This,” She sends through a picture of the blue crystals, though it has been edited so that it is only the crystal shards showing, not Izuku’s spark chamber in which they reside.
As soon as Elita and Optimus see the crystal, they recognise it immediately, and their eyes go wide with surprise and shock. Although it was smaller and more fragmented than when they had last seen it, there was no doubt as to what they were looking at.
“Is that…” Elita begins but trails off.
“But that’s impossible,” Optimus gasps.
“Sirs?” Ultra Magnus looks at both his leader and fellow commander.
“It’s the Matrix,” Optimus answers, and everyone turns to look at their leader in disbelief.
“The Matrix?” The white bot with the red cross repeats, “But Optimus, you said Megatron destroyed the Matrix himself, Cybertron’s current condition is the very proof of that.”
“I know Ratchet,” Optimus turns to face his chief medic, “But there is no doubt in my mind that those shards are the Matrix, or what remains of it.”
“It would certainly explain the high energy readings,” Elita comments, “but… how? How did shards of the Matrix end up in the possession of a protoform on the outer rim of the galaxy?”
“I do not know,” Optimus shakes his head in defeat, “Perhaps the will of Primus has decided to finally correct the mistakes of the past. But regardless of how it has happened, if the Matrix does still exist in some form, it is our duty to retrieve it, it may be our best hope to bring a swift end to the war and to restore Cybertron.”
There are various grunts and nods of assent from the bots gathered around Optimus, who turns to his second-in-command. “Elita, begin assembling a team for immediate departure, we need to secure both that crystal and the Protoform.”
“Yes sir,” Elita salutes Optimus before marching away from the table, dragging the medical bot Ratchet with her as she does so.
“Ultra Magnus,” Optimus turns to the second of his senior commanders, “I’ll be leaving you in charge of the station while we’re gone.”
“Yes sir, rest assured we will keep up the fight while you’re away,” the big bot salutes.
“I know you will old friend,” Optimus says, resting a reassuring hand on the bot’s shoulder before turning back to address Arcee.
“As for you Arcee, your new mission is to keep an eye on both the Protoform and the crystal. They may be the key to ending this war.”
“The protoform, Izuku, he asked me if I can begin giving him combat training sir, do I have permission?”
“You do,” Optimus, replies.
“Thank you, sir, one last thing before I sign off,” says Arcee, “Tell Aileron I miss her,”
Optimus looks over at the squat femme, who is very clearly doing her best to keep quiet. “I think she already knows Arcee,”
The pink femme smiles at that information, “Arcee, signing off,” The call then disconnects and Arcee’s image disappears from the view screen.
As soon as the communication ceases the squat femme leaps off her seat and jogs over to Optimus, saluting him as she approaches.
“Sir, requesting permission to join you and Commander Elita on your mission,”
Behind his battle mask, Optimus smiles at the enthusiastic bot. “Granted, Aileron, report to Elita-One immediately for your orders.”
“Thank you, sir,” Aileron salutes again, before running out of the Ops centre as fast as her relatively short legs can carry her.
Once Aileron leaves, Ultra Magnus sighs. “I know it’s pointless sir, but do I need to remind you about the regulations about Sparkmates serving together.”
“Relax old friend,” Optimus says with a smile in his voice, “we both know that those regs are guidelines, not hard rules. Besides, I’d be a hypocrite for denying Aileron the opportunity to see Arcee when Elita and I work together so often.”
“It is still my job to remind you of them,” Ultra Magnus replies.
“I know it is, and I’m grateful for it,” Optimus says fondly.
Unbeknownst to the two leaders, or anyone aboard the Autobot Command Hub, someone had been listening in on Arcee’s communication.
CYBERTRON.
On a Decepticon-occupied Cybertron, in the city of Kaon, Megatron, supreme leader of the Deceptions and ruler of Cybertron sits upon his throne, dissatisfied with the progress of his war with Orion and his band of rebellious Autobots. However, the hulking leader is broken out of his thoughts by one of his Lieutenants, his chief spy, Soundwave. A boxy, purple, faceless bot, with only a red slit where his eyes should be.
“What news, Soundwave?” demands Megatron.
“Laserbeak reports,” Soundwave replies with a monotone robotic voice, before pushing a button on his chest that begins playing back a fragmented version of Arcee’s communication.
“Good News… Found… Protoform,”
“A protoform?” A nearby red and white bot with wings scoffs. “you came to report that the Autobots found a single, measly, protoform?”
“Silence Starscream!” Megatron yells at the bot, his second-in-command, “There is no doubt more, right, Soundwave?”
“Affirmative,” the spy replies, “Autobot Arcee also transmitted energy data and a single image.” Soundwave then projects a hologram of the energy readings and the image of the blue crystal shards. “The Autobots believe the shards to be the Matrix,”
As soon as Megatron sees the image he erupts with fury.
“IMPOSSIBLE!” He roars, “I destroyed the Autobot matrix with my bare hands,”
“A brilliant decision, o mighty leader,” Starscream snarks, “that has resulted in our longstanding Energon shortages,”
Megatron rounds on Starscream with a cold fury in his eyes, “And yet, because of my bold action, Cybertron is ours, Starscream, you would do well to remember that.”
Starscream harumphs, but wisely chooses not to say another word, instead silently sulking as Megatron turns back to Soundwave.
“No doubt the Autobots will try and reclaim their matrix. We must seize it before they do.”
“And what, destroy it again?” Starscream asks, “Because that worked so well last time,”
“No, Starscream, this time, I will use the Autobots’ own relic to defeat them.”
Starscream smirks at that idea, it was moments like this that placated him enough not to completely stab his leader in the back.
“Soundwave, where did that transmission come from?” Megatron asks.
In response, Soundwave changes his holographic projection to show a map of the galaxy, before then zooming in and pinpointing a spot on the far side of the galaxy from Cybertron.
Megatron scowls, before turning to Starscream “Who’s the nearest unit to that planet,”
Starscream looks at the map and inwardly groans, he knows who the closest deceptions will be, without even consulting his list of deployments.
“Lugnut and Blitzwing,” he admits reluctantly.
“Lugnut… and Blitzwing,” Megatron repeats slowly.
“I know,” Starscream grumbles, “we sent those defective scrapheaps out there, specifically so we didn’t have to give them anything important.”
“Yes, but while their competency is debatable, their loyalty is unquestionable.” Megatron reasons, “If nothing else, they will be adequate enough to buy us time till our arrival.”
“Our… arrival?” Starscream looks questioningly at Megatron.
“Yes, Starscream, if the Matrix of Leadership has somehow survived, I wish to retrieve it… personally,” Megatron steps towards Starscream and towers over him, forcing the Seeker to lean back slightly in intimidation.
“A-a-a-absolutely, your mightiness, I trust this means you will be leaving Cybertron in my capable hands?” Starscream stammers.
Megatron lets out a genuine laugh, “Ha, you may be an effective commander Starscream, but you lack the finer qualities of a leader, and the simple truth is, I do not trust you to not usurp me while I am gone!”
Starscream gulps nervously. “Th-then who, my lord, will rule in your stead?”
“Soundwave, contact Straxus,” orders Megatron, “he is now in command of Cybertron in my absence”
“As you command, Lord Megatron,” the spy replies before departing from the throne room. Leaving Megatron alone with his lieutenant.
“Starscream, prepare the Nemesis for immediate departure,” Megatron says with a wolfish smile, “I think it’s time Orion and I had a reunion,”
Notes:
Hey everyone, hope you enjoyed this chapter.
So we finally have Izuku's real origins.
Starting off with the obvious. Yes, Izuku's origin was heavily influenced by Sari from Transformers Animated, but with some slight differences. Such as Izuku being fully Cybertronian (Thank you OFA for that), and unlike Sari, he doesn't hold it against his mother for hiding the truth from him. That last change in particular occurred for two reasons. One, we know Izuku isn't the type to hold a grudge (Just look at his canon relationship with Bakugou) and two, I'm not spending several chapters of Izuku shutting out his mom only to eventually forgive her. I've got more important (plot-relevant) things to write about like Izuku learning to be a transformer, which will be the subject of the next chapter.
Next thing, Izuku's alt-mode. A quick shout out to all you commenters who suggested what Izuku's alt-mode should be, there were some really good suggestions. But in the end, I went with a motorcycle, specifically, the Triumph Bonneville with a sidecar. Why a sidecar? To give Izuku the ability to carry multiple people at once with ease. For example his two best friends. while still being a Motorbike.
Also, I finally got around to watching Transformers: One on Monday, and it was so worth it. I won't spoil it here in the notes for anyone who has yet to see it, but all I will say is, it is good. Definitely my second favourite Transformers film, only beaten out by the 1986 movie because of the Soundtrack (I love me some Stan Bush)
Anyway, the next chapter will see Izuku learning with Arcee how to fight as a transformer. Hopefully, after that, it'll be the entrance exam.
Till next time.
The_Spartan_Sangheili.
Chapter 9: Training Wheels
Summary:
Arcee trains Izuku.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
YAOYOROZU ESTATE
3RD JANUARY 2224
That evening, after the Jirous and Inko had gone back to their respective homes back in Musutafu, Izuku remained at the Yaoyorozu estate. Because the Midoriyas lived in an apartment, Inko had no garage, meaning Izuku’s new body would have to stay on the street, an idea no one was comfortable with. So, it was decided that Izuku would stay on the Yaoyorozu Family estate, where he could remain in his humanoid form with both space and privacy if he wanted to.
Momo and her parents had gone to bed about an hour ago and Arcee had gone off to another part of the estate to contact her superiors which left Izuku on his own on the lawn. He lays down on the turf, despite now being metal and mechanical, he could still feel the grass beneath him. He still had a sense of touch. As Arcee had emphasised earlier, cybertronians were not robots. Robotic in nature, certainly, but they were still living beings, who could taste, smell, touch, and feel. He was still a living being, just… different. But that was hardly anything new.
As Izuku lies with his head on the grass in the darkness, he looks up at the star above and his thoughts change to that of Cybertron. Somewhere up there, out among the stars, was a planet made of living metal, Sentio Metallico Arcee had called it. He supposes that that is where he was born, but he couldn’t think of it as home.
“Is born the right term?” Izuku asks himself aloud as he has that thought, “Arcee said Cybertronians aren’t born but emerge from ‘hotspots’, I guess I was... spawned then?”
“The term is forged,” Arcee answers from Izuku’s left.
Izuku sits up to face Arcee and sees the pink and white fem-bot walking across the lawn towards him.
“Cybertronians are forged, well, most of them anyways.” Arcee clarifies as she takes a seat on the grass beside Izuku.
“So, what did your commander say?” Izuku asks, eagerly, his eyes still glowing like they did when he was human, something which Arcee finds curious, but ultimately nonconsequential.
“Well, I was right, your very existence has Autobot high command interested,” Arcee replies, deciding to omit any details about the Matrix, for now. “They’re dispatching a team to investigate.”
“Investigate?” Izuku frowns in confusion, “as in me?”
“Both you and this planet, to see if there’s any clues as to how you came to be here,” Arcee explains.
“What kind of clues?” Izuku asks.
Arcee thinks for a second as she debates how much she should reveal, but decides there’s no harm in telling the young bot about the Ark. “Well, the current theory is that you arrived here aboard a ship called the Ark.”
“The Ark?” Izuku repeats.
Arcee nods, “Technically it’s called the Great Ark, but yes. When the great war first started, there were many bots, neither Autobot nor Decepticon, who left Cybertron to avoid the fighting. They left aboard vessels called Arks during a time known as the Exodus. The Great Ark was the first of these ships to leave. It was also the only ship that never arrived at one of the colonies. Instead, it disappeared into the vast darkness of space. Because of this, many rumours and legends have risen up about the contents of the Great Ark.”
“What kind of rumours?” Izuku asks, his curiosity now piqued.
Arcee takes a deep breath before continuing, “Well, the two most popular ones are that the Ark was carrying a horde of ancient Cybertronian weapons and relics, stashed away by Alpha Trion, the Oldest living cybertronian and Head Archivist, to keep them out of Megatron’s hands. The second story is that all of the Protoforms that had been forged before the war began but that hadn’t fully developed yet were stored aboard the Ark, as a contingency in case the war resulted in our extinction.”
“And because I was found on Earth instead of Cybertron, your commander thinks I’m proof of the Ark’s existence?” Izuku asks.
“It would seem so,” Arcee admits, “If it’s true, then somewhere on this planet is a ship full of hundreds of protoforms exists.”
“I have siblings?” Izuku exclaims, and Arcee chuckles slightly.
“Heh, not in the organic sense, no. Though some bots forged in the same hotpot do sometimes form close bonds.”
“Okay,” Izuku vocalises his understanding, before moving on to his second question, “So, does that mean you can train me?”
Arcee gives her new charge a sift smile, “It does, starting tomorrow, I’ll begin teaching you how to move and fight like an Autobot.”
“Not now?” Izuku asks, slightly disappointed.
Arcee shakes her head, “To my knowledge, organics rely on sleep to function, and weapons practice isn’t exactly quiet.”
“Oh, yeah,” Izuku dumbly realises the wisdom in her words. He wouldn’t want to disturb Momo while she was sleeping. “So… what do we do tonight then?”
“Rest,” Arcee says bluntly, “while we may not need as much rest as organics, or as frequently, we still need to recharge occasionally, and you’ve had quite an eventful rotation, you should probably go take a stasis nap,”
“The Yaoyorozus won’t mind if I sleep in their garage, will they?” Izuku asks, half to himself.
“I don’t see why not,” Arcee shrugs, “They were kind enough to let you stay here overnight,”
Izuku nods in agreement, “I guess I’ll sleep there then,” Izuku rises from his sitting position on the ground and begins to back to the Yaoyorozu Mansion, before stopping after a few steps and turning back to Arcee.
“Are you going to sleep as well?” he asks.
“I might join you later,” Arcee replies, “I’ll see how the night goes,”
Izuku accepts that answer, and so leaves Arcee on the grass, looking up at the stars. He briefly wonders what she might be thinking about, perhaps their lost homeworld, or maybe her comrades fighting the Decepticon menace, not that it mattered to Izuku. He continues to head towards and then around the Yaoyorozu Mansion to their garage where their limo is kept. Using his now-robotic hands, he gently opens the garage door, before crawling in on his hands and knees, the building being far too short for him to stand in.
Once inside, he closes the garage door behind himself, again taking great care not to accidentally crush the metal with his larger hands. With the door closed, Izuku transforms himself into his bike mode. In the confines of the garage, he would be more comfortable sleeping like this. And indeed, he was. He isn’t sure how to describe the sensation. It wasn’t like he was sitting, or lying down as he had earlier, but he definitely wouldn’t consider it ‘standing’, he was just a bike on two wheels, well technically three thanks to the sidecar. As Izuku’s mind continues to ponder the many questions of his new existence, he eventually falls asleep, the emerald green bike letting out an occasional hum, as if it were snoring.
The next morning, after she’s had breakfast, Momo heads out to the back garden of her family’s estate to find Izuku. From the conservatory, she can see that the lawn is empty, so she heads out to the front of the house, to the garage. It seemed the next logical place that Arcee and Izuku would be if they weren’t on the lawn. She reaches the garage and throws open the garage door to find a familiar pink and white sports bike alongside a metallic emerald motorcycle and sidecar.
“Good morning,” She greets politely as Arcee’s lights turn on and her engine rumbles to life.
“Good Morning,” the pink motorbike replies as it rolls out of the garage before Arcee transforms back into her robot mode.
As Arcee stretches her limbs after her stasis nap, Momo turns back to Izuku, who has yet to respond to her greeting.
“Izuku, are you awake?” Momo asks, slightly concerned that Izuku hasn’t responded.
The dark green bike lets out a slight groan in response before Izuku sluggishly replies.
“Yeah…?”
Both Arcee and Momo register Izuku’s tired response and look at him with growing concern.
“Is something wrong Midoriya?” Arcee queries.
“I... don’t think so,” Izuku replies, still rather slowly, “I just feel really... tired is all,”
Arcee frowns at that, “Are you able to move?”
“I… think so,” Izuku answers before slowly driving himself out of the garage. But he is moving very slowly, taking almost a minute to move only a few inches, so Momo decides to help by grabbing his handlebars and pushing him out of the garage.
“Thanks,” Izuku says once he’s outside the garage, “I feel like I have almost no energy,”
Going off a hunch, Arcee decides to do a quick scan of her charge and quickly finds the source of the problem. “That’s because you don’t,” She says in response to Izuku’s statement, “Your Energon levels are severely depleted, likely due to the events of yesterday. If you’re able to transform, I have a supply of Energon that should get you back to normal,”
“I can try,” Izuku says with determination, before slowly transforming out of his vehicle mode. However, unlike his transformation yesterday, or Arcee’s transformation earlier, which had been one fluid motion from robot to vehicle, Izuku’s transformation process is slow and methodical, allowing Momo to witness each individual component of Izuku's change. In the end, rather than the usual few seconds, Izuku’s transformation ends up taking over a minute.
“Definitely an Energon deficiency,” Arcee comments after Izuku finishes as she opens a small pouch-like compartment on her hip, that is filled with small glowing blue cubes roughly the size of a Rubik’s cube, though compared to Arcee they looked more like dice.
“Anyway-” Arcee takes one of the blue cubes out and hands it to Izuku- “Eat this,”
Izuku lets out an undignified snort of laughter as Arcee unknowingly uses the same words All Might had said to him yesterday when transferring OFA.
“What?” Arcee is confused by Izuku’s outburst.
“It’s nothing,” Izuku reassures her as he takes the blue cube and pops it into his mouth. As soon as the cube enters Izuku’s mouth it seems to dissolve on his tongue, turning from a solid cube into a warm liquid that he then swallows. Almost instantly he feels the effects as he suddenly feels more awake and energised.
The effect is also visibly noticeable to Momo and Arcee, as the lights on Izuku’s body and behind his eyes brighten, and the younger bot stands up a little straighter.
“Better?” Arcee asks.
“Much,” Izuku replies with a smile, “Was that Energon?”
“Processed Energon, but yes,” Arcee replies, “And unlike organics, we don’t have to wait for it to digest, it just instantly enters our system.”
“So, what exactly is Energon?” Momo asks, her scientific mind curious about this alien substance.
“Well, it’s naturally found as a crystal,” Arcee explains, “But it can be refined from other sources of energy such as oil and electricity. However, that method is expensive, time-consuming, and doesn’t produce as good a product as the natural stuff.”
“A crystal…?” Momo repeats to herself before addressing Arcee again, “Do you happen to know the chemical composition of Energon?”
“Um… yes?” Arcee replies, confused as to why Momo is asking, “It was part of the basic cybertronian sciences. Of course, making it, that’s the complicated part, but knowing what Energon is is basic education.”
“Would you be willing to show me?” Momo asks, an idea forming in her mind, one which Izuku picks up on, but Arcee doesn’t.
“Why?” The pink bot asks.
“Because Momo’s quirk allows her to make anything she knows the chemical composition of from the lipids in her body,” Izuku explains, to Arcee’s surprise.
Arcee looks between her fellow transformer and his human friend with surprise. “You can do that?” She asks in disbelief, she’d seen cybertronians with all manner of outlier abilities, and during her time on earth she had seen just as many different 'quirks', but the idea of being able to convert organic material into any inorganic one…?
Momo nods in response to Arcee’s question, before holding out her hand and creating a Matryoshka doll in her likeness with her quirk, the doll emerging fully formed in her palm. “See?” She holds up the doll for Arcee to inspect.
“Amazing,” Arcee gasps, “You’re like a living matter replicator…” then the full implication of Momo’s earlier questions hits her, “And you think you can use your outlier- sorry, your quirk to replicate Energon?”
“I certainly hope to try,” Momo answers confidently, “After all, if Izuku is staying here, then he will need a reliable source of energy,”
Arcee agrees with the wisdom of that. “Okay, I’ll share the formula with you, though I will caution you, most of it is in cybertronian, so I’ll have to translate it before you can read it,”
She then projects a hologram showing a formula written in text that Momo instantly recognises as being Izuku’s own code for his notebooks.
“Izuku, look, it’s the code you came up with for your notebooks,” Momo points the hologram out to her friend.
Izuku peers at the Hologram projecting from Arcee’s arm, and his eyes go wide as he realises that Momo is correct, the symbols in the hologram are the same as the ones he’s written in his hero notebooks.
“Whoa, that’s…,” He trails off as he looks from the projection to Arcee, “Is this cybertronian?”
“Yes…” Arcee replies slowly with a frown, “But you two seem to recognise it?”
“Well, it’s just… I have these notebooks, which I use to analyse heroes, and to keep my notes secret I came up with my own language, which looks exactly like that,” Izuku points at the symbols in the Energon Formula.
“So… you’re saying you can read this?” Arcee asks, her gaze switching between Izuku and Momo, the latter responding.
“Well, from what I can read from here, Energon seems to be a complex mineral, consisting of many different elements, though the main ones I can read are silicon, Oxygen, and…” She trails off and her eyes go wide with horror as she reads, “Polonium? Energon consists of Polonium?”
“Um… what’s polonium?” Izuku asks, while he had decent science grades in school, he didn’t read nearly as much as Momo did.
“The most radioactive natural element on Earth,” Momo says gravely, “Just a single speck of it, one microgram, is lethal if ingested.”
Izuku gulps nervously, “And that Energon I just consumed… is made of Polonium?”
“Among other elements,” Arcee cuts in, noticing that Izuku was beginning to get worked up, “But that doesn’t matter, cybertronians are immune to radiation. That being said, we have found that Energon is toxic to organics.”
“Well, so long as I don’t eat it, or touch it with an open cut, I should be fine,” Momo reasons.
“Okay,” Arcee agrees reluctantly as she removes the hologram emitter from her arm, and hands it to Momo, “well, tou can read through this as I train Midoriya.”
Momo takes the emitter, which in her hands is about the size of a hockey puck. But before she can read it, the sound of multiple cars coming up her parents’ driveway draws her attention away.
“That’ll be Mom,” Izuku says, recognising his mother’s small hatchback.
“And that’s Aunt Nemuri behind her,” Momo adds, seeing her aunt’s coupe behind the hatchback.
The two cars pull up next to Momo and the two cybertronians, and their occupants step out, Inko, Nemuri, and, to Izuku’s delight and surprise, Kyouka and Toshinori, who had both come in Inko’s car.
“Morning Izuku,” Inko calls out as the new arrivals approach the trio.
“Hey Mom,” the teen bot replies with a smile and a wave, “How was last night?”
“Oh, it wasn’t too bad, Mr Yagi kept me company for part of the evening,” Inko replies, “He felt he owed me after yesterday,”
“I also felt it would be rude to leave her alone in that apartment all evening,” Toshinori says before asking, “So, how are you doing, my boy?”
“Better,” Izuku replies, “I’ve just had my first taste of Energon, and Momo’s going to see if she can replicate it with her quirk.”
Nemuri smiles with approval, “Good idea, I’d expect nothing less.” She then turns to address Arcee, “So, are we starting on Izuku’s new training?”
Arcee gives a nod of confirmation, “I’ll assess your current skill level first,” She says to Izuku, “And then we’ll go from there,”
Izuku’s eyes flash briefly with excitement as he gives a determined nod.
“Perhaps we should take this around to the back gardens then?” Momo suggests, to which everyone agrees, with everyone but Inko going around to the rear lawn. Inko meanwhile enters the Mansion to begin her shift as housekeeper.
Once on the lawn at the back of the Mansion, Arcee takes Izuku out into the middle of the garden, while the others stand to one side.
“Okay, first thing’s first,” Arcee says, “I want you to punch me,”
“Huh?” Izuku cocks his head to one side in a gesture of confusion.
“I want to see what your human mentors have taught you,” Arcee explains, “I want to see your technique, don’t worry, I promise I’ll try and dodge.”
“Oh, okay,” Izuku says as he understands what Arcee wants before dropping into the familiar fighting stance Midnight had taught him and his friends. He stands on the balls of his feet, crouched slightly, ready to move should Arcee counterattack. Likewise, his fists are raised to protect his face, but still able to strike out. Overall, his posture was similar to that of a boxer.
Seeing his initial stance, Arcee gives him a look of approval, “Pretty good, your stance is better than some bots I’ve sparred against, many of whom are more experienced than you. Now then take a swing.” She instructs, and Izuku obliges.
Except, instead of just a single jab, Izuku performs a rapid series of three jabs, starting with his right, followed by his left, before finishing with his right again, his fists moving as a blur.
Arcee, only expecting a single punch, is taken off-guard by Izuku’s second and third jabs, causing her to take a half step back out of his range.
“Whoa, easy there, young bot,” she says once Izuku finishes his demonstration.
“Oh, sorry,” Izuku apologises, dropping his guard.
“No, don’t be,” Arcee retorts, “It shows good technique, you’ve got excellent teachers,” She throws a smile at Nemuri and Toshinori. “To be honest, that was more on me for underestimating your skill level. Well, atleast I know you can throw a punch, but let’s see how you fare against a skilled opponent.”
This time, Arcee drops into her own fighting stance, similar to Izuku’s.
“Would one of you care to referee this?” She calls out to the humans standing nearby.
“Sure,” Midnight replies as she pulls a referee’s whistle she uses for training out of a pouch on her hero costume. “On the sound of the whistle, begin.”
There’s a few seconds of silence after Midnight says that when both Izuku and Arcee briefly assess each other. Izuku knew he was facing someone with more years of experience than humanity had existed, he doubted he was going to win, but that didn’t mean he was just going to let her win.
Arcee on the other hand knew she had underestimated Izuku’s skill once, she wasn’t going to do that again. She wasn’t going to go all out, obviously. She didn’t want to injure him too severely, besides the point of this was to gauge his skill level, not necessarily to win.
The two bots are broken out of their thoughts when a sharp peep from Midnight’s whistle signals the start of the match.
Instantly, Izuku reacts, he moves to deliver a quick 1-2 jab, but Arcee is expecting that. She dodges the first blow before blocking the second, but curiously, she doesn’t counterattack. She simply chooses to dodge and block. So Izuku follows up his two jabs with a quick kick to her midsection which Arcee catches, throwing Izuku off balance. She then twists the leg, causing Izuku to fall to the ground, hard.
Had he still been organic, Izuku’s sure that he’d be winded by his impact, instead, as soon as his back is on the grass he rolls to one side, briefly taking him out of Arcee’s reach, and allowing him to spring to his feet.
“Good recovery,” Arcee praises, still crouched in her fighting stance.
Izuku doesn’t respond verbally, instead just gives her a brief smile as he raises his guard once more.
And that sets the tempo for the rest of the fight, Izuku would continue to punch, kick, or jab at Arcee, who, in turn, would simply dodge or block the attacks. Only counter-attacking if Izuku overextended himself, leaving his guard open.
After about five minutes of almost exclusively being on the defence, Arcee decides that she’s seen enough of Izuku’s skill and decides to go on the offensive. She comes at him with a full roundhouse kick and Izuku is able to counter it by grabbing her foot and pinning it against his body. Unfortunately, Arcee takes advantage of this counter by swinging her left leg around the other side of Izuku’s torso so that he’s pinned between her two legs and has to fully support her body weight. With her opponent already off balance due to her own weight, Arcee leans back, shifting their combined centre of gravity until Izuku finds himself stumbling forward before eventually falling over. As the pair of bots fall to the ground, Arcee rolls, still maintaining her grip on Izuku, so that Izuku ends up landing on his back again, this time, pinned beneath Arcee.
Seeing Izuku pinned, Nemuri puts her whistle to her lips and is about to signal that the fight is over, when Izuku begins to glow with the same energy as when he used OFA. And for a second it looks like he’s about to make a comeback, that is until Arcee’s hands retract into her arms before being replaced by a pair of blaster cannons which she points at Izuku’s head.
“Know when you’re beaten, young bot,” she says warningly and the glow around Izuku fades as quickly as it had begun.
The sound of Nemuri’s whistle fills the silence after that, and Arcee gets off Izuku, letting him stand up.
“Not bad,” Arcee says, “Though I think I went a bit harder than I had intended,”
“That’s fine,” Izuku rubs the back of his head, “You are more experienced than me, I didn’t really expect to win that,”
“No, but you put up a good enough fight, you knew well enough to get off the ground as soon as possible, and you were able to initially counter my kick.”
“Until you completely threw me,” Izuku points out.
“Force of habit,” Arcee concedes, “we smaller bots can’t go into a fight expecting to slug it out, especially not when we could be facing cons twice our size. So, we have to bring them down to our level.”
“I’ve been teaching something similar,” Nemuri chimes in, “Izuku and his friends are far from the biggest or strongest heroes, though I suppose that’s now changed for Izuku.”
“Well, you may be a giant among humans, but you’re small amongst transformers,” Arcee states, “and Decepticons will not hesitate to target a smaller bot so they can have an easy target. Our job is to show them why that’s a bad idea.”
“So, now what?” Izuku seems to practically bounce with excitement.
“Well, I’m satisfied with your current hand-to-hand fighting ability, so let’s see what internal weapons you have,” Arcee answers, as she switches her blasters back to hands.
“Oh like, your cannons?” Izuku asks, and Arcee nods, causing Izuku to light up. “I have cannons inside my arms?”
“Possibly,” Arcee tries to temper her student’s excitement. “All cybertronians have some kind of built-in weaponry, whether it be wrist blades, Energon axes, arm cannons, or shoulder missiles. Of course, it is somewhat dependent on the bit’s alt mode. As you can imagine, those with fighter-jet or tank Alt-modes are going to have a bit more firepower than say, a small two-wheeler.”
“Aren’t I technically a three-wheeler?” Izuku asks, thinking about the sidecar that was now on his back, almost like his schoolbag.
“True, but you still categorise as a two-wheeler.” Arcee replies, “Atleast you would do under the old functionist rules.”
“Functionist?” Izuku repeats the unfamiliar term, but Arcee shakes her head in a gesture for him to drop it.
“A lesson for another day,” she says grimly as she briefly remembers the law of pre-war Cybertron. “For now, weapons.”
“Right!” Izuku grins, “So how exactly do I what you did?”
“It’s the same principle as using your alt mode,” Arcee explains, “Just picture your transformation in your mind, and then your t-cog should do the rest.”
Izuku nods, holding his hands out in front of him and imagines them retracting and being replaced with blasters. It takes a few seconds, but then, just as simple as snapping his fingers, his wrists open up, and twin-barreled blasters emerge to sit on top of his wrists.
Everyone except Arcee reacts with surprise and awe.
“Green,” Kyouka gasps, “As if being a robot was cool enough, you have built-in lasers.”
“Not lasers,” Arcee corrects, “Because they’re a part of our bodies, our weapons are also powered by Energon.”
“Oh,” Kyouka nods in understanding. While Momo, beside her, frowns.
“So you essentially power your weapons using your own blood?” she asks, worried about the implications of overusing the weapons.
“I suppose from an organic point of view, yes.” Arcee concedes, “But now you can see why it’s become so rare,”
“I guess so,” Momo admits as she mentally vows to try and figure out how to replicate Energon with her quirk, for Izuku’s sake.
“Right then,” Arcee turns back to Izuku, “Now we just need some targets,”
“Oh, you can just use those trees,” Momo pipes up, pointing to the far end of the garden, where Arcee can see where the neatly mown grass gives way to a forest. “My parents had those trees brought in when I first started using my quirk to make cannons and other projectile weapons.”
Of the group, only Arcee and Toshinori react with surprise.
“C-cannons?” Toshinori stammers with disbelief as he coughs up some blood. “Midnight, tell me she’s exaggerating.”
“Nope,” Nemuri takes pleasure in seeing her co-worker’s surprise, “I was supervising the whole exercise, it was quite entertaining to see the poor trees splintering. I think it still stands as Momo’s single largest creation.”
“It was certainly the heaviest,” Izuku chimes in.
“And the costliest in terms of my reserves,” Momo grimaces at the memory. “I think I managed 5 reloads before I started feeling faint.”
“Yeah… let’s try not to repeat that,” Kyouka says pointedly.
“Well, if you’re certain your parents won’t mind us destroying them, then I… guess we can use the trees,” Arcee isn’t entirely convinced by the idea, but if Yaoyorozu said it was okay then… well, this was her family's home. “Okay,” The pink bot turns back to Izuku, “Pick one of the trees, and point it out to me,”
Izuku scans the line of trees, roughly 200 meters away, and picks out a decently sized Japanese maple tree.
“That one,” Izuku points with his right hand.
“Good,” Arcee steps in closer to Izuku, “A few pointers as this is your first time, your weapons, just like any other, have recoil, so to begin with you may want to brace your hand by gripping the underside of your wrist,” She demonstrates by holding out her own right hand and gripping her wrist with her left hand, bracing it. “Atleast until you can get used to the force,”
Izuku nods in understanding before copying the action, bracing his right wrist with his left hand, his twin blasters pointed squarely at the tree he had picked out.
“Now then, just like before all you have to do is think,” Arcee instructs.
So Izuku thinks of shooting, and the twin blasters react instantly, firing two blue bolts of energy from his wrist. While Arcee had warned him that there would be recoil, he hadn’t been ready for just how much recoil there was, so as his twin blasters fire, the recoil causes his arm to jerk upwards, out of the grip of his left hand.
The result is that Izuku ends up staggering back half a pace, and his two shots go wide. The first one just about clips the top of the tree, causing the tip to explode in a ball of fiery leaves. The second shot misses the trees entirely and explodes mid-air.
Everyone but Arcee recoils from the explosion, Kyouka reflexively covering her ears, wincing at the sudden loud noise.
“Whoa,” Izuku gasps involuntarily, before rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, “Sorry,”
“That’s okay,” Arcee instantly reassures her student, “this is your first time learning how to shoot, but now that you know what to expect, you can plan for it, okay? And the more you practice…”
“The easier it will get,” Izuku finishes, he recalls Midnight having said something similar when she first started training him and his friends.
Arcee nods in agreement. “Exactly, now then, shall we try again?”
Izuku’s answer to that question is to level his blaster arm at the trees again, bracing it with his left hand like before and firing another two shots at the tree. This time, the first shot hits the tree, square in the middle of the trunk, while the second shot ends up hitting a meter above it.”
Arcee gives Izuku a look of approval, “Pretty good, rookie, see, you’re improving already,”
“I still missed the second shot though,”
Arcee gives a slight shrug, “You have twin-linked blasters, they’re better suited for short-range rapid-fire than long-distance sniping, mine are the same. Try it,” she gestures back at the trees, “Just give a shot burst,”
Nodding, Izuku does as she instructs and unleashes a burst of 8 shots in alternating succession, completely spraying the tree line. A cloud of splinters fills the air as multiple trees are shattered by the shots.
Izuku lowers his blaster arm in awe at the devastation and behind him, his friends and teachers also look on in wonder.
“Now imagine that, but at 50 metres against a robot twice your size,” Arcee says, smiling at their reactions.
While Izuku still looks dumbfounded (and a little bit scared) at the carnage he wrought, Toshinori decides to bring up a concern he has.
“Is there a non-lethal option for those blasters?” The off-duty no. 1 hero asks, and Nemuri hums in agreement with the question.
“Non-lethal?” Arcee repeats, questioningly.
“It’s just that Midoriya wishes to become a hero and… well… that kind of firepower is a bit overkill,” Toshinori explains, “Not to mention, there is a lot of potential for collateral damage. I speak from experience when I say that keeping that kind of damage contained is difficult.”
Arcee slowly nods in understanding. “I get it, the Autobots try to minimise casualties as well, and we generally prefer not to use our Energon weapons on organics, the results aren’t pleasant.”
The pink bot transforms her right arm back into blaster mode, and after a second the lights on her blaster change from a dark blue to a light blue. “Just think ‘non-lethal’,” she instructs Izuku.
Izuku holds out his blaster arm again, and after thinking of the word ‘non-lethal’, the lights on his own twin blasters change colour from dark blue to light blue.
“Try it out,” Arcee gestures at the tree line again, and like before Izuku fires two alternating shots. However, instead of a large explosion of energy, the two light blue bolts hit the tree and cover the area they hit in sparks of electricity before quickly fading.
“That should knock out most organics,” Arcee explains, “And briefly stun any cybertronian, though repeated shots can put a cybertronian in stasis if needs be.”
“Awesome, so what’s next?” Izuku asks, eyes wide and glowing with excitement.
Arcee smiles knowingly at him, “Now, you practise.”
While Izuku begins to practise his shooting, Momo decides that now’s a good time to start studying the Energon formula Arcee had given her. She takes out the puck-sized hologram projector and places it on the ground in front of where she’s sitting.
Kyouka, seeing her friend's actions, looks over curiously, and notices the familiar symbols in the hologram.
“What’s that?” she asks. Pointing at the projection.
“The formula for Energon,” Momo explains, “Arcee gave it to me so I can try and replicate it with Creation.”
“Oh, clever, though I guess that’s par for you,” Kyouka smiles fondly, “But why is it written in Izuku’s code.”
Momo turns to look at her punk friend, “That’s just it, it isn’t. Apparently what Izuku has been writing in this whole time is actually cybertronian.”
“Wait, what?” Kyouka recoils at that revelation. “You mean… we’ve been reading an alien language all these years?”
Momo nods, “Apparently.”
“That’s pretty cool,” Kyouka grins, “We can read an alien language,”
“And write it,” Momo adds as she turns back to the formula. “Which means I should be able to transcribe this formula with no issue.”
“Cool, so how easy do you think it will take to replicate with your quirk?” Kyouka asks, curious.
Momo purses her lips nervously, “I honestly don’t know, from what little I’ve read so far, Energon in its crystalline form is quite a complex mineral, consisting of many different elements in various quantities. And that’s just its raw form. To be able to replicate the refined mineral, like the stuff Izuku ate earlier… That will take much longer to make.”
“Anything I can do to help?” Jirou asks, realising that if Izuku was learning to be Transformer, and Momo was learning how to make Energon, then that would leave her nothing to do.
“Um…” Momo hums in though as she thinks, not wanting her friend to feel useless, “Well, for now, would you be kind enough to fetch the Yaoyorictionary from my bedside cabinet, while I continue to read this?”
Kyouka gives an enthusiastic nod in reply. It was something for now.
Several minutes later Kyouka returns, with Momo’s notebook, commonly referred to as the Yaoyorictionary, and hands it to Momo
“Thank you,” The pony-tailed girl smiles affectionately at her friend.
The smile makes Kyouka feel warm and fuzzy inside, and she blushes ever so slightly. Fortunately for the smaller girl, Momo doesn’t notice as she sets to copying out the Energon chemical formula from Cybertronian to Japanese. While she could read and write fairly confidently in what she now knew to be the alien language, it would still be quicker and easier for her to have it her first language.
And so for the rest of the morning, Izuku would continue to shoot at the trees at the back of the Yaoyorozu estate, while Momo studies the formula for Energon. With Kyouka, Toshinori, and Nemuri observing both of them with interest.
This continues till just before lunch, when Momo, having spent the morning reading, feels confident enough to try her first recreation of Energon. So, she begins unbuttoning her top, an action which naturally catches Kyouka’s attention.
“You’re going to try using your quirk already?” the smaller girl asks sceptically.
“Just for a first draft,” Momo replies as she undoes the final button on her blouse, exposing her midriff, and allowing her to use as much of her skin as possible. “you may want to stand back just in case.” She cautions.
Kyouka takes a half step back from her friend as Momo’s stomach begins to glow with the power of her quirk as a dark blue crystal begins to emerge from the glowing area. After about a minute the crystal emerges fully formed and drops onto the ground between Momo’s legs.
“I did it!” She exclaims, her voice full of pride and excitement.
Izuku and Arcee both turn around to see what Momo is exclaiming about, as do Toshinori and Nemuri, who have been watching Izuku’s progress with interest.
“What did you do?” Izuku asks.
“I managed to recreate Energon,” Momo beams as she reaches down to pick up the crystal she formed. But almost as soon as she touches the blue crystal she recoils in pain.
“Ouch,” She hisses as she immediately nurses her hand.
“What’s wrong?” Kyouka asks as she and the adults present rush to Momo’s side.
“I tried to pick up the crystal, but it was searing hot,” Momo explains, as she holds out her palm, for the others to see a discoloured patch in the middle of her palm.
“Okay, we need to put that under running water,” Midnight advises.
“Um, guys,” Izuku butts in, “Is the Energon supposed to be glowing?”
Everyone looks down at the crystal and notices that, as Izuku said, it is glowing, and rapidly changing colour, almost like it’s being heated up.
“Scrap!” Arcee curses, before diving down to pick up the crystal before lobbing it high into the air. A second later the crystal explodes with a shattering boom that causes Kyouka to cover her ears and wince in pain.
“Wha- what just happened?” Momo asks once she recovers from the shock of the explosion, still nursing her burned hand.
“Unstable Energon,” Arcee says with a sigh, “Natural Energon is volatile enough as it is, but if you get the formula wrong…” she trails off.
“Boom,” Momo mutely mimics the explosion from a few seconds ago.
“Yeah,” Arcee slowly nods.
“While I admire your noble attempt to help Izuku with his energy supply issue,” Nemuri says to her niece. “Given the dangerous nature of Energon, perhaps we should establish a more… structured way of trying to recreate it. At the very least do it in a controlled environment.”
Momo bobs her head once in agreement, “I think that would be best, yes. Atleast until I have a finished, stable, product.”
“I think then we should perhaps break for lunch,” suggests Toshinori. “It’s been a busy morning, and certainly you two could use a break.” He says to Momo and Izuku. “And then after lunch, I believe we have several things to discuss. Though I believe we should address one particular topic first.”
Everyone looks questioningly at Toshinori, so he turns to Arcee, “Arcee, when we first met you, you appeared to us as a blonde woman. Now tomorrow, Young Midoirya and his friends will have to return to school, and I don’t believe that Midoriya’s school is built to accommodate his new form, I trust you can see where I’m going with this.”
And indeed Arcee did, “Right, you want me to teach Izuku about holoform avatars.” She says. “Well, we can do that now, easy enough.” She turns to Izuku. “First things first, you’ll need to be in your alt-mode.”
Arcee then transforms into her sports bike form, and Izuku does likewise with his vehicle mode.
“Now then,” Arcee continues in her bike form, “Several things you need to know before you generate your first avatar. One, holoforms are mostly used to maintain a transformer’s disguise when in vehicle mode. So, aircraft will have pilo holoforms, law enforcement will use cops, etc. Now, this isn’t a hard rule, and in your case, you’ll probably want your avatar to mimic your old self. Right?”
“Right,” Izuku repeats in response.
“Okay, the second thing,” Arcee continues, “Is that your avatar is an extension of yourself. What it sees, you see, what it can feel, you can feel. For all intents and purposes, it is a second body for you.”
“Sweet,” Izuku mutters.
“However…” Arcee cautions, “Because it is an extension of you, if it suffers excess damage before you disconnect from it, it can lead to neurological damage, resulting in stasis, or even off-lining, if severe enough. That being said, holoavatars, because they are holograms, can take a lot of punishment before you reach that point.”
“So he could survive a fall that would break someone’s bones,” Momo hypothesis, “but if he were to be punched by All Might at full power…”
“That would probably cause a severe backlash, yes,” Arcee confirms.
“Okay, so… avoid getting punched by All Might then,” Izuku says nervously.
Toshinori chuckles, “I don’t think that’ll be an issue, my boy,”
“I hope not,” Izuku replies, before addressing Arcee again “is there anything else?”
“Only that the effective range of your avatar is 400 miles,”
“400…” Momo repeats slowly as the others stare in amazement at Izuku, “So, theoretically, Izuku wouldn’t even have to leave the estate, he could just travel to his home and to school with his avatar.”
“Theoretically, yes,” Arcee concedes.
“It would certainly solve the issue of getting Midoriya a driver's license, temporarily at least.”
Kyouka looks at her blonde mentor in confusion. “A driver’s license?”
“Well, yes, Young Jirou,” Toshinori explains, “Midoriya will need a license to drive on the road, even if he is the vehicle itself, he’s still the person driving it.”
“Wait, will I have to get insurance as well?” Izuku gasps.
“Possibly,” Toshinori scratches the back of his head uncertainly, “This is one of the things I said we needed to discuss after lunch. But if you’re able to use your hologram over such a long distance, then the need doesn’t become as pressing just yet.”
“Am I going to need driving lessons?” Izuku asks.
“Again, to be discussed later,” Nemuri chimes in, “For now, let’s just get your holoform sorted.”
“Agreed, though I should point out that I’ve been driving around without a license or insurance,” Arcee comments, “Anyway, just like everything else you’ve done so far, you simply need to think it and it will happen,”
As Arcee finishes speaking, the blonde woman that she had first appeared as fades into existence. First as a translucent outline, and then quickly solidifying till the blonde woman in the pink biker leathers is sitting in the seat of Arcee’s vehicle mode.
“See,” The blonde hologram smiles reassuringly.
“O- okay,” Izuku stammers with excitement, before he too tries to summon his own holoform. It takes him a few seconds, but sure enough, just like with Arcee, a figure quickly appears in the driver's seat of Izuku’s bike. First as a ghostly apparition and then as a solid being, nearly indistinguishable from a real human.
In fact the hologram Izuku was projecting was very nearly similar to Izuku’s original human body, except for a few noticeable differences.
The first was that his hair was longer, now extending down to his shoulders, and the features on his face were slightly softer, and rounder. As the Hologram dismounts from the green bike, Momo and Kyouka can see that it’s dressed in Izuku’s usual t-shirts and shorts, and once it’s clear of the bike, the final difference becomes obvious, and Kyouka bursts into a fit of laughter at the sight of her best friend now with the body of a girl.
“PFFFT-HAHAHAHA,” the punk girl cackles, “Holy hell, Green, who knew you’d be such a cute girl.”
“Wha-,” Izuku is initially confused by Kyouka’s outburst until he looks down at his body and notices the fact that his hologram now has a modest chest, larger than Kyouka but not as big as Momo.
“WHAT!” He yells, equal parts scared and confused, “How? What? Why?” he splutters, as he checks inside his hologram’s t-shirt and confirms that; yes, his hologram did indeed look like a female version of his previous human body.
Panicking, Izuku turns to look at Arcee, “What happened to me, why am I a girl?” He begs, still in his normal voice, which curiously didn’t seem all that mismatched with his more feminine body.
Sighing, Arcee’s avatar dismounts from her, and approaches Izuku’s avatar, resting a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
“First, Midoriya, you are not a girl, your holoform simply looks like a girl. That is the most important thing to remember, okay?”
“O-okay,” Izuku says shakily as his hologram takes a few deep breaths (Not that he needed to).
“Second, I should have mentioned this before, but I forgot because the Cybertronian definition of gender isn’t quite the same as organics, but a transformer’s holoform doesn’t necessarily reflect their actual gender. I know male bots with female holograms and fembots with male avatars. It is indicative of nothing, sometimes a bot will switch from one to another.”
“Like choosing whether to play with a male character or a female character in a video game,” Momo comments, “Think of how many times you’ve played Miruko in Hero Smash, Izuku, it’s like that.”
“Or how many times I’ve played Present Mic,” Kyouka adds.
“Oh, okay, I understand now,” Izuku says meekly, “Sorry for getting so worked up.”
“I guess it’s understandable for you, Young Midoriya” Toshinori reassures his student, “After all, because your avatar looks like you, you’re more attached to it than Arcee probably is to hers.”
Arcee solemnly nods in agreement, “Because part of my job is covert operations, I frequently change my hologram to fit the native population of a planet, so I have no real attachment to them, to me it’s just like how you would change clothes for different occasions.”
“So, is there any way I can change back to being a boy?” Izuku asks.
“Aww,” Kyouka groans, “But I like you as a girl, as I said, I think you look cute.”
“Um… thanks, Kyouka,” Izuku says, blushing slightly at being called cute by one of his friends. “But, I’d prefer to be a boy, even as a hologram,”
“Well, I think you’re cute, no matter what you look like,” Momo states, and this time Izuku’s face goes bright red.
“Y-y-you think I’m... c-cute… as a boy?” Izuku stammers. It was one thing for Kyouka to compliment him with a girl’s body, but Momo had just flat-out admitted that she thought he looked cute before he discovered his robotic heritage.
As soon as Izuku says it, Momo realises what she has just admitted, and so she too blushes with embarrassment, realising that she'd just admitted her crush to the world.
“Um… well… ah…,” For once, Momo’s well-practised composure completely abandons her, as she stumbles over her words, so she decides to double down and try and hide her feelings in a smoke screen “Well… yes. As a matter of fact, I think both you and Kyouka are cute,”
‘There we go,’ Momo thinks to herself, proud of her diversion ‘Now Izuku can’t possibly think I have a crush on him, after all, it’s not like I have a crush on Kyouka… right?’ She tries to tell herself, but a small part of her brain seems to disagree.
However, Momo’s words don’t seem to have the effect she intended, as instead of throwing Izuku off the scent, it instead draws Kyouka in.
“You think I’m cute as well?!” The punk girl exclaims, also going flush as she suddenly remembers the ‘hints’ Midnight had dropped during the summer.
“Er…” Momo’s brain stalls as her ill-conceived plan goes awry.
Off to the side, both Nemuri and Toshinori try to hide their amusement at the hijinks before them as all three of their apprentices turn bright red with embarrassment. Arcee, conversely, makes no effort at all to hide her amusement as she has fond memories of when her Conjunx, Aileron, first tried to ask her out. The key word being tried, because as far as Arcee can recall, it took the smaller bot several attempts before she successfully asked Arcee out on a date.
There are a few awkward seconds of silence as none of the three teens knows how to respond, to what’s been said. But eventually, Arcee decides to take mercy on them.
“So, Midoriya, do you still want to change your holoform?” She asks, smiling as Izuku instantly responds.
“Ohyespleasethankyou,” The words tumble from the hologram’s mouth as Izuku his nerves run wild.
“And I’m going to see Midoriya-san needs help in the kitchen,” Momo excuses herself from the group just to give herself some time and space to breathe.
“I’d better go help as well,” Nemuri adds, subtly winking at Toshinori as she follows her niece into the house.
This leaves Kyouka alone with her thoughts as she pays no attention to Arcee’s instructions.
‘Oh my god,’ the slim girl thinks to herself, ‘Momo thinks I’m cute, Miss Midnight was right she does have a crush on both of us, but… what do I do with that? Should I confess to them both now? No. Izuku’s got enough on his plate right now, and so does Momo. I can’t distract them from alien stuff with my stupid feelings. I’ll stick to the plan and talk to them once we’re in U.A., I just have to wait-”
“Young Jirou,” Toshinori’s voice and a gentle hand on her shoulder snap Kyouka out of her thoughts. So lost within her own mind that she never even heard her mentor approach.
“WHAAA!” Kyouka exclaims at the sudden noise and physical contact. Reflexively she strikes out with one of her jacks, accidently stabbing Toshinori in the back of his hand.
“Oww,” Toshinori instantly withdraws his hand, and now that she’s had time to realise what’s going on, Kyouka is instantly apologetic.
“I’m so sorry Yagi-san,” Kyouka apologises, “I kinda got caught up in my own thoughts.”
“That’s alright young Jirou, you certainly have impressive reflexes,” Toshinori grimaces as he massages his hand, thinking ‘I’m not surprised you’re distracted,’. “I just wanted to let you know that we’re ready to head in now,”
“Huh,” Kyouka looks over from her mentor to where Izuku was standing, his hologram now more closely resembling the boy that he was before his transformation. Rather than a female version of himself. “Oh, all done then?”
“Yup,” Izuku gives Kyouka a broad smile, “It’s weird, it’s like I’m back in my own body, but also… not.” He says as he inspects his hands, pinching himself slightly to see what it feels like.
“So, can you eat like this or…?” Kyouka trails off.
“He can mimic eating,” Arcee explains, “Though in my experience the avatars aren’t so great at copying the finer details of being organic.”
“Well, at least you can join us inside now,” Kyouka returns Izuku’s smile. “C’mon, your mom will be glad to be able to hug you again.”
With Izuku and Arcee now using their holographic avatars, the four of them enter the Yaoyorozu home and make their way to the kitchen where they find Momo and Nemuri with Inko. Momo having finally managed to put a lid on her feelings, for now. Hearing the group enter, the two women turn to see who it is, and as soon as Inko sees Izuku’s holoform, she rushes over to him and immediately wraps him in a bear hug, tears of joy flowing freely down her face.
“Oh Izukuuuu,” She cries. “I missed you,”
“I missed you too mum,” Izuku smiles and pats his mother on the back fondly.
It had only been one night that Izuku wasn’t home, but the emotional rollercoaster of the past 48 hours had clearly taken its toll on Inko, and Izuku understood that. So he just lets his mother hug for about a minute, till she’s ready to let go. Eventually, she does, and she dries her eyes.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” She apologises to everyone else around her, “It’s just last night was… lonely, without Izuku.”
“No need to apologise Midoriya-san,” Toshinori replies with a raised hand, “I suppose it’s only natural for a mother to miss her child.”
“That may be so,” Inko retorts, “But I’m technically still working, so my behaviour is rather unbecoming and unprofessional.”
“Maybe, but my parents are somewhat used to the Midoriya tears by now,” Momo says with a playful smile.
“I suppose they are,” Inko admits, before turning back to her son, “So I guess that means you’re going to school tomorrow?”
“Yup,” Izuku says with a nervous smile, “Hopefully it should just be business as normal,”
And for the next two months, it was. The three friends enter a new routine, where after school, Izuku continues to learn under the Arcee’s instruction, while Momo and Kyouka continue their training with Midnight and All Might, with Momo occasionally spending time to work on recreating Energon with her quirk. All in preparation for the upcoming U.A. entrance exam.
Notes:
Gonna keep this brief because it is currently 01:15 am GMT, and I should probably go to bed soon.
This chapter was mostly about establishing the basics of Izuku being able to fight as a transformer, and Momo beginning her research into energon reproduction. Setting up for the entrance exam that will be taking place next chapter.
Also, shout out to user 'h4rdw0rk' who commented that they imagined that Izuku looked similar to Thrash from Transformers: Earthspark. And Yeah, I have to agree, while not exactly the same, the design is similar enough as a reference.
For those who don't know who Thrash is, here: https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Thrash_(ES) imagine him but dark green and with Izuku's face.
Anyway, sorry if the notes are a bit light, but I just want to get this fic out, and TBH, I can't really think of anything else to mention. The next chapter will be the Entrance exam, where a few familiar faces will be showing up (or even returning).
Till next time.
The_Spartan_Sangheili.
Chapter 10: Blast Off
Summary:
Izuku, Momo, and Kyouka take the entrance exam.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
THE YAOYOROZU ESTATE
25TH FEBRUARY 2224
It was the evening before the entrance exam and Izuku was sitting in the Yaoyorozu garage alongside Arcee, both bots in vehicle mode. His holoform had ‘gone to bed’ early, after dinner with his mom, although Inko had been the only one to actually eat, allowing Izuku to stay up in his real body.
“You ready for tomorrow?” asks Arcee.
“I think so,” Izuku replies.
“You… think so?” Arcee retorts, and despite both bots being in vehicle mode, Izuku can just imagine Arcee giving him a look of scepticism.
“I know so,” Izuku corrects in a confident declaration. “I’m ready!”
Arcee lets out a slight chuckle at Izuku’s vigour, and the two bots sit in companionable silence. However, the peace is broken by the sound of Momo shouting.
“IZUKU! ARCEE!”
At the sound of their names being called, Izuku and Arcee burst forth from the garage, shoving the door open with their combined weight. The green and pink bikes charge out of the garage and immediately transform into their robot modes to find Momo standing in the middle of the driveway, just in front of the garage, in her pyjamas, holding a familiar blue cube, 30 centimetres big.
“I finally did it,” Momo proclaims, holding up the cube for the two bots to see.
Immediately, both Arcee and Izuku recognise the cube for what it is,
“Momo…” Izuku begins hesitantly, “Is that…?” he trails off in disbelief at what he’s seeing.
Momo nods enthusiastically, still beaming, and holds the cube up higher, like a little child eagerly showing her parents her latest drawing or painting.
“Is it… stable?” Izuku asks, and Arcee quickly scans it.
“It would appear so,” Arcee replies once her scan is done, “But, I’m confused, I thought you were working on trying to replicate raw Energon… I only gave you the formula for raw Energon crystals, how did you manage to recreate the refined material?”
“Many long hours of going over the formula and tweaking it to achieve natural stability.” Momo confesses, “Truthfully, I was just trying to make a more stable version of the raw crystal, but in the process of trying to achieve stability, I seemed to have recreated the refined product.”
Arcee takes the cube out of Momo’s hands to allow for a closer inspection.
“This is… outstanding,” Arcee utters in a low tone, before looking back down at Momo, “How many of these do you think you could make?”
“Well, theoretically, so long as I had constant access to food, I could make this ad infinitum at a rate of about one per minute, give or take a few seconds.”
“One per minute…” Arcee mutters as she does the mental maths on that output, and eventually her eyes go wide once she reaches her final answer. “By the Allspark, you could make over a thousand cubes a day,” The pink bot staggers slightly, one hand raised to her forehead in shock.
“Arcee?” Izuku looks at his alien mentor with concern.
Arcee sees the look and so explains, “Izuku, I said earlier that our species is facing an Energon shortage, right?”
Izuku nods.
“Well, what Momo can produce in one day, is enough to keep a battalion running, for a stellar cycle.”
“A what?” Izuku asks, unfamiliar with the term.
“A year,” Arcee clarifies.
“A year?!” Momo and Izuku both exclaim.
Arcee slowly nods, “While it wouldn’t be enough to completely reverse the shortage, that kind of Energon supply would be of great value,” she then smiles knowingly at Izuku. “It’s just as well you two are such close friends then,”
Both teens blush slightly at that comment, Momo turning slightly red, Izuku turning a silvery blue. “Yeah, close… friends,” Izuku mutters sheepishly, and Arcee just rolls her eyes in amusement.
“Well, this is greatly appreciated Momo,” Arcee kneels to talk to the human teen, “But shouldn’t you be in bed, resting for tomorrow?”
“I should,” Momo admits, “But I wanted to try and perfect my creation of Energon, so Izuku has a supply on hand tomorrow.”
“You didn’t have to do that Momo,” Izuku says, also dropping to his knees to speak closer to his friend.
“But I wanted to, I said I was going to figure out the Energon formula for you, and I did,” Momo states in a tone that doesn’t brook an argument.
“Well… thank you,” Izuku rubs the back of his head, his heart, or rather his spark, was touched by the gesture. “I just wish I could make it up to you,”
Momo smiles at Izuku’s nature, “Well if you really want to repay me, then pass the entrance exam tomorrow, so we can all go to U.A.”
“Right,” Izuku clenches his fists and nods in determination.
“Now, then, I really must be getting to bed,” Momo says as she stifles a yawn, “I will see you two in the morning.”
“Goodnight,” Arcee and Izuku both wave goodbye as Momo turns back towards her home and heads off to her bed.
Once the heiress is gone, the two bots re-enter the garage in a crouch and sit on the floor opposite each other, with Izuku’s back to the Yaoyorozus’ limo. Arcee takes the Energon cube in her two hands and begins splitting it. First into two halves, and then quarters, turning the single large cube into 4 smaller cubes, she then gives the cubes to Izuku.
“There you go, that should keep you going for a while,” Arcee says to Izuku.
Izuku smiles gratefully as he takes the pile of cubes before he realises he has nowhere to store them. “Um, what should I do with these?” He asks.
“You should have a subspace compartment on your body somewhere,” Arcee answers.
“Subspace?” Izuku asks.
Arcee nods, “A personal pocket dimension that each transformer has access to, it allows us to store weapons, tools, general supplies, even smaller bots like mini-cons.”
“Cool, so... where’s mine?” Izuku asks as he looks all over his body.
“No idea, its location varies from bot to bot, the most common is either in the chest or midriff,” Arcee replies.
“So, where’s yours?” Izuku inquires, failing to see how Arcee’s chest could contain a pocket dimension.
“I don’t have a large, single, subspace access,” Arcee explains, “Instead I have multiple smaller ones on my waist,” She gestures to the various boxes organised on her waist like a utility belt. “Being a two-wheeler as well, you might be similar.”
Izuku puts down the pile of Energon so that he can inspect his own waist, but fails to see any such compartments. “It doesn’t look like it,” He says disappointed.
Arcee hums in thought as she looks over Izuku’s body, trying to figure out where his subspace compartment is. That is until her visual processors fall upon Izuku’s sidecar, currently placed on his back, similar to a human backpack, and Arcee suddenly has an idea.
“What about your sidecar?” She suggests.
“My sidecar?” Izuku reactively turns to look over his shoulder at the small carriage on his back. “I guess that would make sense.”
He reaches around, and removes the sidecar from his back, somewhat awkwardly within the confines of the garage. Once it’s off his back, he sets it down on the floor between himself and Arcee. Much like Izuku himself, the sidecar had undergone a transformation from vehicle mode to robot mode, the wheel had moved to the underside, and the seat where a passenger would sit was covered over with a hatch. Izuku lifts up the hatch, and instead of a leather-covered seat, he is greeted with a glowing golden void.
“There it is,” Arcee gestures with an open hand at the sidecar, “A Subspace storage sidecar.”
“Awesome,” Izuku grins, his eyes glowing bright with excitement. He then takes his pile of Energon cubes and dumps all but one of them into the glowing void.
“Once you put an object into your storage pocket, you should be able to summon it without having to physically open your subspace compartment, like so,” Arcee explains, and as she says that she summons a sword hilt into her hands in a flash of golden light.
“Is that a sword?” Izuku asks.
Arcee nods, “An Energon sword, slightly more effective than the built-in blades we have, I’d demonstrate but I don’t think the Yaoyorozus would appreciate me poking holes in their garage.” The hilt then disappears in another golden flash. “Now you try,” Arcee prompts Izuku.
Izuku then holds out his hand and imagines one of the Energon cubes appearing in his hands. A second later, a cube appears with a golden glow.
“Cool,” Izuku is in awe. “So, how much can I store in there?”
“Theoretically, it’s endless. So long as the object you want to store can fit the physical dimensions of your compartment, you can store it.”
Izuku’s eyes go wide with excitement, “I can carry all my All-Might merch with me,” he gasps.
Arcee chuckles, “Heh, yes, I suppose you could do that. Most bots do keep their personal possessions in subspace.” Arcee then summons another object into her hands, this time it’s a photo frame with a picture of her and another fem-bot with a rather round head. The picture shows the two femmes grinning, the rounder one blushing slightly.
“Who’s that?” Izuku asks, seeing the photo.
“Aileron,” Arcee explains in a wistful tone. “My conjunx.”
“Conjunx?” Izuku asks, not familiar with the term.
“I suppose the human term would be spouse or wife,” Arcee explains.
“Oh, you’re married?” Izuku is somewhat surprised by that revelation, though he’s not sure why.
“In organic terms, yes,” Arcee admits.
“Can you tell me about her?” Izuku begs.
Arcee thinks about it, before deciding, “Okay, but afterwards, you’re taking a stasis nap, okay?”
“Deal!” Izuku agrees immediately, before shifting in his seat to become more comfortable.
For the next hour, Arcee regales Izuku with tales of her partner. About how they met during the war, and how they came to be couple, but only after many years of Aileron working up the courage to ask Arcee.
The next morning, Momo wakes to the sound of her alarm, and dresses in her Musutafu Prep uniform, ready for the entrance exam. After a generous breakfast designed to maximise her lipid stockpile, she leaves her family’s mansion and finds Izuku waiting for her, his hologram leaning against the side of his bike mode.
“Your chariot awaits, ma’am,” the holoform says in a mock posh accent while giving an exaggerated bow.
Momo raises one hand to her mouth to try and suppress her laughter. “Pfft, really Izuku?”
“Sorry,” Holo-Izuku rubs the back of his head as he rises from the bow, “I’m just a little nervous is all,”
“I assumed as much,” Momo shakes her head in disbelief, as she approaches the bike and sidecar, “I suppose It is only natural to be nervous, this is possibly the most important exam in our lives.”
“Well, shall we get going?” Holo-Izuku moves to mount his Bike-Izuku. “Kyouka’s probably waiting for us already,”
“It would be rude of us to keep her waiting,” Momo places her bag inside the footwell of the sidecar next to a purple helmet, while taking out a red crash helmet. As Momo dons the helmet and fastens the strap underneath the chin, she notices the absence of a certain pink motorbike.
“Where’s Arcee?” she asks.
“Gone on ahead,” Holo-Izuku explains, and Momo climbs into the sidecar. “Apparently, she was personally invited by Principal Nedzu.”
“The principal, why?” Momo asks, buckling her belt.
Izuku shrugs, “I don’t know, perhaps to discuss my potential enrolment, after all, I would technically be U.A.’s first alien student.”
Momo purses her lips in thought as she considers that. Seeing that Momo was ready, Izuku drives out of the Yaoyorozu estate and towards U.A.
20 minutes later, Izuku pulls into the U.A. carpark and finds a motorcycle parking bay with two other bikes waiting. One is a familiar-looking pink and white sports bike, while the other is a teal-coloured vintage Harley-Davidson Sportster, that looked about as old as Izuku’s bike form.
“Hey, Arcee,” Izuku’s holoform greets the pink bike after checking no one else is around.
“Hello there, young bot,” Arcee replies, as Izuku pulls into the parking bay between the two bikes.
“So, where’s your hologram right now?” Holo-Izuku asks as he and Momo dismount.
“Currently with Midnight and Toshinori in Nedzu’s office discussing various things, including your participation in the entrance exam,”
“Oh?” Holo-Izuku looks questioningly at Arcee, while Momo stows her helmet and retrieves her bag.
“Nothing major,” Arcee immediately reassures him, “For the written exam, Nedzu is going to have Midnight supervise your real body, just make sure you don’t cheat. And then for the practical Nedzu has given you permission to use your real body instead of your hologram.”
That last part piques both Momo and Izuku’s interest.
“Do you know what the practical exam is then?” Momo asks.
“Yes,” Arcee says simply.
“Can you tell us?” Izuku chances.
“No,” Arcee replies bluntly. “That would be cheating, all I can tell you is that you will be allowed to use your real body to take part in it, provided you use the established cover story.”
“Right,” Izuku nods his head, “Machine possession quirk.”
It was the “new quirk” All Might had devised to cover Izuku’s new body. The cover story would be that Izuku’s quirk is actually “machine possession,” which allowed “holo-Izuku” to “possess” his motorbike and turn into a mech.
“Good” Arcee is satisfied with Izuku’s understanding. “Now then, you two had better head off, you can never be too early to an exam,”
Holo-Izuku and Momo both nod in agreement and begin to turn away to go and find Kyouka, but Momo stops halfway and turns back to the pink bike.
“Arcee, do you know who owns that motorcycle?” Momo asks, pointing at the teal Harley-Davidson.
“Another girl, presumably another examinee, can’t really tell you much more, other than the fact that her hair was bright orange.”
“Okay,” Momo bobs her head once in thanks before turning back to join Izuku.
The two teens make their way from the car park to the front of the main building, where they find a stream of other teenagers making their way from the front gate to the large, four-towered school building.
“Any sign of Kyouka?” Momo asks, peering into the crowd.
“I can’t see her,” Izuku replies as he does his best not to be distracted by several people with obvious quirk mutations.
“Try looking it the other direction,” A familiar voice calls out from behind them, causing both Momo and Holo-Izuku to start with surprise as they spin around to see Kyouka standing on the path they just came down. “I knew you guys would come from the carpark, so I waited for you by the path, but you somehow managed to completely miss me,”
“Sorry,” Momo and Izuku apologise simultaneously.
“I guess we must have been too focused on trying to find you in the crowd,” Holo-Izuku reasons.
“Well, you’re here now,” Kyouka shrugs.
“I hope we didn’t leave you waiting too long,” says Momo.
“You didn’t… not really, I only got here a few minutes before you did,” Kyouka replies.
“Well, we better head in then,” Holo-Izuku says, as he begins to walk backwards onto the main footpath.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t look where he’s going and accidentally bumps into someone walking along the main path to the school building.
“OW!” A girl’s voice cries out, and Izuku immediately spins on his heels to try and catch whoever he bumped into.
“I’m so sorry,I didn’t mean to-” he begins to apologise as he reaches out to grab the girl he bumped into, to stop her from falling onto the floor, but he stops as he notices that she isn’t falling, but rather floating, at waist height, off the pavement.
“Oh, um…” Izuku begins awkwardly, “Do you… need a hand?”
“I’m fine thanks,” The girl, a chestnut brunette with round, rosy cheeks, replies as she places the tips of her fingers on both hands together. “Release,” She says before she then drops to the ground and staggers slightly from the impact before recovering and turning to face Izuku.
“I’m so sorry,” Izuku begins to apologise again, now that the girl was standing upright, “I wasn’t paying attention to where I was walking.”
“That’s okay,” The brunette, wearing an all-black school uniform dismisses his apology. “It was an accident, and honestly, I wasn’t really looking where I was walking either, I’m just so nervous about the exam.”
“Heh, me too.” Izuku rubs the back of his head sheepishly.
“Anyway, I’d better head inside,” The girl begins to wave farewell as she continues along the path. “Good luck,”
“You too,” Izuku calls back, before turning to face Kyouka and Momo again, both of whom have amused looks on their faces.
“What?” Izuku asks, seeing their expressions.
“Oh, nothing…” Kyouka smiles, “ladykiller,”
“Wha-!” Izuku recoils at Kyouka’s comment. “Lady killer?”
“Leave him alone Kyouka,” Momo says with a tired smile, “It was a simple accident, nothing more.”
“I know,” Kyouka grins, “But I’ll take any ammunition to tease him, especially when it’s so easy,”
“Ugh…” Izuku groans, head bowed “Let’s just head inside,”
Kyouka suppresses a chuckle while Momo just pats him on the shoulder sympathetically as the trio joins the growing throng of would-be examinees.
An hour later, after the written exam, during which Midnight and a Cowboy-esque hero named Snipe supervised Izuku’s physical body, Izuku, Momo, and Kyouka file into an auditorium alongside the hundreds of other exam takers.
“Uhh, that was so haaard,” Kyouka groans as she takes her seat to the left of Izuku, with Momo sitting on his right.
“I don’t know,” Momo hums in disagreement. “I thought that was easier than the recommendation exam.”
“Same,” Izuku nods in agreement with Momo.
“Seriously?” Kyouka looks in disbelief at her two crushes friends.
Both Izuku and Momo nod simultaneously in confirmation. “Likely because the recommended students are supposed to be the best and brightest, that’s why they’re recommended… atleast in theory.”
“Just as well I didn’t take the recommendation exam then,” Kyouka sighs, “I think I only barely passed this one.”
“I’m sure you did fine,” Izuku reassured her, “After all you are one of the top students in our class.”
“I’m like seventh in the class in terms of grades,” Kyouka counters.
“That’s still in the top 60%” Momo rebuts, “Besides, the written test is only half of the exam, there is still the practical portion, and that’s where you’ll shine.”
Kyouka’s face brightens with a genuine smile at the praise and encouragement from her two crushes friends. But before she can say anything, several spotlights turn on, highlighting a spot on the auditorium stage as a man in full leather clothing, with a large plume of blond hair walks out, addressing the crowd of teens.
“What’s up U.A. Candidates?!” The man exclaims, “Thanks for tunin’ into me, your class DJ.” He spreads his hands wide in an appeal to the audience. “C’mon and let me hear ya!”
In the ensuing, awkward silence that follows, Izuku is certain he could hear a pin drop.
Unfazed by the lack of response, the blonde man continues with his presentation, meanwhile, up in the audience, Izuku is quietly nerding out. One handy aspect about his holoform was the fact that he had total control over it, including the glow of his eyes, and the volume of his voice.
“I can’t believe it, it’s the Voice Hero, Present Mic,” He silently beams.
“Yeah, I guess he’s pretty cool,” Kyouka tries to act nonchalantly, mindlessly twirling one of her jacks around her index finger. But her act isn’t fooling Momo and Izuku, they know their punk friend too well.
“You can drop the act Kyouka,” Izuku whispers, “We all know you listen to Present Mic’s radio show every day.”
Kyouka shrugs, “Hey, he’s a hero and a man of musical talent, what’s not to like.”
“Hush, you two.” Momo chides, “You should be paying attention to the presentation.”
“Sorry Momo,” the other two whisper before refocusing on the stage, as Present Mic continues to talk.
“…in super-hip urban settings. Gird your loins my friends! After I drop the Mic here, you’ll head to your specified battle centres, okay?”
The trio looks down at the exam cards that they’ve been given on arrival, which had their name, examinee number, and exam site letter on it.
Momo looks at her own card, which says, “Site B”, then looks over at Izuku’s card, which also says “Site B,”
“Izuku, look,” Momo holds out her card for Izuku to see, “We’re in the same test site.” Both Izuku and Kyouka peer over to look at Momo’s card. Izuku reacts with delight, while Kyouka just frowns.
“Well I’m not,” the purple-haired girl grumbles.
“Likely because you and Izuku are in the same school.” Momo reasons. “That way they can avoid classmates and friends teaming up.”
“Because that’s worked so well with us,” Kyouka snarks.
“I didn’t say it was perfect.” Momo admits, “But hopefully this means I won’t have to deal with Monoma.”
“The egomaniac from your current school?” Kyouka asks, and Momo nods.
“I saw him in the exam hall earlier, fortunately, he didn’t see me.”
“Well, there’s no need to think about him now,” Izuku chimes in, “Besides, I think Present Mic is about to speak again.”
The three friends then focus back on the pro hero below as he recommences his explanation of the exam.
“Okay, okay, Let’s check out your targets!” The blonde cockatoo-esque man cheers, as the screen behind him show 3 different robotic silhouettes. However, unlike Izuku and Arcee’s robot forms, these images don’t appear to be bipedal. Each of the three silhouettes has written next to it either, ‘1P’, ‘2P’, or ‘3P’.
“There are three different faux villains in each battle centre,” Mic explains. “You’ll earn points based on their level of difficulty,”
‘Ah, so that must be what those are,’ Momo thinks referring to the combination of letters and words next to each outline. ‘Point values.’
Present Mic continues to explain the rules of the exam until he is interrupted by a tall boy with blue hair and wearing spectacle, who stands up from his seat in the middle of the audience.
“Excuse me sir, but I have a question,” The boy raises his hand in the air, despite having already called out.
“Hit me,” Mic points at the standing teen.
“On the printout, you’ve listed four types of villains. Not three,” the boy highlights, pointing to a pamphlet that they’d each been given. “With all due respect, if this is an error on UA official material, it is shameful.”
In her seat several rows up from the standing boy, Momo rests her head in her hands in embarrassment. “Oh Iida…” She groans.
“You know that guy?” Izuku asks.
But before Momo can answer the boy spins around and points at Izuku.
“Additionally, you there, with the unkempt hair.”
“Me?” Izuku points at himself.
“You’ve been talking this entire time.” The boy scolds Izuku, “Stop that. If you can’t bother to take this seriously, leave. You’re distracting the rest of us.”
Izuku cringes slightly at that, unsure as to how to respond.
Kyouka however, is sure, as she rises from her seat.
“Hey, mind your own business,” She yells down at the boy. “The only person here that’s distracting is you, you’re the one standing up and making unnecessary comments.”
“Unnecessary?” the blue-haired boy is scandalised and looks like he’s about to retort when Momo steps in.
“Iida, I think you had best retake your seat. You too, Jirou.” Momo projects with an authoritative tone.
Momo’s tone, plus the fact that she reverted back to using her family name is enough to make Kyouka retake her seat. However, she does get some satisfaction from the look of pure bewilderment on Iida’s face, though for what reason, she can only guess. The boy, Iida, also retakes his seat, the cogs of his brain turning as he wonders why on earth Momo Yaoyorozu is taking the normal entrance exam.
“All right, examinee 7-1-1-1,” Present Mic regains control of the conversation, before explaining that the fourth villain, that Iida had highlighted, was more of an obstacle to be avoided that wasn’t worth any points.
“I wonder just how big these robots are?” Momo thinks aloud.
“Probably not as big as our own bot,” Kyouka smiles, nudging Izuku’s side.
“I sure hope not,” Izuku wishes, “But even if they are, we can handle them,”
“Darn right green,” Kyouka gives her friends a thumbs up as Present Mic closes out his presentation, wishing all the examinees good luck.
As Ochako Uraraka leaves the auditorium and heads to the bus that will take her to her exam site, she notices one girl not boarding a bus like everyone else. She has long black hair tied back in a ponytail, save for a large strand of hair hanging down the right side of her face, and is wearing just trainers, gym shorts, and a sports bra. She recognises the girl as having been with the green-haired boy who bumped into her before the exam, and wonders what she’s waiting for. As she boards the bus to the exam site, she takes a seat by the window, to keep watching the other girl, who is still waiting.
‘Is she not taking part in the exam?’ Ochako thinks to herself, ‘Why isn’t she boarding one of the buses?’
Her question is answered a few seconds later when she sees the green-haired boy from earlier pull up on a vintage motorcycle, and the other girl climbs into the sidecar on the boy’s left.
“Whoa,” Uraraka audibly gasps, just as the bus begins to pull away.
“I know Arcee said you were allowed to!” Momo shouts to Izuku over the sound of rushing wind as the pair tail the bus to their exam site, “But it still feels wrong not being on the bus!”
“Yeah, but you have to admit, this is cooler,” Holo-Izuku beams at Momo, the holoform not needing to keep its eyes on the road.
“Oh, absolutely,” Momo returns the smile, “I just wish Kyouka was with us right now,”
“I feel the same,” Izuku replies, “But there wouldn’t be time to drop her off at her exam site before returning to our own before the exam started.”
“I know,” Momo sighs.
After a few minutes, the bus that they’re following pulls up outside a full-scale city block encircled by a high concrete wall. Izuku pulls up alongside the bus as its passengers disembark, many of who are staring, and muttering, at the pair on the motorcycle.
“I guess that’s to be expected,” Izuku comments about their onlookers, “I suppose I am an unusual sight.”
“I believe that is a slight understatement,” Momo looks up at Holo-Izuku from her seat in the sidecar.
“So,” Izuku turns his gaze from the crowd warming up outside the gate to the exam site to Momo, “What’s our plan?”
Momo strokes her chin with one hand as she gathers her thoughts; she’d spent the time waiting for Izuku thinking about that exact question.
“I think it would be best, once we get into the exam site, for us to go our separate ways,” Momo answers and is greeted by a crestfallen expression on Holo-Izuku’s face.
“I know you’d rather we fight together, but the simple truth is, given your new size and frame, you’d be better off fighting on your own, where you won’t have to worry about me getting in your way.”
Holo-Izuku opens his mouth to argue but freezes as he considers Momo’s suggestion. Eventually, he slumps his shoulders.
“I guess you're right,” He reluctantly admits.
“I know, I would have liked to do the exam alongside you,” Momo reassures him, “I also would have liked to have fought alongside Kyouka, but I that’s a different matter. Besides, this way, each of us will have proven that we can get into UA on our own merits, without the need for assistance from each other.”
As Izuku thinks it over more he slowly warms to the idea. It still wouldn’t have been his first plan, but now that he thought it over, he didn’t completely disagree with it.
He gives a nod of approval to Momo, just as someone walks up alongside them.
“Sweet wheels,” A girl’s voice chimes, and Momo and Holo-Izuku turn to face a girl standing next to them, admiring Izuku’s alt-mode. “This your bike?” the girl asks Izuku.
The girl is about the same height as Holo-Izuku, with a slim build. She has blue-ish, green eyes, and long orange hair, tied in a high, side ponytail on her left.
“Um… yes,” Holo-Izuku answers awkwardly.
The girl nods in approval, “You have good taste,” She crouches down to inspect the engine. “Did you restore this or…”
“Oh, um…” Holo-Izuku looks quickly to Momo, not sure how to answer that.
“It was a birthday gift,” Momo lies confidently, “From me,”
“From you?” The girls looks over at Momo, on the opposite side of the bike from her. “You bought your boyfriend a Triumph Bonneville as a birthday present?”
Both Momo and Holo-Izuku recoil at the mention of Izuku being Momo’s boyfriend.
“I’m not-” “He’s not-” they both sputter, waving their hand in denial.
“Oh sorry, didn’t mean to assume,” the girl shrugs, “it’s just a vintage bike like this isn’t exactly something you just gift to a friend, unless you really like them… or are really rich.”
Momo and Izuku both share a quick glance, before looking back at the girl, who has returned to inspect Izuku’s engine.
“So, are you a motorcycle enthusiast then?” Holo-Izuku asks, out of polite curiosity.
“You could say that,” the girl says with a smile, “I like to tinker on my own bike in my spare time,” she then chuckles, “Usually while my girlfriend gossips next to me,”
The mention of her owning her own bike, combined with her hair, triggers something in Momo’s memory.
“Wait, are you the owner of the Harley-Davidson in the parking lot?” Momo asks, and the girl nods.
“Yup, that’s my girl… well, my other girl. Been slowly restoring her for the past year, she’s driveable, but not exactly in the best condition.”
“She looked fine to me,” Holo-Izuku comments.
“On the outside maybe,” the girl shrugs, “But that’s only because I cleaned her up, the inside however still needs work, I hope to have her fully restored by the time I graduate. Assuming I get into UA to begin with.”
“Well good luck to you,” Holo-Izuku says with a smile.
“You too, but don’t take this the wrong way if I say I hope I beat you,” the girl returns the smile, but hers is more cunning.
“Same to you,” Momo matches the red-head’s intensity.
The girl pats the side of Izuku’s vehicle body affectionately, before walking away. But after she takes a few steps away, she turns back, a look of confusion on her face.
“By the way, how come you’re allowed to ride your bike here?” she asks.
“Oh, because it’s part of my quirk,” Holo-Izukuexplains, as casually as if saying the sky was blue.
“Part of your…” the girl trails off, still thoroughly confused. But before she can follow up, the sound of Present Mic’s voice echoes over the ground.
“RIGHT, LET’S START!” The yellow-haired pro yells from atop a nearby observation tower.
Just as he says that, Izuku notices the doors to the to exam ground opening, and without hesitating, he floors it. Zooming past the red-headed girl and the other examinees. Momo, not expecting the sudden acceleration is thrown back into her seat by the sudden Gs.
“THERE ARE NO COUNTDOWNS IN REAL BATTLES!” they can hear Present Mics fading as they enter the exam ground.
The massed group of examinees turn at the sound of Izuku’s engine, and all they see is a trail of dust kicked up by the speeding bike. Their outrage is immediate.
“Hey, no fair!”
“Cheater!”
“How come he gets a vehicle!”
“And who was that tramp with him?”
The redheaded girl just shakes her head in disappointment at the attitudes of her fellow examinees as she takes off at a run into the mock city.
‘some heroes you're all going to be,’ she thinks in disgust.
Once he’s sure he’s out of sight of the other examinees, Izuku deactivates his holoform. And keeps driving until he and Momo encounter a group of six robots, consisting of four 1-pointers, and two, 2-pointers gathered at an intersection.
Izuku comes to a dead stop, and Momo immediately hops out of the sidecar, her quirk activating to summon a metal bo-staff for her to use. Once Momo is clear of him, Izuku transforms back into his robot mode, his right-hand wrist cannon already deployed.
“I’ll go left, you go right,” He says, and Momo grunts in agreement, before launching herself at the nearest 1-pointer robot, slamming the end of her staff into the side of its head. Smashing it with ease.
‘huh, I guess UA makes these things easy to destroy for the purpose of the exam,” Momo thinks as she dodges a swipe from the second 1-pointer, before batting at the robot’s neck, cleaving the head from its body.
On the other side of the road, Izuku makes quick work of his three robots, punching the first two with his firsts before neutralising the 2-pointer with his double-barrelled wrist cannon set to stun.
He looks over to see how Momo is coping, just in time to see her dodge her two-pointer’s tail, before climbing onto its back and ramming her staff into its back, ‘killing’ it.
“Good job,” Izuku gives her a thumbs.
“Time for compliments later,” Momo retorts, “Focus on robots,”
“Right,” Izuku nods in recognition. “See you in ten minutes,” he waves goodbye before heading down the left-hand road of the intersection, while Momo heads down the right-hand road.
As Izuku continues through the streets, running and gunning various robots, he comes across many different students, including the brunette from before the exam, the blue-haired boy from the auditorium, and the red-head that had admired his bike, actually, technically speaking, he had admired him, which wasn’t weird to think about at all.
Away from the exam sites, in an observation room, several staff members of UA observe the examinees through multiple video monitors, each one showing a different student, and never staying on one student for more than a few seconds.
Seated amongst the staff, are Nedzu, the school principal, and his two special guests, Toshinori and Arcee, in her holoform.
“I see Mr Midoriya is faring a lot better than last time,” Nedzu comments as he observes Izuku using his wrist cannons to eliminate two 3-pointers in quick succession. “My, he certainly has had a busy month,”
“Having the right teacher helps,” Arcee responds, causing Toshinori to sheepishly rub the back of his head.
Nedzu nods in agreement with that wisdom, “Absolutely, I’ve found since becoming principal here, that the right teacher makes all the difference in a student’s education.”
He then looks back at the changing monitors of students. “And what do you think of the other candidates, from an outsider’s perspective?”
Arcee’s gaze flicks from monitor to monitor, taking in the different human children on display. One with multiple arms, another able to produce explosions in the palm of his hands, and another who was able to harden his skin. That last one in particular reminds her of a certain red-painted Autobot that she knows of.
“Honestly, it reminds me of home, before the war,” Arcee admits, much to Nedzu's intrigue.
“Really?” Nedzu looks curiously at the blonde hologram.
Arcee nods, “Obvious differences aside, of course. But as a former teacher, I met young… children-” She corrects herself from saying bots at the last minute- “of all shapes, sizes, and abilities. This is a sight I haven’t seen in a long time.” Arcee gives a sad smile as she thinks of her time before the great war, before frowning slightly. “Though I must admit, for children many of them show extraordinary talent.”
“Many of them will have trained for years to get into UA,” Nedzu points out. “We are the most prestigious hero academy in the country after all,”
‘So, similar to the Autobot Academy,’ Arcee thinks, ‘the best of the best,’
As she thinks that, Momo’s image comes up on one of the monitors.
“A shame that Midnight couldn’t watch,” Arcee laments, “She’d be proud of Momo’s progress so far,”
“Oh don’t worry,” Nedzu reassures his guest, “Nemuri is currently watching her niece on a computer in the staff room. But for integrity reasons, we couldn’t have her sitting in the same room as the exam invigilators.”
Arcee sees the wisdom in that.
“hey, what is that?” One of the teachers, a man in black helmet and a tan cloak points at a larger monitor that had just brought up footage of Izuku in action, “That’s not one of our robots, is it?”
“Nope,” a second teacher, this one in a yellow exo-suit replies, “I mean, he’s green, but definitely not one of mine.”
“He is actually a student, Ectoplasm,” Nedzu addresses the first teacher who spoke. “His name is Izuku Midoirya.”
Ectoplasm picks up a folder full of UA candidates and flicks to Izuku’s page.
“He doesn’t look like he does in his file,” Ectoplasm comments, seeing the picture of a fresh-faced, human, Izuku.
“That would be because of his quirk,” Arcee fills in, having memorised the cover story of both herself and Izuku.
“Machine possession and transformation,” Ectoplasm reads off the page, before humming “Hmm,”
“Well, he’s certainly skilled,” The teacher with exo-suit comments, looking at Izuku in action. “though I’m curious as to what weapons he’s using, I don’t recognise them”
‘I doubt any human would,’ Arcee thinks to herself.
“You’ll just have to wait until he gets into UA, Majima,” Nedzu cautions the teacher, “If he gets in,” not that Nedzu had any doubt about that outcome.
“It’s almost time,” Says one of the other teachers present, a grey, blocky man who had been introduced to Arcee as Cementoss.
Nedzu’s animal features curl into a fiendish smile, as Arcee looks puzzled at him.
“Time for what?” She asks.
“The real test of course,” Nedzu says as Cementoss reaches for a red button on the console beneath the monitors.
Back in the test site, Izuku charges out of a side street back onto the main road he had driven down when he and Momo had first entered the mock city. He looks around as wrecked bots line the street, with various exam takers looking around for more.
As he looks around her hears Momo’s voice call his name, “Izuku,” He looks across the street and sees her at the mouth of a smaller alley, he quickly crosses the street to rejoin her.
“Momo, how are you doing?” He asks.
“Pretty good,” Momo replies as she takes deep breaths, “I'm up to roughly 45 points,”
“Roughly?” Izuku looks questioningly, not used to Momo being so imprecise.
“Okay, 43 to be precise” Momo admits, “What about you?”
Izuku shrugs. “I lost count.”
Momo shakes her head in disbelief, just before Izuku is sent staggering after a beam of light hits him in the back.
“Ow!” He exclaims, before spinning around, cannons out, thinking one of the bots had attacked him.
Instead, he sees, down the street, a blonde boy, with a fancy belt around his waist. A second later another sparkling beam of light shoots out from the middle of the belt and Izuku has to dodge, or else risk being hit in the face.
“HEY!” Momo shouts at the boy, “HE’S NOT A TEST ROBOT YOU MORON, HE’S A STUDENT, YOU CAN BE DISQUALIFIED FOR THAT!”
The boy cowers at Momo’s verbal barrage, his expression changing to guilt as he realises his mistake. But before he can apologise the entire cityscape is seemingly rocked by an earthquake.
Both Momo and Izuku stagger slightly as the ground shakes beneath them. The sound of an almighty rumbling from up the road draws everyone’s attention as a giant robot, taller than the buildings around them seems to rise from the ground, sending debris flying everywhere.
“Wh- What is that?” Izuku stammers, “Is that a Decepticon?” his mind goes straight to the worst-case scenario.
Momo, however, despite being just as shocked, keeps her wits about her. “No, I think that’s the 0-pointer robot, from the presentation.”
“That’s the 0-pointer?!” Izuku exclaims in surprise, “Isn’t that a bit overkill,”
“Well, Present Mic did say it was supposed to be an obstacle to be avoided,” Momo replies, relatively calm in comparison to Izuku’s more panicky frame of mind.
Izuku isn’t the only transformer surprised by the scale of the 0-pointer though, as away in the observation room, Arcee’s holoform had almost jumped out of her seat at the sight of a multi-storey robot popping up in each of the exam centres.
“What in Primus…?” She exclaims. “Are those part of the exam?” She looks between Nedzu and Toshinori, both of whom nod in confirmation.
“Those things are as big as a combiner,” Arcee points out. As she says that, she imagines Izuku and his two human friends facing up against the likes of Devastator, Menosar, or Bruticus. Brutal, towering, gestalts capable of razing even the sturdiest of Autobot fortifications.
“Combiner?” Toshinori asks in a whisper.
“A single giant cybertronian, comprised of 5 to 6 normal transformers,” Arcee explains.
“Whoa,” Toshinori lets out an involuntary gasp as he imagines multiple robots, bigger than Izuku, combining into something the size of an office building, like those old pre-quirk mecha TV shows.
“If you are concerned for the examinees' safety, do not worry, every precaution has been taken to prevent harm,” Nedzu reassures.
“Are you certain of that?” Arcee looks sceptically at the humanoid rodent, as she points to a monitor showing a girl trapped under rubble.
Back in exam centre B, Momo and Izuku are discussing what to do in response to the appearance of the 0-pointer.
“I think it would be wise if we avoid it for now,” suggests Momo.
Izuku nods in agreement, and the pair are about to take off down the street, away from the giant robot, when Izuku hears something and stops, turning back towards the 0-pointer.
After a second, Momo notices that Izuku isn’t following her, and turns back to see why.
“What is it?” She asks.
“I thought heard…” Izuku trails off, when suddenly.
“Help,”
This time both Izuku and Momo hear the cry for aid.
“Where did that come from?” Izuku asks, scanning the surrounding street.
“There,” Momo points down the road, about halfway between them and the 0-pointer, where they can see the girl Izuku had bumped into, trapped underneath a pile of concrete.
Izuku looks around and back to see if any of the other examinees had noticed, but apparently, they hadn’t, as they all kept rushing past him and Momo, trying to escape the 0-pointer’s rampage.
“We have to help,” he declares, and Momo, without even stopping to think, agrees.
“Transform, it’ll be quicker,” she instructs.
Izuku agrees with that sentiment, and so transforms back into his bike mode, Momo sits in the driving seat, rather than the sidecar, in order to pretend to be the rider.
As soon as Momo has mounted, Izuku takes off down the street, past the fleeing exam takers, some of whom notice the bike and his rider, but most are too focused on saving themselves to care.
Within a few seconds, Izuku pulls up alongside the trapped girl. Momo hops off, and Izuku transforms back into robot mode, in order to help lift the rubble off. Both of them all too aware of the rapidly approaching 0-pointer.
With Izuku's cybertronian body, they’re able to quickly remove the rubble.
“Th-thanks,” the brunette says shakily once the rubble is removed, clearly exhausted. “I would’ve removed the rubble myself but I’ve overused my quirk.”
“That’s okay,” Momo reassures her, all while Izuku keeps an eye on the 0-pointer. “We’re here now, are you able to walk?”
The girl tries to stand with Momo’s aid but winces as she puts pressure on her right foot.
“I think it’s sprained,” she pants, still breathing hard.
Momo frowns in annoyance at that, it was a problem, but an easily solvable one thanks to Izuku. She’s about to suggest that Izuku transform again so that they can place the girl into his sidecar, when the sound of Izuku’s cannon firing interrupts her.
“Izuku, what are you doing?” She exclaims.
“Trying to stop the 0-pointer,” he explains.
“Why?” Momo asks, confused. “We can simply just take this girl in your sidecar and escape.”
“But what if someone else gets hurt,” Izuku replies, “There could be others, like her-” He nods at the brunette- “who are trapped, and in trouble, but we don’t know about them. We have to stop the robot now.”
Momo looks up at the robot and sees two large dents in the middle of the chest, presumably the result of Izuku’s shots.
“Okay, but can you destroy it? You’ve only just managed to dent it, I’m not sure you’ll be able to stop it before it reaches us. You’re going to need a lot more firepower.”
“I know,” Izuku replies with a confident smile, “I have a plan.”
“A plan?” Momo repeats, wondering what Izuku could possibly be thinking. “What plan?”
“This,” Izuku says as he turns back to face the robot, his left-hand wrist cannons deploying as his entire body begins to glow with blue and red sparks of energy that Momo instantly recognises.
In the observation room, Arcee is out of her seat, while Toshinori just grips the arms of his chair in anticipation.
Likewise, in the UA staff room, Nemuri leans in close to her computer monitor showing her niece and Izuku’s exam.
“Izuku, don’t!” Momo cries out as she can guess what he’s about to do, but it’s too late.
Izuku charges up OFA to 100%, this was the first time he’s used it since the recommendation exam. The past month or so he had been so focused on his new Cybertronian body, that he’d neglected All Might’s quirk, but if there was ever a chance to use it, it was now. He reasons that if it can supercharge his punches, like All Might, then surely it should supercharge other parts of his body, including his cannons. He aims the four barrels of his wrist-mounted weapons at the 0-pointer's head and fires.
Rather than the usual bolt of blue Energon that would come out of Izuku’s barrels, four multi-coloured continuous beams shoot out instead. They converge at a point halfway between Izuku and the other robot, merging into one giant beam of OFA-powered Energon, before blasting through the middle of the robot’s head, and shooting up into the sky like a massive beacon that could be seen from every other exam centre.
Izuku’s attack lasts a full 10 seconds before he stops firing. Once he does, all that remains of the 0-pointer’s head is the base of its neck, where it was attached to the rest of its body. The entire head had been incinerated by the intensity of Izuku’s beam. Without its CPU, the robot stops dead in its tracks, before eventually toppling backwards, crashing down onto its own path of destruction.
Behind and to the left of Izuku both Momo and the round-face girl stare in amazement at what Izuku had just accomplished. Both of them are slacked-jawed, but Momo recovers first.
“Izuku… that was… amazing,” Momo is almost at a loss for words, however, there is no response from Izuku, who just stands, his arms still raised, ready to fire. “Izuku?” Momo’s tone becomes more concerned, she begins to rise from where she was kneeling to help the brunette, when Izuku’s body slowly tilts backwards before his body crashes to the ground, back fist, his limbs going limp as he does so.
“IZUKU!” Momo yells in panic, before rushing over to his still body. Once she reaches his side she notices that all the small lights along his body, which would normally be blue, are instead off. Which can’t be a good sign in her mind.
“What’s wrong with him?” the brunette asks, concerned for the being that had just helped save her life.
“I don’t know, I…” Momo begins to panic before it hits her.
Energon.
Arcee had said that Cybertronian weapons used Energon, same as the Transformers themselves. And that light show Izuku had just put on looked like it used a lot of Energon. It reasoned then, that Izuku was suffering from an extreme energy deficiency, he’d essentially just exsanguinated himself.
“Dammit Izu,” Momo curses as she moves from the side of Izuku’s torso to the side of his head, where she forcefully pries open his mouth, before using her quirk to produce multiple, small Energon cubes, not content to just feed him one at a time.
“I hope I got this right,” she mutters, because if Izuku wasn’t suffering from an Energon deficiency, then what she was doing was useless.
As Momo feeds Izuku Energon, she registers the sound of a klaxon going off, signalling the end of the exam. But she doesn’t react, instead she keeps pumping Energon into Izuku. It isn’t until she hears the sound of another motorbike that she eventually turns her focus away from Izuku, and much to her relief, she sees Arcee rapidly approaching, her holoform riding on top, with Recovery Girl riding behind her.
“Arcee!” Momo calls as the pink bike pulls alongside Izuku’s body, “He won’t wake up, I keep giving Energon, but he won’t wake up.”
Holo-Arcee helps Recovery Girl dismount, before both of them approach the opposite side of Izuku’s head from Momo.
Holo-Arcee kneels and Arcee scans Izuku through her hologram. “That’s because he’s not just Energon deficient. Whatever he just did, didn’t just drain him of energy, it completely overloaded his systems,”
Momo’s eyes go wide with fear, “Can he recover?”
Holo-Arcee slowly nods, “Usually it would be a slow recovery, but Nedzu thinks this woman’s quirk should help him.”
“Honestly, I don’t know, I’ve never used it on a robot before,” Recovery Girl hums.
“But your quirk works by accelerating a person’s natural healing ability, right?” Momo asks, and the school nurse nods in confirmation. “Then it should work on Izuku.”
“We’ll see,” Recovery Girl says as she bends over and kisses Izuku on the cheek. A second later the lights on Izuku’s body flicker on and a few seconds after that, Izuku’s eyes shoot open. The first thing he sees is the nurse standing over him.
“Recovery Girl?” Izuku asks, “How did I get in the infirmary?”
“You’re not in my infirmary,” the old pro responds in a slightly annoyed tone, “now I’ll let these two explain while I tend to this poor girl,” She gestures with her cane to Momo and Holo-Arcee.
“Wh-what happened?” Izuku asks, looking at his friend, and his mentor. “Did my plan work.”
“Yes, you idiot,” Momo creates a short metal pipe with her quirk, before using it to bonk Izuku on the head in frustration, not wanting to risk using her own hand on metal.
“Ow, sorry,” Izuku rubs the sport where Momo hit him.
“Tell me the truth, Izuku, did you use 100%?” Momo asks.
“Yes…” Izuku sheepishly replies, before retorting, “But I didn’t focus it in one limb this time.”
Momo sighs, “It would you have some work to do with O-F-A later,” she spells out the initial of One For All, so as to maintain Izuku’s secret.
“Still, that was pretty impressive, right?” Izuku beams up at Momo, and the heiress finds that she can’t stay completely mad at Izuku. Granted she was still annoyed that he’d done something so dumb and reckless, but she’d said her peace for now.
“Yes,” She sighs, “I’ll admit, that was rather impressive.”
“I’ll say,” Holo-Arcee chimes in, “That kind of firepower you’d only expect from a combiner, or a titan… or possibly a power-master. But certainly not a small two-wheeler. But how did you do that?”
“Um… with my quirk,” Izuku explains, and Holo-Arcee’s eyes go wide with surprise.
“You… you have a quirk?” She asks, and Momo and Izuku both share a quick glance. Since Arcee had first arrived, they still hadn’t told her about OFA.
Izuku gives a slight nod in response to Arcee’s question, which only perplexes the pink bot more. “How?”
Izuku gives a slight shake of his head, “Not here,” he says in a low tone, before indiscreetly jerking his head in the direction of the brunette, who was beginning to stand upright, having been healed by Recovery Girl.
Holo-Arcee nods her understanding, “Well, if you transform, we can head out then,”
Izuku does as she suggests, and he transforms back into his alt-mode, his holoform appearing in the seat of the bike. And as he appears, the brunette reacts in surprise.
“You’re the boy who bumped into me!” she exclaims, pointing at Holo-Izuku.
“Heh, yeah, sorry about that again,” Holo-Izuku rubs the back of his head sheepishly.
“It’s fine, I mean, you did just save my life, both of you,” she says to both Holo-Izuku and Momo. “So, I guess that balances it out.”
“I guess so,” Holo-Izuku admits.
“But you were that robot this entire time,” the girl stares in amazement, “Is that your quirk?”
“Yes, it is, I can possess my bike and turn it into a mech,” Holo-Izuku explains.
“Cool,” the girl gasps.
Off to the side, Momo smiles fondly, it looks like Izuku’s made another friend.
“Anyway, I’d better get going,” The girl says, checking her watch, “I don’t want to miss my train, see you guys later,”
Holo-Izuku and Momo both wave farewell as the girl runs off towards the exit of the exam site.
“She seemed friendly,” Momo comments once she’s gone.
“Yeah, I hope she gets into UA,” Holo-Izuku comments.
“Did you happen to catch her name?” Momo asks, and Izuku’s hologram freezes in it’s place. “I take that as a no, then?” Momo says with an amused smile on her face.
“Yes,” Izuku answers from his real body this time, his hologram still frozen.
“Come, on,” Momo climbs into Izuku’s sidecar. “Let’s go find Kyouka, and hopefully, you’ll meet that girl again when we get into UA,”
“Do you think she’ll pass?” Izuku asks through his hologram, having unfrozen it.
“I don’t see why not, I saw her in action earlier,” Momo explains, “Her quirk is quite amazing, she was able to float the robots with the touch of a hand.”
“Awesome,” Holo-Izuku’s eyes glow as Izuku begins to drive off, alongside Arcee. “Was a five-finger activation or just one?”
“All five, I believe,” Momo strokes her chin as she tries to recall, “Though I wasn’t exactly paying close attention to her at the time,”
“Oh, right,” Izuku says dumbly.
Several minutes later, the two teens, and their alien chaperone, find Kyouka, waiting by the entrance to UA, seemingly lost in her own world as she fiddles with her jacks.
“-couldn’t have known she was there, she was invisible,” the punk girl mutters, completely unaware that her friends are behind her, “It was just an accident, you were just trying to help, it wasn’t like you meant to grope her-”
“Kyouka,” Momo calls out, startling the poor girl out of her thoughts..
“AAH!” Kyouka yells as she physically jumps at the sudden disturbance. “Momo! Izuku!” she exclaims, “How long have you been there?” She pants as she tries to recover from the shock.
“We… just arrived,” Izuku replies uneasily, concerned about Kyouka’s reaction. “Are you okay?”
“I’m…” Kyouka clears her throat as she tries to calm her nerves, and begins again. “I’m fine, thanks. How about you guys, how do you think you did.”
“I like to think pretty good,” Momo smiles, “I counted 43 points scored,”
Kyouka then looks to Izuku, who shrugs. “I lost count. Though I did manage to stop the 0-pointer.”
Kyouka’s eyes bulge in surprise, “The 0-pointer, but ho-” She stops mid-sentence as she realises, “That giant laser beam… that was you, wasn’t it?” She asks, and Izuku nods. “Way to go green,” Kyouka holds up her hand for a high five, and Izuku awkwardly reciprocates, fully aware of the deathglare Momo is giving him.
Kyouka notices Momo’s unhappy expression, and addresses it, “Something wrong Yaomomo?”
Momo takes a deep breath to calm her emotions again before responding. “Izuku, care to explain to Kyouka just exactly how you destroyed the 0-pointer.”
“I, um… I used All Might's quirk,” Holo-Izuku pokes the tips of his index fingers together in an expression of embarrassment, “At 100%,”
“Okay… and? I’m assuming you used it properly this time, unlike the recommendation exam,” Kyouka replies not seeing the problem.
“As it turns out,” Momo explains, “Izuku’s body is incapable of handling O-F-A at 100%, Izuku essentially rendered himself catatonic, it took a combination of me supplying him with Energon, and Recovery Girl’s quirk in order to bring him back online.”
Kyouka facepalms at that, “Really, Green?”
“Sorry,” Izuku replies.
“We really need to sort this quirk out,” Momo says, “Once we get our results, we can spend the time before starting at UA to try and atleast get you to a point where you aren’t killing yourself every time you use it.”
“You guys don’t have to do that for me,” Holo-Izuku tries to reject Momo’s offer, but she doesn’t let him.
“Well I want to, I won’t stand by and let yourself shut down every time,”
“Besides,” Kyouka adds with a fond smile, “You’ve helped both of us with our quirks over the years, it’s time to return the favour,”
“Thanks, guys,” Izuku replies with a look of relief, “Whose house should we head back to then?”
“We’ll go to Momo’s” Kyouka suggests “So you don’t have to keep relying on your hologram,”
Holo-Izuku nods, before letting his hologram disappear, so Kyouka can sit behind the handlebars, and give the appearance of driving Izuku.
“Arcee, are you coming?” Izuku asks.
“Not just yet,” Holo-Arcee replies, “I still have some things to discuss with Nedzu and your teachers.”
“Okay, well, see you back at the estate,” Izuku replies before pulling out onto to the road, and driving away with Momo and Kyouka.
As the trio disappear, Arcee back onto the school campus, as the last of the examinees leave. She parks her real body back in the car park, the teal bike now gone, and walks her holoform up to Nedzu’s office, where she finds Midnight and All Might waiting for her along with the office’s owner.
“So,” Holo-Arcee begins as she takes a seat between the two humans, “About that job offer?”
Notes:
Exam time.
Several cameos this week, well, more like previews of characters to come. Of particular note, is the Harley owner, who I'm sure you've guessed as being Kendou. Who, I plan on being a part of the trio's circle of friends at UA.
And of course, there is Uraraka and Iida. As well as indirect references to a certain blonde bomber, and an invisible girl. (I wonder what Kyouka got up to in her exam, I'm sure we'll find out eventually?) :)
Also, OFA + Transformer apparently equals Kamehameha (As it should)
Lastly, Arcee seems to be returning to her pre-war job.
As always, any comments, suggestions, or constructive feedback is welcome.
Till next time.
The_Spartan_Sangheili.
Chapter 11: Of Myths and Machines
Summary:
Post-Exam Debrief and more revelations (or rather, theories)
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
THE YAOYOROZU ESTATE
26TH FEBRUARY 2224
“What on earth were you thinking?!” Inko bellows, a distressed look on her face as she grasps at her hair with worry.
Momo and Izuku had just finished retelling how their exam had gone and suffice it to say that Inko wasn’t thrilled with the fact that Izuku had rendered himself off-line thanks to his over-use of One-For-All.
Inko looks her mechanical son up and down and lowers her hands from her head, instead resting them on her hips. “Or I suppose it would be more accurate to say, ‘What on Cybertron were you thinking?’.” The Midoriya matriarch corrects herself.
“Sorry Mom,” Izuku apologises sheepishly from where he is kneeling on the Yaoyorozus’ lawn, “I didn’t mean to worry you, or Momo,”
Inko sighs as she pinches the bridge of her nose. “I know Izuku, but you have this habit of…” She tries to think of how to phrase her sentence politely, and Momo helps her.
“Of acting without thinking,” the heiress supplies, “You mean well, but you can be a bit… impulsive sometimes,”
“Yes, impulsive,” Inko gestures gratefully to Momo. “Sometimes, Izuku, you need to stop and think through your actions. I know you have brilliant ideas sometimes, just maybe think through them a bit before acting on them,”
“Yes Mom,” Izuku nods his head.
“Admittedly, while the execution could have been a little more thought through,” Momo comments, “The idea of using One-For-All, in combination with your cybertronian weapons, was ingenious, it was like a power boost to your systems,”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure everyone who gets into the hero course will have seen your space laser,” Kyouka grins.
“Hmm, power surge…” Izuku mutters to himself. “That could work…”
“What could work?” Inko looks up at her son in confusion, “What are you talking about?”
“Oh, nothing,” Izuku reacts with surprise, not realising he’d been muttering aloud, again. “I was just considering what to name that move.”
Kyouka lets out an undignified snort of laughter. “Pfft, really, green? We’re not even in UA yet, and you’re already trying to come up with move names?”
Momo turns a faux-innocent look on the punk girl. “Correct me if I’m wrong Kyouka, but have I not heard you yell the words ‘Sonic doom’ before?”
Kyouka freezes at those words, having completely forgotten about that. “Er, well, that’s different, we were only 11… and playing pretend. I mean, if we’re going to be using that, then surely we should be calling Green All-Might Junior?”
“I think Mecha-Might would be more appropriate now,” Izuku says looking down at his emerald-painted metal body.
“So, what happens next?” Inko butts in, steering the conversation back to a more productive topic, “When do you get your results?”
Izuku, Momo, and Kyouka all look at each other blankly.
“I… We don’t know,” Momo answers truthfully. “Arcee said she had to take care of some business with Nedzu,”
“I haven’t Midnight since she and Snipe kept an eye on me during the written exam,” Izuku adds
“And we’ve not seen All Might at all today,” Kyouka finishes.
Inko sighs and rubs her forehead, “Of course not,” she mutters, before addressing the three teens instead. “Well then, I suggest you take the rest of the day off to relax, you’ve all been working so hard for months, you deserve to rest. In fact, I’ll go put the kettle on now.”
And saying that, Inko turns to head back into the house, but as she does so, Izuku makes a suggestion to Momo and Kyouka.
“While we wait for the kettle, why don’t I start working on trying to control One-for-All?”
“Excellent idea,” Momo replies, but Inko is having none of it.
“I think it would be best if you waited until your teachers returned from UA before you try experimenting with your quirk, Izuku,” the Midoriya matriarch suggests.
Both Momo and Izuku open their mouths to reason against that, arguing that they’d be sensible, but Inko doesn’t let them, instead turning to give the three teens a piercing glare.
“Let me rephrase, you will not be experimenting with that quirk until your teachers return. You have already injured yourself and rendered yourself comatose with it. As such, until you have established better control over it, I don’t want you using that quirk without trained adult supervision. Is that understood?”
“Yes Mom,” “Yes ma’am,” All three friends reply in unison, gulping nervously. An angry Inko was a scary Inko, as Momo and Izuku knew all too well. Kyouka, fortunately, had the good luck of never meeting with a truly enraged Inko. Disappointed? Yes. But never truly angry.
“Good,” Inko’s demeanour returns to its normal caring expression. “Now, how about you all come in and have a nice cup of tea, I believe a new shipment of Gold Tips Imperial arrived this morning…” Inko trails off as Momo lights up at that news.
“It has?” the heiress bubbles, “Oh thank goodness, my current reserve was running dangerously low,” she then strides to catch up to Inko, who resumes her path back into the mansion.
“You coming Green?” Kyouka asks.
Izuku looks down at his body and debates whether he wants to use his holoform or not, but Momo answers the question for him.
“We can have tea in the conservatory.” The heiress calls from her spot halfway between her friends and her home. “That way, Izuku can join us, without him having to use his hologram, or for us to sit out in the cold.”
“I can live with that,” Izuku agrees, “You go on ahead Kyouka, I’ll meet you guys over by the conservatory.”
And for the rest of the day, the trio just relaxes in the Yaoyorozu conservatory, talking and joking about what they're going to do once in UA. At some point in the middle of the afternoon, Lady Yaoyorozu receives a phone call from Midnight informing her that She, Arcee, and All Might will be unavailable for the rest of the weekend and that they will resume training on Monday evening.
So, in the evening, Izuku drops Kyouka off at her house, before joining his mother in their apartment, and for the rest of the weekend, the three teens spend time with their respective families. The Yaoyorozus even give Inko paid time off.
Come Monday, after school, Izuku takes Kyouka to pick up Momo, much to the surprise of Momo’s classmates, before heading back to the Yaoyorozu estate like they usually did. And like they usually did for the past month or so, they arrive to find Midnight, Arcee, and All Might (in buff form), waiting for them, alongside their parents, each of their teachers holding an envelope, or in Arcee’s case a large disk the size of a dinner plate.
“Are those…?” Yaoyorozu half asks excitedly as she climbs out of Izuku’s sidecar.
“They are,” Nemuri answers her niece's unasked question as Kyouka climbs off Izuku’s alt-mode, allowing the mechanical boy to transform into his ‘robot’ mode. “I have yours Momo,”
“Whereas I have your letter, young Jirou,” All Might chimes in.
“And this is yours,” Arcee says, handing the large disk to Izuku.
“Do we do it all at the same time?” Momo asks, looking at her friends, who both loom back at her.
“I recommend you do it one at a time,” Nemuri suggests.
“You go first,” Izuku urges, so Momo gently opens her envelope to find a letter and a disk, similar to Izuku’s but scaled down for humans. It sits in the palm of her hand, and with out touching it, it activates, producing a large holographic image of All Might.
“I AM HERE, AS A PROJECTION!” The Holographic No.1 bellows, startling everyone, and causing Nemuri to roll her eyes affectionately.
“All Might?” Momo, Kyouka, and Izuku all exclaim in surprise, the three teens having expected either Nedzu or possibly Midnight to have done their letters.
“Apologies for my absence the past few days, but I’ve been busy with paperwork, as have Midnight and Arcee, sorry.” The holographic All Might explains.
“At least Nemuri contacted me to say you guys were busy,” Ume comments, as the projection continues.
“However, the reason for this paperwork is because you are now looking at the newest member of the UA staff,”
Everyone, except for Arcee and Midnight, reacts with shock at that news, but no-one says anything as the recording continues as someone off-screen audibly clears their throat, prompting the All Might hologram.
“Oh, right, *ahem*, let me amend, you are now looking at one of two of the newest members of UA staff,”
Izuku and Kyouka both frown in confusion as they try to think who the other new staff member is, but Momo has figured it out, though she doesn’t say anything yet as the recording continues to play.
“Anyway, onto the actual exam itself.” Holo-All Might picks up a clipboard with several papers on it. “Unsurprisingly, you did extremely well on the written exam,” he praises, “In fact, you scored full marks,”
Inwardly, Momo beams, while maintaining her outward composure.
“And you did respectably in the practical test, scoring a whopping 36 villain points, the fourth highest in the exam.”
There’s a polite round of applause from the parents and Momo’s friends, though her teachers hold off from applauding just yet.
“However, that is not all, take a look at this-” The image of All Might is replaced with a recording of Momo and Izuku helping the brunette who was trapped under the rubble from the zero-pointer.
“There is more to being a hero than fighting villains, as I’m sure you well know,” The holo-All Might reappears on the projected screen. “This is a job that requires risking one’s life to ensure the safety if others. Hence, we have… RESCUE POINTS!” A chart appears, which seems to show the top 10 examinees, though all the other names are censored except for Momo’s. However, what is visible, is Momo’s name, her villain point score of 43, and then, next to it, a second column, labelled ‘RESCUE POINTS’, of which, Momo had scored 32, giving a total of 75, which placed her in third overall.
“Awarded by a panel of judges, these points are the reward for other basic ability UA looks for, that heroic spark! Momo Yaoyorozu, 32 points!”
Everyone watching is too stunned to speak as the holographic All Might concludes his message. “Come, young Yaoyorozu, this is your Hero academia,”
After that, the hologram shuts off, and everyone is left in stunned silence, till eventually Momo breaks it.
“I GOT IN!” She yells in a most undignified manner as she throws her hands up into the air. Proper manners and etiquette be damned, she got into UA!
A second later, both Kyouka and Izuku react in much the exact same way, Kyouka not caring about the volume.
“YOU GOT IN!” they cry as Kyouka tackles Momo with a hug, before both girls are picked up by Izuku.
“Congratulations Momo,” Izuku says as his two friends are caught off guard by being lifted off the ground by their 10-foot-tall friend.
“Um, thanks, Izuku, but, uh, could you perhaps put us back down, please?” Momo asks politely as she looks at the ground several feet below.
“Huh?” Izuku looks at his two friends in his grasp, and then down at the ground and realises his mistake. “Oh, sorry, here you go,” He then sets down Momo and Kyouka, who stumble slightly but are no worse for wear.
“It’s fine green, just give us a heads up next time,” Kyouka dusts herself off.
“Sure,” Izuku agrees, before changing the topic of conversation, “Why don’t you open your letter, Kyouka?”
“Sure,” the punk girl replies as she tears off the top of her letter, to find the same hologram projector and a letter.
The hologram starts similar enough, with All Might apologising, before getting onto Kyouka’s exam results.
“You passed the written exam with a respectable score,” The hologram says, “And scored 32 villain points.” And like in Momo’s message, the screen changes from All Might to a recording of the practical exam, this time it shows Kyouka kneeling infront of a pile of rubble and as soon as Kyouka sees the footage begin to play she tosses the hologram disk as far away as she can, her face flush with embarrassment.
“Wha-?” Momo looks at Kyouka in utter confusion, as does Izuku.
“Rockstar, what’s wrong?” Mr Jirou asks, concerned by his daughter’s sudden and unusual behaviour.
“Nothing!” Kyouka replies suspiciously quickly, her face visibly embarrassed. “Nothing happened, I just happened to save a girl is all, nothing more. We already know about the rescue points, so how about we just say I passed and leave it at that?” Kyouka’s speech is rapid and nonstop, akin to Izuku’s muttering, only more nervous.
“Jirou…” Midnight approaches the punk girl and kneels down so that she’s at eye-level with her, “I understand why you’re embarrassed, okay? I saw the footage. But you have nothing to fear, you did nothing wrong.”
“Nothing wrong?!” Kyouka exclaims, “But I…” She trails off, not wanting to reveal her ‘crime’. “If I was a boy and I had done what I did, I’d have…”
“You’d have still saved that girl,” Nemuri finishes, “Granted, she might have been less forgiving if you were a boy, but that doesn’t the fact that what you did was an accident, and an understandable one at that given the circumstances.”
“Kyouka, what happened?" Izuku asks sympathetically.
Kyouka opens her mouth, but words don’t come out she tries to figure out what to say. As she does so, Inko approaches from behind Nemuri and hands her the disk Kyouka had thrown. Seeing the disk before her again prompts Kyouka.
“If I tell Momo and Izuku what happened, can we skip the replay of… that,” Kyouka gestures with one of her jacks at the disk, “And you guys just tell me what I got.”
Nemuri takes a deep breath and thinks for a second, before conceding. Personally, she didn’t think it was as bad as Kyouka was making it out to be but given the emotional turmoil the slim teen was going through concerning her feelings for Momo and Izuku, Nemuri supposed that Kyouka would be wound up a bit tight concerning physical intimacy with other people.
“Okay,” Nemuri agrees, pocketing the disk in one of the pouches on her costume for miscellaneous items.
“Okay,” Kyouka parrots Midnight’s words, before taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. “So, you know how you too saved a girl who was trapped under some rocks. Right?” She says to Momo and Izuku, who both nod in the affirmative. “Well, there was a girl like that in my exam site, she’d been trapped under some rubble. The only problem was… she was invisible.”
Both Momo and Izuku react with surprise.
“As in completely invisible?” Izuku asks, his quirk-curious nature bubbling to the surface.
“Permanently invisible,” Kyouka clarifies. “Which meant no one could see her,”
“But you could hear her,” Momo surmises, to which Kyouka confirms with a nod.
“Yeah, I asked the people around me to help, but either they didn’t hear me or they didn’t care, so I had to try and help her myself. The problem is though, while I could hear her rough position, I didn’t know where she was exactly. So, I had to go feeling around on my hands and knees to find her body, and… well…”
The redness in Kyouka’s cheeks deepens. “The girl’s quirk only makes her invisible, not her clothes… so when I reach out to try and find her…”
“No…” Momo gasps as she figures out what Kyouka must have done.
Izuku, however, is slightly slower on the uptake. “What? What happened?” he asks innocently.
“I… I accidentally groped her,” Kyouka mutters, just loud enough for Izuku and Momo to hear.
“YOU WHAT?!” Izuku recoils in surprise. “As in…” Izuku gestures vaguely to his torso, his own face now the picture of embarrassment.
“Yes!” Kyouka retorts indignantly, “I groped the poor girl’s boob, okay?! Now do you see why I didn’t want to talk about it?”
Around the kids, there’s a mixed reaction to Kyouka’s outburst from the parents and mentors. Inko and Mika both give Kyouka sympathetic looks, Lord and Lady Yaoyorozu both recoil with shock, All Might is so shocked that he ends up reverting back to Toshinori, coughing up blood as he does so, while Midnight and Kyotoku both do their best to stop themselves from bursting into hysterical laughter. Out of all the adults present, only Arcee remains neutral, completely unaware as to what’s going on. She simply just chalks it up as being an organic thing.
“Can we just move on to the part where you tell me my score and if I got into UA,” Kyouka groans in Midnight’s direction.
“Uh, ah, yes,*AHEM*,” Nemuri clears her throat as she tries to regain her composure. “For saving that girl, you were awarded 18 rescue points, bringing your total to a round 50, congratulations, Kyouka Jirou, you passed.”
There’s a swift round of applause as everyone tries to move on from the conversation about Kyouka’s accidental inappropriateness. Aided by Kyouka turning to Izuku.
“Alright, your turn green.” She says, and Izuku holds up his hologram disk.
When Izuku’s disk turns on, to everyone’s surprise, it is not All Might that appears, but instead, Arcee’s holoform.
“Are you sure about this?” The recording says uncertainly, “I mean, I’m not even…” She’s cut off by someone off-screen, and after a second, Arcee seems to accept what even they have said. “Very well,” Recording-Arcee turns to face the camera. “Hello Izuku, you may be wondering why I’m addressing you as opposed to a UA staff member, and that is because I will be joining UA as a teaching assistant in the new school year. I’m sure you’ll have a lot of questions about that, but please save them for future me, as I have to make this quick-” Izuku just stands there with his jaw open in surprise. All Might teaching at UA had been a big enough shock, but that atleast did make some kind of sense. But, Arcee was completely unexpected.
“According to what I was told,” The recording continues, “You scored well on the written test, and achieved 52 villain points in the practical, as well as something called ‘rescue points’ for saving another examinee. Of which you gained 24, placing you second in the entrance exam overall. Congratulations, Izuku Midoriya, this-” the Arcee holoform in the recording stops mid-sentence as she peers at something behind the camera, presumably a teleprompter or cue card. After a second of squinting, she objects. “I’m not saying that.”
Someone off-screen addresses her again, and the blonde holoform sighs, and mutters “Respect local customs, respect local customs,” before looking up at the camera and saying, in a complete deadpan, “Izuku Midoriya, this is your Hero Academia,”
The recording ends, and Izuku just turns to Arcee with a look of disbelief on his face. “You’re working at UA?” he eventually says, and Arcee nods.
“Nedzu and I both agreed that (A) you could do with a staff member who is like you and able to better train you as a transformer, and (B) All Might could do with an assistant who knows the finer points of being a teacher, but doesn’t necessarily know much about heroics in general.)
“As such, Arcee, officially, has been hired as my teaching assistant, but unofficially she’s assigned to 1A, which is your class.”
“Wait, we’re all in the same class?” Kyouka reacts with visible excitement.
“You are,” Nemuri confirms, “Nedzu did some nudging with your homeroom teacher, and all three of you are in the same class.”
“YES!” Izuku and Kyouka both fist pump the air, while Momo does a little excited clap with her hands.
“Okay, now you can pick us up Green,” Kyouka instructs her giant friend, and Izuku gladly complies, lifting both Momo and Kyouka in a bear hug.
“We’re going to UA!” Izuku proclaims.
“And we’re going to be in the same class!” Momo adds, equally excited.
“It only took five years,” Kyouka deadpans.
“Even longer for me and Momo,” Izuku amends.
Down on the ground, the adults watch their children/students fondly. As they do so, Inko comes up between Midnight and Toshinori, the diminutive woman dwarfed by the two tall pros.
“Thank you,” She says quietly to the two heroes, who both look down with surprise at the shorter woman. “Ever since he was little, before he even met Momo, Izuku has always wanted to be a hero. So, I want to thank you for making that dream possible,”
“He made it possible through his own hard work,” Toshinori tries to deflect, “We just simply guided him as to how to do it,”
“Speak for yourself,” Nemuri retorts with a teasing smile, “I personally think I single-handedly moulded Momo and her friends into the potential students that they are today, minus the whole ‘Izuku-is-actually-a-giant-robot’ thing,”
Toshinori just rolls his eyes at his co-worker’s shenanigans, as Inko then turns to address Arcee.
“And thank you, for finally giving me answers to questions that have plagued me for over 15 years.” The matriarch says.
“I should be thanking you, really,” Arcee replies, kneeling down to talk to Inko, “You kept one of my kin safe, raised him well, and gave him a life no bot has had for millennia. Thank you,” Arcee extends a hand in gratitude, and Inko accepts it, the robotic hand engulfing hers entirely as they shake.
Eventually, Izuku puts his friends back on the ground, and as he does so, Momo addresses him and Kyouka.
“Of course, while we should celebrate our success, we must not get carried away, after all this is not the end, but simply a new beginning. The closing of one chapter and the beginning of another.”
“Well said,” Lord Yaoyorozu gives a solemn nod of agreement.
“And I believe our chapter at UA would be best started by making sure you can use One-For-All, without going offline,” Momo declares, looking meaningfully up at Izuku, “Now that our teachers have returned, we can begin experimenting safely,”
Midnight and Toshinori both exchange confused looks, so Inko explains.
“They had wanted to help Izuku tackle the control of his new quirk as soon as they got back from the entrance exam, but I forced them to wait until you were around to properly supervise them,”
“A wise decision,” Toshinori nods sagely, “Especially after what happened during the exam,”
“Well, that sounds like our cue to leave,” Lady Yaoyorozu pipe up, “I’m sure you don’t want us getting in the way of your training,” she then turns to Inko and the Jirous, “Perhaps you would all like to come in for celebratory drinks to commemorate our children’s success?”
Inko opens her mouth to object, to point out the fact that she’s still technically on the clock, but Ume cuts her off.
“Consider this paid time off, Inko” The lady of the house states, and Inko closes her mouth and shrugs. She wasn’t usually one to drink, but she knew the kind of collection the Yaoyorozus had in their cellar, and she wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to sample one of their bottles, especially not if it was in honour of Izuku and his friends.
Seeing Inko withdraw her objection, Ume turns to her cousin. “Nem, I hand over to you,”
“Very well then,” Midnight turns to face her three protégés. “I suppose we should discuss what happened to Midoriya during the entrance exam,”
At the mention of ‘Izuku’ and ‘entrance exam’ all eyes turn towards the green giant, who gulps nervously.
“So, from what I understand, you used One-For-All at full power and it resulted In you shutting down from Energon deficiency, correct?” Toshinori asks.
“Yeah,” Izuku slowly nods his head.
“As Impressive and commendable as your action was, my boy,” Toshinori continues, “It was ultimately reckless. You’re no good to civilians or your fellow heroes if you pass out every time you use your quirk.”
“I know, All Might” Izuku replies in a respectful tone. “That’s why I want to try and get a hold of it now,”
“I suppose I should apologise,” Toshinori rubs the back of his head sheepishly, “I had intended to give you instruction after the debacle with your recommendation exam, but then everything with you and Arcee happened and truthfully... I forgot,”
“To be honest, I think we all did,” Momo admits. “Learning about the existence of giant transforming robotic aliens is somewhat distracting,”
“I suppose it would be,” Arcee chuckles, “But, if you don’t mind me asking, what exactly is One-For-All?”
Izuku and the humans present all exchange uncertain looks as Arcee continues.
“It’s a quirk, I know that much, but how exactly did Izuku, a cybertronian, gain a quirk, and why are you all being so secretive about it, after all, Momo and Kyouka are fairly open about their powers,”
Everyone aside from Arcee turns towards Toshinori, who is somewhat taken aback by the expectant looks on their faces.
“What?”
“Well, we’re kinda waiting for your opinion as to whether or not to tell Arcee about all this,” Nemuri explains
“Me?” Toshinori looks surprised. “But it’s Midoriya’s quirk now, it’s his secret, not mine,”
“But it still affects you, All Might,” Izuku objects.
“That is true,” Toshinori concedes, “But I am no longer its wielder. If you wanted to tell your classmates on your first day at UA everything about One-For-All, I would not stop you… though I would strongly advise against it. But ultimately it is now your secret to do with as you see fit,”
Izuku blinks several times in shock at the magnitude of All Might’s statement, after a few seconds he recovers his senses. “Um… wow… uh, thanks, All Might. But I think I’d still like to run it by you first before I tell anyone new,”
“Then I will try and advise you as best as I can," Toshinori bows his head slightly in gratitude, "and in this case… I think it would be beneficial for us to tell Arcee about your relatively new quirk, after all, she is unlikely to reveal it to the public,”
“Not without running the risk that you’d expose me in turn,” Arcee points out, “So, tell me more about this quirk.” Saying that the pink femme takes a seat on the Yaoyorozus’ lawn.
“To begin, I think we should start with what you know about quirks,” suggests Toshinori.
“Well, in my brief time on this planet, I’ve learned that the majority of your species, somewhere between 75 and 85 per cent, possess some form of mutation, or quirk, that separates them from the remainder,”
“That’s certainly the basics,” Momo confirms, remembering her history and science classes, “They first appeared in the population about 200 years ago.”
Arcee’s optics go wide, that was news to her. “Wow, that’s… that’s a fairly recent development for a species's evolution, what caused it?”
“No one knows,” Izuku replies with a shrug, “It just happened, it started with a glowing baby in China and then after that, they just started appearing,”
“Hmm,” Arcee gives a hum of frustration, finding that answer unsatisfactory. But there wasn’t anything she could do to change it. So she pushes on, “So, that’s the basics, quirks are mutations that the majority of you species are born with,”
“Exactly, and that’s what makes One For All different,” Toshinori seizes on Arcee’s words, “Unlike Yaoyorozu, Jirou, or Miss Midnight, neither me nor Midoriya were born, or rather ‘forged’, with a quirk, instead our quirk, One-For-All was given to us. Midoriya received it from me, and I received it from my mentor,”
Arcee takes on a thoughtful expression as she listens, she doesn’t pretend to understand how it works, as organic biology is something she’s not an expert in, but nonetheless, she is intrigued. Also, something about this quirk seemed… familiar. “Go on,” She prompts.
“Well, to explain this power fully we must go back to the dawn of quirks, only a few years after the glowing child,” All Might begins, “There were two brothers, one strong and powerful with a quirk that allowed him to take and give quirks at will, the name of this quirk was All-For-One. It also happens to be the name the brother took for himself. In the chaos of those early years, All-For-One used his quirk to amass power, by taking quirks away from those who did not want them and giving them to those who desired power. In doing so, he built himself an army of loyal followers across all of Japan,”
Arcee slowly nods in understanding, having seen the rise of the Decepticon cause at the start of the Great War, she could understand how such an ability could attract followers, either out of fear or a desire for power.
“I assume, based on their similar names, that One-For-All is connected to All-For-One?” she asks.
Toshinori nods once, “Indeed, the other brother, unlike All-For-One, was weak and sickly, and quirkless, like much of the population back then. But he also had a strong sense of justice. Heh,” All Might lets out a wry chuckle, “for being brothers, the two of them couldn’t be any more different. Eventually, the weaker brother had enough of his sibling’s machinations and stood up to him. In response, All-For-One gave his brother a quirk, one that would allow him to stockpile power. Whether it was out of pity, or to keep his weaker sibling in line, I don’t know. However, what neither brother knew is that the younger brother did indeed have a quirk, a hidden quirk, that allowed itself to be transferred from one user to another. When All-For-One gave his brother the stockpiling quirk, the two powers combined into a single quirk, a transferable stockpile of energy that could passed down from one person to another, growing stronger with each person that inherits it.” Toshinori spreads his hands wide in a dramatic gesture, “That is how One-For-All came to be!”
There’s a few seconds of silence as Arcee thinks about what Toshinori had told her. The tale of All-For-One and One-For-All bore a remarkable resemblance to the origins of Cybertron. And if you replaced certain words and phrases, then the All-For-One could easily be…
Arcee shakes her head. It couldn’t be… and yet… Both Optimus and Elita-One had already voiced their suspicions about the crystals in Izuku’s spark chamber being shards of the Matrix. What if…
“I think I have a tale of my own, that I should tell,” Arcee says, seemingly out of nowhere.
Everyone gives Arcee puzzled expressions, so she elaborates.
“Trust me, I think you’ll see how it’s relevant,”
So, trusting their cybernetic friend, Toshinori gestures for her to go ahead.
“My tale, much like yours, features two brothers. Except instead of the dawn of quirks, the two brothers existed at the dawn of the universe. They were the physical embodiments of chaos and order. Unicron and Primus. Deities on a planetary scale.”
“Whoa,” Izuku gasps in awe. Beside him, Momo is equally intrigued. Kyouka is less so, but still willing to listen.
“Being the embodiments of order and chaos the two rivals were eternally locked in combat, stalemated for aeons, till one day, Unicorn, being the more devious of the two, finally struck a critical wound to Primus. Primus, mortally wounded, decides to take refuge by transforming himself into a planet made entirely of metal, to hide from Unicron.”
“Cybertron!” Izuku and Momo both gasp in realisation.
“Exactly,” Arcee nods, “in his final, conscious moments, Primus created the first transformers, including the Thirteen original primes, and gifted them with extraordinary powers, not unlike your quirks. And to the leader of the Thirteen, Prima, he gave a portion of his life force in the form of a crystal called the Matrix of Leadership. Both the Primes and the Matrix were created to finish what Primus had started, defeating Unicron. The Thirteen fought Unicron and were able to damage him but at a cost, many of the primes were killed. Including Prima, but all was not lost. When Prima perished, he passed the matrix on to Zeta Prime, who then gave it to Omega Prime after them, and so on.”
“Like One-For-All,” Izuku mutters, and Arcee nods.
“Whoever wields the Matrix is granted the combined powers and knowledge of Primus and every Prime since.” Arcee continues, “Every Prime has been chosen by the Matrix, and been imbued with its power, until the current Prime, Optimus,”
Arcee’s audience frowns in confusion as she explains.
“As I’ve mentioned previously, when Megatron rose to power he killed the then-current prime, Sentinel Prime. But he wasn’t satisfied with just killing the current Prime. He wanted to rid Cybertron of Primes forever, so he went to where the Matrix was kept. Fortunately, the Matrix had already chosen Optimus to be the next Prime, but before Optimus could take the Matrix, Megatron destroyed it. And since then, it has been lost forever.”
“No!” Izuku gasps in horror.
“Hold on,” Momo’s abrupt interruption snaps Izuku out of his gasp. “Setting aside the fact that the Matrix was destroyed, am I to understand that you are drawing parallels between One-For-All and this Matrix of Leadership?”
Arcee opens her mouth but then closes it again as she thinks over her words. She has a theory, granted one that didn’t make too much sense scientifically speaking, but after hearing about One-For-All and its similarities with the matrix, combined with the crystal shards in Izuku’s spark chamber… Arcee nods her head slightly as she comes to a decision.
“I am doing more than drawing parallels,” Arcee answers Momo’s question, “I believe that the two may in fact be connected. A transferable source of power, created by the brother of an ‘ultimate evil’, passed from one mighty hero to another with the eventual aim of defeating said evil for good.”
“I can certainly see why you would think they’re connected,” Toshinori admits, “But, seeing as the matrix was destroyed before humans even existed, I would think that it’s little more than a coincidence.”
“I’d agree with you,” Arcee concedes, “If not for one thing. Izuku,” Arcee beckons for the other bot to stand by her, “Could you come over here please?”
“Um, sure,” Izuku, although confused, complies with the instruction and stands next to Arcee.
“Do you remember that on the day when we first met, I asked to look inside your chest?” Arcee asks.
“Yes,” Izuku replies, “You said you wanted to look at my spark chamber, for some reason.”
“I did, and... well… I found something unusual in it.” Arcee confesses
“You did?” Both Izuku and his friends exclaim simultaneously. “What?”
“and why didn’t you say anything before?” Nemuri questions.
“Because I wasn’t entirely sure what I’d found, though my superiors thought otherwise but now I’m more certain.” Arcee replies, before addressing Izuku directly, “Could you open your chest again, please?”
“Sure,” Izuku replies as he reaches for his chest and pulls it open with a slight hiss, the teenage bot curious as to what Arcee had found.
Momo, Kyouka, and their two mentors watch as Izuku opens his chest (a concept that was still weird to think about for the two girls) and reveals a small, blue, spherical crystal, about the size of a golf ball sitting where the heart would be in a human. Everyone is taken aback by this, and rather curiously, so is Arcee.
“Whoa, that’s… changed,” Arcee stares at the crystal orb.
“What’s changed?” Izuku tries to look down at his chest, but can’t see what’s inside.
“When you first showed me your spark chamber,” Arcee explains, “There were several crystal shards inside, which aren’t supposed to be in there. But now, it’s like a full crystal has formed from those shards.”
“What is it?” Momo asks, staring in wonder at the brilliant blue crystalline sphere.
“It…” Arcee chooses her next words carefully, “is believed… that that is the Matrix,”
“What?!” Momo, Kyouka, and Izuku all exclaim in surprise.
“But… how?” Izuku asks. “You said the matrix was destroyed!”
“I did, and yet, according to Optimus Prime and Elita-One, the last two bots to see the Matrix before its destruction, those shards, and now this crystal, are the Matrix. As to how it got in your chest, I don’t know, but I have my theories.”
“Which are…?” Nemuri prompts.
Arcee sighs, “I want to be perfectly clear, that I have no basis for my theory, only a feeling and intuition.”
“Sometimes that is all one needs,” Toshinori comments, “I’ve learnt that it is often best to go with what your gut is telling you,”
“Well, my ‘gut’, is telling me that One-For-All and the Matrix are connected,” Arcee replies, “Whether they are one and the same, or a reincarnation, Primus only knows, but… I don’t think it’s a coincidence that a quirk, similar in nature to the Matrix, ended up in the one Transformer on this planet, who now also carries a crystal similar to the Matrix.”
“So, does this make me a Prime?” Izuku gulps.
“I… don’t know,” Arcee answers truthfully, “I think that’s a question only Optimus himself could answer.”
“You are an endless string of surprises Green,” Kyouka chuckles, “First you get All Might’s quirk, then you turn out to be an alien robot, and now you have an ancient alien artefact in your chest.”
“Possibly,” Arcee corrects, “My theory about Izuku possessing the Matrix is only speculation, we won’t know for certain until Optimus and his team get here.”
“Well, regardless of whether Midoriya has the Matrix or not, we do know that he has One-For-All,” Nemuri chimes in, “And if he doesn’t get better control of it, he’s going to be behind his classmates when school starts next year.”
“Right, which was the whole point of this,” Toshinori gestures to Arcee and Izuku as the green bot closes up his chest.
“Well, I suppose if we want to help Izuku gain better control over One-For-All,” Momo addresses Toshinori, “We should start with how you control it, All Might,”
“Yeah,” Kyouka agrees, “What did you do when you first got One-For-All from your mentor,”
“Well…” Toshinori rubs the back of his neck sheepishly, “I just kinda… used it. According to my teacher, I was a natural,”
Nemuri groans, “You must had some kind of learning curve to go from then to now, right?”
“Yes,” Toshinori replies, “But I kind of had the opposite problem to Midoriya. I was able to use One-For-All at full power, but had to learn how to control my punches so as to avoid collateral damage,”
There’s a brief silence as everyone considers that information, till Izuku speaks up.
“What if instead of a House and electricity, we think of One-For-All as sound through a speaker,” Kyouka suggests.
“Sound through a speaker?” Toshinori repeats, beside him, Nemuri looks equally confused.
“Yes, if you play music too loud, it can be deafening,” Izuku understands what Kyouka is getting at. “So, you control the volume by dialling it down or up. If I imagine One-For-All as a dial on a speaker…” Izuku thinks back to the times that he and Momo had sat with Kyouka and listened to her music collection. He imagines the dial on Kyouka’s CD player being connected to his quirk. At the moment it was set to maximum volume, so all he had to do was visualise turning the dial down to minimum.
Opposite Izuku, Momo and Kyouka watch as their shared crush friend begins to glow with the power of One-For-All, but unlike in the entrance exam, he doesn’t glow as brightly as before. Faint blue and red sparks jump and leap around Izuku’s body.
“Green…” Kyouka begins cautiously.
“It’s fine Kyouka,” Izuku replies as he stares down at his hands. “I- I can move,”
Saying that, Izuku takes one step forward, then another, then another. Going from individual steps to a walk to a run, before then transforming into his vehicle mode.
And that’s when it goes wrong.
Underestimating how much of a boost OFA would have on his vehicle mode, Izuku ends up driving into one of the Yaoyorozu’s bushes with a loud crunch.
“Izuku!” “Midoriya!” the young bot’s friends and mentors cry out in alarm before rushing over the demolished shrub, where Izuku has transformed back into his robot mode.
“I’m fine,” Izuku reassures them as he lies amongst the carnage of leaves and branches.
“Well, it would seem you still have much training to do,” Toshinori points out.
“Yeah, but atleast I know what to do now,” Izuku admits.
“We have a month till we begin classes at UA,” Momo tells him, “We have much to do,”
THE YAOYOROZU ESTATE
4th April 2224.
Over a month later, Izuku is driving around the vast lands that make up the wider Yaoyorozu estate. As he speeds along he keeps his ears, or rather ‘audio processors’, open for the sound of a second engine, any minute now…
*VROOMMMMMM*
From behind and to his left, Izuku hears it, the sound of Arcee beginning her pursuit. It was part of an impromptu training exercise they had devised to improve his handling of OFA while in vehicle mode. It was designed to test his handling and reactions. The first part was relatively easy, evade Arcee. Izuku is able to catch the familiar sleek form of Arcee’s racing bike alt-mode. As they were now, Arcee would have no trouble catching Izuku, after all, he was weighed down by a sidecar, that increased his drag.
Izuku can see Arcee gaining on him in his wing mirror, which somehow acted as his eyes when in vehicle mode, (Izuku didn’t pretend to understand how everything about his new biology worked) Seeing his cybertronian mentor gaining on him, Izuku makes his first move.
Red and blue sparks of light begin to jump and swirl around Izuku as he activates OFA. He goes from simply driving to ploughing through the neatly trimmed grass. At the moment, he was using only 5% of OFA, atleast by his estimate, but it was enough to make him move with the speed of a racing car, even with the sidecar adding extra drag. Slowly, Izuku can see Arcee begin to grow smaller behind him as he pulls ahead. Content that he had evaded his first obstacle, he focuses on the next challenge, the forest.
Izuku sees the tree line coming up and braces himself. He doesn’t release OFA’s power, instead, he focuses on it, certain not to lose control. Too much power and he wouldn't have enough time to avoid the trees, but if he dropped OFA entirely, Arcee would eventually catch him, so he steels his servos and enters the tree line at a breakneck pace. Among the trees, it was all about precision navigation, a slight swerve to the left to avoid an oak, a hard turn to the right to miss a ditch. Izuku was a fly threading a thousand needles at Mach 1, but eventually, he makes it. He bursts through the foliage and finds himself charging towards the Yaoyorozu mansion. This was the hardest part. He had yet to ever actually reach the mansion on previous occasions of running this gauntlet, on account of the final obstacle.
His friends.
Somewhere among the hedgerows on either side of the rear lawn, Momo and Kyouka were lying in wait, with some sort of mechanical device meant to trip him up. So far, they had used: a net launcher, a sonic cannon Kyouka plugged into, a glue gun, an EMP (never to be used against Izuku ever again), road spikes, and one time just a simple trip wire made from thick cable. Izuku wasn’t exactly proud of that one, nor had he been happy to try and untangle the cable from his front wheel.
But whatever his friends had planned for him this time, Izuku was-
*BOOM*
The sound of cannon firing breaks Izuku out of his throughs and he immediately swerves left. A second later an iron cannonball whizzes past him, before eventually landing with a dull *THUD* in the turf.
‘A cannon?’ Izuku thinks to himself, ‘Momo’s using one of her-”
*BOOM*
A second gunshot causes Izuku to mentally chastise himself as he swerves right this time, and another cannonball barely misses him.
‘Hopefully, there won’t be too many more of these’ Izuku thinks, he knew cannons were Momo’s most taxing item, and she could only make a few consecutively before her quirk started taking a negative toll on her body.
Izuku drew closer to the Mansion, by now he could see both Momo and Kyouka standing on the patio just behind the house. Momo had a third cannon ready and waiting, and worse, Kyouka had her sonic cannon back.
‘Scrap’ Izuku uses a cybertronian curse, having picked it up from Arcee in training. “They’re going to try and box me. One of them will fire, and when I try to dodge it, they’ll blast me before I have a chance to dodge it unless…” In that brief moment, Izuku comes up with a daring plan.
*BOOM*
Momo fires her third cannon, and Izuku puts his plan into action.
He detaches his sidecar.
Izuku goes right, the sidecar goes left and the cannonball whizzes between them. A second later, a wall of sound hits the sidecar, sending flying backwards, but Izuku doesn’t care. He’s too close now for Momo or Kyouka to get another shot and him, and as Izuku approaches the edge of the grass he twists, and performs what Kyouka had referred to as an “Akira Slide” so that he finishes parallel with the border between the lawn and paving slabs.
Unfortunately, this move causes Izuku to skid in the mud slightly, which results in both Momo and Kyouka getting splattered.
“Really Green?” Kyouka scowls, as she looks down at her mud-covered tracksuit.
“Sorry,” Izuku apologises, “I didn’t mean to,”
“I know,” Momo replies as she creates a towel for herself and Kyouka. “But I don’t think the gardeners are going to be too happy about the state of the lawn.
Izuku transforms and looks back at the skid marks he’s left in the neatly mown grass.
“Oh…” Izuku gulps nervously as Arcee eventually pulls up alongside and transforms, and Toshinori and Nemuri come out from their observation post in the conservatory.
“It’s fine,” Momo waves one hand in a dismissive gesture, "my parents know it’s a part of your training, and it’s not like it costs much to repair, only a couple hundred thousand yen.
Kyouka flinches slightly, despite having known the heiress and her family for five years now, it still unnerved her whenever Momo talked about such large amounts of money so casually.
“You know you’re going to have to stop doing that when we start at UA, right?” she cautions.
“Do what?” Momo asks, somewhat oblivious.
“Talk about a hundred thousand yen like it’s pocket change,” Izuku explains, totally understanding Kyouka’s reasoning, though at least he was more used to it than her. “Not everyone is as used to your level of wealth as we are,”
“Speak for yourself Green,” Kyouka gives her friend a side-eye look.
“Oh, right, I suppose even at middle school, I have been surrounded by those of wealthier backgrounds,” Momo admits.
“You’ll be fine,” Nemuri lays a reassuring hand on Momo’s shoulder. “As for you, Midoriya, that was simply entertaining,”
“Agreed,” Toshinori has a broad and genuine smile on his face, “Using your sidecar as a decoy was inspired.”
“But a gamble,” Arcee points out, “you had no real way to know if Jirou was going to shoot at you or your sidecar,”
“No,” Izuku admits, “But without my sidecar, I could more easily dodge if Kyouka did go for me,”
Arcee concedes that that was a good point. “Well, then… I hesitate to say that you’re ready for tomorrow but…”
“I’m confident to say that you are ready for UA,” Toshinori had buffed up into All Might and was giving his three students a big thumbs up and his cheesiest of grins.
“We won’t let you down,” Izuku, Momo, and Kyouka all promise their teachers.
Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa
4th April 2224.
Far to the south of the main Japanese archipelago lies the island of Okinawa, home to Coconut Crabs, wheat noodle Soba, and several United States military bases. Among these was the Kadena Air Force Base. Known as the “Keystone of the Pacific”, it was the largest U.S. Air Force base in East Asia. It was the night before Izuku and his friends were due to start attending U.A., and although they didn’t know it, the base’s occupants were in danger.
Up in the air traffic control tower of the base, an officer notices something strange on his radar, and reports it to his superior.
“Colonel,” the junior officer calls out, “We have two inbound unidentified infiltrators 10 miles out, they just passed Miyagi Island, sir.”
The colonel, a veteran with salt and pepper hair, comes over to the junior officer’s console and looks at the readout before him, which shows two unidentified aircraft rapidly approaching their base. The colonel takes a radio headset and attempts to contact the two UFOs.
“Unidentified aircraft, you are approaching restricted U.S. Military airspace, squawk ident and divert course.”
A minute passes with no response from the two mysterious aircraft, the colonel switches channels on his radio. “Raptors one and two, snap to heading two-five-zero to intercept. Bogie is in the weeds ten miles out, not squawking.”
Outside on the runway, two pilots scramble to their aircraft as they prepare to defend their base, unaware of what awaits them.
Several minutes later, the junior officer reports.
“Sir, bogeys have just entered our airspace,” the junior officer reports.
So, the colonel tries again, “Unidentified aircraft, you have breached restricted U.S. Military airspace, proceed south out of the area, or we will use deadly force,”
The colonel switches channels once more, this time with the two intercept planes sent up. “Raptors one and two, do you have a visual on unidentified aircraft,”
“Affirmative, control,” One of the pilot’s reports. “Two aircraft. A MIG and an unknown gunship. No identifiable markings on either. Sending visual now.”
“A MIG?” The colonel mutters, “The hell are the Russians playing at?”
A few seconds later, an image taken by one of the interceptors appears on a second monitor for the colonel to see.
“What in the goddamn…” the colonel mutters again as he looks at the images.
While the MIG was certainly similar in design to other Russian aircraft, it was not a model he had seen before, and as for that gunship… what even was that? The presence of the MIG suggested Russian or possibly Chinese involvement, but the colonel had no way of knowing for certain, and until he did, he wasn’t going to start shooting aircraft down willy-nilly. Not without risking an international incident. He notices that the aircraft are still on course to fly over his base, so, he tries to contact the two planes again.
“Unidentified aircraft, we will escort you to U.S. Air Force Base Kadena. If you do not comply, we will use deadly force.”
A second passes before there’s a frantic reply from one of the pilots. “Control, this is Raptor One, I’ve lost visual of the MIG, it’s-” the pilot suddenly loses contact.
“Sir,” The Junior officer reports, “I just lost Raptor One,”
“Raptor Two is gone too,” a second officer reports.
“I’ve lost the two bogies, sir,” the first officer adds, “They just dropped off the radar,”
“Put the base on high alert,” the colonel orders, “We-”
But before the colonel can issue any further orders he is interrupted by the sound of a loud explosion from somewhere nearby. He runs to a nearby window and sees a large fireball near where he knows some of the base's aircraft are kept. Off in the distance, a siren begins wailing, alerting the rest of the base’s occupants that they are under attack.
On one of the nearby runways, two fighter jets try to take off. But before they can get off the ground, they're both engulfed in a block of ice. The colonel looks to where the blasts came from a sees, emerging from a burning hangar, a tank, but unlike any tank he’d ever seen.
It sports the same grey and purple livery as the MIG, so the colonel assumes it’s connected. Terrifyingly, the colonel notices too late that the tank has changed its target from the runway to the building he was in. A flash of light from the tank’s barrels is the last thing he sees.
In the town of Kadena, next to the airbase, panic fills the streets as they hear the sounds of gunshots and explosions coming from their American neighbours. Normally, that wouldn’t be too unusual, the base did hold training exercises after all, and as everyone knew, Americans were fond of blowing stuff up for fun, atleast according to American TV shows and Movies. But this was different, and everyone knew it, including the local hero agency, a plucky band of American vets who decided to settle down and continue to fight the good fight in their own way.
Known as the G.I. Bros they were the local agency responsible for dealing with villains who would try and steal from the U.S. military or interfere with their operations here in Japan.
Their leader, Earl, rushes into the Bros’ operations centre, having been woken by the first explosion. He finds most of his team already there and preparing to deploy. He himself had already gotten fully dressed in his hero costume, akin to that of a pre-quirk U.S. Army infantryman, complete with an M1 helmet.
“Crimson, report, what’s going on out there?” He barks at his intel specialist.
A ponytailed, redheaded woman, dressed in a yellow leotard over a black bodysuit steps forward, “Sir, the airbase is under attack,”
Earl curses, “Is it Adder Commander?” he asks.
“We don’t know Earl,” A large, African American man, called Roadstop, replies, “But whoever they are, they’re kicking the air force’s ass.”
“Then let’s give them flyboys a hand,” Earl declares, before raising his fist in the air, and shouting the team's catchphrase, “Yo Bro!”
The rest of Earl’s team do likewise, raising one fist and shouting in unison, before running for the exit.
Several minutes later the Bros arrive at the entrance to the base, with no guards present. Presumably, they had gone off to fight whoever, or whatever, was attacking. Earl looks off into the distance, above the base, and he spots a large aircraft of some kind, armed to the teeth with cannons and missile launchers, firing down on the base below.
“There,” He points to the floating gunship, “It must be A.D.D.E.R.”
“It certainly looks like one of their designs,” Crimson replies, having taken out a pair of binoculars to observe the craft, but as she watches the craft descend upon the base, she watches the unthinkable happen. The gunship stops firing and then transforms from an aircraft into a large, bulky, purple robot, with a single red eye, and claw-like hands. A second later another robot, this one grey with purple highlights and both wings and tank barrels on its back, seems to rise from the ground.
“I guess we found our villains,” Roadstop cackles.
“Yeah,” Earl cracks his knuckles in anticipation, “Let’s show them what real American heroes can do,” Before taking off at a run towards the giant robots.
In the middle of the pathetic organic fortification the large, purple Decepticon, Lug-nut, loyal follower of Megatron, was unhappy.
“Where is it?!” He bellows, “Where is the Matrix? You said it would be here,” he points with one claw accusingly at his partner, a comparatively slender, grey, bot called Blitzwing.
“As I told you earlier,” Blitzwing patiently explains in an accent similar to a stereotypical Austrian, “something is interfering vith my scanner, I cannot get an accurate reading without getting closer to zee Matrix.”
“SO IS IT HERE OR NOT?!” The bigger bot demands.
“Patience, my friend, patience,” The grey bot says in a calming tone, “let my scanner do its verk. OR ELSE I’LL SCRAP YOU MYSELF!” Blitzwing's entire demeanour changes, going from calm and calculating to fiery and impatient. Not that Lug-nut cares. He was used to his comrade’s personality changes.
“Just hurry up,” Lug-nut sulks, “we would do well not to fail our glorious leader, Megatron.”
Just then, a ping comes from a device in Blitzwing’s hand, and he checks it, frowning in annoyance. “Scrap,” He curses, reverting back to his calmer self, “It appears zat zere are no traces of Energon here after all,”
“Bah,” Lug-nut scoffs in annoyance, “Then this has all been a waste of time.”
“At least we got some target practice, hahaha hahaha,” Blitzwing’s demeanour becomes more unhinged this time, as the third of his personalities clocks in. “And oh look, more are coming,”
Lug-not looks to where Blitzwing is pointing and sees a group of more of the native organics approaching.
“GAH!” He yells, “I grow tired of these insignificant organics. We have wasted enough time here as it is,” He retracts the claws on one of his hands to reveal a giant blinking red button and Blitzwing immediately begins to back away, knowing what is about to come next.
On the ground, Earl notices the grey robot transform into a jet and fly away from the purple robot, just as the purple robot raises its fist into the air, a large red button flashing on the end of its arm.
“FOR THE GLORY OF MEGATRON!” The Purple bot yells before slamming its fist into the ground.
A large eruption bursts forth from the bot, engulfing everything in its path. Frozen planes, burning buildings, smashed concrete, melted tarmac, and shredded barbed wire. Earl and his teammates brace themselves, but it’s futile. The blast washes over them and in an instant, they’re gone.
When the smoke eventually clears, all that is left is a crater a mile wide. The Decepticons and the Heroes, both gone.
Notes:
Happy New Year!
First upload of 2025, and hoo-boy is it a doozy.
We have Arcee being brought into the circle of trust around OFA, Izuku learning to better control OFA, and the first Decepticons on earth.
First off, I want to give credits for the art in this chapter. The first is DragoonShadow on DeviantArt, who drew the Lugnut drawings.
Find them here: https://www.deviantart.com/dragoonshadow/art/Transformers-Lugnut-Alt-Mode-1094216684
https://www.deviantart.com/dragoonshadow/art/Transformers-Lugnut-Alt-Bot-Mode-1094216722The second is OptimusHunter29 (Also on DeviantArt) who created the renditions of Animated Blitzwing
https://www.deviantart.com/optimushunter29/art/Transformers-Animated-Blitzwing-Alt-Mode-1-868676063
https://www.deviantart.com/optimushunter29/art/Transformers-Animated-Blitzwing-Alt-Mode-2-868676182So, yeah. Our first Decepticons on Earth. And I must confess, writing for Bltizwing (certainly animated Bltizwing) is harder than writing for Lugnut, as trying to distinguish between the three changing personalities is a lot harder without visual cues. (Hence why I resorted to different font types). You may have noticed that Lug-nut doesn't have an earth-based alt-mode, and that's because I don't really think his animated version does him justice, where as the image I used above, gives off this vibe of 'flying fortress'.
And then we have the poor heroes who tried to face the Decepticons, the G.I. Bros. Who I'm sure most of you have guessed are a reference to G.I. Joe. My apologies to any Joe fans amongst my audience, but I needed a hero team to die facing the Decepticons to raise the stakes, and I didn't want to kill off any canon Heroes, so I'm afraid the Joes, or rather, 'bros' got the chop. And no, this isn't going to be a full-blown Transformers/G.I. Joe crossover. It ain't that kind of fic. Sorry. This team is a one-off cameo.
And yes, the whole "US-military-base-attacked-by-Decepticons' scene was taken directly from Michael Bay's Transformers. Only instead of the sneaky method used by Blackout, this is what happens when you send the Decepticons' two biggest junk-heads. No subtlety.
Anyway, next chapter will see our main trio start at UA, with some surprises in store for them.
Till next time.
The_Spartan_Sangheili.
Chapter 12: Start Your Engines
Summary:
First day at UA and everyone is in for some surprises.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
UA HIGH SCHOOL, SHIZUOKA
5th April 2224.
It was finally here, UA High, Japan's most prestigious hero school.
Izuku’s holoform stands just inside the front gate, staring up at the iconic 4-towered school building in awe, till a hand on his shoulder breaks him out of it.
“You good green?” Kyouka asks, having noticed her friend’s star-struck expression.
“Yeah,” Holo-Izuku replies vacantly, “I just can’t believe we’re finally here, it’s… it’s like a dream come true.”
“I must admit,” Momo adds, “Despite this being our third time on the campus, today feels… special.”
“Yeah, we’re finally UA students,” Holo-Izuku grins, “This is when it gets real.”
The three friends look up at the towering structure once more, before Momo prompts them.
“Anyway, we’d better head inside, we don’t want to be late for our first class,”
Izuku and Kyouka agree with that sentiment, and so the trio heads into find their homeroom.
“So, what kind of people do you think will be in our class?” Momo asks as they wander the corridors looking for the 1-A homeroom.
“I wouldn’t mind if that girl with the Harley was with us, she seemed friendly,” Holo-Izuku answers.
Momo nods in agreement, “And that girl we saved; her quirk was quite remarkable. I also hope Iida passed the exam.”
“Who?” Kyouka looks at Momo confused, not sure who she’s talking about.
“The um… *ahem*” Momo becomes slightly sheepish. “The boy with glasses who stood up before the exam and berated Izuku,”
“Oh, him,” Kyouka deadpans as she remembers the bespectacled boy, “I dunno, he kinda seemed like an ass,”
Momo sighs at her friend's language, “I will have you know that Iida is a respectable gentleman. Granted, he can be a bit stiff sometimes, but he means well. I can only assume he was just simply nervous during the entrance exam.”
Kyouka huffs indignantly, she’d believe it when she sees it, “If you say so, I just hope that invisible girl is in one of the other classes, I don’t think I could face her again,” she groans as she remembers the incident during the entrance exam.
“I doubt she’d hold that against you if she is in our class,” Momo comforts her friend.
“Besides, it could be worse,” Holo-Izuku says as the trio approaches a door with the sign 1-A outside it. “After all, it’s not like Kanzuki made it into UA,”
Kyouka grins fiercely, “I know, that spoiled brat had to settle for Shiketsu. I guess UA just has a higher standard of students,”
“I just hope our classmates are friendly,” Momo says as they stop outside their homeroom and look at the massive door before them.
“Holy hell, Green,” Kyouka stares up at the almost two-storey door, “ you could probably fit through that in your actual body.”
“I guess so,” Holo-Izuku looks the door up and down, estimating its measurements. “It’d be a squeeze width-wise, but I wouldn’t have to duck down.”
“There is still the issue of getting your actual body into the school building in the first place,” Momo points out as she begins to open the door.
Holo-Izuku just shrugs, “I'm sure it would be-”
“Don't put your feet on the desk!” A familiar boy's voice interrupts Izuku.
As Momo opens the door to their new homeroom, she, Kyouka, and Izuku's holoform are greeted by the sight of Iida berating another student who has his feet resting on top of a desk. A loud, angry blonde whom Momo and Izuku know all too well. Despite it being five years since the incident that had left Momo’s shoulder scarred, they both recognise Bakugou on sight.
As Iida and Bakugou continue to argue over desks, Momo’s body begins shaking.
“What is he doing here?” she hisses to Holo-Izuku, her voice shaky.
“I... don’t know,” Holo-Izuku replies, his hologram’s unwavering nature not matching the tension in his voice.
Kyouka notices the immediate change in her friend’s demeanour, and it concerns her.
“What’s wrong? Do you two know that guy?” She says, looking back at Bakugou.
“That-,” Momo’s voice catches in her throat, she gently clears it before continuing in a tone of cold fury, “That is the boy who attacked me and Izuku before we met you,”
Kyouka’s eyes go wide, “That’s Bakugou?!” She exclaims, a little louder than intended, which draws the attention of the other students already in the classroom.
“Eh, who the fuck’s yelling my name?” Bakugou loudly yells as he turns from an indignant Iida towards the doorway where the trio are currently standing. As soon as he sees Momo and Izuku, his eyes go wide, and he leaps out of his seat, his fists clenched.
“THE FUCK ARE YOU TWO DOING HERE?” He demands, causing Kyouka to flinch due to the volume.
“We’re students, just like everyone else in this class,” Momo replies defiantly, squashing down her feelings of anxiety in favour of standing against her former attacker. “The better question is, how did you get into UA?”
As far as Momo was aware, you couldn’t apply to UA, or any hero school, if you had a criminal record, and after his attack against her, Momo was certain Bakugou would have one.
“Tch,” Bakugou smirks, “I’m just that good, UA recognises talent when they see it. And unlike Demon Eyes next to you, I have a quirk perfect for heroics,”
Elsewhere in the classroom, a girl with pink skin, pink hair, and black sclera frowns at the ‘demon eyes’ comment, assuming that the blonde is referring to the boy with green hair, and eyes like hers, except green instead of yellow.
“Heh,” Kyouka chuckles with a smug grin that automatically infuriates Bakugou, “I guess you don’t know Izuku as well as you thought, he’s changed a lot since you last saw him,”
“What’s to change?” Bakugou scoffs, “he’s still a pathetic, creepy-looking Deku.”
In response to the insult, all three of the trio defiantly clench their fists in anger. Momo and Kyouka weren’t going to stand by and let Bakugou insult their friend, and Izuku wasn’t going to let Bakugou push him around like in the old days, his inaction back then had been what got Momo hurt.
There’s a brief stand-off between the trio and Bakugou, till a girl’s voice from behind Izuku's holoform interrupts it.
“Hey, what’s going on here?”
The trio slowly turns around to see who had spoken, and Momo and Izuku recognise the girl they’d saved during the entrance exam.
“Oh, hey, it’s you two, from the entrance exam,” the girl points at the pair as she recognises them.
“Oh, hi,” Holo-Izuku waves awkwardly as the brunette’s presence quickly defuses the situation with Bakugou.
“Hello,” Momo bows, somewhat formally, in greeting.
“I’m glad you two are here, it means there are atleast two friendly faces that I know,” The girl beams,
“Yaoyorozu, I too am glad to see you passed the exam,” Iida’s voice calls from back inside the classroom, and the trio half-turns to see that the boy with blue hair and glasses has approached them, Bakugou having retreated back to his desk for now.
“As am I to see you, Iida,” Momo replies, “These are my friends, Izuku Midoriya and Kyouka Jirou.”
Iida turns to face Holo-Izuku and bows deeply, “Ah, Midoriya, I must apologise to you for my inappropriate behaviour back at the entrance exam.”
“It’s fine,” Holo-Izuku dismisses the apology without a second thought, “I’m sure you were just nervous.”
“I think we all were,” the brunette chimes in with a smile, “I’m Ochako Uraraka by the way, so what do you think we’re doing today, aside from orientation?”
Momo, Izuku, and Kyouka all exchange brief looks as they consider the question, but before they can answer, a gruff voice interrupts them.
“If you’re just here to make friends, then you can just leave now.”
Everyone looks around to see where the voice came from, and they eventually find what looks like a yellow sleeping bag on the ground behind Uraraka in the hallway. There’s a man with black hair currently in the sleeping bag, with only his head sticking out.
‘When did he get here?’ Everyone thinks collectively.
“Welcome to UA’s hero course,” The man says as he begins to unzip the sleeping bag and wriggle out, “It took 8 seconds for you all to shut up, that’s not good enough. Time is precious, rational students would understand that”.
‘Who is this guy?’ Izuku thinks.
‘Is this our teacher?’ Momo ponders.
‘Why the hell is he in a sleeping bag?’ Kyouka frowns inwardly.
“I’m Shouta Aizawa,” the man says in a deadpan greeting once he’s out of the sleeping bag, and inside the classroom, "Your teacher,”
All twenty students present react with varying levels of surprise at that, ‘he’s our teacher!?’
Aizawa fishes into his sleeping bag and takes out a set of gym uniforms. “Put these on and head outside.”
After being handed a set of gym uniforms, once they’re out of the classroom, Izuku hands his set to Momo. “Can you take these?” He asks, “I can just change my form without them,”
“Certainly,” Momo agrees, taking the spare blue and white tracksuit, before heading off to the changing room while Izuku’s hologram heads straight to the sports field.
In another part of the school building, Toshinori sits in an empty classroom going over the teacher directory. He’s broken out of his introspection by a knock on the classroom door and looks up to see Arcee’s holoform standing in the doorway, no longer in her usual pink biker leathers; instead, she’s now wearing a dark blue suit and pencil skirt.
“There you are,” the photorealistic hologram says, “I’ve been looking for you, are you not coming to the orientation?”
Toshinori shakes his head, “Both Nedzu and I want to keep my presence here as quiet as possible for as long as possible, which will probably last until tomorrow. But as soon as word gets out that I’m teaching here, the school will be swarmed by reporters.”
Holo-Arcee lets out a humourless chuckle as she steps into the classroom. “Yes, I did notice in my first few months on this planet that you do tend to attract a lot of attention, just as well you’re able to hide using this form,” She gestures as the Toshinori’s gaunt form.
Toshinori just gives a wan smile in response, “I guess that makes us similar in one respect then,”
Holo-Arcee lets out a small huff of amusement as Toshinori continues, “You know, I half expected you to turn up in a pink suit, you do seem fond of the colour.”
Holo-Arcee shrugs, “Nemuri advised me that my normal paint scheme may not work for a professional outfit. Besides, this used to be my paint job back when I was a teacher,”
“You changed it to pink when the war started?” Toshinori looks at the holographic woman incredulously.
“I needed a change,” Holo-Arcee replies simply. “So, what are you doing if not going to the orientation?”
“Checking who the homeroom teacher for Midoriya and his friends is,” Toshinori replies, and without skipping a beat, Arcee replies,
“Aizawa,”
Toshinori’s head jerks up in surprise, “How did you…?”
“Nedzu introduced me to him,” Arcee explains, “we both felt it would be best if Izuku’s teacher knew about some of his… circumstances.”
“Some?” Toshinori raises an eyebrow, before the expression on his face changes into worry, “Hold on, did you say Aizawa?” He asks.
“Yes... Why?” Now it’s Arcee’s turn to look concerned.
“Not good,” Toshinori mutters, “They're going to have it rough.” He then rises from his seat, “I think I’m going to check in on Midoriya and his friends,”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Arcee questions, “I don’t know how humans are, but I know on Cybertron it was considered bad form to interfere with another teacher’s lesson.”
“I’m not going to be interfering,” Toshinori reasons, “Just... observing... from a distance, no harm in that, right?” he shrugs
Arcee has to concede that, no, there was no harm in observing, she was good at that; besides, it’d be beneficial to see Izuku’s teacher in action.
Not needing to physically change his clothes due to his holoform, Izuku is the first to arrive on the sports field, but upon seeing Aizawa waiting for him, he suddenly wishes he weren’t. He briefly wonders if he can sneak back into the school building and wait for his friends there. But before he can, Aizawa calls out to him.
“Midoirya,”
Knowing he can’t escape now, Izuku accepts his fate and his holoform trudges over to his homeroom teacher.
“Yes, sensei?” Holo-Izuku asks once he’s a few feet away from the teacher.
“I know the truth about your quirk,” Aizawa states bluntly, causing the holographic boy to freeze.
“W-what?” Holo-Izuku stammers.
“Arcee and Principal Nedzu told me,” Aizawa explains, “I know that this-” he gestures at Izuku’s holoform- “Isn’t your real body. You have 5 minutes to get your real one.”
“Why?” Holo-Izuku asks, and Aizawa just replies with a piercing stare. “Never mind,” he amends before his hologram disappears entirely, catching Aizawa by surprise, not expecting that outcome.
After a second, Aizawa recovers from his surprise and pinches the bridge of his nose, sighing, “I'm too tired to deal with this,”
Once Momo and Kyouka have changed into their gym uniforms, they head out to the sports field with the rest of their classmates. They look around to find Izuku but can’t find him, to begin with. As they scan the surrounding field, a familiar girl’s voice calls out to Momo.
“Yaoyorozu, I thought I recognised earlier,”
Momo and Kyouka turn to face the speaker, and Momo is pleasantly surprised to be greeted by the sight of Kate.
“Lethbridge-Stewart,” Momo says in greeting, “You made it into UA.”
“I did,” the British girl nods with a broad smile, “But please, just call me Kate, my surname is a bit awkward to be used casually.”
“Um… sure, Kate,” Momo says slightly awkwardly, but a part of her is grateful that she doesn’t have to keep saying ‘Lethbridge-Stewart’.
“So, you two know each other?” Kyouka prompts, having absolutely no idea who this foreign girl is, or how Momo knows her.
“Oh, yes,” Momo starts slightly as she realises that she’s being a bad friend to Kyouka, and a bad host to Kate. “Kyouka, this is Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, we met during the recommendation entrance exam. Kate, this is Kyouka Jirou, one of my closest friends.”
“A pleasure to meet you Jirou,” Kate extends a hand in greeting, and Kyouka accepts it.
“I see your Japanese has improved greatly,” Momo comments as the two girls separate.
“Yes, after the entrance exam, my father hired me a tutor; my reading and writing still need work, but I can speak Japanese a lot better now,” Kate explains, before looking around and noticing that someone is missing. “By the way, where’s Midoriya? I’m certain that I saw him earlier,”
“You did,” Kyouka reassures her new classmate, “But who knows where he is,”
“I wonder if he’s gone out to the carpark,” Momo thinks aloud.
“The carpark?” Kate looks curiously at the heiress, confused as to why the green-haired boy had gone there.
She gets her answer a second later when the rumbling sound of an engine fills the morning air. The entire class, which had been engaged in separate conversations, turns as one towards the direction of the sound and sees ‘Izuku’ riding in on a motorbike.
The group of 19 students look on in a mix of awe and confusion, except for a certain angry blonde, who just grits his teeth in annoyance as he wonders what Demon-Eyes Deku is up to.
The class begin to talk among themselves as Izuku’s hologram dismounts his vehicle mode, but Aizawa quickly silences them with just a look.
“That’s better,” he says, “It only took you 5 seconds to be quiet this time. Now that Midoriya has joined us, we can begin your quirk assessment test.”
“A Quirk Assessment test?!” The class exclaims in surprise.
“So that’s why he wanted me to get my bike,” Izuku mutters as he joins Momo, Kyouka, and Kate.
“Wait, he asked you to bring that bike?” Kate asks, both curious and confused.
“It's part of my quirk,” Izuku replies.
Kate’s frown deepens as Izuku’s reply creates more questions than it answers. Meanwhile, Aizawa continues to talk.
“U.A.'s selling point is how unrestricted its school traditions are. That's also how the teachers run their classes.”
Unseen by the 20 students Arcee and Toshinori observe the proceedings, hearing Aizawa’s statement, Arcee turns to Toshinori and whispers.
“Can he really do this? Have the kids skip orientation?”
Toshinori gives a slight, almost imperceptible nod of his head.
“From what I understand, the teachers here, and Aizawa especially, have a lot of freedom in how they teach their class.”
“But orientation isn’t some ‘pointless ceremony’, as he put it,” Arcee jerks her head in Aizawa’s direction, who seems to be making derisive remarks about the Ministry of Education, “It gives you the basic information about the school, it familiarises you with the staff and other students, all Aizawa is doing is clamping his class, holding them back,”
“That is his prerogative,” Toshinori sighs.
Arcee doesn’t say anything more, instead turning back to listen in on the group of students and their teacher.
“Bakugou,” Aizawa addresses the red-eyed blonde, “You scored the highest in the entrance exam, right?” The question is rhetorical; Aizawa already knows the answer, and so continues without waiting for Bakugou to reply. “In junior high, what was your best result for the softball throw?”
This time, Aizawa does give Bakugou time to answer.
“67 meters,” Bakugou’s expression is almost bored when he says it.
“Try doing it with your quirk,” Aizawa says, tossing a softball to Bakugou and gesturing to a circle painted on the ground.
Bakugou steps into the circle, ball in hand. As he does so, Momo surreptitiously uses her quirk to make a pair of ear defenders and slips them into Kyouka’s hand next to her.
Kyouka feels Momo push something into her hands, looks down at the ear defenders and then looks back up at Momo.
“Thanks,” Kyouka whispers as she quickly slides the muffs over her ears, just before Bakugou proudly declares,
“I'll add a blast to the pitch.”
The blonde then winds up to pitch the ball before launching it skyward with a large explosion from his hand. He lets out a loud, primal, wordless roar as he does so, which Izuku finds curious.
Kyouka is grateful for the ear defenders Momo gave her; going by the size of the explosion, had she not been wearing them, her ears would certainly be ringing.
“Know your maximum first,” Aizawa says, still deadpan, “That is the most rational way to form the foundation of a hero.”
He then holds up a phone screen which reads “705.2m”.
Most of the class reacts with surprise and excitement at the score, except for Momo, Izuku, and Kyouka. The former two have too much history with Bakugou to be impressed by him, and the latter was more annoyed at how loud he was with his quirk. But aside from them, the rest of the class begins talking among themselves excitedly.
“This looks like fun,” A girl exclaims just behind Izuku, and he turns to see a girl with pink skin, pink hair, yellow horns, and eyes similar to his back when he was ‘organic’, with black sclera but with yellow irises instead of green.
“Fun, huh?” Aizawa repeats, seemingly in response to the girl’s outburst. “You have three years to become a hero, you don’t have time to mess around.” The class becomes dead silent as he speaks, “Alright, whoever comes in last place in all eight tests will be judged to have no potential, and will be punished with expulsion.”
Shock and outrage ripples through the class, and Kyouka in particular feels a flash of fear run through her. Of the three of them, she was the least athletic, however, she’s dragged out of her thoughts by the sound of Kate muttering angrily behind her.
“Quirkist jackass, I thought UA was supposed to be better than this,”
Kyouka frowns, wondering what exactly Kate is talking about, but before she can ask the British girl, Uraraka cries out in defiance.
“You can’t expel us on the first day, it’s unfair.”
“Unfair?” Aizawa repeats, “This world is full of unfairness. Natural disasters, accidents, rampaging villains, calamities whose time and place can’t be predicted. It’s a hero’s job to fight this unfairness. If you want to hang around after school with your friends, too bad. For the next three years, UA will do all it can to give you one hardship after another. Go beyond. Plus Ultra. Overcome it with all you have got.”
By the time Aizawa finished speaking, the class of 20 had more determined expressions on their faces. Whether it was because they were genuinely confident or simply motivated by spite, Aizawa doesn’t care, so long as they are motivated.
The first test is a 50-metre dash, with all the students racing in pairs. When it eventually comes to Izuku’s turn, his hologram approaches the 50-metre track, but Kyouka stops him.
“Hey, Green, you aren’t going to use…” She points her Jack at Izuku’s real body, still in motorcycle form.
“No,” Holo-Izuku shakes his head, “It’s only a 50-metre dash, I don’t think my bike would be the most effective option. Besides… I have a different idea,”
“Okay…” Kyouka shrugs and lets Izuku continue to the starting line, where the girl with pink hair, pink skin, and yellow horns is waiting for him. As Izuku approaches, the girl gives him a broad grin, but says nothing as he takes his place at the start line.
Off to the side, Momo, Kyouka, Uraraka, Iida, and Kate watch in anticipation. Kyouka and Momo, in particular, are curious about what Izuku has planned if he’s not using his real body.
A buzzer sounds, and Izuku and the pink girl take off. The girl, rather than running, seems to be sliding along the track, across a trail of liquid that she’s spraying from her hands in front of her. Momo isn’t sure that it’s faster than running, but she does seem to be using less effort to cover the distance. However, the girl’s efforts are in vain as Izuku dashes across the 50 metres like an Olympic sprinter. As Holo-Izuku crosses the finish line, a screen on the side reads “4.09”.
“Hey, not bad, eye-buddy,” The pink girl says as she joins Izuku a few seconds later.
“What?” Izuku looks at the girl, confused, not sure he heard her correctly.
“I said not bad,” The girl repeats, before adding, “Your time, that is,”
“No after that, did you say, ‘eye-buddy’?” Izuku clarifies.
“Oh, yeah, you’re my eye buddy, see,” The girl then points to her own eyes, which Izuku recalls are similar to his, with black sclera instead of white. The girl then points over at a redhead who is talking with some of the other boys, “Kirishima over there is my horn buddy.” Izuku notices that the red-headed boy’s spiky hair, which he assumes are the ‘horns’ that earned him that title.
“Oh, okay,” Holo-Izuku says dumbly as he and the girl clear the track for the next pair to race.
“I’m Ashido by the way, or Mina, whichever you prefer,” The girl grins.
“Oh, I’m Midoriya, Izuku,” Holo-Izuku says awkwardly, despite having been friends with Momo and Kyouka for many years, making new friends was still an awkward process for him.
“Nice to meet you Midori,” Ashido grins as they approach Izuku’s waiting friends, “By the way, what’s the deal with you and that blonde asshole?”
“Who, Bakugou?” Holo-Izuku asks, suddenly concerned.
“You know him?” Mina queries.
“Um… yeah,” Izuku rubs the back of his head nervously. “We… uh… we used to go to the same elementary school together, but I haven’t seen him in over five years,”
“Really?” Mina raises one eyebrow in a gesture of scepticism, “dude hasn’t seen you in over five years and he immediately begins laying into you like that?”
“Bakugou has certain… personality issues,” Momo cuts in as Mina and Izuku join the group that was now missing Iida, as it was his turn to run.
“That seems like a very polite way of saying he’s a bully,” Mina huffs, folding her arms across her chest.
“Because he is,” Momo states firmly.
“Geez, and UA let a guy like him in?” Uraraka asks, looking over at where the spikey blonde was standing off on his own. “How?”
“That’s what I’d like to know,” Momo says, an intense expression on her face. She needed to talk with her aunt as soon as the school day was done.
“Still, guys like him only have power if you let them. If we aliens stick together, he won’t be an issue,” Mina smiles confidently, slinging one arm over Izuku’s shoulders, embracing him in a side-hug of solidarity.
“A-aliens?” If Izuku still had hair, it’d be standing on end. Was Mina an alien too? And how did she find out about him? Did the eyes give it away? Maybe-
“Well, I prefer to think of myself as an alien, rather than a demon,” Mina chuckles, breaking Izuku out of his thoughts.
“Oh, right,” Izuku chuckles nervously. It appeared she was simply speaking metaphorically, referring to their shared ocular attribute, rather than being literal.
Once the sprints are done, the next event is the grip strength. Unfortunately, Izuku is unable to manipulate his holoform to his advantage in this test, but he is interested to see how his classmates do.
Kyouka, rather impressively, is able to use her jacks to aid her by wrapping them around the strength machines. Also of interest is a girl with black hair cut into a bob who uses her quirk to enlarge the machine and then essentially bear hug it. However, the ultimate winner is a boy with multiple arms who scores 540kg.
The third event is the standing long jump, and Izuku is able to manipulate his holoform to ‘extend’ his jump, allowing him to clear the sandbox, along with Bakugou (who uses his explosions to propel himself), Uraraka (who uses her zero gravity to float herself), and Iida, who just about clears the sandbox due to the acceleration his quirk provides him.
It’s not until after the fourth event, which consisted of repeated side-steps, that Izuku begins to notice something strange with one of his new friends, Kate. While everyone was determined and focused on the tests, Kate was reacting… differently. With each test that passed, she seemed to be getting more and more frustrated. Her face now contorted into a thinly veiled rage that could be easily mistaken for simple determination, but Izuku knew rage; he’d seen it on Bakugou’s face for many years.
Concerned for his new friend, Izuku approaches the English blonde.
“Is everything alright?” He asks gently as the last of the class finishes their sidesteps.
“I’m fine,” Kate spits through gritted teeth.
“Are you-” Izuku begins, but Kate cuts him off.
“I’m. Fine.” She growls.
Deciding to take the hint, for now. Izuku backs off and regroups with Momo and Kyouka, who had quietly watched the interaction from a distance.
“What was that about?” Momo asks.
Izuku shrugs, “I don’t know, but… something’s bothering her… do we know how well she’s done so far in the tests?”
“Well, she certainly didn’t clear the sand pit,” Kyouka replies.
“And I believe her running and sidestep scores were about average,” Momo adds, before clarifying, “Atleast for someone without a speed or physical enhancement quirk.”
“Hmm,” Holo-Izuku hums in thought as he strokes his hardlight chin.
“There may be something else,” Kyouka says tentatively, “When Aizawa first mentioned that whoever came last would be expelled, she accused him of being a ‘quirkist jackass’, not out loud, but I certainly heard her.”
“You think this may have something to do with her quirk?” Momo asks, visibly concerned.
“Possibly," Kyouka shrugs, "I don’t know.”
“But it would explain her comment,” Izuku reasons, “If she has a weak or non-physical mental quirk, then she may think that Aizawa is targeting her.”
“We should talk to her then,” Momo states.
“During the next test,” Izuku says as he notices that the sidestep test has finished and that Aizawa is moving the class on to the next event.
Said next event happens to be the ball toss, which Bakugou had demonstrated at the beginning. As such, Bakugou didn’t have to complete the test again. While the others in the class take their turns, Momo, Izuku, and Kyouka are able to separate Kate from the rest of the class.
“What?” the English girl scowls at them as they approach.
“Kate, we’re worried about you,” Momo says.
“I’m fine,” Kate grumbles.
“You’re clearly not,” Kyouka points out, “And we know it has something to do with your quirk.”
Kate’s head jerks up at that, “What makes you think that?”
“I… may have overhead your comment about our teacher being quirkist,” Kyouka admits.
“Hmph,” Kate huffs, “It doesn’t matter, I’ve dealt with his kind before, though I had hoped UA was above such discrimination.”
“How can you be so certain that Aizawa sensei is discriminating against you?” Momo asks, sceptical that their teacher would do such a thing, but willing to hear her new friend out.
“A quirk apprehension test that’s entirely physical?” Kate raises one eyebrow in a gesture of disbelief. “Followed by a threat of expulsion for whomever comes last? How could that not be anything but a rouse to kick me out?”
The three friends all exchange confused looks.
“I… think we’re missing something,” Holo-Izuku says to Kate, “Would you mind telling us what your quirk is?”
Kate bits her lip in clear sign of nervousness, her earlier frustration turned to apprehension. She quickly looks around to see if any of their other classmates are listening, but they all seemed to be focused on whoever’s currently throwing the ball.
Eventually, Kate turns back to Izuku, Momo, and Kyouka, and sighs. “I might as well tell you, the whole class is going to find out sooner or later... The reason I’m so confident Aizawa is singling me out is because… I’m quirkless.”
It takes a few seconds for the import of what Kate says to dawn on the trio, but once it does they all react with shock.
“Wait”
“Quirkless?”
“Really?”
Momo, Izuku, and Kyouka cry out one after another.
“SHHHHH,” Kate hisses at them, looking around furtively to make sure no one heard, “Yes, I’m quirkless, as a matter of fact, I have my spot in the hero course thanks to you two,” She says to Momo and Izuku.
“Us?” Momo frowns in confusion.
“Yes,” Kate nods. “Had it not been for your… ‘incident’ in the recommendations entrance exam, I wouldn't have passed, and likely would be in the general or support course.”
“Oh, I see,” Izuku reacts with surprise, “Well, you’re… welcome? I guess?”
Kate shrugs dismissively, “I would have gotten in eventually; this was just the quickest way.” Her brow furrows as her frustration returns, “But you can now see why I believe Aizawa is targeting me,”
“I’ve heard of quirkless discrimination before,” Momo says sombrely, “My family’s butler is quirkless, as was his father. Even though there are legal protections against quirkless discrimination, that doesn’t necessarily stop how people think,”
Both Izuku and Kyouka nod in agreement as they recall a particular incident where one of the Yaoyorozus’ business partners made a derogatory comment about ‘quirkless neanderthals’ that promptly resulted in Inko dragging the man out by the scruff of his neck, on her employer’s orders. It was also the day when the trio had learned that Inko was scarily strong when she chose to be. Needless to say, the couples had ceased all business with the individual within the hour, and the next day, the Yaoyorozus’ company made a public statement against quirk discrimination of any kind, whether it be quirkless, mutant or ‘villainous’ quirk discrimination.
“Don’t I know it,” Kate pouts, “I don’t know how it is in Japan, but in England, especially amongst the upper class, quirklessness is considered a source of shame. Again, there are legal protections but…” She shrugs helplessly.
“Well, if it’s any consolation,” Momo begins with a hopeful tone, “I do believe Mr Aizawa is bluffing.”
“Bluffing?” Kate frowns at Momo, as do Izuku and Kyouka.
“Yes,” Momo nods in confirmation, “He’s merely using the threat of expulsion to motivate us to try our best.”
“Well, I’d say it’s working,” Izuku comments as he looks towards the ball-throwing circle in time to see a boy with a bird’s head throw the ball. Or more accurately, a shadowy bird spectre emerges from the boy’s boy and carries the ball high into the air before then throwing it.
“So… I’m not going to be expelled?” Kate asks tentatively.
“I seriously doubt it,” Momo says, “And if they do expel you, well… you won’t be alone,”
“Wait, what?” Kyouka looks at her friend in disbelief.
“Yeah, we stay together,” Izuku declares.
“You too?” Kyouka initially balks but sees the determined looks on her friends' faces and mentally kicks herself as she wonders why she fell for these two determined idiots. “Fine,” she sighs, “Make that the three of us,”
“You don’t have to join us,” Momo cautions.
“Nah,” Kyouka shrugs, “We agreed that we either all go to UA together or not at all. There’s always Shiketsu or Ketsubutsu,”
“Heh, thanks guys,” Kate gives them a weak smile. “I guess that makes me feel slightly better,”
“Now let’s go rejoin the others,” suggests Izuku, “I think Uraraka’s about to take her turn.”
The four teens join back with the rest of the class just in time to watch Uraraka use her quirk to throw the ball high into the air.
“How far do you think it went?” Kyouka asks as everyone looks up into the sky.
“Depends,” Momo says casually.
“On what?” Kate prompts.
“On when she releases her quirk,” Izuku answers.
In the end, it seems as if Uraraka’s attempt sent the ball into orbit as her final score is recorded as infinity, which mildly upsets Bakugou. Whose mood only gets worse when he gets knocked down to third in the ball throw by Momo when she creates a cannon with her quirk with which she launches the ball.
Then it becomes Izuku’s turn, and Bakugou’s mood improves; clearly, he’s not expecting much from Izuku and is waiting to see him fail. However, after three events of just using his holoform, Izuku finally decides to have his hologram approach his real body.
“Is he going to…?” Uraraka excitedly asks Momo.
“I believe so,” Momo smiles in reply, “It would give him a huge advantage here.”
“What?” Kate looks confused, “Is he going to propel the ball on the back wheel of his bike?”
“Something like that,” Kyouka grins in anticipation.
Aizawa, meanwhile, waits and watches patiently as ‘Izuku’ mounts his motorcycle, before suddenly he disappears, which immediately startles the rest of his class, a reaction which is only heightened when the ‘bike’ suddenly begins transforming. He’d already seen the process once before during the entrance exam; however, seeing it in person was an entirely different experience. However, Aizawa keeps his expression neutral as he observes and analyses Izuku’s every movement.
Aside from Kyouka, Momo, and Uraraka, who already knew about Izuku’s robot form, the entirety of 1-A is left speechless as the 10-foot-tall green robot steps into the chalk circle, or rather… most of him steps into the circle.
Aizawa, whose expression had remained unchanged for the past few minutes, just offers up the ball to Izuku, who takesit with the thumb and index finger of his left hand.
Careful not to accidentally crush the modified softball between his mechanical digits, Izuku gently places the ball into one of the barrels of his right-hand wrist blaster and aims upwards.
‘5% charge should do it,’ He thinks to himself. ‘One-For-All: overdrive: 5%’
From their position in the bushes, Arcee and Toshinori watch as Izuku, in his robot form, charges up OFA, as the telltale sparks of rainbow-coloured energy leap and swirl around his body. Izuku seems just about ready to fire when suddenly the glowing stops, and Izuku just falls forward onto his face as if he’d suddenly just fallen asleep.
“Wha-” Arcee begins to exclaim, half rising from her hiding spot, when she notices Aizawa, who was no longer standing by, patiently observing; instead, his hair seemed to be floating and he was no longer glaring intently at the still, motionless body of Izuku.
Immediately, Arcee breaks from cover and rushes towards Izuku, at about the same time Momo and Kyouka break from the rest of the class to go to Izuku’s side.
“What did you do!?” Arcee demands once she’s closer to the homeroom teacher.
Aizawa frowns at the interruption, but nonetheless answers her question.
“I removed his self-destructive quirk.” Aizawa replies in a tone that indicates he thought that was obvious. As he says that, he blinks and his hair, previously floating, drops back down, and Izuku lets out a sudden gasp.
“Izuku?” Arcee, Momo, and Kyouka all exclaim.
“What happened?” Izuku asks as he pushes himself off the ground, I was about to launch the ball when… I think I blacked out.
“I erased your quirk,” Aizawa explains again.
Izuku looks towards his teacher, and something in his processor clicks and his both go wide with dawning realisation and light up with excitement. “You’re Eraserhead.”
Both Kyouka and Momo recoil slightly, having heard the name before during one of Izuku’s rambles about amazing quirks. He was an underground hero, someone who avoided the media and the spotlight that it shone on heroes.
“The entrance exam isn’t rational,” Eraserhead begins to explain, “That even someone like you-”
“Someone like him?” Arcee interrupts, “Someone with a, quote, ‘self-destructive quirk'?”
“Yes,” Aizawa grumbles.
“And you think his quirk is self-destructive, why?” Arcee asks rhetorically, “Because of that incident with the Zero-pointer,”
Behind them, the class begins muttering amongst themselves at the mention of the zero pointer. Many of them had seen the giant beam of light that had shot into the sky at the end of the entrance exam, and now those who hadn’t seen the incident directly begin to wonder if their robotic classmate had something to do with it.
“Yes,” Aizawa replies curtly, before addressing Izuku directly, “From what I can tell, you can't control your Quirk, can you? Do you intend to become incapacitated again and have someone save you?”
“What, that’s not true at all,” Izuku retorts.
“Is it not?” Aizawa scowls, “Were you not about to use your power again and cripple yourself?”
“No,” Izuku shakes his head defensively, “After the exam, I trained, learned to control the amount of power in my overdrive, I was only going to use 5%.”
“So, rather than talk to the student and ask them about their potentially dangerous quirk, you decided to let them build up their power and then just pull the floor out from under them.” Arcee says pointedly, giving Aizawa a hard glare, “Without considering the potential consequences of suddenly cutting off that kind of energy build up,”
“I know the consequences,” Aizawa counters.
“Oh, really?” Holo-Arcee raises one eyebrow in disbelief, “Then tell me: if your quirk only erases quirks, why did Midoriya black out?”
The silence that follows that question is deafening. Momo, Kyouka, and Izuku all look at each with puzzled looks on their faces, what Arcee had asked was a very good question. Why did Izuku collapse when his quirk was shut off?
Meanwhile Arcee continues to look expectantly at Aizawa, clearly waiting for an answer. One that the homeroom teacher did not have.
“I… it doesn’t matter,” Aizawa bluffs, “The boy’s quirk is still a danger to him-”
“The only danger to him right now is a teacher who thinks threatening their students with expulsion on the first day is an effective teaching method," Holo-Arcee cuts off Aizawa, "and thinks that talking with their students is a waste of time.”
“I never said it was a waste of time,” Aizawa counters, “this was just the most logical solution.”
Holo-Arcee’s eye twitches, “Logi-,” She begins before cutting herself off, “Y’know just because something is ‘logical’ doesn’t make it right. I happen to know a very evil, very cruel, so-called scientist who has justified his sick and twisted experiments under the guise of being ‘logical’.” She lets out a low, humourless chuckle, “You can use logic to justify nearly anything. That's its power...” Her expression then hardens into a scowl, “and its flaw. In future, I strongly recommend you not use your quirk on Midoriya, for his sake.”
“Fine,” Aizawa grumbles, accepting the reason behind Arcee’s demand, but not appreciating the fact that he was being dictated in how to run his class. “Will that be all?”
“For now,” Arcee’s expression softens as it becomes clear that Aizawa has conceded. She then turns and walks away from the teacher, past the rest of 1A. As she does so, she can hear them whispering excitedly about who she is. They’re all wrong in their assumptions, of course. Which just makes it all the more entertaining for the disguised Autobot.
With Arcee’s hologram gone, Aizawa turns back to Midoriya, “I’ve returned your quirk, prove to me that you’ve gained control as you said.”
Izuku nods in understanding, before gesturing for his friends to rejoin the class. He stands upright once more and replaces the softball in the barrel of his wrist blaster. He once again goes through the motions of charging up OFA, and this time, instead of nothing, he lets fly with an Energon blast that propels the ball a great distance. After about half a minute, Aizawa’s device records a score of over one kilometre.
Having finished the test, Izuku transforms back into a bike and reprojects his hologram as if he had just ‘un-merged’ with his bike before rejoining his classmates, who are all talking in an excited babble, with the notable exception of Bakugou, who stands at the back of the crowd, seething. Not angrily yelling, Izuku notes, just growling.
“Dude, that was manly,” A redheaded boy, who Izuku remembers Mina pointing out as Kirishima, slaps his holoform on the back.
“So that beam of light at the entrance exam, that was you?” Another boy, a blonde with a black lightning bolt in his hair, asks.
“Um, yeah, that was me.” Holo-Izuku rubs the back of his head, “I- uh- I did that to stop the Zero Pointer”.
“A mad banquet of darkness,” the bird-headed boy mutters, which Izuku assumes is a compliment.
As the class continues to shower Izuku with compliments, much to Aizawa’s growing impatience, several students amongst the group look on at the green-haired, dark-eyed boy with interest. Of them, both Mina and Kate feel a sense of familiarity at the sight of Izuku’s 'quirk' in action.
After the ball throwing is completed, the last three events pass quickly enough, in order they were the seated toe-touch, sit-ups, and the long distance run. For the first two events, Izuku is able to manipulate his holoform ever so slightly to push his scores above the average, while for the long-distance run, he decides not to use his vehicle mode, instead choosing to run in robot mode as he felt that just simply driving would be too unfair an advantage. An argument that completely falls apart when Momo uses her quirk to create an electric scooter, allowing her to continue indefinitely. In the end, Aizawa calls it a tie between Izuku and Momo as neither was showing any signs of stopping 10 minutes after everyone else had bowed out.
Once everyone has had a chance to recover, Aizawa has his class assemble in front of a large screen, onto which he displays the test results.
Unsurprisingly, Momo, Izuku, and Bakugou were all in the top 5, as was the boy Shouto Todoroki (Endeavour's son) and Iida, whose speed quirk had helped gain an edge in several of the tests.
However, of greater importance to Izuku and Momo wasn’t their position at the top, but rather who was at the bottom, and rather worryingly, the ranking went: Kate Stewart, Hagakure, and then Kyouka, in ascending order from last to third last.
Off to her left, Kyouka can hear the hollow set of clothes that she’d been avoiding all morning breathe a sigh of relief, but just behind her, she can hear Kate’s breath hitch in anticipation of what may come next.
“These are your results,” Aizawa says, gesturing half-heartedly at the screen, “They’re a combined total of your scores from all the tests; it’s pointless to go through them all. By the way, I was lying about the expulsion”
Outside of Kate, Momo, Kyouka, and Izuku, the rest of the class let’s out a collective sigh of relief. Kate, however maintains her composure, a fact that does not go un-noticed by Aizawa.
“It was a rational deception to draw out the upper limits of your Quirks.” He continues, “We're done here. There are handouts with the curriculum and such in the classroom, so when you get back, look over them.”
With that, he seems to dismiss the class, who all begin talking amongst themselves excitedly again.
“See, what did I tell you?” Momo whispers to Kate, “Nothing to be worried about.”
Kate finally let her stony expression soften, now that the tension had passed.
“Thanks,” she sighs with relief.
“C’mon, let’s go get changed.” Kyouka nods in the direction of the school building. “Then we can talk,”
“Actually, Kyouka, I’m afraid we have more pressing concerns after we’ve changed,” Momo corrects, “We need to talk to my aunt about Bakugou.”
Once his class has cleared out, Aizawa begins slowly trudging back to the staff room to sleep, but as he does so, he decides to drop in on his two observers. He finds Arcee and Toshinori still in the bushes and is about to make a pithy remark, but Arcee doesn’t let him, a look of outrage on her face.
“It was bad enough when I thought you were just a hard-ass threatening to expel students if they didn’t live up to your expectations, but that-” She gestures back at the field- “frankly, you are a disgrace to the teaching profession,”
“Gah, Arcee…” Toshinori is shocked at his aide’s outburst. “Aizawa is a respected member of UA’s faculty…”
“Who tampers with test results?” Holo-Arcee retorts, not taking her eyes off of Aizawa.
“Tampers?” Toshinori repeats, “What do you mean?”
“I’ve been keeping track of the test results,” Arcee replies more calmly, “And how each student did. And I find it highly suspicious that Kate Lethbridge-Stewart came last in the rankings.”
“Why, what’s suspicious about that?” Toshinori queries, still slightly lost.
“You mean aside from the fact that she was in the top 60% of every test?” Arcee replies. “And yet still came last in the rankings?”
Toshinori, whose gaze had previously been fixed on the back of Arcee’s hologram, switches to Eraserhead instead. “Aizawa?” he says in an unspoken question.
“Of course,” Arcee continues, not letting Aizawa reply, “there is another thing that makes Lethbridge-Stewart stand out… her lack of quirk.”
Immediately, Toshinori’s expression changes from confusion to anger, like a light switch. “Aizawa… tell me that what Arcee is implying is not true,”
“That I am discriminating against Lethbridge-Stewart because of Quirklessness?” Aizawa asks, “No, I am not.”
Toshinori relaxes slightly, but for only a second as Aizawa continues, “But just as Midoriya’s potential lack of control was a risk to himself, so is Stewart’s lack of a quirk a risk to her.”
Toshinori opens his mouth, but Aizawa cuts him off, “I’m not saying she can’t be a hero, but it will be significantly more difficult for her.”
“Not made any easier by her own teacher cutting her legs out from under her,” Arcee points out. “Tell me the truth, if you hadn’t adjusted her score, where would Stewart really be?”
“13th,” Aizawa replies without even having to check the scores.
“And you knocked her down… why, exactly?” Arcee demands.
“To make a point that her classmates will always be ahead of her due to their quirks,” Aizawa says, “And that if she wishes to keep up with them, then she needs to work harder than them,”
“And you think she does not know that already?” Toshinori butts in. “While I cannot profess to know exactly how she feels, I imagine after 15 years of lacking the one thing everyone says is necessary to be a hero, she is fully aware of how much of a disadvantage she is at.”
“And also, if you think she is not already aware of that fact, then why not talk to her?” Arcee demands.
“Because it would be-” Aizawa begins, but Arcee stops him with a single raised holographic finger.
“Finish that sentence with 'A waste of time’ or ‘illogical’, and I will go straight to Nedzu and have a serious conversation with him about your qualifications,” she threatens.
Rather than finish speaking, Aizawa just closes his mouth and glares at the navy-clothed blonde, before walking away without another word, leaving Arcee fuming.
“Well, that confirms it,” Holo-Arcee sighs, “He is the worst kind of teacher.”
“Is that not a bit harsh?” Toshinori asks, “I’ve certainly met stricter,”
“Oh, I don’t doubt that” Arcee concedes, “but even strict teachers have their place, if used correctly. No, what our ‘dear colleague’ is, is a neglectful teacher, a teacher who just can’t be fragging bothered to do more than the bare minimum, just because it’s too much effort,”
“I will admit, his attitude towards Miss Stewart and her quirklessness is disturbing, even setting aside my own past,” Toshinori sighs, “And he seemed a little too eager to pre-judge Midoriya based on the entrance exam,”
“Putting that aside,” Arcee’s tone lightens, “I suppose we had better find our protégés, see how they’re doing, hopefully they’ll be in better spirits than us.”
“After that, I sure hope so,” Toshinori chuckles a little too hard, causing him to cough up some of his blood.
Half an hour later, Nedzu is sitting in his office, enjoying a nice cup of tea. On average, today had gone quite well; in fact, by UA standards, this orientation day had been outstanding, if simply because Aizawa had not expelled yet any of his students. Though on the flip side, Kan had reported an incident with one of his students, one Mineta Minrou, who had apparently made an inappropriate comment about another student, Itsuka Kendou, and how she could use her quirked hands for lewd acts. But if that was the worst of it today then…
“NEDZU!” The peace is broken by Nemuri’s yell from down the corridor leading to Nedzu’s office.
For a brief second, Nedzu mentally chides himself for jinxing himself, before bracing for the oncoming storm.
A second later, the door to his office slams open, causing the albino rodent’s tea set to rattle on its tray.
“You Rat Bastard!” the R-Rated hero: Midnight points accusingly at her boss.
“Good afternoon to you too, Kayama,” Nedzu says calmly as he sips from his tea, “I believe it is considered polite to knock before one enters another’s room or office.”
“Don’t get cute with me,” the purple-haired heroine hisses as she stalks into the room, “You should consider yourself lucky that I’m visiting you first and not my sister.”
“Is something the matter?” Nedzu asks, maintain his cool and calm demeanour.
“YOU’RE DAMN RIGHT THERE IS!” Nemuri vents in the middle of the principal’s office. “MY NIECE AND HER BEST FRIEND ARE STUCK IN THE SAME CLASS AS THE VILLAINOUS ANIMAL WHO PERMANENTLY SCARRED HER!”
Finally, Nedzu’s façade breaks into a look of concern. “What are you talking about?” he asks, setting down the teacup.
“Katsuki. Fucking. Bakugou,” Nemuri spits out between gritted teeth, and immediately, Nedzu begins typing on his computer... “Over five years ago, my niece went to visit her only friend in the world as a surprise for his birthday. And when they were in the park, that animal attacked them, unprovoked, and left a large, handprint-shaped scar on her shoulder. She carries a constant reminder of what that boy did to her, and now... now she has to share a class with him. You somehow let this happen, and did not even have the decency to warn me.”
Nedzu briefly pauses in his typing to look up at this subordinate, “Are you talking about that incident in the summer several years ago where you had me take your class last lesson because you had a ‘family emergency’?”
Nemuri nods without saying another word, her face still twisted in silent fury.
“I see,” Nedzu says as he finishes typing, “Here we go, Bakugou. Katsuki.” The albino chimera frowns in confusion as he reads the screen. “This boy, he was arrested for his actions, yes?”
“Mh-hmm,” Nemuri nods.
“And he was convicted?”
Again, Nemuri nods, “I was at his trial; it didn’t last long.”
“And yet… There is no mention of it in his records,” Nedzu counters.
“What?” The change from anger to confusion is barely noticeable on Nemuri’s face.
Nedzu swivels his monitor around to show Nemuri the screen. “It’s all here,” Nedzu says, gesturing to the computer, “Excellent grades, stellar attendance, and according to his teachers, well behaved.”
“Ha!” Nemuri lets out an incredulous laugh, “And Endeavour has stellar public relations,” she continues to scan through the digital files, but as her boss had said, there was no record of Bakugou’s conviction.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” Nemuri slumps into one of the chairs in front of the principal’s desk. “I know he has a record.”
“Hmm,” Nedzu idly plays with the ends of his whiskers as he thinks, “Perhaps it is not a case of the record he has, but the record he had,” he says aloud.
“What do you mean?” Nemuri asks.
“Let me do some digging,” Nedzu says with a gleeful smile, “This shouldn’t be any harder than the HPSC’s servers.”
Nemuri briefly opens her mouth to ask a question, but then quickly decides that plausible deniability is her best friend right now, so she promptly shuts her mouth.
After about a minute of typing and clicking, Nedzu leans back in his chair with a smile of satisfaction on his face, “And there it is… it appears you are correct,” He says as he turns the computer back around to face Nemuri.
And indeed it was as he had said, Bakugou’s criminal record was on the screen, plain as day.
“How… what…?” Nemuri stammers out.
“Did you ever find out what Bakugou’s punishment was?” Nedzu asks.
“Yes, mandatory therapy,” Nemuri answers, still equal parts confused and angry. “But how…”
Nedzu holds up a paw, a gesture for Nemuri to wait as he explains, turning the monitor back to face himself, “His original sentence was two years of mandatory therapy, at the end of which, based upon the therapists analysis, the judge ordered that Bakugou’s record be sealed, stating: ‘while the defendant’s actions were despicable, it was a one-off incident, and based upon the court-appointed therapist’s report I now believe the defendant has been fully rehabilitated, and with his quirk may prove to be a powerful and capable hero one day’,”
“Quirk jerker,” Nemuri mutters while making an obscene gesture with one hand.
“You are lucky there are no cameras in here,” Nedzu warns.
“I’m not wrong though,” Nemuri argues, “Just because a judge thought this kid had a ‘heroic quirk’ and ‘didn’t deserve to have his future ruined’, this villain of a kid is now free to reterrorise his previous victims.”
“And how do you not know that this Bakugou hasn’t genuinely changed?” Nedzu queries, and Midnight is at a loss for words to that question, so she changes tack.
“Regardless, I don’t want to run the risk.”
“So what?” Nedzu asks, “You would have me expel him?”
“I wish,” Nemuri scoffs, “But we both know that you need a reason to do that, and he hasn’t given us one yet. But… you could transfer him to Vlad’s class.”
“I’d still need a reason,” Nedzu argues.
“I’d say ‘previously attacked two of his classmates’ is sufficient,” Nemuri counters.
“It would also prejudice his classmates for something he has already paid penance for,” Nedzu reasons.
“What if there was a new offense?” Nemuri asks.
“Then I could have reasonable cause to either transfer him or expel him,”
Nemuri slowly nods in acceptance of that.
“However,” Nedzu gives his employee a cautioning look, “I will not tolerate you trying to provoke an incident. No sabotage, whatsoever, understood?”
Nemuri nods in understanding, a grim look on her face, “With this boy, I genuinely doubt that will be necessary.”
Once the school day is finished, everyone heads home, excited to tell their families about their first day at UA. But one girl in particular has more reasons to be excited than most. Once she gets off the train at the closest station to her house, Mina sprints the entire way home, bobbing, dodging, and weaving around pedestrians, lampposts and rubbish bins till she finally reaches her home, where she bursts through the door with excitement.
“Mom! Dad!” She exclaims as she hurriedly tries to shake off her shoes before charging into the kitchen, where she knew her parents would be working together to cook dinner as they usually did.
“You seem to be in a good mood today, princess,” her father calls out from where he’s standing in front of a large cooking pot on the stove, stirring its contents. He’s a large man, not necessarily fat, but certainly not as muscular as he once was. Though he was still broad-shouldered, with fluffy pink hair, similar to his daughter, except it covers his entire head like a mane, almost giving him the appearance of a pink lion. But whereas Mina had yellow horns sticking out of the top of her head, he had several yellow frills sticking out of his neck, akin to the South American Axolotl.
“I assume your first day went well?” Mina’s mother asks. She bore a much greater similarity to her daughter than her husband, with large yellow horns, longer hair that now contained streaks of grey, and a much darker shade of pink skin. Currently, she was chopping up vegetables to go in whatever they were cooking.
“It was great,” Mina exclaims as she hops up on a stool in the kitchen, “Kirishima was there, and I got to make several new friends as well, including a boy with eyes like ours.”
“Really?” Mrs Ashido looks at her daughter with interest.
“Yeah, except they were green instead of yellow,” Mina explains.
“Ah, I see,” Mr Ashido nods sagely, “Still, I can see why you’d be fond of him, what with such royal eyes.” He chuckles slightly.
“But that’s not all,” Mina is practically bouncing in her seat, “Do you two remember the stories you used to tell me… about our old home, the ones about the giant, talking, transforming robots?”
Both Ashidos freeze in what they’re doing and cautiously turn to look at their daughter.
“What about them?” Mrs Ashido asks tentatively.
“Well, I’ve got a classmate whose quirk is almost exactly like the stories you told me, he’s able to merge with his motorbike and turn himself into a giant talking robot.”
The two adults in the kitchen both quickly look at each other, before silently deciding to abandon the taste of cooking to talk to their daughter. So, setting down the knife and turning off the hob, Mina’s parents approach her with serious looks on their faces.
“Mina, this boy, his... 'robot', was there any kind of symbol on his chest?” Mr Ashido asks.
“Symbol?” Mina asks in confusion, her earlier excitement now diminished.
“Possibly a red or a purple one,” Mrs Ashido suggests.
“No, I- I don’t think so,” Mina says uncertainly
The two parents slowly nod, satisfied, “Good, good,” they say.
"Maybe he's unaligned?" Mr Ashido thinks aloud.
“Mom, Dad, what’s wrong?” Mina asks, becoming more and more worried.
“Minarva,” Mr Ashido uses a name he hadn’t used in a little over 14 years to address his daughter, “There’s something you need to know,”
“All those stories we told you? About giant transforming robots? About Autobots, and Decepticons?” Mrs Ashido continues, “They’re all true, and one of them is your classmate.”
Notes:
Greetings everyone, apologies for the long wait, writer's block is the worst.
I think the only think I really need to address is the minor adjustments to the members of 1-A, which is pretty much the same as Canon, except Mineta has been swapped out for Yui Kodai (Hopefully more of her later), and Kate has taken Aoyama's spot. (Well, technically, she took Momo's spot, and Momo took Aoyama's spot, but the end result is the same: Aoyama is out and so is the traitor plotline. Atleast the canon version of it.)
Anyway, I think I've got my mojo back (for this fic at least; no promises about Quirks Evolved). The next chapter will cover the battle trials, appropriately called "Rage against the Machine."
Bakugou learns just how much Izuku has changed since the incident in the park, Mina does some snooping, and Kate has yet more secrets to reveal.
Till next time.
The_Spartan_Sangheili.
Chapter 13: Rage Against The Machine
Summary:
1-A has their first heroics lesson, and certain facts come to light.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
UA HIGH SCHOOL, SHIZUOKA
5th APRIL 2224.
The next morning, everyone is in the 1-A homeroom, waiting for classes to begin. Izuku and Kyouka are currently gathered around Momo’s desk. Being in the back corner of the classroom it allowed the trio to talk out of the way of the others.
“Is it me, or does that girl seem to keep looking at us?” Holo-Izuku whispers, gesturing subtly at the girl sitting at the very front of the first row, Yui Kodai.
“She’s probably just shy,” Momo reasons, keeping her voice low. “It is only the second day, besides, she’s not the only one.”
Kyouka and Izuku then turn to look out at the rest of the class and note that more than one of their classmates seems to be watching them from the corner of their eye, including Mina, who is sitting just behind Kodai, talking to the invisible girl, Hagakure.
“Guess you made an impression, green,” Kyouka teases.
“Me?” Izuku hisses, careful not to draw any more attention to himself.
“You did put on a bit of spectacle yesterday,” Momo reasons.
“So did you,” Izuku argues, “You created a cannon,”
“And you transformed into a giant mech,” Kyouka counters. “Which do you think is more exciting? No offence, Yaomomo.”
“None taken, I agree with you,” Momo smiles with mild amusement. “Hopefully, as time passes, they will grow accustomed to you. We do have a heroics class this afternoon, which might help.”
“I hope so,” Izuku says just as Aizawa enters the classroom, causing everyone to hastily return to their seats.
At lunch, while everyone else heads down to the cafeteria, Mina makes sure to grab hold of Kirishima.
“Hey Kiri, hang back a sec,” she says, pulling him by one arm.
“Something wrong?” He asks.
Mina looks around to make sure the classroom is empty before saying. “I don’t think so, but… You remember that… ‘thing’ I told you about last summer?”
Kirishima’s eyes go wide with surprise, and reflexively, he too looks around to check that the classroom is empty before replying.
“You mean... how you and your parents are… ‘immigrants’?” He asks in a whisper.
“Well, I think we’re technically refugees, but yes,” Mina replies. “Anyway, I think I’m not the only one in our class,”
Again, Kirishima reacts with surprise, “Really? Who? How do you know?”
“Midoriya,” Mina answers with an excited grin.
“Midoriya?” Kirishima looks at his best friend with obvious scepticism, “No way, he has such a cool quirk.”
“You forget, I also have a ‘quirk’,” Mina retorts, doing air quotes around the word quirk.
“Well, yeah, but that’s a bit different to being able to possess your motorbike and turn it into a giant mech,” the redheaded boy argues.
“That’s just it, I don’t think he is,” Mina counters.
“Okay, now I’m lost, bro,” Kirishima says with a deep frown of confusion on his face.
“Okay, so a bit of context,” Mina begins to explain, “When I was a kid, my parents used to tell me stories about our home before we moved here, and several of the stories my dad told included a race of giant alien robots who occasionally visited, apparently one of their leaders even attended my birth.”
“Cool,” Kirishima awes.
“But get this,” Mina continues, “These giant robots? They could disguise themselves amongst people… by transforming into vehicles.”
In an instant, everything clicks for Kirishima. “Just like Midoriya’s bike!” he exclaims.
“Except I think Midoriya is the bike,” Mina adds.
Again, Kirishima appears confused, “But if he’s the giant mech/bike, then how come he has a normal body?”
“He doesn’t,” Mina grins, “According to my mom, as part of their ‘disguise’, these robots could project holographic drivers, so that it didn’t look like their vehicle forms were driving themselves.”
“And you think the ‘Midoriya’ in class is a hologram?” Kirishima asks.
“Yes,” Mina nods vehemently, “And the real Midoriya is currently sitting in the school car park,”
“But what about his friends, those two girls?” Kirishima continues to question.
“They must be in on it, they’re his human friends who help keep his cover, like you do for me,” Mina reasons.
“Okay,” Kirishima slowly nods as he seems more accepting of Mina’s logic. “So… now what?”
“I… don’t know,” Mina deflates slightly, “I was so excited to tell you I didn’t really think that far ahead,”
“Well, what did your parents say?” Kiri asks.
“To leave him alone,” Mina shrugs, “They said that if he’s here, and he is what we think he is, then there must be a reason.”
“So…” Kirishima trails off.
“So,” Mina begins grinning again, “We find out why he’s here, and if there are more of them,”
“Mina~a,” Kirishima groans. “We can’t go spying on our classmates, it’s unmanly.”
“It’s not spying, it’s snooping,” Mina corrects.
“That’s not any better,” Kirishima deadpans.
“Besides,” Mina continues with a dismissive wave of her hand, “I’m not suggesting anything as sneaky as that, for now. Just… keep an eye on him and his friends in class, note anything… odd,”
“You mean like drinking bleach and eating packing peanuts for lunch?” Kirishima remarks with a teasing smile.
“Hey, I’ve told you before, it’s a common Litmosian snack,” Mina pouts slightly, “Not my fault your weak-ass biology can’t handle it.”
“C’mon, let’s go join the others, I’m feeling pretty hungry now,” Kirishima nods towards the door.
As the two friends leave, their departure is observed through a hidden camera in the corner of the classroom.
Up in his office, Nedzu takes a sip of tea from his fine China teacup and smiles as he watches two of his students leave Aizawa’s room.
“Well, what are the odds of that?” he says to himself, before taking another sip of tea.
After lunch, during which Momo and Kyouka had eaten out in the parking lot so Izuku could join them properly, everyone returns to class in eager anticipation for their next lesson, Heroics 101. And after having a variety of pro-heroes as their teachers all day, the class is curious who their teacher will be.
While they wait, Kate leans forward over her desk to talk to Izuku.
“Hey, where did you, Yaoyorozu and Jirou disappear to?” she asks, “Uraraka, Iida and I looked for you in the cafeteria,”
“Oh, we ate outside,” Izuku replies, “You know, fresh air and it’s quieter, so Jirou likes it.”
Which were both true, if not the whole story. Unfortunately for the holographic boy, Kate doesn’t buy it.
“You were with your bike, weren’t you?”
“AH, wha-?” Izuku squawks as his half-truth is revealed, “How did you-?”
“We’re not so different, you and I,” Kate replies cryptically, causing both Izuku and Momo to frown.
“What does that mean?” Momo asks from her desk behind Kate’s.
“You’ll find out,” Kate replies, not wanting to spoil the surprise. “So, who do you think our heroics teacher will be? Snipe? Thirteen?”
“Possibly,” Izuku evades the question. He has a strong suspicion as to who their teacher will be, but isn’t willing to say, just in case-
*BANG*
The homeroom door flies open, startling everyone as All Might practically flies into the room.
“I am... coming through the door like a normal person.” The No. 1 pro bellows with glee as the class cries out with excitement,
“IT’s ALL MIGHT!”
Even Izuku, Momo, and Kyouka, who had known about All Might’s employment, are excited by the man’s entrance, or in Kyouka’s case, amused by its corniness.
Shortly following behind All Might is Arcee’s holoform, in its teacher’s outfit, which strides with grace into the homeroom after All Might’s bombastic entrance, an already weary expression on her face.
“Forgive him, he’s new at this.”
“Hey, you’re that lady from yesterday,” Mina points out.
“Yes, I’m sure most of you remember my rather… sudden appearance during Aizawa’s… ‘test’ yesterday. My name is Arcee, and I will be All Might’s teaching assistant during his classes, to help with his… lack of teaching experience. Anyway, All Might?” she prompts.
“Right, yes, *AHEM*,” All Might clears his throat, before beginning, “Greetings, students, I am here to teach Hero Basic Training. It is a subject where you will train in different ways to learn the basics of being a hero. So, let’s get straight into it, shall we?”
All Might reaches into a pocket on his hero costume and pulls out a card that reads “Combat training!”
“This is what we’ll be doing today, combat training, but before that, you’ll need these-”
All Might then takes out a small remote from his other pocket and points it at the classroom wall opposite the door. Upon pressing a button on the remote, 20 identical cases slide out from the wall on racks.
“Costumes made based on your Quirk registrations and requests you sent in before school started.” All Might continues, “After you change, gather in Ground Beta!”
“Yes, sir!” the class replies in unison, and needing no further prompting, the 20 students each grab the case corresponding to their seat number.
Except Izuku, who just heads straight for the door, a fact that does not go unnoticed by some, especially Mina and Kirishima.
In the girls’ changing room, after Izuku’s mysterious exit, Mina decides to keep a close eye on the strange boy’s friends, Yaoyorozu and Jirou.
Granted, she’s not being particularly covert about it, but everyone else is too busy getting changed to notice, so when Mina eventually cries out: “What on earth is that?!” While pointing at Momo’s exposed shoulder, it catches everybody by surprise.
“Who? What?” Momo turns around in surprise in just her bra and skirt, wondering what had caught Mina’s attention.
“Your shoulder, what happened to it?” Mina asks, visibly concerned, still pointing at the large hand-shaped scar on Momo’s left shoulder.
“Oh, that,” Momo sighs, as she tries to downplay the old wound, “It’s just a birthmark.”
“Bullwinkle,” Mina retorts, “That’s a burn scar, and I should know.”
That statement earns Mina curious looks from the other girls, so she quickly explains.
“Look, when I was younger, my parents made sure to teach me the dangers of my acid… and they had visual aids, not of the wounds themselves,” She hastens to clarify, “But the aftermath, the scars, so when I say ‘that’s a burn scar’ I know what I’m talking about, atleast… enough to know that that wasn’t caused by acid. But it’s still a burn,”
Momo lets out a deep sigh as she realises, belatedly, that this was inevitable; someone was going to notice and comment on her scar, it’d be hard not to. Even faded as it was after 5 years, it still stood out on her pale skin. The most she can do now is try to minimise the fallout by being careful about what she says.
“Yes, it is a burn,” Momo admits, “Over five years ago, before we met Jirou, Izuku and I were attacked by a villain.”
“No!” Several of the girls gasp, while the rest are just shocked.
“And this villain, he did that?” Mina asks.
“Yes,” Momo nods, “He went after Izuku first, but I managed to get the villain off him, and in retaliation…” She trails off and gestures to her shoulder.
“What kind of villain does that to a little kid?” Ochako growls, her fists clenched.
“I hope they caught him,” Kate comments.
“Hmm,” Kodai gives a low hum of agreement.
“They did,” Momo responds, “Midnight apprehended him.”
Which was technically true, Midnight was the arresting hero, although Inko was really the one who ‘apprehended’ the 10-year-old Bakugou.
“I hope they locked him up and threw away the key,” Mina huffs.
Momo doesn’t say anything, her expression remaining grim.
Kyouka, however, feels the need to vent.
“No, they let him out on good behaviour,” she spits, provoking another round of shocked anger.
“They let him out?!” Mina exclaims.
“Yes,” Momo nods, eyes downcast, “He completed his sentence and was said to have reformed.”
“Somehow, I doubt that,” Ochako mutters.
“Who was this villain anyway?” Kate inquires, but this time, Momo decides to shut down the conversation.
“No more, please, I…” She hesitates, “We’re going to be late for class.”
Sensing that the taller girl isn’t going to give any more, the other girls resume changing, while Kyouka gives her best friend a curious look, but decides to say nothing with the others around.
Several minutes later, the girls join the boys in UA’s ground beta, a fake city similar to the entrance exam test sites. Once there, Mina finds Kirishima.
“So, did you notice anything odd about Midoriya while you were changing?” she asks.
“Um, technically, no,” Kirishima scratches the back of his head awkwardly, “Actually… I didn’t see him in the changing rooms… at all,”
“Yes, that confirms it,” Mina hisses as she looks over to where the green-haired boy is waiting by his motorbike, “Why else would he not be in the changing rooms other than the fact he doesn’t need them?”
“Because he’s a hologram?” Kirishima tries to keep up with his friend’s logic.
“Exactly,” Mina nods.
“To be honest, he may have just found somewhere more private,” Kirishima adds, “I wasn’t paying too much attention, I guess I was too excited about trying on my costume, what do you think?”
The redhead then gestures down at his outfit, which consists of baggy black trousers, boots, a dark-red half-cape around his waist, and large cog-like shoulder pads, with a large red R on his belt buckle. His chest is completely bare.
“Nice,” Mina nods with approval, “Very Manly,”
“That’s what I thought!” Kirishima exclaims with joy.
"What do you think of mine?" Mina asks, gesturing to her own costume, which consists of a purple and turquoise bodysuit with a tan-coloured sleeveless jacket.
"Awesome," Kirishima gives her a thumbs up.
Meanwhile, over by his bike, Izuku waits for his friends to arrive.
“Hey, Green, looking for us?” Kyouka calls out, and Izuku snaps his gaze in the direction of her voice, and that’s when he sees them.
Kyouka, unsurprisingly, had gone for a casual punk look, with a black leather jacket, a salmon t-shirt, a choker, black trousers and boots which looked like they had speakers in them.
The bigger surprise, however, was Momo, who had deigned to keep her costume design a secret from her friends, for dramatic reasons. Momo’s costume consisted of a sleeveless shirt and shorts. Both red with black stripes, and a white trim. With a yellow utility belt around her waist.
“Whoa, you both look so awesome,” Izuku beams. “Are those the boot speakers you were talking about?” He asks Kyouka.
“Yeah,” the punk girl smiles while lifting up her left keg to show off one of her boots. “Pretty cool, huh?”
“Yeah,” Izuku nods, before turning to Momo, “And your costume’s pretty stylish, I was honestly kinda expecting you just to wear a modified version of your workout clothes, to maximise the amount of skin you can use.”
“I will admit, I did consider that,” Momo admits, “As well as some more… ‘revealing’ outfits.”
“How revealing?” Kyouka asks with some suspicion.
“Oh, it would have essentially been a bikini,” Momo replies, oblivious to the rapidly reddening faces of her two friends. "However, aside from concerns about practicality, such designs would have broken several decency laws. Ironically, said laws were created in response to my aunt’s original costumes.”
“I know,” Kyouka deadpans, “I was there when Izuku showed us,”
“I'm still surprised you didn’t go with a crop top design to allow easy access to your midriff,” Izuku comments, still taking in Momo’s costume.
“That’s because I came up with something better,” Momo grins excitedly as she reaches for the clasp on her right shoulder and unclips it, opening up the front of her tunic to reveal her chest and midriff. “The front of my costume is a flap held by a magnetic clasp, which means if I need to create something upfront, it can just burst out, pushing the flap away, and then close up again with little hassle.”
“Cool,” Izuku marvels at the design, while desperately trying to ignore the fact that his friend is borderline flashing him.
“And additionally,” Momo says as she closes up her front, “Because my costume has a built-in bra-” She spins around to reveal her exposed back- “My back is completely exposed, allowing me to create stuff through it without damaging anything.”
“Wow, you’ve thought of everything,” Izuku fawns.
“Well, not everything,” Momo concedes, “I’m still trying to find a place to carry my Yaoyo-pedia. As auntie pointed out, carrying it on my back would likely result in a spinal injury.”
“Yeesh,” Both Izuku and Kyouka cringe as they imagine that scenario.
“So, what did you go with Green?” Kyouka asks, wanting to move on from the discussion of back injuries.
“This,” Izuku gestures down at his holoform, currently sporting a forest green boiler suit, with gloves, and the red trainers that he used to wear when he still had a human-ish body.
“Really?” Kyouka stares in disbelief, “Like, full judgment, Green, you could have gone with anything, literally anything, as your costume, and you went with… this?” Kyouka gestures vaguely at the entirety of Holo-Izuku.
Holo-Izuku just shrugs, “I mean, I’m going to be like this, most of the time, so…” He says, patting his real self.
“That’s fair,” Momo concedes.
“Hey, guys!” Ochako calls out as she and Iida join the trio. Ochako is in a black and white skintight bodysuit, and Iida in a large suit of armour, like a futuristic knight. “This is so cool, don’t you think?”
The trio voices their agreement as Arcee's holoform also joins them.
“Guys, have you seen Kate Lethbridge-Stewart? She’s the only one of your classmates missing.”
“Oh, um…” Izuku looks around, having not previously noticed.
“She said she had to go get something,” Momo answers, “But she didn’t say what.”
“A part of her costume, perhaps?” Izuku reasons, “A support item?”
“Maybe,” Momo replies, just as the sound of a motor engine fills the air and silences the hubbub of conversation. Everyone turns back towards the entrance to the ground beta, in the direction where the sound is coming from, just in time to see yet another motorbike rumbling towards them.
The bike is grey and appears to be a custom model. It pulls up alongside Izuku’s vehicle mode and its rider dismounts, revealing themselves to be wearing a bulky grey armour, similar in style to the bike. The rider eventually removes their bulbous helmet to reveal Kate underneath.
“Sorry I’m late,” She apologises to All Might as everyone continues to stare in stunned silence.
With Kate’s arrival and the class now suddenly silent, All Might takes the opportunity to begin his lesson.
“They say the clothes make the man, young men and women! Now you are truly heroes! Now then, it's time for combat training!”
“Sir!” Iida raises his hand as he calls out, “Will we be conducting urban battles again?”
‘I hope so,’ Izuku mentally prays.
“Nope,” All Might grins, “We’re moving on from that. While most of the fights you see on TV take place outside, a large majority of crimes and fights take place indoors. Kidnapping, bank robberies, drug dens, backroom deals. With Heroes always on patrol, truly intelligent villains hide in the shadows! For this class, you'll be split into villains and heroes and fight in indoor battles.”
“Without basic training?” Ochako calls out.
“This is going to be a baseline exercise,” Arcee explains, “To see what your current skills and abilities are. From yesterday’s test, we know what you’re capable of physically, but this will show us how you are in a more… practical setting. It will also allow us to identify any key strengths and weaknesses you may have,”
The class then begins clamouring with a hundred different questions about how the exercise is going to go down.
“I haven’t even finished explaining,” All Might deadpans to Arcee's holomatter avatar.
“Welcome to teaching,” Arcee gives her coworker a knowing smile.
“Please tell me you have the…”
“Notes?” Holo-Arcee finishes as she reaches into the pocket of her hologram’s suit jacket and pulls out a set of cue cards, handing them to All Might.
“Thanks,” All Might mutters, before addressing the class in full volume, “I'll answer all your questions in due course! Now listen here.”
The class silences once more, with several of them, including Izuku, Kyouka, and Momo, silently giggling at the cue cards in the Pro Hero’s hands as All Might reads off them.
“The situation is that the villains have hidden a nuclear weapon somewhere in their hideout. The heroes are trying to disarm it. The heroes need to catch the villains or retrieve the nuclear weapon in the allotted time. While the villains need to protect the bomb for the whole time, or catch all the heroes. Teams and opponents will be determined by drawing lots!”
“Such a haphazard method…” Iida comments,
“I suppose out in the real world you never know who you’re going to be fighting with or against,” Holo-Izuku reasons as Arcee produces a box full of balls, each with one of 10 different letters on them.
Izuku’s holoform picks out a ball, and looks at the letter on it, ‘A’, he then looks to his friends around him.
“What did you guys get?”
“C,” Momo and Kyouka respond simultaneously.
“E,” Uraraka answers.
“I seem to have gotten the letter G,” Iida explains.
“What about you, Kate?” Momo asks, looking to the English girl, who had just picked out her ball.
“A,” Kate replies, before noticing Izuku’s own ball. “It looks like the bikers are a pair,” she grins.
“Too bad we’re fighting indoors,” Kyouka shrugs.
“That might be an issue for him,” Kate jabs a thumb at Izuku, “but I think I’ll be fine,”
The others give her varying looks of confusion until All Might calls out, “The first teams to fight will be…” He reaches into another box Arcee is now holding and pulls out two balls, one which says A, and one of which says D, “These guys,”
Holo-Izuku gulps nervously as he looks around to see if he can find which team D is. His gaze falls on Bakugou and the quiet girl, Kodai, both of whom are holding balls with the letter D on them. Bakugou’s costume consists of black trousers, a black tank top with an orange X across the chest, and two large gauntlets that look like oversized grenades.
Kodai’s outfit, however, is in stark contrast to Bakugou’s decidedly edgy costume. Hers was a bright red bodysuit with white stripes, a red and white skirt, and a baseball cap with a metal fin going down the back of it. It vaguely reminds Izuku of those old pre-quirk Tokusatsu films. It was certainly a more nostalgic hero costume design.
As Izuku takes in his opponents, he notices the wicked grin on Bakugou’s face, and he suddenly feels a flame of determination ignite inside his spark.
This wasn’t going to be like five years ago.
Several minutes later, outside a nondescript office building in the middle of the fake city, Izuku and Kate wait for the battle trial to begin.
“This is going to be tough,” Izuku’s holoform thinks aloud as he stands next to his vehicle mode.
“Why?” Kate asks from her seat atop her own bike, her helmet back on.
“Well, my robot mode won’t fit inside there,” Holo-Izuku gestures from his real body to the building, “And without it, I’m essentially quirkless- er…” Izuku suddenly stops as he realises what he just said and to whom, “That is… I didn’t mean… no offence,” he says lamely after giving up.
“It’s fine,” Kate shrugs, “I get what you meant, besides, I find it kind of funny how our positions have essentially swapped.”
“What do you mean?” Izuku asks.
“Well,” Kate begins to explain, “As you said, you’re functionally quirkless right now, and me… well, it’ll be easier if I show you,”
And saying that, she pushes a button between her handlebars, and suddenly, as if Izuku were watching a reflection of himself, the grey motorbike transforms around Kate until it becomes like a mech suit around her.
Once the process is complete, Kate, in her motorcycle-mechsuit, now stands at just about 7ft, 3ft shorter than Izuku’s true height. But it meant that she could fit within the building’s corridors, whereas Izuku couldn’t.
“Whoa, that’s… amazing,” Izuku gasps, before he realises something, “Hold on, is that what you meant when you said we’re not so different?”
“Yup,” Kate nods, “What you can achieve with a quirk, I can do with technology. Not that I mean to denigrate your quirk or anything,”
“No, no, it’s incredible,” Izuku shakes his head. “Besides, I’m sure my robot mode is probably stronger than yours.”
“Weirdly, it looked more nimble,” Kate adds, “you were merged with your bike, one with it, whereas mine’s like armour, and significantly clunkier.”
“Still, it looks like it can take a punch,” Izuku comments.
“And it packs a punch.” Kate clenches her fist, and Izuku notices the tubes on her arms.
“Are those rocket launchers?” He asks.
“Grenades,” Kate corrects, “And don’t worry, they’re only flash bangs.”
“Thank goodness,” Izuku sighs in relief, glad that he doesn’t have to worry about there being too many explosions, especially given their enemy.
On the 5th floor of the empty office building, Bakugou paces impatiently while Kodai just watches in silence.
“Shitty Deku’s finally going to get what’s coming to him,” Bakugou growls, “Looking down on me all this time. Thinks just because he had me arrested that I’m going to give up being number one, FUCK NO!”
Kodai flinches slightly at the sudden outburst, but otherwise maintains her composure. In her opinion, she didn’t see any need to say something unless she had to. Granted, she wanted to say more than a few things to the boy who was badmouthing her new idol. But that was going to be more hassle than it was worth.
Ever since it was announced that she and Bakugou were facing Midoriya and that foreign girl, the blonde boy had been stewing and ranting to himself, vowing some sort of vengeance for something Midoriya had done.
‘First, he gets that stupid girlfriend, then he sets me up to be labelled a villain, and to top it all off, he’s been lying about his quirk this entire time?’ Bakugou thinks to himself, ‘I’m going to put that demon-eyed dumbass in his place, then I’m going to scrap that worthless bike of his, and if that ponytailed girlfriend of his tries to stop me again, I’ll finish what I started with her. Maybe then she’ll learn her place.’
Up in the control room, nervous anticipation fills the air.
Momo, in particular, is feeling the nerves get to her, and without really thinking, she takes hold of Kyouka’s hand with her own.
Kyouka, feeling the grasp, gives a slight squeeze of reassurance.
“Green’ll be fine,” she says, looking up at the second of her two crushes.
“I hope so,” Momo replies shakily. Dully, she can feel her left shoulder throb slightly. Not painfully so, she just becomes more conscious of the scar being hidden by her costume as she recalls the last time Izuku and Bakugou clashed.
Deciding that her friend could do with distracting, Kyouka decides to change the topic to something more… interesting.
“So, Kate’s bike seems kinda familiar,” Kyouka prompts, “You don’t think she’s… like Izuku?”
“I doubt it,” Momo replies, keeping her voice low, so it gets lost in the conversations around them. “Notice how her bike transformed around her”
“Okay, so, what…? Someone just happened to create a bike that mimics Izuku?” Kyouka questions.
“It would appear so,” Arcee’s holoform seemingly appears next to the two girls, “I am rather curious about it, the way it moved and formed around her… It’s too similar.”
“So… it is like you and Izuku?” Kyouka asks, still keeping her voice low.
“I’ve not picked up any of the usual signs,” Arcee shakes her head, “Even if it were masking its Energon signal, at this kind of proximity, I’d detect it. And yet… it does look suspiciously similar,” The realistic hologram sighs, “I’ll just have to investigate it after class, in the meantime, it looks like we’re about to begin.”
Back inside the fake office building, Bakugou is still pacing and growling to himself when a klaxon sounds, indicating the start of the 10-minute trial.
“I’m going to find Deku,” He spits over his shoulder to Kodai, “You stay here, mute.”
“HMM,” Kodai frowns as Bakugou storms out. Once he’s gone, she says to herself, “Rude,” before then turning back to the fake bomb behind her, reaching out to touch it.
Down at the front of the building, Izuku and Kate make their entrance, having formulated a plan based on Izuku’s (likely outdated) knowledge of Bakugou.
“I still think I have a better chance against him,” Kate argues.
“You’re probably right,” Izuku whispers as he recalls Arcee’s advice concerning cybertronian holoforms. If Bakugou were to cause too much damage to his holoform, not only would it reveal his true nature, but the sudden destruction could cause neurological damage.
“However,” Izuku continues, “Bakugou is unlikely to go after you.”
“Right because of your history,” Kate replies as the duo begin to stalk the dark and abandoned hallways, “Well, so long as you know what you’re doing,”
“I do,” Izuku declares confidently as they near a junction, “I just need to-”
Izuku stops as he and Kate step around the corner of a junction in the corridor and see Bakugou lunging at them in an ambush. Mentally, Izuku kicks himself, he should have seen this coming. He’d largely expected Bakugou to come charging at them, not lying in wait. It would appear that his suspicions about Bakugou having changed since he last met him were correct.
Bakugou had gotten more devious; he was still full of rage, but now he knew how to hide it to his advantage, as evidenced by his going from a dead-silent ambush to raging fury.
“DIE YOU STUPID NERD!”
‘That’s more like the Bakugou I used to know,’ Izuku thinks to himself as he and Kate leap out of the way of Bakugou’s attack.
Out of the corner of his holographic eye, Izuku notes that Kate’s evasion is aided by thrusters on the back of her bike-mechsuit.
“GO!” Izuku gestures for Kate to go on ahead, while he springs back from another blast from Bakugou.
Kate nods her understanding of Izuku’s unspoken message, ‘stick to the plan’.
So, the armoured English girl turns and charges off down an adjacent corridor, away from Bakugou, who couldn’t care less about some random extra.
“5 years,” Bakugou snarls as he and Deku stand opposite each other in the corridor, several meters apart. “I’ve waited five years to get my revenge on you, you ruined my perfect backstory, had me labelled as a villain, and then lied about your Quirk.”
Holo-Izuku frowns, “I never lied about my quirk, I only just discovered my new abilities a month before the entrance exam. And as for ‘ruining’ your life…” Izuku pauses before taking the plunge, “You did that yourself. I did nothing, but not anymore. You know, I should thank you.”
Bakugou, already enraged, grows more frustrated with confusion, “The fuck you talking about?”
“Ever since that day, I promised never to stand by again, to not do nothing.” Izuku then tenses up, looking like he’s ready to fight, and Bakugou likewise prepares to fight his former victim.
But then, in a completely unexpected move, rather than fighting, Izuku turns and begins sprinting down the corridor he and Kate had just come up.
For a second, Bakugou is initially surprised by Izuku’s sudden retreat, until he realises what’s happening and becomes further enraged.
“RUNNING AWAY?! DEKU, YOU FUCKING COWARD, GET BACK HERE!” Bakugou yells before launching himself down the corridor after his prey.
Up in the observation room, Kyouka feels Momo’s grip tighten around her hand as well as a sudden spike in her heart rate. The smaller girl looks up at her crush friend and tries to reassure her.
“Izuku’s going to be fine,” she says softly, “We’ve been training continuously for five years, I’m sure even as he is, he’s an even match for Bakugou.”
“Maybe,” Momo replies, putting on a brave face.
However, Kyouka isn’t fooled; she can still feel her friend’s rapid heartbeat.
“How come Midoriya is just running away?” Kirishima asks aloud, “It’s pretty unmanly.”
“He’s not running away,” Arcee replies with a slight smile. “He and Bakugou clearly have a history, and Midoriya is taking advantage of that to make sure the fight is on his terms.”
“What fight?” A blonde boy with a black lightning bolt in his hair asks, “It’s just a game of cat and mouse.”
“For now,” Arcee says coyly, “I’ll explain afterwards, to give all of you a chance to work it out for yourself.”
As she says that, the main screen shows Izuku reaching the end of a corridor, his back now up against an open window.
“Nowhere left to run demon-eyes,” Bakugou grins fiercely, like a wolf baring its fangs.
“You’re right, Bakugou,” Holo-Izuku feels the windowsill behind him. It was a large window, and the bottom of it was about level with his knees. “No more running, I’m not afraid of you anymore. So, if you want to fight me, come get me.”
And without another word, Izuku throws his holoform backwards, out of the window.
Immediately, Bakugou launches himself towards the window with his quirk, small explosions popping out like jet blasts. All the while screaming, not out of any concern that a classmate had just jumped out a second-storey window, but out of rage that his prey was continuing to evade him.
“DAMMIT DEKU, IF YOU THINK KILLING YOURSELF WILL LET YOU ESCAPE ME THEN-”
Bakugou flies cleanly through the window, looks down to where he expects Deku’s weak-ass body to be crumpled on the ground, and is instead greeted by the sight of Izuku waiting patiently in the seat of his bike.
As soon as Izuku is sure that Bakugou has seen him, he transforms into his robot mode.
“Now, you said you wanted to fight me?” Izuku asks, now comfortably back in his true form.
Bakugou just grins before launching himself at the cybertronian.
On the top floor of the building, Kate can hear the sounds of fighting and explosions outside the building. Their plan had worked. Izuku had been right, Bakugou was fixated on him, for reasons Izuku hadn’t explained, and that had allowed them to easily lead the blonde boy away from his partner, and outside the building, where Izuku could fight with his whole quirk.
Granted, that also meant that Kate was left to deal with Kodai by herself, but the English girl was confident that her Cyclone armour would be more than a match for the stoic, dark-haired girl. Kate finally comes to the room where the bomb is being kept and she takes a deep breath to prepare herself, mentally running through her next course of action, before then charging at the door, shoulder checking it with her armour, aided by the thrusters on her back, just beneath where the wheels are stored.
The doors crash open, the metal crumpling beneath the weight and impact of the mech suit. As soon as the door is open, Kate fires off a flash-bang grenade into the room. Her helmet automatically dampens the effects so that she isn’t affected.
Almost immediately after the grenade explodes, she charges at the now stunned and confused Kodai, and is able to use a special tape given to her and Izuku by All Might to bind the other girl, pinning her arms to her sides, signalling that she’s been ‘captured’.
Once she’s satisfied that her opponent has been neutralised, Kate makes sure she’s okay, fully aware that she’d just subjected a classmate to a stun grenade.
“Are you alright?” she asks the now-sitting Kodai.
“Hmm,” the other girl nods, her face still unreadable as ever.
“Okay,” Kate reciprocates the nod before rising from her crouch. “Now then, where’s that-” She looks around the empty room, and for the first time, notices something odd.
No bomb.
There are several crates, abandoned pallets, and other random detritus that the defenders could use, but no bomb.
Kate lets out a sigh and turns back to Kodai, “I don’t suppose you’ll tell me where the bomb is?” she asks with an air of resignation.
“No,” Kodai replies softly, a slight smile turns up the corners of her mouth, which Kate interprets to be amusement at Kate’s predicament. But in truth, Kodai was just pleased at the fact that she now had two classmates with mecha.
So, with little alternative, Kate sets to work scrounging through the various boxes and crates, while Kodai enjoys the sight of a real-life mech suit in front of her, sure, it wasn’t a Zoid, but it was good enough for her.
In the observation room, the rest of 1-A are on edge as they watch Bakugou and Midoriya clash. To everyone’s confusion, the fight wasn’t going as expected.
Once Izuku had reached his bike and ‘used his quirk’ to transform, most had assumed that Bakugou would be swiftly beaten. Instead, what they were witnessing was something more akin to a man trying to swat an angry wasp or a goose. Every time Izuku tried to swing at Bakugou, the blond boy would just use his explosions to propel himself out of the way, before launching another blast at Izuku’s face or body.
“I don’t get it,” Kyouka vents, letting go of Momo’s hand to lightly pull on her jacks in frustration, “Why is Izuku doing so badly against Bakugou? We’ve trained with him, he’s a competent hand-to-hand fighter, right, Momo?”
She looks back at the taller girl, who just gives a single, short, wordless nod, her gaze fixed on the screen showing the two boys fighting, her hands shaking slightly.
“So, how is he doing so badly here?” Kyouka finishes.
“Because he’s not used to fighting someone on a different scale,” Arcee replies, causing Kyouka and several of the other students to look at her in confusion. So she explains. “When you, Midoriya and Yaoyorozu trained, you fought as roughly physical equals. Yes, there are some differences in height and strength, but they were of the same magnitude. But here-” the holomatter avatar gestures to the monitors- “The size difference is significant enough that you need to change your fighting style. Midoriya is still fighting like his opponent is on the same scale as him, not someone significantly smaller.”
“So that’s why he’s struggling,” Mina voices, “It’s not that he doesn’t know how to fight, it’s that he doesn’t know how to fight someone that small.”
“Exactly,” Holo-Arcee nods, before muttering to herself, “I guess that’s something I’m going to have to teach him.”
“Or find a hero who knows what it’s like to fight like that,” All Might suggests, “I think there’s a rookie hero with a giant quirk here in Musutafu, who may be of some help.”
“An idea for the future perhaps,” Arcee replies as the two teachers return to watching the screens, but are quickly interrupted by an anxious cry from Kyouka,
“Sensei!”
Both Arcee and All Might turn back to the watching students, and to Kyouka in particular, who is standing next to Momo.
“Something’s wrong with her,” Kyouka explains, and the two adults look to Momo.
The Creation girl was breathing rapidly, sweating noticeably, and beginning to shake. Behind him, All Might can hear Bakugou let off another series of explosions at Midoriya, and as he does so, he notices Momo flinch and immediately reach for her left shoulder.
“I tried to snap her out of it, but I don’t think she heard me,” Kyouka adds.
The sound of another explosion booms from the screen, and this time, Momo takes a half step back from the screen, wobbling slightly as she does so.
“No,” she mutters, still clutching at her shoulder.
“She’s having a panic attack.” All Might declares, “Everyone, give her space.” he then gestures to the class to back off, and to their credit, they do. Even Kyouka takes a half step back so as not to crowd her.
All Might then crouches down so that he’s roughly eye-level with the girl.
“Yaoyorozu, this is All Might, you’re having a panic attack,” The hero says in as calming a voice as his muscular form will allow. “I need you to take deep breaths for me, okay?”
“B-but I-Izuku,” Momo pants out between shallow breaths. “He- he’s going to-” Momo cuts herself off, as her mind goes back to Izuku’s birthday in Aldera Municipal Park.
“Arcee, stop the match,” All Might calls over his shoulder.
He had been willing to let the fight continue for Izuku’s sake, but the cost was becoming too high. He remembers the days after his mentor died, the nights when he would wake up, drenched in sweat, crying out. And while he doesn’t know what exactly is triggering his student’s episode, he realises it has something to do with Midoriya’s fight with Bakugou, and that was enough for him to pull the plug.
Over by the console beneath the large observation monitors, Arcee’s holoform leans down to speak into a microphone,
“Teams A and D, your match has been suspended, stand down, immediately.”
On the main screen, Arcee watches as Izuku immediately drops his guard. Bakugou, however, seems to disregard her order. Instead, seeing Izuku’s guard lowered, he raises one of his grenade-shaped gauntlets, aiming directly at Izuku, and pulls a pin from it.
“BAKUGOU!” Arcee screams into the mic, “STAND DOWN, THAT IS AN-“
*KA-BOOM*
The last thing everyone sees on the monitor before the feed dies is a large fireball engulfing Izuku.
“NOOOOOO!” Momo cries out, and rapidly tries to back away from the screen, causing her to trip over her own feet, sending her tumbling to the ground.
And it’s this that finally overwhelms her. She just lies there curled up on the ground, sobbing.
“Get off. Get off.” She mutters to herself.
“Momo?” Kyouka tries to approach Momo, but a gentle hand stops her momentarily.
“Be careful,” Is all he says before the two of them kneel next to Momo.
“Izuku, Izuku, what’s going on? Are you okay?” Arcee hisses, having switched from the monitor’s intercom to her own built-in comms.
“I’m fine,” Izuku replies, “A little burnt and scratched, but I’m fine.”
“Good,” Arcee replies quietly, “Get back here, now, Yaoyorozu’s having some kind of an emergency.”
In an instant, Izuku disconnects, leaving Arcee hanging.
Content that Izuku was safe for now, Arcee changes targets and begins using the monitor’s intercom system.
“Bakugou? Bakugou! Katsuki Bakugou, can you hear me?”
But nothing, either his earpiece was damaged or he’s purposefully ignoring her. Which would be for the second time in just as many minutes. Far away in the UA car park, Arcee revs her engine in annoyance.
Not wanting to waste any more time with the delinquent human, she changes her focus yet again.
“Stewart, Kodai, can you two hear me?”
Almost immediately, she gets a reply.
“Yes, we’re here, Arcee,” comes Kate’s voice, “I’m fine, so is Kodai.”
“Hm,” the other girl hums in assent over the comms.
“What happened?” Kate follows up.
“Just return to the observation room for now,” Arcee instructs.
“Okay,” Kate replies, “Let me just untie Kodai first, and we’ll be with you shortly.”
“Thank you,” Arcee lets out a sigh, glad that there were no further issues.
Back with Momo, Kyouka, and All Might are slowly bringing Momo out of her panic, having coaxed the girl into taking deep, calming breaths. All Might had even run a grounding exercise with Momo, having her list several groups of things: first 5 things she could see, (Kyouka, All Might, Mina, the computer, the lights), then four things she could touch, (Kyouka’s jacks, All Might’s hand, a matryoshka doll she had created, and the floor). Next were 3 things she could hear (Her heartbeat, Kyouka’s voice, the slight chatter of the other students). The final two senses were 2 smells and one taste, which were answered with Sweat (her own), Citrus (Mina’s acid) and then water, from a bottle someone had fetched for her.
As Momo continues to take deep breaths, the sound of heavy footsteps fills the air, and a few seconds later, the doors to the observation room slam open, causing Iida to squawk as Izuku ducks his head to go through the doorway.
“Momo!” The green cybertronian exclaims as he crosses the room in a few heavy footsteps. The students who are standing between him and Momo quickly part to the him through. Once close enough to the gathered group of Momo, All Might, and Kyouka, he drops to his knees with a loud clank.
“Momo, are you alright?!” Izuku exclaims, and the ponytailed girl gives a weak nod before replying.
“I’m… fine, Izuku,”
“What happened?” Izuku asks, looking at Kyouka and All Might.
“She had a panic attack, young Midoriya,” All Might explains, “It appears to have been brought on by your fight with Bakugou.”
“Oh, yeah, that makes sense,” Izuku realises, and in the background, Mina frowns slightly.
“And where is Bakugou, anyway?” Arcee chimes in as she joins the group, looking royal pissed. “I have a gear to grind with him,”
“I… don’t know?” Izuku says, looking over his shoulder back the way he came, “As soon as I heard Momo was having an emergency, I ran straight here, although the last I saw him, Bakugou looked pretty-”
“Whoa, hold up,” Kyouka raises one hand to interrupt Izuku, “Did you just say you ran here?” She asks.
“Yes,” Izuku nods.
“You ran here?” Kyouka repeats.
“Yeeeees,” Izuku replies slowly, not understanding.
But Momo does.
“Izuku, you ran here,” Momo explains, a slight smile creasing her face, “You have wheels, why didn’t you just transform back into your bike mode?”
“Ah… oh,” Izuku says with a dumb look on his face as he realises what his friends are saying, “I… er… I… don’t know,”
A ripple of laughter echoes from most of the students present, including Momo, much to Kyouka’s relief.
“I guess I just got caught up in the moment,” Izuku rubs the back of his head with one hand in embarrassment, his silvery-metallic face darkening with embarrassment.
“It’s fine,” Momo tries to reassure Izuku, “I’m touched that you cared so much.”
“So, you’re fine now?” Izuku asks.
“Perfectly fine,” Momo replies, with less confidence than she might usually, “Just a little shaken up, besides, you’re the one who was being attacked by Bakugou.”
“Just because your emergency wasn’t physical, doesn’t make it any less valid, young Yaoyorozu,” All Might chimes in, “Your body, for whatever reason, thought it was in imminent danger and so it reacted.”
“But I wasn’t even in danger, Izuku was,” Momo argues.
“No, but perhaps seeing Izuku in danger triggered something,” All Might reasons.
“Like a memory?” Izuku asks, his mind immediately going back to the incident in the park.
“More like a trauma,” Arcee amends.
There’s a brief silence in the air that is shortly broken by the last voice anyone wants to hear right now.
“EH, SO WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED? I WAS ABOUT TO BEAT DEKU!” Bakugou yells, stomping into the room, his fighting spirit still alive.
Before anyone can explain, Arcee launches into berating the boy.
“WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL SPARK DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?!” She demands, storming up to the boy, completely dwarfing the boy in terms of volume, much to Kyouka’s displeasure.
“I WAS WINNING!” Bakugou declares proudly, “Stupid Deku left himself open, and I took my shot.”
“He left himself open, because…” Arcee says, dangerously quiet, before exploding, “I ORDERED YOU TO STAND DOWN! COMBAT WAS SUSPENDED DUE TO A MEDICAL EMERGENCY, BUT YOU ELECTED TO IGNORE THAT COMMAND, AND CONTINUED, USING A HIGHLY DANGEROUS WEAPON, THAT IF IT HAD BEEN USED ON ANYONE OTHER THAN MIDORIYA, THEY’D BE HIGHLY INJURED OR DEAD!”
Arcee then pauses a moment to compose herself before continuing, in a low growl. “Give me one good reason why I should have you expelled, right now.”
“Because I’m going to be number one,” Bakugou argues, “UA needs me.” He’s about to continue but is cut off by a derisive laugh from Kyouka.
“HA! UA doesn’t need you, nobody does, villain,” She spits out the last word with all the venom of someone tired of seeing their closest friends getting hurt by the egomaniacal whims of a bully.
“What. Did. You. Just. Call me?” Bakugou snarls.
“You heard me,” Kyouka tries to rise from where she’s kneeling next to Momo, but the other girl stops her.
“Don’t,” Momo warns her with a shake of her head. “It’s not worth it,”
Kyouka grits her teeth, wanting to do nothing more than to blurt out the whole truth. To reveal to everyone in the class just how despicable, how dangerous, the loud, angry, blonde boy was. But Momo and Izuku had made it clear, they didn’t want to cause a fuss. Bakugou was here now, and he apparently had every right to be here. And while Kyouka was a good enough friend to stand up for her crushes best friends, she was also a good enough friend to respect their boundaries.
“Fine,” Kyouka huffs, sitting back down, much to Bakugou’s smug satisfaction.
However, that satisfaction wasn’t to last, because to the side of the central group, Mina’s brain was in overdrive.
Now, granted, Mina wasn’t what you would call ‘intellectually gifted’, and she knew it; she knew her grades weren’t the best. But that wasn’t to say she was stupid, no, far from it. While she may struggle academically, Mina was observant, highly observant. It was what made her such a good source of gossip, in her not-so-humble opinion. And she was a surprisingly good puzzle solver, so long as she had all the pieces, and with Kyouka’s last verbal barrage, everything clicks into place:
- Bakugou’s hostility to Midori
- Midori last saw Bakugou five years ago at roughly the same time Yaomomo and Midori were attacked.
- Bakugou’s hand-based explosion quirk and the hand-shaped burn scar.
- And the fact that the ‘villain’ who attacked Yaomomo had been set free due to ‘good behaviour’.
It all added up in Mina’s head.
“You sulphurous son of a base,” Mina uses one of her father's curses, before pointing at Bakugou, “It was you, wasn’t it?!”
“Eh, the fuck you talking about racoon-eyes?” Bakugou gives the pink girl an annoyed look.
“The name… is Mina Ashido,” Mina says cooly, “And you’re the villain who gave Momo her scar, weren’t you?”
In an instant, all the girls who had seen Momo’s scar in the changing room gasp. While the boys, who hadn’t, are a little more confused.
Meanwhile, Bakugou just grinds his teeth. His pride refuses to let him deny the charge, because Ponytail and Demon eyes deserved it, but he’s also smart enough to know that admitting it would be stupid.
“Hey, Mina, what are you talking about?” Kirishima asks, as he and the other boys, aside from Izuku, are completely lost.
Mina looks to Momo, who mentally sighs. She had been hoping to avoid this confrontation, for everyone’s sake. But now that they were here, she might as well continue.
“Five years ago,” Momo begins unclasping her tunic, “Before we met Kyouka, I went to Aldera municipal park on Izuku’s birthday, to surprise him. However, when I got there, I found him being attacked by Bakugou. When I tried to pull Bakugou off of Izuku, he pinned me to the ground and did this to me-” She then shrugs off the shoulder of her tunic to reveal the hand-shaped scar underneath.
Collectively, the class gasps, even All Might and Arcee, who had previously been unaware of the incident, are shocked.
That shock then turns into outrage as the class begins hurling accusations and insults at Bakugou.
Bully,
Coward,
Monster,
Villain.
Of the group, one boy in particular, Shouto Todoroki, is the embodiment of fury, his normally stoic, indifferent face the picture of anger.
After a few seconds, All Might rises from his spot next to the still-prone Momo.
“That’s enough, everyone,” He calls out, silencing the class fairly quickly, “These are very troubling allegations-”
But Momo cuts him off.
“These aren’t allegations, All Might,” she says, her confidence returning, “The cops arrested Bakugou, and he was found guilty in a court, Midnight was there.”
“Wait, Midnight knows about this?” All Might queries.
“Nedzu too,” Izuku adds. “Though he only learned about it yesterday,”
“Well, then,” Arcee turns back to Bakugou, “I think you, I, and the principal are due for a talk,”
“You’re not the teacher,” Bakugou argues, but he’s quickly shut down by All Might.
“No, but I am, Young Bakugou,” he says, “And you will go with Miss Arcee to see Principal Nedzu.”
While still outwardly angry, Bakugou reluctantly decides not to argue any further. He wasn’t going to argue with his idol over this.
“Fine,” He spits, before turning and stomping towards the exit, Arcee hot on his heels.
As those two leave, Kate and Kodai enter. Kate was out of her large mech suit and just in her normal armour.
“The two girls look at the gathered class before them, and in particular, Izuku (still in his robot mode), Momo, and Kyouka.
“What did we miss?” Kate asks.
Notes:
Hey y'all, hope everyone's doing well and enjoying their holidays (if you're on holiday that is)
So, two things I wanted to discuss here.
The first is Mina. Quite a few people asked me in the previous chapter if Mina (who is an alien) was from a canon Transformers species or an OC species. To clarify, Mina and her parents are from a completely original species, based on Mina's design, called the Litmusians. The name is based on Litmus, the PH indicator for testing acids. And for anyone curious, their home planet was called Alkalnus (Alkali)
The second is Kate and her armour, which is not from Transformers but from technically two different Anime. It's called the Cyclone. (https://robotech.com/roboverse/mecha/veritech-cyclone-vr-052) The original source is Genesis Climber MOSPEADA, but was then later adapted into the well-known Robotech. The mech is pretty much identical in design to the original Robotech version, except for its origins, but more on that another time.
The next chapter will see the aftermath of Izuku's fight with Bakugou.
Till next time.
The_Spartan_Sangheili.