Chapter 69: Giving it everything she got
Once again, the color had drained from Izuku's face, but this time, he had a tight, nervous smile. A few members of Class 1-A looked ready to step in incase Izuku passed out again, but then slowly he took a steady breath. As he reached down for his helmet, he went over the plan again. Taking everything he had learned since coming to UA, all the fights he had been in, and everything he had built gave him the edge. And he knew without any of them, he wouldn't have a chance against All Might in a head-on fight.
Yet even so, with all his tech, Izuku wasn't ready to believe it until it happened.
"Izuzku Midoriya-Sutaku report to City Oscar." The PA System announced.
Raising his helmet up, Izuku looked at his potential future classmates, "Alright, wish me luck. If I die, Jabisu will. Everything goes to Mei Hatsume."
"Hey, can I get the car?" Gizon joked, catching many people off guard because they didn't know Izuku had a car.
Izuku shrugged, "Yeah, sure, why not? You're the least likely to crash it." Izuku slipped his helmet on, and with the hiss, it connected with the rest of the suit. Izuku then turned to the door and walked as confidently as he could.
As Izuku reached her door, Denki called out, "Wait, you're being serious."
"Have been since day one," Izuku said, pushing the door open and stepping out. He walked down the stairs and, once outside, took off towards City Oscar. As he got closer, he could see all the destroyed windows and roads from All Might's punches. Izuku tried not to shiver as he was reminded of how strong All Might could be and what he was capable of doing when he stopped holding back.
Landing just outside Izuku looked through the open gate, and a highlighted path appeared on his HUD. Following it, Izuku made his way around cracks in the road, passing overturned food stalls and cars, and even had to take a big jump over a sinkhole.
Coming around the last corner, Izuku found All Might standing in the middle of the road, waiting."Huh, hello."
"HELLO YOUNG SUTAKU. I GUESS YOU ARE WONDERING WHY I AM HERE INSTEAD OF SOMEWHERE ELSE." All Might said.
"I guess you could say that. Are you hoping for a quick fight?" Izuku said, trying to be confident and snarky to hide how nervous he would show otherwise.
All Might's smile grew as he said, "NOT QUITE, FOR YOU SEE, WE'VE SEEN HOW SMART YOU ARE. YOUR ARMOR AND OTHER INVENTIONS HAVE PROVEN THAT. YOU PROVED YOUR DETERMINATION AND AMBITION FOR WINNING THE SPORTS FESTIVAL AND WINNING A COURT CASE AGAINST THE HPSC. AGAIN, THERE AREN'T MANY OUT THERE WHO CAN SAY THEY HAVE.
"LASTILY YOU'VE PROVEN YOUR STRENGTH BY BEATING MANY MEMBERS OF CLASS 1-A IN THE SPORTS FESTIVAL AND STANDING YOUR GROUND AND BEING A PIVOT CHARACTER AGAINST THE BLACK NOMU IN HOSU. NOW IT'S TIME TO SEE HOW YOU FAIR AGAINST SOMEONE WHO EMBODIES ALL THREE." All Might said.
Before Izuku could stop himself, he let out, "Right, because you're definitely the bright bulb in the shade. You do realize I have access to UA records." Izuku would have moved to cover his mouth with his hand, but realized he would just hit himself in the helmet if he did that.
All Might shuddered a bit, as it was true that without the help of some of his classmates, he would not have passed a few core classes. "FAIR POINT, BUT PER THE AGREEMENT THAT ALLOWS YOU TO TRANSFER TO THE HERO COURSE MID-YEAR," All Might walked up to Izuku, casting the electric user in shadow, "YOU MUST FIGHT. TO RUN IS TO FAIL. WE ARE HERE NOT ONLY TO SEE THE LIMITATION OF YOUR ARMOR, BUT OF YOU AS WELL. BECAUSE THERE WILL BE A POINT IN TIME, WHEN YOU WILL HAVE TO STAND WITHOUT YOUR ARMOR."
"Izuku Midoriya-Sutaku. Hero transfer test, begin." The PA System announced with a buzzer.
All Might held an arm out to the side and bowed a bit as if he were a Butler, "I SHALL GIVE YOU THE FIRST MOVE. SHOW ME HOW YOU WOULD ATTACK ME."
Izuku took a breath as he looked All Might up and down, as if he was looking for something in particular. Finding what he knew he would find, Izuku drew back his left arm and threw a punch; however, All Might moved and caught the attack, "TOO SLOW. YOU'LL HAVE TO DO BETTER THAN ..."
All Might was caught off guard as Izuku brought up his right leg and kicked him in the lower ribs. All Might had to swallow the blood that appeared in his mouth, all the while Izuku was able to free his left arm. He hit All Might in the face with a repulsor blast before jetting backwards to dodge All Might's blind haymaker.
Sliding to a stop, Izuku HUD zoomed in on All Might's face, letting Izuku see the wince of pain in his eyes. So his reading had been right. Seeing that his crazy plan could actually work, Izuku didn't waste another moment and blasted forward. As he got close, he dodged to the right, narrowly avoiding All Might's punch. Aiming for the symbols of peace's left side, Izuku let loose a few blasts.
Izuku managed to get two hits on All Might's rings before the number one pro hero held out his left hand and blocked the remaining shots. So he quickly switched to All Might's face and shot two repulsor blasts. All Might blocked one and had to tank the second one. As All Might was temporarily blinded by the flash of light, Izuku could see that his opponent had taken some damage, if only in the form of gaining a slight tan. "HA, HA. YOUR ATTACKS ARE WEAKER THAN YOUNG BAKUGO'S."
Despite feeling his hands clench tightly, Izuku called out, "Trying to make me lose my cool. Wrong friend. Besides, you should know those attacks were only at 10% power."
Izuku fired another blast, but this time All Might sidestepped it. As he could hear the attack hit the ground, All Might recalled the security footage Powerloader had shown them following the entrance exam. It was kind of hard to forget the good-sized divot Izuku had left behind in UA's front lawn. Or the fact that Principal Nezu had taken a few days to fill in, some teachers were beginning to question whether Principal Nezu was just going to leave it.
But it was clear Izuku had made improvements to his equipment and was focusing on doing so, as he could improve and train his quirk in the normal fashion.
"HA, HA, HA. I GUESS I'LL HAVE TO PUT MY BACK INTO THIS FIGHT." All Might laughed as he dodged another attack, then jumped at Izuku.
Using his training from Hawk and the sensors within his suit, Izuku saw All Might's blitz and smoothly juked around it. But not letting the opportunity to get in a passing attack on All Might's left midsection.
As Izuku saw the brief tick mark appear on All Might's forehead, he knew he had been right on target. Once he was past All Might, Izuku flew a bit further down the road. He had been a massive All Might fan as a kid; he still was. He had countless views on any video online that had footage of All Might's fighting. He had unknowingly memorized the symbol of peace's tactics. While some might boil it down to hit something, and if that didn't work, hit it harder. All Might knew whether to use a range or a close-range attack.
And for someone as well armored as he was, Izuku knew All Might would always get in close to attack, "RUNNING AWAY YOUNG MIDORIYA." Izuku heard All Might call what, "IF YOU TRY TO ESCAPE, YOU WILL FAIL."
"I'm not running." Izuku called out, then whispered, "I'm making you chase me." Izuku suddenly made a hard right turn, going around the corner of a building that was mostly still intact. Once he knew All Might couldn't see him, Izuku flew through a wall in the building, then started to work backwards.
As his HUD automatically switched to x-ray, Izuku watched as All Might slowed down to a jog as he rounded the corner and began looking around for Izuku. With the ports around his helmet closing, Izuku didn't have to worry about All Might's hearing his breathing, but he had to be careful not to move too much, as his suit itself still made noise.
Izuku worked as All Might cautiously walked down the street, until All Might had just passed him. Standing up, Izuku lifted up a large section of the wall that had caved in, then blasted out of the corresponding hole. Seeing All Might turning around, Izuku threw the piece of wall and then followed after it.
As expected, All Might caught the section of wall with a punch, but with Izuku right behind it, the pro hero didn't get a chance to react before Izuku had hit him with two repulsor blasts to the face, then a roundhouse kick to his left side. All Might had to stop the grunt before it escaped his lips.
It wouldn't have been as bad if he hadn't gone against Ochaco and Bakugo, but if Izuku kept landing hits like that. All Might couldn't let that happen, so he grabbed Izuku's leg and slammed him against the ground. All Might then spun around as if he was doing the oOlympichammer throw. Izuku's suit tore up the ground until All Might lifted him up and threw him down the street.
Izuku went spinning through the air, and he couldn't tell up from down. Thinking fast, he said, "Jabisu, give me horizon lock and take gyroscopic control."
"On it," Jabisu said, and a few seconds later, a blue line appeared on the HUD, then Izuku felt his arms and legs move to catch him and stop the spinning. Regaining control, Izuku flipped himself right way up, while turning around to look back at All Might, giving the symbol of peace a good view of all the torn-up paint his attack had caused.
"I THOUGHT I RECOGNIZE THAT MOVE, IT'S QUITE A FAVORITE OF MINE. THROWING A HEAVY OBJECT ONLY FOR IT TO BE A DISTRACTION. TAKES QUITE THE TIMING AND BEING ABOUT TO ORDINATE ONE'SELF IN THE AIR, IMPRESSIVE CONTROL. I SEE YOU'VE KEPT UP WITH YOUR TRAINING FROM HAWKS." All Might said, grabbing an overturned car and throwing it at Izuku. Izuku ducked under the car, then a warning appeared on his HUD. Looking back at All Might, Izuku saw his opponent was no longer on the ground, but jumping right at him.
Cutting power, Izuku dropped down, letting All Might sail over him. Yet as Izuku reengaged his repulsors and started to slow down, he heard All Might call out an attack that made him freeze, "CAROLINA SMASH."
The next thing Izuku knew was that he was hit in the back by a powerful airwave. One strong enough to overpower his repulsors and force him down to the ground.
"Give me 30," Izuku called out and then heard his repulsors hum loudly. Instead of trying to fight against the air pressure, Izuku shot forward, the forward part of his suit scraping against the asphalt and cement until he could angle himself upwards and into the air.
Dropping down to 10 percent, Izuku flipped around and faced All Might. The build of the helmet and the light of the eyes gave the suit a bit of a menacing expression, but now, with all the scraped paint and dents, the suit looked downright pissed. And if Izuku were anyone else, he probably would be too.
"WHAT NOW, IRON MAN. RULES ARE YOU MUST PUT UP A GOOD FIGHT, BUT ALL I'VE FELT IS HARDLY A BEE STING." All Might called out as he landed, kicking up a dust cloud. Standing above the top of the dust cloud, All Might looked up and locked eyes with Izuku, "SO WHAT NOW, HERO. YOUR ATTACKS DO NOTHING, AND ANY MORE YOU RISK THE LIVES OF THESE CIVILIANS YOU SO LOVE. WHAT'S NEXT?"
Izuku sighed. Mr. Aizawa had made it clear that to pass, he had a good fight; then again, it was hard to tell if he was actually doing so against All Might. Lowering himself down to the ground, as his boots touch cement, Izuku lets his arms drop to his side. Then, with a clench of his hands, the armor covering his forearms separated, and his win forearm blade popped out.
Upon seeing the blade and the sun glinting off the razor-sharp edge, All Might gave a laugh, "HO OH, I SEE NOW." All Might shifted into a stance, ready to run forward and blitz Izuku, "THE NOMU YOU FOUGHT IN HOSU WAS SIMILAR TO THE ONE FROM THE USJ. AND THAT ONE WAS DESIGNED TO STAND AGAINST ME. AND YOU DEFEATED THE NOMU FROM HOSU WITH THOSE BLADES."
"Well, the logic is sound." Izuku then took off towards All Might, activating his boot repulsors to increase his speed. Before reaching All Might, Izuku directed more power to his boots and jumped at All Might, who backstepped the attack, then grabbed Izuku's forearm. Clamping his hand down, All Mights bent the blade, making it impossible to retract. Undeterred, Izuku swung his other arm, but All Might simply grabbed that forearm as well.
With both blades bent and his forearm stuck, Izuku tried to free himself, but All Might held him tight, "WHAT HOPE DO YOU HAVE HERO?"
Izuku continued to struggle, even started to kick All Might in the chest, "Ha, guess it's time for Scorched Earth. Jabisu, kill the cameras."
The last thing the observation booth saw before the camera cut out was Izuku kicking All Might on his left side. At the same time, everyone tried to figure out what Izuku meant by Scorched Earth and why he needed to cut the camera. Ochaco and Gizon looked at each other. They saw that the other had figured it out as well. They hadn't missed Izuku targeting All Might's left side.
Nor had they missed the white smoke coming off of All Might towards the end of his fight with Ochaco and Bakugo. It was the sign of his hero time running out, and while he might have had a chance to rest, with Izuku attacking his injury, he was going to quickly run out of hero time.
While they hoped Izuku didn't know about that, he wouldn't have cut the cameras otherwise. At least he had the decency to keep it a secret.
Back in the mock city, All Might stumbled back from the kick, but when Izuku tried to press the advantage, All Might threw a hard right hook and caught Izuku in the helmet. Izuku was forced back with a large dent in his helmet, "CUTTING THE CAMERAS. ODD TACTICS, HOW CAN IT POSSIBLY HELP YOU?"
"Helmet integrity at 45%," Jabisu said. The helmet part of Izuku's armor hologram turned red.
Izuku shook his head to try to get his vision to focus. "Eject the arm blades." The next thing Izuku heard was the hiss of air and then his forearm blades hitting the ground. He then heard his forearm plate armor closing. Taking a deep breath, Izuku stood up straight and projected his voice, "It wasn't to help me."
Izuku suddenly blasted forward and drew back his right leg as he got in close. All Might moved to block the attack, but then Izuku blasted over and kicked All Might in the back of the head. While All Might stumbled forward, Izuku dropped down and landed a hard left cross on All Might's injury.
Then, for the first time in Izuku's life, he saw the number one pro hero drop to his knees and attempt to nurse a wound. All Might felt blood begin to fill his mouth. He clenched his teeth to keep the blood in. Izuku might have turned off the camera, but All Might couldn't have Izuku learning about his weakness.
All Might saw Izuku walk around and come into view. He tried to attack, but the pain radiating from his side made it difficult to lift his arm, "AH DON'T MIND ME, JUST HAVING TO CATCH MY BREATH."
With the helmet, Al Might couldn't tell how Izuku was taking that joke. Clearly not good, as Izuku drew back his foot to kick. All Might forced himself to jump back from the attack. He didn't know if he could take another attack like that to his injury.
"ATTACKING A MAN WHILE HE'S DOWN, NOT EVERY HONORABLE." All Might joked.
"Huh, so the security footage was right," Izuku spoke with a sound of interest in his voice. As if he had been presented with the world's greatest mystery and the first clue.
All Might didn't understand what security footage Izuku was talking about, but he was slowly connecting the dots that Izuku had somehow learned about his weakness. Then it hit him, Izuku had been targeting his midsection, specifically his left side. All Might tried not to show how nervous he was while attempting to play it off.
"I HAVE NO IDEA…" All Might was cut off when Izuku said, "Lying isn't going to help you."
Izuku started to walk towards All Might, and when he got close, he lifted his hands and pulled off his helmet. After ruffling his hair, Izuku locked eyes with All Might, "I know everything. I've known everything since I hacked the UA's security feed to get footage of the USJ attack. Once you arrived, everything happened fast, and while Cementos was quick to cover you from the view of Class 1-A, he missed from the camera along the dome."
Izuku held his helmet in his left hand while holding his right hand out with his palm up. From his glove, a small hologram of security footage from the USJ attack appeared. All Might looked at and recognized that it was a few seconds after Cementoss had created a wall to hide him from view.
"It was quite the shock and surprise to learn about you Yagi Toshinori." Izuku said, and All Might felt himself flinch. But Izuku wasn't some kind of malicious villain that would use that information to destroy the world, "I know about your weakness,"
All Might was hoping that was all Izuku knew.
"I even know about your quirk. After learning about your weakened state, I did a little more exploring. Recovery Girl had cut the cameras when you talked with Uraraka and Hisahito, but I knew what you looked like." The hologram of security footage switched from the USJ to Toshinori and Ochaco's first meeting with Gizon following the USJ, "It didn't take long to hear about One for All and how you passed it to Uraraka. I guess that explains Percent Strength. And I've seen how you and Hisato have been training her to use it properly."
"SO WHAT, YOU PLAN TO BLACKMAIL ME?" All Might did not like that position he was being put in. He had made sure that the circle of people who knew about One for All was small. Only those that needed to know, or those All Might deeply trusted. Izuku was never supposed to learn about this.
All Might suddenly remembered how Endeavour had acted upon learning that Izuku knew something about his family. Was this how the number two pro hero had felt, knowing a mere 15-year-old held enough information to destroy his reputation?
"What, no, no Nothing like that. Really do I seem like that kind of person." Izuku said, closing his right hand and letting it drop to his side, "I mean I have killed all the cameras. No one can see or hear us, but no I don't plan on blackmailing you All Might. In fact, I've already helped you. I tasked Jabisu to scrub through all UA security footage and destroy anything that could give away your secrets."
"SO IF YOU AREN'T GOING TO BLACKMAIL ME, WHY TELL ME ALL THIS?" All Might asked. All Might suddenly felt his body weaken, and smoke started to come off his body.
"I see your fight with Uraraka and Kacchan took a lot of your hero time. So I'll make this quick. I'm informing you that you're starting to slip, Old Man." Izuku couldn't help himself. "When I learned all this, it shocked my world. Imagine if the public learned about this. Worse, someone with less than correct morals. I mean, Hisahito figured it out in the heat of battle." Izuku pointed out, not really making a point.
"WHAT'S YOUR ADVICE." All Might said.
"Just keep doing what you're doing. Hisahito figured it out, but he already knew about All for One. And me, we'll call it a happy accident." Izuku slipped his helmet back on, "I've already asked Jabisu to search the web. If he comes across any footage or information that could leak your secret, he'll delete it."
All Might couldn't help but laugh. Maybe Izuku was right. Ever since the start of school, the number of people who knew about One for All increased, so maybe he was slipping. And all Izuku needed was security footage, something Izuku had made sure to take care of, while setting up a passive routine to make sure nothing could be posted, "THANKS FOR THE ASSISTANCE, YOU'VE SHOWN THE TRUE CHARACTERISTICS OF BEING A HERO."
"You're the symbol of peace, if the world learned about your weakness. Well you get the picture." Izuku said, walking up to All Might, "So we better keep up appearances. I've proven to you, I'm a hero but Mr. Aizwa has the final say."
"WHAT'S YOUR PLAN?" All Might asked, and it had been cleared. Izuku had known exactly how everything was going to pan out.
"We move to step three," Izuku said, and All Might could tell he was smiling.
Ever since the cameras had gone out, Mr Aizawa and Recovery Girl had been working to get them back online. Yet nothing they did worked. Mr Aizawa was ready to call Principal Nezu when suddenly the cameras came back on. The two pro heroes quickly stepped back from the console, so they didn't accidentally turn off whatever had worked.
Looking up at the monitors, everyone saw that Izuku and All Might were having an old western standoff with neither of them moving. All Might had his hands up like a boxer, while Izuku had both of his hands primed to fire off a blast.
"SHOW ME YOUR WORST HERO." All Might said.
"Fine," Izuku yelled, then flew at All Might. All Might threw a telegraphed punch, which Izuku went under, hit the ground, and threw a "hard" punch. Izuku knew if he hit All Might too hard, he would transform.
All Might stumbled back, so Izuku pressed the advantage by quickly tackling All Might. Increasing the power in his boots, Izuku and All Might spun around until Izuku threw the Symbol of Peace through a wall. The moment Izuku got his feet back on the ground, he raised both of his hands. His HUD switched to X-ray, and he targeted the support beams before unleashing a massive barrage of reprepulsorasts.
As the beams hit their marks, the building easily caved in on itself, kicking up a small cloud of dust.
"I thought we were supposed to keep property damage to a minimum." Denki said. A few of Class 1-A had been docked points for causing property damage.
"When facing someone stronger than you, property damage is unavoidable. That said, Midiroiya did well to only damage that singular building. Notice how he targeted the support beam in such a way that caused the building to fall in on itself, preventing any more property damage to occur." Recovery Girl said.
"But dropping a building on All Might, not like this the first time that happened. He's too manly to be stopped by that." Kirishima commented. All Might's debut video was literally him moving through a collapsed building with ease.
For the next minute or so, everyone waited for All Might to burst out of the building and to continue the fight. Finally, Mina asked the question no one wanted to consider, "Um, where's All Might? Did Midbro actually defeat him?"
"It would seem that way. But for All Might to be defeated by the weight of a simple building, I think there's something else at play here?" Momo said.
Ochaco and Gizon tossed glances at them. All Might had run out of time after being thrown through a building; he could have been forced to transform into his weakened state. Had he accidentally been crushed by the building when Izuku destroyed the support beams? With everyone's attention on the building, no one saw Izuku tap the side of his helmet, then his voice suddenly came through in the observation booth, "Hey, Mr Aizawa, I don't think All Might is coming out anytime soon. I'm getting a heartbeat, but it hasn't moved for nearly three minutes now. Does that count as a win, or do I have to dig him out and put cuffs on him?"
Mr Aizawa hit a but, ton and the PA system announced, "All Might has been subdued, Izuku Midoriya-Sutaku has passed."
"Cool, thanks. Give me a few, and I'll be back at the observation booth." Izuku said, then disappeared from view as he shot up into the sky."
A small celebration went through the room and continued up until the door opened and Izuku walked in. Everyone started to congratulate him and slap him on the back.
"Shut up you stupid extras. Deku, how the f432k did you do that?" Bakugo demanded beyond irritation after waking up and learning that Pink Cheeks was the reason they had passed. Now he was even more so after seeing Izuku handling All Might so easily.
"In all honesty, I didn't get the idea until All Might had asked me to increase the weight of his band." Izuku said, referring to the weight bands he and Mei had created for the teachers to wear, "I knew All Might had gotten accustomed to the extra weight and was even using them to anchor himself down to throw a stronger punch. So when I attacked All Might, I turned off the bands, knowing he would notice, and it would give a split second to attack.
"Then after throwing him into the building, while I attacked the support beams, I had Jabisu remotely increase the weight bands to max. I figured the combined weight would slow him down enough."
"Wait, what is the max for the bands?" Gizon asked, knowing the explanation was a lie. All Might was out of time and was using the excuse of the weights to stay hidden. He figured Izuku had explained his plan while the cameras were out.
"About 1000% of All Might's weight," Izuku said, which was the truth.
"Well thank you for that explanation." Mr. Aizawa said, walking up to the group and pulling out a letter, "Mido- Sutaku. Here is your acceptance letter to be transferred to Class 1-A."
"That was quick," Izuku said as he took the letter from Mr Aizawa. He figured he won't get the official letter until tomorrow morning at the earliest.
"Principal Nezu found it wise to sign the letter beforehand. Your class schedule will match that of Class 1-A and you will be joining all of us for summer camp. Welcome to the hero course." Mr Aizawa said, already knowing the headaches he was going to have to suffer through with an extra student in class and one as chaotic as Izuku, at least it wasn't Mei. He already had to deal with an explosion-prone hazard.
Izuku accepted the letter, and everyone cheered. Shoji, Sato, and Gizon lifted Izuku up into the air. Amidst the cheer, Mina suddenly cried out, "Wait. You said, 'all of us. Does that mean?"
Mr Aizawa hid his grin behind his scarf, "The promise of summer camp was a logical ruse to get you to do your best. The summer camp will be used to train your quirk, so it would have been counter intuitive to have those who failed be left behind. And those who did fail will be taking additional remedial classes alongside the training."
Despite the promise of extra work, everyone cheered again as they would all be going to summer camp. Then Denki asked, "Wait, does this mean we'll be having 21 students in our class or is someone getting transferred out."
Gizon's slight grin immediately disappeared, "21, though hopefully Mineta has learned his lesson, but I won't hold my breath."
Over the cheering, Mr Aizawa called out, "Summer camp is in three weeks. Spend your time wisely." With that, Mr Aizwa and Recovery Girl left.
"Well, I bet we could all do with some summer supplies. How about we plan a trip to the mall together?" Mina said. They had a new member in their class, so they needed to have a big outing.
While Class 1-A headed to their changing room, Izuku excused himself to head to Classroom 6-G. Midway through changing, Gizon, Ochaco, and Izuku's phones went off. They saw it was from Toshinori, asking them to come to a room for a meeting. So while Class 1-A got together to talk about weekend plans, Gizon and Ochaco excused themselves.
The meeting location turned out to be the teacher's lounge, where Toshinori was waiting for them. Ochaco was the first to arrive, and Toshinori gestured for her to take a seat while offering tea. Ochaco took a seat on the couch, but waved off the tea.
Ochaco was about to ask what Toshinori wanted to talk about, but then the door opened again, and Gizon stepped through. They locked eyes for a second, then Gizon said, "So that explains you, but what about him?" As Gizon stepped in, he pointed over his shoulder, and following behind him was Izuku dressed in a tight black shirt and athletic pants. He also had an ice pack taped to his shoulder.
Ochaco would question how Izuku had gotten an ice pack so quickly, but then she realized it was Izuku who was walking into a room with Toshinori. While Toshinori could be found around UA's ground, and would be called a staff member, having a meeting with him so soon after the mid-term exams would be hard to explain, "Midoriya!"
"It's okay Young Uraraka." Toshinori said, holding up a hand to calm Ochaco down, "Much like Young Hisahito, Young Sutaku has learned about our secret. I called you three to this meeting as I do not wish for there to be any secret among you three."
"So how much does Sutaku know?" Gizon asked, taking the teacup that had been offered to Ochaco, and sat down on the couch opposite the end of Ochaco.
"I know about, All for One, One for All." Izuku said, counting on his fingers," Uraraka is All Might's successor. I know that your real name is Āsā pākusu junia. Oh and that you have three quirks."
Gizon was lucky he hadn't started to drink the tea; otherwise, he would have done a spit take. However, he did clench his hand a bit, and a small crack appeared on the handle. "How?"
"UA security footage can be extremely useful." Izuku joked, though there was a nervous waver to his voice, "But don't worry, I've had Jasbisu scrub all of your meetings. And we added an extra firewall to UA's server. Before, it took me an hour to hack in; now it will take over four.
"It took only an hour to hack into UA servers." Gizon said as his look of shock turned into a mischievous grin, "What about NATO?"
"Ahem. Well I'm sure Young Sutaku would love the chance to show off his skill, perhaps he could do so in more legal ways. And now that you three are officially aware of One for All and now each other knows, I have some information to share." Toshinori said.
Toshinori motioned to an extra chair, and Izuku took it. "Now I've been informed you've been told about the true purpose of the summer camp. It will be an opportunity to improve the strength of your quirks. For you, Young Uraraka and Young Hisahito, I want you to focus on control. I want you to practice fluctuating between different levels of strength. It is important you don't overexert yourself. And Young Sutaku, huh…"
"Come up with new designs for support equipment for my new classmates." Izuku offered, as it was hard to practice with his quirk in a practical way.
"Sure. I also wanted to inform you that I will not be coming along." Before any of the trio could say anything, Toshinori held up a hand, "I talked with Principal Nezu and Mr Aizawa. It is clear that the League of Villains has a target on me. We believe that if I come along, it will increase the chance of the League showing up. They will most likely bring a nomu, and with my shortened time limit, the result could be much worse than the USJ.
"Now I know each of you has faced a Nomu and survived. However, each time the League comes back stronger, and while you three have also gotten stronger, I do not wish to put you in harm's way anymore. So I ask that during summer camp, you three work together, so that when the time comes, you can all stand on your own.
"While Young Uraraka was the one to receive One for All, its strength comes from those who wielded it before and those around the wielder align themselves with. You two empower One for All, by the hope you give the world. I wish to see you become the hero you were born to be."
Toshinori looked at each of them in turn, but when he looked at Gizon. Gizon tried to keep a serious face, but failed after a few seconds, "Sorry, sorry. Ruined the moment. I know I'm usually the serious one, but I wasn't exactly born to be a hero."
"I guess neither was I, but sometimes Fate is willing to be wrong for the greater good." Izuku smiled. He grew up thinking his quirk was useless, yet he was making his dream a reality.
"Only idiots born to be weak, could convince Fate to change its mind." Ochaco laughed.
Toshinori looked at the group; each of them had a smile. Each of them had gone through trials by fire. Toshinori felt safe leaving the future in their hands; they had a support system that he never really had. He had isolated himself, taking the burden of achieving peace on himself. But they could work together, become pro heroes that were written into history. That was if history didn't catch up first.
"Young Hisahito, Young Sutaku, may I have a moment alone with Young Ochaco. There's something I would like to discuss with her alone." Toshinori said, with a smile.
Izuku nodded, then stood up. While Gizon looked at their teacher, confused for a second. Everyone in the room knew the secrets of One for All, so what weren't they allowed to know? Instead of asking questions, Gizon nodded and stood up with Izuku.
"We'll see you at the mall." Gizon said, then he left with Izuku.
Once the door closed, Ochaco faced Toshinori and asked the question Gizon also had, "Why did they have to leave? They know as much as I do."
"While this does pertain to One for All in some aspects. It's more of a… actually I don't know what to call it. I wanted to ask you if you were familiar with I-Island?" Toshinori asked.
Ochaco thought for a moment. She had heard Izuku talk about it during training leading up to midterm exams, especially his interest in the upcoming I-Expo, "I have, aren't they having some kind of expo in the coming week?"
"Yes and it seems I was personally invited to it. One of my old colleague's daughters wishes to surprise her father. And as my successor I was wondering if you would like to tag along as my plus one. It will give you a chance to see a new side of heroic."
"Wouldn't that be a little suspicious? Me tagging along with you, normally, won't you bring someone like family?" Ochaco said, then regretted it as Toshinori never mentioned his family. It might be a sensitive topic.
Though it seemed that kind of thought never occurred to Toshinori, "I'm sure we'll be safe if we play our cards right. I'm sure you won't be the only student from your class there. Young Midoriya won some tickets by winning the Sports Festival. And Endeavor is given tickets every year, but much like myself, he found other things to fill his time with. I won't be surprised if he sent young Todoroki in his place."
Ochaco thought about it for a moment, "I would like to come then."
Toshinori nodded, "I'll pick you Monday morning and we'll take a private jet to get to I-island."
At the mention of taking a private jet, Ochaco nearly passed out. She had never ridden in a plane before, and a private jet was never in her wildest dreams. She began to imagine the luxury of it, but had to stop herself before it all went to her head.
"I'll see you on Monday, around 10:00, then." Toshinori said, taking Ochaco's dazed look as a yes. Ochaco nodded, then stood up and left.
Chapter 70: Meeting of Fates
Leaving Ochaco behind to talk with Toshinori, Izuku and Gizon stepped back into the hallway. Now that he was alone with Gizon, Izuku was cautious of how Gizon would react. He began walking down the hallway to get some food, and then to make a call to Mei, and then to his mother.
"Hey, Sutaku," Gizon called out, making Izuku flinch, then freeze in place. Gizon noticed and gave a light snort, "You don't have to worry and relax, if I were angry with you knowing my secret, I wouldn't have called out your name."
Izuku turned around and saw Gizon walking up to him with relaxed body language. Yet for some reason, that didn't help Izuku relax. Maybe it was because of how everyone at Aldera yelled at him, "So you're not angry, I know your name."
"More like I'm angry at myself, I was raised to be cautious of what I say and where I say it. Clearly, I haven't been as careful as I should have been. And disappointed in myself for not realizing what else you could have learned from the security footage beyond what you used in court. But no, I'm not angry at you." Gizon said, walking up to Izuku and putting a comforting hand on his shoulder, "I just want to have a conversation with you about a few things. Man to man."
"Like new support equipment," Izuku asked, as he felt his body starting to relax. There was a light in Gizon's eyes, it was different from those of Aldera. Despite his dark upbringing, Gizon was trying to better himself, those around him, and the world.
"Uh, not quite. No, what I wanted to talk about was previously mentioned, and I don't want you saying anything about this conversation to Ochaco. Have you ever had a secret, one that felt like a heavy burden, but there are only one or two people you can talk about it with?" Gizon asked, and Izuku nodded, "To Ochaco, that's how One for All feels. It's this great burden that has been passed to her, and the only two people she has been able to talk to about it are Toshinori and I."
"And now she can talk to me." Izuku said.
Gizon got a slow nod, "It will do her great to know she had another person she had trust and be honest about with. And I know you're close with Mei Hatsume, but don't go about this with her. She doesn't mean to, but sometimes something just slips out."
"Yeah, how did you know?" Izuku said
"Something just tells me." Gizon said with a knowing look.
"Ah, no problem. I mean I've known since the internships, haven't brought it up once." Izuku pointed.
"That you have. And thanks, you're a good man." Gizon said, with a smile, then continued down the hallway.
Izuku didn't realize his legs had frozen in place until he tried to take a step. That had really been the first time he had a one-on-one conversation with Gizon. And sure, his social anxiety had played a part, but knowing Gizon's past and seeing firsthand what he was capable of. Izuku didn't have to lie that he was scared of how Gizon would react when he learned Izuku knew who he was.
With a lot of effort, Izuku got his legs starting to move again. He continued down the halls until he reached the lunchroom. As he pushed the door open, he felt his phone buzzing from a call. Pulling it out, Izuku looked at the number, but not only did he not recognize it, but the area code wasn't even from Japan. He was about to decline, but then got a text from Principal Nezu telling him he should take it.
Not questioning how Principal Nezu knew who he was calling, Izuku answered the phone call, then put it up to his ear, "Hello, this is Midoriya-Sutaku, Izuku."
"Ah, yes hello, hello. Mr Sutaku. I was afraid you won't pick up. I forgot that Japan is currently two hours behind I-Island and UA does their mid-term exam around this time." The caller said in Japanese with only a slightly American accent.
"No, it's alright, I just finished," Izuku said, confused about how the person could have guessed that.
The man chuckled, "I was more expecting to give a voicemail."
"I know the feeling." Izuku said, "I'm sorry, but may I ask to whom I'm speaking."
"Ah, yes, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is David Shield, and I am wondering if you would be willing to come to I-Expo on I-island. You see I watched UA's Sports Festival and was amazed by your Iron man suit. I'm also familiar with your father's work." The now-named David Shield said.
Maybe it was because he was still coming off the adrenaline high from fighting against All Might. Or perhaps it was because he was hungry, but Izuku's mind felt foggy and was slow to connect the dots it had just been presented with.
1…. Someone was calling about I-island.
2…. The person talking to him about I-island was David Shield. The world's greatest inventor and a great friend to All Might.
3…. David Shield was calling him to invite him to the I-Expo on I-island.
Finally, the words were making sense to Izuku, and he let out a scream. He couldn't believe it, David Shield, one of the world's greatest inventors, and personal friend to All Might, was calling him, talking to him to invite him to I-Expo, the world's greatest engineering, on I-island, the world's greatest city. All because he was impressed by Izuku's Iron Man suit.
Izuku didn't think he would have a better thought than that.
"Un. Mr Sutaku, is everything good on your side? It sounded like we lost connection for a bit." David asked.
Izuku began panicking as he realized he was making a fool of himself. Calming himself as best he could, Izuku cleared his throat, "Must be the distance. Sorry, I want to make sure I heard you correctly. This is David Shield and you're inviting me to I-island for the I-Expo. Because you want to take a look at my suit."
"Yes. I recognized your father's work. You see we weren't on a communication basis, but he approached me once or twice and I provided what advice I could. When I saw your father's design at the Sports festival, I became interested in who might have been about to replicate his work. But following the attack on Hosu and then your legal battle against the Japanese Military and the Hero Public Safety Commission, I knew I had to meet you. Never knew Hishashi Sutāku had a son." David said, as a small chuckle came over the line.
"My father kept my mother and I a secret. He dealt with some unsavory people and he didn't want us to become targets." Izuku said. This seemed to cause David to pause for a few seconds; something Izuku would rather not question.
"Well yes anyway. While the I-Expo officially opens to the public on Tuesday, a group of us, along with our guests, are having an opening party Monday evening. And I would like to invite you to the week long expo and as my special guest to the party. There has been much talk about your suit and its 'Arc Reactor' you use to power it. If you're interested then I can have my assistant forward you flight coordinates and landing security." David said.
"I would be interested in coming," Izuku said, almost immediately, while mostly succeeding in not geeking out and asking a million questions. Having been around heroes as a teacher for the past few months, Izuku has gotten a better handle on fanboying out. But like All Might, David Shield was one of the people Izuku looked up to in his early teenage years.
"Glad to hear that. Now I have some more things to do before the pre-showing of I-Expo, so I'll let you enjoy the rest of your weekend, but I should have everything sent to you by Sunday evening. " David said, then the call ended.
Izuku paused for a second, then felt his legs turn to jelly. He fell into a chair and cheered into his arm at the top of his lungs. He was going to the exclusive I-expo, and because he had been invited by one of the smartest engineers in the world. He couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe it.
In less than an hour, he had been transferred into the hero course and had been invited to I-island. Running a hand through his hair, Izuku felt like his mind was running a million kilometers an hour. He could feel his quirk building up within his hand, the green bio-electricity trying to jump between his fingers. Taking a few deep breaths, Izuku felt his heart rate lower a bit, and his quirk settled down.
His phone suddenly chimed, and looking at Izuku saw it was a text from Principal Nezu, "As you've been given a ticket from Mr Shield, I request you pass your two Sports Festival tickets to a person of your choosing. Happy Travels."
Izuku had completely forgotten about the two tickets he had been given for winning the Sports Festival. Powerloader had made sure to be there when Principal Nezu handed them over. Even with Powerloader wearing his mask, Izuku could tell he was absolutely beaming under there. Closing the text, Izuku swiped over and opened the app that held the electronic tickets.
Who was he supposed to give them to? One of his classmates within the support course or one of the members of Class 1-A. Despite being in the support course, he felt like he knew the members of Class 1-A better, and he was better friends with them. Yet the I-Expo was all about engineering.
Izuku's dilemma was answered upon seeing Kirishima walking in, and he decided he would just go with whoever he saw first, "Oh hey, Sutaku. What are you doing here?"
"Getting something to eat before heading out." Izuku said, thinking of how to bring up the topic of conversation, "Have you ever wanted to go to I-island." Guess he was just diving right in.
"Yeah, I mean I know it's home to some of the world's greatest engineers and other manly stuff, but it would still be pretty cool to go." Kirishima said, "Why? Do you have a random ticket laying around?"
"More like two." Izuku said, and Kirishima tossed him a confused look, "I have two tickets from winning the Sports Festival, but a world-renowned quirk engineer just called me and invited me to the expo that's happening next week."
Kirishima's eyes lit up, "Really that's so manly. Were they interested in your suit?" Izuku nodded, "Man, you're lucky, we're barely a semester in and you're already getting noticed by the elites."
While Kirishima was right, Izuku wasn't quite sure that the elites who had been noticing him so far were a positive thing. It wasn't like he wanted the HPSC or League of Villains' interest. Maybe meeting with David Shield would be the first with a positive connotation, "Yeah, and since he's giving me a ticket, I don't need the ones given to me by UA. And Principal Nezu would prefer it if they didn't go to waste. So I'm giving them to whoever I saw first."
Kirishima paused, then pointed to himself, "Which would be me."
Izuku shrugged, as if he and Kirishima were on a really bad game show that only got a few views per episode, "Congratulations, I guess."
"Huh, just my luck the one time I don't buy a ticket for a ruffle, I win." Kirishima joked
"I know the feeling," Izuku said. He wasn't a gambler by any means, but he also liked the awe of getting a ticket for a school raffle and having the chance to win. He never won, but he liked the school spirit. "So, I can send you the electronic tickets later. You can decide who you want to give the extra ticket to." Izuku stood up and slapped Kirishim on the side of his arm, "Thanks for saving me the headache from having to choose."
"You're welcome," Kirishima said as Izuku started towards the door. As he walked out, Gizon passed him going in, "Oh hey, Hisahito, here for a quick bite as well."
"No, Recovery Girl called me, said she needed to talk to me about something, but there was something quick I had to ask you before I forgot." Gizon said.
Izuku didn't hear the rest of that conversation as the door closed and he continued down the hallway. Gathering his stuff from Classroom 6-G, Izuku headed home and told Inko about the call. Taking a step from her conference call, Inko hugged her son and said, "You're growing up so fast. I'm so happy for you, Izuku. I know you'll have a great time and getting to meet David Shield has been a dream of yours. Are you sure you can get everything ready by yourself?"
"Yeah I should be able to handle everything." Izuku said, breaking the embrace and taking a step back.
"Then what about luggage?" Inko said with a sweet smile, all the while knowing she was about to shatter her son's reality. Putting a pin in the bubble of his perfect world, as it were.
Izuku opened his mouth to answer, but then closed it as he realized he couldn't exactly strap a suitcase to the make of his armor. The strap or the suitcase would not be able to withstand the supersonic speed at which he would be traveling. Upon hearing the gears within her son's mind slipping a notch, Inko couldn't help but laugh, "Don't worry, if you get a suitcase ready, I'll take it to the airport and get it checked. Any luggage not claimed within an hour is placed in holding for two days. You'll just have to make sure to grab it when you get a chance."
"Thanks mom." Izuku said.
"And make sure you coordinate with Nezu and Powerloader for you to take your armor off of campus." Inko said.
"I'll do that right now." Izuku grabbed his phone and headed to his room to get on a call with Principal Nezu and Powerloader.
Back at UA, Recovery Girl was unsettled by the neutral, almost dead-like, expression she was receiving from Gizon as he had said a word for the past three minutes. She didn't know whether to claim he was going to shock or not, but the information she had just given him would be enough to send anyone not prepared into that mental state. "Hisahito, do you understand what I'm telling you?"
Gizon's hand suddenly clenched, and his eyes seemed to refocus on her, "Yeah, yeah. Um, you were unable to come to an inconclusive answer. About my um, my DNA and quirk genetics. For what we, um knowing about them, by definition I would be um considered one. But my brain scans, um, haven't shown…. anything noticable or out of the ordinary abnormalities."
"And do you know what that means?" Recovery Girl asked again.
"It means….. Its means. It means we don't know anything. I could very well be All For One's first attempt at unknowingly creating a Nomu, but that doesn't mean he has any kind of mental control over me, like the other Nomu we've come across. But I could also very well be some kind of sleeper agent." Gizon said as he shifted around in his chair, showing his discomfort
"Do you feel like a sleeper agent?"
"Isn't the point of a sleeper agent is that they don't know they're a sleeper agent?" Gizon offered, and Recovery Girl gave an exhausted sigh.
"Then a better question would be, do you think you could fight against whatever programming All For One could have potentially implanted in your head?" Recovery Girl asked, as it seemed, despite his reservation Gizon knew that a conversation needed to be had, there was a chance that some type of protocol needed to be created.
"Have you ever had the misfortune of meeting the man?" Gizon said with a shadow over his eyes.
"Only the wake from his path of destruction." Recovery Girl said.
"He is the most cunning, ruthless, sly, shrewd, deceptive, silver-tongued bastard to ever live." Gizon said, in a steady, calm voice as he locked eyes with Recovery Girl, "And that's without any of the millions of quirks he has avaible to use. So if there is some kind of hypnotic programing implanted in my brain, then we better hope there is someone around that can take me down."
"That's a bit drastic, don't you think." Recovery Girl said.
"You've seen the wake of All Might's fight against All For One. If he's close enough to activate any kind of programming, then's he close enough to get to me and give me more quirks." Gizon said, "Even with just Energy Absorption, Hyper Regeneration and Force Multiplier, how much destruction do you think I would cause before enough people show up to take me down."
Gizon could see Recovery Girl was getting his point, "So what's the next step."
The Recovery Girl didn't answer but instead turned her chair around and grabbed a binder off her desk. As she turned around, Gizon could see that the binders had his name on the front and that it wasn't almost full, "This is all the research I've been able to do with your blood and all the results I've got."
"Seems like quite a bit." Gizon commented.
"Yes, but it's not even 1/10th of what the scientists could come up with at I-island. I have limited resources and time to do the tests." Recovery Girl said, causing Gizon's eyes to go a bit wide.
"Wait, wait. Are you planning on sending me to I-island to become a lab rat?" Gizon questioned.
"No, you've been given a ticket to I-island to become a lab rat for a week." Recovery Girl said, opening the binder and pulling out the top few papers. She handed it over to Gizon, and he saw it was printouts of emails between her and a few biologists, "Two weeks ago I sent a sample of your blood to some of my colleagues on I-island. To say they were heavily interested after running a few tests is an understatement."
"What did you tell them?" Gizon asked.
"If you've asking if they know you have three quirks, then no. I put it on the basis that you have been hit with several long term effects and need to know what potential hazards they could cause." Recovery Girl explained.
"And they bought that BS." Gizon said. Why are the smart ones always so dumb?
"I'm sure they would have, had their excitement not taken hold. They seem to be under the impression that the quirk you were hit by was supposed to give negative effects, but for some reason are boosting your original quirk."
"Like a biological pseudo-trigger?" Gizon questioned.
"I got that impression as well. They were so interested they sent along a ticket to I-Expo next week, along with a plane ticket and a hotel room." Recovery Girl said, as she flipped to the back of the binder and pulled out three tickets.
Recovery Girl handed the ticket over, and Gizon saw the tickets were, "Really, Economy seat. They couldn't have coop out a first class, or at least a business class ticket."
"Hey, it's a Premium Economy seat, First class and business are always bought out or given away by the start of spring and this was a last minute thing." Recovery Girl huffed.
"Whatever. The hotel room is a Junior Suite and a ticket to the opening gala party Monday evening. I don't know how to tell you Recovery Girl, but I think your colleagues are cheapskates. They're going to be poking and proding my for a week straight." Gizon said with a smirk.
"We could also just duct tape you to the wing." Recovery Girl said as she grabbed her cane.
"Alright, alright, I'll stop. And truthfully, thank you. This has been an issue weighing on me since the USJ. I've hurt a lot of people before, and I'd rather not restart that path. So I'll put up with whatever tests and exams your colleagues put me through." Gizon slipped the tickets into his pocket. "Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to head home and help my neighbor rearrange their furniture."
Handing the papers back to Recovery Girl, Gizon stood up and took his leave.
With the midterm exams over and the weekend beginning, Class 1-A had made plans to meet up at Mufusta mall to do a big shopping trip to ready supplies for the summer camp and or summer in general. Around. 10:00 was when the first few arrived, and they were soon joined by those who had decided to come, leaving out only Bakugo and Mineta.
With everyone needing to get different items, they broke into groups depending on what they needed to get and went off with the plan to meet back in the food court around 1:00. As the groups went off, Gizon and Izuku tagged along with Ochaco as neither of them claimed they needed to get anything in particular while Ochaco needed new boots and sleeping bag then new swimsuit.
So the trio headed for the store filled with camping supplies. While Ochaco was trying out different hiking boots, Izuku realized that his regular everyday red shoes probably won't hold up to whatever summer camp they found themselves in. So he quickly grabbed a pair that was his size, then headed off to find Ochaco and Gizon in the sleeping bag section. He and Gizon were good with the sleeping bag while Ochaco took some time to find one that worked for her.
After paying for their items, the trio headed for the clothes store that was on the other side of the hallway. Ochaco headed directly for the swimsuits, while after a few minutes of just waiting around, Gizon decided to go and take a look at hats, and Izuku followed him.
"It seems Toshinori is pretty serious about us helping Ochaco gain further control over Percent Strength," Gizon said as he spun a dark blue beanie on his index finger before slipping it on. Checking how he looked in one of the mirrors, Gizon didn't like how the dark blue clashed with his yellow blonde hair, and it was a little warm for the season, so he slipped it off.
"Really, but I thought he wanted all of us to train to become stronger?" Izuku asked as he grabbed a black Gatsby cap. He turned to Gizon to show it off, but the triple quirk user shook his head, so Izuku took it off.
Izuku found a white apple cap and tossed it to Gizon, who caught and looked at it. Gizon then looked at Izuku with a look as if to ask, "Really." Putting the hat back on the shelf, Gizon commented, "True, but Toshinori likes to think he can speak in riddles. We empower Percent Strength by the hope we give the world, please, that sounds like the catch phrase on a really bad poster. Ochaco gained Percent Strength right before the Entrance exam, and even with my training, have you seen her utilize it like All Might can?"
Izuku shrugged his shoulders as he found a green bowler hat, "I would say I've seen she's comfortable using 20 ish percent, but can only use 15% effectively during combat. And using what I know, I would say All Might has to regularly use 50% to change the weather." It wasn't hard to make the comparison as Izuku practically had every video of All Might fighting memorized, "So she had a lot of ways to go."
"Nice color, but not your style." Gizon" Gizon said, trying on a white newsboy cap. Close but not really his style, "And that's my point. Toshinori had no issue using his quirk from day one, so he really didn't know how to teach Ochaco to control Percent Strength. I'm a little afraid of what could have happened if I had been around."
"It couldn't have been that bad, it couldn't have been worse than breaking a bone." Izuku said, trying on a green bucket hat.
Gizon didn't answer until he slid close to Izuku and whispered, "One for All has enough strength to blow off the user's limb if not properly tempered."
"Oh." was all Izuku said.
"So Ochaco isn't ready to take on the burden of getting the 'next' symbol of peace, but Shigaraki and All For One aren't going to wait until she's ready. And with Toshinori's ever decreasing strength, whenever All For One attacks he might not be enough. Nor will Ochaco." Gizon said, as he grabbed a yellow pillbox hat, though he quickly tossed it back onto the shelf, because he could tell it would not look good on him.
"You're saying we might have to step in?" Izuku questioned as he turned to look at Gizon.
"I'm stepping in while I'm needed or not. And yeah, I'm worried about that coming fight, whenever it happens. But I'm more concerned about what happens next, Toshinori will have to retire?" Gizon pointed out.
"What's so bad about that? He'll have deserved it." Izuku commented.
"He will have, but that means the retirement of the symbol of peace. A singular pillar that Japan that the world, has built their belief. But the world was a different place before All Might became a household name…. What has been the statistical decline of crime since All Might became number one?" Gizon asked, knowing Izuku would better understand the math of the situation.
"For the time All Might was in America, crime saw a decline of 16% and once he came back, Japan saw a decline of 31%." Izuku said.
"The symbol of peace is a deterrent, and what's going to happen once the deterrent goes away." Gizon then saw green electricity jump across Izuku's eyes.
"Crime would go back up." Izuku almost yelled.
"I know some villains who take that kind of opportunity. The smart ones would try for a power grab. There's no telling if the other upper ranks pro heroes will achieve the same kind of deterrent as All Might presents. If ever." Gizon then tossed a glance over at Izuku as it seemed that kind of realization had hit him. He didn't think Izuku would take it that hard, "Hey Sutaku, you good?"
"Yeah I think." Izuku said as he withdrew his hand from the shelf.
Acting fast, Gizon grabbed Izuku's shoulder and turned him, so they were facing each other. Locking eyes with Izuku, Gizon said, "Crap, hey, Sutaku, listen. Sorry, I'm making it sound worse than it will be. It will probably just be a small uptick in crime while the world figures out how to move past All Might. I'm not saying we're going to fall back into the dark ages."
"Yeah I guess. It's just that I never had that thought. I had never thought about what comes after." Izuku said, a bit shaken.
"You've never known All Might personally. But now you've met the mortal behind the might, reality has started to show itself. I get it. Growing up, I always thought about the joy I would have watching All Might defeat All For One." Gizon confessed.
"But then you learn how weak All M… Toshinori is?" Izuku questioned.
Gizon nodded, then explained, "Learn it wouldn't be as easy or clean cut as I was hoping. But I resolved myself to get my hands dirty again, if it means seeing All For One in the grave."
"That's a bit dark," Izuku said as he grabbed a gray fishing hat.
"Let's change the topic of conversation," Gizon then noticed Izuku's hat, "Nice hat, suits you. Though if you're wanting sometime more professional, I would go with one of these' Gizon grabbed a dark green pork pie hat and handed it to Izuku. While Izuku tried on the hat, Gizon grabbed a white Trilby and tried it on.
"Heh, you look like an old-style Italian-American mafia member." Izuku said, "Hey, I've been wanting to ask, how did you sell the idea of Percent Strength to everyone else? I mean, it's nothing like Zero Gravity."
Gizon gained a bit of a smirk as he took off the hat, "Well, having Todoroki and his 'two quirks' helped make the story believable. Though the two aspects of his quirk are closely related. We mainly got around Percent Strength being so different by admitting that we didn't fully understand it. It's amazing how dumb smart people can be sometimes." Gizon switched out the white trilby for a yellow one that had a black ribbon.
"Better." Izuku said, "You should try it on with a suit, otherwise stick with baseball caps.
"Look who's talking, kanji printed oil stained shirts." Gizon joked.
"What can I say, they're comfortable. Hey, don't forget about the black athletic shirt and pants." Izuku said, trying to defend himself.
"Like those are any better." Gizon mocked.
"Yeah, I'm going to miss having an excuse of being able to wear those throughout the day," Izuku said, and Gizon gave him an emphatic pity.
"Hey, I found a swimsuit I like." Ochaco called out as she walked up to the two boys. She then noticed Gizon's hat and commented, "You should try that when you have a suit."
"Ha, ha, ha." Gizon mocked as he slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a yen. He then tossed it into the air, "Call."
"Tails." Izuku said.
Dumbfounded by that, Ochaco asked, "What are you two idiots doing?"
"Deciding who has to pay for the broke girl's stuff," Gizon said as he caught the hidden then put his other hand on top to hide it. That earned him a smack on the shoulder while Ochaco huffed, "I can pay for myself."
"Really," Gizon said with a bored face, as if he had already had this conversation a million times. After a glance at the swimsuit in Ochaco's hand, Gizon continued, "You can afford 20,000 yen."
"I'm not broke anymore," Ochaco said, momentarily confused about how Gizon knew the price of her swimsuit from one glance. Then she recalled how Gizon once commented that his mind just stored random items, and that caused him to get barred from Trivia night when he was younger. Overcoming her confusion, Ochaco turned to Izuku, "Thanks for that, by the way. My father nearly fainted when they were approached with the offer."
While Izuku gained a blush, Gizon laughed and then revealed the coin, "Its head, that means I win and don't have to pay."
Izuku sighed, then reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet.
"Seriously, come on Midoriya. You're really going along with his stupid game." Ochaco said.
"If it's not the swimsuit, it's going to be something else. Let me be gentlemen." Izuku saw Ochaco crossing her arms and puffing out her cheeks, "Fine, if it makes you any better, I'll cover what you can't afford."
"Fine, but you also have to pay for Gizon's stupid hat as well," Ochaco said with a huff.
"Hey, I thought you said this hat looked good on me." Gizon said in an offended tone.
Ochaco was about to comment on how she said he would look good in the hat with a suit, but then saw the mischievous grin on Gizon's face, "Whatever."
While Ochaco stomped away to the cash register, Gizon grabbed Izuku's shoulder and said, "You're a helpless romantic."
"Funny. Mrs Hatsume and my mom say that too, usually after I agree to do something stupid, dangerous, or crazy for Mei." Izuku said as he slipped his wallet back into his pocket.
Gizon let out a snort as the two hurried after Ochaco and met her at checkout. Ochaco's swimsuit was already scanned, and while Izuku handed over his hat, Ochaco swiped Gizon so he couldn't pay for it himself. Once everything was scanned, Ochaco handed over what yen she had in her wallet, which turned out to be only 5,000 yen. She made sure not to look over at Gizon, already knowing the look he would have
Izuku paid for the rest, and the three headed out of the store.
After looking at the clock on the walk, Gizon pointed out the time, "It's almost lunch time. Didn't everyone want to get together and have lunch?"
"Yeah. I think the food court is just around the corner." Izuku said, however, before they could head off, Ochaco frantically checked her pocket.
"I think I accidentally left my phone in the change room. You guys go on, and I'll catch up", Ochaco said as she turned around and headed back for the store. Once in the store, Ochaco rushed back to the changing rooms, and upon finding the room she had used unoccupied, she quickly grabbed her phone.
Reaching the front of the store, Ochaco didn't see either of the boys and figured they had gone ahead without her. Her stomach chose that time to growl, and with a sigh, she started walking to the food court. However, before she could reach the corner, a voice called out while an arm slipped over her shoulder, "Hey, you're one of those UA students. You're the girl who lost to that turd weasel Junia."
Hearing Gizon's real name and recognizing the crusty voice, a shiver went down Ochaco's spine. Looking to her right, Ochaco met the person she was expecting and feared the most, meeting in a public area.
Shigaraki.
"We have a lot of catching up to do, Ochaco Uraraka."