Next To Me

Chapter 23: With the All Might's Watching

"Holy whoa?! This is the textbook Recovery Girl has you studying?!" Izuku said astounded at the book's size.

A week had passed by since the cafeteria incident. [Y/n] and Izuku sat in his bedroom; [Y/n] lay on top of his bed, resting her head in her hand as she looked down at the textbook open below her. Izuku sat on the floor, leaning against the bed.

[Y/n]'s head was in her textbook every night after school to keep up with the extra reading Recovery Girl had assigned her. It was about 40 extra pages of reading to memorize and understand a week. But, knowing that what she was learning was going to help her improve as a hero and eventually help her save people, made studying easy. She actually looked forward to reading her textbook every night. She even found her subconscious thoughts drifting towards the content she had learned. When she dozed off in class, she was thinking about the textbook material and how she could apply it to herself, imagining scenarios of her being a hero and rescuing people with her quirk.

"I know it's massive, right? Recovery Girl and I had our first review session on Friday to go over this chapter," [Y/n] said, flipping the pages to show Izuku. "And it was a humbling experience, to say the least. We were supposed to review the first three chapters at the end of the month, but now I'm doing a chapter a week."

"This is intense, [Y/n]! What was the first chapter on? Were you even able to absorb anything in that time? Did you want to review it again with me?"

[Y/n] glanced at him with a knowing smile. Of course he would suggest something as sweet as that.

"It was an introduction to anatomy and physiology, so we went over the different levels of organization in the body, homeostasis, and briefly touched on the chemical levels. And that's super sweet, but that's not what I wanted to show you." She said flipping back through the large book.

Izuku glanced back and forth between [Y/n] and the book, unsure of what to expect. She stopped on a page with 'cranial nerves' labelled at the top. She pointed to a diagram of colourful nerves blooming from a drawing of a brain.

"I got curious one night and skipped ahead and I happened upon this chapter on the nervous system. Look, look, Izuku," [Y/n] excitedly pointed to various nerves. "Each of our sensations is controlled by these nerve pathways! See this one? Number one is for smell. And this one here, number two is for sight!"

Izuku's eyes travelled from the book's illustration to [Y/n]'s face. Her eyes glittered with excitement and passion as she spoke. He softly smiled as he admired how her cheeks were softly turning red, how her speech became quicker, and how she pointed at every detail she wanted to show. He quickly looked back down at the textbook, not wanting her to catch him staring.

"Wow, that's so fascinating! And I bet would be helpful for your quirk too!" He happily replied. "Did you read about how they can be disrupted?"

"Yes, but I didn't mean to! You can't tell anyone, okay?! Recovery Girl would ring my neck if she found out I was reading ahead. Her and the teachers are controlling what I learn and when I practice so that I don't hurt anyone."

"But this would make your fighting style so much stronger! Imagine making your opponent blind or deaf or both! That would give you such an advantage! And then you could use your regenerative quirk to physically attack them. Actually, you could really use the de-biogeneration quirk to compliment your regenerative quirk if you think about it, and then the possibilities of what you could do would be endless." Izuku began rambling on, reaching into his backpack for his notebook.

"That's exactly what I was thinking! Learn things that won't be fatal but could help me use my other quirk!" [Y/n] beamed, kicking her feet in the air in excitement.

"Yes, yes," Izuku agreed, his eyes focused on the contents of his notebook. He pursed his lips in deep thought. "Anything to dull or eliminate the senses would be really powerful for both physical attacks and stealth. As well as anything that would make your physical attacks have a larger effect."

[Y/n] leaned over the edge of the bed to peer at Izuku's notebook. He was reading a page he wrote about her quirk.

"Do you have anything specific in mind?" She asked, curious as to what he was thinking.

Izuku thought for a moment. He looked over his shoulder and stared at [Y/n]'s face in consideration.

"I know!" His face lit up as an idea dawned on him. "What do you have in there on blood disorders?"

[Y/n] flipped through the book. "There's a chapter on it! Along with the skeletal system. It looks like there's a section on disorders."

"My great aunt was so fragile when she was still alive, she would break her bones by doing ordinary tasks. The doctors called it osteo-something, I can't remember."

"Osteoporosis?" [Y/n] suggested, looking at the term in her book. "A disease that causes a reduction in bone mineral density, weakening the structure and strength of bones." She read.

"Yes! If you could give someone that, then your physical attacks would be much more effective when engaging in combat."

[Y/n] nodded, very much liking the idea and reading as much as she could about the disease.

"Great idea, Izuku! I'll read up on the other ones too." She said.

She couldn't help a smirk from creeping onto her face. It felt as if she was going to get in trouble by learning. It was a silly concept, but she knew the teachers and Recovery Girl wouldn't be impressed if they found out. She would have to remember to keep these learnings to herself for now.

"Do you want to practice the cranial nerves?" Izuku asked.

[Y/n] tensed up and hesitated, a habitual reaction she was working on stopping.

"Right now? Here?" She nervously asked, looking around the room for an excuse not to. "With all the All Might's watching?" she teased.

Izuku choked at the unexpected joke.

"W-WELL I MEAN I CAN PUT THEM AWAY!" He frantically said, referencing the All Might memorabilia that covered almost every inch of his room, including the duvet cover [Y/n] was lying on.

[Y/n] giggled at his embarrassment.

"But seriously, [Y/n]. You don't want to have to practice while fighting someone, do you? What if it doesn't work? It's safe here and I want to help you grow stronger! You are helping me by healing my body every time I've broken it using my quirk. Let me help you!"

[Y/n] hesitated, feeling a knot twist itself in her lower chest.

"Okay." She agreed.

[Y/n] sat up from her position and joined Izuku on the floor to be at eye level with her friend. She dragged the textbook down with her and flipped to the reference page she would need.

Deeply breathing out in an attempt to calm her nerves, she looked Izuku in the eyes.

"Ready? I'll start with cranial nerve one, so you're sense of smell will be dulled. Should we test it with this candle?" She asked reaching over to a nightstand and grabbing an All Might candle.

Izuku sweat dropped from embarrassment. "Sure. And wait, you can fix me if it works, right?" He asked, suddenly nervous as well.

He watched as [Y/n]'s dominant hand and arm turned black, the pigmentation stopping at her elbow.

"That depends if you were planning on sharing the dessert your mom made after dinner with me." She smirked, reaching out and grabbing onto Izuku's bicep.

"AH! OF COURSE!" The boy freaked out as she grabbed him.

[Y/n] snickered at how easy and fun it was to tease him. Izuku felt nothing but her hand around his arm. After a second, [Y/n] let go and held the candle up to his nose.

"HOLY WHOA I CAN'T SMELL ANYTHING!" Izuku freaked in excitement.

[Y/n] shushed him so his mom wouldn't hear and become concerned. She beamed that it actually worked, that her learning was now being applied.

"Okay, now for the second nerve, sight."

"WAIT AREN'T YOU GOING TO GIVE ME BACK MY SMELL FIRST?"