Chapter Text
A nine-year old Midoriya Izuku stumbles into the forest during the beginning of school break, and disappears from everyone’s view. His mother is aside herself with worry, his childhood friend masks his concern with rage. He still blames himself for losing him in the forest – a stomping ground for him and yet little quirkless Deku gets lost, because of course he does.
And then, three days after Izuku’s tenth birthday, he comes stumbling back out, blood staining his face, a flock of crows watching from the trees, and a purple, glowing stone clutched in a hand, pressed against his chest.
(After all – what is a vision if not ambition recognised by the gods?)
(What is the eternity that Midoriya Izuku seeks?)
---
“So you were hiding a quirk this entire time?” Katsuki practically yells at him, and Izuku takes a step back, the wooden sword he got from the local Adventurers’ Guild to practice with disappearing in a shower of golden sparks.
“No – it’s not like that,” Izuku protests, bringing his hands up to defend himself. “It’s a vision, it’s completely different!”
“Hah?” Katsuki yells, explosion popping from his hands, and that’s when the teacher steps in – an abnormal occurrence, but expected, given what a vision means in this day and age.
It is no longer an age of gods and monsters, but everyone knows what the weight of a vision means. “Bakugou-kun,” the teacher says, pulling Katsuki away from Izuku. “That’s enough. No quirk use during school hours.” She then turns her gaze to Izuku, whose hands had drifted to the vision at his hip. “Izuku, I know you’re excited to show people your…powers, but try not to use them during school hours as well.”
Izuku nods his agreement, and he finally drops out of the defensive stance he took during Katsuki’s yelling. Katsuki scowls, and storms off. The teacher sighs, and walks off as well. There’s been an increase of paperwork – with the appearance of Izuku and his vison.
The local Adventurers’ Guild’s guild-master and a representative from the Tenryou Commission – a body separate from the Hero Public Safety Commission, working with the police as a liaison for all Vision-holders in the country – had dropped by the school and told them what to expect, and several documents to add to Izuku’s academic record.
There was no need to treat Izuku differently – he is still quirkless, but still…
For a child to be recognised by the Electro Archon herself – it brings a certain level of fear for what would happen if they harmed that which is under a god’s watchful gaze.
In the trees, on the school roof, on the window sill, the crows make eye contact with the teacher. She swallows her fear, and gestures to everyone to head inside.
---
Izuku still spends his school years lonely.
It’s not that people don’t want to be friends with him – people come up to him to ask, and try, but he’s perceptive enough to know. He’s got a vision – it’s similar to why Katsuki has people flocking to him once he revealed his ability to create explosions in his hands.
A vision isn’t seen as inherently heroic – only a few heroes had ever gained a vision, and none of them were All Might. Izuku finds himself returning to his notes anyways, scribbled pages years old, and worn with age, about the Dandelion Knight in Germany and the wind that surrounded her blade, and the White Crane that roamed the mountains in China, ice clinging to her fingertips, among so many others. The list is rather short.
Most Vision-holders these days have their ambitions lie elsewhere. One of Izuku’s seniors at the Adventurers’ Guild is content to wander the world, the general of the Tenryou Commission is content with her position. A vision is never seen as an inherently heroic thing. It’s a powerful thing, to be noticed by the archons, but it is not an inherently heroic thing.
And yet – Izuku thinks, he could be a hero with this power anyways.
--
“Are you applying for UA?” his senior, Kazuha, asks, as he leans against a doorframe and watches as Izuku writes in answers on the application sheet in black ink, carefully making his strokes as neat as he can. “Did you know that the Adventurers’ Guild would be happy to sponsor you?”
“Would they?” Izuku asks, pausing. “Like a recommendation?”
Kazuha shrugs. “I think so?” he pauses and then frowns. “You’ve been bunking at the Guild more often, Midoriya-kun. Is everything…?”
The unspoken question goes up into the air. Kazuha’s made it clear that Izuku can talk to him about whatever, no matter what the topic may be. Kazuha might not know the intricacies of growing up Quirkless, with his Quirk of being able to hear what nature whispers to him, but Kazuha’s a good listener either way.
Izuku is silent before he says “I got into another argument with my mother. She’s not happy with the commissions I take during break and on weekends.”
Kazuha raises a single eyebrow. “She isn’t? I thought you said she was glad?”
“At first, she was,” Izuku explains, swiftly spinning around in his chair to face Kazuha. His bed is still unmade, in comparison to Kazuha’s neatly folded sheets. “But you know how I keep taking more combat oriented ones so I have some experience fighting before UA’s entrance exam? She keeps telling me I shouldn’t put myself in so much danger, and that I could just keep doing the ones that keep me within Musutafu.”
“The ones where you just help the locals with chores?” Kazuha asks, and Izuku nods.
“We got into a big fight about it, and I got fed up and left. I’ll probably go home by the end of the week either way.”
“You know I don’t mind having a roommate.” Kazuha says, taking a seat on his bed. The Anemo Vision pinned to his scarf gleams in the afternoon sun. “You can stay as long as you like.”
Izuku fiddles with his fingers. “It’s just…I know my mother means well, but…after I got my vision, she just treats me like I’ll disappear one day.”
“She think you’re going to go adventuring?”
The crow outside the window bobs it’s head, and stares resolutely at the UA application form, half-finished in Izuku’s steady hand.
Izuku stares out the window, his eyes meeting the crow’s, his hands settling into his lap. “She thinks I’m going to get myself killed.”
---
Drowning alive is a new experience for Izuku, seeing as he likes to keep his fights away from water, if only to not electrocute himself and the fish. But the sludge villain is relentless in trying to get it’s sludge down Izuku’s throat, so Izuku –
-raises a hand, crackling with electro –
- A hero appears, yelling “I am here!”-
-and Izuku punches the fumbling ball of Electro right into the villain’s eye.
The villain screams as Izuku pulls himself out of the sludge, sword forming in his hands before he notices the hero punching the sludge villain into chunks, splattering them all over the underpass. Izuku squints at the hero, wondering why he looks so familiar. And then it clicks.
“Oh,” Izuku says, staring at the blond hero who still has his fist hanging in the air. “You’re All Might.”
When Izuku was younger, he adored All Might. He wanted to be just like him, no matter what. But after those months he spent wandering the forest, looking for a way out…whilst he still admires the man, there were other things to worry about that the fanboy attitudes had to take a backseat to other issues.
The crow at the entrance of the underpass watches. Izuku’s sword still sparks, sitting limp in his hand. He realises he’s still holding a weapon in the presence of All Might, so he hurriedly dismisses his blade, and shakily gets to his feet. “Thanks for saving me,” Izuku mutters as he watches All Might cram the villain into two empty soda bottles. “Sorry for the trouble,”
“Nothing to fear my boy,” All Might boasts, finally screwing the bottle shut. “I was just doing a hero’s duty!”
“And that you were,” Izuku says, before remembering and pulling out a notebook and a pen. “Before you go though, mind signing this?”
“Hero analysis?” All Might reads, as he opens to a fresh page and begins to sign. “You want to become a hero, my boy?”
“It’s my ambition,” Izuku says, gently taking the book back. “Ever since I was 10. Even if I was quirkless.”
All Might pauses. “Quirkless? But then, the lighting…”
“I have a vision,” Izuku explains easily, dismissing the notebook and pen back into his inventory space. A much safer place to hide them, a place where Katsuki couldn’t get to them even if he tried. “The Adventurers’ Guild would have excused it’s usage even if the police got mad at me.”
“I see,” All Might replies, and he turns to leave before Izuku calls out to him.
“Also, what’s with the Abyss lingering around your left side? Have you gotten that checked out?”
---
All Might kidnaps him, hauls him to a rooftop, and explains a scar and the dangers of Hero Work.
Izuku just respectfully disagrees, tells him that if not for those acting then what good is a hero other than a police officer with a brand deal? Danger is a given. He’s been on commissions that have been worse.
And when All Might leaps away to drop off the sludge villain at the local police station, an explosion pierces through the air.
It doesn’t take much for Izuku to burst forth in a flash of purple lighting, leaving the air smelling of ozone as he goes. And when he lands, skidding across the tarmac, he sees:
Bakugou Katsuki, drowning in sludge.
All Might, shrunken, having used all his hours and unsure if he can act.
Four other Pro Heroes, standing by, unsure of how to proceed forward.
Katsuki meets Izuku’s eyes, and Izuku always had a penchant for saving people, no matter who they are. Electro bursts around his feet, and Izuku moves.
As fast as the lighting his vision is known for, Izuku manages to cut through the sludge and grab onto Katsuki, punching though and dragging his childhood friend fellow classmate away from drowning alive. There’s still Electro bursting around his feet and across his fingers as he yells “Just do something already!”
The heroes move, and then it is over.
---
Kazuha comes to pick him up, rather than his mother. That’s expected – his mother is working late hours again, so Izuku just rattled off Kazuha’s number instead, and the paramedics didn’t ask any questions. Katsuki glares at him the entire time, his anger silent for once as Izuku pays him no mind.
“Ready to go?” Kazuha asks, and Izuku just nods, too tired to say anything else.
They take a left, instead of a right. They miss All Might entirely.
---
Izuku receives a commission on Saturday – a man named Yagi Toshinori needs help clearing a part of Takoba Municipal Beach Park. The pay was good, and Izuku was taking a break from dismantling Hilichurl Towers, so he accepts the commission without too much thought.
He should have given it more thought, when he arrives and finds All Might standing by the garbage. He pauses at the top of the steps, staring down at the shrunken form of All Might standing next to the piles of trash.
“So, Yagi Toshinori, is it?” Izuku calls out, and Toshinori turns to face him. “Where should I start?”
“I’m sorry my boy,” Yagi says, sounding sheepish. “The commission really was just an excuse for us to talk.”
“You could have just asked for me at the guild,” Izuku says, pulling a pair of gloves on before hauling himself up atop a broken washing machine. “Would have saved you the costs of a commission. And would have at least guaranteed that I would have come instead of someone else at the guild.”
“Ah, well,” Yagi says, rubbing at the back of his neck. “I didn’t think this far.”
There’s a silence that follows, before Yagi continues with “I think I should apologise for my words on that rooftop. Everyone should have that chance to be a hero, it’s just…”
“No, I get it,” Izuku says, waving a hand, as if to dismiss Yagi’s words. “It’s harder for a quirkless person because they don’t have a foot in the door.”
“Well, you’re proving that wrong, aren’t you?” Yagi asks, and Izuku shakes his head.
“No, I’m not the kind of hero I wished 5 year old me could see. Where a quirk is a biological thing, no one knows the criteria for a vision. I’m still quirkless, sure, but that doesn’t change the fact that by some metric or another, I have access to something that the gods deigned me worthy to use. It’s a similar thing.” Izuku explains. “I think I would have resented me.”
“For what reason?”
“Mm…Something like: “Why does that quirkless person get a vision, but not me?” or something similar.”
“I see. Well, we’re still straying a bit. I was about to make an offer, but…” Yagi begins, before pausing. “I’m not sure if I should still offer after that explanation.”
“Well,” Izuku says, gesturing. “Make it anyways. The worst I would do is refuse.”
“Well, I was going to ask you to inherit my quirk and become my successor, but,” Yagi trails off, and Izuku winces.
“Yeah, I’m not accepting it. You barely know me. Why not try someone else?” Izuku asks, and Yagi winces.
“An old…sidekick has offered someone to inherit it, but…I’m reluctant to ask.” He explains, and Izuku frowns, but doesn’t pry. He doesn’t need to dig into this any further, as much as he wants to – it’s clearly a personal thing.
“Well, since I’m here,” Izuku says, hopping off his washing machine. “I still need to help clean the beach. If I don’t get the commission sheet signed, then I’m going to get in trouble.”
---
The 10 months before the UA entrance exams fly by quickly. Izuku double downs on his combat commissions, dismantling hilichurl towers and rerouting treasure hoarders away from the city’s borders. After all, heroes rarely deal with the threats that lie outside of the city.
The crows continue to give him intel. They whisper to him about the Abyss, about the bogeyman of the underground, about the truth of quirks and their connection to unstable leylines.
Izuku, after all, is a good swordsman, and a better adventurer.
He’s always been a damn good adventurer.
Doesn’t matter in the end though – he has one last fight with his mother, one that does end up with a screaming match – uncharacteristic of the Midoriyas, but Izuku lost that part of him in the forest years ago – and Izuku had quietly just gathered his belongings and signed on to be a long term resident of the Adventurers’ Guild instead of his on-and-off contract he originally had for during school breaks.
Izuku’s anger has always been quiet. He doesn’t slam doors; he doesn’t storm around.
Izuku’s anger has always been a little sad. He closes doors gently, wanders around like a ghost. His anger leaves him cold.
Kazuha had taken one look at him, and made him go to bed.
---
The written exam was easy to get through – writing answers have always been easy. Some of the ethics questions threw him off – but he had experience with others, so nothing too harrowing over all.
The real problem was the practical portion. Izuku never took up on the offer of a recommendation position from the guild – preferring that he took his own direction on becoming a hero. He doesn’t regret the decision, never in a million years, but that does mean that the person sitting next to him is one, very irritable Bakugou Katsuki.
Ever since the sludge villain incident, Katsuki has been…well, not distant, but certainly…confrontational.
Every day, after school, he would ask Izuku to fight him. No holds barred, lightning against explosions. And every time, without fail, Izuku would politely decline and then sprint towards the exit of the school. When the school break started, it slowed down enough that Izuku could plan his routes to his commissions without encountering one very angry Katsuki. After his fight with his mother, he stopped seeing him entirely.
And now, in an attempt to not say anything to Katsuki, Izuku forms electro into a shapeless, staticky orb, and proceeds to push and pull the thing until they let them go to the exam area. He’s glad they’ve been assigned to two different examination areas.
“Oi, nerd,” Katsuki mutters under his breath as Present Mic gesticulates wildly about the robot smashing. “You still owe me a fight,”
“No,” Izuku says, his voice succinct, and jabs the orb into Katsuki’s side. Katsuki quietly swears, and tries to lunge for Izuku’s throat.
“And you two!” a voice suddenly calls out, and the two of them pause in their fighting to stare at the glasses-wearing boy who glares at the two of them. “If you think this is a time for fooling around then it’s best you don’t dare try for the exam to begin with!”
Izuku blinks. Katsuki blinks. “Yeah, okay, sorry,” the both of them say – Izuku’s sorry more reserved whilst Katsuki’s apologies sound forced. They both return into their seats, and don’t interact for the rest of the briefing.
---
And when the zero-pointer looms over Izuku, sword in hand, a path of sliced up robots behind him, and a blond boy trapped under rubble in front of him, the choice he makes is hardly a choice at all.
There is Electro covering his whole body as he makes his way up the zero-pointer, and it takes a simple stab into its head and a yell that brings forth enough Electro to overload the gigantic metal beast.
And just like that – the exam is over.
---
---
“So, what do you think of this year’s applicants?” Nedzu asks, his paws pressed together. “We sure have an interesting range of future students!”
Shota is frowning at the screen, and then points to an image of a green-haired boy, his file marked with a mitsudome in the corner. “Why does this student’s file got a mark on it?”
“Oh yes, I forgot you tend to never see these kinds of students!” Nedzu says, clapping his paws. “This is Midoriya Izuku, and he is this year’s only vision-wielding heroics student!”
“There are other students with visions, aren’t there?” Nemuri asks, tilting her head as she drags her own copy of Izuku’s file closer to her. “I remember Haitatsu-kun is still in his second year, isn’t he? Pyro is what is marked on his, isn’t it?”
“Well, yes,” Nedzu says, nodding. “But he opted for General Studies, didn’t he?”
Midnight hums her acknowledgement, and nothing more.
“So why single him out?” Sekijiro asks. “Why single any vision-holder out?”
“It’s a request made by the Hero Public Safety Commission, really,” Nedzu explains, looking back at the files. “They don’t like pawns they can’t control.”
“Pawns they can’t control?” Toshinori asks, his gaze pausing over the mitsudome. “Is it because all vision-holders are under the jurisdiction of either the Tenryou Commission or Adventurers’ Guild?”
“Seems you’ve done your homework, Yagi-san! Yes, it is for that reason. They think if they can watch them like this, it’ll give them a semblance of control over them.”
“Never worked,” Shota mutters, frowning. “Isn’t Arataki still active? He never seemed to be bothered by the surveillance by other heroes.”
“That is true,” Nedzu says, nodding. “In line with this, Midoriya-kun is technically a member of the Adventurers’ Guild as well, so he’s got a few different permissions in regards to hero work, Aizawa-san.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Shota asks, brow furrowing. “Are you seriously putting him in my class?”
“Well,” Nedzu says, grinning with all teeth, and none of the docility expected of laboratory animals. “He did pass the entrance exam with flying colours after all!”
---
---
The school day at UA, typically, starts at 9 in the morning. The school gates open at 7, and Izuku manages to make his way in at 7:10 AM, eager to explore the grounds he was going to wander for the next three years.
He finds a good number of things. One is a statue of the seven, deep in the woods of the UA, covered in vines and moss that Izuku spends some time just staring at, gazing at the neutral face of the Electro Archon, wondering why she had chosen him to obtain a vision, among countless others. The other thing he finds is his own classroom. No one in there yet, so Izuku reads the paper tags with people’s names until he finds his own, and slides into his seat.
He then summons his notebook from the place where he keeps his swords, pulls a pen from his bag, and begins to write.
---
The other kids in his class, for the most part, are nice. Katsuki picks a fight with Iida Tenya, the boy who called them out during the entrance exam. Kaminari Denki comes sliding to his side, rocking on his heels, thanking him for saving him from the Zero-Pointer, and giving him enough electricity to jolt him out of his short-circuited state.
It’s nice. Still makes Izuku the outlier though. He mumbles his answers – says a few words. He kicks the back of Katsuki’s chair when he starts shouting, and hurriedly shuts up when he notices the yellow sleeping bag at the door.
You don’t stay alive when you don’t stay aware of your surroundings.
“Eh, Midoriya? Why are you all quiet all the sudden?” Kaminari asks, and Izuku gestures to the door.
“Our homeroom teacher is here.” He explains, pointing to the yellow lump on the floor. “Make of that what you will.”
---
Fitness evaluation goes as expected. People are allowed to use their quirks (or vision, in Izuku’s sole case) and the person who is placed dead last will be expelled.
Izuku is good at speed – Electro is famed for this kind of thing – and so he easily outpaces Iida in sprints, and lasts a good while in marathons. Strength is harder – a swordsman he may be, but he has always prioritised speed over anything else. When his turn for the ball throw arrives, Izuku rolls the baseball between his hands, and thinks of an answer.
Katsuki had thrown the ball with an explosion and a yell. Uraraka had simply let go, and the ball floated away, never to be seen again. There were creative applications of quirks that Izuku could see, kinds that he notes down before dismissing his notebook out of Katsuki’s sight.
As for Izuku…he infuses the ball with Electro and throws.
He gets a good 400 meters. It’s not a bad score, all things considered. He’s placed in the middle of the pack, and no one is expelled in the end.
Their homeroom teacher, Aizawa, Eraserhead, whichever is easiest, tells him to head to the principal’s office after class. There are some…circumstances that need to be discussed.
---
“As you were made aware,” Nedzu begins, meeting Izuku’s gaze with his own. Shota leans against the wall near the door, and Yagi sits next to Izuku, in lieu of his mother. “You are our only vison-wielding heroics student this year. In addition, you are the only student who is also a long-term boarder of the Adventurers’ Guild.”
“Is…that an issue?” Izuku asks, shrinking in on himself. Nedzu shakes his head.
“Not particularly, but I just want to make sure: We are to contact Kaedehara Kazuha in the case of emergencies, and if not him, then Katheryne of the Adventurers’ Guild, then if neither are available, then it’s Furuya Noboru, who is the guild-master. Is this correct?” Nedzu asks and Izuku nods. “Curious, that your mother isn’t on here.”
Izuku shifts in his seat. Yagi places a hand on his shoulder, a show of support, and Izuku takes in a deep breath. “I…my mum and I had a fight. I stormed out of the house, and now I lodge at the Adventurers’ Guild. She works long hours too, so Kaedehara-senpai said to just put him down as an emergency contact instead.”
“I see,” Nedzu says, pressing his paws together. “With that out of the way, I can talk to you about the other issue presented to us.”
Izuku shifts again.
“Midoriya-kun,” Nedzu begins, “A part of the permissions you received is that if any Abyssal Activity happens on the grounds, no heroes are allowed to interfere, and only you or the other vision-holders in other grades can act. Now the other two students haven’t told me, seeing as they aren’t often in combat, but now I must ask you.”
“About why the Abyss falls on us?”
“Precisely.”
Izuku frowns, electro crackling around his fingers. It’s only static, he knows this, but the tingles calm his nerves. “Did you know,” Izuku begins, and the crows flock around Nedzu’s windows, one daring to fly through an open one and landing on Izuku’s knee. “That quirks are not the product of genetics?”
---
---
Quirks are the products of unstable leylines – The closer that someone is born near the unstable leylines, the higher chance that someone will develop a quirk. Of course, if the parents both have a quirk, then that can play some factors into it, but it’s mostly a product of the leylines. In my case, I just got unlucky – I’m quirkless, but some might say that’s a blessing, rather than a curse.
A person with a quirk will always be more at risk to Abyssal Poison. If you ever have the misfortune to run into one of them, you would know. Abyss Mages are the weakest, Rifthounds are somewhere in the middle, and Abyss Heralds and Lectors are the strongest. Even so – your strongest hero would succumb to an Abyss Mage within seconds. A person with a vision would survive, a quirkless person would hold out longer than a quirked person, so that is why the Tenryou Commission and the Adventurers’ Guild would rather that any Abyssal activity would be handled by us.
So the explanation would be…?
A normal hero would die. You’d rather that we handle it, then anything else.
---
---
“Ah, a moment, Midoriya-shonen,” Yagi calls out to him, and Izuku pauses in his steps. The hallway is blissfully empty of students – less to see whatever exchange that happens between the two of them. “I wanted to ask if you think anyone in your class…”
“Hold your…legacy?” Izuku says, the words stilted. “Honestly, I don’t know much about any of them other than Kacchan – and he’d refuse point blank.”
Yagi hums, the sound neutral. “In all honesty, I’m rather reluctant to put such a burden on a child.”
Izuku turns to lean against the railing that lines the windows of the hallway. “It’s a good mindset to have, I think,” he begins, his fingertips pressed together. “Your legacy is a pretty heavy thing to hold up.”
“And yet, I am running out of time,” Yagi mutters, staring at his hands. “What other choice do I have?”
---
The USJ incident is as follows:
A few hours in, a different kind of rift opens up, and Izuku wastes no time darting forward, letting the steel of his sword pierce between the eyes of the emerging Abyss Mage. Lighting strikes the ground as Izuku zips between enemies, Kazuha’s words of where to strike for faster kills rising from the depths of his memory. One of his crows had already flown towards the Adventurers’ Guild. He’s heard that Tenya has already sprinted towards the main building of UA.
‘No!” says the main villain, Shigaraki Tomura, glaring at Izuku as he dispatches the last of the Abyss Order that had arrived. “They said no one here had one of those cheat items!”
Izuku pauses, sword still in his hand, crackling with electro. “Who is ‘they’?” he asks, eyes narrowing. “The Abyss Order?”
But Shigaraki is not listening. He is shouting about “cheats” and “unfairness” and sicks the Nomu on Izuku.
The Nomu is easily the size of a Mitachurl, perhaps taller. What it lacks in an axe or a shield, it makes up for raw strength. What it lacks in an ability to think, it makes up for regeneration and shock absorption, if Shigaraki’s speech is anything to go by. Izuku dodges at the last second, Electro bursting at his feet. He can hear Aizawa croaking at him to run. Izuku ignores it for another dive to the side, as the Nomu charges at him again.
The crows are cawing even louder now. Katsuki, and other classmates that Izuku doesn’t have the time to place names to faces appear, and Izuku still is trying not to get hit.
And then the doors burst open as Izuku skids across the ground, and there is All Might, standing at the top of the stairs, gritting his teeth as he forces out “I am here.”
---
Detective Shikanoin Heizou handles his interrogation of the USJ siege, rather than Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa – Shikanoin cites that because Izuku was mostly handling Abyss Order troubles, it would be better if Shikanoin handles this line of questioning. Tsukauchi, who’s like of Shikanoin merely extends to “a tolerated co-worker” does not leave the room.
“Man alive, you aren’t going to leave me alone, are you?” Shikanoin teases, as he sets up the tape recorder. “I don’t need a human lie-detector, but I guess you can stay if you want to.”
“Your intuition may solve many cases, but don’t forget it’s also made me more paperwork then I can handle,” Tsukauchi snipes back, setting his hat on the table.
“I’m just a great detective!” Heizou says, smirking. “At least I don’t need a quirk to solve cases. Unlike a certain someone.”
“You liar you said your great intuition is your quirk!”
“Are you going to question me or not?” Izuku asks, cutting into the arising argument. “Or should I just wait until General Kujou gets here instead?”
Shikanoin pales, and shakes his head. “No need to go to that extreme, let’s begin! Can you recount the siege to us? Leave no detail out of it.”
Izuku takes a deep breath, and speaks. He talks of getting trapped in the Flood Zone – Tsuyu and Mineta with him. He speaks of electrocuting the villains in the water. “They aren’t dead,” Izuku reassures. “I made sure of that.”
Izuku mentions the Nomu – the sort of blankness it had when fighting, as if it was following orders and nothing more. “It stank of the Abyss – like someone took Abyssal Poison and shoved all of that into its body, whilst keeping it locked on top of an unstable leyline.”
“Did your crows say anything?” Shikanoin asks, and Izuku frowns.
“Just that the Nomu is a result of someone fiddling with the Abyss, but otherwise nothing else.”
Shikanoin hums, drumming his fingers. “Well then, continue.” He says, urging with his hand.
Izuku speaks of All Might appearing, of him battling the Nomu. “Shigaraki mentioned that he didn’t expect anyone with “one of those cheat items,” which I expect to be in relation to Visions? He said someone told him that.”
“Did he tell you who that someone was?” Tsukauchi asks, and Izuku shakes his head.
“No. I asked if it was the Abyss Order, but he wasn’t listening. It was like he was stuck in his own head.”
They let him go after that, and Kazuha picks him up and takes him back to the guild.
---
A sports festival announcement is made, Izuku makes sure that he has a wooden sword for the event that he registers as a support item, and Katsuki continues to hound him for a duel.
And then – they’re boxed in.
“So this is the infamous Class 1-A that faced villains. I’d hate to say it, but I’m not impressed,” a voice drawls out, cutting Katsuki off from calling everyone an extra. “They say if a General Studies student does well enough in the Sports Festival, they can be transferred to the Heroics Course. And if a Heroics Course students does incredibly badly…well.”
The purple haired boy that stands in the doorway stares at all of them, his gaze never lingering on any one person, but certainly challenging anyone who dares to meet his eyes.
Izuku knows the implication. He also knows that’s not how it works, but he keeps his mouth shut, and open’s the other door to the classroom to sneak out, now that someone else has Katsuki’s attention. Izuku simply melts into the crowd, and you wouldn’t be any wiser to his existence if you took a glance at the crowd surrounding him.
---
“Midoriya,” Todoroki Shouto suddenly says, standing in front of him, and Izuku pauses in his final check of his bokken, his finger running along the blunt edge of the wood. His looks up at Todoroki, and tilts his head slightly.
There’s a faint hum of electro in the air. Kaminari starts subconsciously rubbing at his elbows, twitchy. There are faint sparks coming from his hair.
“Is there something I can help you with, Todoroki-kun?” Izuku asks, dismissing his sword with a flick of his wrist.
Todoroki mulls over his words. “Objectively,” he begins meeting Izuku’s slightly confused gaze with his own cold one. “I am stronger then you. I could ice you over in an instant.”
“Hey now,” Kaminari says suddenly, frowning as he puts himself between Izuku and Todoroki. “Midoriya was the one to take out those…Abyss monsters. By himself. He isn’t weak at all.”
Izuku presses a hand to Kaminari’s back. “Kaminari-kun, I got this,” he whispers, and then pushes himself towards Todoroki. “What is the point you’re trying to get at, Todoroki-kun?”
“An archon noticed you. All Might notices you.” Todoroki grinds out, and the hum of electro in the air becomes louder. Kaminari’s fingers twitch. The lights flicker. “Despite that, I’m still going to crush you today.”
Izuku is silent. The hum of electro finally disappears. The lights stop flickering. Kaminari’s hair no longer sparks.
“You know,” Izuku says suddenly, his gaze steady. “When Cryo and Electro meet, the reaction is known as superconduct? Supposedly it attacks your ability to resist physical hits, and the cold.”
Izuku pauses, as if collecting his thoughts. “If you are not careful,” Izuku continues, electro running across his arms. “then you will find that this reaction will not be in your favour.”
---
The obstacle race is passed without too much issue – Izuku’s spent years running through forests and fighting on unstable ground. The calvary battle isn’t much of an issue either, having Uraraka Ochako, Tokoyami Fumikage and Hatsume Mei on his team. He had spent time learning how to form shields out of Electro, fending of attacks as he went.
There was a flicker of flame from Todoroki though, and Izuku suspects that’s why they’re standing in an empty hallway, away from eavesdroppers.
“Midoriya,” Shouto begins, staring at his hands before looking at Izuku. There’s a solid beat, before he goes “I was going to ask if you were All Might’s secret love child, but I can’t really see any reason why you would be.”
Izuku doesn’t dare interrupt.
“But you were noticed by an archon,” Todoroki continues, his gaze dropping to the Vision at Izuku’s hip, gleaming purple in the shadows of the hallway. “Which means beating you would be tantamount to challenging a god’s decision.”
“Todoroki-kun, that’s not how it works,” Izuku gently corrects. “Who knows what the criteria for receiving a vision is.”
But Todoroki isn’t listening, his gaze still on Izuku’s vision. “I swore to never use my left side, and yet you forced my hand.” He says, finally looking Izuku in the eye. There is a silence and then:
“My father is the number two hero, Endeavour. You would have heard of him.” He begins. “Did he pay you off to force me to use his fire?”
Izuku shakes his head. “I might be an adventurer, but Endeavour rather he had nothing to do with us. I can promise you that.”
Todoroki frowns, his gaze cold. There’s a chill in the air, and it is only Izuku’s own electro that hums in the background that counteracts it. “Tell me,” Todoroki begins. “what do you know about quirk marriages?”
---
---
For all the ambition my father had – he has never once been favoured by the gods.
So he pursued a different way to surpass All Might. There was an arranged marriage between my mother and him, and they continued to have children until I was born – a perfect blend of two quirks, a blend of fire and ice. When my quirk appeared, he trained me relentlessly. I hated that part of my childhood – and I hate what he did to me.
My mother was a kind soul. Maybe she was too kind, for a family like the Todorokis. She said my left side was unbearable, that it reminded her of Endeavour. She broke down, and poured boiling water over my left eye.
I guess my father didn’t like his wife ruining his creation – she was put in long term care at a hospital, and the incident was covered up the best it could be. All my left side ever does is hurt people. So I swore to only win with my right – my mother’s quirk.
I swore to never use my father’s side, never again.
But that’s not how quirks work, right? Isn’t it your power, wholly separate from your parents?
What would you know, Midoriya?
---
---
Todoroki leaves with a threat. The crows watch from the tree line.
“So, Kacchan,” Izuku calls out, turning to face the boy, half-hidden by the wall. “What did you think of that?”
Katsuki scoffs, scuffing his boots against the ground. “Why should it matter to me? If he doesn’t come at me full force, then I’m killing him, and then I’m fighting you.”
---
His first fight isn’t against Todoroki, thankfully. His first fight is against Shinsou Hitoshi, the purple-haired boy who made his war declaration to them all those weeks ago.
When the match starts, Izuku keeps his mouth shut. “So, what’s it like, being favoured by the Electro Archon herself?” Shinsou asks, and Izuku does not answer. Ojiro warned him after all. Brainwashing that was activated by a verbal response. It truly does not matter either way, when it comes down to what a vision represents.
It’s not being favoured. It’s simply being noticed. Was his vision for wanting to be a hero despite being quirkless? What makes him different to the boy in front of him?
Izuku dismisses his sword in a flick of his wrist. “Oh, so not even going to use your sword against the villain-quirk kid? Huh? Too good for that, is it?” Shinsou taunts, and Izuku bites the inside of his cheek to keep himself from speaking.
Instead, he takes a step forward. Another. A ball of electro forms in his hands. Shinsou visibly flinches back.
Izuku then darts forward, electro bursting at his feet. The ball of electro harmlessly melts away into the air, and Izuku plants his feet and throws Shinsou over his shoulder.
“Shinsou Hitoshi is out of bounds! Midoriya Izuku is the winner!” Midnight calls and Izuku offers a hand to Shinsou to haul him back up.
“In my own opinion,” Izuku begins, ginning. “You don’t have a villain’s quirk, despite what others say. And I don’t think you need a vision to reach your own ambitions either.”
“Well,” Shinsou says, giving a lopsided smile in return. “I’ll take your word for it.”
---
Sero gets frozen in a giant chunk of ice, and Todoroki wins by a landslide.
Izuku watches the grief and rage that rolls off of Todoroki as he melts Sero out, and Izuku fingers twitch, but only a bit.
---
The fight against Todoroki comes too quickly, in Izuku’s opinion. He spent most of the break in a call with Kazuha, trying to calm his nerves whilst Kaminari hyped him up, but as he stands opposite Todoroki on the battlefield, he thinks, quietly to himself “Todoroki deserves to be saved anyways, right?”
So when Todoroki sends that first wave of ice towards Izuku, cold and unforgiving, Izuku sends electro through it and it shatters.
The freezing air does no one any favours, but Izuku lunges forward, electro crackling around his wooden blade, and it slams into Todoroki’s hastily made defences of ice and rage. Electro crackles, and the icy shield shatters under Izuku’s unforgiving blade.
The song and dance continues. More ice shatters, melting under the sun as it breaks. The hum of electro steadily increases as sparks begin appearing in the air. “You can’t keep this up forever, Todoroki!” Izuku yells, as Todoroki sends more ice towards Izuku, the surges now more sluggish, slow. “You’re developing frostbite! Won’t you even use your left to regulate your own body temperature?”
The hum of electro is louder. The air around them drops several more degrees.
“Why do you care?” Todoroki basically screams, ice crawling higher and higher. “I swore to never use my old man’s fire!”
“Todoroki, where exactly are you looking?” Izuku asks, skidding across the concrete. “Todoroki, who exactly am I fighting?”
“You’re fighting-”
“You! Not your father! You have never been your father! You never will be your father! Your quirk, all sides of it, only belongs to you!”
The silence drops itself into the battlefield. The hum of electro is incredibly loud now.
And then, a spark, a flicker, and then Todoroki’s entire left side bursts into flames.
“You know, Midoriya,” Todoroki says, his grin feral. “You’re absolutely insane.”
Midoriya grins back, bokken tilted into a more defensive stance, electro flickering around him. “What can I say?” Izuku says. “I’ve always been one to meddle in problems that aren’t my own.”
Fire and lighting, Pyro and Electro, meet in the middle, and the reaction that occurs overloads the entire arena.
---
The rest of the festival passes by in a blur. Izuku yields after the giant overload explosion, citing that he doesn’t really have another wooden sword (seeing as his current one has just been reduced to charcoal and splinters) and that he’s not confident enough in catalyst work to continue on, so Todoroki moves on instead.
The only significant thing is that Iida is pulled away for something – a family emergency concerning his brother, and the crows all whisper to Izuku about the Hero Killer that now roams Hosu.
---
Izuku sees Kaminari off, the boy thanking him for giving him options on how to deal with the short-circuiting issue, when he feels a tug on the back of his shirt.
“Sorry,” Todoroki mumbles, looking sheepish when Izuku turns around to face him. “I just…I kind of want advice. Please.”
“…For what, exactly?” Izuku asks, confusion flooding his features. “Is there something wrong?”
Todoroki is silent, as if mulling over the words. “I kind of don’t…want to go home. The old man was pissed that I came second, and I don’t want to deal with him today.” He ends up saying, and Izuku frowns.
“Want to come with me to the Adventurers’ Guild? Maybe we can pick up a commission or two. It’s a Friday anyways.” Izuku offers, and Todoroki nods.
“Let me message my sister, and then we can go.”
---
“Ad astra abyssosque Midoriya-kun,” Katheryne calls out to him as they approach the front desk of the Adventurers’ Guild. Todoroki trails after him, staring up at the building. “Are you picking up your usual commissions? Also…who’s that behind you?”
“Oh, this is Todoroki Shouto! He’s a friend from school,” Izuku introduces, gesturing to Todoroki. “And I was wondering if we could just limit to two commissions today? Also, do you still have the temporary adventurer forms?”
Katheryne flicks though the stacks of paper, and hands over a form and two commission sheets. “Tell your friend to fill in the form and hand it to me, okay? And here’s your two commissions.”
“Thank you Katheryne-san!” Izuku says, and she smiles at his enthusiasm.
Izuku turns and hands Todoroki the form. “What’s this for?” he asks, taking the form. “Temporary Adventurer?”
“It’s so you still get paid when we do these commissions.” Izuku explains, as he lends Todoroki a pen. “And that you don’t get in trouble for quirk use.”
“Oh…so is the Adventurers’ Guild a hero agency?” Todoroki asks and Izuku hums.
“A little bit? We are allowed to use quirks and visions without getting in trouble, but we don’t have to do all the duties that a hero is expected.” Izuku explains, after taking back the completed form from Todoroki and handing it over to Katheryne. “Mostly the public hires us to do things the hero agencies won’t do.”
“Like what?”
“Mm, well,” Izuku begins, leafing through the commission sheets. “We’re dismantling Hilichurl camps today. Two different ones.” Izuku grins, showing the commission sheets to Todoroki. “You probably won’t see a hero going out of their way into the forest to do that. There’s no media presence there.”
---
“You’re choosing hero names today,” Aizawa explains before situating himself in a corner. “Midnight’s helping you not embarrass yourself in the process.”
The hero names pass by quickly. Some people are told to try again, some people are told that theirs is fine. Todoroki and Iida go with their given names, and Katsuki is told go sit down and try again after “King Explosion Murder” was immediately vetoed.
When it is Midoriya’s turn, he holds his whiteboard up and Midnight mouths the characters that make it up. “Boltstrike? It’s an interesting name, and I approve! Got a backstory for it?”
Izuku shrugs. “Those in the Tenryou Commission typically just go by their last names, and those in the Adventurers’ Guild do so as well. I figured this was just the easiest to yell across a battle field.”
Izuku is sat back down, and Katsuki goes again. Unfortunately for him, “Lord Explosion Murder,” is immediately vetoed. Katsuki grinds his teeth in anger as they start discussing hero internships.
“I wonder,” Izuku whispers, leaning over Katsuki’s shoulder. “What happened to ‘Explode-Might’?”
“Shut the fuck up, you asshole,” Katsuki mutters, scribbling all over his whiteboard. “You don’t know shit.”
“Hey Midoriya!” Kaminari exclaims, skidding to Izuku’s side as he leans away from a fuming Katsuki. “Where are you interning?”
“Ah well, you know how Aizawa-sensei said we can take offers or go with UA’s listings? And if neither of those work, we can go to the Adventurers’ Guild? That’s what I’m doing.” Izuku explains, stowing sheets away. “It’s easier for me, and the commute is easier too.”
“Huh,” Kaminari says, looking at the list. “well, as long as you have fun, I guess. Although what’s with this warning thing with the guild?”
“Ah, yeah, the guild master was talking about it.” Izuku says, tapping the warning. “We got a bunch of bounties and stuff from Hosu related to the Hero Killer, and we were told that no temporary guild members were allowed to take any commissions or bounties that were based in Hosu. So I could take it, sure, but someone like you wouldn’t be able to.”
“I mean, I guess that makes sense,” Kaminari agrees. “Don’t want us students getting caught up in that.”
---
On a whim, Izuku takes the Hero Killer bounty. Well, actually, Uraraka asks him to take the Hero Killer bounty, because she’s worried that Iida was about to do something stupid like take an internship that’s located in Hosu specifically to hunt down the Hero Killer. Either way, Izuku takes the Hero Killer bounty. Kazuha tells him to be careful, and that he would accompany him except he has his own bounty to do – an assignment in Hokkaido to find out information on a band of pirates – so Izuku is on his own as he searches the streets of Hosu.
There is a yell, a scream. Izuku is already sprinting towards the location, and soon enough, he is blocking a sword strike with his own.
Steel against steel, and the Hero Killer Stain gazes at him, as Izuku shifts his body to protect Iida and Native more easily. He tells the crows to find anyone nearby to get help. His phone has already pinged a location, but the crows have always been fast.
From there, it is a dance of steel and electro. Iida tells him to leave, Izuku tells him to shut up. Stain attempts to monologue about his want of ridding the world of false heroes, and only the true heroes and vision-holders may remain.
And, well, Izuku has never been one for monologues. Electro bursts at his feet, and he strikes again, trying to be careful enough to not get hit. There’s a flicker of orange in the corner of his vision, and Izuku immediately hits the ground.
The alleyway lights up in a blaze of fire.
“Midoriya,” Todoroki says, as a crow caws victoriously from Todoroki’s right shoulder. “You have to elaborate in your texts more in times like this. If it wasn’t for the crows, I would have been late.”
And then, in tandem, the two of them face off with Stain.
---
When they hand Stain off to the Pro Heroes, and Izuku gets his bounty sheet signed, a Nomu appears and grabs him by the shoulders, fully intending to fly him away somewhere.
Izuku, who still had his sword in his hand, immediately swipes at a wing of the Nomu, before driving the blade right into it head. A spray of blood follows and when Izuku plunges to the ground, his sword burying itself into the broken and cracked concrete, there’s blood running down his face and soaking into his hero costume – green and purple and strikes of white all stained red and brown.
“Don’t worry too much,” Izuku mutters, as the corpse of the Nomu collapses onto the ground. He stands up from his crouch, dismissing his sword in a shower of sparks, flicking the remaining blood away as he does so. “None of the blood is mine.”
---
The final exams arrive, and Izuku tutors Kaminari. It was a natural thing – Kaminari asked, and Izuku said “sure”, and so the two of them were in one of the common rooms of the Guild, and as they are taking a break from Izuku breaking down geometry problems, Kaminari asks “So, you don’t live with your parents?”
Izuku is silent. “I had a fight with her last year,” he ends up explaining, and Kaminari immediately puts his hands up and starts waving them around.
“Wait, hold on you don’t need to tell me! I was just speaking my thoughts out loud dude! You don’t need to air your dirty laundry out to me!” he exclaims, and Izuku catches Kaminari’s hands with his own.
“It’s okay,” Izuku says quietly. “I don’t really mind.”
“I’m serious though,” Kaminari says, not pulling his hands away. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
Izuku shifts. He keeps his hands clasped over Kaminari’s. “When I came back from the forest with a vision and the crows, my mother spent the first few weeks fretting on whether or not I was going to disappear again. She thought that I had given up on hero work, and that the vision was for a different ambition. She was wrong.
“I signed up for the Adventurers’ Guild because my mother was worried I wasn’t making friends. It’s how I ended up meeting Kaedehara-senpai, but also… I got taught how to use a sword. The crows taught me some, Kaedehara-senpai refined the technique further. I started taking more combat oriented commissions, ones that take me out of Musutafu. That’s when we started arguing.
“She’s always wanted me to stay. I’ve always want to be on the frontlines and save people. In her eyes, she still sees me as her quirkless son, but I have a vision! I could defend myself! I could be a hero with this power!
“Last year, I got into a fight with her, 10 months before the UA entrance exam. We yelled at each other, stuff about how I can take care of myself, she saying how she knew what was better for me. It got stifling. I left, and signed on as a full time boarder at the Adventurers’ Guild.” Izuku finishes speaking, his voice sore.
The silence sits between them. “Do you want a hug?” Kaminari asks, and Izuku nods. Kaminari gently pulls his hands away to snake his arms around Izuku, pressing Izuku’s face against his shoulder.
“I might not be that smart, or like, cool,” Kaminari begins, and Izuku reaches up to grab at the back of Kaminari’s shirt. “But you can always come to me to vent, if you want, yeah Midoriya?”
Izuku mutely nods against Kaminari’s shoulder. They spend the afternoon like that, textbooks momentarily forgotten.
---
---
You can call me Izuku.
Really? Well, my only request is that you call me Denki in return, okay?
---
---
Izuku’s practical is that he is paired up with Katsuki to fight All Might.
“We have a better chance of passing if we don’t fight,” Izuku suggests, and Katsuki has none of it.
“Fuck you,” he mutters, and runs off to fight All Might. Izuku sighs, and follows behind. They nearly die for their troubles, and it’s only because Izuku grabs Katsuki by the waist and, with a burst of Electro, narrowly escapes.
Izuku unceremoniously drops him on the ground of an alley way, out of sight. “Are you done being stupid?”
“Tch,” Katsuki spits, wiping away the blood at his nose. All Might did punch him in the face after all. “When did you become so defiant?”
“That forest wasn’t very kind to me, you know.” Izuku says, head tilting. “You saw me stumble out.”
“And what happened to the Izuku that went in?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know, Kacchan?”
---
Izuku leads him through back streets and alleyways, and then they make a dead sprint for the exit gate.
They pass on a technicality. Katsuki’s never satisfied these days, but he accepts this result with an odd quietness about him. Izuku watches him out of the corner of his eye as they get healed and released to watch the rest of the practicals.
They say nothing to each other.
---
Summer camp is surprisingly uneventful for a while. There only major thing is Izumi Kota, a young boy who hates everyone else, but attempts to stick himself to Izuku.
“After his parents’ deaths, he hated all heroes,” Mandalay explained, as Kota keeps a hand curled around Izuku’s pant leg. “But then a vision-wielder that got targeted by Muscular detained him.”
“I know the story,” Izuku says quietly, because he does. He wasn’t a witness, but one of Kazuha’s friends was. Kamisato Ayato had taken Muscular’s threat with as much grace expected of the Kamisato clan, and the next moment, Muscular was half-dead, and Kamisato Ayato was flicking the blood off of his blade.
“Kota began to idolise vision-wielders. He read all about them too,” Mandalay continues, and Izuku casts his gaze down to the boy. “I’m not surprised he’s stuck himself to you. After all, it’s not everyday there’s a hero course student that is also a vision-wielder comes along.”
Izuku understands the circumstances. He continues to understand, when he has Kota behind him, an escaped Muscular in front of him, and his blade, sparking with electro between them.
It is a long and bloody battle after that. But when Izuku stands over Muscular’s cooling corpse, and Kota has buried his face into Izuku’s shoulder, he can’t help but wonder, despite it all.
But he can’t afford that now. He hoists Kota onto his back, and launches himself towards the lodge, before dropping Kota off and sprinting towards Mandalay. There was a message to send after all.
---
Katsuki gets captured. He tells Izuku not to follow, but Izuku was never good at following instructions. But as he sits in a room of the lodge, staring down Kujou Sara, the general of the Tenryou Commission, he wonders if he is going to get in trouble for what he did to Muscular.
“So,” Kujou begins, leaning across the table. “You killed a villain.”
Izuku nods.
“To be honest, you’re not in trouble. He’s got a “Dead or Alive” bounty with the commission, so you’re fine on that front. But it is your first kill, isn’t it?” Kujou asks, and Izuku wrings his hands.
“Sort of. I killed the flying Nomu at Hosu.” He whispers. He stares down at the table separating them. “I don’t regret it, killing Muscular. He could have just killed me if I didn’t. He would have killed Kota if I didn’t.”
“I understand,” Kujou says, leaning back in her chair. “For now, focus on your recovery before anything else, alright?”
Izuku nods. “Any word about…Bakugou?”
Kujou sighs. “No news so far. The heroes have a tracker and some rumours, and on our side, Doushin Shikanoin is looking into things. I’ll let you know if something comes up.”
---
Izuku’s not sure how he ended up here, half hidden by a destroyed bit of wall, watching as All Might and All For One have their duel. He knows that Yagi finally passed his quirk on a few days after the sports festival to a senior named Miro Togata – but that hardly seems relevant.
To Katsuki’s credit, he’s doing well enough to dodge away from the blows that sometimes comes flying his way. Kirishima comes up with a half baked plan, Izuku refines it, and soon, Todoroki has an ice ramp made and Izuku’s pressing his feet to it, electro building under his feet. Yaoyorozu stands to the side, watching in careful anticipation.
“Remember to grab onto him,” Izuku mutters, and then they’re launched, Electro and Iida’s engines firing them off. Katsuki manages to grab Kirishima’s hand, and when they land, skidding across a rooftop, they make no hesitation to scramble away from the scene.
A bolt of purple lighting cracks across the sky when they make it to a square that had the fight happening on giant screens and Izuku feels all the hairs on his neck stand up.
“No way,” he mutters, staring at the screen. “She hasn’t been seen for centuries, so why…?”
“Midoriya?” Todoroki asks, a hand on his shoulder. “What’s wrong?”
Another flash of purple lighting. A roll of thunder. And soon, a woman appears, her braided hair gleaming purple, her eyes cold and severe.
Izuku knows this person. After all, she’s the one erected on the Statute of the Seven on UA grounds.
“Who…who just appeared?” someone asks and Izuku has his eyes glued to the screen as he watches his archon approach All for One, as All Might kneels on the ground, watching her move past him without a word. A sword, one Izuku recognises as the Musou Isshin, from the history books that had illustrated the blade, that now rests in her hand.
Izuku never thought he would ever be able to witness the Musou no Hitotachi being performed ever in his lifetime, but he guess he was wrong.
“You are an enemy to eternity,” the woman states, stalking forward with careful, measured steps. “Enemies to eternity must be eliminated.”
“Who are you?” All for One asks, shouting his question across the battlefield. The archon takes no acknowledgement of his question, simply continuing her approach. He sends out something towards her, but it is easily deflected with a simple flick of the archon’s blade. For all the power that All for One holds, what could he do in the face of divine lightning? What could he do, in the face of the divine punishment that he brought onto himself?
“Midoriya, who is she?” Todoroki asks, his fingers digging into Izuku’s shoulder. Katsuki reaches out to grab Izuku’s forearm, with a hissed “Nerd, who the fuck is that woman?”
“Midoriya-kun,” Yaoyozoru begins, her eyes glued to the screen. “It couldn’t be the…no…the textbooks say she all but disappeared when quirks began to appear. Midoriya-kun, is it truly…?”
“The God of Thunder and Eternity, the one known as the Narukami Ogosho” Izuku begins to answer, unable to look away. His voice trembles as he speaks, watching the beginnings of an execution. The beginnings of an archon’s divine punishment against those who dared to threaten her eternity and her nation. “The Electro Archon herself, the Raiden Shogun.”
The Shogun lifts her blade. There is a slash, a crack of thunder, the sky darkening for a single blow.
And then – it is over. All for One collapses and turns to ash and dust. Thunder rolls over his death, and The Shogun dismisses her blade in a flash of purple lighting.
“I…I can’t believe it,” a news caster whispers, her voice trembling, barely audible. Normal people have never been in the presence of gods before, and since the rise of Quirks, their Archon has never been seen for veritable years. “That…whoever she is…she just killed that villain in one strike! Not even our current heroes could do such a thing! Just…who is she?”
---
---
“You truly don’t know the name of your god? I’m quite disappointed.” A voice calls out, and the Hero Public Safety Commission’s president pauses in her reaching for the phone. Hawks, who was standing in the office as well, jumps back, feathers ready to attack. Before them, a pink haired woman stands, fox ears coming out of her head, an electro vision hanging from one of them “Oh don’t bother. You know that won’t hurt me.”
“Who are you?” The President demands, retracting her hands, and the woman only laughs.
“You could call me Guuji Yae, if that makes you feel better,” the woman chuckles, a hand covering her smile. “Or you might call me Yae Miko. I wouldn’t really mind either name.”
The President’s hands curl under her desk. Yae only smiles in her amusement. “Why are you…do you know who the woman that just killed that villain is?”
“Ah, you heroes, always so stuck in your division of good and bad,” Yae says, disappointment colouring her voice. “Even to go as far as to forget the name of your god. She’s protected this land for quite some time now, you know.”
“Tell me her name, Guuji Yae.” The president spits out, and Hawks steps back further, pressing himself against the wall. He might be a hero, but even a hawk will not cross a kitsune if he can help it. The message from here is clear. The president is on her own in this matter.
“Well, she’s the Raiden Shogun of course – didn’t you know?” Yae states, smiling. “If you think you can arrest your god like that, then you must be quite foolish indeed.”