Izuku has mastered the art of dying in his mind.
If he were to count off the amount of times he's kicked the bucket during his dreams, he'd need more hands. Some of the ways he dies are, admittedly, kind of funny. Pathetic, though.
Sometimes he gets stuck in what feels like black quicksand, and he just slowly suffocates down there beneath the floor. Sometimes lightning strikes and kills him immediately! Shit, just last night he had an anvil drop on him from above.
How the hell an anvil made it into the void plane is beyond him, but he isn't about to go analyzing the meanings behind how he dies. He isn't a sleep or dream expert. Besides, he doesn't actually think these things matter.
It's just a skill issue, to be quite honest.
The thing is, he's been trying every single time he so much as closes his eyes to go inside this realm and make it through the pool of stars. He needs to see the other side. He craves it. He can't live without knowing what's beyond his own understanding.
Each time he tries, though, he either doesn't make it to the pool at all, or he drowns when he gets there.
While some of his deaths are, as he said, funny, a lot of them... aren't.
Sometimes the creatures catch him. And most aren't forgiving.
He dies by fire most nights. There's a new monster in the realm. It has big, flaming red wings that burn up Izuku's hair if he gets even ten feet from it. That's the one who manages to get him most of the time.
The others, though, are just as bad. They grab him and make sure he wakes up in a cold sweat after being killed using one of their own methods. Sometimes he's thrown straight through the ground and back into reality.
Other times he's not so lucky. Some of the more aggressive ones simply tear him apart whilst easily keeping back the few creatures that attempt to defend Izuku.
He hates those nights the most, because he can feel it all.
Everything changes when he manages to get to the pool again after a few days of straight failure. He doesn't hesitate before diving in, knowing that if he does so this time, one of the creatures will grab him and drag him away.
The stars set into his skin as he swims. They burn like liquid nitrogen, and it makes him weirdly cold all over. He's holding his breath and trying not to waste a second of his time. He doesn't feel like drowning again.
The deeper he goes, the harder it is to keep going. He can't see, as it's darker than night, so he's basing his direction on feeling alone. The pressure makes his ears pop painfully, but he spurs on. The heavy wings on his back aren't helping one bit, either.
Come on, One for All.
The red lightning sparks to life. It wreaths around Izuku, circling him and illuminating his surroundings. This way, he can see the rainbow koi fish swimming and dancing around. They're lively, and it looks like they're doing some kind of dance. They're so fast, too. Abnormally so.
They spin around Izuku, crowding around his light, and the boy can't help but smile. He lets his palm glide over their scales as he moves. They really are beautiful.
One for All lights his path, but it doesn't seem to make anything easier. His vision start to darken, and his lungs are about to burst.
Just a little more. He swears it! He can feel it. There's something there, and he doesn't want to miss it. He can't. This is the closest he's ever gotten before.
Something grabs his ankle, and he kicks it off with his other foot. Not like this, he thinks. Give me a damn break!
As his movements start to slow, he wonders if maybe there really is nothing on the other side of the pool. Maybe it's just an infinite sea of black. He could just be killing himself over and over for zero gain. It wouldn't be the first time.
His mouth opens without his permission, instinctively trying to draw in a breath. The liquid rushes into him, and he chokes, spasming. Fuck this place!
He bets the creatures are laughing at him for trying to escape the inevitable. He bets they're just waiting for him to come back next time so they can rub this in his face. He bets they're just going to fucking—
His hand breaks the surface. A rush goes through him, and it's like someone yanks him up, dragging him right out of the sludge-like water. His knees hit soft ground, and then he's falling over onto his side, soaking wet and trembling. He throws up the river of black until he's dry heaving, his heart thumping outside his chest.
When he opens his eyes, he sees the Moonpool swirling around just a foot away, almost as if it's alive. Even as he registers this, he can feel his body drying off immediately, the water sliding off of him and returning to the pool. It's then that he realizes his wings have shimmered away, leaving his back bare.
He forces himself to sit up on his elbows, and the first thing he thinks is finally.
A giggle bubbles up inside of him, and he clutches his stomach when he erupts in joyous laughter. He was right, of course. There is something on this side. He wasn't dumb. He was doing something right. He's not stupid.
He gets to his feet, wondering what he's going to do now. Backing up, Izuku stares above him, noticing the pink and blue galaxies and nebulae. It's like he's been dropped in the middle of the universe, and he gets to see the formation of every new star.
It's exhilarating. It fills his veins with something new.
Izuku takes another step back, awed, and bumps into something cold. He's not scared, though. He doesn't scream. In this area, for some reason, he feels... neutral. Past the shock and happiness and curiosity, Izuku is... just Izuku.
Nothing about this feels different to him. It's weird to think about. It's like he's always been here, just not physically.
When he looks over his shoulder, unfazed, he only blinks when he sees himself staring back.
It's not actually him, though. He doesn't think so, at least. Standing before him is a wispy, cloud-like figure that's the same height and build as him. The smoke is black and green, and if he looks closely enough, he can see bright strands of red warring within.
White light spills out of the area where the eyes are, and Izuku finds himself unable to look away. Besides the ethereal wings made of clouds fanning out behind it, there are no other distinguishable features on the figure, but Izuku just knows that this is supposed to be himself.
Some fucked up version, maybe. But it's Izuku.
You look like Kuro, he thinks, but the words echo around him from all sides as if he said it aloud.
He reaches forward tentatively, and his fingers go through the smoke until he touches the soft body underneath. That's what he must've bumped into. The smoke is doing nothing but covering his other self.
Izuku circles the figure, and it— he tilts his head to follow his movements. He wonders absentmindedly how intelligent he is. He can obviously hear, see, and be aware of his surroundings, but can he think? Can he... speak?
Just as Izuku's about to ask this weird version of himself something, Not Izuku turns and walks away, deeper into the realm. His steps don't make any sound, but he leaves a quickly dissipating trail of black in his wake.
Where is he going? Is there something else here that Izuku might want to see? Maybe Not Izuku is just wandering aimlessly. There isn't a way to know for sure unless Izuku is willing to follow.
Despite his curiosity, Izuku goes in the opposite direction, eyeing how the sky sort of distorts and folds in on itself far into the distance. It's like he's in a large bubble of some kind, and the pool dropped him near the entrance to it. He can explore this area later—for now, he wants to get a layout of everything else.
Soon, Izuku comes upon an arch. The brightly colored galaxies and asteroid clouds come to a halt here, and beyond the horizon is nothing but darkness. It's almost like an optical illusion.
When he steps through, he half expects to immediately be incinerated. Fortunately, though, he lives for another night.
The air is chillier here. It sends goosebumps up Izuku's arms and makes him nervous. He doesn't exactly feel as safe in here as he did the other place. Nothing is nearly as welcome here.
He walks and walks for what seems like hours but could only be about two minutes if he actually counted in his mind. Eventually, Izuku sees something other than black in the distance.
He sees gold.
And it's a terrifying thing, because he knows what kind of golden yellow that is. He sees the tall frame, the thinness of the body, and pauses in his tracks.
He thinks he knows who this is, but he isn't sure until he breaks off into a run and faces the man fully.
Yagi Toshinori's white eyes are wide, as if actually surprised at seeing Izuku here. He moves first, grabbing Izuku's wrist, and the boy stiffens.
"Hey," Izuku says, but his voice is shaky. "All Might?"
Despite the weirdness of the situation, he doesn't pull away. He's a little freaked out, but then the man moves his wispy hand so that he's carefully holding Izuku's. His touch is cool at first, but then it tingles. His golden cloud of smoke is like the holiest of fires, and Izuku feels the warmth of it on his face and the rest of his body.
Yagi examines the hand, and when he looks at Izuku, he seems almost sad.
Izuku frowns too. "Hey," he says again, trying to get his teacher to answer him. Not Izuku didn't speak, so he doubts Yagi can, but he still wants to try.
The hand retracts, though, and instead All Might moves to rest it on Izuku's head for just a few seconds.
It's familiar, and yet it feels wrong all the same. It's like the touch is there but not. The air between them is electrified, and Izuku wonders if All Might—the real one—has ever had dreams or sensations like this.
He senses One for All inside Yagi. It's all around him, actually. Like it's permeated into the realm itself.
I wonder. Is this...
"Pretty weird, ain't it, kid?"
This time, Izuku screams. He whips around, coming face to face with a stocky, middle-aged man with a square chin. He has his hands on his hips with a sort of smug grin on his face. Bright yellow goggles sit at the top of his shiny head, and it reminds Izuku of someone else.
Izuku instinctively searches for a quirk, but he can't feel one, as One for All is smothering any other possible ones.
He backs away, not liking how the man could sneak up on him like that. Not liking how the sheer power in this man's stance puts even All Might's to shame.
Izuku's tremors start back up, and he can't even form a reply as he tries to put as much distance between them as possible without showing his back.
The man snorts at the sight. "Where d'ya think you're going? You don't even know where you are!"
Izuku swallows, eyes darting around. He was planning to go back to the Moonpool, but his sense of direction is fucked. He isn't sure where that area is now.
"You—you don't look like him," Izuku says, looking from Yagi to the mystery man and back again. "You're—"
"Whole? Solid? Yeah, that might be 'cause I'm actually dead."
That part was obvious, but somehow it still sends a jolt through Izuku. He stares with doe eyes, his backward steps gradually getting larger.
The newcomer doesn't miss this; he's obviously keen, Izuku notes. The man crosses his arms, his entire stance screaming relaxed. "You best quit that. There is no exit outta here that you'll be able to find. I ain't gonna hurt you, anyway."
Izuku freezes despite himself. "People have—they've—they've said that to me before. And they've always lied."
Light gray smoke rises a foot from the ground some ten yards away, and then another voice is speaking up. "We know," a shorter man with black hair begins, erupting from the smoke. His words are smooth like honey. "We saw it all."
What the fuck does that mean? Who are you guys?
Izuku quickly moves away as the black-haired man advances toward him. He has a collared shirt on that looks like Best Jeanist's hero costume, but just a little more fashionable. His eyes are narrowed and sharp like flint, but they're not mean. Far from it.
It still makes Izuku want to throw up.
"You really don't know who we are yet?" The first guy asks, sounding almost impatient. "Come on, didn't our voices clue ya in? Use your brain, now. We haven't spent all this time living inside ya for you to not even know us. Don't embarrass yourself."
Izuku doesn't have the courage to defend himself. He just clutches his shaking hands to his chest, trying to calm his breathing. This is getting really fucked up.
Another new voice sounds right near Izuku's ear, startling him. "No need to belittle him. He's overwhelmed, Banjou."
When Izuku looks, there's no one there beside him. He spins around, about to combust, only to realize that the person belonging to the voice is actually on the opposite side of him. Izuku is now surrounded—entrapped in a triangle.
The newest addition to his LSD Trip is a big, muscular man with stark white hair that falls down to broad shoulders. He has large, jagged scars stemming from the top of his forehead down to his chin, but that's not the most noticeable thing about him, no.
He doesn't have any eyebrows. It's like they've been burnt off.
Izuku must've accidentally taken too much of his medication, huh? Yeah, that's gotta be it.
"I would be frightened as well if I went to sleep and woke up here," White Hair continues. He's looking down at Izuku with a thoughtful expression.
It's sickening.
"Everyone is scared once they see you, Shinomori," the man called Banjou says with a roll of his eyes. "But anyway. It's about damn time the kid here paid us a visit. It's been long overdue."
Discount Jeanist lifts up a shoulder. "I don't think so. He could have lived to wait a little longer. Just look at him."
Banjou laughs heartily. "He does look pretty small, doesn't he? He's a real pipsqueak. I wonder what this guy was thinking when he chose him. I certainly wouldn't have; not at first glance, I mean. Guess that only means he's got an eye for the future, eh?" At this, he moves toward Yagi, hand raised as if to give him a slap on the back.
And Izuku doesn't know why this does it for him, doesn't know why this sparks him into action and opens up the chasm of protectiveness inside him, but it does.
He doesn't register the words, doesn't take a second to realize what they could mean. He just moves.
One second, Izuku is standing in the middle of all three of them, and in the next, he's in front of Yagi's misty body, fist shooting forward. The superpowered punch hits Banjou right in the chest, and time slows. Izuku's red lightning zips in the air all around them, lighting up the entire plane and sending shockwaves in every direction.
Banjou is sent into the distance, but with the help of a few wild tendrils spilling from his hands and digging into the ground, he rights himself in time so he lands neatly on his feet.
It doesn't matter, though, as Izuku is already in a defensive stance, fists up and burning from the contact. "Don't touch him," Izuku hisses, making sure Yagi is still behind him.
With Yagi in this state, Izuku doesn't know how much of what happens in this realm will affect him in real life.
Yagi may not be able to defend himself against these people. It wouldn't be fair. He doesn't deserve to have—
A deep, guttural laugh brings Izuku back. Banjou is doubled over and clutching his stomach, real tears springing from his eyes. Izuku hopes it's from the pain of the punch but somehow knows it isn't.
"What—what's so funny?" Izuku asks loudly, voice cracking painfully in the beginning. When Banjou glances up at him and begins to walk back toward his spot, still laughing, Izuku tenses up. He saw how he managed to land on his feet before, and while those tendrils looked wicked, he doesn't want to be on the receiving end of their assault. "Hey! Stay there!"
Banjou does stop, but not out of fear or any emotion that Izuku would have preferred. No, he looks amused. The man looks at Discount Jeanist and the guy he called Shinomori. "Well, ain't this cute? He hit me! The damn kid socked me!"
Shinomori blinks. "He did. But didn't you deserve it?"
"You have no reason to fight," the black-haired man says, staring directly at Izuku and paying no mind to the other two. He has his hands stuffed in his pockets. "Your sensei can't be hurt here. Neither can you. Forgive us; this isn't exactly how we thought we'd finally see you. We're unprepared."
Izuku shakes his head fervently, not impressed. He makes sure to still keep his eye on the others, who are bickering with each other now. "I don't care. I can't believe that at all. Just, what—what's your name?"
Izuku needs to research these people when he wakes up. If they're real, he's going to shit himself. If they're not real, well, he's still going to shit himself.
The man doesn't hesitate in the slightest. "En. Though you might know me as something else." His head tips. "You usually call me Sixth."
It's like a brick has been thrown in Izuku's face, because suddenly he gets it. Really, he should've understood it all sooner, and he feels stupid for not connecting the dots the moment he saw himself and Yagi, but can you really blame him?
Actually, yeah, probably. There is no excuse other than the fact that Izuku was trying to figure out what was real and what was not real.
"You..." Izuku's words die in his throat. He glances at Banjou and Shinomori, and the weight of the situation falls on him.
He remembers, years ago, his father's training sessions. He remembers the stories All for One would tell him about how he ruthlessly snuffed out the flames of all the One for All users. On those rare nights where he wasn't feeling as impatient, All for One used to tell Izuku about every single user he ever came across, and he would describe the ones that were the most annoying to deal with.
He would never tell Izuku too much, as he didn't believe in getting stuck up over what's already dead and gone, but he told him enough.
Izuku thinks of the smoke that accompanied En upon his arrival, and he thinks of the wild tendrils that erupted from Banjou's palms. He knows what those powers are. Knows what they mean and what they can do.
Sixth and Fifth.
And Shinomori...
Nothing about him is familiar to Izuku, but his scars tell Izuku all he needs to know.
Out of all the users of One for All, there was one that Izuku's father couldn't touch. Only one.
The others weren't so lucky.
"Not one of those wretched thieves ever lived the long, peaceful life they so desired," Sensei tells Izuku one night, holding onto his son and showing him the stars high above. Out here in the forest where their facility—Izuku's new home—lies, the sky is clearly visible, not polluted by lights from the city. "It was their own fault. If they had only listened to me and helped me create that more nourished, organized world I spoke of, they might have gotten what they wanted. Instead, they insisted on rebelling."
"Why didn't they listen? I would have listened, Father."
"Of course you would have. You're smarter than they ever were. But I suppose I can't fault them too much. They were misled by... by my dear brother, Izuku. And all of his headstrong followers. They were all manipulated into doing his bidding."
Izuku pauses for a moment. He fiddles with his gloved hands, thinking hard, only to gasp when Father reaches down and gently pulls off the gloves without saying a word. That's right; he forgot that he's not supposed to be wearing them anymore. He doesn't have to abide by Mom's rules now that she's... gone.
He leans further into Sensei's side. "What did you do to them? The—the thieves."
"Why, Izuku, they had no intention of being kept alive. I had no choice but to do away with them. It was safer that way, anyway. I couldn't let them keep messing around with the minds of innocents. Converting people to the wrong side is something they prided themselves in doing."
"You... you killed all of them?"
Sensei runs his large hand through Izuku's hair. "Most. Not all. If I remember, one of them killed himself somewhere far away from my reach. I can only assume he couldn't handle what he had done. Truthfully, no one is able to live with the weight of those sins for long. One for All curses its users with a short, gory life. That's the way it's always been, my boy."
Izuku shudders and presses his face into the warmth of his father's jacket, muttering something about how he never wants to live like that.
Sensei doesn't reply. He only keeps petting Izuku's wild curls, still holding his gloves in a deathly tight grip in his other hand.
A quirk that is too unstable for its owner will cause an imbalance in the body, oftentimes creating lacerations and deep, dark scars along the skin and bone. Shinomori must have tried his very hardest to avoid All for One, but in the end he was killed by One for All instead.
You were the only one he didn't kill , Izuku thinks, something funny settling in his stomach at the thought. I know he's still pissed about you to this day, no matter what he tried to convince me.
En waves a hand, and a crate appears beside him. He moves so he's sitting on it with one of his knees to his chest, and he rests an elbow on it. "Your nicknames were spot on. I figured your intuition would match his."
Izuku swallows back bile. He's talking about his father, isn't he? But maybe, just maybe, he's not. He would sound angrier if he were, right? He wouldn't sound so... enlightened.
"Are we going to forget that he just punched me?" Banjou cuts in, still sounding amused. "We're gonna skip over that? There was no hesitation there.
En turns away. "You've always been so dramatic. It was barely ten percent of his power. You're fine."
At this, Izuku reddens. "Uh, it was actually, like, twenty percent."
"No, it wasn't." En's words are matter of fact.
"Yes, sir," Izuku says, immediately changing up. If En thinks the blow was weaker than Izuku thought, so be it. It's humiliating, but Izuku isn't about to argue it.
Maybe he knows things Izuku doesn't.
Shinomori reappears behind Izuku, making the boy shriek once again. He holds out a pale hand, and Izuku has to crane his neck up to be able to look him in the face. "Fourth," the man says as a way of introduction.
Izuku steps away, moving back toward the safety that is Yagi. He doesn't take the hand yet, not about to subject himself to whatever Fourth's quirk is. That's a wild card, as Father never mentioned this man's abilities—which makes sense, seeing as he probably didn't fight him at all.
Is it teleportation? No, that's too powerful. With a quirk like that, Izuku doubts that Fourth would even consider running away from All for One. He would've had the best chance out of everyone to fight him and win.
It has to be something else. Izuku's fingers twitch, the indents on his palms burning.
In this realm, Extract is nearly nonexistent. It's quiet; almost as if in hiding. Biding its time, maybe. Or it's scared of something.
Izuku isn't sure of anything anymore.
Yagi moves away, however, his golden flames wrapping around Izuku one more time before leaving him. Izuku squeaks, hurrying to follow after him. He is not about to be left here with these three strangers. He's going to scream, and then he's going to cry.
But then Banjou is there, throwing an arm around Izuku's shoulder. He should be heavy, as Izuku felt his weight when he punched him, but somehow he's not overbearing at all right this second. He's lighter than air.
"And I'm Fifth. Welcome inside One for All, kid."
What the fuck.
Izuku needs a bottle of wine. His mind goes back to that one day all those months ago when he got his hands on that pretty nice blunt. He wishes he smoked it. That would've been fun. He wants one right now. He needs anything to get his mind off of the fuckery that is this.
He ducks away from Banjou, breaking into a run. "Sensei!"
But Izuku's hand goes right through Yagi, as the man's wispy body seems to dissipate into the air around them. His golden flames cackle one last time, and then he's gone.
Izuku stares into the space he occupied a moment before, hand still outstretched. He has to take a second to reassure himself that Yagi didn't actually die. Banjou said he looks like that because he's living, so Izuku shouldn't worry about it. Maybe he's just... just taking a break? What do vestiges do in this realm? Just walk around? Talk with each other?
Izuku turns around. "Where—where did he—"
He blinks, the words dying in his throat. Banjou, Shinomori, and En are around ten yards away now, watching him. Banjou has his arms crossed, and Shinomori and En are observing silently.
And in front of Izuku, hovering a foot above the ground, is probably one of the most gorgeous women he's ever seen, if not the most. She's tall, and she has large, bulging muscles that show clearly due to her sleeveless black bodysuit. Flowing down from her shoulders is a pristine white cape, nearly identical to the one Gran Torino wore that first day. A smaller cape is attached to an angular golden buckle around her waist, and this one falls down to the knees.
He stares at the bright yellow of her large gloves, and then his gaze travels up.
Long, silky black hair is put up in a half bun, and strands of it fall in front of her face, framing her bangs. It puts more attention on the mole that sits on the corner of her lip.
A mole. Izuku has seen one like that before. The same placement and size and everything. Where. Where has he seen it?
Above all, though, it's her eyes that he can't stop staring at. Those gray eyes remind him of the moment before the sky starts to lighten in the early mornings. She's so close to him now that he can see the specks of stark white light in them. They almost resemble the disappearing stars.
It's so unreal that Izuku is taken aback. She's absolutely beautiful.
His breath leaves him, and something about her makes him feel very small. Shimura Nana, he thinks, but then Shimura blinks, and he realizes with a start that he spoke her name aloud in an embarrassing whisper.
Her clean boots touch the ground, and her cape swishes behind her. Immediately, a teasing smile tugs at her lips and reveals white teeth. "Seventh is fine, too, kid. I've gotten more used to that one now."
Oh. My. God.
Izuku always knew she was pretty, as both Yagi and even All for One admitted it (though in very different tones), but he just never physically saw her before now. Hearing it and seeing it are two different things.
Her voice isn't smooth, but it's not rough either. It's commanding, and it grabs Izuku's attention. It's what a leader sounds like. Funnily enough, her voice alone would be enough to put him at ease in any other situation. It's the kind of voice that tells people you're safe. I'm here, so you don't need to worry.
Izuku doesn't realize he's fallen on his ass on the ground until Shimura is kneeling in front of him, that same smile still plastered on her face when she presents an arm.
"I expected you to be more talkative, but I guess I can't blame ya." Her eyes twinkle. "This is jarring, isn't it?"
Only a lot.
"Of course he knows her name but not ours," Banjou says gruffly, elbowing En, who steps away in annoyance.
Shimura moves even closer, and Izuku feels One for All activate on instinct once more. It turns the atmosphere cold, and his red electricity flows off him in waves. Some of the sparks travel up Shimura's arms, but she doesn't flinch away. She just straightens up when she realizes Izuku won't take her arm and puts her hands on her hips. "Well, up and attem! Are you going to sit there until you wake up, Ninth? Or are you going to get stuff done!"
Izuku stays where he is even as Shimura walks behind him. He stares at her in dismay, not quite believing how she's acting.
This is All Might's master. She should... she should be acting differently with Izuku. Out of everyone here, she should be acting angry. She shouldn't be so nonchalant. Does she not know who Izuku is? No, that's not possible. She has to. There's no way she doesn't.
He makes a noise akin to a dying cat when strong hands pick him up by the armpits from behind. Shimura easily lifts him on his feet, but she doesn't let go. Instead, she bends her knees and takes off.
And then they're soaring through the air with Izuku being carried in a similar fashion to how rodents are carried by predator birds. His eyes grow wide when he sees just how fast they're going—the other three users are already out of view: mere specks in the distance. The rush that goes through him makes his stomach do somersaults, and he finds his hands instinctively clenching his shirt to try and calm his quickly rising panic.
"Oh my God," he says to himself, the wind whipping at his face. "She's going to kill me."
"Nah. Not this time." Shimura drops her head to look at him, eyes twinkling. "You really are a funny one, aren't you? Toshi sure does know how to pick 'em. Anyway, we're here now! Look alive, kiddo."
When they land, Izuku is greeted by a wide circle of large chairs. If he didn't know any better, he'd even say they were thrones. They're big, and they have tall backs. Different types of cushioning line the inside and seat, and they are all different colors.
Shimura releases him, but not without clapping him on the back once. "Well! Whaddya think? I know Banjou already welcomed ya, you poor thing, but this is probably a more comfortable place to chat. This is our lounge area."
Lounge area? What? They have a lounge spot? Is this a damn tour? Is she just going to show him around?
"This one right here is mine, and Toshi's is on the other side this time around. I keep trying to move it to its original place, but every time I come back it's always in a different spot than where I left it. I swear, he loves to keep messing with me and he's not even dead—"
"I'm sorry," Izuku interrupts, wincing as he does so. "But, I—I don't know what—what's happening here. I'm confused. What is this?" His voice turns small at the end, and Izuku has to fight the urge to run. He doubts he'd be able to get anywhere far.
Shimura faces him fully, brows dipping inwards. "For starters, you're not at all dead, Ninth, so you can wipe that look off ya face. In the real world, you're still dreaming right now. In fact, that cat of yours is keeping you nice and warm up on your chest. But anyway, that doesn't mean this is all fake. We're very much real." She pauses. "Somewhat."
Izuku looks anywhere but at her, feeling intimidated. "But—but I'm whole. He—er, Fifth, said All Might-sensei looks cloudy because he's not gone yet, but then why don't I look like that? The—the other me looks like him, but I don't. I look like you guys. I'm not—I'm not..."
Shimura takes it in stride, only shrugging. "Your situation is different. You know, it's only when you got One for All that all of us were able to communicate with each other. Though not even I know exactly why. That's something you'd have to ask Yoichi."
Izuku's brain short circuits. Shimura continues to talk about something else that he should probably be listening to, but Izuku is still focused on what she said before.
Yoichi. Yoichi.
That's...
"You know you're not supposed to ask about him," Kurogiri admonishes, dabbing the wet paper towel onto Izuku's cheekbone. "Have we not had this discussion before, Young Master?"
"Yes, sir," Izuku says, sounding small. He sniffles, the entire left side of his face still throbbing from when Father smacked him. It wasn't even a harsh slap—Father has hit him harder before for much less—but it still hurts.
He is nine years old, just about, and he probably should have learned this lesson by now. Yet here he is: a repeating offender.
"So why did you decide to bring up your uncle, knowing that that topic is off limits?" Kurogiri sets the towel aside and then pulls out the healing cream, putting some on a clean Q-tip before gently smearing it on the worst areas.
Izuku hisses, pulling away a little. Kurogiri's wispy hand holds his chin in place, however, and for that he's grateful.
"I don't know," he admits, lifting up a shoulder in a pathetic shrug. "I just... I thought this time was different! I wanted it to be different."
"Why?"
"He promised a year ago he would tell me about him. But every time I ask, he says no. It—it doesn't feel fair." He says the last part in a whisper, too afraid to say it any louder lest someone else hears. "He's family. I—I want to know."
"If he tells you no, you need to accept that. Continuing to ask is plain disobedience."
"But he didn't even say no this time! He just—he just turned and—and he—"
"I know. Even still, Young Master. Please. You must be more mindful about the things you say." A bandage is placed on Izuku's cheek, and immediately a cooling sensation takes effect. "This is the second time this has happened. You will not get a third chance. Do you understand what I'm saying to you?"
Izuku fists the fabric of his pants, eyes squeezed shut. "Yes."
"I'm glad. For the time being, you are confined to your room, which means no more trips to the outside or surface. Among that, you will—what have I told you about looking at me like that? No amount of annoyed faces will sway me from my decision. You must use this time to think about what you will not do in the future so as to avoid this outcome." Kurogiri's yellow eyes shift away, as if checking for anyone about to enter the room. "But, in the meantime, I may as well tell you the things Master promised you."
Immediately, Izuku's eyes light up at the sudden switch up, and he finds himself not regretting what he did at all. Sure, the slap hurt, and he'll never forget the thunderous look that was on his father's face when he mentioned his little brother, but he thinks knowledge is a good enough trade off.
Maybe not enough to do it again, but good nonetheless.
"He's here?" Izuku asks, interrupting whatever Shimura was talking about. His voice is hoarse. "He... my, uh..."
Shimura stares, something unreadable flashing in her expression. "First?"
Izuku blinks. Is that really who I was calling First? Oh, God...
Suddenly it all makes sense. The soft words. The gentle redirections. The jokes First would make on rare occasions that were right up Izuku's alley.
The way he always felt like someone Izuku should know but was never allowed to talk about.
"Hey," Shimura says, and she's much more serious now. "I know this probably isn't what you were expecting, but you really do need to calm yourself down here. En over there meant it when he said you wouldn't be hurt. Hell, I doubt we'd even be able to hurt you here even if we wanted to."
But you should want to. Shouldn't you want to be hurting me?
"I've found that smiling more helps me. It kind of tricks your brain into thinking you're not as scared." Shimura leads a very reluctant Izuku to the ring of chairs. And that's when Izuku notices one in the middle that he didn't see before. It's smaller, and it has dark red velvet as the cushions, embroidered with black thread.
"I'm not scared," Izuku finds himself saying.
"Really? So you're just anxious?" She laughs, and it's a wonderful sound. It makes Izuku forget who exactly this woman is in relation to him. "Then you're braver than me. I was terrified when I first woke up here. All of us were. None of us really knew what was happening, though Second will never admit it. He likes to act like he knows everything."
Second? He's the one who's mean to me. Izuku really hopes he doesn't see him here.
"But enough of that. Look at your chair! I knew you finally made your way in here when I saw this chair materialize. It didn't exist until now. Pretty cool, ain't it? This place is full of wonders."
Cool probably isn't the right word, Izuku thinks, but he doesn't say this. He's still trying to get over the fact that he's here... inside of One for All, apparently, and talking to the very same people his father brutally demolished.
He feels like a rat caught in a trap.
"Ma'am," he whispers, making Shimura look at him with a funny look.
"You don't have to be so polite with me, kiddo. We've been seeing through your eyes for so long now that I feel like we're a bit past that. What's up?"
Izuku bites his tongue. He wants to apologize again, but somehow he knows it wouldn't be well-received. She doesn't seem to have any ulterior motives, and she doesn't act like someone who'd want to hurt him, so he shouldn't be scared. Not yet, at least.
"What exactly is this place?" He starts. "I—I know it's One for All, but like, how? How is this even—"
"Possible? I wish I could tell you." Shimura sighs almost wistfully. "I always believed that past users could meet again inside here, but to be able to communicate and even see through the eyes of the current successor is just... it's nothing short of magical. It's more than I ever let myself dream of. I think now we've finally been given the upper hand. And it's all thanks to you."
"No," he says without thinking.
"I'm sorry?"
Izuku fidgets. "I haven't done anything. I'm just as lost as—as you all are. I don't know what I'm doing."
"Then that's all the more reason for us to figure it all out together, isn't it? None of us deserve to be alone at a time like this."
When Izuku looks at her, she has something painfully soft on her face. She looks so genuine and kind and strong that for a moment, just one, he finds himself believing her.
"Now, sit in that damn chair already."
With a push, Izuku is then falling onto the throne. It's a lot more comfortable than he thought it would be, as he feels like he's sitting on a cloud, but it's still weird. While it's the smallest chair out of all the other ones, it's not quite the right size for him. It's relatively large compared to him, so he feels like an ant.
Izuku puts his arms on the sides, brows furrowing. "Why is it in the middle of everything and not in the circle?"
"I couldn't tell ya that one, as it kinda just spawned there, but we could move it for sure! Where d'you want it?"
"Um, I, uh, kind of don't want it at all. Is there any way to... get rid of it?" He winces at the look on her face. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but like—"
"You'll regret destroying it if you do," Shimura says evenly. Her bangs fall into her eyes as she speaks. "Though I'm not even sure One for All will allow you to do such a thing. Each one of us has a chair. It's a thing."
"It wouldn't let me?" Izuku repeats. Shouldn't One for All abide by what the users want?
"You'll have to try it and find out. But in the meantime, I'll move yours by my chair. Who knows—maybe then Toshi will actually want to sit near me again." Saying this, Shimura grabs a hold of the chair with Izuku still in it and kicks off from the ground, floating in air. She begins to bring the both of them to the spot she mentioned, making Izuku let out a little smile of his own.
"Shimura?"
"Yep!"
"If I already had a—a counterpart here, why did I only just now get a chair?"
Shimura sets the chair close to hers, looking satisfied with her easy work. "Simple. It's because you, Midoriya, never come out of that realm of yours. You're like a little hermit crab over there."
Izuku frowns. "Realm? What do you mean? Are you talking about the one with the—" The monsters? He thinks, but doesn't say.
She must see his line of thinking, though, as she continues without even a pause. "Nope! Good guess, though. I didn't expect you to know this, of course, but here, each one of us has our own little... place. Kind of like an apartment! Or maybe a plot of land works better. It's hard to explain, but eventually you'll see what I mean. It's like a safe space, built for only us to go into when we need to have some alone time."
"All of you have one?" Izuku gets out of the chair and looks up at her when she begins to float on her back.
"Mhm. They're all different according to our personality and the way we think, so it's not hard to tell whose is whose. It's pretty amazing that way. I change what mine looks like all the time, as we have the power to do that in our own realm."
"Woah. That's..."
She twists her neck to peek at him from above. "You know, you're always welcome to come to mine if you want. I don't mind it, kiddo."
"I thought you said it was only for the individual user?"
"Naturally, yeah. But if that user allows you in, you're good to go. If they don't want you in, you simply won't be able to get past the barrier. It can change at any time or not at all."
Izuku takes a second to process this. "And we can... we can just go in and out from it? As we please?"
"Yeah! As I said, think of it like a little apartment. Or a cabin. Whichever you like; it doesn't really matter. You can do whatever you want there. It's yours." She flips herself so she's on her stomach now, floating without a care in the world. Right here, Izuku can only see Uraraka in her eyes. "I'm willing to bet that the realm you woke up in, with all of those creatures, is your other quirk's storage facility. What do you call it? Extract?"
Izuku does a full-body shiver at the mention of his father's offspring quirk, but Shimura doesn't seem to have any grief over it.
"Since that's the quirk you first developed, it's only natural you'd end up there before here. You have to use that pool gateway to get between these two quirk realms, and when you finally got here, you went right into your own personal little area within One for All. That's probably why you saw your own vestige, yes?"
He nods, connecting the pieces rather quickly. "Yeah! It was like a big dome thing. I exited it through an archway and came up here."
"That's what I thought. Well, Midoriya, we call this the middle ground. Or neutral grounds. A lot of us go here to talk or whatnot if we don't want to be alone. We have lots of meetings right here, actually."
Meetings? Izuku wonders what kind of meetings they could possibly have. They're dead, so what is there to talk about besides One for All?
A lightbulb suddenly pops in Izuku's head. "When All Might-sensei disappeared, do you think he went to his own place?"
"Probably. Toshi spends most of his time wandering about, either inside his realm or inside of ours. He doesn't usually let any of us in his, though—I've only been in there a handful of times."
For some reason, this saddens Izuku. Why doesn't his teacher let the others in? What's the worst that could happen? Is he that introverted? Izuku didn't think so.
Shimura crosses her arms and turns on her side now. "Other times he just stands outside your realm. It's kind of sad to see."
"What? Why would he just... stand there?"
Shimura presents Izuku with a look that clearly says you don't know? "Midoriya, kiddo, he's the only one you don't allow inside of yours."
Izuku doesn't think he's heard her correctly at first. He continues staring at her, as if she's going to retract the statement, but she doesn't. She just stares right back at Izuku, as if searching for something on his face.
"Not that I can really blame you," she says, reassuring.
Izuku's heart rate spikes again. "What does that mean?"
"Well, to put it simply, we all have some personal things inside of our places that we might not want others to see. Memories, thoughts, stuff like that. Your realm holds it all. I'm sure that out of everyone in this place, Toshinori is the one you wouldn't want to let in on all of your secrets."
He blanches. "You're saying that if he did manage to get into my—my realm, that he'd remember everything he's seen when he wakes up?"
"Well, I highly doubt that, but I also can't say for certain. All I know is that you respect him a great deal, and letting him in might be a little too... much. But just know that he's not upset by your decision. Granted, he is only a half-vestige, but still."
Izuku starts to pick at his hair, nerves taking over. "Is—is that how you guys can see everything that I can?"
"That's a little different." Shimura glides back down to her feet. "Since you're the most recent successor, and we live inside of you, everything you do and think—we get to experience it all. No matter where we are. We can tune you out sometimes, sure, but a lot of times we just watch and listen. It's like a movie, almost."
Holy shit, I really do have a council inside my head judging my every move.
"I think that's partially why you could hear us and speak to us sometimes, Midoriya."
"Izuku," he corrects.
Shimura pauses. "Huh?"
"Oh, uh, I just prefer Izuku." The boy picks even harder. "I don't... I don't think Midoriya is..." He struggles to find the right word. "Appropriate."
Not since his stupid father made it up. Not since All for One got rid of Midoriya Inko's maiden name and replaced it with a lie.
Five seconds pass. Then ten. Or maybe they don't, and Izuku is just exaggerating again. Time and space don't seem to flow here.
Eventually, though, Shimura speaks again. "Alright. Whatever you like is fine by me, kiddo!"
Just then, there's a rush of air behind him, and then a plume of smoke: the two from before have returned.
Banjou walks towards them, the remnants of his whips quickly disappearing into his palms as En walks over to what Izuku suspects is his chair. Shinomori must have gone somewhere else.
"Learned enough, yet, kid?" Banjou asks.
Izuku forces himself not to move away when the man punches him good naturedly in the shoulder. "I, uh—"
"It's a shame you couldn't meet the others yet. They're gonna have a blast with you, let me tell you."
Izuku stiffens, cringing internally. He still can't believe he's met four of the past users of One for All already, and he still has... what, three more to go? One of which is his actual unc—
"I think you're starting to wake up," Shimura points out, and she's staring down at Izuku's body, which is turning cloudier even as she speaks.
Oh, shit. But Izuku isn't done yet! He doesn't want to leave anymore. He needs more information! He's still so confused about everything!
As Izuku feels himself start to slip away, vision going blurry, he turns and meets Shimura's gaze with panic-filled eyes. "Can—can I come back? Later?"
Shimura grins again, hands on her hips. "'Course you can, Izuku. You'll always be welcome here, no matter what happens. No need to worry there." Mischief edges into her voice. "Though try and wake up here first instead of in your other quirk's realm next time, 'kay? It'd probably be safer. Less drowning and all that."
Yeah, Izuku is going to need to work on it.
The last thing he hears before the realm fades from his mind is the sound of Banjou and Shimura's enthusiastic farewells, En's quiet bye in the distance, and another voice—this one soft—asking him to return soon.
And despite all of his previous fears and trepidation, all Izuku feels now is warmth.