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Chapter Text

After Midoriya had changed out of his gym uniform, Shouta led him into his office. As they took their seats, Midoriya tilted his head and looked at Shouta with a calculating gaze. It seemed to Shouta as if he was trying to figure out where to start his explanation.

“Well? You said you would explain why your performance today was so much different from your performance at the entrance exam,” Shouta prompted.

Midoriya hummed and then nodded. “The full explanation is a bit of a story, Sensei, so would you like the long version or the short version?”

Shouta narrowed his eyes for a moment, thinking before saying, “The short version. If I need more, you can expand on it.”

“Very well. Up until the day of the entrance exams, I was assumed to be Quirkless. I have spent the past two-“ Midoriya was interrupted.

“I’m sorry, you were Quirkless?” How could this boy have been Quirkless? The sheer power and skill he showed today would be extremely hard to hide. But then again, the skill he showed during the entrance exam was abysmal.

“Assumed to be, yes.” Midoriya nodded, putting heavy emphasis on the word. “There is a lot more to the story, but that is the shortest version of it. I used my quirk for the very first time when I took down that Zero Pointer robot. I’ve spent the past two months working on utilizing my quirk, and I am now able to use up to 5% of my power safely.”

Shouta leaned back in his chair and studied Midoriya. He was going to have to ask about the full story, wasn’t he? The first time he’d used his quirk was when he took down the Zero Pointer? Really? And even now, he was only using 5% of his power? Wait, no, that’s not the important part. How did this kid get so good with his quirk in just two months?

Finally, Shouta made up his mind. He wanted to know, desperately, but he wasn’t going to push. If Midoriya wanted to share, then he would, but Shouta wasn’t going to force the information out of him. “You said there is a lot more to the story. While I do want to know, if you feel uncomfortable sharing, I won’t pressure you to do so.”

This time it was Midoriya who leaned back in his chair and studied Shouta. After a few minutes, he said, “Well, I followed you into this office assuming you would want the full story, and I am prepared to tell it. But if you don’t feel you need it. . . “ Midoriya let himself taper off, leaving it in Shouta’s hands again.

“If you want to share, please do. I am all ears.”

Midoriya grinned slightly at that and nodded. “Did you know that minor intelligence and analysis quirks are often overlooked? People with those kinds of quirks are usually misdiagnosed as Quirkless unless there is some sort of visual activation.”

Shouta nodded, following along with that, but not sure where he was leading. That quirk he showed was not an intelligence quirk.

“I was diagnosed as Quirkless, but I have long thought that it was a misdiagnosis. I’ve always been one of the smartest kids in the class, and even when my own work had been marked as incorrect, the homework I had been forced to do for my classmates always came back with perfect marks.”

“Hang on, ‘forced to do’ for your classmates?” Shouta asked for clarification.

“Oh, yes, I was relentlessly bullied all throughout my elementary and middle school years for being quirkless. I’m sure the teachers knew their students weren’t smart enough to produce those grades on their homework, but they never did call them out on it.” Midoriya paused for a moment and then huffed out an amused breath. “Bakugou was the only one who was ever upset, since his grades were legitimately perfect due to putting in hard work.”

“That isn’t really the whole point, though.” Midoriya said, snapping back to the topic. “The point is, I was relentlessly bullied, and no one ever bothered to step in and stop it. Whenever I went to the teachers to report it, I was the one punished, so I stopped bothering before middle school even started.”

If there was one thing Shouta hated, it was bullies. He remembered all the times he would be bullied when he was a kid, and barely managed to hold his temper back.

Midoriya put his finger to his chin in thought. “I got my first spider lily when I was twelve. That was a bad day, but the worst was about a year ago. On the first day of Third Year, we had to submit our high school choices, and when the teacher saw UA on my list, he announced to the whole class that I was still trying to get into Heroics.” Midoriya closed his eyes, and a wry smile graced his face. “That’s the day my former best friend told me to take a swan dive off a roof.”

Shouta gasped in both surprise and anger. “Was that Bakugou?”

Midoriya opened his eyes and seemed to stare into Shouta’s soul. He held his gaze for what seemed like hours, but couldn’t have been more than a few seconds, and then nodded. “Yes. He had been a horrible person, and as much as I would like to get rid of him, I highly doubt you will ever find any proof of his bullying. Between an extremely mild mutation I got from my dad for fire resistance – that doesn’t count as a quirk – and knowing how to treat burns, I don’t have any scars from him. Other kids? Yeah, plenty. But none from Bakugou.”

“I’ll still get an investigation started,” Shouta promised.

Midoriya nodded. “That, the suicide baiting, wasn’t even the best part of the day.” He tilted his head. “Tell me, is there mention in Bakugou’s file about being attacked by a sludge villain about a year ago?” Shouta nodded and Midoriya continued. “I met that villain first, about an hour before he did. I was walking home, stewing in the misery of my childhood best friend telling me to kill myself, not paying attention, and this sludge suddenly grabs me, starts forcing himself down my throat, and talking about how someone was chasing him, and I was the perfect disguise.”

Midoriya shuddered. “As an aside, sewer people don’t taste very good.” Shouta snorted in amusement.

Midoriya continued his story. “All Might showed up and threw a punch that got the villain off of me, but since I was already on the verge of passing out, falling and hitting my head pushed me over into unconsciousness. I woke up a few minutes later to All Might lightly slapping my cheek. He said he was glad I was okay, and that he had to go.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Shouta hated to interrupt the kid’s story, but. . . “It sounds like you’re saying he didn’t follow protocol. He waited for medics to show up, right?”

The kid snorted this time. “No. He didn’t call for any medics.” Midoriya paused and then sighed. “I’m not done, but I’m going to skip ahead for a moment.” He waited for Shouta to nod. “I was never Quirkless. As I’m sure you figured out, since I mentioned it, I had a hybrid intelligence/analysis quirk. Two months ago, it got an extreme boost, and as a side effect, I have lost most of my emotions.”

Shouta held up a hand to stop the kid. “Hang on, I think I need a moment to process that. You say you have an intelligence quirk, and you’ve lost your emotions. Did I get that right?”

Midoriya nodded.

“What you did today and at the entrance exam was not analysis,” Shouta pointed out.

The kid rolled his eyes at Shouta and said, “I’m getting to that, be patient.”

He continued, “I needed to state that my loss of emotions is extremely recent, otherwise when I say I was an emotional trainwreck upon seeing All Might, you wouldn’t really understand. I used to be extremely emotional, I would cry at the slightest little thing, and seeing the Number One Hero? I had so many questions for him, and I had almost died, I think I was in shock or something. I wasn’t thinking clearly, so when he crouched down to jump away, my first thought was ‘grab hold.’ He took off and I was dragged along for the ride.”

Shouta pinched the bridge of his nose. “That’s one reason why he should have called and waited for medics! Victims are often emotional and illogical right after an attack – they’ll do things they normally wouldn’t.”

Midoriya tilted his head at Shouta, and he felt as though the boy was analyzing him – which he very well might be, since he has an analysis quirk. “Tell me, Sensei, if I was to ask you if a quirkless person could be a hero, what would your answer be?”

Shouta scrunched his face up. “What kind of stupid question is that? A quirk doesn’t have anything to do with whether or not someone can be a hero. I mean, yes, it’s easier if you have a quirk, but you need to have a good head on your shoulders, and the stubbornness to succeed. Neither of those can be gotten with a quirk.”

Midoriya smirked at that. “That’s what I had always believed, but when I asked All Might that same question, he said no. He said that I’d be a burden in the field without a quirk, and that I should be more realistic.”

Shouta saw red at that. What kind of hero tells a kid they can’t be a hero like that? Shouta closed his eyes and took a deep breath to reign in his temper before he did something he’d possibly regret – like hunt down Yagi for sport.

He heard Midoriya snort softly and opened his eyes. “Before you get too pissed off at him, he did apologize for what he said. And now we’re coming to the part of why my quirk isn’t just analysis.” The kid paused again, seeming to reconsider his next words. “You do know about his injury, right?”

“Yeah. I’m surprised you know about it, though,” Shouta responded.

Midoriya shrugged. “That was part of his whole ‘you can’t be a quirkless hero’ speech. But anyway, we met a second time after the villain incident with Bakugou. All Might decided that I was worthy of inheriting his quirk, One For All.” Midoriya held up a hand quickly, before Shouta could interrupt. “Yes, it is possible for him to transfer that quirk.”

Shouta closed his mouth and ducked his face into his scarf. No, he wasn’t about to say that was impossible.

“His injury has been slowly lowering the amount of time he can spend in his buffed-up form, and he’s been thinking of finding a successor. Apparently, my stunt that day, moving to save someone in need without thinking, made him believe I have the ‘Heart of a Hero,’” Midoriya snorted. “His reasoning, while it benefitted me, was idiotic. Yes, a person needs to have the proper motivation to be a good hero, and yes, I definitely have the proper motivation. But I acted without thinking, I put myself in danger, and I didn’t have a plan when I moved.”

Shouta frowned at the kid in front of him. He was looking at his hands, disappointed with himself.

“I know now that I will never be in such a position again, and that receiving Yagi’s quirk is the whole reason why I will never again be in such a position.” Midoriya looked up at him again. “One For All is a power stockpiling quirk, and it has been stockpiling power for eight generations. I am the ninth user.”

He didn’t know what to say to that, so Shouta just kept quiet, letting the kid continue.

“The power has been accumulating for the past eight generations. I believe the quirk has presented itself differently in each user, since the way it presents for me is not how it presented for All Might. I have not yet had the chance to look into any of the previous holders, but my theory is that the quirk gave their natural quirks a major boost.” The boy let out a sigh of annoyance. “I should have asked more questions before I accepted this quirk.”

“Then why didn’t you?” Shouta asked.

“I’m not entirely sure,” he admitted. “While I had thought there was a possibility that I wasn’t quirkless, the fact was that I had been treated as quirkless my whole life. I wanted to be a hero, and everyone had always said it was impossible without a quirk. I saw my chance, and I took it.”

Midoriya shook his head in mild amusement. “All Might gave me the quirk on the morning of the entrance exam, with only the phrase, ‘Clench your butt cheeks and yell smash,’ to guide me.”

“What.” That couldn’t have been his actual words. “Please tell me that’s not what he actually said.”

A single corner of Midoriya’s lips quirked up in a smirk. “There’s no logical reason to lie to you, Sensei.”

Shouta pinched the bridge of his nose. “God damn it all,” he muttered. He looked back up to Midoriya. “I’d be more pissed about this if it wasn’t clear you managed to figure out how to use the quirk by now.”

Midoriya waved his hand in a so-so gesture. “I figured it out a little, yes, but I had to break my arm and legs first. Also, my natural quirk helped immensely once One For All started to enhance it.”

“Right. Your natural quirk. You keep mentioning that it’s been enhanced. What, exactly, does it do now? Aside from taking away your emotions.”

The boy hummed. “Well, to amend a previous statement, my emotions are mostly just muted. As if the volume has been turned down almost all the way. I’m vaguely aware of them, but I don’t particularly feel them.”

“That makes sense,” Shouta admitted.

“As for what my quirk does.” He tilted his head in thought for a moment, thinking about how to explain. “Have you ever been in a desperate situation, and suddenly it seems as though everything suddenly slows down around you and you’re able to think clearly about what you need to do?”

Shouta nodded. “Yeah, a few times.”

The boy smiled at that. “Turn that feeling up, and that’s what my quirk does. Time seems to almost stop around me, and I can focus and analyze things for as long as I want. It feels almost like an hour passes, but in reality, it’s only been a few seconds.”

“So, when you stare at me, you really are analyzing me,” Shouta deadpanned.

“Yes,” Midoriya admitted. “All Might told me to keep One For All a secret, but in the months I’ve had it, he hasn’t given me any useful advice on how to control it. As a teacher for heroics, I was assuming you would be a much better teacher for me. I’ve been analyzing you to see if I could trust you with this secret.” He paused a moment before continuing. “I’m sure you can tell that I have decided to trust you.”

Chapter Text

Izuku left Aizawa-sensei’s office feeling lighter than he had at the start of the day. He was making progress with One For All, sure, but he wasn’t arrogant enough to think he could truly master this quirk on his own. He may have studied Quirk Counseling as a hobby, but he wasn’t licensed – he was sure Aizawa-sensei was, though.

“Young Midoriya, my boy!” Izuku turned around at All Might’s voice. “I thought you had already left!”

Izuku faked a smile at his mentor and shook his head. “Not quite yet. I had a meeting with Aizawa-sensei.”

All Might seemed to pale slightly at that. “You had a meeting with Young Aizawa? My boy, surely you know better than—” he cut himself off and glanced around. Seeing an unused meeting room, he guided Izuku into it. “You didn’t tell him about One For All, did you?” he asked.

“Of course I did,” Izuku said easily. “He noticed that my control of the quirk was much different from what it was at the entrance exam, and he asked.”

“Young Midoriya, I very clearly instructed you to keep this a secret!” All Might exclaimed. “I’m very disappointed in you.”

“I don’t understand why this has to be a secret from Aizawa-sensei. He’s been teaching hero students for years, helping them improve. He wouldn’t be able to adequately teach his students if they kept secrets from him,” Izuku pointed out.

All Might’s face was turning red in anger. “That was not your decision to make! You deliberately disobeyed me!” All Might took a breath to steady himself and calm down. “It is clear I made a mistake in giving you One For All. If you’re not able to follow simple directions, then you were clearly not the correct choice.”

Izuku quirked an eyebrow at him. “What do you mean?”

All Might held out his hand. “You are not worthy of this quirk after all. Please return it.”

Izuku tilted his head. “You have been less than optimal when it comes to guidance on controlling the quirk,” Izuku said flatly. “I have had to figure out how to use it completely on my own. I need to progress faster, and I believe Aizawa-sensei is better equipped to help me.”

“That’s no longer a concern for you,” All Might growled out. “You are to return my quirk at once.”

Izuku activated Deep Analysis just to give himself a few extra moments and just stared at All Might. He was really demanding the quirk back just because Izuku had reached out to someone to get help with it? Was he really that petty?

And while he’s at it, if All Might wants the quirk back so badly, why hasn’t he just taken it back already? He’s got his hand out demanding it back, but what would happen if Izuku just said… no? Would All Might just snatch it back? How? Pull his hair out? Hmm, that doesn’t sound right. When he gave the quirk to Izuku, he had to pull a hair out on his own. It’s probably something that has to be passed on willfully, otherwise the quirk might just disappear while brushing his hair.

So, if that’s the case, then All Might can’t just take the quirk. And if Izuku says no, then there’s probably nothing All Might can do about it.

Izuku dropped his analysis state and tilted his head the other way, ready to call All Might’s bluff. “If you want the quirk back so badly, then take it, but I’m not going to just hand it over.”

All Might growled at him. “One For All cannot be forcibly taken,” he admitted.

Izuku let himself smirk. “Well then, it seems you’re going to just have to live with the fact that I’m the new holder and there’s nothing you can do about it.” All Might opened his mouth to say something, but Izuku continued over him. “You have been a terrible mentor so far, the only advice you’ve given, and I use that word very generously, is to ‘clench my butt cheeks and yell smash.’ When I did as you instructed, I broke three limbs. Furthermore, you didn’t even think to try to work with me in improving my control before school even started. I had to suggest the extra training in a quirk gym.”

Izuku was still a little bitter about that. “As I started to understand this quirk, you tried to push me to go faster, to be reckless. If I had done as you instructed, I could have irreparably done damage to myself. I agree my progress is slow right now, but I am being safe. If you had any realistic ideas on how to improve my control, maybe I wouldn’t have had to bring in anyone else to help, but you don’t. Furthermore, I know you have people who know about the quirk, people you trusted with the secret. Why can’t I have people of my own?”

“Because it’s not your quirk!” All Might snarled at him. “It’s mine!”

“The moment you gave it to me, the quirk became mine. You have no right to request it back simply because I am using my resources to get help in controlling it when you failed to be of any use.” Izuku walked to the door and placed his hand on the knob. “I don’t want to end the relationship we have, Sensei. I admire you as a hero.” His gaze turned hard as he stared at All Might. “But I will not allow you to force me into unsafe situations just to cater to your pride.”

With that, Izuku walked out of the meeting room and headed home.

~*~*~*~

Inko dabbed at a stray tear with the corner of her apron, the familiar sting in her eyes blurring the already blurry image on the TV. It was a rerun of some hero documentary, the kind Izuku used to devour with wide, sparkling eyes. Now, he barely glanced at the screen, his attention seemingly fixed on a worn notebook balanced on his knee.

It had been a year. A year since the spark in her son's eyes had dimmed, replaced by a stoicism that chilled Inko to the bone. It had started subtly – less tearful breakdowns over hero analyses, a newfound spring in his step that wasn't there before. He'd even started going out for "runs," returning sweaty and breathless, a sight that would have made her faint a year ago.

The biggest change, though, was UA. Izuku, her Izuku, applying to and even getting accepted into their Hero Course! How had her fragile, little quirkless boy gotten in? He was supposed to be a doctor or a lawyer! Even his joy at getting accepted felt… forced. Like a practiced performance, it had felt wrong, a cold efficiency replacing the years of fervent, hopeful tears

A practiced smile.

The thought sent a fresh wave of panic through Inko. She stole a glance at Izuku, his brow furrowed in concentration as he scribbled something in his notebook. A forced smile, practiced until it became a mask? Was that what she was seeing?

Her heart ached for the boy he used to be, the one who wore his emotions on his sleeve. This new, composed Izuku was a stranger, a version she didn't recognize. She missed her baby boy who relied on her. She missed the times Izuku would get home with bruises and his uniform singed, needing her for help and comfort. She never pressured him into telling what happened because she adored the way he would look at her like she was his entire world. But ever since the day Katsuki had been attacked by that villain, her son had changed.

Inko forced herself to take a deep breath. She had to reach him somehow, bring back her darling boy. But how? She wanted the very best for her son, but he was determined to get himself killed by going into Heroics. Why couldn’t he just listen to her? If he would just do as she told him, he’d be happy! Truly happy, and not this act he’s started performing.

She didn’t know how long she could keep this up.

~*~*~*~

Izuku pulled on his hero costume with a grimace. His mom had insisted on making his first hero costume and Izuku couldn’t think of a way to say no without hurting her feelings. He was already well aware of the fact that she was starting to freak out about how he was acting, he didn’t need her to get all emotional about him refusing her ‘support’ of his dream.

So here he was, in a simple pale green jumpsuit with bunny ears.

As he walked out towards where the rest of the class was gathered by All Might, Izuku wished he had seen this monstrosity before the deadline passed to submit a costume design request. He still submitted it, but it won’t be ready for a few more days. So he was stuck with this for now.

“They say the clothes make the pros, and you zygotes are looking good!” All Might called out to them. “Now, as I said earlier, today we are doing battle trials!”

Izuku was barely paying any attention to All Might’s directions for the battle trials. It was as stupid an exercise as he was. Someone was going to get hurt, especially with them being sorted by lots. He could only hope Bakugou was put against either himself or Todoroki, since Izuku didn’t think anyone else would be able to counter him very well, and ‘restraint’ isn’t a word in Bakugou’s vocabulary.

When Iida’s name was pulled to be Bakugou’s partner, Izuku hummed thoughtfully. The boy was in head-to-toe armor, so he should be mostly protected if Bakugou decided to go feral. He was probably the best person, aside from Kirishima, to work with the explosive blond.

After her name was pulled to be Izuku’s partner, Uraraka came over to him. “Hi Deku-kun! Looks like we’re going to be able to work together with this!”

Izuku winced. “Please don’t call me that. My name is Midoriya Izuku.”

She looked at him with a crestfallen expression. “Oh, I heard that blond boy call you Deku and so I thought that was your name?”

Izuku shook his head. “No, he calls me that as an insult. ‘Deku’ means useless.”

“I thought it sounded like Dekiru, you know, you can do it!” Her smile got brighter as she said that. “I think it’s cute!”

“That’s nice. I still would prefer you not to call me that,” he said bluntly. He had put up with the name Deku for years, but he was not going to put up with it anymore, not if he had the chance to finally be done with it.

“Oh, okay.”

And she looked so sad at that, Izuku couldn’t help but add on, “If you really want to use a nickname for me, you can call me Midori, or even Mido.” He’s mostly emotionless, not a monster.

Her expression lit up, but before she could say anything, All Might started to announce which team would be up against which.

“For the first round, the villain team will be Iida and Bakugou, versus the hero team of Midoriya and Uraraka! Villains, your ten minute prep time starts now!”

Izuku already knew that Bakugou would target him instantly, so there really wasn’t a point in trying to do much strategy. Walk in the front door, wait for Bakugou to rage, then keep him occupied while Uraraka went for the bomb.

But.

“Hey, Uraraka?” Izuku asked, looking at the fire escapes along the side of the building. “How do you feel about entering from the top floor instead of the bottom?”

~*~*~*~

Katsuki stood off to the side of the front door to the building, just waiting for stupid Deku to enter, when the exercise was started. He wasn’t stupid, though, so while he kept most of his attention on the door, Katsuki also patrolled the rest of the first floor, just in case Deku broke a window or something and came in that way.

This wasn't hero training anymore. This was a fucking perfect opportunity, a chance to finally prove his dominance over Deku in front of everyone. Perfect for setting a trap, for catching Deku unaware and reminding him exactly who was superior. This Battle Trial would be perfect for getting Deku to finally realize his place at the bottom of Katsuki’s boot. The silence was thick, broken only by the ragged rhythm of his own breath, or the rustle of the wind outside. Every tiny noise in the building sent a jolt of anticipation through Katsuki. He could practically feel Deku's nervous energy radiating from down the hall, the perfect prey about to walk into his snare. A cruel smirk played on Katsuki's lips. This wouldn't be a fair fight. This would be glorious.

He had left Engines up on the fourth floor to wait with the bomb just to keep him out of the way. Deku was his to take down, and Katsuki was going to enjoy making Deku beg for mercy.

Except it’d been almost a full minute now, and the freak still hadn’t come in. The front door hadn’t opened, and none of the windows had been smashed open. Katsuki growled and walked to the door and looked out. The loser should have come in by now, but he wasn’t there.

“Shit!” he cursed. “Deku!!” He must have found another way in!

Wait, didn’t his partner have some kind of floaty quirk? Fuck!

He darted back inside and ran up the stairs. He had to get to the bomb before stupid Deku did! No way was he going to lose to that freak!

Katsuki was almost to the third floor when All Might’s voice rang throughout the building, “Hero Team wins!”

HOW THE FUCK DID DEKU MANAGE THAT?!

~*~*~*~

Izuku almost felt bad for Bakugou. The blond was practically trembling with rage at having lost his match without ever getting to throw a single punch.

To be clear, Izuku did not feel bad.

But he almost felt bad.

“Can anyone tell me who the MVP of this match was?” All Might called out.

Yayorozu raised her hand, and when All Might called on her, she answered, “It was obviously Midoriya. While Iida did try to get his partner to cooperate with him and plan a strategy that could work, Bakugou completely ignored him and went to the first floor to patrol the entrances. Uraraka was able to remove her gravity so Midoriya could carry her as he jumped to the fire escapes, but she wasn’t able to maintain it for long. Knowing they didn’t have long before Bakugou figured out their plan, Midoriya quickly made his way to the room where Iida had the bomb, and he managed to get to it before Iida was able to react. It was Midoriya’s quick thinking and planning that led to their team’s victory.”

It was very slight, there one second and gone the next, but Izuku saw All Might frown slightly at Yayorozu’s explanation. She was, of course, completely accurate, but All Might wasn’t happy about it at all.

“Fucking Deku cheated!” Katsuki screeched. “He was supposed to come in from the bottom floor so I could beat his ass!”

Bakugou wasn’t happy about it either. Izuku just smirked at them both as the next team got started.