All Might's voice reached Tooru's ears, but only bits and pieces were getting through to her mind to make sense of. Other thoughts were clouding her concentration of what was being discussed. She picked up on the main subjects like Izuku's near loss of One For All, his current physical condition, unlocking the Danger Sense quirk, and the ability to freely communicate with the previous owners of One For All. The minute details all just melted together as Hagakure tried to calm herself down. Continuing to lay her head on her now conscious boyfriend's side was all she wanted at the moment.
It had only been a day since Tooru's first visit to the hospital. Toshinori called her first thing in the morning about Izuku's awakening and to expect a ride in the afternoon to visit. Hagakure was about to protest but halted once the retired pro hero explained he wanted the boy's mother to visit. As unbearable as those hours were as she waited, she knew that family came first.
As the ride there happened, Tooru kept telling herself the same phrases over and over in her head. Keep it together for him. Don't show any weakness. Whatever you are going through pales in comparison to what he is right now. But upon seeing Izuku in his bed, all that mental preparation crumbled. She had a good long ugly cry. Hagakure didn't care that Midoriya's mentor and mother were there. It needed to be done. She had been holding it in so her classmates wouldn't worry. Tooru almost wished she had cried as much as Mina had been these last few days. It would have been easier. However, her boyfriend being awake wasn't the end of her worries.
"Hopefully, with the ever-presence of the previous vestiges of One For All, Midoriya-san's powers can become battle-ready at a rapid pace," All Might explained as he brought up a chair to the couple's side. Before, as he explained everything, he had been pacing around the room. But now, Yagi took a seat.
Hagakure looked back to Midoriya. The boy's face looked full of anxiety. This was very different compared to the fake smile he had before. Here we go, Tooru thought.
"There was a discussion this morning between the three of us and..."
Tooru cut him off and stated, "Izuku can't go back to U.A."
The statement made both men go wide-eyed.
The girl just shrugged before saying, "What? It was obvious considering everything that happened."
Izuku asked, "Does anyone else in our class think so too?"
Tooru recalled last night's visit from Mashirao but pushed the thought aside as she said, "Of course not. Only those that know your secret would even consider you doing this." She then paused before saying, "Well, I guess Bakugo-kun might since he knows, but he's still here in this hospital."
"Bakugo-kun...," Midoriya said with confusion.
Right, of course, he would notice me calling Bakugo that, Hagakure thought. "I'll explain later. Anyways, who's idea was it?"
Izuku rubbed the back of his neck as he said, "Mine."
"It's not like I could stop him if I said no," Toshinori stated before sighing.
Tooru sat up as she said, "Yeah, the same goes for me."
All Might brought a hand to his face. "Not you too."
Midoriya reached out an arm to grab his girlfriend's hand. "Tooru, you can't. I'm doing this to protect everyone from me. That includes you."
"I'm a target too, you know. Toga will make sure of that," Hagakure said with confidence.
Yagi spoke up and said, "With that logic, so is the boy's mother, but that's why precautions are being made."
"Precautions?"
"Hmm, well, you learning early won't hurt, I guess." All Might got up and went to the window to peer at the crowd outside. "All close relatives of the students of U.A. are being called to our school for their protection. It will also act as a shelter to the public. Our principal has assured me that our institution's defensive measures will be beefed up tenfold to accommodate our current country's state. The move for your parents will commence in the next few days."
"See Tooru? You can stay safe back at school!"
"And why not you? If it's going to be as secure as they say, then why leave at all?"
Izuku's fists clenched as he explained, "Cause I can try to end this quickly outside of the school walls. Get society back on track. I can work with the other top pros. We can get to Shigaraki before he can recover and make a move. The longer this chaos goes on, the more people will suffer. If I stay back at U.A., not only does this slow our progress down, I burden everyone else with me having this quirk." The boy paused to catch his breath before saying more calmly, "I've only been reacting to everything that comes my way this past year. It's time l be proactive about it."
Hagakure could see the shaking in her boyfriend's fists. There was a lot of anger being held back in his words. It was an emotion she rarely saw in Midoriya. However, this just strengthened her resolve. "Alright, I get it, you got to leave, but I am still going with you. No ifs, ands, or buts."
Before the boy could protest further, the sound All Might clearing his throat filled the room. "This will get us nowhere. Let me talk to her, Midoriya-san."
This perplexed Tooru, but considering she didn't like arguing in front of others with Izuku, she gave in. "Fine."
Once outside, All Might took a hard right and motioned for the girl to follow. "You are right about one thing."
"Oh?"
"About me not being able to stop you from leaving either. Your quirk complicates things."
"I'm glad you could at least understand that." Tooru already had a long list of ideas of what to do if they rejected her. She had a feeling this could happen and was considering her options for a few days. Transparency gave her plenty of options to escape unnoticed.
They stopped at an elevator, and the old man reached over for the call button. "So, what's the real reason you want to come along? That villainess can't be the main reason."
"I'm concerned about Izuku."
"I'll make sure no harm comes to him. You also have to remember his strength and abilities are now far above most villains."
Tooru pulled on Toshinori's right arm as she said, "I know he's more than capable physically, but I'm worried about his mental state."
The thought seemed to get through as All Might's face darkened. A few moments passed, and the elevator doors came open. The two got in, and then Yagi pushed the keypad. As his hand came back, Hagakure noted they were going to the roof.
"The boy does seem different, but it only makes sense considering all the death and destruction that just happened. It will change anybody."
"You might be used to it, but this is going to be too much for him!"
"Which is all the more reason we do this, to end this quickly, so he doesn't suffer further," All Might said as he slammed his fist on the elevator door. This caused the girl to step back a bit. "Sorry, I'm the adult here, and I should have kept my calm." He took a deep breath before saying, " I don't like this either, but what choice do I have but to assist with his plan? He'll just go anyway if I refuse. Alone."
The elevator door opened, and the two stepped out to a partly cloudy sky. Tooru heard the distant sounds of media and onlookers from below. She recalled entering last time was difficult considering it was nearly the entire class. It drew too much attention. This time, however, regardless of her quirk, being escorted in was without incident.
Yagi approached the railing and leaned into it as he looked back at his student. "I understand if you hate me, but this is all I can do to help him at this time."
"I don't hate you. I'm glad you decided to help him with this. The worst-case scenario is him going out alone." Hagakure then walked to the man's left side and looked down at the chaos below. Police were keeping all the citizens at bay as they demanded answers to what was going on and how it was going to be dealt with. Endeavor and Hawk's presence at the hospital was genuinely making this situation difficult.
"I agree. However, I'm afraid you coming along would only hinder our objective. I cannot deny your skills could be of use to us, but I fear for your safety much more than Midoriya-san."
"To make sure he doesn't break. Mentally or emotionally. I'll be more than happy to help with whatever operations you need me to do, but my main job is going to be him."
All Might brought a hand to his chin. "Hmm, something I am probably unfit to provide." He then shook his head, "Even if you are right, I again can't guarantee you'll be safe out there, Hagakure-chan. The boy would never forgive me if something happened to you. I would never forgive myself either."
"That's why I want one other person to come with us. To make sure you and I can be secure out there."
This statement interested the retired hero. He leaned in as he asked, "Who?"
Izuku nearly fell out of his bed as he yelled, "You agreed!?"
All Might pulled at the collar of his shirt as he stated, "She can be very convincing."
"You shouldn't shout in a hospital, Izuku," Tooru stated with crossed arms.
Before the boy could argue more, his mentor stated, "She'll be a vital asset for your goal Midoriya-san. Now I need to visit with the other pro heroes to go over our plan." He then turned to Hagakure. "I'll be back to pick you up in a few hours to ride home. Use this time to discuss anything you need to before we leave for good."
Hagakure asked, "Um, and when is that exactly?"
Yagi opened the door and didn't look back as he answered, "Midoriya-san and Bakugo-san are scheduled to be released tomorrow. We'll depart from U.A. early in the morning the day after. So use your time wisely." With that said, he left.
A few moments passed before Midoriya sighed. "This complicates things."
"Sounds like you have accepted me going already."
"Well, you have sensei convinced, not like I can do anything now," Izuku stated as he looked towards the windows.
Tooru walked over to block his view. "What's wrong with me being as stubborn as you?"
Izuku held up his hands defensively as he answered, "Nothing, it's just..." The boy rubbed his temple as he said, "Things turned out a lot different than I thought."
The girl sat down in the seat All Might previously was in. "Did you really think I would be okay with this?"
"Of course not. I expected you to fight this tooth and nail, but I figured All Might-sensei would be able to convince you otherwise."
A small chuckle escaped Hagakure's lips as she stated, "Well, that blew up in your face."
"So, how did you do it?"
"You'll find out soon enough."
"Fine, whatever," Midoriya stated with an irritable tone. He then leaned back into his bed. "Are you even going to tell your parents?"
"Your mom has that covered."
"Wait, what?"
"It was Yagi-sensei that suggested it. He figured she would be a better bearer of the news than I could be. Even called your mom to make sure." Tooru's voice became more serious as she said, "Though that means they'll know all about One For All now. Sorry."
"It's okay; it was bound to come up eventually. I mean, my mom found out just this morning too. She took that part a lot better than me needing to leave."
Midoriya then asked, "So what do you want to talk about now?"
"Well, first, before we continue," Hagakure leaned in and brought up her arm. She proceeded to poke her boyfriend's forehead as she asked, "Are they listening to everything we say right now?"
"Huh? Oh, you mean the previous holders. Uh, yeah."
"And they can at all times?"
Izuku nodded his head before saying, "They did say they would give me privacy when I wanted, though." His face reddened as he then asked, "Do you want me to ask them right now?"
They were currently alone as Inko left not long after the girl's arrival. Tooru hadn't considered getting intimate. For a moment, she mused about it but quickly shook said thoughts away mentally. "Don't be silly; now's not the time. I just wanted to be certain, that's all." The girl leaned back into her chair before saying, "So what are they like? The previous holders?"
The question softened the boy's face as he explained. "Well, you already know about Shigaraki-sensei, Banjo-san, Shimura-san. En-san doesn't speak much but sounds friendly going by how he speaks to the others. Then there's Shinmori-san. I can't get a good read on him yet, but he seems pretty wise. The second and third never said a word to me. I never even saw their faces."
"Why is that?"
"They don't like my idea of trying to save Tomura, remember?"
"Right, right." A detail she had skipped over earlier while clinging to him. She had her own thoughts on that, but now wasn't the time to argue. "Well, I'm sure they'll come around eventually. Though it's going to get pretty crowded in your head once they get talkative as well."
"I'm already getting sorta used to it. They seem mostly civil, so it's not too distracting."
Tooru crossed her arms. "It would drive me up the wall. Don't be afraid to tell them off if it's getting too much."
"Of course," the boy said before giving a soft laugh.
A few moments of silence followed before Hagakure asked, "So, are we even going to let our class know? Or just leave without saying anything?"
Midoriya pointed to a desk to his right. "I plan to write letters to them all. I'll leave them at their doorstep the morning we leave. They deserve that at least."
"That's going to make tomorrow pretty awkward, knowing you're just going to leave right away after."
"I know, but it's better than nothing."
"I agree," Tooru said as she got up and walked over to the desk.
"Uh, what are you doing?"
"I'm going to write them for you."
"But-."
"You rest. Just say what you want, and I'll write it. Though I might make some creative edits if need be," Hagakure said with a snicker.
"Well, this is unexpected," Aizawa stated as he looked upon his transparent student standing in the doorway of his room.
"Is this a bad time?"
The teacher motioned around him with his hands before saying, "It's not like I have any visitors right now. Anyways, why are you not with Midoriya-san?"
"He went to see Gran Torino. I figured I would give them some privacy."
Eraserhead nodded. "I see. So you're just waiting for your ride home?"
"Yeah, All Might-sensei is still discussing stuff with the top pro heroes."
Shota sighed. "He really should have gone to them first, instead of not keeping one of his students waiting."
Tooru came to pull up a chair to her teacher's right as she asked, "Wait, he came to see you?"
"Yes, straight from leaving Midroiya-san's room. There was a lot to discuss, though why he came here first, I haven't the foggiest idea."
"Well, you are our homeroom teacher."
"A useless one in the grand scheme of things," Aizawa stated as he looked into the evening sky through the windows.
Hagakure could only sigh at hearing this. She couldn't bring herself to say anything to counteract his statement. Her teacher did lose a friend, an eye, leg and probably felt responsible for endangering his students.
"Though I don't plan to take this sitting down."
"Ah so, Eri-chan is going to help?"
The pro hero placed a hand on his eyepatch. "She's still drained from restoring Togata-san's quirk. It will be some time until she can restore what I have lost. There are still some things I can do even in this state."
"I guess All Might came here first to rouse you to assist too."
Eraserhead rubbed his chin with one hand. "Perhaps."
"Also, sorry if us being gone hinders taking care of Eri-chan."
"No need to worry, that's more than covered. Lots of people have come to me to offer assistance, even Monoma-san from 1B."
"That's odd."
The adult shrugged before saying, "His meeting with her back at the second term might have something to do with it."
Right, when they wanted to see if Eri's quirk could be copied to learn more about it, Tooru thought. She then asked, "So, you're okay with Midoriya's departure?"
"Not at all."
"You too, huh?"
Aizawa nodded. "All Might didn't seem to be for it either. Though it seems the three of us cannot stop him, we can still support him where we can."
"I just hope it all works out sooner than later."
"It would be for the best." He took a deep breath before saying, "No matter what happens, prioritize your safety out there."
Hagakure then confidently said, "Don't worry sensei, that's why we're bringing another person along for that very reason."
"Hmm, All Might didn't mention this. You both must have a lot of confidence in them. Are you sure it will be enough?"
"It's not just her, it's her friend as well!"
"Her friend? Who is that?"
All Might cleared his throat, "Well, now that you know the full story of my and Midoriya-san's secrets, will you assist us?"
Power Loader leaned back into his chair and brought out his phone. "Looks like I should have taken Eraserhead's message more seriously."
"Ah yes, he mentioned he would forward you what we would discuss," the former pro hero stated.
The support department head looked over to his student and asked, "Well, what do you think?"
Hatsume laughed before saying. "The chance to run around and be the on-hand mechanic to the successor to All Might as we fight super crime on the streets? What more could I ask for, in terms of on-the-field training!?"
Hagakure said happily, "I knew you would be all over the idea."
"You're all crazy. Especially Midoriya-san."
The former pro hero nodded. "It is rather rash, but the situation would be worse if the boy ran off without any aid. I know you will be working overtime here, considering all that is happening, and your department will need everyone on deck. However, Hagakure-chan ensures that if we have Hatsume-san on board, our team will be much safer."
"And if all goes to plan, we won't be gone for long," Tooru added.
Mei then asked, "Why me specifically, though?"
All Might answered, "We couldn't ask Power Loader to come; he's too important an asset to U.A."
"So why not a more experienced third year?"
"You know about The Fixer," Tooru replied.
"Her again?" Maijima's tone soured.
Yagi explained, "Midoriya-san's arms require more reinforcement than what he has currently. I asked a special favor from her to develop something to take One For All's higher percentages. Regardless of what she creates, I see them getting damaged, and having someone like Hatsume-san around to repair or even rebuild another would be invaluable."
Hagakure added, "Besides, Hatsume-chan made his iron armor soles and air force gloves. Who better to keep those working properly as well?" She then got up and pointed an arm into the air as she proclaimed, "Then there's also Baby Prime!"
Power Loader leaped out of his chair as he yelled, "What? That monstrosity?!"
All Might titled his head as he asked, "Who?"
Hatsume brought her hands to her cheeks as she stated, "Oh, it would be thrilled to come!"
The only one still seated, the former pro hero asked, "Can someone please explain?"
"Oh, sorry, All Might-sensei. That's the name of the modified Transpo-bot that I mentioned," Tooru explained.
"All the upgrades I've given to Baby Prime should keep us more than safe from any trouble," Mei stated while vibrating with excitement.
All Might leaned towards the head engineer and asked, "Did it agree to that name?"
"Yes, sadly."
Hagakure looked around before asking, "Actually, where is it right now?"
"Oh, its helper body is charging in my room," Hatsume answered. "Baby Prime needs it every few days."
Maijima then added, "And its 'battle' body is in the downstairs garage. It gets way too rowdy and dangerous when in that thing to keep in this place." He then walked over to All Might and said, "If you don't mind, I still have a few questions about this plan of yours."
"Happy to oblige," the former pro hero stated as he sat up.
Tooru took this opportunity to drag her friend away from the adults.
Mei asked, "Something up?"
"Just wanted some distance, that's all."
Hatsume bounced up and down as she stated, "I can't believe this is happening. This is going to introduce me to so many new stimuli."
"Just remember this is still dangerous."
"Oh, I know, but between how super All Might described Midoriya-kun is now and Baby Prime, there shouldn't be much to worry about."
Hagakure sighed. "Yeah, just reminding you to keep a level head."
Hatsume brought her arm around her friend's shoulders as she said, "Right right. Either way, still, I got to thank you for making this up to me."
"Making this up?"
"You can't deny that you also chose me to make up for Midoriya-kun taking forever to ask your TAC group to be their mechanic."
Oh right, that, Tooru thought. "Well, it was a factor," she lied.
"See? You can't hide that from me!" Mei then hugged the girl, "I guess this counts as an early birthday present too!"
"Oh right, it's just a few weeks away."
"Yeah, 17, huh? Yours is not too far behind me either."
"Two months is still quite some time to me." Hagakure sighed internally. Hopefully, we would be back before her birthday, she thought. I can't even imagine if we were out there so long that such a possibility applied to my birthday.
"So you two really are leaving," stated Ojiro as he looked upon the state of Hagakure's room from its doorway.
"I really should have packed earlier," Tooru groaned.
"Your 'I'm changing' line was pretty weak."
Mashirao had called her out on the lie, and the girl just gave up from trying to hide what was going on. Her stuff was strung out everywhere, and the door wasn't locked. She waved her arms as she said, "What if I really was changing, though."
"Then I would have seen nothing," Ojiro answered before shaking his head. "Besides, I heard you fall as I knocked on the door. It was obvious you were up to no good."
The invisible lass wanted to argue he still could have seen her underwear if she was mid-change but decided to drop it. It's not like arguing made the situation any better. "So why come here now?"
"You two were quick to go to your rooms after coming back from the hospital. I checked on Izuku-kun first, but he was already fast asleep."
Tooru mused; I already packed up his things last night. So that makes sense. We are leaving in a couple of hours.
"And then I came to your floor, and I could hear the racket as I walked down the hallway. You're lucky that Jiro-chan is two doors down, or she would have checked in on you by now."
"Look, I'm stressed out, okay. Can you blame me?"
The tailed teen sighed as he entered the room. "Considering how serious this must be for you two to have to resort to running away, no, not really." He then closed the door behind him.
Hagakure then approached her guest to ask, "So, have you talked to anyone about your hunch?"
"No, I kept my promise. Though it was much more than a hunch, it seems."
"Are you going to try and stop us?"
Ojiro shrugged, "I feel like I ought to, but then again, I don't know why yet. So mind filling me in?"
The host crossed her arms and stood in silence for a moment. Then an idea popped into her head. She then rushed over to a backpack on her desk. A folder was taken out, and after rifling through a few pages, she pulled one out. "It's a bit early, but this should explain it quickly enough."
Mashirao took the paper with a confused expression but promptly began to read it. Almost immediately he asked, "Why is this in your handwriting?"
"It's his words; I just wanted him to rest. Eighteen personal letters would have been a lot of work."
Tooru then turned her attention back to packing her things. Not long after, her guest walked over and took a seat in the chair at the desk. His expression was of increasing bewilderment as time passed. Once finished he asked, "So Izuku-kun is All Might-sensei's successor?"
"Like a dream come true for Izuku."
"So that's why he is such a fan of All Might-sensei."
"Well, no, he says he was always an All Might otaku. And then Izuku met Yagi-sensei almost a year before our U.A. entrance exam."
Ojiro placed the letter on the desk before asking, "Is that All Might-sensei's real name?"
"Yup, Toshinori Yagi," Hagakure stated proudly.
"And when did you get roped into all of this?"
Tooru zipped up the side of her pack as she replied, "Just after our summer trip. Yagi-sensei lost his quirk, and Izuku went out to see him. I thought Izuku would hurt himself or something else just as stupid, so I went too. And one thing led to another."
"So the last two terms," Mashirao stated, leaning back into the chair. "Still, you two going out there is crazy dangerous."
"Oh, don't worry, we got back up."
"All Might-sensei in his current state isn't back up."
"Oh, Yagi-sensei is just the brains of the operation. We got the top pro heroes and the full backing of the Department of Support on our side too."
"This still sounds way too simple of a plan to solve all this chaos," Ojiro argued.
Hagakure walked towards her bathroom and said, "Oh, I know," before stepping in.
"Wait, what?"
From inside the bathroom, Tooru explained, "They got a plan to lure out villains to leak information where the big bad is. Izuku will be the bait since he's being perceived as the only threat to the main villain's plans. So he's probably going to be targeted by a lot of them."
"And you are okay with this?"
"As he is now, Izuku is plenty strong. I am not worried about him getting physically hurt...," Tooru paused. "...Just his mental state." She then walked out of the bathroom with various items. As she placed them into a side pocket of her pack, her guest started to pace around the room.
"Midoriya-kun seemed fine when he and Bakugo-san were greeted by everyone earlier. Or was that all a front?"
"It's hard to tell at times. Izuku's pretty bad at hiding his emotions, but he's stepped up his game since this whole mess started with keeping stuff in. I think Yagi-sensei has noticed too."
Ojiro placed a hand on his host's shoulder as he asked, "So you're going to make sure he doesn't break?"
"Izuku might have already. I could just be picking up the pieces and making sense of it all for him."
Mashirao then let go of his friend's shoulder and hugged her from behind. "I'm so sorry. I didn't realize it was that bad. For the both of you."
Tooru then held one of his arms with her hand. "You couldn't have known." Things stayed quiet for a few moments during the embrace before she cleared her throat.
Ojiro was quick to separate. "Oh, uh, sorry."
"You meant well. It's just a bit awkward to have another boy hug me, that's all." She then said in a playful tone, "Though Momo-chan might think otherwise."
"You know Momo would understand. You can't tease me on that front."
"Yeah yeah, but it's fun to think of her being possessive of you, is all."
Mashirao blushed upon hearing this. "You know she wouldn't act like that in public as you do with Izuku-kun."
"Momo-chan should. It's fun." Tooru then laughed, but her guest didn't join in.
"On a more serious note. Can you keep your promise about letting us know you are safe?"
Right, he asked that two days ago. "Well, considering Yagi-sensei wants us to leave our phones behind for security reasons, I can't really see how we can."
Ojiro grunted but then looked to be lost in thought. Hagakure then went back to packing. However, after about a minute, he asked, "Well, you have help from the support department with you, right? Maybe they can whip something up?"
"Yeah, she could do something."
"She?"
"Oh uh, it's nothing." Tooru picked up her pack and placed it on the ground. "Anyways, I got a few more things to finish up before I go to bed."
"When are you leaving?"
"In a few hours. I'll distribute the rest of the letters before we head out."
Mashirao ran his hands through his hair. "This is happening so fast."
"Yeah, I'm trying to keep up as well."
The two then said their goodbyes, and once the door was closed, Hagakure turned her attention towards her desk. She reached for a drawer and pulled out one of Deku's notebooks. There were multiple in the compartment. This was the key to everything. To bring Midoriya back on the right track.
Something I forgot to mention before, I became a mod of the Boku No Ship Academia subreddit (like 2 years ago at this point). It's mostly just deleting ships haters and people who don't post sources but it's been fun.
This chapter was mostly to wrap up stuff before their departure. I know the Izuku interactions were brief but it will be getting a lot more focus in the next two. The Dark Deku arc will cover the next three chapters.