No longer an experiment: Float

by DARK8DRAGON

Summary:

With finals season coming up and the kid's first school year coming to an end, the erasure experiment has been officially put on hold until further notice, in favor of the kid focusing on school and his internship.

However, things become complicated when ninth falls sick again; One for All having decided that now was the best time to finalize the adjustments to its new vessel.

Faced with the possibility of expulsion due to previous sickness keeping the kid away from class; the vestiges decide to possess him in hopes of delaying the inevitable climax of One for All's modifications long enough for him to get through the last exam period of the year.

They only have three months until summer break; hopefully they're able to keep the kid's body awake for long enough to at least get through one.

 

{Changed the summary, because I couldn't decide; original one is in the notes of the first chapter}

 

Trigger warning: Izuku is vomiting literal bones and organs in this one, so please do take the body horror tag seriously.

Notes:

Original summary (because I felt like changing it):

The experiment has been put on hold in favor of taking care of Izuku, who's fallen to another quirk sickness as a result of housing One for All.

The vestiges have their suspicions; believing that this will be the last of the sickness as it's likely that his natural quirk will manifest soon. Meaning that the kid will be even more sick and experience even more pain as a result of this last step in the quirk's development.

However, they run into a problem when exam season arrives early, forcing them to take over the kid's body in order to avoid expulsion, while also trying not to overwork his already very weak body.

Chapter 1: Forced our hand

Ninth was sick again; his body reshaping and reconfiguring itself more intensely in preparation for the awakening of his new and last quirk.

And honestly, this occurrence would have been fine and fairly manageable had it come any other day, but not that day, not that time; because that week and upcoming months were when ninth had some of his biggest end of the year exams; his first one being in English before moving on to Math, then Art, and finally Heroics and Physical education, along with the last internship mission he had to join in order to complete his field work hours for that year.

He couldn't miss them; not after missing so many other small tests, patrols and exams for the exact same reason; skipping these ones could lead to his expulsion from UA, and it wasn't as though he could easily transfer to another hero school; this was his dream school, and it even had eighth there to support and help him navigate his new quirk in every step of the way.

The kid transferring schools could lead to so many problems, especially regarding their physical access to him and his emotional support from eighth.

 

That being said, they also knew that it would be quite risky to possess him at a time such as this.

Because, while the vessel's body does stay stagnant and unchanging — at its core, at the very least — while being possessed; the teachers and students were also starting to suspect them, and the principal himself was starting to pose a threat to their quirk and — by proxy — existence as a whole.

Of course, Banjo's insinuations during their latest interrogation have been helpful; allowing their living users the benefit of the doubt as now everyone could be a suspect.

However, until another person turns up possessed in the middle of the day, the staff, students and principal's attention was focused mostly on them; resulting in their possession and expressive freedom unfortunately retaining the restrictions put in place after the joint exercise — they didn't appear in the physical world as smoke made clones anymore, nor did they take over their successors as much as they used to.

It was quite distruptive; having to adjust their habits and centuries old methods and systems in order to keep their successors free; it was restrictive in a way the void rarely was; reminding them that there is a price for the possession — Kudou was actually considering possessing Bakugou more seriously now; just to allow them a little more freedom as focus shifts onto someone else.

 

But even so, this particular possession wasn't as much of a conundrum as some almost wished for it to be; especially with how close ninth was to awakening and how critical it was for them to have as much access to him as possible during the following months in particular.

They knew they didn't have much of a choice; they already had a cover and guide for possessing the kid; the staff already seemed to have come to a conclusion regarding who they were and what kind of a threat they posted; a role they could play into if they were to get caught.

The latter's consequences were far more manageable than those of the former.

 

They didn't even have to think about who will possess him; it should obviously be Nana.

Nana was the only available user and vestige who has actually graduated high school and studied modern heroics beyond what was required for an international licence.

She was also the one who payed the most attention during ninth's classes — though it was obviously more so to see what they got right and what was new, rather than an actual interest in the subjects.

 

In a way, it was actually kind of refreshing; having their possessions used for things like a missed exam, rather than the usual death fights and rescue from unconsciousness during high stake confrontations, or the occasional theory testing through a dangerous experiment.

For once, the only thing they had to worry about was the kid's grades and quirk awakening; not how to keep him hidden and well trained for long enough so that he could 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 live to see his thirties, all while praying that he'll be able to grow strong enough to defeat the monster hunting them down.

 

Nana woke up earlier than usual that day, and only took one, long shower after her morning run.

It had taken her time to get used to this; sharing a mind with so many people — men, specifically —, and being the only woman in a reality where privacy was a myth.

She remembered feeling shame and discomfort at first; scared that they might see something they shouldn't.

It didn't help that she got One for All at eighteen, and had already known that this was exactly how it would be like ever since she was offered it by En.

Back then, she was young and naive and thought that her mental walls were enough to block everything and everyone out.

Oh, how wrong she was.

When she first entered the void, the moment Yoichi played some of her memories of training and fighting back to her was when she realized just how unavoidable that aspect of the quirk was.

She'd struggled, tried to build higher walls and avoid certain sights, but it didn't take much to realize just how pointless that fight was; she chose this; she knew what she was getting into and she had still gone through with it.

It was definitely harder to deal with without any aware outsider support, but as time went by, she eventually grew to see bodies as just what they are; bodies; masses of skin and flesh made to serve humans as a whole.

The vestiges learned to fight through the awkwardness and discomfort with her; it wasn't as though they could avoid it; they could see 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, regardless of whether or not they wanted to.

They've seen her give birth, for crying out loud; even dulled out some of the pain she felt through it.

It was weird, uncomfortable, definitely unusual, and by the time she reached her mid twenties, she didn't mind it one bit; it was just a part of her now, and she'd learned to accept and even embrace it for what it was, nothing more, nothing less.

 

That didn't mean that she didn't respect other people's space and mediums of comfortability; just because she and her successors couldn't afford privacy didn't mean that other teenage boys should automatically share a bathroom with a grown woman, regardless of whether or not they knew, not this directly, not if she could help it.

So she woke up early, before even the sun itself touched the horizon, and had a nice long shower after a shortened morning run building up Fa-Jin — the added energy has become even more essential to operating the kid's body at this state.

She did ninth's hair in cute braids that were more so habit than an actual need at this point — though they did make the vessel's use and possession more convenient —, put on the school uniform, and had to force herself to stick to the ground and actually walk, despite ninth's body's natural fatigue — likely due to sickness —, more than once.

 

That day was for the English exam, which lasted over four hours and had not a single aid for its entire duration.

She hadn't been to high school in a while, but was happy she at least remembered that she could only ask a teacher about a question's phrasing and not anything that could reveal the answer.

It saved her a lot of embarrassment, because while the test wasn't necessarily hard, the phrasing and formulation were so high and proper that even she got a little confused; and she was American — for the most part —; she spent over half her life speaking and working in English.

She was suddenly very happy for scouting so many English books in her life, as having Yoichi copy them to the void had actually allowed her to learn words that appeared on the test that she would have otherwise never even known how to pronounce, let alone spell and define.

 

By the end of the test, she was feeling very remorseful towards the students who had to actually learn and prepare for these grating exams; things were definitely much simpler in the twenty second century — when they focused more on strength than intelligence for most heroes.

 

Finally, after three long hours, Nana was finished; double checking her answers before raising her hand and handing Present Mic her sheet over an hour ahead of time; allowing her an over an hour long break before the post exam training session — because of course they had a post exam training session.

 

Outside the classroom, Nana's Danger sense began buzzing even more intensely than usual; warning her of a threat to both ninth and the quirk approaching her way.

She was about to change her course when she ran into Bakugou, who was quick to confront her before she could find a way to escape.

"Hey, nerd" he called out.

Nana put on her best nervous expression and answered in ninth's slightly high voice "Y-yes, Kacchan?"

The blond boy squinted his eyes in suspicion, as though he was trying to dissect ninth's very being.

Nana just stood there awkwardly, not saying anything but not leaving or speaking up either, as she knew that ninth wouldn't ignore bomb boy like that.

Finally, after almost a minute, Bakugou spoke up "Fight me"

Nana startled in surprise "What?" She nearly broke character for a moment and said it in plain confusion instead of nervous confusion. Fortunately, she managed to catch herself and change the tone just in time.

"Are you deaf or something? I said, fight me! You aren't sick anymore, right?" His eyes screamed suspicion, like he was just waiting for her to slip up; did he catch onto ninth being possessed again?

"Um, no, I guess not. But Kacchan-" she said in ninth's slightly panicked and nervous tone.
Even if she did stun his disease, his body was still very much weak and not ready to fight at the moment; she and the other vestiges were still trying to figure out what to do in the training session without making the kid even more sick by accident.

"Good, then you'll have no problem-"

Before he could even complete that sentence, the little explosions coming out of his hands dissipated as Eraserhead came into view.

"That's enough, problem child" the teacher said with annoyance in his voice "You're disrupting other students taking the exam. If you two want to fight each other, wait for training, I'll make sure to pair you both together"

Nana squinted at the teacher in suspicion; that was weird; he usually didn't endorse violent behavior amongst students.

 

Bakugou clicked his tongue, going with the teacher after the man had asked him to come speak with him for a moment.

Needless to say, Nana followed them; using Float to avoid creating noisy steps, and allowing Danger sense to take presidence and alert her whenever they were about to face her direction; she managed to tail them all the way to a private meeting room, not unlike the one ninth and eighth often have their own private meetings in.

 

Once they entered the room, she decided to start walking again as she took out the quirk's shared phone; painting the picture of a bored teenager too focused on his phone to see where he's going to the camera that finally managed to catch her.

She made sure that the person behind it would have no way to see even a single pixel on the small screen in her hand as she made her way to the wall near the door of the room and lazily leaned on it.

Once the voices behind the door began to sound more clear, Nana began typing out notes on the device; her outwards demeanor remained unchanging as only her ears let out a small twitch; not even her eyes darted away from the screen.

 

So Bakugou did suspect them, the seventh concluded as she kept typing out highlights on the phone.

The teacher seemed to listen to him on the matter, too; telling him that he'll look into it and even noting how, every time Bakugou had come to him with a suspicion regarding Midoriya, erasure didn't work on ninth; reassuring him that his opinion did hold a lot of value on the matter.

Nana cursed under her breath before remembering to school her expression.

Despite the conversation between the two still going, the seventh decided that she'd heard enough; quickly leaving her place behind the door before they come out and see the kid there.

Once away from the principal's prying spyware, Nana sent the note of bullet points she'd gathered from the overheard conversation to Toshinori; allowing him immediate access to the information with no need to meditate or traverse to the void in the middle of a work day for an explanation — or fall asleep at the table; seeing as he was supervising students in one of the exam rooms —.

Notes:

By the way, I should probably say it now; the vestiges have developed a sort of mild paranoia from being on the run for so long; specifically from being on the run while accidentally putting themselves in the limelight.

The heroes and people around them aren't suspicious of Toshinori and Izuku; they're worried for them and are trying to figure out the identity of the "villains" who possessed them.

You can kinda see it in some of the outsider perspective chapters; where the heroes and staff express mostly worry or desire to corner the villains without showing their hand prematurely.

However, One for All has a tendency to make its quirks — specifically mental or emotionally responding quirks — sentient, whether it be fully or partially; which is part of how Danger sense can point out and expand on so many little things.

It's also part of how Danger sense is like an AI, in a way; it learns from previous experiences but doesn't dig much further into it — it's a very surface level understanding put into a very complex and intricate quirk —; it sees all attention as bad attention — which can be seen at the end of Izuku's cameo in the Black whip chapter — unless under very specific circumstances.

More specifically; it sees intense curiosity, worry and interest from outsiders as something negative, since one of its learned features is a protectiveness of the secrecy of One for All — people know about One for All and its users in a way even slightly outside of what was presented to them equals dangerous; therefore anything that could lead to that possibility also equals threat/dangerous.

Up until All for One's death, this approach has actually been a lifesaver for them when unsure what to tell the public or what to answer in interviews; now it's the same, but it's unfortunately so integrated into their minds that they have adapted this mindset with the downside of a newfound struggle to differentiate between genuine worry and interest; because in the end they could both lead to the same place and that's dangerous to more than just themselves.

 

By the way, one of these exceptions is the majority of Inko's reactions, for example, since she grew to trust both All-Might and her son and isn't the kind of person who will resort to prodding, as long as she knows that her child is safe and in good hands.

 

But yeah, I want you all to remember that this story is mostly told from One for All's standpoint; meaning that either its users or the void are the narrators, more or less, and are therefore not as reliable as you may think they are.

This story is meant to be a slight mischaracterization, because the vestiges have grown to view the world from a biased standpoint.

Chapter 2: A passionate opponent

The training session had arrived much faster than it should have, in Nana's opinion.

And just as he'd promised, Eraserhead paired Izuku and Bakugou into opposing groups in the exercise.

The activity itself was a combination of capture the flag and quirk incorporated dodgeball; it was active, challenging, but not overly demanding of a group of kids who'd just finished taking an hours long exam which they've likely lost sleep over.

But that didn't stop Bakugou from attacking her in the most violent yet somehow non lethal ways possible.

Eraserhead's only rule was that they couldn't do anything that would result in maiming, killing or destruction of property; clearly intending for it to be a stimulation of a stealth mission around active combat — forcing them to use their quirks creatively in order to avoid collapsing the infrastructure around them and alerting their enemy of their presence — a skill she knew was quite important in times like the first, second and third's era, and was utilized quite heavily by the sixth.
And Bakugou followed that rule to a T.

It was honestly impressive; how he managed to hide and maneuver himself around alleyways and street corners in perfect angle to strike when it's least expected.

And if it wasn't for Nana's decades long experience, he might have been able to get within five steps of her before being forced to fire a shot. Perhaps even three steps if not for Danger sense.

 

The game was simple; each group had six students, each assigned with a different role decided by a draw.
Each group had a leader and a flag; their goal was to sneak up on the other group and either capture their flag or figure out the identity of and take out the opposing leader.
They needed to successfully target, incapacitate and cuff an opponent before they could recover in order to take them out.
Each round had a time limit and the team that managed to do the most — whether it be taking out the most rivals, capturing their opponent's flag, or defeating the opposing leader — and gain the most points, won.

Ninth was the leader, and while his teammates wanted to keep him secure by the sidelines, Nana suggested she instead walk out in the open, as it would both make the opposing team less suspicious of her, and allow them to cover more ground as all six players searched for the flag, rather than three to four members searching while the other one or two kept her safe.

Some were hesitant, but after a bit of convincing, they agreed that ninth would go on his own, but will have to stay within a certain distance from another teammate; allowing them to team up in case he's discovered or ambushed.

Todoroki stayed in the same district as their flag's hiding place, as his quirk was one of the best suited to protect it discreetly by covering more than one area; allowing them to trick others into believing that they hid it elsewhere while still keeping it out of reach.

 

Everything went smoothly at first; Nana walked the streets of training ground beta wearing the stealth suit she and the other vestiges helped ninth design — a slightly loose yet still form fitting modernised version of tactical military garb with several pocket sized storage bags in accessible areas, reinforced Condenium undergear, and several other gadgets hidden by Kevlar fabric attire.

She took the gas mask off and left the goggles attached to the top of the hood; taking on the appearance of a normal, albeit overdressed teenager strolling the streets, as she meticulously evaded the vision and notice of her opponents.

 

The attacks only started about five minutes into the exercise.

She could feel the eyes on her before the boy even passed the corner; a gaze so intense that she could have probably felt it blind, even without Danger sense.

She let him get closer; not even shifting her gaze as she could sense him creeping from behind her.

Once he was close enough, she turned; lifting her left leg and sending him flying a meter or so back before jumping herself; moving out of the clear path of his small grenade.

They brawled repeatedly; exchanging blows and evading attacks at every encounter before the younger inevitably lost her trace.

 

Ninth was a different beast when fighting; using calculated moves with deadly precision that's almost always guaranteed to counter his opponent's quirk; he studies those around him religiously — both quirks and demeanor — and has built solid hypothesis and theories on how they could be either neutralized, taken down, or developed.

He was a force of nature on the field and Nana absolutely adored that instinctive, bold side he brought out when it truly mattered, and had no qualms about using these techniques and utilizing that change of behavior to her advantage.

 

Every couple of blows, Nana disappeared; using both the bomb and En's smoke to hide her movements as she kept her pursuit of the flag; letting Uraraka, Tsuyu, or another teammate handle the angry teen.
And every couple of minutes, the boy found her again and started a fight they both knew he couldn't finish.

As they confronted one another, Nana noticed the anger in the boy's eyes; not the usual anger that was always present in his features, but rather the protective kind of anger that she and all those both in the void and field could recognize.

The seventh smiled behind the collar of the suit; despite what the teen's vocal threats and spoken desires of wanting their ninth dead, it was quite clear that he at least somewhat cared for him; enough to notice and act nearly every time the latter has been possessed.

And despite popular belief — ie, ninth's —, the vestiges did not hate the kid; sure, they disliked him for the way he treated ninth — especially the suicide baiting that occurred only mere hours before the latter has actually received One for All —, but they didn't hate him; he was a dumb teenager who still had a lot of growing up to do, and it was good to see him take steps towards it.

Of course, they didn't condone his behavior, and Nana knew from experience that at least one of the vestiges' emotions, experiences and mental state will affect ninth's own feelings on the matter; undoubtedly making it harder to accept an apology if one were to ever come, but they didn't detest him as much as they could have; eighth would have been far harsher with him if that were the case.

The worst reaction the boy has gotten from the void since the start of the school year was Kudou suggesting that they move ninth to America early — despite Inko having only recently allowed her son to visit his mentor's home independently at the time and was definitely not ready to trust them with him overseas — upon discovering that they still shared a class together, right after bomb boy yelled in their ear.

 

With only five minutes left until the end of their turn, Nana quickly disappeared from the angry teen's sight once more; having noticed how there were no other students coming to take her place in the fight, the seventh vestige quickly came to the conclusion that her teammates were either taken out or holding their own in seperate fights.

With little to nothing to actually lose, Nana decided to go check out the clutter of alleyways she'd noticed several members of Bakugou's team circling back towards every few minutes.

 

As the silhouette of Dark Shadow slowly came into view, Danger sense seemed to be more focused on the hidden cameras and recorders scattered all throughout the fake city; drawing her attention towards them in a far more intense manner than it did to the opponent they were about to face.

An inescapable tang reached far beyond her skull, forewarning her against an unknown action in what she grew to recognize as an advice against being watched.

She took a moment to think; coming up with a way to keep herself hidden without raising suspicions or putting a strain on ninth's body.

Pulling up the gas mask and detaching the protective goggles from the hood before fixing them both on ninth's round face, Nana activated Smokescreen; manipulating and adjusting the smoke's density to a degree she knew wasn't lethal, but could still affect the surrounding atmosphere, thin out the actually breathable air and result in those inhaling it passing out when not careful.

In retrospect, she probably should have changed the color, too; paint it something other than its natural purple that could have so easily been mistaken for Somnambulist; an ability they most definitely did 𝘯𝘰𝘵 possess, nor did they intend to leave the impression that ninth somehow did.

Chapter 3: The inevitable confrontation, or is it

Once the training exercise was over, Nana didn't get much of a chance to get ninth's body medicated and in bed early like she'd hoped she would.

As the other students were showering and getting ready to leave in the changing rooms, Eraserhead pulled her aside before she could enter, telling ninth that Nedzu wished to speak with him about his performance today, and that his presence was required in the principal's office once he was done changing.

 

Nana did as she was told, knowing that there was no point in delaying the inevitable, and somewhat grateful that at least it would be her handling the rat's upcoming interrogation, and not ninth who was barely hanging by a thread at the moment.

 

As the two of them sat and drank tea — basking in a sickeningly sweet and undeniably fake air of calmness and sanctuary —, the seventh vestige found herself silently watching footage of her own quirk and combat performance disguised as ninth's, while having to figure out and monitor the kid's facial expressions as the chimera was very obviously observing her reaction.

"Could you please explain to me what happened here, Midoriya-kun?" The principal asked expectedly.

The vestige's cloaked green eyes slowly turned to look at the principal in confusion that was only half fake "I used my quirk?" She answered slowly, not knowing what he wanted her to say; Izuku has already mastered the basics of all of One for All's quirks, including Smokescreen and Float, and submitted these developments and changes in the school's database weeks before, at the latest.

The only reason she could think of for them to scold him about it was "Was I not supposed to do that?" It was a stealth exercise, after all, even if a poorly concealed one.

"No, no" the chimera raised his hand to stop her from continuing "Quirk use is fine. You were supposed to do that during the exercise. I'm more concerned about the nature of the quirk"

Before she could ask the rat to elaborate, Eraserhead, who sat beside ninth, clarified "Midoriya-san" he addressed, suddenly forgoing the 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 title "This is the first time your energy smoke has ever knocked people out. Is there any reason why neither I nor anyone else in the school was informed of this change?"

And just like that, the silent buzz of Danger sense made a lot more sense than it has before; it wasn't warning her about possibly choking on the dense smoke or the upcoming confrontation with the heroes — which she suspected was coming since eavesdropping on Eraserhead and Bakugou —; it was warning her about using more advanced variations and techniques of the quirk in the open, in front of cameras, because ninth didn't know how to fully control the more advanced aspects of their quirks yet, only the basics.

And, if she remembered correctly, after the disaster that occurred when Izuku developed Gearshift and Black whip — specifically after Black whip got pissed at Monoma at camp and decided to trap him in a cocoon of complete and utter darkness for several hours —, the kid wasn't allowed to independently test out any of his quirk awakenings without his homeroom teacher's supervision, and he definitely wasn't allowed to do so on students, regardless of supervision.

Not knowing what to say or how to salvage the situation without making them even more suspicious than they already were, Nana did what ninth always have when nervous; she rambled.

"Well, you see" she started slowly, trying to come up with the word "It wasn't exactly a quirk awakening. I mean, it was, but not like that" she let ninth's thoughts and instincts flow through and out of his mouth, retelling another's experiences in an extremely fast pace "I can't knock people out with my smoke. At least, I don't think so. It's not a sedative, it's just really thick. I found out that I can thicken it up a 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴" she caught and changed the words just in time "ago. It was really dense, like really really dense, I'm pretty sure it effected the air. I was curious, so I decided to experiment a little bit- I had help, don't worry. And I found out that I can actually replace the air around me, sort of, in a way, with my smoke, and make it thinner by dwindling it and people's access to it with my smoke, so it's harder to breathe. It was really hard, but I managed to create an atmosphere where it's still possible to breathe, but very hard to stay awake. Then I started maneuvering it, so there's enough smoke free space below it for-"

Finally, Eraserhead stopped her, asking for a compact summary of the ramble and seemingly relaxing a bit as he called his student 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 again.

Nana took in a breath; momentarily nursing ninth's dry throat before replying "It's not a quirk awakening. Just a new technique I've been working on. I found a way to make my smoke denser in order to dwindle the air, so whoever gets trapped in my fog will slowly start feeling light headed before passing out and landing in the smoke free space on the ground"
She thought for a moment, wondering whether or not it would be a good idea to justify the action before ultimately adding "It's a non lethal way to incapacitate my opponent in a high risk situation"

 

Eventually, they let her go with a warning; informing the student just how dangerous the technique used in the exercise was and reminding him to make sure to inform one of them whenever he plans on using such tactics, as it'll likely require strict monitoring until he can fully control it; a notion she couldn't deny as there was no record of ninth using the technique in any capacity before, meaning that it may very well be his first time using it on unsuspecting participants in their eyes.

Chapter 4: Tense atmospheres

Upon her return to the dorms, Nana decided to make ninth a bread bowl chicken and potatoes soup; a delicacy her family in America used to make for her back when her aunt was still alive and the people she spent the better half of each year with were still decent, and one of the only foods she actually knew how to make by herself.

She added in some turmeric and ginger as well; as the vestiges found the two ingredients to be greatly helpful when dealing with the pain of their bodies reconstructing themselves and their very bones almost crumbling apart with their muscles ripping at the seams in order to be replaced with stronger versions of the parts brought on by the quirk.

And lastly, she brewed some chamomile tea with honey for Izuku to wash down the medicine brought to them by Toshinori several days prior; the required combination and dosage of pills lumped together in a small condiment bowl placed at the corner of the food tray holding everything.

However, she wasn't the one meant to consume it all; ninth was.

 

Once everything was ready, the seventh vestige moved the ninth user's body to pick up the tray and take it to his dorm room, where she finally left the weakened vessel and allowed its original owner to regain control of his movements, with the unfiltered pain of his body ripping itself apart, merging with the DNA of his predecessors, and even growing brand new organs and brain parts returning at full force.

 

The kid barely managed to eat all the food and fully digest the medicine before collapsing to his bed; his very lungs far too exhausted to even let out a small, ragged noise to accompany his silent tears.

 

The latest One for All user was quite fortunate to live in an era when international schools — such as UA — were required to give their students at least a day of study in between big exams — as some students may need to cross countries during that time.

And he was even more fortunate to be residing in a facility where the staff allowed students to study in the dorms as long as they followed certain guidelines and took attendance through the school's required app.

It allowed the older users the freedom to better care for Izuku and allow the kid's body to rest in between possessions, without struggling with as many complications they would have experienced had they been forced to maintain the possession for days on end with no rest or breaks outside the night whatsoever.

 

The rest of the week went on much the same; with Nana and the other vestiges studying in the void with ninth before possessing Izuku on the day of the test, and then working towards getting him back to the dorm as soon as possible; using the days given to study to let the latest user rest and painting the picture of a hard working student stuck studying in his room to their surroundings.

Bakugou was still suspicious of them, and it was more than once that they found new medicine by the greenete's door with an informative note including recommended dosage.

Unfortunately, it was of the kind of medicine that didn't affect One for All's pain at all; coincidentally, all the medicine mysteriously gifted to them were also ones doctors have tried prescribing to them through the generations, alongside several other treatments; all of which very rarely had a positive effect on the quirk and its pains.

They appreciated the thought, though, even if they were useless to them.

 

It all came to a head on the last day of exams; Nana has managed to finish the physical evaluation early and rush ninth back to the dorms before she was forcibly expelled from the vessel; his body no longer capable of taking on anything other than rest as the awakening was getting closer.

His body collapsed on the floor, and he had to use Black whip to get to the bathroom before vomiting the access of his insides whole; complete with blood and old cells and organ shells that his body no longer needed as new ones were already complete.

 

It took less than ten minutes for Toshinori to arrive with water, new clothes and emotional support, the former of which was barely held down and was expulsioned by the end of three minutes.

 

Back in the void, Kudou made a decision.

Class one A has already finished their exams, as they concluded through Toshinori, and majority of which only stayed out of the dorms for extra points — an assignment Izuku has refused in order to finish early.

Focusing on the connection to his brother's descendant, Kudou turned to possess Katsuki Bakugou; hoping to find another student through him who might be able to help.

Fortunately, he caught the boy as he was waiting for his turn on another assignment, and Yaoyorozu Momo was sat only a few seats from him.

Using the bomb kid's phone to send a message, he was able to get the girl to speak with him in private and create an IV administration, as well as agree to get him some medication bags from the school nurse.

He made sure to evade security cameras; not wanting any of the staff to stop them due to suspicion, as he used a quirk combination to teleport the device with him back to the dorm; helping eighth wrangle ninth while waiting for Creati to come with the medication.

And come she did; in only a few minutes, the teenage girl was in the dorms with several IV bags and Recovery Girl in tow.

The two were able to administrate the IV only moments before ninth passed out.

 

The vestiges watched from the void as Toshinori carried Izuku to the infirmary on Recovery Girl's order, with Kudou using Bakugou's body to match the eighth's speed as he took hold of the IV, allowing the second last user to better focus on carrying his successor correctly.

No matter how many times they witness, take care of and experience their users merge with the quirk, no matter how prepared they are; it's always terrifying and worrying to come back to this final step over again, especially with it becoming more severe with each generation, as there are more DNA fusions and quirk adjustments that the body has to go through.

Bruce was no longer at his throne; instead sitting on the arm rest of Yoichi's as the latter tried to stop himself from panicking and making things even worse; it was no secret that Kudou and Bruce were the ones holding Yoichi together, with the former being the first to ever notice Yoichi's distinct connection to the quirk and their minds and how it effected his psyche, as he was the first to join him in the void.

Usually, the first user was quite good at controlling his emotions independently, with his spouses not having to step in and help him control himself as much as the first few decades; the risk of harming the users by destabilising the quirk through excessive emotions having forced him to learn how to keep his cool at all times.

However, this was no normal situation nor circumstance; because not only was the one suffering from the final step his nephew, but their connection to Kudou was also severed.

Kudou, who Yoichi hasn't spent a moment without since being rescued from the vault; the One for All quirk having merged their souls together and transferred him to his mind as soon as he died; Yoichi's original solace was absent.

Because unlike ninth and his inherited connection to the entirety of One for All, the second user was the only one capable of connecting to Bakugou's lineage, body, and mind; and the vestiges knew from experience — with each other and their quirk transfers — that trying to breach that gap more than they already have could very well transfer One for All by allowing Bakugou's mind a second, independent gateway into the void; something they couldn't risk for several reasons.

So their only connection to their second was now reduced to that of a foreign mind incapable of directly communicating with the void until the possession was over.

And Yoichi had to deal with half of his main support system gone as he desperately held onto his second spouse's comfort and the hope for his nephew's survival as anchors to keep him from feeling anything intense that might negatively affect the quirk in such a vulnerable moment.

 

Toshinori soon put Izuku on the infirmary bed; the healing hero in charge strictly ordering him to do so with the cot's headrest slightly raised; as it was clear that, even unconscious, his body's reaction wasn't over, with him having coughed and spat out even more blood on the way there.

As soon as the kid was adjusted and placed comfortably on the bed, Recovery Girl ordered the room to clear out; saying that she needs to get him stable again, so that they'll be able to transfer him to a hospital safely.

 

The two users and girl did as they were told; Momo having left even sooner to go inform their homeroom teacher of the situation, as the man was still conducting evaluations in the training grounds while everyone else were too hurried and panicked to inform him.

 

Once the two were alone, Kudou took the eighth user away from the cameras; hoping that the sixth's dense smoke would be enough to drown out their voices as he began explaining.

"The kid is still awake" he pointed at his current vessel's temple, clearly referring to Bakugou "I don't think he can actually see or hear what I'm doing. I managed to block him out and restrict access, and he's not strong enough to resist me, but he's still fighting back. I probably won't be able to possess him for long"

He's only possessed the kid for a few minutes, but without the support of the void, it was a lot harder to multitask keeping the quirks seperate, the opposing mind at bay, and souls independent from interaction, all while operating the vessel, using quirks foreign to the body, erasing memories — which are often duplicated by possessed minds — and overall handling such a high stress situation.

The hidden message was clear; 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯. 𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯?

They both knew that, whenever a new user reaches this step of the succession, those in the void will be primarily focused on them and reducing their pain; the same has happened with Toshinori, who spent weeks in the hospital, trapped in the liminal space between the physical world and the void as the last of his mind integrated into his fully renovated body while said body was expelling all the old, unwanted parts that were either replaced or stood in the way of One for All's merge.

They both knew that the man will likely not receive much comfort or help outside of aiding Izuku, at least until the kid's soul manifested in the void once more.

Despite that, the eighth user smiled and thanked the second for the aid and assistance he was able to provide, reassuring the veteran spirit that he can handle things from here, before adding "I think the others need you in the void more than I do here"

There was a small, quiet pause of suspense on the explosive student's face before the second let out a smile not unlike that of one being caught.

If there was one thing that has remained consistent with all the users and vestiges, it was their comprehension of one another; for as the quirk grew and developed, so did the connection of its users and inhabitants.

Sharing a mind could lead to a lot of things; including the ability to near accurately conclude one another's thoughts, emotions, and actions, even in absence of a telepathic line of communication.

The second user let out a small huff of glaring worries; to them, his concern for Yoichi was akin to the prominence of a bright led sign in the middle of an eclipse with no other lights around it in its visibility, rather than the indifference or slight frustration that were usually perceived by others.

 

He went to the brat's dorm before properly ending the conversation; sensing the kid's insistence and near break through the sensory barriers, he opted to leave the situation before bomb boy could witness his interaction and dynamic with the number one hero.

Once close enough to the bed, he couldn't stop himself from letting out a small complaint of annoyance before leaving the vessel; making sure that he left no possible residual memories or pathways — other than the one he'd used to possess him — to neither the void nor even the liminal space leading to it, before returning to his throne.

 

The second vestige could faintly hear the eighth user finishing his call with Inko, describing the situation as her son having another seizure, as the last of his essence was manifesting.

As soon as he could, he turned his attention towards his spouses — trusting that the others were already in control of and handling ninth's pain to the best of their abilities.

Yoichi was doing breathing exercises, or at least trying to; he was gently held by Bruce, his body frozen in place as his eyes darted from throne, to fog, to darting portals of eighth's senses, ninth's gaping absence and everything in between, in a crazed, panicked manner that Kudou recognized as him not knowing what to do with himself.

The third breathed a sigh of relief as their eyes met, before gently guiding the first's gaze to return to the second throne's direction.

Yoichi still barely moved; he simply stared at him with uncertainty as his soul was in a tormented trance of overstimulation, worry and fear.

Kudou kept on calmly walking towards them; knowing that another display of panic won't do them any good, and that Yoichi's mind and perceptive effects on the void almost never allowed him to relax in such instances as his fear often caused the very void to manifest the cruel corners of his unconscious mind.

 

Finally, after three steps that felt like a thousand, Kudou was able to reach and comfort his angel once again; cupping his face and gently guiding his nails out of their lover's arm as he reassured him of his presence.

Once Yoichi saw that the other wasn't disappearing, he all but jumped forward; grabbing the man in a desperate embrace as the storms of fog around them finally began to calm down.

Bruce smiled softly, reveling in the sight of his two loves hugging and kissing before letting himself be pulled into the embrace with them; he no longer had the strength to waste on hiding his worry and pain; expressing just how worried he was alongside Yoichi as the two let out small tears of relief — relief that they no longer had to carry another burden, that they didn't have to mourn a severance that almost felt permanent.

The second let the third take hold of his face, letting go of the first's shoulder in favor of returning the gesture as the first's two heroes touched foreheads, the leader promising to never do such a thing with no warning ever again; never ceasing to cradle his lovers' cheek and hair respectively as he held them both close.

Chapter 5: A mother's worry

It took a few minutes for the three forefathers to calm down and let go of one another, though they still made no move to leave the first's throne.

With their full attention having now returned to the matter at hand, the entire void could finally take notice of the ninth's condition improving; the quirk's return to stability having allowed his body to handle and receive the pain in a less dangerous way.

 

With the boy's consciousness currently stuck in the in between, the vestiges kept tabs on him through eighth; who was permitted back into the infirmary in order to assist Recovery Girl, thanks to his medical training and Inko's insistence on having All-Might be the one to help care for her son until her arrival — the woman having already learned the hard way that modern medicine very rarely had a positive effect on her child's quirk, and that the Symbol of Peace knew what he was doing.

 

The kid in question only woke up once in the span of two hours; when pieces of bones inequipped to withstand One for All were pushed out of his body; the pain having woke him up in the process.

He was heaving and panicking and the only person who managed to calm him down was Toshinori; the man took hold of him and guided him through it as the younger clutched his shirt and cried into his chest, trying to hide his pain and reassure his mentor that he's okay; that he can take it.

And the man believed him "I know" he reassured "I have no doubt that you can" because he knew how it felt, and because he refused to accept any other option that didn't amount to this boy being okay.

 

Inko arrived not long after the fact.

The woman all but barged into the school with worry accenting and overtaking her every feature as she demanded to know her child's condition, almost begged to know if he'll be okay before spotting her friend and getting the answers from him as she offered to help him bring water to her son.

He was very unstable, she learned. The condition his body was in made it extremely dangerous to try and move him, let alone transfer him to a hospital; they were waiting for him to become more stable before loading him into the ambulance that was called.

In the meantime, the school nurse and staff were doing whatever they could to keep him alive.

𝘛𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦, Inko let out a helpless cry; her baby could die; her sweet, thoughtful, precious baby who was nothing but strong and persistent, powering his way out of every seizure, could die before he even achieved his goal, before reaching his dream, 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭.

She let All-Might hug her as she sobbed by her son's possible deathbed.

It took all her strength to not fall from the chair; the hero beside her having taken majority of that struggle onto himself, reassuring her that she could fall, that he'll keep her up if need be.

Inko has never been more grateful for his presence, for the role he took to help her son; she couldn't imagine how they would have ended up without him.

 

Three days. It took three days for her baby to wake up and 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦 for longer than a few minutes. It took three days for him to be stable enough to transfer.

And after that it was weeks. Two weeks, to be exact, for him to be able to move again.

Inko shouldn't have been surprised, she really shouldn't have; Izuku has experienced these seizures before; he may not have went through worse, but close calls weren't a new thing for them; it's been a while, but it's not completely new.

So, by all means, Inko Midoriya really should have already expected her son wanting to get back to training and school as soon as he was able to move independently again.

He still hasn't recovered; he still needed to rest and heal.

But, according to him, he still had two months of school before the official break; he still had exams and an internship to meet certain criteria for in order to be able to transfer to All-Might's agency in the future.

Inko Midoriya really shouldn't have thought that her son would allow himself to rest. But she did. And now she didn't know how to explain to him that no; she doesn't want him to continue on with school and overworking himself, at least not until his quirk is fully stabilized.

She knew it was selfish and wrong, and up until recently she would have reprimanded herself for even having those thoughts.

But now, she was lost, she didn't know what to do; she watched the most precious gift the world has ever given her vomit his own organs for days and had to endure people asking her if she would be willing to have her son as an organ donor, and whether or not he had life insurance.

She shut them all down before they could finish, and Izuku was transferred to a far more private and secure wing as soon as possible by Yagi-san's request.

The man in question has been a life saver to them both; his experience with quirks like Izuku's made it incredibly easier to choose between procedures and medications, and she'd even found herself trusting his advice of refusing surgery, as the man strongly believed that extreme interference with the quirk's development and affects would be an equivalent to a death sentence.

 

As time went by, Inko found herself spending these two weeks in conflicting thoughts ranging from worry to what she was afraid to be overbearing protectiveness.

In her convoluted desire to keep on supporting her son while also keeping him safe, Inko remembered Izuku's desire to join All-Might's agency as an intern.

All-Might wasn't a Japan based hero; he was an international hero who just so happened to extend his stay in Japan for a case, and was currently delaying his return in order to mentor her child.

For Izuku to intern for him, he'll have to enter UA's international heroics program, and therefore spend at least half the year overseas, supposedly under the care of the world's number one hero.

All-Might's agency — Legacy Heroes — was known for creating some of the world's strongest heroes of each generation, including history's first official underground hero and All-Might himself.

It was also known for barely taking on any sidekicks and less so interns aiming to full fledged heroics; ever since it was created, not one of its sidekicks stayed more than half a decade, and only one heroics intern was accepted in each generation.

That one intern was always one personally trained by the era's current owner of the agency, never left, and always ended up inheriting it after their predecessor's death.

That position, that very exclusive role was only offered once by each hero and was fought for by millions around the globe; the chance, or rather 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘦 to be trained by and become one of the top ten ranking heroes world wide with the future ownership of one of the world's most prominent hero agencies already in their hands.

And that role was offered to Izuku. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘐𝘻𝘶𝘬𝘶.

Only a select few actually knew. Inko knew that so much power, even if only offered, still painted a giant target on the recipient's back.

All-Might has offered more than once, and even reassured Inko that he won't be giving it away to anyone else anytime in the future, and since he needed her consent — as international training required a lot more than what was standard —, he was more than willing to wait for her to decide and make up her mind on the matter.

In the past, the main things that stopped her from agreeing were the matters of caretaking and distance; the thought of having her son continents away from her, traveling all around the world on missions in places she never even knew of, all at such a young age was terrifying.

The last time she spoke to him of this, Yagi-san reassured her that he will be taking care of Izuku personally; willing to act as a temporary guardian, if she was okay with it.

At the time, she was conflicted; she didn't trust him as much as she does now, and ended up refusing.

But now, the thought of having Izuku trained and taught by someone who understands his quirk more thoroughly than most, of having Yagi-san — her friend — be the one taking care of Izuku during her absence, it didn't sound as bad as it used to; the thought actually felt a little comforting.

But still, she was conflicted; because he would still be so far away.

With the dorms, her baby was at least just a train away; but with the internship, he'll be more than several hours of expensive flights away, maybe even in countries she couldn't enter.

She didn't know what to do, what to think, how to decide, and with Izuku's body starting to miraculously stitch itself back together, she doubted that she'll have much time left before she has to make a decision; before she has to choose the better option for Izuku's desire to stay on the field.

She no longer knew what truly was the lesser of the two evils; she didn't even know when they became evils; she just had to decide.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 7 of The possession trilogy