Izuku woke up with a yawn, still recovering from the fact that his girlfriends knew his secret now, and still wanted to be with him despite having a 'target' on his back, so to speak. Looking at his clock, Izuku realized he had overslept his first alarm clock for his usual morning workout. Quickly changing into his uniform and going through his morning routine, Izuku was set for the first day of the new semester.
Though Shota wanted to skip the morning assembly and take his class with him, he was overruled by Nezu, who said it was vital for student unity. And so he was forced to stand with the other teachers in assembly.
'Well at least I get to glare at my old class,' thought Shota to himself, slightly glaring at 2A, who were doing their best to avoid his gaze. Half of them were students he had expelled from the hero course last year while the others had transferred in.
After a riveting speech from Nezu, the students quickly went back to their classrooms. Tsuyu was quick to ask Shota to clarify about the hero internships, to which Shota complied. Ochako was slightly upset that with a program like this at U.A., then there wasn't a big reason for the U.A. sports festival. Shoto helped clarify that it was because of the connections students could make that opened a path for the internships, and those without such connections would have trouble getting an internship.
Chastised, Ochako sat down with her head slightly down while Shota continued to explain that with the rise of villains as well as the fact it was quite unheard of for first-year students in the hero course to have a provisional license, the faculty was considering whether to do it.
Two days later
"Now that we've settled down for a bit, I believe it's time to go into more in-depth about these work studies," announced Shota to all the students in the Hero course as they were using the special classroom once more.
"That said, we decided to introduce you to people who have experienced it first hand and explain the difference between the two," continued Vlad before turning towards the door, "All right, come on in."
The door opened to reveal three students, two male and one female, walking into the class.
"The three third years at U.A. who stand at the top of all U.A. students, also known as the Big Three. They've taken some time off their busy schedule for this, so pay attention," ordered Shota, getting a nod from all the students to listen intently.
Izuku focused on the trio's faces, trying to see if he could recognize them. He recognized the first one with the cowlick hair from last year's sports festival, though only because the person's clothes had fallen off during the event, showing him completely nude in front of the camera. Not to mention none of the three people standing in front of the class had finished with noticeable rankings or recognition, and yet they were now the Big Three.
'I should see if I could get a recording of the third year's U.A. Sports Festival,' thought Izuku himself, slightly scolding himself for not getting one sooner. Being involved in the Sports Festival itself, he had forgotten about watching the other year students.
Then Izuku realized the winner of last year's Sports Festival for second years wasn't even included as part of the top U.A. students. Not only that, but none of the top 4 were part of the group either. Did that mean that these three blew right past them in a year?
"Okay, can you briefly introduce yourselves, starting with Amajiki?" said Shota, waving his hand to the male with messy indigo hair and pointed ears.
In response, Amajiki suddenly glared at them all, sending shivers up the student's spine. They could feel the intensity of his glare, and couldn't help but start shaking.
Unbeknownst to them, though, the reason for his glare was that he was trying to imagine them all as potatoes. He was only half successful, as he could see all their heads as potatoes, but they still retained their human bodies.
"Mirio, Hado," whispered the teenager, "I can't do it. No matter how hard I try to think of them as potatoes, only their heads are potatoes, everything else is still human, so I can still see them as humans. What do I do….. My mind's blank."
At this point, the named Amajiki turned his back towards the class, cowering as he faced the wall to avoid human interaction, causing everyone to look at him in surprise. Only a few understood that the upperclassman was an introvert through and through.
The girl laughed as she began to tease him before introducing herself, "I'm Hado Neijire, and this person with a heart of a flea is Amajiki Tamaki. The other one next to me is Togata Mirio."
"Hado, I can do my own introductions," whispered Mirio, only to be ignored as Neijire began to fire a barrage of questions at the students, easily getting distracted without even waiting for an answer to her previous questions.
'She's a natural airhead,' thought the majority of the class.
Shota began to glare at Mirio, getting impatient at the trio. Mirio immediately caught his gaze and decided to reroute back to the subject before Neijire went too far.
"The future is ahead is going to be…." paused Mirio, only to receive silence in response, "Grim! That's what you're supposed to say, right? All right, looks like my call-and-response was a failure!"
While Mirio laughed at his own little failure, the other students began to express their doubts to each other.
"Maaa, it looks like you guys aren't sure what's going on, right?" started Mirio once more, "We're third years who suddenly appeared to explain about work studies that aren't even required. That's confusing, right?"
Mirio put his hand on his chin as if to ponder what to do about the situation before continuing, "If I recall, all the students here got their provisional licenses, including the hero reserve student, correct? This year's first years are really energetic, and my little introduction fell a little flat."
"In that case, why don't you all fight me at once!" proposed Mirio, causing the students of 1A and 1B to lean back in shock at this proposal, "It's the most rational to have you all experience our experience first hand, right? How about it, Eraser Head, Vlad King?"
The two teachers glanced at each other before agreeing to the sudden proposal.
The first-year students of the Hero course find themselves at Gym Gamma wearing their gym uniform, rather doubting that Mirio was really going through with this proposal.
"Mirio, you probably shouldn't do this," warned Tamaki, "For work studies, it would've been enough for us to say, 'This is how it was and I learned a lot from it.' Not everyone is filled to the brim with ambition. We can't end up with kids who are unable to recover after this."
Such a warning would've been effective….. if it wasn't the fact he was facing the wall again and muttering the warning. Nonetheless, the others managed to hear the warning, even if they did have to ask Kyoka to make sure what they heard was right.
"Oh, listen, did you know?" asked Neijire as she was busy poking at Mina and Pony's horns, with both girls feeling a little uncomfortable, "In the past, there was a student who got so frustrated that the student dropped out of the hero course, causing all sorts of problems. Did you know that? It's tough, isn't it Togata? If you don't think this through properly, this'll be rough. Really rough."
While the students looked from Neijire to Mirio back and forth with shock and suspicion, Vlad and Shota groaned as they knew what Nejire was talking about. The winner of last year's 2nd year U.A. sports festival had been so devastated when he lost to Mirio in the first round of the finals that he quit from U.A. altogether. With his pride destroyed, it took lots of counseling from Hound Dog and life advice from Nezu to keep him, though he did drop out of the hero course still.
A few of the students voiced out their concerns and complaints about being underestimated, to which Mirio did nothing to deny that. Just as the students were getting ready to fight, Shota called out a few names that made them pause.
"Midoriya. Bakugo. Todoroki. You three stay on the sideline for now," called out Shota, surprising the group.
While the trio obeyed, Katsuki grumbled about not being able to fight against the Big Three while the other students glanced over. Out of the first-year hero course, those three were considered the strongest. Their own little monster trio. Monoma gritted his teeth as he wanted to argue that their class 1B were the monsters, but kept it to himself. In a one-on-one match, those three were the strongest.
"Honenuki. Kendo. You two also stay at the sideline," ordered Vlad, adding two more to the sideline.
The two instantly obeyed, standing against the wall with Izuku and the others.
"Well, that's five out, but that's alright! It'll still be fun!" grinned Mirio as he finished his stretches.
"I'm joining in too!" chirped Neijire as she skipped over next to Mirio, "You can't hog all the fun!"
Mirio laughed as he stated he alone was enough, but didn't reject her offer.
The students immediately assumed formation, the close-range combatants forming the vanguard while the ranged ones formed the rearguard.
"Well then, senpai-tachi," began Eijiro as he hardened his arms as the others began to prepare their own quirks, "Thanks for showing us this kindness. We look forward to your teachings!"
As one, both Tetsutetsu and Eijiro charged forward, taking the first steps forward. The other close combatants began to charge forward to back them up while the rearguard prepared their attacks.
Neijire immediately jumped up into the air in response while Mirio….. somehow suddenly had his clothes fall off his body, showcasing his birthday suit.
While several females screamed in fright while Ibara began to fervently pray, it didn't stop Tetsutetsu and Eijiro from continuing to charge in. While they both agreed it was unmanly to attack a man who had lost his clothes, the man in question had asked for it when he challenged them all. Both threw a punch at Mirio, who seemed to be more concerned about putting his pants on.
Just as the boys felt like they were about to hit, they saw and felt their fists slip right through Mirio, followed by their whole body. The two stumbled through, wondering how their attack missed before turning around.
"Aiming straight for the face, huh?" grinned Mirio as he turned his head to look at them.
Suddenly, a variety of long range attacks composed of both 1A and 1B phased right through Mirio, prompting the two boys to jump back. Though they clearly saw Mirio not even reacting to the attacks before the dust kicked in, obstructing their views.
"Wait, he's gone!" warned Tenya as he noticed the lack of the missing person's figure.
"Hehe, you all might want to be careful," called out a voice from above, causing them to look up to see Neijire hovering in the air with golden energy seemingly sprouting out of her hands and feet.
Before they could register this warning, Kyoka's ear suddenly picked up movement behind her, as well as a voice.
"Looks like I'll start with the long-distance fighters then!" shouted Mirio.
Quickly turning around, she came face to face with a completely nude Mirio right in front of her. While one portion of her mind was wondering how Mirio got there without her even noticing, the rest of the vast majority of her mind was screaming why a naked male teenager was in front of her.
Before the other students could even react, Mirio was already upon them. It only took one punch to the stomach to disable students no matter how hard they tried to dodge, block, or attack. Not only that, but when Momo put up a shield or Ibara tried to wrap herself in a cocoon of vines, Mirio's hand phased right through it and landed his gut punch. Whether male or female, none of them were spared. In the span of eight seconds, the long-distance fighters of 1A and 1B were crumpled to the ground.
"POWER!" grinned Mirio as he posed a little.
"Togata Mirio. As far as I know, he's the man closest to being number one…. including the pros," said Shota, glancing over his little monster trio, "You three might be considered the top of the first years, but that's all to it."
He saw the trio narrowing their eyes, trying to observe and take everything in.
'Good. This'll push them forward,' thought Shota to himself. He didn't want his students to stagnate because they thought themselves the strongest. One student did, and he ended up dropping out of the hero course when he got his ass handed to him on public television.
"Don't say anything. Observe only," said Shota sharply at Izuku, who was about to yell out some advice, "They need to make their own deductions on their own."
Izuku frowned, but clamped down his lips, though that didn't stop him from muttering and writing down notes on a notebook that Shota had no idea where that came from. Still, he pulled up his scarf to hide a smirk when he saw Shoto and Katsuki leaning over Izuku's shoulders, peeking at his notes.
"That's it for the long-distance fighters," grinned Mirio as he turned towards the others, who looked shocked and slightly scared, "All that's left are the ones who focus on close combat, right?"
"I have no idea what he did!" exclaimed Eijiro in shock.
"Me neither! But we'll have to tough it out!" replied Tetsutetsu.
"He's strong enough to slip through things, but now he can warp?" gulped Ochako.
"A dual quirk? Or something like mine," said Monoma, narrowing his eyes.
"Hey, what's with your quirk!?" shouted Shinso in slight desperation, only for Mirio to smirk before pointing upwards.
"You guys are way too distracted, you know?" voiced Neijire, causing them all to pale as they quickly turned around to see Neijire with her hands up, palm facing them all, "Level 20 should do it. Nejire Hado- Surge Wave!"
A spiral of golden energy fired off from her hands, hitting them all and sending them flying. Despite Eijiro and Tetsutetsu having been in their respective hardened/metal forms, Neijire had attacked them while they had been turning, meaning they hadn't been stable onto the ground. The two boys turned off their respective quirks to avoid injuring their classmates when they saw they were about to crash into them. That, however, gave Mirio his opening.
Rushing forward once more, he landed two gut punches into their stomachs, causing them to crumble. The others tried to counter attack or predict him, but not only was he too fast, he attacked them in their blindspots.
"Try to punch me through this!" roared Togaru as he sprouted blades all over his body to prevent Mirio from closing in. He figured if he created a space where Mirio couldn't punch him without hurting himself, he was safe.
The theory was sound, but Togaru had forgotten that Mirio didn't need to aim for the gut. Mirio, instead, grabbed his feet from under and flipped him up into the air.
Togaru tried to reorient himself, only to see him face to face with Neijire, who was grinning.
"Ne,ne, how'd you get your hair like that? And how do you eat with those mandibles, do they help you chew? Can you smell?" asked Neijire as golden energy surged in her hand before she fired at him point-blank.
Togaru didn't have the time to even answer or defend himself before being spiked down to the ground hard.
The rest soon crumpled to the ground from Mirio's punches as Neijire landed next to Mirio.
"POOWERR!" yelled the duo as they both posed for a second.
"Hado, that's my thing," pouted Mirio as he looked over to Neijire.
"Doesn't mean I can't join in the fun," giggled Neijire as she got out of her pose.
"Mirio… you should learn to go easy on people. You too Hado," sighed Tamaki as he watched the 'massacre'.
"Alright you lot, get to the walls," ordered Shota without remorse, causing a universal groaned reply from the students, "You five, you're up next. To make it interesting, you'll be fighting the three of them."
"What!? Why include me?" cried Tamaki, "Those two have more than enough energy to continue this."
"C'mon Amajiki! You gotta show your pride as a senpai," grinned Neijire as she began to pull him in.
"I don't wanna," cried Tamaki as he tried to cling to the wall.
"Stop being so stubborn! If you're worried about not having eaten for battle, you can use those food cubes that were created for you by the transfer student. You have those in your pockets, don't you?" asked Neijire as she successfully pried him off the wall.
Soon, the trio were facing the other five students.
"Come on, don't hold back now!" grinned Mirio as he slightly flexed his muscles, "Your teachers had you pulled out the first fight for a reason!"
Shoto responded by firing a barrage of ice at the trio, hoping to freeze them. Neijire jumped into the air while Tamaki jumped to the side, but Mirio didn't even move.
"No way it'll be that easy," breathed out Shoto as he narrowed his eyes, using his flames to warm himself up.
His prediction came true as Mirio suddenly came rushing out from the ground without his clothes as usual. Shoto was already moving to the side while shooting his flames, thinking that Mirio's attack was a mere one-way rush when Mirio abruptly changed directions, much to Shoto's surprise while phasing through the fire.
"Not bad, but it's not that simple!" grinned Mirio as he threw a punch at Shoto, who tried to block it only to see his fist phase right through his defending arm. Before the punch could land in Shoto's gut, Shoto suddenly found himself sinking into the floor.
"Hoo, that's a surprise," complemented Mirio as his gut punch missed by mere millimeters.
Shoto found himself being dragged for a second before his foot was on solid ground again.
"Sorry about that," apologized Juzo as he popped his head out of the cement, "Went underground as soon as the fight started to see if I could disrupt whatever's he's doing, but no luck."
"How did he change directions?" said Shoto as he narrowed his eyes, "There has to be more that we're missing."
Katsuki roared as he charged forward at Mirio, intending out fighting the one whom their teacher pointed out was most likely to be number one, only to abort to dodge Neijire's attack.
"Ne, ne, why are you so angry? It seems like you're always angry. Is it because you're constantly constipated? I know a great place to deal with that," said Neijire with a smile still on her face.
Katsuki howled in anger as he decided to go after Neijire first to shut her up. Explosions of fire and golden energy began to clash from above.
Izuku narrowed his eyes, focusing on where Mirio had disappeared from.
'Based on his tactics from earlier before and his position before he sunk in, he'll be… behind Itsuka!' predicted Izuku as he blitzed towards Itsuka, jumping above her.
Just as he thought, Mirio appeared behind Itsuka. Itsuka, though, had the same thought process as Izuku, especially when Izuku rushed over to her, which confirmed her theory. The two attacked Mirio, one from behind and one from the front. Izuku tried to punch Mirio on the back of his head while Itsuka enlarged her hands for a palm strike that covered most of Mirio's lower body.
"Hoo, both of these two aren't reacting, but predicting where I'd be," mused Mirio with a grin before letting the blows phase through him again, "But try this ultimate move! Blind Touch Eyeball Crush!"
Shifting his body, Mirio launched eye pokes at Ituska and Izuku, his fingers phasing through both students' attempted defense. The two flinched as the fingers came closer as per human instinct, only for Mirio's attack to phase through.
Seeing both of them were distracted, Mirio once again shifted his body, utilizing his powerful waist muscles to twist his body to launch a gut punch at Itsuka that would've knocked her out if Izuku didn't suddenly inflate his body like a balloon in self-defense.
Mirio hadn't expected such a defense tactic, and thus was sent flying away from Itsuka. Before Izuku could chase after him though, Mirio sunk into the floor.
"You alright Itsuka?" asked Izuku as he stood guard, wary of Mirio.
"I'm fine, that just took me by suPRISE!" started Itsuka before screaming as a long tentacle suddenly wrapped around her waist, pulling her away.
Izuku quickly whirled back to see her being pulled away by Tamaki, whose hand transformed into what seemed to be an octopus tentacle. Izuku quickly stretched his arm forward to grab Itsuka, only to find his hand blocked by another tentacle, except the ending of this tentacle had a clamshell blocking his hands.
Suddenly, Tamaki let go of Itsuka, though not before whirling her around a little to shake her orientation. Before Itsuka could try to reorient herself, Mirio shot up from the ground from below, landing a gut punch into Itsuka.
Itsuka coughed in pain before desperately trying to grab Mirio, only for Mirio to parry her, grabbing her by the wrist before hurling her right into Shoto, who had been about to send a stream of fire at Tamaki.
Shoto aborted his attack, summoning some ice behind him to stabilize himself. Suddenly, a spiral of golden energy slammed into him from the side, causing him to lose his balance before the Itsuka projectile slammed into him. Shoto coughed in pain as he managed to push Itsuka to the side, but before he could do anything, Mirio was already in front of him, landing a gut punch that caused him to crumple to the ground.
"Bitch, you still had time to focus on others!" roared Katsuki as he propelled himself at Neijire, his shoes already long gone as he shot faster at Neijire, explosions popping off on both his hands and feet.
Neijire had managed to position herself so when Shoto was distracted, her foot that was already facing Shoto was ready. Then, with a burst of energy, she fired one at Shoto while her hands fired a similar blast in the opposite direction, which happened to force Katsuki back at the same time.
"Die!" roared Katsuki as he set off a chain of explosions as he hurtled towards Neijire, wanting to overwhelm her with firepower.
Neijire merely gritted her teeth as she faced Katsuki head on, her hands clasped together.
The students and the teachers watching this, inside their mind, they thought they were looking at a demon lord attacking an angel, with Katsuki being the obvious demon lord.
Neijire never flinched as Katsuki fired his strongest blast at her before unclasping her hands, her palms aimed right at Katsuki.
In a brilliant golden flash, Neijire's spiral beam collided against Katsuki's explosions. The audience had to cover their eyes from the brilliant clash before their pupils could adjust towards the brightness.
Neijire was sent flying back a few feet before stabilizing herself, with her clothes having scuff marks all over.
"All right, Baku-bro won!" shouted Eijiro before Katsuki came out of the clash, crashing into the wall, his body embedded into it with his limbs splayed out.
The students almost dropped their jaws at this. Katsuki was known for his firepower, and yet in a match in it, he had been overwhelmed.
Izuku growled as he dodged another attack from Tamaki. His octopus tentacles now had sharp edges, similar to a praying mantis. Not only that, but Tamaki had created several tentacles with the same edge, and controlled them independently. Even using Ghost Perplexing Steps wasn't enough to throw Tamaki off.
'I need to surpass his speed!' thought Izuku as he upped One for All within his body.
Suddenly, Tamaki's movements were disrupted when Juzo suddenly pulled his leg down.
'Now!' thought Izuku as he blitzed towards Tamaki, only for Neijire to suddenly land in front of him. Izuku spun and tried to high kick her, only for Neijire to not only parry it, but guide it away from her completely.
'Shit! This movement! It's Tai Chi!' cursed Izuku, recognizing the spiral pattern movements.
"Sorry, but I can't let you get close!" smiled Neijire with an apologetic tone as golden energy began to form in her hands again, "Try this! Hado Ken!"
Izuku was blasted away from Neijire and Tamaki, rolling on the ground before quickly flipping himself back up.
Juzo immediately knew he was at a disadvantage once more, and quickly sunk into the floor, dodging the various whips from Tamaki.
'Need to regroup with Midoriya. Maybe we can figure out what the other two quirks are,' thought Juzo as he began to swim towards Izuku, 'The one named Hado is easy to figure, but the other two males are harder. Togata is phasing, but I'm not sure how it applies to him warping through the ground so fast. Even when I soften the ground to trap him, he just goes through it.'
Juzo's thought process stopped when he suddenly felt a punch slam into his gut despite being the cement. Choking in pain, he saw Mirio ascending upwards through the cement from below him, carrying him up out of the ground before hurling him to the side.
Izuku looked around, frowning since it was 1v3 now. He immediately understood that not only were these three powerful individually, but their teamwork was also impeccable, too. Still, he wasn't going to give up like this. He knew he was immune to the punches Mirio had been landing on others, and he could kind of shrug off Neijire's attacks, but his trouble lay on Tamaki and his sharp mantis claws that could cut through him.
"Are you going to give up? You know you can't win like this," grinned Mirio as he rolled his shoulders, ready to finish up the fight.
"Probably, but I can't afford to pass on this opportunity!" grinned Izuku back as he rushed forward.
Mirio went forward to meet him head on, waiving for Neijire and Tamaki to stand back for now, before phasing into the ground once more.
Izuku's eyes narrowed before taking a deep breath while straining his ears too. He knew Mirio was smart enough to not use the same tactic twice. Seconds later, he felt something grab his feet and flip him up into the air.
Izuku quickly spun his legs, kicking out only to phase through Mirio's head as he landed a gut punch into Izuku, his right fist embedded into Izuku's gut.
Mirio quickly realized that despite his punch, Izuku wasn't phased at all. Instead, Izuku used his punch to grab Mirio's wrist that was still solid, gripping it tightly while kicking downwards that would cleave right through Mirio.
'Dammit, he phased through again,' thought Izuku as he tried to twist his body, taking Mirio's wrist with him, but Mirio had already phased through his grip.
Mirio grabbed Izuku by his arms, bending it backward in a position that would've definitely broken a normal person's body, but with Izuku being made of rubber, it merely made Izuku uncomfortable.
Without hesitating, Mirio threw Izuku into the ground. However, just at the last moment, Izuku threw his fist out at Mirio, stretching it towards him.
'I might lose, but I have to land a hit! I can't lose this badly without getting a hit!' thought Izuku, his mind and willpower bursting through.
Mirio was about to just phase through it when his instincts blared at him to dodge instead. Mirio did so, shifting his head away just as Izuku's fist flew past him.
Izuku coughed as he pulled his arm back and was about to hop back onto his feet when he saw a crab claw right around his neck from Tamaki. Sighing, Izuku could only admit defeat.
"Hahaha! So that's about the gist of it. You guys get it, right?" laughed Mirio, fully clothed once more, as the students huddled up, most of them still bent over and grabbing their stomachs in pain.
"All we understood was getting punched in the gut was painful," grunted the majority of the class. The only ones who weren't hunched over were Izuku, who was immune to blunt damage, and Katsuki, who had been flung into the wall by Neijire.
"Did you think my quirk was strong?" asked Mirio, continuing on without caring about the complaints.
A barrage of complaints and compliments were thrown at Mirio in response, causing him to chuckle until Mina asked if he had a hybrid quirk, like Shoto or Izuku.
"Nope, I've only got one," chuckled Mirio, "It's-"
"Ooh, ooh, can I explain it? Can I?" interrupted Neijire, raising her hand before continuing without waiting, "It's Permeation!"
"Hado, let Mirio explain it," sighed Tamaki, though his back was still facing them all.
"That's right, it's Permeation," smiled Mirio as he began to explain, ignoring the cute pout Neijire was giving off while tugging on his shirt, "The 'warp' that you saw was an application of that."
"That's how it works," murmured Juzo, getting everyone to look at him, "When I softened the ground, I couldn't feel or see you sinking into it, but then suddenly you came from below me and punched me out. I'm assuming with Permeation, you fall through the ground. When you release it, mass can't overlap where you release it, so you instantly get repelled out. You managed to time it so that you slammed into me while repelled out, which is why I couldn't even detect or trap you before it was too late."
"Yep! That's a recommended student for you! By changing the angle based on the direction of my body or pose I'm holding, I can aim for where I get repelled to," complimented Mirio, "'When I activate my quirk on my whole body, it's capable of passing through anything and everything, even the ground."
"That's how you could change directions earlier. I didn't notice it, but when you charged at me, your left foot was still underground, so when I tried to dodge it, you solidified your foot to change where you were repelled," murmured Shoto.
"Sounds like a bug in a game," puffed Mina, causing Mirio to laugh out in agreement.
The students began to murmur to each other, thinking about his quirk and the ramifications of it when Tsuyu made her comment about how strong his quirk was.
"No, I made it into a strong quirk," disagreed Mirio, causing the students to fall silent, "I'd explain it, but perhaps you can figure out the downside of my quirk based on my earlier explanation."
The students couldn't help but glance at each other before uniformly turning to the smarter people of the group, who in turn slowly turned to Izuku, knowing he was the quirk researcher/nerd of their year.
"Permeation….. He can phase through the ground before solidifying and get repelled out," murmured Izuku, quickly thinking through his words, "He said that it's capable of passing through everything, so solid is a given. Liquid is also something since he dodged Ashido's acid and Bondo's glue. He also phased through Todoroki's fire. Does that mean gas, too?"
Both Juzo and Momo suddenly gasped as they understood the implications, looking at Mirio in shock and awe.
Izuku kept muttering unaware of the implications before reviewing his words, his eyes snapping at Mirio in shock. Katsuki and Shoto also began to pick up the 'defects' of Miro's quirk.
"Haha, looks like a few of you figured it out! This year's freshmen are pretty talented! For those who haven't picked it up yet, while my quirk is activated, my lungs can't take in oxygen. So even if I try to breathe, the gases just go right through my body. In the same way, vibrations just phase right through my eardrums, while light phases through my retina. Since I can go through everything, that also means I can't feel anything. I just keep falling, even if I have mass," Mirio explained with a chuckle before giving an example of phasing through a wall.
Most students felt their heads ache at even trying to do something complicated like that while some tried to scoff.
"I saw I have some people doubting this. How about you try my quirk?" suggested Mirio, pointing to Neito, "You have a copy quirk, don't you? Here, copy my quirk!"
Neito dubiously looked at Mirio before nodding, touching Mirio's pro-offered arm to copy the quirk.
"Eraser Head, could I have you erase his quirk the second Monoma here uses it?" asked Mirio, getting confirmation from Shota, "Good, now then, according to your teacher, you instinctively know how to activate a quirk once you copy it right? Use it on my mark, and then let it go immediately. On the count of three, alright?"
When Mirio counted to the end of two, Neito activated the quirk, thinking Mirio was overexaggerating it. Immediately he began to panic and flail when he found out he couldn't breathe, see, hear, feel, smell, or taste anything. He tried to shout, only for nothing to come out through his vocal cords as air phased through it.
A second later, all his senses returned to him immediately as he found himself in the air for a bit, completely upside down before Izuku stretched out his arm to catch him and stabilize him.
"See what I mean?" laughed Mirio, thanking Shota for activating his quirk just as Neito began to phase to the ground, "Care to describe how it felt?"
"How did you even use this quirk?" gasped Neito as he sucked in air, as if it was a precious resource, "How did you even function and kick all our asses? I thought if I copied your quirk, I'd easily match you, but this…. this is much too hard to even use!"
Seeing Neito brought down so low, the other students began to shake while looking at Mirio. Katsuki himself couldn't help but gape at Mirio. Just from the sounds of it, Mirio's quirk would've been something that he would've judged as a weak-ass quirk, but the reality of it was different.
"That's right," laughed Mirio, "As expected, I was always behind. In no time, I'd dropped to dead last as well as dropped my clothes. In fact, I was in the General Course first before transferring into the Hero Course. In order to get to the top with this Quirk, I couldn't just stay behind. So I had to think faster than those around me! I had to be cunning, too. But most importantly, I had to predict what would happen! And what made those predictions possible was experience! I built my predictions on what I knew!"
Mirio chuckled as he continued, "It ended up being a bit of a long lecture, but that's why I wanted to fight all of you. I wanted to show it through experience rather than just words. In work studies, we're not guests like the internships you experienced after the Sports Festival, we're treated as sidekicks, and more importantly, as a pro! That's the scary part you know? Pros will end up watching people die. But those scary and painful things you'll go through, they're all first-rate experiences you wouldn't be able to have at school! I converted all my experience I got from my work study into power and took the top spot! That's why I think it's something you should do even if you're scared, freshmen! This is an opportunity you can't afford to miss!"
The students began to burst out in applause at his speech, their spirits rising in excitement to meet these challenges head-on.
The Big Three walked down the hall, chatting about the new freshmen when Neijire decided to ask, "Ne, ne, did you find anyone interesting?"
Mirio hummed before smiling, "The one Eraser Head mentioned as the problem child. The one that was captured by All for One the Sir mentioned. He analyzed my moves and moved like he predicted what I'd do. I think Sir would like him. Not to mention…."
Mirio raised his right arm for his friends' eyes to widen as they noticed his wrist was swollen. Not only that, but when he brushed his hair, they saw a bruise mark on his temple.
"His last attack….. His fist turned black for a second, though I barely saw it. My instincts told me to dodge, and so I did while also phasing just in case. And yet his fist managed to come in contact with my skin. I'm really interested in him now. Not to mention Sir did say he wanted me to keep an eye out for him."
Tamaki and Neijire could only glance at each other before shrugging. They had their own recommendations they would be passing to the hero agencies they were respectively working at.
Next day
"After a long discussion in a faculty meeting, a majority of the teachers, including the principal, felt that the students shouldn't participate in the work studies," announced Shota to his class, causing an outbreak of muttering that was quickly silenced with a glare, "But some think we won't be able to raise strong heroes with our current policies, so a condition was attached to allowing the freshman students to participate. Only hero agencies with a good track record of accepting work study students will be allowed."
Immediately, the students began to murmur amongst themselves on who they could contact, and which agency would be accepted.
Izuku frowned as he contemplated Death Arms' agency. He was considered a veteran, but was it enough to meet U.A's standards was the question. Kamui's agency might not make the cut either due to him being a relatively new hero despite rising up the ranks fast. He contemplated calling Gran Torino before a full-body shiver hit him and shut that idea down. He had no desire to go through that training again.
When the bell rang for lunch, Izuku had been ready to sit and eat with his secret girlfriends at the roof when the P.A. rang out.
"First Year Izuku Midoriya. All Might is calling for you. Please go to the counseling office at once."
Izuku stalled for a second, glancing over at Ochako, Momo, and Tsuyu. Though the trio pouted, they shooed him away, stating that there had to be an important reason for the call.
Soon, Izuku was sitting in the conference room with not only Toshinori, but much to his surprise, Mirio.
"You are….. HERE!" laughed Mirio, attempting a gag of All Might's famous 'I am here' line while breaking the ice.
"So what's this about?" asked Izuku curiously.
Toshinori decided to get down to business about why Izuku had been called in the first place.
"Young Togata here is currently doing his work studies under Nighteye. I assume you already know who Nighteye is, correct?" asked Toshinori.
Izuku instantly converted to his fanboy persona, "Of course! He became your sidekick when you returned to Japan, and he's considered to be the brains behind your brawn. Not that you're not less smarter than him, but people considered you two the perfect team. People were surprised when the two of you went your separate ways about six years ago, but everyone just thought it was because it was time for Nighteye to step out on his own."
Izuku froze for a second before looking at Toshinori, "Six years….. the time fits after your fight against him, right?"
Toshinori nodded, "That's right. But enough about that. Togata, you came to see both me and Midoriya. May I know why?"
"Ah that's easy. Sir actually wanted me to invite Midoriya to our agency!" smiled Mirio, "I told him about what happened yesterday, and when I mentioned the work studies and Midoriya, he told me to bring Midoriya in!"
Both Izuku and Toshinori blinked in surprise at that proposal.
"But first, I have to ask. What sort of hero do you want to be?" asked Mirio, looking directly at Izuku.
Izuku's first response was to be like All Might, a hero who saves others with a smile, but when those words reached the top of his tongue, they stopped. It didn't feel right to say it, nor did it feel like it described him.
"I…. I want to be a hero that no one will have to worry about. I want to always save everyone, to always win. I want to be the greatest hero," answered Izuku with a firm face.
Mirio looked at Izuku before smiling, "That's a crazy goal, but I like it! Does that mean you'll come with me tomorrow?"
Izuku nodded in reply, to which Mirio jumped up to his feet, "Alright! I'll go contact Sir right away! I'll come back here after I finish filing the paperwork for you to leave with me!"
As Mirio left, leaving the two of them alone.
"Since Nighteye was your sidekick, does he know about…. everything?" asked Izuku.
Toshinori nodded, "Though I never told David, that was mainly because he had a family, and not only that, he was more…. vulnerable. Mirai Sasaki, aka Sir Nighteye as you know him by his hero name, was in the front lines with me. We were close until the fight that resulted in my injuries. We parted on rather bad terms, and haven't spoken to each other since then. He must hate me now."
"That's not right! There's no way he could hate you, your bonds together aren't that weak! I'm sure it's just awkward for him to call you, and vice versa!" exclaimed Izuku, causing Toshinori to chuckle.
"Maybe you're right. But there's no looking back now. Mirai's agency will definitely pass the U.A. standards for work study, producing such a strong hero like Togata. It's a big opportunity for you. Even though I'm one of the ones who opposed the work study, with him, I won't be too worried about you."
Izuku nodded, making firm of his decision before deciding to add something, "You should come with me!"
"What?" asked Toshinori, "Nonono, I can't do that. Like you said, it'd be too awkward."
"Which is why you have to be the one to break it," replied Izuku back, "You defeated All for One. You're retired. Therefore you should be the one to initiate!"
"Nope! Not doing it! Nothing you say can make me do it!" huffed Toshinori, causing Izuku to draw out his trump card.
"If you don't, then I'm calling mom," said Izuku, pulling out his phone.
"You wouldn't!" paled Toshinori under that threat.
"Try me," Izuku grinned.
The two stared off at each other before Toshinori sighed, "Fine. You win. Cheap trick, pulling out the mom card."
"You're the one dating her," retorted Izuku, the two of them glaring at each once more before they broke out into laughter.
After breaking the news to his girlfriends that he wouldn't be able to spend time with them on their day off, they pouted but made Izuku promise to make it up to them.
"This was a mistake," said Toshinori gravely as he stood outside his old sidekick's agency.
"Come on, there's no point if you don't go in!" exclaimed Izuku as he pulled on Toshinori's arm.
"Yea, Sir will definitely want to see you again!" agreed Mirio, pulling on the other arm.
"Alright, alright, I'll come," sighed Toshinori in defeat, "Just…. let me use the bathroom over there really quickly. I'm a bit nervous, and my bladder isn't taking it well."
Agreeing to that, they let go of Toshinori, who walked into the public bathroom that was conveniently located across the street.
Izuku and Mirio looked at each other for a second before Izuku chimed, "Check the bathroom after two minutes?"
"Check the bathroom after two minutes," confirmed Mirio.
The two went into the bathroom after two minutes to see Toshinori attempting to build a step ladder to escape out the window.
"Put me down!" demanded Toshinori, trying to fruitlessly escape from the two boys. Izuku had taken it to completely wrap his arms around Toshinori's body, lifting him up by the torso. Mirio easily followed suit, lifting the trapped legs above his heads, and together, the two teenagers trotted into Nighteye's agency, with Mirio taking the lead.
"Oh, right, before I forget, now and until you finish talking with Sir, it's absolutely imperative that you make him laugh once," said Mirio as he took a turn, carefully making sure Toshinori didn't hit anything. Not only that, he made a wide turn so as to allow Izuku to follow easily and not bend Toshinori's body at a weird angle, "Sir holds humor above all else. I can only introduce you, but he'll be the one to decide whether to take you in or not. Though I feel like you have a good chance since he did request me to invite you here, though I don't know why."
"Make him laugh huh?" hummed Izuku before glancing up, "Think this would count?"
Mirio paused as he looked up and hummed thoughtfully, "Maybe? Best to have a backup just in case."
Coughing, Mirio refocused on his objective, "Now then, the final door is here! I'd say if you want to take that first step to open it yourself, but considering our hands are full, we'll skip that. Plus, I have confidence in you! Also, I kinda didn't tell Sir that we were bringing All Might, so surprise!"
Mirio didn't even let Toshinori register that statement before opening the door.
"Sir, I brought the one you requested and an extra special guest!" announced Mirio, not even batting an eye as Toshinori and Izuku were greeted with a scene of a rather scantily dressed blue-skinned woman being strapped into a machine that was tickling her without mercy with Nighteye looming over her.
"Special guest? I hardly sa-" began Nighteye as he turned towards them with a glare, only to falter when he saw Mirio and Izuku carrying a tied-up Toshinori, who could only weakly chuckle and wave at Nighteye with limited movement.
Nighteye couldn't help but let out a spit take at the scene before a loud guffaw escaped his mouth before instantly regaining control of himself.
"Hey he laughed! That counts…. I think," exclaimed Mirio.
Nighteye didn't comment as he released his 'victim' from the machine.
"Mirio….. explain why you decided to bring my old partner here tied up in the limbs of the boy whom I asked you to bring. If I don't like the explanation….. You will join Bubble Girl in her re-education," demanded Nighteye, ignoring his victim's laughter.
"We wanted to surprise Sir, but All Might got a little nervous and tried to escape even though he agreed to come. So to make sure he didn't escape, Midoriya had him tied up before we carried him here!" saluted Mirio.
Nighteye was silent before pressing a button to release his victim.
"Bubble Girl, leave us. Bring Togata with you," ordered Nighteye.
The released victim, Bubble Girl, true name Kaoru Awata, nodded as she quickly fled with Mirio in tow, as she didn't want to be there if, or rather when her boss decided to change his mind.
Izuku gently put Toshinori back down on his feet, unwrapping his arms around the man before retracting them back to normal human length.
The two old partners stared at each other in awkward silence while Izuku tried to figure out how to break it until..
"It's good to see you again," murmured Nighteye, "You seemed to have gained a respectable amount of weight despite missing organs since I last saw images of your emancipated state. Retirement is doing wonders on you it seems."
"It's only because I had my lung and stomach replaced now," replied Toshinori, scratching the back of his head, "That, and Inko has been feeding me lots of nutritious and delicious food."
"Inko? Is that your caretaker that Dean Nezu and Recovery Girl hired for you?" asked Nighteye.
"She's more than that….. She's my girlfriend," blushed Toshinori, "It's actually getting pretty serious."
"Really? Congratulations," smiled Nighteye, "I never thought there would be a day you'd be dating someone."
"Alright, enough about that, let's not beat around the bush. Nighteye, no Mirai. I'm sorry about brushing you off six years ago before and after my fight. I know you're still angry about that, and I'm sorry," apologized Toshinori.
"What!?" blinked a flabbergasted Nighteye, "No, I'm not angry about that! I've long gotten past that incident! I just wanted you to live a happy and peaceful life after that fight!"
"Oh? That's a relief to hear, I know that you can carry grudges for a long time," sighed Toshinori with relief, wiping a sweat from his forehead, "Then we're all good?"
"For the most part," replied Nighteye as he pushed his glasses up, causing Toshinori to frown before realizing something.
"Izuku, we're leaving," said Toshinori coldly, surprising Izuku.
"What? Why?" asked Izuku in shock.
"He never told you, did he?" said Nighteye as he glanced at Izuku, "Mirio Togata was supposed to be the next inheritor of One for All, chosen and groomed by me. I took him under my wing when I saw the potential he had to become the next Symbol of Peace. Though his grade and strength were unpolished, his potential and attitude were already there. Then the slime incident happened, and All Might chose you."
Here, Nighteye gave Izuku a look of disdain, "I don't know what happened that All Might chose you, but I stand by my decision that Mirio should've been the one chosen. He has the experience, the power, the attitude, and most importantly, he's ready right now."
"Then what's the point of you asking him to come here?" asked Toshinori, an answer already forming in his mind that he didn't like.
"To show Midoriya the harsh world of the pros," replied Nighteye, "Even now, I don't know why you chose him when I already had Mirio recommended to you before anything else. The citizens of this world are currently without the Symbol of Peace. The people do not want a dim light, but a dazzling one ready to step in to take the mantle. Midoriya has already been kidnapped once, who's to say it won't happen again? Even if it goes against your will, I want Midoriya to realize just who is worthy of that power right now."
Toshinori began to growl as he attempted to transform back into his muscle mode to slap Nighteye for those words, only for Izuku to pull him back. Toshinori looked down, to see Izuku's hair covering his eyes.
At first, Toshinori was worried that Nighteye's words had gotten to Izuku, and wanted to immediately kneel down to comfort his successor/kind of stepson. He then saw Izuku take a step forward towards Nighteye, and was worried Izuku would react violently, even if it didn't seem to be in his nature to do so. In the end, he decided to trust Izuku to see what he would do next.
"Is One for All your choice to make?" asked Izuku as he lifted his head, his green eyes staring into Nighteye with so much conviction that Nighteye couldn't help but take a step back from his look and tone of voice.
"I am here today, not only because of your request, but because of how many people have helped me and believed in me. My mother believes in me. All Might believes in me. My friends all believe in me. Gran Torino believes in me. Dean Nezu believes in me. And I stand here today, taking their belief to show the world that their belief isn't misplaced. That I will be a worthy successor to not only All Might, but to all the predecessors of One for All who passed it down from generation to generation in hopes of not only stopping All for One, but to preserve peace and strike down evil. That my light isn't a dim glow like you believe it to be. That I AM HERE!"
Nighteye couldn't help but subconsciously activate his quirk, Foresight, to see if Izuku would take any violent actions with each step he took closer to him, but all he could see was Izuku walking towards him, just like now. At the last statement, he felt…. something wash past him. Something that made his knees tremble and almost fall to them. It was as if Izuku's will manifested and was pressing down on him.
Not only that, but Nighteye swore he saw a ghostly image of All Might in his muscular form behind Izuku. Suddenly, Nighteye saw several more ghostly images, all standing tall behind Izuku, looking proud and protective of Izuku. Blinking, he found the images had suddenly vanished, making him wonder if he merely hallucinated for a bit.
'Maybe I haven't slept enough. I have been staying up late trying to break through the Overhaul case,' thought Nighteye before shaking his head to clear it up.
"I see," replied Nighteye as he strolled to his desk, grabbing a stamp out of his drawer, "Your contract?"
"Right here!" exclaimed Izuku, passing it to him.
"Keep in mind, this isn't like your internship, as you've heard. You will be recognized as a Pro Hero, a sidekick working for my agency. All your actions will have consequences," warned Nighteye, "With that in mind and the fact that I believe Mirio is the better choice, are you willing to work here?"
Izuku nodded in reply, causing Nighteye to sigh before stamping the paper, "Welcome to my agency. I'll go over more tomorrow. Dismissed!"
Izuku happily took the paper, walking out the door before leaning over to see what Toshinori would do.
"You go ahead. Maybe get Togata to give you a guide around. I want to have a discussion with my old sidekick," Toshinori dismissed Izuku with a waive.
Soon, it was only the two of them in the office.
"So… you got replacement organs? Who were the donors? Are they compatible with you? Are you taking extra medications? Do you need some spare yen?" asked Nighteye rapidly.
"They're cloned copies of my original organs, so they are compatible. I'm taking some medication in case of rejection, but so far it's been good. As for yen, the royalties I get from all those products are more than enough to carry a family through retirement and still have some leftover, and you know I'm not much of a spender."
Toshinori glanced around the room to see it decorated with limited edition All Might products, "Not to mention you've probably helped a good deal with all your purchases. My successor is a fanboy like you, you know? If he wasn't so distracted, he'd probably gossip about the merchandise, and you'd go right with his flow."
Nighteye merely scoffed as he leaned back onto his chair. He wasn't going to admit it, but there was more to Izuku than he realized. Of course, he didn't believe Endeavor's little interview. He merely judged it as a jealous hero pushing out words.
'Still, will he push past this, or realize that Mirio is the better choice?' thought Nighteye, 'Either way, it's a win-win situation in the end, isn't it?'
The two old friends talked for a good while before Toshinori had to take Izuku back. Toshinori, however, chose not to tell Nighteye about the Devil Fruit and the incident when he passed One for All to Izuku. That was Izuku's secret to tell, and Toshinori wasn't going to reveal it to anyone unless given permission.