Chapter 15
The next day
-Early Morning-
-Ben's house-
-Kitchen-
Izuku placed the dishes in the sink and soon after grabbed his bag as he made his way to the main door. Glancing at his watch, he sighed upon seeing it was 6 am. "I have no idea if this is going to work," he thought to himself as he walked through the hallway, his footsteps the only source of sound until he heard another set.
Lilith yawned loudly, stretching her arms as she descended the stairs, still in her red and blue PJs. She rubbed her eyes upon seeing Izuku already at the doorway tying his shoes. "Morning, little green," she muttered, making Izuku glance at her.
"Morning, Nee-san. How did you sleep?" he asked, pausing in tying his right shoe to look up at the woman, who grumbled in response.
"I barely slept. I had to stay up late to finish one of Byoki's requests," she explained, rubbing her eyes slightly as Izuku approached the stair rail. It was then that she fully noticed Izuku was already dressed in his uniform.
"Did it have to do with blood?" Izuku asked.
"Yeah, something about blood solidification, and..." she started, trying to remember the full request. "I'm too tired to remember the details, but anyway, why are you heading out this early?" she asked. "Isn't it like six or something?"
"Yeah, I have to go early because a classmate asked me to help him out with something," Izuku explained, earning a groan from Lilith.
"He better owe you one for having you up at this ungodly hour," she commented, getting a chuckle from Izuku.
"Knowing him, he would be indebted to do so," he answered as Yusei came out of the elevator in the same clothes as yesterday. He yawned as he walked towards them.
"I know the early bird gets the worm, but isn't it a bit too early?" Yusei asked with his usual dry humor. "Morning, you two," he greeted, making Lilith frown slightly and take a breath.
"Morning, and yeah, I was just saying goodbye to Izuku since he has to leave early," Lilith replied, looking over at Izuku, who had a rather sadden look aimed at Yusei.
"Good morning, Yusei…" Izuku greeted back, giving a slight pause that confused Lilith, especially with the sad look to add. "Yusei, I'm really sorry—" he tried to say, but Yusei cut him off.
"It's alright, Izuku. It's water under the bridge since it was on us for not telling you earlier," he told the boy, throwing a slight glance at Lilith before looking back at Izuku. "And besides, I can't really stay mad at you since your outburst was justified."
Izuku was slightly taken aback, expecting at least some annoyance from Yusei or, more exactly, with how he reacted. "But I basically called you an evil uncaring person," he interjected, but Yusei shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, you're not fully wrong, though," Yusei joked as he walked over and patted Izuku's shoulder. "Like I said, kid. Water under the bridge. Want a ride to school? I was going to pass around the area, anyway," he told the green-haired teen, who nodded slightly.
"Oh, thanks, Yusei. That's probably gonna be quicker," he replied with a smile, earning a glance from the silver head, who looked at Lilith.
"Well, later, I'm heading out," he said about to walk away, that was until she stopped him.
"Mind if we have a small talk before you head out, Yusei?" Lilith asked, making the man grumble internally.
"Sure," he replied. "Izuku, mind waiting outside? I'll get the car out of the garage to wait for you," he stated, his eyes turning a slightly brighter blue.
"Ah, okay," Izuku said, already sensing the shift in tension as he went to the door but finished tying his shoe before going outside, seeing a blue and white car waiting for him.
Yusei watched Izuku walk outside and sighed loudly. "What do you want to annoy me with this early?" Yusei asked as he looked at Lilith, who had narrowed eyes aimed at him.
"What was that Izuku was apologizing for?" she questioned, any signs of being tired vanishing. "What did you lie to him?" she stated with a glare aimed at him, only making Yusei glare back.
"It's not a lie exactly, more exactly not telling him about what happened in the raid," Yusei replied. "He got home angry at me because he found out from All Might. What were you even doing that you couldn't tell him that?" he retargeted at the woman.
She scoffed. "I don't believe he needed to know the details of what happened at the moment, and I was waiting to tell him later on about it," she explained, which made Yusei take a serious deep breath and exhale.
"You were wrong. You were wrong like always. If you had told him earlier, he wouldn't have yelled at me, and now he's probably feeling conflicted about what he's supposed to feel!" he shouted at the woman, whose glare intensified at the accusation.
"I was right that Ben should've never trusted you," she started walking up to him. "I was right that you wanted to ruin his life!" she yelled in his face, making the two match glares. "And I was dead right that you wouldn't be able to talk with Izuku because, unlike you, he is a—"
"Drop it, Lilith. You aren't giving a damn about what I said about Izuku; instead, you are just complaining about the same old shit," Yusei interrupted. "Ben has forgiven me, Byoki has forgiven me, everyone has forgiven me, but you, for some reason, are the only one who keeps bringing this shit up."
"Because I will never forgive you, even when you are dead and buried. I will still hate you, Yusei," she stated, walking past him. "And I'll make sure you don't forget it," she finished walking into the kitchen.
Yusei scoffed. "Being this bitter isn't good for your health, Lilith," he stated bitterly, heading to the door and closing his eyes first. "Calm down, Yusei. There isn't a reason to be this angry at her," he thought, taking a few more breaths before finally calming down, walking out of the door, and heading to the car.
Opening the door, he noticed it made Izuku a bit startled. "Sorry, took a bit of time," he said, getting in the car.
"Ah, it's alright, Yusei. It wasn't that much time anyway," Izuku answered, looking at the man as he put on the seatbelt.
"If you are busy with something, I can go by train; I still can catch it," Izuku stated, noticing the slight annoyed look on Yusei's face.
"Nah, It's alright. It wasn't anything important, to be honest," he started, grabbing the wheel and starting the car, his eyes focused on the road. "Just talking about some old stuff," he stated, glancing over at Izuku. "Ready, not forgetting anything?"
Izuku took a bit to answer. "We can go," he replied, getting a nod from Yusei, who returned his eyes to the street and started driving.
The ride was mostly silent, as neither spoke, with the only noise that filled the silence being the sound of the engine and the few cars passing by.
"Should I say something?" Izuku thought to himself. Throughout the ride, he threw a few glances at Yusei, wanting to talk, but each time he stopped himself, as the annoyed look on the silver head was still present, even if just a little. "I should probably talk to him later."
"Izuku?" Yusei called for the teen, who had his eyes on the road.
"He argued with Lilith, and probably doesn't need me asking him more questions," Izuku thought as Yusei sighed and tapped his shoulder, snapping the boy from his deep thinking.
"I guess someone has a lot going through their head," Yusei said, making Izuku blush a bit and scratch the back of his head.
"Yeah, sorry, I kinda zoned out."
"No worries, Kid. Want to talk about some of them?" Yusei asked, which made Izuku hesitate slightly.
"I'm not sure," he started. "It's nothing really, just my usual rambling thoughts," he said, getting a shake of the head from Yusei.
"If it was, you wouldn't be this hesitant in sharing them with me," Yusei said and sighed a bit. "Izuku, I know you might still feel tense because of what happened yesterday. But I can assure you that you can talk to me about anything," Yusei said as he stopped the car at a red light. "So, are you going to tell me?"
Izuku was silent for a bit, but soon enough, he broke the silence with a sigh. "It's just that I've been thinking about my role."
Yusei raised an eyebrow. "Your role?" he asked.
"Yes, my role," he answered, taking another pause. "It's been a few weeks since I joined you and Ben, and so far, I don't know what I'm doing or what I'm supposed to do because at this moment, I just feel like I'm a traitor," he stated, clenching his hand slightly. "I've been feeling like that since I willingly accepted One for All, knowing that I have ties with…" he paused once again, to which Yusei continued.
"Villains, like me and Ben," Yusei finished, getting a hesitant nod from Izuku. "And I guess those thoughts have gotten worse recently?"
"They have… At first, I kinda pushed them out of my mind and put them on the backburner… But now I'm part of UA, I have classmates and teachers who one way or another are going to end up fighting you or one of those groups you have a treaty with… And I ask, what do I do at that point? Do I sit on the side and just watch people I know get hurt to avoid issues with them? Hell, even when it's you or Ben against one of them or against a teacher, am I just going to go to class and pretend that I'm out of the loop?" he stated, sighing at the end and leaning on his seat. "I just don't know what to do."
"Let me start from the beginning; The only role we want you to be is the one that you want to be, in this case, being a hero," Yusei said, making Izuku perk up about to interject, but Yusei continued before he could.
"And I mean it, we don't want you to go around killing people or doing the type of shady stuff we do. Look, I know it's very complicated to reason with yourself about this, but listen, we want you to be the hero that you want to be. If that means that when the time comes, you want to protect your friends, do it without hesitation. We will support and back your choice with all that we have," Yusei stated, which made Izuku silent for a few moments before he finally broke the silence.
"Even if I were to turn you in because I was feeling too guilty?" Izuku asked. "And basically, cut ties with you, Ben, Lilith and everyone?" he questioned, which didn't seem to faze Yusei, not a single twitch or any slight movement that subconsciously made Izuku tense, as Yusei was silent for his own short moments before he spoke.
"If that was the case, we would take the fault and admit that we faked being your family and Ben was manipulating you by using a mind control quirk. And if you would want to cut ties, we would understand. And still be available whenever you'd need our help," Yusei said honestly, which made Izuku shocked.
"Why?! You aren't even going to say that I joined willingly or anything?! Why?!" he shouted, barely able to control his voice. "I was the one who chose it; why would you even help me if I was a traitor!?" he yelled at the man who chuckled a bit.
"Because sometimes people make choices that they think are the best but end up regretting them later on… If you end up regretting that choice and change, I don't see a reason to hold you over the fire as if I've never done the same," he said, looking at the boy. "And besides, you are still young, Izuku; you are bound to make a lot of mistakes. You just have to learn from them and make the choices you won't regret," he said, looking back at the road while Izuku was rather speechless and almost tearing up.
"Hey, don't cry; the car isn't strong enough to handle your tear jet stream," Yusei stated with a more playful tone, to which Izuku just wiped his tears and was silent as they kept on driving until they reached UA.
"And we are here," Yusei stated, stopping the car in front of the gate. "Well, I hope you have a good day at school," he added, getting a thanks from Izuku as he got out of the car and looked at him while starting to close the door but stopped.
"Yusei?" he called, getting the man's attention. "Thanks for the talk. I really needed it more than I thought," he said, giving him a bright smile, which Yusei couldn't resist returning.
"Anytime, kid. You know I'm always open to helping you out," he said, getting a nod from Izuku as he closed the door and the car drove off.
Izuku sighed a bit, turning around to look at the gate, specifically at the insignia, and sighed a bit. "Be the hero I want to be. If it were that easy," he told himself as he made his way inside, heading straight to his classroom where they agreed to meet up.
"I wonder what I am supposed to help with," he thought, walking through the empty hallway, glancing out of the window as something came to mind. "I forgot to ask him about if he knew what happened yesterday," he told himself with a grunt.
"Maybe, I can at least ask more about it today from someone," he reasoned as he reached his classroom. He took a deep breath before opening the door to see Ochako and Tenya with their backs turned towards the door, at Aizawa's desk and mumbling, but that quickly changed with them spinning to face Izuku.
"Midoriya! Ah, good morning!" they both greeted, a bit surprised, as Izuku waved at them and walked into the classroom.
"Good morning. You two seem surprised I got here," Izuku pointed out, making them shuffle a bit on their feet.
"To be honest, I thought you'd take a bit longer because your train stop is the furthest from ours," Ochako said, which made Izuku a bit more confused.
"Ah, right?" he said and looked at Tenya. "Ida, what did you need my help with?" Izuku asked, making Tenya clear his throat before he bowed his head.
"My apologies for lying to you, Midoriya. There isn't anything I needed help with!" he stated, which made Izuku startled by the others' manners. "But I have a good reason for doing so," he said quickly, standing straight up and grabbing something behind him, while Izuku was confused with it all.
Turning once again to face Izuku while holding a gift-wrapped square. "Yesterday, when I had time to think after you gave me the responsibility to be class president, I remembered during the start of the panic you were calm and weren't running like the rest, which makes me think that you knew it was a false flag. But you still gave me the chance to stand forward and show my abilities to be a leader while I doubted that I had such abilities," he said, walking forward with the gift, while internally Izuku cursed.
"Ah, well, it wasn't much. I just thought you need a push. You know the whole 'the opportunity makes the person' thing," Izuku told him with a sheepish chuckle. "Please don't give me back that role," he thought to himself.
"Exactly, and that's why my gratitude from yesterday won't be enough to display with words alone. So, I requested help from Uraraka to get you a gift as a token of my gratitude," he said.
"You didn't have to, really. We are classmates. We should always look out for each other and our potential," Izuku said, which only made Tenya nod.
"I fully agree with you on that, Midoriya, but I insist on giving you this gift," he said, giving him the gift as Izuku sighed and took it.
He started taking off the gift wrap. "Well, thank you for the gift, even though it wasn't ne-" he started but stopped, as soon as he saw the cover. It was a board game, which on its own wouldn't be much, but what made Izuku speechless was the cover. "It's-" he tried to say, but the pure surprise made him unable to make words as tears started to form on the edge of his eyes.
Tenya nodded with a small smile, seeing Izuku's reaction, something that Ochako mirrored. "I asked Uraraka, what would be a good gift for someone like you, and I suggested something with All Might," he said.
"But you probably have everything All Might related. However, I remembered that you have many notebooks about heroes, so I thought the next best thing would be the complete edition of a board game with information about the heroes around the world," Ochako said as Izuku was trembling, trying to hold it in, before he quickly raised his head and started crying with enough force that the tears came from his eyes like a jet stream that hit the ceiling.
"This is one of the most thoughtful gifts I ever got!" Izuku sobbed as Tenya and Ochako backed away to avoid getting hit by the tears.
Ochako's smile grew wider, seeing Izuku's reaction. "We are so glad that you like it, Deku," she said, as Izuku finally stopped crying and rubbed his eyes with a slight sniffle.
"Like it, I don't even know how to say I'm thankful for it," Izuku stated as he looked at the cover once again. "World Assemble: a Hero Journey," he read and then looked at the two. "I'm just at a loss for words. How did you even get this? I looked for it everywhere and I couldn't find it, especially a limited edition like this one."
"My brother gave it to me; every hero in the game was given a free copy," Tenya answered. "And since he barely plays, he gave it to me," he explained, which made Izuku even more speechless as he just nodded.
"Well, tell him I'm really thankful that he gave it to me," he said, getting a nod from Tenya.
"You can leave it with me," he affirmed with a thumbs up.
"Then how about we open it and play it? We have some time before class starts," Ochako stated, getting a nod from Izuku. As he was about to head to his seat, the classroom door opened to show a rather bored and tired-looking Aizawa.
"That explains what I was hearing," he stated with a yawn. "Aren't you three too early to be here?" he asked, walking into the classroom.
"I'm sorry we made too much noise, Aizawa-sensei. We came earlier than usual because I wanted to give Midoriya a gift to show my gratitude for allowing me to be class president while he was fully capable of leading the class," Tenya said, making Izuku groan internally. "I have to stop him from saying that all the time," Izuku thought, as Aizawa glanced at the box in the teen's hand and shrugged.
"You have some time; do whatever you want. Just don't get too absorbed in that; it's a serious time suck," Aizawa said with another slight yawn. "Based on my personal experience," he added.
"We won't, Sensei. We will stop 20 minutes before class so we can study," Tenya said.
"Alright, but another thing since you are already here," Aizawa stated. "I want to ask what was your misunderstanding with Kaminari yesterday?" he asked, making the teen look back at the teacher.
"Our misunderstanding stemmed from Kaminari retelling false information from a Pro-Omuni show to another classmate. He did acknowledge that he doesn't believe in what the host was saying, but still interacting with such content shouldn't be something he should do as a hero in training," Tenya said, defending his position with a serious look.
"I disagree, actually," Aizawa stated shortly, which caused Tenya and the other two to look surprised at Aizawa's answer.
"What do you mean, Sensei? Shouldn't we as heroes not interact or give breath to such extremist media?" Tenya questioned as Aizawa yawned once again.
"You are right to an extent, but to another, you have to understand something," he explained. "As heroes, yes, we shouldn't give public attention to extremist media, but also as heroes, our jobs will involve convincing people who might be deep in those rabbit holes. At least knowing what it is about and what language they use only makes you more capable of dealing with people who have been radicalized by his message," Aizawa explained, which made Tenya question such an approach.
"Does that mean you listen to that show?" Ochako questioned, standing beside Tenya.
"I do, usually when something big happens and see how some try to connect the dots to tie it back to Omuni. I actually talk with Kaminari about it," he explained, surprising the two, while Izuku was mostly silent.
"Then you listened to it recently, Sensei? And what was their conclusion?" Ochako asked, getting a sigh from Aizawa.
"I have, and their conclusion was nothing more than trying to make up points, which made the audience turn against the host because he couldn't make a line of events like usually. And when the audience started grilling him on some points he made, he couldn't explain," Aizawa recounted. "As much as it was a bit entertaining, that isn't how you talk with someone who's radicalized because their brain only focuses on defending their stance and not having a conversation in good faith," he added. "But don't get me wrong; it is dangerous to interact with such type of media, but at the same time, we should so we know how to offer the actual context and understanding to talk with them. Don't you agree, Midoriya?" he asked, making the silent boy perk up.
"Ah, yeah. I agree with Sensei on this one. It's not about endorsing extremism or anything like that; it's more about understanding it. Since ignoring it won't make it go away and could even make it worse. As heroes, we would have to face people like that who believe in Omuni or another villain for a many reasons, and we could help them out of that thought process. That's at least what I think," Izuku explained, which got a nod from Aizawa.
"Sounds like what I'm teaching is getting into your head," Aizawa complimented the boy before looking back at Tenya, who seemed to be deep in thought. "Another thing to bring up to you specifically, Ida," he stated, getting the teen's attention. "You aren't wrong to be cautious or even worried about your classmate interacting with extremist media, but next time try to have a conversation without going on the offensive. Because that way, someone is more open to talk to you about, but also, there are some people that are so far you can't talk them out of it," he said with a sigh.
"I've taken enough of your time. If you want to talk about this further, you know where to find me," he said, getting a nod from them.
"Thank you, Aizawa-Sensei," Tenya stated, getting a lazy wave from the teacher as he was about to leave.
"Sensei, can I ask what happened yesterday?" Izuku asked, stopping the man, who turned around to look at the green-haired boy. "Well, if anything else was figured out?" he questioned as Aizawa looked at him with his usual stare before speaking.
"We found out that the entrance was made by someone with a destruction type quirk, but we are leaning more into a decay quirk, who was hidden between the reporters," Aizawa explained. "Besides that, there isn't any new information to bring up," he said, getting a nod from Izuku.
"Well, if that would be all, I'll be at my office," he said as he left the classroom and closed the door behind him. He sighed heavily. "If the news that Omuni actually was the cause for the raid comes out, things are going to be far worse," he thought, since just from listening to the show, it was clear that people would jump at any proof that Omuni helped the police and the heroes. "And the commission taking the credit is a freaking ticking time bomb," he thought as he started walking through the hallway.
The three were in somewhat silence as Aizawa left, and Izuku glanced at his friends for a few moments before he decided to break the silence, especially at Tenya, who looked to be the one in deeper thought. But before he could, Ochako beat him to it.
"Are you alright, Ida?" she asked, snapping the teen from his thoughts, and he nodded.
"Yes, I am alright. I'm just thinking of something, that's all," Tenya stated. "But that's not to bother you two; we should go ahead and play the game," he stated, trying not to drag down everyone's mood. Izuku and Ochako nodded as the green-haired teen opened the board game, seeing that it was divided by many sections, including spaces with cards that had information for each hero from around the world. In the center, there was a world map.
"This looks even cooler than I thought it would be," Izuku said as Ochako nodded, her eyes already looking at her starting point. But before they could continue, the door opened once again, getting their attention. This time it was Eijiro and Denki walking into the classroom.
"I'm telling you, man, give it a try. Dubstep is great," Denki said, which got a snort from Eijiro.
"To you, maybe, but to me, it's like a faulty washing machine that is trying to compose music," he replied, which made Denki laugh a bit.
"Alright, you have a point there, but—" Denki cut himself off when he noticed his other classmates. "Oops, sorry guys. Good morning, how are you doing today?" he greeted, with Eijiro doing the same. "You are earlier than usual, well, minus Ida," he said.
"Yeah, he wanted to give me something, so I came early to get it," Izuku stated. "Do you guys wanna join us?" he offered, with Eijiro walking forward with a smile.
"Of course, it's better than trying to convince Kaminari to stop suggesting me dubstep," he said, making the blond chuckle.
"You just hate it because you haven't heard the good ones," Denki argued back as he approached the group. But before he could fully join the group, Tenya walked up to him, and before Denki could say anything, he bowed his head.
"Kaminari, I apologize for my behavior yesterday. I acted out of term without getting to know the full context of the situation. As a classmate, I was brash, and as class president, I was shameful," Tenya said, getting a confused look from Denki who scratched the back of his head.
"Well, it's alright dude; it wasn't anything that serious. Aizawa-sensei already told me that since you come from a hero family and follow the rules strictly, talking about that stuff would annoy you, so I get it," Denki replied, which made Tenya stand up straight. "And also, it happened before you were class president."
"I'm aware, but as such, I have to admit my mistakes and lead by example," he said, making Eijiro pat him on the shoulder.
"That's pretty manly of you, Ida. Some people have an issue to admit their faults, but it's pretty cool that you aren't those types. Signs of a pretty good leader," he said with a grin, to which Tenya was a bit surprised by the compliments and nodded slightly.
"Thank you for your belief in me," he stated while Ochako watched the scene between the three.
"He is taking the role of class president really seriously," Ochako said, expecting Izuku to reply, but he didn't. She glanced at the boy who was focused on the board, specifically with a card in his hand. She leaned in a bit, checking it was a hero card. "Deku?" she questioned, not getting a reply from Izuku.
"Name unknown, Hero-name Zero, Birthplace unknown, Age unknown, quirk presumed to be a strength and intellectual enhancement quirk, area of activity mainly Paris, and other parts of the EU, time of activity 5 years, status dead, major feats simultaneously an active hero and a high member of the French Hero Commission, reaching the number 2 hero ranking in a year of his debut, exposing the deep-rooted corruption and practices done by the French Hero commission," Izuku read the information as a few thoughts started to click in place.
"This gotta be Ben; it's describing him perfectly," he thought, looking at the picture being of a man dressed in a three-piece suit and a silk black and purple helmet hiding his face.
"Deku?" Ochako called him this time, snapping him out of his thoughts and look at her.
"Oh, I'm sorry; I was just thinking about this hero," Izuku said, showing her the card. "Never heard about him, so I started to think what he could've done to be the number two already in the year he debuted," he explained, reading through the info card.
"I can see why; he sounds like the hero you would have an entire collection of notebooks on," she said, making the boy blush a bit and chuckle.
"You aren't wrong about that," he replied as the other three got closer to check the board. "I guess we can start playing?" he asked.
"Of course, but only after reading the rule manual," Tenya stated, which Izuku gave him the manual.
"I already assumed you want that," Izuku said. "You can read them out loud," he added, getting a nod from Tenya as he started going down the rules.
-Titan Enterprise –
-Underground Lab -
Looking at the metallic door of the elevator, Yusei sighed slightly as his mind went back to the conversation between him and Izuku. "Ben really has to talk with him when he wakes up," he thought to himself as the elevator door opened, and he walked out, seeing the desks filled with people working on their computers and some taking boxes to other places with Byoki on the far end of the floor ordering around some of her staff.
"Continue the research on the blood modification that we got from Vermilion," she said to a group of four, who quickly walked off to do their assigned task. She then looked at the two remaining groups. "And you eight, return to working on the Hades. I want at least a working prototype by Sunday," she stated as the group followed like the rest and rushed in another direction.
"I really hate being outside my office," she muttered as Yusei approached her and waved.
"You look annoyed, well more than the usual," Yusei asked the woman who replied with a dry chuckle.
"Unlike your department, I don't have someone to do my job for me," she replied, already walking away. "Come, this is to talk in private," she stated, with Yusei following her towards her office, which was just some distance from where the rest were working. Reaching a mental door, she stood in front of it, and it scanned her, before the door opened, allowing them to enter the office, which looked to be just a smaller lab, with many monitors, capsules, and shelves containing many types of documents. Once inside, the door closed.
"Finally, back to my lair," she said, rubbing her neck.
"Kind of dramatic, don't you think?" he questioned as Byoki just walked forward toward the large computer in the center of the room. Yusei sighed. "What do you need me for, anyways?
"I want you to monitor All Might for this week," she said as she started typing, causing a few windows to appear. Yusei raised an eyebrow as he approached her, seeing that the windows showed the most recent arrests done by All Might totaling around 11.
"Again? I thought the last time was enough," Yusei said, standing beside her as there was another screen showing information, they gathered on the hero.
"To make the gear that Ben asked? yes. But for what we have planned? no," Byoki said as she typed a few more times to change the screen to show the fight between Ben and All Might. "Well, to let you know, before you ask. Ben's plan, well, besides capturing Yishi and finding who's in the anti-Omuni task force, was to heal All Might… Well, as much as possible, at least," she stated, which made Yusei even more confused.
He took a deep breath. "Okay, explain to me in a bit more detail on why?" he asked the woman as she turned to look at him, having to stare up at him for a bit.
"Ben feels that Shigaraki sooner or later is going to do something to attack All Might. And since we need him to defeat All For One for us, we have to keep him able to work more than he already does. So that's why he asked me to make something that he could fuse in the smoke bombs that would heal him as much as we can. And there's where you come in; You are going to monitor him and see if his abilities didn't shorten," Byoki explained to Yusei as he lifted his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"And why didn't he tell me or anyone else about this?" Yusei asked.
"Because he had a feeling that you two would mess it up and not tell Izuku what happened during the mission, and then either you or Lilith would tell Izuku that the plan was to heal All Might, so he doesn't get angry at either of you," Byoki explained to him, which made him sigh.
"He really has that little faith that we could keep that a secret?" he muttered under his breath.
"No, he knows that he can trust you with a secret but nothing to do with Izuku," she clarified. "If I'm wrong, tell me, who did he find out about the events of the raid from?" she asked tapping her finger on her metallic mask waiting for the answer.
"All Might," Yusei muttered, only getting a nod from the woman.
"Exactly," she said as she turned back to her computer. "How well did the conversation with him go, and the argument afterwards with Lilith about not telling him?" she asked, which just made Yusei sigh even more.
"You have the house bugged or something?" he asked, getting a shake of the head from the green hair woman.
"No, you and Lilith are just too predictable. Even I can predict how you two interact. And even when I genuinely don't care about the bickering the two of you keep having about matters that are already resolved," she said.
"At least you and I agree on that," he said looking back at the screen. "But I have to ask, what is the estimation that you two came up with?" he asked.
"That it would heal him enough, that he can be in his hero form for at least one more hour on the low end and two on the high end," she explained, getting a nod from Yusei as he took his phone out.
"Alright, I'll get the others informed on the situation," Yusei said as he started walking out of the room.
"Oh, and one more thing, did you hear about the security breach in UA?" she asked, making him stop and glance at her. "Yeah, yesterday there was a security breach. So far, I don't know what happened since Ark Defensive, aren't making the report public for those working there," she said making Yusei groan. "And by that, I guess Izuku didn't tell you?"
"No, you already know the reason why," Yusei replied. "Do you think it was the league?"
"Most likely, Shigaraki already tried to question Izuku about why he was picked by Ben," Byoki said looking at the screen. "And with attention being on the rumors that Ben was the true cause of it. I wouldn't be surprised that he does attack UA soon," she said and then shrugged. "Either way, we better be ready to interfere if they do attack UA,"
"I'll be on it," he said as he started walking once again.
"Keep me updated," Byoki said before Yusei left her office, and she sighed once again. "This better work, or I'll be overloaded with more work," she muttered to herself.
-Late afternoon-
-UA-
-Class 1-A-
"Are we gonna continue the game where we left off?" Denki asked Izuku, who was packing his things up as the classes were over for the day, and most of their classmates were making their way out of the classroom.
"Yeah, I don't mind if everyone wants," Izuku stated as he stood up, strapping his bag to his back, while Denki grinned. Eijiro, Ochako, and Tenya walked up to them.
"Damn right, I want to get my get back for the unfairness you put us through!" Denki exclaimed, getting a pat on the shoulder from Ejiro.
"Never saw you as a sore loser, man," Eijiro said, getting a scoff from Denki.
"It's not about being a sore loser; it's that Midoriya was cheating in some way. There's no way someone wins a game three times in a row on their first time playing," he argued back, to which Eijiro was at least considering.
"Well, just beginners' luck," Eijiro suggested, which made Tenya chuckle a bit.
"Beginners luck doesn't let you win three games in a damn row," Denki said, getting closer to Izuku. "Come on, spill it, what's your secret?" he questioned as Izuku looked at him and shrugged.
"I have a crippling addiction to wanting to know anything and everything to do with heroes, so I already had the first version of the game," he said, which made Denki shout.
"Aha! I knew you had one over us!" he shouted, looking at the rest with Eijiro and Ochako trying not to laugh at the blond's reaction.
Before Izuku could reply, his phone rang, and he quickly picked up to see it was a message from All Might. "Young Midoriya, meet me at the desert indoor training field and come ready," Izuku read in his mind with a slight sigh escaping.
"Something wrong, Midoriya?" Tenya asked, which made Izuku look from his phone and shake his head.
"Nah, I'm good. Just got a message that I got to do something," Izuku said, pocketing his phone. "We'll continue the game some other time; sorry about that, guys," he said, getting nods from the group.
"It's alright, Midoriya, we at times have our own occupations after lessons," Tenya reassured. "We can probably continue on Saturday, after classes." He suggested, getting a complaint from Denki.
"Kinda far, don't you think, man?" Denki countered. "I want to get my payback as soon as possible," he added.
"Wouldn't having more time to know how to play help you out?" Ochako asked, which made Denki blink and nod.
"She has a point," Eijiro stated, making Denki slump his shoulders.
"Yeah, that's true, then," he said, turning to look at Izuku with a determined look.
"Better bring your best, Midoriya, cause this time I won't be losing," he stated, which got an honest smile from Izuku and a bit of a laugh.
"Sure, can't wait for then," he said. "Gotta go, bye," he said with a wave as it was returned by the rest as he made his way out of the classroom, with the smile still on his face.
"Today was really the day that I needed," he thought to himself, as the words of assurance Yusei told him still rang though his head, something that only made the guilt he felt lighten even a bit. "But I'm still a traitor basically; I shouldn't be smiling to them while being a fake all this time," he thought to himself as the smile started to disappear to be replaced with a slight frown.
"I know that it was Shigaraki; should I at least tell them that it was him?" he thought to himself as he kept on walking almost as if he was in autopilot. "They would ask, how do I know it…Maybe I can inform them anonymously…But then they would start looking for whoever did that, maybe… maybe I can tell Yusei. Yeah, he will help," he told himself. "Yeah, that's it," he said out loud.
"Being this distracted isn't really a good habit, Midoriya," Izuku heard right behind him and quickly turned around to look at a bored Aizawa.
"Sensei!" he shouted and quickly covered his mouth a bit embarrassed. "I was so distracted that I didn't notice him follow me," he thought to himself as Aizawa looked at him bored.
"You don't have to yell; you know that?" he questioned with a yawn, making the boy a bit more red.
He lowered his hands and looked at the teacher a bit sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Sensei," he apologized. "I was just deep in thought, that I got really distracted."
"You should be careful; if you were in the field and something like that happens. You won't be as lucky," Aizawa said, getting a nod from Izuku. "But even so, where you heading?" he asked, noticing a slight shift in the boy.
"I don't know if I can tell him; does he know about me being All Might's successor?" he thought to himself, barely stopping himself from questioning what he could do. "I'm going to train," he said, a calmed look from Aizawa.
"Would you mind me watching, so I could give pointers on what you could improve?" he asked, making Izuku internally curse.
"Ah, it won't be needed, Sensei… I will already be with another sensei to teach me," Izuku said, getting the same bored look from Aizawa.
"If you are referring to All Might, then I really need to be there to give you pointers," he replied, which made Izuku a bit surprised that he found out.
"N-no…" he tried to come up with an excuse. "What the heck, I can lie about knowing Ben but can't lie about training," he thought as his mind was trying to come up with a credible answer, before Aizawa stopped him.
"I know you are his successor, Midoriya; it's hard not to when he and Gwen talk about you," he said with a shrug, calming Izuku down and making him sigh.
"I'm sorry, Sensei. All Might told me not to tell anyone," he said as the man shrugged, and he started walking.
"I understand, just next time, you should come up with a better excuse," he stated, walking past the boy, who nodded. "But anyway, we should get going, don't you think?" he asked the boy, who looked at his back.
"We?" Izuku asked, confused, as he started walking a bit behind the teacher.
"Yes, I wasn't joking about going to give you some pointers," he said, glancing at the boy. "I just have a feeling that All Might won't be much of a help there, or I might be wrong since you have impressed me before," he said, seeing an even more confused look on Izuku's face.
"When did I do that?" he asked, which made Aizawa look forward.
"During the battle trial, you showed not only stealth and ambush skills but also precision striking, and working very well with someone who has a different quirk than yours, which I presume was your first time?" Aizawa asked.
"Ah, yeah. Oh, I just tried to apply what I learned from movies," Izuku replied, which Aizawa nodded.
"That was a better lie, Midoriya, but it won't work for me," he stated, making Izuku tense slightly, while Aizawa was still looking forward, as if it was just a normal conversation.
"S-sorry?" he asked, trying to keep his calm, unsure why out of all times his supposed lying wasn't working.
"What you showed wasn't something that I expect from a first-year student from a family that's of a civilian background, and it doesn't help how precise you were. It makes me believe that it wasn't your first time doing that type of tactic," Aizawa stated, looking back at Izuku. "I'm just curious, that's all."
Izuku was silent for a few moments, as his mind raced for a credible excuse. "Maybe a half-truth?" he asked himself before taking a breath. "Okay, I learned it from my brother… He kinda has an obsession with covert tactics, so some of it rubbed off on me," he explained, getting a nod from Aizawa.
"I see, and his obsession seems to have paid off in terms of teaching you," he said. "And by any chance, does he also train with you?" he added.
"Well, yes, in a way… He gives me pointers on how I can use my quirk," Izuku explained, getting another nod from the teacher.
"Does he also know that you are All Might's successor?" he asked, making Izuku a bit hesitant in answering.
"Heck, I don't know how I can answer to that," he thought to himself, gulping as Aizawa sighed.
"Let me guess, he caught on that you were training with All Might?" Aizawa asked, getting a slow nod from Izuku, as he wasn't trusting his voice. "Then my final question, about your hero costume. He was the one who got it for you?"
"Well, yeah, it was a present for me getting into UA," Izuku answered, at least being fully truthful with it.
"Then he must really care for you if he gave you a high-end costume like that as a present," Aizawa commented.
"Yeah, he does," was Izuku's reply as Aizawa went silent, not asking any other following question, which made Izuku a bit more uneasy as they reached the indoor training field after a few minutes of walking.
Once inside, they saw the large training field that was mostly a rocky terrain with hills, stone pillars, boulders, and many other rock formations, giving more of a feel of a rocky desert terrain. Izuku looked around, expecting to see All Might already there, but after a few minutes of looking around, and finding nothing, he took out his phone about to call the hero.
"If he told me to come ready, he's probably hidden somewhere… Maybe to catch me distracted," he thought to himself, considering that would be the training. He sighed as he lowered his bag and took off his blazer, folding it on top of his backpack.
"I hope that is the case. Atlas standard mode," he thought, as the metal flakes came from his watch, covering his body and once set, showing a green and white tracksuit. "Alright, just try not to get distracted and be alert," he thought as he walked onto the field.
Izuku made his way through the large rocky terrain, keeping his senses as alert as he could and even glancing on his sides every few minutes or so.
"Alright, he might not be-"
"Dodge!" Izuku heard, startling him and making him look at the source, seeing a boulder speeding towards him. Activating full cowl as sparks crackled around him, Izuku jumped out of the way of the boulder's trajectory, barely avoiding it as it collided and shattered against one of the hills.
"Okay, he is here," Izuku thought as he landed, only to move again when he saw more boulders rocketing towards him. "Grud," Izuku thought as he crouched and jumped as high as he could without harming himself.
As he reached a good distance in the air, he scanned the field as fast as he could until he found All Might in his hero costume, who had another boulder in his hand.
"Nicely done, Young Midoriya!" All Might shouted as he threw the boulder at the teen as if it weighed nothing, having rushed through the air towards the boy.
"Shit," Izuku thought as he backed his fist and increased his output as his fist tensed. "Shit, I can't use it for too long," he thought, as even now his limit was only a few seconds of 20%. He slammed his fist on the boulder, not only shattering it into countless pieces but also sending himself flying backward back first into a hill, making him grunt a bit as he fell, landing on his feet and quickly hiding himself behind the hill.
"Okay, I wasn't prepared for that. What am I even supposed to be training?" he thought to himself as he glanced out of cover trying to find the hero, but his current spot in the terrain didn't help, being rather lower than the previous one. "I can't see him, but that means he can't see me either, or he is seeing me better than ever," he thought as he started to think of a plan, as his mind tried to consider as many possibilities as he could.
"Staying in the same spot where you can be attacked from any direction is a bad practice, Midoriya!" The hero's voice boomed as Izuku looked up to see All Might passing over his cover with another boulder in hand.
"Dammit," Izuku thought before the hero threw the rock. Izuku dodged the attack once again and started running, hoping to get some distance as the airborne rocks continued. "This isn't going to work. I have to find a way to get through this training or even know what the training is about," Izuku thought as he kept on running. However, his plan was quickly thwarted as All Might caught up with him instantly and even slowed down to maintain the same speed as Izuku.
"Running away isn't the—" All Might began to say, but Izuku jumped and aimed his hand at the ground, flicking his finger with enough force to send him backward. However, before he could get any further, All Might grabbed him by the leg.
"Heck," Izuku thought as he tried to free himself, but before he could, All Might threw the teen into a boulder, breaking through it with little effort as Izuku landed on the ground. Groaning loudly as he coughed a few times. "Okay, that was a bad idea," he thought, getting up as he heard footsteps getting closer.
He quickly turned to see All Might approaching. "What kind of training is this supposed to be, anyway?" Izuku asked as the hero stopped, his eyes focused on him.
"I'm training you to sharpen your reflexes so you can switch from civilian to hero mode in an instant. At times, you won't have enough time to gather all information or have to make a decision in a split second. That's what I'm training you for. And, to me, the only true way to teach is through practical experience. That's why I didn't mention what type of training it was in my message."
"And how can I finish today's training?" Izuku asked.
"If you can get a clear hit on my face, but keep in mind that you only have five minutes," All Might stated, making Izuku curse at the condition as he looked at his watch. "And it's only been a minute and twenty seconds—" he tried to finish, but Izuku used that time to run in another direction, making the hero chuckle a bit. "Alright, let's see how he is going to do this time," All Might thought as he dashed after Izuku.
"Crud, crud, crud," Izuku thought as he ran as fast as he could. "Alright, I have to find a way to make it through the five minutes," he thought, running with 20% full cowl activated. But that plan changed once again as All Might caught up with him. "Crud!"
"Like I said, running away when your enemy has a clear view of you might not be the best idea, Young Midoriya," he said as he sent a backhand to the teen. The hero expected Izuku to attempt another dodge like before, but instead, it connected, sending him flying to his right. This time, he landed on his feet before skidding to a stop before he hit a large stone pillar.
"Alright, not my best idea," Izuku thought with a slight flinch as he moved his right arm. "Not even close," he added as he saw the hero also stop.
"Are you hurt, Midoriya?" he asked, getting a shake of the head from Izuku.
"Slight pains, but nothing serious," Izuku said as he tapped the sole of his foot on the rocky floor, kicking up some dust. "I don't really have a way to keep up the five minutes or to land a hit," Izuku thought to himself, his eyes still laser-focused on the hero but darting to possible escape routes.
"Glad to hear that. Didn't want to cut our training short," he said, eyes also focused on the boy, trying to predict his next move. "Either he is going to try to run again or make a dust screen with a kick," he thought, taking a step forward while Izuku took one back. "Alright, he is going to run," the hero thought, prepared to dash whichever way Izuku went.
But Izuku, instead of running, backed elbow into the stone pillar's weak point, going through it with ease, something that even surprised Izuku as it leaned forward. He then started running in the other direction. "Alright, so this isn't fully stone," he thought as the pillar, which had some boulders on top, fell forward, dropping said boulders towards the hero who had a grin on his face.
"Nice thinking," he thought, clenching his fist as the boulders were falling at him. He backed his fist. "You are leaving yourself open, Midoriya!" he yelled, throwing his fist forward into the air as a strong gust of wind flew into the rocks, causing some to break, but it also flew in the opposite direction from where Izuku was running towards.
"I need to make as much distance as possible," Izuku thought as he glanced back, seeing that All Might wasn't following him. However, he also noticed the boulders and even parts of the stone pillar falling towards his location. "Crud," he thought, increasing his output of full cowl and dashing even faster. But even so, he had to jump to the right, avoiding a boulder crashing into him.
He threw a glance to the sky and saw even more were following suit, which made him curse as he started running once again, avoiding as rocks and stones landed beside him like artillery, making the ground under his feet shake. Dust clouds and even some broke on impact, shooting pebbles at the boy.
"I'm regretting that idea," Izuku thought as he saw a larger boulder land just a few feet in front of him, and he kicked up a significant dust cloud. Izuku coughed and covered his eyes, jumping out of the dust cloud. "Yeah, I'm regretting it a lot!" he thought as he tried to take a step back but instead bumped into All Might. As soon as he turned, All Might decked him in the stomach, knocking the air out of Izuku's lungs, and sent him flying into the boulder, causing cracks as he slammed into it.
The boy entered a coughing fit, trying to regain his breathing, as All Might approached him, stopping a few feet away from the boy.
"You should never leave your back open when you know there's an enemy nearby," All Might said as Izuku stood up straight and coughed a bit more before finally getting his breathing back to normal, tapping on the ground once again.
"Yeah, that was a mistake," Izuku agreed as he lifted his foot. "But got you here!" he slammed into the ground, causing cracks, and a second later, the ground gave way, dropping the two into a cave.
All Might landed on his feet and looked around, seeing that the cave was almost completely dark, with the only source of light being the hole in the cave's ceiling. "I wasn't aware there were cave systems," he mused as his voiced echoed through the cave. Looking down, expecting to see Izuku, but the boy was gone, not even a shape visible. "He is really good at blending," he thought as he kept looking around with his guard up.
Izuku kept his breathing as quiet as possible as soon as they landed. He snuck behind the closest stone pillar. "Okay, that hurt somewhat," he thought as the healing factor smoothed the pain. He looked at his watch, seeing that he only had a minute left before the time was over.
"Beep, Beep," Izuku heard, and his breath hitched as he looked back at his watch, but he let out a slight sigh of relief when he heard it again, and it wasn't coming from his watch.
"Midoriya, you have one minute left," All Might stated as he stopped the beeping coming from his own watch. "Luring me in here was a good idea for escaping someone, but in terms of fighting, you are at a slight disadvantage," the hero said, making Izuku take a breath before clenching his fist.
"Okay, this is my last chance," he thought, letting out a breath before grabbing a few rocks and, with his hand backed, threw them as hard as he could.
All Might noted the flying projectiles and easily dodged them, looking at where they came from. "So you are hidden there," he thought, dashing to the spot. As he was about to reach the stone pillar, Izuku punched through it, sending some of the rocks and dust towards the hero, who backhanded them away, causing even more dust to kick up, now covering the area in a dust screen which Izuku took advantage of.
He dashed at All Might with his fist backed, aiming towards the hero's face. All Might, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes, making out Izuku's shape getting closer, fully prepared to counter the attack. "A frontal attack isn't the wisest thing, Young Midoriya," he thought. Instead of Izuku going for the hit on the hero, he jumped, causing a significant gust of wind that worsened the dust screen, sending the boy high in the air. Once he started to fall, Izuku went with an axe kick aimed straight at the hero, but to Izuku's dismay, All Might blocked the attack with an arm. The shock of the impact caused another gust of wind and even cracked the cave floor somewhat, but the hero wasn't even slightly affected by the attack.
"I must say, a good distraction tactic, Young Midoriya," the hero praised the boy, who tried to land a kick on the hero's chest, but All Might caught his leg and held him upside down as his watch went off, signaling the end of the training.
Izuku let out a heavy sigh as All Might lowered him to the ground. "You did very well, Young Midoriya," the hero said as Izuku got up, patting the dust off his clothes.
"Not that well, I didn't manage to land a hit," he replied to the hero, which made All Might laugh a bit as he patted the boy's shoulder.
"Midoriya, it was an impossible challenge that I gave, and I'm fully aware of that. I wanted to see how well you would adapt against such, and you did well. You seriously impressed me," All Might reassured the boy.
"It's that… I have been having a few feelings of doubt again," Izuku said, and the hero hummed.
"Having feelings that you won't be able to do your duty when the time comes?" All Might asked, getting a slight hesitant nod from Izuku. "And when did you start having them, again?" he added.
"Since Saturday…" Izuku answered, remembering the small interaction he had with Tomura and the statement he made. "I just wanted to see what type of pawn you were," it echoed into his head. "And it kind of gotten worse yesterday after talking to you about Omuni."
All Might heard the boy and nodded. "I see, Young Midoriya. I'm aware that you have many doubts about your own abilities, even if you have been nothing but impressive since the moment, I've met you. You not only proved your doubts wrong, but you even proved me wrong," All Might said, making the boy a bit confused.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"I remember the day that I told you that you couldn't be a hero without a quirk," he started and easily made Izuku tense up. "And I have to say that I am ashamed of myself because I forgot the very principle that I believe in and that made me stand out as who I am today. It's also what makes you stand out from the rest. You showed that even without a quirk, you are willing to risk your own life to save someone else," he told Izuku with a serious tone.
"That's the real fiber of what makes a great hero. I'm sure that you were scared when you went to save young Bakugou. Heck, I was even scared for your own safety when I saw it," he stated and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, even crouching to be at eye level with him. Izuku was already shaking, tears in his eyes.
All Might looked at him and gave him a smile. "Being a great hero doesn't mean that you don't have fears or that you don't have doubts. It just means you can and will push them away to do what's right. And I've seen you do that when you were at your weakest, and I'm certain that you will do that again when you are at your strongest, Young Midoriya. That's why I know that when my time comes, you will step up to take my place," he told him, easily making Izuku cry once again.
"Thank you, All Might," he said through sobs as he rubbed his eyes, while the hero chuckled a bit and patted his shoulder.
"Anytime, Young Midoriya," the hero reassured with a genuine smile.
"Are you two done down there?" They heard from the ceiling, seeing Aizawa looking down at them. "I want to give Midoriya his pointers, since it's already getting late."
"Apologies, Aizawa," All Might said as he stood up and grabbed Izuku by the back of his tracksuit, and without warning, jumped out of the cave to land just a few feet from the other teacher, who looked at him slightly bored.
"Next time, please warn me," Izuku muttered as he got on his feet, and Aizawa walked closer with his usual bored look on his face.
"Knowing All Might, you will only have a split second to be warned before you are dragged," Aizawa commented, throwing a glance at the hero before looking back at Izuku. "For someone caught by surprise, you did better than expected," he said, making the boy perk up. "I expected you to get too distracted with your thoughts, but it seems you know when to balance them subconsciously."
"Ah, thanks. I guess," Izuku replied, not fully sure what else to reply with.
"But you still have a lot to make up. Intentionally getting hit to lure All Might isn't something you should do in a fight, as you don't know what your opponent has up their sleeve, or it could cause serious damage that would weigh you down during a prolonged fight," he stated to the boy who nodded. "But I have to give you credit for being able to lure All Might into the cave, even though it was the worst possible place for a normal fight. You used the fact of it being a confined place to almost hit All Might," he added.
Izuku nodded but then had a puzzled look. "What, how did you know what happened in the cave, Sensei?" he asked.
"Almost every spot here has in-built hidden cameras, including the caves that I can watch from the railing," he explained, getting a nod from Izuku. "Actually, I'm curious, how did you know there was a cave nearby?"
"Well, the ground," Izuku started. "When I started running after I noticed that the ground was a bit less rigid compared to the rest of the area, I was in. So, I was running towards where I could feel it getting lesser and lesser. And I tapped my foot to get an idea if I was there or not."
"Interesting," Aizawa commented. "That was pretty observant of you, to be honest," he said, making Izuku a bit red at the praise, and it didn't help that All Might patted his shoulder and smiled at him. "Though, I wouldn't advise doing that with a villain, since some of them are insane enough to cause a cave-in, just to avoid being defeated by a hero. Try a strategy that reduces the chances of unnecessary danger when fighting," he finished.
"Alright, thank you, Sensei," Izuku said with a slight bow of gratitude as the man waved it off.
"Just doing my job, even though I disagree that this training wasn't as productive as it could be, taking into account you were facing someone you couldn't really hurt back," Aizawa commented. "You still showed that you can think and react quickly, but you should get better at that. If it was a serious fight, you would've been dead multiple times," he stated, to which Izuku nodded.
"I'll improve, Sensei," Izuku said, getting a yawn from Aizawa.
"Good, now you should get going. I need to talk to All Might."
"See you tomorrow, Aizawa-sensei, All Might," Izuku said before he started making his way back to his backpack.
"See you tomorrow, Young Midoriya," All Might said with a wave, as Izuku was far enough. He looked back at Aizawa. "And what is this about?" he asked.
"Besides the fact that Midoriya shouldn't know how to do what he did. Not much," Aizawa retorted, getting a skeptical look. "Don't look at me like that; we both know that figuring out if there's a cave under your feet is something you learn through experience, especially in a training fight."
"That I have to agree with; I vaguely felt the difference while I was running," All Might commented, which made the man nod.
"That's the point. I think Midoriya is getting outside training with someone else," Aizawa said, expressing his thoughts with a shrug. "I'm not aware if it's another hero, but from my questioning him, it's most likely his older brother."
All Might sighed. "That's something that I have been thinking about myself, mainly with how fast he has been developing with One for All without much of my interference," he said.
"To play Devil's advocate, you did spend 5 months training him. And with how you say he studies quirks, he could've just learned the basics and started to apply them in other ways, as you've been busy lately to train him," Aizawa pointed out, getting a nod from All Might.
"Yes, that is true, but there's also the factor of his brother that I haven't met," All Might said, making Aizawa raise an eyebrow.
"You haven't met him?" he asked, sounding confused. "How?" he asked, which All Might took a bit to come up with an answer.
"It was to keep the training and the fact that I would pass Midoriya One for All a secret," All Might answered, which made Aizawa pinch the bridge of his nose.
"Don't you think that Midoriya's brother, who works at Titan in a division focused on quirk analysis, wouldn't catch on that his younger brother has developed a quirk? Or that he would ask him where he was going for those ten months? Or even followed him to where you two were training?" Aizawa asked the questions, which All Might thought about for a bit.
"Ah, you do have a point," All Might replied, making Aizawa sigh heavily.
"It's more than likely that he also knows that you passed Midoriya the quirk, and he has been helping him where he can. And when I started questioning him about it, he was trying to deflect, so. The simplest conclusion is that his brother has knowledge of One for All, well vaguely at least," Aizawa said with a sigh.
"Another thing to ask, you've been walking around like that a lot today," he said, referring to All Might's buff form. "Aren't you reaching the time limit for daily use or something?" he asked.
"I thought so too, but as of late, I haven't felt the same strain as I felt whenever the three hours passed," All Might said.
"Then actually resting for a day helped you recover some more time?" he asked in a dry tone, which made All Might laugh a bit.
"You are not the only person asking me that," he stated as he shook his head. "I'm not fully sure, since after my fight with Omuni, I'm having fewer coughing fits and feel somewhat better," he explained, making Aizawa nod slowly.
"That's out of the ordinary," Aizawa mused.
"You tell me; I haven't gotten a clear answer of what was mixed with the smoke bombs. So I can't give you an exact answer about what was the cause," All Might said, getting a nod from Aizawa.
"Then I'll hope it's the simplest reason because if it's something like what the signs are pointing to, it's far more alarming," Aizawa said.
"That Omuni somehow reverted an amount of damage that Recovery Girl couldn't heal and is keeping me up for longer to possibly go after a common enemy," All Might said, getting a nod from Aizawa. "And that common enemy is not really hard to guess who," he added.
"True, but also what he has planned if you do take out your common enemy," Aizawa said, making the hero sigh loudly.
"You're most likely right; then we have to convince Principal Nezu to increase the training for the students," All Might said as Aizawa started walking.
"That's where I was coming from when I saw Midoriya. At least some already started doing that by themselves but still need pointers on how to effectively progress without taking too much time," he asked as All Might started walking himself as he debuffed.
"I can't agree more with you, Aizawa," All Might said. "I'll have to talk to Midoriya about this tomorrow."
-Early Evening-
- Ben's house -
Izuku walked into the house with a slight sigh as he could feel the effects of training finally starting to hit him. "Yeah, Aizawa was right about getting hit intentionally," he thought, rubbing his shoulder. "I'm home," he announced loudly, hearing the TV from the living room.
"I'm in the living room," Lilith replied back as Izuku walked into the room to see she was watching the news. "Hey there Lil green, how was school?" she asked, glancing over at the boy. "What was the thing your classmate needed help with?" she added as Izuku sat beside her.
"Went well, and he didn't help with something. He just wanted to give me a gift," Izuku said, opening his backpack to take out the board game. "He gave me this; I've been looking for this for a while and couldn't find it anywhere," he said, making the woman look at the board game and snort a bit.
"Really? I'm surprised that you didn't ask Ben to buy it for you," she said with a slight chuckle.
"I can't have him do everything or get everything I want; that would be kind of a jerk thing for me to do," Izuku replied, making the woman laugh a bit more as she rubbed his head.
"Awww, you really are a thoughtful little brother," she said, making Izuku mutter under his breath. "But it's rather nice that he gave you this, did he give you just because?"
"Well, more like as a token of his gratitude for me giving him the role to be class president," he explained, making the woman perk up.
"Oh, when did that happen? You haven't told me you were elected and stepped down as class rep?" she asked.
"Well, it all happened yesterday, and I wasn't really in a talkative mood," Izuku replied as he looked at the TV, and on the current article, the reporters were talking about "Titan take over." He read the subject matter but then looked at Lilith. "What are they talking about?" he asked, changing the topic before she could reply back.
"Ah, it's about Yoro buying all the companies whose owners were involved with the auctions," Lilith replied with a slight shrug. "I know, we have plans to spread influence as much as we can but being this heavy-handed is kinda a red flag to some," she muttered.
"Do you think it's a bad idea for him to do this?" Izuku asked, getting a slight grumble from the woman.
"It's practical that he does it as fast as he can, so another company doesn't catch them but also suspicious. It gives somewhat an air that Titan knew that the owners were going to get arrested and have their companies in free fall," she said with another shrug. "But that's just my idea, and since it was already voted before I can't really argue against the others about it," she stated.
Izuku took mental notes as she expressed her thoughts, and he nodded. "I think it's just them working fast, like Ben likes to do at times," he said.
"Probably," she said with a sigh as Izuku stood up.
"By the way, where is Yusei?" he asked, putting the board game back into his backpack.
"In the lab like usual," she said as Izuku made his way out of the living room.
"Thanks, Nee-san," he said as he went to the hallway and stood in front of the hidden passage that opened, and once in, it took him down to the lab.
He walked out of the elevator heading to the computer in the center of the room, where he could see Yusei looking boredly at the computer.
"Hey Izu," Yusei greeted as he turned with his chair to look at the approaching teen. "How was school today?" he asked as Izuku could notice behind him that Yusei was also watching the news.
"A fun type of hectic. What's gotten you so bored?" Izuku asked back as the man glanced back at the screen.
"Finance stuff, one of the most boring jobs. To the point I had to watch the news to stop myself from sleeping," Yusei replied as he turned back to face the screen.
"Oh, then I hope you can hear me out about something that happened today… Well, more exactly yesterday," Izuku stated, making Yusei perk up.
"Let me guess, the security breach that happened yesterday?" Yusei asked as Izuku stood next to him.
"Yeah, and you know it was Tomura who did it?" Izuku asked.
"Not a hundred percent, since we haven't gotten access to the full report yet," Yusei replied. "But we already started to make counters in case they do attack UA," he said, getting a slightly surprised look from Izuku.
"Wait, really?" he asked. "But won't that go against the treaty?" Izuku asked, getting a shrug from Yusei.
"Probably, but I did say that we have your back in whatever you decide to do," Yusei said as he changed the screen. "And we both know that you won't stand by watching your classmates get attacked without a way to counter them," he added as he showed a screen with the watch Izuku had on.
"I'm putting in an anti-communication jammer function since they will most likely try to cut the defense system by jamming it. With this, you can't screw up their plan as soon as it starts," Yusei explained as he touched the screen with a finger, pulling away, causing a trail of blue and white cubes to come out of it and go into Izuku's watch.
The boy was looking at his watch, really unsure what to say, and then looked up at Yusei. "What if they find out it was me? Or if one of them tries to attack me?" he questioned as Yusei chuckled a bit.
"Their tech guy is good but not on my level, so no need to worry about that. But if any of them tries to attack you, defend yourself, and if you see a situation where you gotta save your classmate, just do it. We'll take care of the fallout. Okay?" he asked, getting a hesitant nod from Izuku.
"Yeah, alright… Yusei, really thanks. You don't know how much hearing that calms me down," Izuku said, looking at his watch once again. "It's just a huge relief," he said, getting a nod from Yusei.
"No worries, like we always have your back," he said as he looked back at the screen. "But now excuse me, I still have to finish the paperwork that Yoro needs to finish buying the other companies," he complained, only to get a chuckle from Izuku.
"Alright, just don't fall asleep on the floor again," he said as he started walking towards the elevator.
"I can't promise you anything," Yusei replied with a slight smile as Izuku entered the elevator and started going up.
Izuku sighed slightly as he leaned against the elevator wall and took out the hero card of Zero. He looked at it for a few minutes. "I know that Lilith nor Yusei are going to tell me about this… I have to find out about it myself," he thought, pocketing the card before the elevator door opened.
A/N: By some miracle, I managed to write another chapter before the end of the year. Gonna say special thanks to everyone that reads my fic even with the many mistakes and with my slow as heck update schedule. I'm very thankful that even now, my fic gets some views despite its many flaws. Wishing everyone a happy holiday and a Happy New Year!