Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It's been ten hours since Izuku got his body back from En, and five hours since he's been released from both the infirmary and police custody.

He went to sleep soon after he got home, his school having allowed him to stay there for the remainder of the week upon his mother's insistence.

He and the vestiges were all talking about the possession, speculating what may have gone wrong and the older ones even sharing stories of their own possession accidents.

"It's not unusual" Yoichi replied to Izuku's question "We" he gestured towards himself and his spouses "used to get stuck in each other's bodies all the time when we first figured out we could possess each other. Bruce even got stuck possessing Hikage's corpse a few hours after he died"

"It wasn't exactly a fun experience" Bruce clarified.

"I remember that" Banjo recalled, a mix of laughter and discomfort coloring his voice "I almost passed out from the panic, thinking that my mentor came back as a zombie"

En's stifled giggle could be heard from the direction of his throne, taking the attention away from other's amused expressions before Hikage spoke.
"It may sound funny, but it was really worrying to witness. We could feel Banjo's panic echoing through the void for hours before he finally fell asleep"

Everyone's laughs and smiles died after that.

"Wait, but didn't he know about the void?" Nana asked from above them.

"Hikage told me about it" Banjo confirmed "But back then I didn't have One for All for long enough to enter it, let alone see third's spirit oozing out of his body"

"Banjo, I already told you, it's not oozing" Hikage intercepted in an exhausted yet stubborn tone.

"Then what is it supposed to be?" Banjo challenged "Because it looks a lot like oozing to me"

"Oozing is liquid"

"Not necessarily"

"Wait, guys" En interrupted "How long did Banjo even have One for All back then for him to not have been able to see third's aura?" He said the last word carefully.

"A little over a year" the fifth answered.

The sixth frowned "I could already see you guys's light and smoke around me when I was a year in"

"That's because the quirk was stronger and more adaptable when you got it" Yoichi explained "It advances and develops as time goes on. It's why seventh was able to start coming here in her sleep when she only had it for less than a year, while it took you two years to fully connect with the void"

The first turned towards the golden mist figure in the space "It's also why eighth was capable of connecting with us so early and of finding a way to keep parts of this connection active even when awake"
His gaze turned to the green eyed teenager sitting cross legged on the floor "And how ninth can communicate with us even outside the void"

The original wielder turned back to the sixth vestige "Back in our time, Kudou and I couldn't even interact with one another until he died, and Bruce was only able to get through the fog portal after five years of struggle"

"The majority of which he spent every night naked and squirming, by the way" Kudou added, pointing towards the pillar of black and green smoke rising out of the sea of multi colored fogs intermingling beneath and around the throne room.

"Says the guy who just sat there and laughed" third retorted, though there was no malice in his voice, only mild annoyance.

"We tried to help you for three years" Kudou reminded Bruce "If we could have done something, we would have. But we couldn't, and you weren't deteriorating or going anywhere. So yeah, I laughed, when it was deserved"

"Like when?" Izuku asked, actually curious.

"Like when he got himself arrested for shoplifting, even though he was doing it for years. Or when he got a haircut from someone he didn't know for the first time and decided to never cut his hair ever again" he smiled at the memories, reveling in the sounds of laughter coming from the other vestiges.

"It couldn't have been that bad" Hikage said, sure he would have seen that memory by then if it was.

Bruce turned to look right at his successor, and with a completely humorless face said "I looked like a crazy anime girl. He had every right to laugh"

Banjo and Nana's small laughs turned to cackling howls as En and Izuku let themselves loose as well, though not as loudly.

Hikage didn't laugh, but he did let out a small chuckle and giggles at the image Yoichi manifested before them; of a Younger looking Bruce wrapped in shadows, an annoyed expression on his face, and the combination of eighth's raggedy morning hair shape and a barbie doll haircut done by a three year old flopped onto his head.

Bruce and Kudou remained the same; amusedly annoyed and smugly entertained.

At that moment, when most of the vestiges were too amused to open their eyes, All-Might's mist form started shifting, its features slowly becoming more defined as the man's physical body fell asleep, allowing his soul to fully enter the void.

"Did I miss something?" The Pro-hero's voice echoed in the void.

Laughter soon died down as the vestiges acknowledged their eighth's arrival.

"Nothing particularly interesting" Nana replied "Just second and third teasing each other"

"Third apparently had a manic pixie dream girl phase" En added, pointing towards the still present holographic illustration before them.

Toshinori couldn't help snorting out a laugh.

Bruce smiled "Just wait until I tell you guys about Kudou's phases" he turned to look at his old childhood friend and spouse "Or Yoichi's, for that matter"

"I don't mind showing you, if you guys are interested" Yoichi smiled softly, always willing to indulge his successors and loved ones.

The night went on with them having several good laughs before returning to fun possession stories and speculations after All-Might asked Izuku how he felt, indirectly putting them back on track.

It was only an hour before morning, after All-Might had already left to get ready for work, commenting about Eraserhead killing him if he's late again, that realization struck Izuku.

"Wait" ninth called out in the middle of a poker game, remembering something he'd overlooked before "Why didn't you stop possessing my body when Aizawa-sensei activated his quirk?"

The sixth vestige shrugged "I don't know. Maybe our souls combined?" He joked, this time intentionally giving the kid ideas; this was actually an interesting question.

"Is that even possible?"

"Not sure" En replied, before facing the other players and occupied thrones "Guys?"

They all either shrugged or shook their heads. Even Yoichi didn't have an answer; they truly were entering uncharted waters if the forefather himself didn't have a clue.

"Now that I think about it" Hikage spoke up as he pushed a tower of chips forward "I was still able to use Danger sense when Eraserhead wrapped his scarf around us, even though it usually goes away when he uses erasure"

"So his quirk didn't work?" Kudou asked.

"That depends" Hikage turned to En "Did you feel it"

"I don't know. Maybe? I'm not sure" he admitted, using smoke to cover his cards "But I was able to use my smoke when fighting the cops, and Eraserhead was there so there's a good chance he used erasure and I just didn't notice"

"So, what" Banjo spoke, pushing forth his own tower of chips "Eraserhead's quirk doesn't work on us when we're possessing the kid?"

"It could be that because he needs to see the user of the quirk he wasn't able to nullify it due to it being En, who is dead, and also a ghost, and he probably can't see ghosts so his quirk is registering the user as me-slash-my-body and therefore only disabling One for All but not smokescreen because that's En's quirk and En didn't register at the time, but then-"

"Okay, kid" Kudou cut him off "Can we just get the summary, please?"

A small blush appeared on ninth's face "Right, sorry. What I meant was that erasure probably didn't work because it only saw me and the base form of One for All as my quirk, while En and the rest of us in the void were invisible ghosts, each using their own quirks outside of One for All"

"So if we possess you, he won't be able to erase the quirks we originally had. Did I get that right?"

"Theoretically, yes"

"And do you want us to test that theory?" Yoichi asked, knowing their ninth was a curious cat, but one far too cautious to chase satisfaction without a push.

It was fascinating how a kid could be so confident and brazen in the field yet too scared to spare his other passions a try, and it was oh so heartbreaking to see that conflict of mind and past hurt taking over his adventurous joys of life.

The kid seemed to think it over, struggling against his curiosity and worry over and over again before finally relenting "Yes, please" he admitted defeat to his undying curiosity.
It was good to know that he still had a passion strong enough to overcome that blockade of pain and trauma.

"Very well" he turned to his first partner "My hero, would you like to go first?"

The man let his own curiosity slip through the cracks "Gladly" he turned back to the kid "Anything you want to do before we start?"

"Yes!" He let out with a dash of panic and determination "Eye contacts. And scripts" he looked at En "You can't go around calling Kacchan Bakugo-san, I'll get arrested again"

All but one laughed.

"I panicked!"

After a few seconds of laughter, Yoichi spoke up "So it's settled, then. We'll start next week. Is that okay?"

Izuku nodded. The card game already forgotten as his mom's voice was heard through his pillar of mist.
He was about to wake up to a Friday, so he could only assume Yoichi meant the week after the one that was about to start; giving him around ten days and nights to get everything ready.

The ninth got up, leaving his cards and chips on the floor to turn to dust, and started walking towards his small pillar.

"And make sure you get a slingshot on your supply run, the high quality ones" Kudou added before Izuku left to the waking world.

He nodded once more. It was probably for the second's quirk.
It was going to be a very long week; so much to prepare.
He couldn't help but feel excited.

Chapter Text

Izuku spent almost the entirety of that weekend either asleep, meditating, or dissecting the memories he watched in the void; analyzing his own behavior, quirks and interactions in order to create a reliable script.

But as he realized just how many people he knew and interacted with on a daily basis, along with how many variables — such as his usual attitude and old habits — he had to account for, the concept of a script quickly turned into that of a detailed guide about his opinions, nicknames and overall demeanor towards and around every possible person, environment and situation he could think of.

He tried using a notebook at first, but there were too many details and far too many people to fit in just one group of notes.
Not to mention the topic of space and accessibility; as the vestiges pointed out, this information will need to be carried around and ready for the possessor to use at all times; and not only did Izuku not have enough room in his bag for both the hefty amount of added notebooks and his school supplies to fit, but they were also difficult to use when in need for certain details.

Furthermore, the excessive notebooks could actually raise other's suspicions as they won't even be able to write in them like he often does when taking one out.

They needed a new plan. An easy, unnoticeable as possible way to store, access and carry the information with them wherever they go.

They went through several ideas before finally deciding on a phone; a phone was compact, easy to carry, password protected and allowed them to compartmentalize information into distinguishable sections using files and sub files, which could be expanded upon over time, labeled by category — Schools; UA, Villains; L.O.V, etc — and subject — Schools; UA; Teachers; Eraserhead/Aizawa-sensei, Villains; L.O.V; Toga Himiko, etc —.

However, they unfortunately couldn't use Izuku's personal phone, since it didn't have enough storage room to contain all the notes and, according to All-Might, might be monitored by the school, as Nedzu apparently used the school's required app to monitor both teachers and students for suspicious activity.

All-Might bought Izuku a new phone that weekend; one of those expensive, highly durable ones often sold to Pro-heroes and people with either destructive or strength related quirks.

The teen tried to go for a cheaper, more affordable option, but both All-Might and Bruce insisted on him needing the stronger, more durable model.

The other vestiges agreed, reminding him that it needed to stay on them at all times, including training and battle, and suggested that they get even more things, just to be sure.

"Besides, it's not like we're only using eighth's money"

"What do you mean?" Whose money were they using if not the only living working adult's?

Well, apparently, since they couldn't afford to tell anyone about their quirk or form any social support net to help them with the emotional and mental struggles of receiving it, the previous One for All users decided to open up a foreign bank account and add their successors as beneficiaries and later on co-owners so that they'll at least have a financial safety net to fall back on when things get tough; it even saved Banjo from homelessness.

The kid asked All-Might and the man confirmed it to be true, and active; informing his successor that he was already announced beneficiary when he accepted the quirk.
He was even working on getting him a credit card for exactly these types of situations — Yoichi's quirk experiments and emergency supplies —, but was held back due to Izuku's age not yet meeting the requirements of the country's international banking laws.

Izuku wanted to find out more about this 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 revelation, but was stopped by none other than his mentor telling him that they should wait until they're alone to talk about it.

In his head, Izuku heard Banjo's voice imploring him to let it go, saying that they'll be adding the account, along with 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 that Izuku wasn't aware of, to his new computer once they get back to the dorm.

The teen didn't even get the chance to ask what he meant by 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑟 before his body started moving on its own, taking him to the laptop section while his mentor was looking through different portable servers with the third and seventh vestiges guiding him.

Izuku was left with no choice but to accept his fate as the older ghosts and Pro-hero all but raided the mall.
At least he didn't have to feel guilty for buying exclusive hero merch, since Yoichi already bought more than a month's rent worth of All-Might merch on his own.

Izuku returned to the dorm in the late evening with over ten shopping bags, filled with everything from new clothes and eye contacts to military grade electronics with quirk enhanced encryptions from the black market — which raised questions he refused to answer —, and so much more.
He even got nail polish, though the entire color palette and nail care kit was more so Yoichi and Nana's idea than it was his. And hair products, which his mom was very happy about.

He was supposed to return to school the next day, but seeing as majority of the stuff he got were for the experiment and needed to be at the school — where Eraserhead was — with him anyway, he decided to just give his mom the bag of gifts he got her and bring everything else to the dorm with him to be sorted out another day, when he actually had the energy to do so.

He didn't even bother eating dinner — he already ate more than enough at the mall —, nor did he bother taking a shower before falling into bed.

He may not have done anything particularly tiring, per say, but having seven ghosts who barely indulged in anything for over a century excited about buying new things at Japan's biggest mall that has literally everything, going in all sorts of directions like they were children with unlimited money at a candy store, all while being confined in his mind would certainly take a toll on anyone.

At least he didn't suffer alone. Nor was he the only one who ended the day with enough clothes and trinkets to last a century.

When he entered the void, the first thing the vestiges did was apologize to him.

"We may have gotten a little carried away" Yoichi apologized sheepishly, looking particularly embarrassed.

"We got too excited about indulging in something normal and fun that we forgot to mind your mental state" Nana added, looking between him and Mist-Might; her pseudo son was probably still awake, judging by the mist's undefined characteristics.

"We got carried away and went too far" Kudou admitted, very obviously not used to having to apologize for his behavior. Which was funny, since he, Bruce and Hikage were the most tame out of the group.

In all honesty, Izuku didn't care. He had fun, even if it was exhausting; he learned more about the others, got everything he needed to prepare for the experiment, got enough new clothes to last a lifetime, learned that his monster curls could actually be tamed into braids and apparently reach his neck when relaxed and coiled properly.
He also learned that they were apparently cool with him having connections with criminals as long as he wasn't hurt, and to never take En to a shop selling long coats and loose hoodies without a budget ever again.

Finally, after the round of apologies was over, Izuku settled down on the floor at the center of the void; he didn't have a throne yet, it was still forming, and he didn't like seating in anyone else's, either; it didn't feel right.

Once he was comfortable and gave the first user the go ahead, Yoichi clapped his hands, asserting his control over the void and commanding it to shift as a vision of the past took over the space.

They watched as Izuku's past self interacted with and reacted to those around him, adding in both Toshinori's perspective and even some of the youngest's earlier memories, from way before he even received One for All.

It was truly amazing how versatile and intricate the quirk was when at Yoichi's hand; the man having used, possessed and studied every addition and user ever integrated into its nature down to perfection.

As the memories kept playing, Izuku started taking notes; of his behavior, his expressions, reactions, thoughts, anything he could think of.

He had Yoichi pause, rotate and switch the point of view more than once in every memory; every time he had something to write, they paused, lest he miss something in his haste to analyze the interaction.

The fact that Yoichi was able to show them all possible angles, including ones deprived from a source other than the user's eyes, of every single memory created after the inheritance of the quirk certainly made the expression and body language analysis a lot easier as well.

He unfortunately couldn't do so for memories before the merging of DNA, since neither the vestiges nor One for All's essence was there to watch him at all times and from all directions beforehand, but they were still able to see it through his mind and eyes, so it was still useful.

Once four thirty arrived, Yoichi restored the void to its base form, allowing Izuku to get up and return to his now restful body after handing the vestige the notebook.

Upon his return to the waking world, Izuku silently got up and stretched his limbs before turning to the carefully discarded shopping bags and gently taking out his newly encrypted phone, computer, miniature physical server, USB, and connecting cable.
He already put passwords and memory cards in both the phone and computer at the mall, but he didn't have the time to transfer the information on the USB to neither device.

He transferred everything to the computer first, making sure that the files he'd already copied from his notebooks were all still there, fully copied and organized correctly before doing the same with the phone.

Once he was done transferring all the old information and deleting it from his old computer, he meditated, calling upon one of the vestiges to relay what he wrote in the void that night so that he could copy the information to the devices at hand.

By the time seven thirty arrived, majority of his classmates were already awake and Izuku only barely managed to finish typing out all his notes, categorizing all the information, double checking both devices and closing the files before putting it all in his new computer bag, hiding it under his bed and sprinting out of his room and down the hall in hopes of being able to take a shower and eat breakfast before leaving for class.

He somehow managed to do all of that 𝘢𝘯𝘥 style his hair correctly in less than thirty minutes. Though, unfortunately, the rush didn't save him from the inevitable interrogation from his classmates regarding both the absurd amount of luxury goods and his new look.

He barely got a moment of peace between hastily eating, answering questions — lying —, and running to class after answering questions turned out to have been too long and distracting.
All of that going on while, in his head, he knew that he'll be reviewing these moments in the void in order to complete his guide.

What a great way to start the week.
He really missed being able to just sleep sometimes.

Chapter Text

As the days went by, Izuku made sure to find times during the day in which he won't be judged or punished for using his phone; a tip brought to him by Hikage, who also suggested he add a compartment for the device to his suit, just in case.

He also started taking walks around the school; not just to the places he usually frequented, but also areas such as the support course and general studies floors, as well as the fake cities and training areas often left unchecked outside of classes and training exercises.

While going to the fake cities, he also made sure to go to every training and changing area and look through every single crack and corner with more attention to detail than he's ever done before, making sure that he had enough visuals to give the rest of the vestiges a full tour of the school, as some admitted to needing it due to them ignoring what happens during majority of his school days.

Izuku and All-Might worked together to prepare for the worst; as they couldn't tell others about One for All and needed a plan in case things go south.

Nana suggested that they get Toshinori his own phone and notes, so that they'll be able to possess him for long periods of time, too, and form a backup plan in case something happens.
It would also allow them to communicate with one another when possessing, since the act was shown to disturb the void's connection with the mind when done for a long, uninterrupted period of time.

This caused their experiment plan and schedule to be delayed even more than it was before.

The vestiges and users even found time to train and find ways to manually return to the void after getting stuck in a possession; it was mainly reduced to either passing out, meditating or just simply going to sleep, all while activating One for All and finding the remaining of their mind's connection to the void.

It wasn't impossible to do on their own; after all, there would always be a part of them still connected to the void no matter what they do; it's how they managed to create the portal to bring En back in the first place; it's how the possession was still able to exist and persist to begin with.

Without the void, they would have already been in the afterlife. They were always connected to the void; they just had to train strengthening that connection while possessing in other ways besides channelling their quirks and souls into the vessel.

In the end, it took over a month for them to be ready to start.

In this month, Izuku discovered and rediscovered several things, such as all the support the previous users have laid out and created for their successors to use, along with all the precautions and failsafes they had in place, but one thing became extremely obvious; his predecessors were extremely thorough.

They put the bank account details and access in the new computer — which they all agreed belonged to the entirety of One for All —, which Izuku expected. What he didn't expect was them having safe houses and identity change contacts; apparently, hiding from All for One required a lot more work than simply keeping their quirk a secret.

They added some other things on there, too, which would more than likely lead any other person coming across the device to believe that it belonged to a criminal.

That being said, the fact that the resistance warriors from the dawn age of quirks had an emergency weapons warehouse didn't actually surprise him as much as it should have; he spent enough time with them to know that they didn't mind killing when necessary.

Izuku went into the void, allowing his soul to loosen all connections to the physical world as he transcended to the watching place of his predecessors.

All-Might was already there, speaking with his master and Yoichi when Izuku arrived.

He didn't call out to anyone, instead letting them finish the conversation as he manifested a notebook in his hands, going over the list of checks one more time.

Everything was finally ready; that night, they were going to go over everything one last time, making sure that they didn't forget anything before Kudou will be taking over his body, pretending to be him while testing erasure's effects on his quirk during possession.

Yoichi looked over All-Might's shoulder, noticing the green haired teen and greeting him with a smile before informing the eighth of his arrival.

The eighth user turned around "My boy" he called out; a term of endearment he'd given his successor for when they were alone.

He closed the distance between them and rested a hand on the teen's shoulder "Are you ready?" He asked, his voice much softer than what it was mere moments before.

Ninth's anxiety slowly began to dissipate as he nodded his head "I think so"

"Good. And remember, no matter what happens, I'll be out there keeping an eye on you every step of the way"

A grateful smile appeared on the kid's face "Thank you, All-Might"

He felt another squeeze of his shoulder, a small hug was soon shared between the two before Yoichi spoke up, calling everyone to gather around the throne room area so that they could go over the details one last time.

"Well, the guide is already finished for everyone, including eighth. So the only thing I really need to be careful with is my attitude and not calling eighth by his number, right?" Second made sure.

"And not calling Kacchan by his real name"

"Right"

"You'll also have two lessons with All-Might, so you won't have to worry about being called up to the board as much as the other students" ninth added, pointing out his deliberate day choice.

Second nodded "And the training exercise is in the seventh period" he repeated from memory.

"Yes" first answered this time "But we want to try having the possession on for as long as possible before the experiment itself, to see if we can make the quirk even stronger by making the user occupy the body for a long period of time"

Second nodded once more "Yeah, that's fine. I can handle high school for a couple of hours"

"Just try not to get annoyed with Kacchan like you usually do"

The older vestige huffed out a laugh "I'll try my best"

The conversation was stopped by Yoichi's hand clap "Good. Now, I believe the sun is about to rise soon" the oldest of them all announced, reminding them of the student's usual waking hours.

The second vestige turned to look at ninth "You already packed your bag with everything yesterday, right?" He asked, already getting up and heading towards the pillar of dark green mist.

Ninth nodded "And the contacts are in the hidden compartment inside the bag. I got extra, just in case"

"All right" and with that, Kudou left, possessing the body of their latest successor and taking form in the land of the living.