Chapter 5: Lending a Hand
Izuku felt weightless, as if he was adrift in an expansive ocean, going wherever the currents willed. His senses were numbed, but a sharp tingling in his fingers kept his mind racing. He could feel his body being swayed by a serene ocean, the wind softly ruffling his hair. The fresh smell of salt filled his nostrils. In the distance, he could make out the faint silhouette of land. It was an insignificant mound of sand no larger than a car, but it reflected the sun in a brilliant light. A beacon of salvation. Although he had never seen it before, Izuku felt inexplicably pulled towards it, as if it would heed his every need. The recurring waves of heat it produced were warm and inviting.
Mustering what strength he could, he began paddling his way to the shore. His muscles felt gelatinous and foreign as if his limbs were just puppets on a string. The weightlessness that he had been feeling worked against him as he struggled to gain any traction in the serene water. It didn't want him to leave. The more he flailed his arms and legs, the stronger its hold on him became. As he painstakingly neared the island, the calm of the ocean began devolving into agitated ripples. Izuku could feel the water beneath him as if it were alive. It didn't want him to reach the shore. The ocean offered tranquility, and it was being rejected for the coarseness of sand.
The ripples in the water grew to waves as Izuku felt his feet brush against an underwater surface. He was getting close. The island was only a few meters in front of him now, and the land's aura of hospitality flowed through him. A newfound vigor found its way to his muscles, allowing his movements to become solid. The water's waves were increasingly aggressive and worked feverishly to push his body away from his goal. As if caught in a riptide, Izuku felt his feet begin to slide from underneath him. Reaching out to the land, he solidified his footing and willed himself to break through the current's grip. All he had to do was put one foot in front of the other and march his way to the warm embrace of the island. The erratic waves clashed against his torso as he approached the boundary between sand and water.
With a dozen more steps, the waves were left behind, only able to nip at his ankles. The radiating heat of the sand fully washed over him. Izuku wanted nothing more than to fall forward and meet the ground face-first. As soon as his feet left the water behind, that is exactly what he did. He let go of his muscles and allowed himself to fall to the ground. During his descent, the edges of his vision dimmed and encroached inwards. The smell of saltwater became more citric and pungent. As his face converged with the sand, the world in its entirety faded to black.
Izuku's eyes fluttered open to darkness. A continuous beeping sound was the only sound he could hear. It was strangely familiar, but his groggy mind couldn't quite place where he had heard it before. He was sat up in a bed of some kind, but it obviously wasn't his own. His head felt light as a dull throb resonated in his skull. He took the chance to look around the room. There was a square desk to his right, accompanied by several chairs. Each chair had gift bags or flowers in it. Tied to the arms of one of the chairs were balloons. One of them read, "Get Well Soon!"
'Get Well Soon?' Izuku pondered. 'Why would I have balloons that say that?'
After a moment of thought, Izuku recalled when he first manifested his quirk. 'Ah. I'm in the hospital again. But what for? Is it another checkup with Doctor Ito?'
He whipped his head around to get a better view of the other side of the room. In doing so, Izuku made a horrific realization. No wonder his head felt lighter than normal. He couldn't feel his hair. He shook his head again. 'No, no, no. This can't be happening…'
Regardless of how strange his new environment was, he had to find out what happened NOW. There should've been a button somewhere to call a nurse in. Izuku's eyes caught a small glowing red button on the side of the beeping machine.
He went to push it but was met with a confusing lack of response. Beginning at the button, Izuku's eyes traced back to his right arm. His eyes went wide as he gazed upon the gap between where the button was and where a stump now resided. He felt his fingers go to the button, but his eyes were telling him that he didn't have fingers to begin with. He wanted to scream, but nothing would come out. Instinctually, Izuku waved his arm in disbelief, and the stump responded to his movements. He looked down and hastily inspected his arm in panic. It was mostly intact up to the elbow, then slightly beneath his elbow was a stump of unnatural skin. Nearly no forearm to speak of and absolutely no hand. A ragged ear-piercing scream finally escaped his lips as darkness consumed him again. In the distance, he could hear the crackling of wood in a fire.
~~~
'Shit.'
The dark green of the sludge villain whipped out into slimy tendrils, lacerating the nearby storefronts. A pillar that held up one of the outdoor canopies shattered into pieces, sending the entire structure down with an echoing boom. Underneath one of the tendrils was a greasy mess of blonde, spiky hair. Izuku's mouth went dry as the slime villain twisted into another shape. This time, Kacchan's face was visible from the nose up. The slime villain had overlaid his own face over Kacchan's head, giving Kacchan's desperate eyes a deranged grin that sent shivers down Izuku's spine.
As if someone pulled the trigger, Izuku's feet shot out from under him. Without any thought in his mind, he broke away from the crowd with a shove. The groceries were nothing but a distant memory.
He could feel his eyes start stinging with tears as he took off in a wobbly sprint. The smoke of the fire filled his nose as he approached. Izuku tightly clutched 'Hero Analysis for the Future #13' in his hand, incognizant of its existence. The notebook bent itself inwards from the pressure, only structured by the pencil that lay within it.
As Izuku reached the entryway where he witnessed the fight moments before, his body was suddenly jerked backward. Hands wrapped around his torso before unnaturally long arms ensnared his body. Izuku felt a body approach and heard distant shouts in his ear, but it was all trivial. His eyes were glued to the scene before him. Explosions now filled the alleyway. And since Kacchan was incapable of moving his hands, they clearly weren't being done from his own volition. The sludge villain was forcibly activating Kacchan's quirk.
Kacchan's face twisted into a teary grimace as sludge was stuffed down his throat. He was suffocating. He would be dead in moments. Izuku felt tears well up uncontrollably as he fiercely wriggled against the restraints. As a face blocked his viewing of the public execution, however, something violently shifted into place in his mind.
The world slowed to a screeching halt. Izuku glared at the person who stopped him. 'Tiger.'
He felt the adrenaline course through his veins as he stared at the hero's lips. They were moving at a snail's pace. Whatever he was saying didn't matter, anyway. 'Think, Izuku, think. Tiger. Quirk is Pliabody, so he has unnaturally stretchy limbs. Some unofficial reports state that he also has some level of enhanced strength. No heat resistance. I can work with that.'
Tiger would take it easy on a kid, which meant that his use of force would be minimal. Conversely, that also meant he was using less strength to stabilize himself. Izuku jumped backward, dragging the larger man along with him. Without missing a beat, Izuku forced his foot downwards onto the boot of Tiger, eliciting a surprised yelp.
'With a stomped foot, people typically recoil backward, which would start with their feet and hips. The backward motion leaves their head to lurch forward and…'
Tiger hopped slightly backward, which caused his head to be left behind for a brief moment. Izuku inhaled sharply. When Tiger's head was at the apex of its recoil, Izuku released a short puff of flames directly into the man's face.
A small cry escaped the hero's mouth as the grip on Izuku loosened. Izuku tightly closed his left hand into a fist. His flames were too hot for Tiger to withstand direct contact. He needed to shield his fire the best he could from the hero's bare skin. Igniting his quirk into his balled fist, Izuku let the heat spread to the restraining arms around him.
The loose hold Tiger had on him became limper as the arms momentarily retracted. Not wasting this opportunity, Izuku ducked, slipping free. In a crouch, he leaped forward, putting distance between himself and the pro. Without glancing back, Izuku set the ground behind him alight in flames. 'I am NOT getting caught again.'
The sludge monster had turned slightly away now, but he could still see the outline of Kacchan's body straining against the goo. He had to hurry. In a dead sprint, Izuku closed the distance. He could feel the cool texture of his quirk's substance envelop his left hand as he ran. Stopping momentarily, Izuku looked down at the mangled notebook he still held. Quickly opening up to one of the pages, he removed a pencil. 'I can use this. If this monstrosity has a face, it has organs that aren't liquid.'
Another wave of explosions shook the ground, but this time they were coming from inside the villain. The surface of the villain violently undulated from the blasts. 'Kacchan's explosions seem to be damaging the villain. Even if it's minimal, it's something. And the villain is purposefully staying in the center of the alley. Either he wants to avoid confrontation with the public or the fire is preventing him from escaping. No. It has to be the flames.' Izuku felt a twisted grin form, 'Just my luck.'
With a spinning windup, Izuku hurled the notebook at the slime villain, grabbing his attention. Izuku quickly wiped his eyes quickly and dawned a comically large smile, "Kacchan! I'm gonna get you out of there!"
An unintelligible, distorted wail came from the direction of the blonde's body as the sludge villain faced Izuku. As the yellow eyes narrowed in on him, Izuku was nearly paralyzed with fear. All confidence he had vanished, and he internally cursed himself for his reckless actions. He had just attacked a pro hero to get here, and his survivability depended on a hasty, half-baked plan. Fear enveloped his mind, slowing his reaction time just enough for a dark tendril to whip out of the villain's body and crash into him.
It latched onto his right foot and dangled him in the air. The slime villain bellowed, "What do we have here? Another volunteer? Sorry kid, I already picked the body I wanted. I'll keep your corpse around for later, though!"
The slime villain raised Izuku closer to his face, ready to absorb him as well. With the world lopsided, Izuku's eyes caught Kacchan's. The desperate eyes he had seen moments ago were gone. They were replaced with a murderous glare. It sent a shiver down Izuku's spine, which was just enough to jolt him back into action. Far-off sounds of mud slapping against concrete filled his ears as he steeled his nerves.
Nearing the face of the villain, he gripped the pencil in his hand. Only an arm's length away were the eyes. It was now or never. Using every bit of core muscle he had developed over the past few years, he lifted his torso upwards, twisting himself around. With as large of a lunge as he could manage, he extended his arm outwards and jammed the pencil forcibly into the left eye of the villain.
The grip on his foot vanished. Air whistled in his ears as he dropped from the sky. While the slime was reeling in pain, Izuku took his only chance. He reached into the goo near Kacchan's head and grabbed hold of the boy's collar. With all of his strength and the help of gravity, Izuku wrenched Kacchan out. With his free hand, Izuku sent out wild flames at the villain. He wasn't going to fail now.
Izuku hit the pavement hard. Landing on his side, his left arm throbbed painfully as his body scraped against the concrete. In his grip was still Kacchan., who was coughing madly. Inside, Izuku was incredibly happy that he saved his old friend, but on the outside, he was screaming out in pain. He greatly resented the fact that he had to get back up.
The bitter taste of metal filled his mouth as he stood on two shaky legs. 'The fight's not done.'
Extending both of his arms, he released the grandest, most scorching fire he could muster. In a wide arc, Izuku focussed on creating a wall between them and the sludge villain. It wouldn't hold him forever, but it would give him some time.
The brilliant green that illuminated the alleyway was all-encompassing. The details of each building were lost in the blinding light. The smell of smoke wafted into Izuku's lungs. He hated his actions. He was burning down people's livelihoods. Izuku could see the faint silhouette of the villain writhing in the flames, 'He's still moving? He isn't as weak to flames as I thought.'
Still spewing flames out of his hands, Izuku took as deep of a breath as possible. He held it for a moment, letting the warmth of the flames accumulate in his lungs. Then, in a massive blast, Izuku shot a torrent of viridian fire in the direction of the sludge villain. He cringed as he heard the thundering screams of the villain echo throughout the alley.
With a substantial wall of fire and smoke separating them, Izuku turned to Kacchan, who was lying against a wall. Izuku didn't know what he was expecting. Gratitude? Thankfulness? A smile? He didn't know. However, he certainly wasn't expecting to turn around and see a seething rabid animal ready to assault him.
Kacchan yelled into the roaring of the flames, "You fucking Deku! What do you think you're doing? I didn't need saving from you!"
Izuku's face fell. He should've known it was going to be like this. He had hoped that maybe reconciliation between them was possible at some point. Saving someone's life had to count for something, right? Izuku felt his stomach flip. "That's not what it looked like from the sidelines. The heroes were failing at everything they tried. You were going to die, Kacchan!"
Bakugo weakly stood, "I didn't need saving. My quirk was wearing this bastard down. And All Might is in the area. He should've been here to save me, not YOU."
Izuku laughed incredulously as his temper flared, "Really? You're going to complain about getting saved because All Might wasn't the one to do it? Well, news flash, asshole, I'm here and All Might isn't."
Bakugo waved his hands wildly, "Like I've always said, you're just a useless waste of space, and now here you are trying to be a wannabe hero. You need to get your head out of your ass unless you want to end up like your pitiful dad. Insignificant, powerless, and dead."
Izuku couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had just attacked a pro hero, ran directly into an active crime scene, and saved Kacchan from certain death — and this is what he was getting in return? A multitude of emotions flowed through him. Sadness. Anger. Disappointment. Regret. The familiar sting of tears threatened him again. He forced his eyes away from Kacchan and back in the direction of the villain.
It wasn't always like this. They were friends once. Their families might as well have been blood-related. They have known each other since birth. Just because Izuku was diagnosed as quirkless, he had become scum in the eyes of Kacchan. So shouldn't that have all changed when he got his quirk?
It was unfair. For Kacchan to act like this. To hate him for something he couldn't control. The emotions inside Izuku's heart battled for control as he gazed into the inferno of his own creation. Who did Kacchan think he was? He wasn't better than him. They both graduated from the same schools. They have the same grades. Neither of them has accomplished anything grand outside of school to prove their superiority. So who did Kacchan think he was to go around with such an ego and belittle him like this? Belittle his father? Who the fuck makes fun of someone's dead dad?
Izuku's face twisted. His eyebrows scrunched together, and his mouth formed a tight frown. Anger had won.
Through the fire, the sludge villain had composed himself and was now raging towards the two boys. He screamed out, "That hurt, motherfucker! I'll kill you for that!"
The villain's dark green mass had become a shadow in the midst of the flames. A shadowy monstrosity that was barreling towards Izuku like a raging kaiju. He moved effortlessly through the fading flames. Izuku saw his approach but was too lost in his fury to think of a strategy.
Black goo continually trickled out of his fingertips before wrapping itself tightly around his forearms. With an animalistic battle cry, he ignited his flames — fashioning his arms into two blazing green torches. The stench of his burning uniform filled his nose.
He unleashed another merciless wave of fire, slowing the villain's progress. Izuku's eyes widened as the sludge villain persevered through the flames and readied an attack. He had to do something, or else all of his heroics would be for nothing, and he'd just be a splatter on the wall. He tried intensifying his flames but was met with nothing. His anger built up inside of him. 'It can't end like this.'
Exerting his quirk to this extent was not sustainable. He had to find something else. Abruptly, Izuku felt a pull in his gut. It was an intense, raw energy deep within him, something treacherous and buried. Closing his eyes, he dug into that sensation, grappling with the tight, searing pain erupting from his forearms.
As the sludge villain's shrunken mass barreled at Izuku, he winced and dropped his left arm to his side, flexing his right arm outwards. With a surge of willpower, he yanked the knot in his stomach to the surface, unleashing Pandora's Box.
In an unceremonious pop, Izuku's right forearm vanished. Excruciating pain recoiled throughout Izuku's body as he let out an inhuman scream. His legs gave out from under him as his entire consciousness was overtaken with agony. His head vibrated with each heartbeat, sloshing his already foggy mental state. He looked in horror at where his arm had been severed. It was uniformly cut. The skin on what was left of his forearm was stretched slightly as if it had been pulled away.
As Izuku fell to the ground, his eyes caught sight of where his hand had once been. In its place was a small black ellipsoid, not much larger than a marble. It was almost invisible in the shadows of the smoke, but its lack of texture alienated it from the soot. The hovering orb appeared as an unsettling, smooth absence in the fabric of the world.
With a leap, the villain elevated himself high above Izuku's head. He dawned a wicked grin as his piercing yellow eyes locked onto the source of the fire. Thrashing wildly in the air, he unleashed a flailing tendril towards the ground. Instinctively, Izuku raised his stump to shield his face as he desperately searched for Kacchan with his left. Through the missing limb, however, he caught sight of the midnight ellipsoid making contact with the hurdling sludge appendage. The oblong shape rippled from the impact before rapidly expanding at a rate too fast for the human eye to follow. Instantly, the world evaporated into a flash of white.
~~~
The walls echoed with the sounds of two slightly desynchronized footfalls. The rhythmic clacks of heels meeting tile made the dreary silence of the hallway unsettling. The static fluorescent lights that shone overhead created a featureless environment that exacerbated the macabre atmosphere. A cheery voice interrupted the ambiance, "Say, Aizawa, don't you think this place gives you bad vibes? Way too creepy for me, man."
Shota Aizawa responded with a sigh, "Mic, all hospitals are like this. And don't call me Aizawa. We're in our costumes."
Present Mic let out a loud, boisterous laugh that bounced off the walls, "Don't be such a downer, no one is here to hear us anyways." He paused as he looked down an inconspicuous hallway, "Hospitals are the worst. Every time I go to one, I somehow always feel worse than when I enter. Now, how does that make any sense?"
Shota rubbed his eyes and the bridge of his nose. He hadn't gotten any sleep last night. Like usual. Between the start of the school year and his nighttime stakeouts, he just never had any time for it. "You'd have to be crazy to intentionally want to land yourself here. Besides, we're not here for you in the first place."
Their conversation paused as they approached a concierge desk. A middle-aged woman with short, graying black hair politely smiled at them from behind an oversized computer monitor, "What can I do for you two heroes?"
Present Mic immediately entered a dramatic lean, "We're here to talk to a kiddo who turned it up to eleven and landed himself here! I'm Present Mic and this gloomy fellow is Eraser Head. We're here on behalf of UA. I believe Nezu already sent over all the details."
The woman gave a quick glance at her computer before giving a small laugh, "Oh yes. We've been expecting you two. Nezu already filed all the paperwork for you guys. You'll want room number 243. It's down that hallway to the right. Take the second corridor on the right, and then the room will be along the left-hand side."
Present Mic flashed a big grin before thanking the woman and ushering an unenthusiastic Aizawa behind him down a hallway. "You know, Aizawa. If you looked a little less miserable all the time, maybe we'd have an easier way of finding our way around this place. You've been scaring off any people we've come across. That lady at the desk was the first one we've seen who hasn't immediately walked away from us."
Shota rolled his eyes. "You try doing hero work after a day teaching a bunch of brats. And then do that every day for a couple of years. You'd be just as miserable. And I don't agree with Nezu sending us here in the first place. It's a waste of time."
Present Mic scoffed, "You just don't like that Nezu has found another student to torment you."
Shota couldn't disagree with that, but there was much more to his chagrin. "Nezu wants to create a hero out of a vigilante. I have plenty of experience with vigilantes, so I'm not exactly filled with confidence."
"He's just a kid. He's got potential and was just trying to -"
Shota interrupted that train of thought, "It doesn't matter what he was trying to do. What he did was dangerous, and he has several counts of illegal quirk usage, crime scene contamination, and property damage to his name because of it. Not to mention that he'll be forever reduced to half power. He'd be a liability in the hero course."
His voice remained firm, but he lowered his volume as the pair approached the right door. As he looked at the room number plaque on the side of the door, he remembered Nezu's instructions.
~~~
Nezu stood on his desk, happily holding a large stack of papers. "Power Loader has informed me that the robots for the entrance exam are beginning production in his workshop now. The third-year support students are eager to get their hands on the blueprints. I believe they will be fully prepared with plenty of time to spare. Aizawa, how are we doing on the recommendation exam?"
Shota yawned, "I mean, there isn't a whole lot to change from last year. We already have a couple of student recommendations from pros. Endeavor submitted one for his son, Shoto Todoroki, as soon as our application window opened. We can start adapting the exam's objectives to fit the prospective students as more are recommended, but for now, I've designed a few obstacle courses and fitness assessments that we can use. My only concern is that the recommendation exam is too similar to prior years. If prospective students find out how to prepare from past examinees, then it won't be a good test of the basics. It'd be a good test of how well they can prepare, but I don't believe that's as useful for determining raw potential."
Nezu flipped through his papers as he jumped off of his desk and onto his raised leather chair. "Hm. I see what you mean. Information gathering is a very useful skill for heroism, and even with the knowledge of what is on the exam, they would still need to perform well. However, that would put the students on an even greater uneven playing field, and we wouldn't be able to test the baseline abilities of each applicant as accurately. Quite the conundrum."
Shifting in his chair, Shota continued, "Yes sir, one of my ideas is -"
Suddenly, the conversation was interrupted by the office door wildly swinging open. A blur of bright green flooded in from the doorway. Shota turned to face the intrusion. There, standing eagerly at the entrance to the room, was a wide-eyed woman. Her long green hair went down to her waist, and her clothing was ruffled and unkempt. Her arms were blackened with soot and her eyes were slightly puffy. Had she been crying? She was definitely too old to be a student, and he didn't recognize her as a staff member. Why was she here?
She quickly broke the silence, "I'm incredibly sorry for my intrusion, but I wish to speak with Nezu. It's urgent."
Shota stood up, "Who exactly are you? I don't recognize you."
She smiled politely, but he could easily tell it was forced. She bowed, "Tomoko Shiretoko. Or otherwise known as Ragdoll of the Wild Wild Pussy Cats. Pleased to meet you. I wish we were meeting under better circumstances, but I need to speak with Nezu."
Looking behind him at the principal, he was surprised to find Nezu smiling widely. 'That can't be good.'
Nezu had turned his monitor around to face the room. On it was a newscast from Tatooin Shopping District, depicting several buildings on fire and a sphere of destruction from a particular alleyway corner. "I assume you're here about this, Ms. Shiretoko? Do not fret, I have already sent Recovery Girl to assist with the recovery efforts."
Ragdoll deadpanned, "Thank you, sir, but that wasn't what I came here for." She anxiously rubbed her arm, "Nezu, perhaps we could speak in private?"
Nezu smiled jovially as he watched the video recording, "Ah, so I suppose you're here about our little vigilante, then? And if this is about our little friend, then Aizawa here must listen in. He is the supervisor of first-year students, after all."
Shota's gaze was fixed on the monitor's screen as he sat back down in his chair. He couldn't quite understand what he was seeing. A green liquified villain had a child held captive inside of it? He noticed from the recording that the heroes were just stalling for time. Surprise overtook him when the video showed another kid in the same uniform as the hostage run into the fray. The kid fought with a pro, won, and then in a series of incredibly destructive events, took down both the villain and half the block. Shota forced his focus back onto Ragdoll.
Ragdoll had a tight smile that didn't reach her eyes. She looked incredibly tired, something he could relate to. She nervously spoke, "Yes. I'm always caught a bit off guard by your deduction skills. The kid. The one with green hair that ran in and is responsible for the big explosion. I think you'd agree that his stunts today were… alarming. I apologize if this is out of the blue, but I believe that he, and his quirk, need direct supervision from here on out."
She glanced down and met Shota's eyes as he questioned, "Supervision? So you want UA to take him?"
"Not necessarily. I do think he needs some guidance for his quirk, however. As it stands right now, I think his quirk is more dangerous than anything, but-"
Nezu interrupted, "You think he has potential."
Ragdoll winced a bit, "I think he's powerful. And I think power is dangerous in untrained hands. As he was running into the fight, I caught a glimpse of him. He has more than a run-of-the-mill fire quirk. There's an unsettling…" she paused, thinking of the best descriptor, "… depth to it. When I used my quirk, Search, on him, my entire body recoiled in shock. My quirk usually alerts me to somebody's whereabouts, weaknesses, and abilities, but with the boy, I didn't receive much of anything. Nothing about his weaknesses, and more oddly, his quirk kept shifting in my mind. I've never experienced that before."
Halfway through Ragdoll's explanation, Nezu turned his monitor back around to face himself and began furiously typing. Now that she had finished talking, he had turned it back over for them to see. Shota raised an eyebrow. It was a government file on the boy with green hair from the video. 'I don't even want to know how Nezu got this.'
Nezu talked excitedly while fidgeting with his tea kettle in the corner of the room, "Izuku Midoriya. Middle schooler at Aldera Junior High. He's a late bloomer who developed his quirk at the age of 12. Late bloomers are one thing, but to manifest a quirk at 12 is unheard of."
Nezu paused before reading the file, "Quirk, 'Flaming Charcoal,' is a dual-use quirk. The main ability is to dispense flames from his hands and mouth, but there is a secondary ability to secrete an undefined charcoal-colored liquid that can be used as an oil."
Nezu turned back from his teapot and poured a cup. "It's quite the quirk. But I doubt you'd come all the way to UA to complain about your quirk malfunctioning, right? If that were it, then we'd be done here and once our little vigilante recovers, he would be charged and convicted of several felonies." He held out the cup to Ragdoll, "Tea?"
Shota stifled a smirk as Ragdoll nervously accepted the tea and took a seat in the empty chair beside him. She took a moment to look at Shota before continuing her description of the events, "When I analyze someone, a description of their quirk appears in my mind, but with the kid, the description kept changing. Because of this, I think using my quirk on him triggered my fight-or-flight response. Search didn't know what to make of it, so it panicked and tapped into my nervous system. Now, my quirk is not a danger-sensing quirk, so for it to react in this way is very strange. My quirk has only reacted in a vaguely similar way with All Might."
That last line got Shota's mind racing. Her quirk has only reacted with All Might before now? So what does that imply for the boy? He asked, "Wait, wait, wait. You're saying this middle schooler who blew up a couple of storefronts is just as dangerous as All Might? All Might, who can change the weather with a single punch? Sorry, but that seems a bit outlandish."
Ragdoll sharply responded, "That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that Midoriya triggered a similar reaction in my quirk that All Might did. I'm not proposing that the boy has power comparable to All Might. I don't know what the common link between them is, but I have serious doubts anyone will ever be able to match All Might's strength."
Shota shifted in his chair, sitting up and straightening his back. The conversation had gone from intriguing to precarious very quickly. He looked at Ragdoll skeptically, "So what is your goal here then? Clearly, there is a reason for you being here. Do you want Nezu to pull strings with the police department and grant the kid amnesty? Maybe you want UA to enroll the boy, no questions asked? We have strict laws against quirk usage for a reason. We can't bend the law when it's convenient for us. Thanks to this Midoriya kid, half an alley is gone. That's a perfect exampl-"
Nezu who had been uncharacteristically quiet, all of a sudden clapped his paws together, stopping Shota's tirade. "Ms Shiretoko is right. I'll see what I can do."
Shota was actually shocked. He knew that Nezu had no problem bending the law, but for him to agree so readily was surprising. "Sir, you can't be serious. If Midoriya is as dangerous as she makes him out to be, then maybe a rehabilitation facility is where he should be."
Nezu jumped down from his desk to the floor, landing on all fours before standing up again and pacing the room with his paws behind his back. "He's dangerous, yes, but a prison is not where he should be." The stout clicked a small pawheld remote, and the monitor switched to a street view video camera of the villain attack. Nezu paused it on a scene of Midoriya clutching a blond kid with one arm. "Although the audio is a bit fuzzy, I can surmise that these two boys know each other. Young Midoriya was simply saving his friend. Midoriya observed his friend dying and the pros being unable to stop it. The boy, regardless of legality, was the hero of this encounter. UA is a beacon of society, promising bright futures and powerful heroes. If we were to forsake the potential of a fledgling hero like Midoriya, it would be unbecoming of us."
Shota stammered, "Sir, I still don't thin-"
Nezu interrupted him again, "Aizawa, tomorrow go to the hospital and meet with our young hero. And bring Yamada. From the looks of the video, Midoriya will need some cheering up. He did lose half an arm, after all." Nezu's gaze fixed on Ragdoll, "And Ms. Shiretoko, please clean up and then return here. I'd love to discuss your experience more. I'd also like to discuss with you a possible solution to the legal issues young Midoriya will face."
~~~
Shota shook himself back to the present and knocked on the door. He looked at the goofy blonde next to him. "Mic, I know you saw the clip of the boy on our way here, but we don't know what kind of emotional state he's in. So don't rush in and throw everything at him at once. Ragdoll somehow convinced Nezu that Midoriya is worth training. Regardless of my own beliefs about the situation, we need to go in there and evaluate him. Let me verify his mental state and his aptitude for heroics. I'll make the decision whether we offer the kid Nezu's crazy scheme, got it?"
Present Mic punched his shoulder, "Oh, c'mon, Sleepy Head. He's just a kid who went 'Plus Ultra' to save his friend. Successfully too! Buildings can be rebuilt in a day or two with today's quirks, and I'm sure those shop owners had insurance. No amount of quirks, money, or time would've brought that other boy back to life. I say that he did the right thing. Maybe the rat sees something in him that's worth checking out. Lighten up a bit."
There was a quiet feminine response from the other side of the door, telling them to come in. Present Mic leveled with him, "Do you want me to lead?"
Shota begrudgingly nodded his head. Present Mic hummed as he opened the door. The light of the room matched the monotonous fluorescence of the hallways, but despite the harsh lighting, the room was particularly downcast. Present Mic displayed a warm, sincere smile as he led the way into the room. A short woman with dark green hair and eyes that looked nearly as tired as his own stood at the end of the bed, ushering the two men in. 'This must be the mother.'
"Oh my," the mother gasped. "We weren't expecting any visitors, much less two pro heroes! Please, come in."
Once he passed the entrance, he got a good look at the rest of the room. On the far wall was a small, nightstand-esque table, and a couple of cheap chairs accompanying it. Tied to each chair were several balloons wishing the kid a quick recovery. To the right, near the door, were multiple IV stands and monitors that he didn't recognize.
Shota's eyes traced one of the IV tubes to the boy's left arm, where he finally took in the sight of the bed. The younger Midoriya was propped up and staring directly at him, astonished. Strikingly, what caught Shota the most off guard was that there was no sign of the green bush of hair he'd seen in the video clips. The poor guy had a buzz cut. 'If he has a buzz cut, then he probably also needed a head operation.'
The mother introduced herself, "I'm sure you two already know this if you're here, but I'm Inko Midoriya and this here on the bed is my son Izuku. I'm pleased to meet you two!"
"Hello Mrs. Midoriya. I'm sure this is quite the surprise, but after we heard about yesterday, we wanted to stop by and see how everything is going." Present Mic briefly introduced themselves.
Anything Present Mic said afterward was drowned out as Shota's eyes followed the kid's skinny body to where he knew the right forearm was missing. However, he was met with a slight lean and the bedsheets shoved upwards to cover up the missing appendage. There were bandages wrapped around the elbow that gave it away, though. 'Must be shy about it. It's only been a day, I guess.'
Present Mic's mirthful voice eased the growing tension in the room as he addressed Izuku, "Hey there kiddo! We're just checkin in on ya." He motioned over to Shota, "Don't mind my gloomy friend here, he's-"
The boy beamed ecstatically and yelled out, "Eraser Head! The underground hero who can disable quirks! And you're Present Mic! You can amplify your voice! I love your radio show! I listen in every week! After what I did, I'm surprised to see…" His voice trailed off and a hint of suspicion texturized his tone. "I'm not dying, am I? This isn't one of those pity hero appearances before a kid dies, right?"
Shota had to prevent a small smile from tarnishing his impassive face. Forcing himself to ignore the boy's ominous conclusion, he decided to get straight to the point. "No. That's not it. We're here on official business with UA High School. As we are the largest acting hero authority in the area, we were put in charge of handling portions of the Tatooin Shopping District case. Our job is to discuss with you what happened during your encounter with the sludge villain."
Out of the corner of his eye, Shota could see Present Mic wincing at his bluntness. The mother's eyes grew big and tears started welling up in her eyes, but she remained silent as he took a chair and brought it close to the hospital bed. Shota watched Izuku's expressions closely. From the joyous outburst upon their arrival, he figured Izuku was still immature and wouldn't take the subject change well. Interestingly, however, the boy's face hardened and became neutral. 'One hell of a poker face for a kid. I'll give him that much.'
Izuku spoke up once with a steeled tone, "Are you here to bring me to jail then?"
Present Mic chuckled nervously as he looked at the mom, "Wrong again, buddy. We're not taking you in. We're actually here because we caught wind that you were quite the hero out there! You want to be a hero, right?"
Shota watched as Present Mic leaned closer to Izuku and in a soft voice whispered, "Between you and me, kid, this is more of a scouting visit."
What was he thinking? Giving that away would only influence Izuku's responses about the whole situation. Shota quickly jammed the heel of his shoe into Present Mic's toes before quietly chastising him, "Mic."
The two men watched as Izuku froze and then subsequently shifted his facial expressions. In real-time, they were able to watch the boy go through all six stages of grief in a matter of seconds. It was almost strange to observe, as you could practically see the wheels turning in the kid's head. 'I guess he really wears his heart on his sleeve.'
After a moment, Izuku averted his gaze from the pros and solemnly muttered, "Well, you're in the wrong place then. I can't be a hero. Not anymore, at least." The blankets that had previously covered his amputated arm fell away as he lifted his arm up slightly in the air, brandishing it for the heroes to see.
From the side, Shota could hear the mom let out an affectionate, "Oh honey."
Present Mic immediately stood up, "Nonsense, little hero! I know the wound is fresh, but don't give up now! I know plenty of pros with amputations. Even one of me and Grumpy's coworkers is an amputee. You may already know of him, but Ectoplasm is a teacher at UA and the ol' pirate has two peg legs. So don't let your missing hand stop you!"
A small smile graced the boy's lips, but it didn't meet the eyes. He obviously had doubts. At least in that sense, he and the kid were in agreement. Shota cleared his throat, "As skeptical as I am about your hero potential due to your blatant vigilantism, a missing hand is not an insurmountable obstacle. You're a bit on the flimsy side of things, but if you're serious about being a hero, there's hope for you yet. The entrance exams for UA are in ten months, so if you wish to continue recklessly rushing into active crime scenes, then pass that and meet us at UA." He paused to gauge the expression on the boy's face. It wasn't ecstatic, but at least he wasn't crying. "For now, though, let's discuss the villain attack. Let's begin when you ran into the fight. Why?"
Izuku's expression returned to the poker face that he had worn previously. He was clearly trying to go about this as carefully and professionally as he could. The erratic voice that he expected to accompany an emotionally charged story like the sludge villain didn't come, instead, Izuku spoke with a measured and stoic inflection, "Well, I don't remember the exact details, but I was just grocery shopping before I noticed the formation of a crowd. Naturally, I went to see what was happening, so I could record the fight in one of my journals. I pushed my way to the front of the crowd and saw the sludge villain and a majority of the heroes just standing around or looking lost. Then as the fight progressed, I saw the flash of a small explosion, and then I saw Kacc- Katsuki Bakugo being enveloped by the villain and I just…"
He paused, with the first hint of emotion finally showing, "In that moment, my body just moved on its own…"