Pain.
Physical pain.
Self-induced physical pain.
This time, however, Izuku was waiting for his girlfriend to comfort him.
It was Thursday. The summer school trip had been cut short. Again, the League of Villains had put a stop to their hero training and threatened their lives. But at the moment all Izuku could do was worry about Katsuki to think about anything else that had happened that day.
Bakugo was gone.
Katsuki had been kidnapped by the combined efforts of the villains. They almost got Fumikage too if it hadn't been for the last second save by Yuga's navel laser and Mezo's desperate grab of him. Izuku too tried to save his former friend but his injuries got the best of him, and he wasn't able to make it. Todoroki and Shoji who ran ahead, also failed to grab the second marble before it along with the rest of the villains were teleported away by the shadowy warp user from the last villain invasion.
Where was Bakugo now? Was he even alive? And if he was, was he being tortured? Were they trying to convert him? Or did All for One just want his quirk? These were Midoriya thoughts as he dreamed.
Not long ago did Izuku finally wake up. As he had tried to get his bearings the door opened and almost all of class 1A had come to visit. Midoriya's classmates were in his room about half an hour to see how he was doing. After they left, Tokoyami stayed behind and asked if Midoriya wanted him to bring over Hagakure once his checkup with the doctor was over. He, of course, said yes and had been waiting in silence for her arrival ever since the doctors and nurses left.
Tenya had told Izuku earlier that Tooru had been coming every day to watch over those that were injured. Tsuyu and Kyoka had been knocked out by a poisonous gas quirk user. Class 1A got lucky with the gas, as about half of class 1B had been affected by it. Either way, Asui was awake while Jiro was not currently. Tsuyu explained that she had only gotten a whiff of the gas, unlike Kyoka who she rescued by pulling her out of the poisonous fog. She had recovered by late Tuesday and left the hospital yesterday morning. Tenya also mentioned Momo had received a nasty head wound from a Nomu and had only woken up yesterday.
As Izuku waited he felt extremely anxious. After hearing of his current condition from the doctor, he felt he needed to speak with Tooru right away about it.
Thankfully his wish was granted when the door suddenly was opened by Hagakure with Tokoyami behind her. At first, she ran towards her boyfriend, but she stopped just short of his bed.
"Sorry, I almost tackle hugged you there, but I forgot how much pain you are in Izuku. I'm just so happy to see you're fully awake," Tooru said, in a mix of happiness and sadness.
Midoriya got up slowly and started to scoot himself off the bed. As he did this, Hagakure said, "Whoa, now take it easy you are still recovering." Once at the side of the bed he slowly stood up and then hugged his girlfriend. Still, in a worried tone, she stated, "Izuku, doesn't this hurt?"
"It does, a bit, but I really need this right now," Izuku said as he tightened his grip on the invisible girl. He then felt her gently return in the embrace, probably as to not further cause him harm, the boy thought.
After a few moments, a cough from Fumikage, which startled the two, and he then said, "Well I'll make my leave now. Don't do anything rash Midoriya-kun. Just focus on getting better."
The couple noticed Tokoyami's change in addressing Midoriya. The boy thought, did Mezo tell Fumikage about his drive to save the out of control hero despite wanting to save Katsuki as well.
Regardless, Tooru cleared her throat and was quick to reply, "Thanks for telling me Midoriya-kun was up Tokoyami-san!" With his back to them, he gave a slight wave with his right hand as he opened the door with the other and left the room. Hagakure stated with a curious voice, "What did Tokoyami-san mean by focusing on getting better? It's not like you are going anywhere with those injuries anytime soon."
Midoriya knew precisely what Tokoyami meant by those words. Kirishima and Todoroki were planning to save Bakugo. They had told him earlier that they had come to visit their injured classmates yesterday on their own. When they went to visit Yaoyorozu, she had just woken and was speaking to All Might and the police. The two listened in as the girl explained that she had the 1B student, Yotesu Awase, that saved her place a tracker she created on one of the Nomu with his welding quirk. Momo also made a receiver that she hoped could be used to rescue Katsuki.
Eijiro had already asked Momo yesterday to make another receiver so he and Shoto could attempt a rescue. Everyone else that had come to visit Izuku heard of the plan and a few voiced their opposition to the idea. The discussion, however, was cut short as a doctor arrived and asked everyone to clear out so he could do a check up on Izuku.
As the students left Kirishima stayed behind to tell Midoriya that they planned to go ahead with the plan tonight, and if wanted to join them, that would be the time to do it. After he left, Tokoyami then asked about Hagakure.
Izuku couldn't tell Tooru what had just occurred minutes ago when everyone was in the room. He hoped his classmates hadn't mentioned the idea to his girlfriend while they visited Kyoka, and it seems they hadn't going by her question. With all of this in mind, Midoriya replied, "I think he just means I should take it easy for the rest of the summer. No training and such. My injuries are quite severe."
"I guess so," Tooru said as she parted from the hug. She then said, "When Tokoyami-san told me you were fully awake, he said I should wait till your check up to be finished. But I left anyway, and I've been waiting outside for some time."
Confused, Izuku sat down on his bed as he asked, "Wait if you've been outside since then, why didn't you come in right after the doctor and nurses left? They have been gone for a few minutes."
In a hesitant tone, the invisible girl answered with, "I was scared. Scared to hear how badly you were hurt. And I needed a bit of time to pull myself together to come in here. I'm glad Tokoyami-san waited with me. It was comforting with him just being there."
Hagakure had good reason to be worried about Midoriya's injuries. They were quite extensive, as the doctor reported to him during the check-up. Most of these injuries were when he was trying to protect Kota from a villain during the attack. At the beginning of the villain attack, Mandalay couldn't locate Kota, but Izuku had a good idea where he was. When he had visited the kid the night prior, he called the location his secret base. Izuku figured Kota would be there again and he was right.
However, as he arrived, a hooded figure attacked the young boy. Midoriya intervened at the last second and began to brawl with the muscular villain. The man described his quirk as being able to manipulate his muscle fibers to enhance his power and speed drastically. Full Cowl wasn't enough, and even thrashing his body with 100% only temporarily stopped the hulking murderer. During the scuffle, Izuku learned that the man he was fighting was, in fact, the one that killed Kota's parents. He also learned that the League of Villians was looking to capture Katsuki. Once the muscular villain fought seriously, Midoriya was backed into a corner. From being in such a pinch, his urge to save Kota, to warn Katsuki, to not let down All Might, and to come back alive to his mom he activated One for All at hundred percent one more time now raging full of these emotions and was able to knock out his opponent. But Izuku's felt his body was even more thrashed than the aftermath of his battle with Shoto during the Hero Festival. He then later had his upper right arm and shoulder burned by a blue flame wielding villain.
Tooru spoke up and said, "So how bad is it? And please don't try and sugar coat it Izuku."
Midoriya sighed before answering with, "My ligaments are deteriorating. And if I keep using my quirk at full power without proper control I might lose the ability to use my arms forever."
Hagakure gasped at this but remained silent.
Izuku continued with, "I haven't seen what my right arm looks like without my bandages yet, but I expect to have a lot of scars. I can sort of feel where they might be." He then brought his left arm up and carefully felt around his right arm to see if he was correct, and it definitely felt different.
Tooru said with a whimper, "Is there anything you can do about it?"
It pained Izuku to hear his girlfriend on the verge of tears, but he replied, "Rehab and to never use my full power again until I can control it. I need to instead focus on only using Full Cowl for now. It's my only safe option when using my quirk."
"Not using the full power of your quirk is what you said last time Izuku," Hagakure stated in a more upset tone. She continued with, "At the Sports Festival you said you could use your quirk without harming yourself, but you ended up doing the opposite. Now you have Full Cowl, and yet it happened again."
Silence followed, as Midoriya tried to come up with a reply but she was telling the truth, and he couldn't argue that.
The boy's girlfriend, however, broke the silence and said, "But it's not like I don't understand why you did what you did."
Izuku then watched as he saw Tooru take out a piece of paper from her pocket. After it unfolded, it was slowly brought to him, and he grabbed it. Before reading it, Izuku asked, "What's this?"
Hagakure explained, "Your doctor gave it to me yesterday, to cheer me up, I think. It's a letter from Kota. From what I can gather, if you hadn't gone all out, you and that boy would be dead right now, right?" Her boyfriend gave a soft nod before explaining exactly what happened that night between him and the berserk murderer. As he told his story, he mentally read Kota's note. The young boy had apologized for punching him and thanked Midoriya for saving him even though he had just met him. After Izuku finished, Tooru said, "I figured as much. You wouldn't have pushed yourself this hard if you didn't have to. So I'm not mad at you, just afraid of what happens next time."
Midoriya was glad his girlfriend wasn't upset with him, but it still pained him that she was scared for his future. To try and cheer Hagakure up, he stated, "Well to start I'm going to hold off on exercising for a few weeks. Then slowly do light weight lifting and stretches after that. I've also wanted to get some more advice from All Might-sensei about my quirk, so I plan to ask him when we get back to school."
The invisible girl curiously asked, "Why do you want to specially talk to All Might-sensei?"
Midoriya realized what he just said and in a panic thought back to his first encounter with Todoroki and then answered, "W-Well he has a strength enhancing quirk like me so I thought he would be my best bet for seeking advice." He thought, a similar statement seemed to work on Shoto, would it work on Tooru?
"Oh, that sounds like a great idea! I'm sure he had to have a lot of muscle training to get as good as he is now," Hagakure said in a much more cheerful tone than before.
Izuku internally sighed in relief. Now that she was in a better mood, he asked, "So how did you and Uraraka-chan do against the villains?"
Before the villain's attack, the class president's night activity was to be a test of courage. Class 1B was on the offensive first. Class 1A would go in pairs down a trail in the woods and the students of class 1B would attempt to scare them. Ochako and Tooru had been paired together. Unfortunately for Izuku, since the students that failed the final had been hauled off for a remedial lesson by Eraserhead, it left the group with an odd number and him as the odd man out, so he was left to go alone. Though in the end it didn't matter, as the boy was group eight, and Hagkure and Uraraka were group five, the last ones to go in before the attack.
Before Tooru could answer, her boyfriend's stomach growled loudly for a few seconds. He had only been on an IV for the last few days. Midoriya's stomach wanted real food now it seemed. He then remembered when he first woke up, and turned to see the bowl of sliced apples on a small drawer at the side of his bed. He reached for them, but the container was snatched away by Hagakure. "Oh no, you don't. You just woke up. You need to take it easy," she said firmly.
"But Tooru, I hugged you earlier just fine. I can eat for myself," Izuku said in a whine.
With a sharp tongue, Tooru replied with, "While I appreciated that hug, that's all you are going to get with me. You need to focus on healing, you said so yourself. Now sit there and stand still so I can feed you while I answer your question."
Midoriya didn't want to argue further and responded with, "Okay, you win."
"That's better," Hagakure stated as she sat down to the left of her boyfriend. She then continued with, "You know Izuku, I'm surprised you resisted the chance to have such a nice girl like me feed you. I would think even you would be okay with that."
This got a slight groan from Izuku. However, just as one of the apples came up towards his face, he asked, "Before you do this, did you make these for me?"
"Nope, your mom bought it this morning. That reminds me, you should call her with this after I leave," Tooru said as she took out an unfamiliar phone out of her pocket. She then continued by explaining, "The police found your broken phone back in the forest, and your mom got you a new one. She gave this to me yesterday and you should call her after I leave, she's worried sick about you." The invisible girl then placed the apple piece to her boyfriend's lips. He didn't expect her to be that quick, but then he realized that was her way of emphasizing the part she said about his mother. Izuku then opened his mouth and accepted the food and chewed hungrily.
As Hagakure brought up another part of an apple she explained, "That crazy blonde girl attacked me and Uraraka-chan outta nowhere with a knife. Luckily she only got a shallow cut on her but then tried to stab me. Uraraka-chan intervened and was able to pin her on the ground. It was creepy that she knew our names and kept saying our first names like we were buddies."
"Her name was Toga," Izuku said out of the blue after swallowing his second apple piece.
Tooru replied, "How do you know that?"
The boy then answered, "After Koda-san plus Ojiro-kun threw me and the others once Uraraka-chan made us weightless. We caught up with the other villains, and I had a short scuffle with Toga at one point, though Shoji-san threw her off of me thankfully. But it was during that time that she revealed her name to me and said I'd look cooler if I were covered in blood."
Hagakure shuddered before saying, "That girl seemed to be obsessed with blood. She sucked some blood from Uraraka-chan with that weird contraption on her back. Luckily you, Shoji-san, and Todoroki-san showed up when you did, cause I froze there once Uraraka-chan got stabbed in the leg. You guys showing up scared her off."
Midoriya put a hand in front of his mouth to stop his girlfriend from feeding him. He then said, "It's okay Tooru. I'm sure Uraraka-chan doesn't blame you for not being able to help. It was a crazy and stressful situation, most people our age would freeze up if such a thing happened right in front of them."
Tooru's shoulders sagged, and she brought down the apple piece she had in her hands as she replied with, "But I want to be a hero Izuku. I need to be able to react to such a predicament. People are going to get hurt, and I need to be able to deal with that and help them, not get scared."
"We're still heroes in training Tooru. This is not something we normally have to deal with yet, especially as first years I'd imagine. But besides that, remember the nature of your quirk. Transparency would usually mean that you wouldn't be on the front lines having to deal with such things," Izuku tried to argue.
The invisible heroine snapped back, "But what if I have to be there with everyone else? I can't rely on just being support all the time Izuku. Sometimes I'm gonna need to be there fighting with everyone else. That's what Ragdoll-sensei tried to teach me!"
Midoriya sighed at the mention of the pro hero. Ida had told him earlier that Ragdoll had gone missing. They only found a pool of blood that matched her, not enough to suggest she was dead, but her body hadn't been found yet. Everyone was hoping she too had been kidnapped by the League of Villains. As the other possibilities were much bleaker. Izuku thought back to when Tooru told him of her combat training with Ragdoll. How he felt it was good for her to get some fighting experience. Putting that thought to mind, he stated, "You're right. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say what Ragdoll taught you was meaningless. Some combat experience wouldn't hurt for the reasons you described."
Hagakure brought up the food once again to her boyfriend's mouth, and he took it. She then said, "It's okay. I'm just worried about her is all." As she continued feeding Midoriya, she said, "That blonde villain was a different level of insane than I'm used to. Like she said she was drawn to attack me and Uraraka-chan cause of our scent. Apparently, we smell like we are in love with someone. It was just bizarre, even from a villain. Toga then went on this rant about wanting to become like the one you love. And then when she asked what boys we preferred said she was into guys that were roughed up and bloodied." Tooru inhaled and exhaled loudly before changing the subject by saying, "But man Izuku, you sure are a quick thinker despite all that pain you must have been in. Once Koda-san and Ojiro-kun showed up you came up with a quick plan to catch up to that villain that captured firecracker and Tokoyami-san."
Not long after Izuku and the two others found Tooru and Ochako, Mashirao and Koji came out of the forest too. They sneaked off from their group to help. Midoriya was glad to see Koda come as it meant he was growing more confident in himself. Regardless seeing the two strong friends of his show up gave him an idea. Uraraka would make him, Shoji, and Todoroki weightless, and the combined force of Ojiro and Koda would be able to launch them towards the meeting point of the villains for one last shot of rescuing Bakugo and Tokoyami.
"Yeah, I probably wouldn't have come up with the idea if Ojiro-kun and Koda-san hadn't shown up," Izuku stated with a sigh of relief.
Tooru then took a piece of apple for herself and after swallowing stated, "Shoji-san told me what you did to save Tokoyami-san. That was a high risk you took."
Midoriya nodded before replying with, "But it was the right choice. I couldn't leave him or Kacchan behind." He did owe a lot to Shoji. After his fight with the muscle manipulating villain, he ran around to find Mandalay, as his phone was smashed so he couldn't contact anyone, to have her use her telepathy quirk to warn Bakugo the villains were after him. However, he first ran into Aizawa and gave his teacher Kota to watch over. The pro hero then asked his student to have Mandalay also spread the message to the students having permission to fight back. After giving Mandalay the messages, Midoriya went off to find Katsuki.
At this point, the boy was becoming delirious from fatigue. It almost cost Izuku his life as Fumikage's Dark Shadow nearly crushed him, but Mezo came to his rescue. He told his rescuee that he lost one of his duplicate arms earlier to a villain. Tokoyami then got angry at the villain but that emotion coupled with the darkness of the night made his quirk go on a rampage he couldn't control. Midoriya thought the muscled Dark Shadow he saw two-nights prior was aggressive, but the massive monstrosity he saw from Fumikage's quirk that night was an entirely different beast. Mezo understood that Izuku wanted to leave to see if Katsuki was safe but also needed help trying to draw the rampaging teen towards a light source. So he gave his rescuee a choice. Midoriya, of course, chose to do both. He told Shoji of his plan for him to instead draw Dark Shadow towards Bakugo and Todoroki, as they left as a pair during the courage test. Their quirks would then provide the light necessary to calm Tokoyami, and it worked.
"It was a desperate gambit, but it was worth it in the end. You really are a team leader Izuku," Tooru said with glee as she stuck another piece of food in Izuku's face. As he chewed the fruit, he could feel a slight blush running up his face. Midoriya enjoyed the praise, but he didn't see himself as a team leader. A leader shouldn't be suicidal, he thought. Izuku shook the thought from his head; such a subject made him queasy.
The two lovebirds finished the last of the apples brought by Inko in silence. Once finished Hagakure got up and stated, "I should probably give you some space so you can talk with your mom." She then walked in front of Izuku and bent down slightly before asking, "Are you being discharged today?"
"Y-Yeah, I'll be heading home this e-evening," Izuku lied. He was going to attempt the rescue, no matter what. But at the same time, he just couldn't tell his girlfriend about it. There was no way she could be okay with the idea.
Tooru then asked another question, "Do you want me to stay around long enough to accompany you home?"
"I think my m-mom will want to pick me up, and I think she's not exactly gonna be h-happy with me, even after I talk to her on the phone. I don't want you to see us argue," Midoriya lied once again.
"I understand," the invisible teen said before she laid a soft kiss on her boyfriend's right cheek. She then leaned back and stated, "I'm going to check on Jiro-san one more time before I go home. It's a bit early for me to leave, but I'm emotionally drained today." Hagakure turned around and took steps towards the door. She opened it and said, "Call your mom and get some rest afterward. Be sure to call me when you get home, okay?"
Izuku gave a nod, and then his girlfriend made her leave.
The boy felt terrible. He didn't deserve that kiss; he just lied to his girlfriend multiple times. Midoriya was going to risk his life again for someone she despised. He knew when this was all over he would have to tell her, but for now, there was something else that required his attention.
Izuku still needed to call his mother. He looked over at his new phone that Tooru left on his bed and then picked it up. The teen was surprised to find his mother had already activated and transferred all his data from the cloud to the device. He was hoping he could use the time setting it up to think of a plan to tell his mom. Instead, he went ahead and called his mother and hoped for the best.
Izuku was sitting on a train breathing heavily. He had just run as fast as he could from home.
It was Friday evening, and so much had happened in the last day.
Midoriya and the rescue crew, consisting of Kirishima, Todoroki, Yaoyorozu, and the surprising last addition of Ida, had succeeded in rescuing Bakugo.
From the beginning, the plan was to do so without fighting, and they had succeeded in this goal, but barely. It was a huge gamble, and if Mount Lady and Gran Torino had not helped at the last second, they wouldn't have been able to pull it off. This also included the help from All Might, as he was keeping One for All busy.
The thought of his mentor, however, made Izuku feel queasy. The number one hero had defeated his nemesis but at a cost. The cost was still filling the boy with disbelief. And it was the reason he had run to the subway station and was dreading meeting his mentor at the moment. Midoriya had received a call from All Might just minutes ago and left his house in a hurry because of it.
All Might's time as a pro-hero was over. He had expended what little power of One for All he had left to knock out All for One. For Izuku, a small part of him didn't want to believe it. He couldn't get past this thought this until he saw his mentor.
The train's doors swung open, and the teen leapt up and began his run anew. He was racing towards Dagobah beach, as instructed by All Might. It made sense they were meeting there. It's where everything started between the two, but Izuku hoped it wouldn't end there either. As he rounded another street, he stopped almost immediately.
The sight of police cars and officers surrounded the wooded area that led toward the beach. There was a decent amount of spectators and a few news crews there as well. Midoriya let himself catch his breath before making his way closer. Once he was near, he tried to see if All Might was behind the officers, as it made sense that he would require an escort to be here. Not only was he still most likely quite injured but would be a target for any villain hoping to capitalize on the situation.
But Izuku saw no sign of Toshinori, but someone else did catch his eye. The boy walked up to the police line and yelled, "Ojiro-san! It's me, Izuku Midoriya!"
The lanky detective whipped around and a smirk quickly came upon his face. As he made his way over a male officer stepped in-between the two and said, "Beat it, kid, before I personally escort you outta-."
A hand firmly then placed itself on the policeman's shoulder from behind. Ojiro said in a polite but demanding tone, "Leave this one to me. He's an honored guest of our objective tonight."
"Y-You can't be s-serious, sir. He's just some b-boy," the man in blue tried to argue.
The detective took a few steps towards Midoriya and replied, "A young man he is, yes, but he's also an inspiring student of our objective. And a good friend of my son, so off with you." With that said, the officer backed away slowly as did the others that were nearby.
Izuku was quick to say, "Thanks, sir! Can I run off to see him, please?"
"In due time. Walk with me a bit. You need to stay with me until we get to the beach. Otherwise, you might be stopped by someone else," the lanky man wheezed.
Midoriya responded with, "Are you okay, sir?"
Ojiro waved his right hand in protest while stating, "Worried about me because of my condition? It's fine; today's just been extremely hectic for everyone on the force. I mean they even dragged me here to do an escort. Talk about our resources being thin at the moment."
Surprised at his statement, the green haired teen said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to say you couldn't do your job Ojiro-san."
"It's fine Midoriya-san. It's for the best that Mashirao told you and your friends about my disease. It makes talking to you a little less awkward. It can get annoying when people give you these certain looks wondering what I have and if I could spread it to them. Not to say I thought of you in that way that one afternoon we chatted," the detective explained as the two began walking through the woods towards the beach. He then continued with, "Our chat from that time does remind me of something though. It's not nice to lie to me when it concerns my son."
At first, Izuku was puzzled at the words but then remembered.
My son hasn't been causing any trouble, has he?
Mashirao had almost come to blows with Momo's head butler. Izuku then responded with, "You're right, I'm sorry. It's just at that point I didn't fully understand why he lashed out at my friend's butler that day. And honestly, it was the only time I ever saw him act as he did."
The wheezing man gave a nod and said, "I see. But please be truthful when it concerns my kid. My wife and I might have been able to prevent him from getting suspended if we knew he still had such anger against such people still simmering in him. He acts quite tolerant of them at home, so we were surprised to hear the news from your principal that day."
"Yes sir," Midoriya said in a sorry tone.
"But you know, I was surprised to learn about your relationship with All Might," Ojiro said with a surprised voice. The teen next him gave him a panicked face, but the detective stated, "Don't worry. My pal, Detective Tsukauchi told me about it earlier today. And it will remain a secret. I'm not even gonna tell my wife, much less Mashirao about it. But it's cool to know that my son is a friend with the successor to All Might."
The praise got a small blush out of Izuku, and he replied, "Thanks."
After some walking in silence, the duo had made it to the barrier of the beach. Tsukauchi was there standing at the edge of the wall looking out at sea. "Hey Naomasa-san, Midoriya-san is here," Ojiro stated with an odd tone of enthusiasm.
The younger detective turned his head as he replied, "Ah, Ojiro-senpai, thanks for staying back there and getting him for me. I appreciate it. I needed some fresh air."
A soft groan came from the older detective before he said, "How many times have I told you not to call me by that honorific."
"But you were the one that showed me the ropes when I got this job," Tsukauchi said with a smile.
Ojiro sighed and then responded with, "And that period of your career is over now, and besides, you handle bigger cases than I do nowadays."
"Whatever you say old timer," Naomasa said with a chuckle.
"Now I'm getting mixed signals from you," the lanky man said with a few coughs.
While the conversation between the two was interesting, Izuku was more focused on the figure he saw standing near the water's edge in the distance. All Might was there in his true form and bandaged up quite a lot. From looking at his mentor's back, Midoriya could tell he had a sling holding up one of his arms, the man's right hand he guessed, because of how the strap was on the back of his neck.
"You can go to him," Tsukauchi said in a sincere voice. He walked up beside the boy before continuing with, "He's wanted to talk to you since I spoke with him this morning."
"I'll head back to the others then," Ojiro stated as he began a slow walk back into the woods.
After a few deep breaths, Izuku started to walk down the steps towards the beach and broke out into a run once he feet landed on the sand.
While Midoriya knew talking with All Might was going to be heartfelt, he didn't expect everything was happening at the moment.
Izuku and Tooru were sitting next to one another under a hut at the end of a pier. They were still at Dagobah beach, and she had just arrived minutes ago.
After Izuku had some time with his mentor, the man's phone rang. The conversation seemed to stress him out, but Midoriya couldn't tell as his idol had put some distance between them as he talked. After All Might finished, he asked his pupil to go over to the pier and wait for him. This confused the boy even more, but he did as he was told.
After a couple of minutes, Tooru came into view for Izuku, and she was walking beside Naomasa. The two had an awkward embrace once she arrived and then she sat down next to her boyfriend. The detective told them to wait for All Might to finish his calls and made his way back to the barrier.
After the man had walked far enough, Izuku asked, "Why are you here Tooru? How did you know I was here?"
"I could ask the same for you Izuku," Hagakure said with a bit of sass in her voice. Midoriya groaned a bit at this, but she then said, "Your mom called me wondering if you had gone to see me. I almost called you to ask if everything was alright but then it hit me where you would be. In my mind, you would come here to clear your mind. I mean this is where you trained before coming to UA and it's where I confessed to you. This is your happy place."
Still baffled at his girlfriend being here, Izuku asked another question, "My mom called you?"
"Yeah, remember when I had that alone time to speak to your mom as you showered on our exercise date? One of the things we discussed was watching over you and making sure you stayed safe. We exchanged numbers, and your mom told me that if you were ever in trouble, she would call me. She also said if I were ever struggling and needed advice, she'd be willing to listen," Tooru explained.
While this revelation of his mother comforted Midoriya, he then asked yet another question, "And how did you get past the police guarding this area?"
"I kind of made a scene once I got there. I thought something bad had happened and started to make a fuss. The police weren't being helpful at all until this one officer came up to me and tried to answer my questions. Once I described what you looked like the man left and came back with a detective. And what do you know, it was Ojiro-san's father," the invisible teen explained with shock. She sighed heavily in relief before continuing with, "I mean we've never met before, but Ojiro-san must have told his family about my quirk at some point cause his dad instantly knew who I was. He then calmed me down when he revealed he had just talked to you not long ago. After a long phone call with someone, Ojiro-san then led me to that other detective I remember from the villain invasion. Then he brought me to you."
Izuku could only smirk at this. He was glad Mashirao had been vocal about his friends. But what stirred the older Ojiro to ask to bring Hagakure? And All Might being okay with it all? The former pro hero was currently still on the beach and on the phone. Who was he talking too?
Tooru then spoke up again and said, "So why are you really here, Izuku?"
The boy rubbed the temple of his head as he replied, "I was asked to come." He gulped before continuing with, "By All Might-sensei."
Midoriya felt a hand grab his left hand as Hagakure asked, "That guy on the phone over there is All Might-sensei, right?"
With hesitation in his voice, Izuku responded with, "I-It is."
There was some silence until the invisible girl stated, "I'm still in shock about the news from this morning. I woke up to find both my parents had stayed up most of the night. They had watched the whole thing on TV and recorded it for me since I went to bed right after I called you. I'm still trying to process what they told me and what I eventually saw. I'm just glad Ragdoll-sensei and even firecracker got rescued."
That's right the call, the Midoriya remembered. While he and the rescue team spent their two hour trip on the train towards the Kamino ward in the city Yokohama, his girlfriend had called to check up on him. Again Izuku had to lie he was safe at home when instead he was speeding towards danger. Suddenly he felt a hand upon his left cheek.
Tooru then said, "You've been crying again, haven't you?"
Izuku could only nod at this. When All Might had stated he was retiring from being a hero, he also said he was going to devote himself as much as he could to his pupil's development, despite the condition of his body. As the skeleton of a man embraced Midoriya after saying such words, he bawled liked he hadn't cried for a long time.
The boy then felt Hagakure's hand touch his right cheek and he flinched at it.
"Why is your cheek so swollen here? I don't remember you having this from the hospital," Tooru stated with confusion.
"Sorry, that was me. I punched him not too long ago," All Might said, startling both of them that he had approached with neither of them noticing him.
After a few seconds, the concerned Tooru asked, "And why did you need to hit Izuku?"
The former pro hero glanced at his successor, who had a stressed look on his face. He had punched the boy as he scolded him for trying to rescue Bakugo. But All Might did state he was proud his pupil had remained unharmed, for the first time, despite throwing himself into such a dangerous situation. Izuku wasn't ready to tell his girlfriend of what he did to rescue Katsuki.
The skeleton of a man seemed to understand this, and he took a seat on the floor across from the couple before answering with, "That was for thrashing his body once again during the school trip. Though in retrospect, punishing him by punching him in the face probably wasn't the best idea. But then again in this form, my punches are pretty pathetic, so he should be fine."
Midoriya gave a sigh of relief at his idol's response, but then asked, "So who were you calling earlier?"
"Your parents. Both your parents," Toshinori stated bluntly.
In unison, the couple said, "What!"
With his free left hand, cause the other was in a cast, All Might raised it up defensively as he said, "I was just ensuring they knew you two were safe and with me. It's going to be a long night anyway, so I didn't want both your folks worrying about their child."
Izuku had dreaded what was about to happen. The second he saw Tooru he knew that his mentor was going to reveal everything. It still baffled him why the former pro hero was doing it, but he felt that question could come after the discussion.
Hagakure asked in a worried tone, "Long night? Why are we going to stay here for so long?"
All Might leaned against the railing of the pier as he replied, "Cause it's time Midoriya-san and I be open with you Hagakure-san. I figured this would happen at some point, but your untimely arrival has forced my hand. I don't think turning you away at the police line would have been the best for you. So when I received the call of your presence from the second detective that escorted you here, I knew what I had to do."
Tooru tightened her grip on her boyfriend's hand and then exhaled slowly before stating, "Go ahead then."
A weak grin came from the skeleton of a man's face as he replied, "Good. Now to start off, did you ever wonder about who helped Midoriya-san train during that ten-month period before the entrance exam to your school?"
The invisible girl responded with, "Yeah, he said it was his uncle. Wait. You're his uncle?!
All Might and Izuku both said, "No!"
Tooru was taken aback from their answer, but her boyfriend then said, "It was All Might that helped me, I just said it was my Uncle cause I didn't know how to tell you that I didn't clean this beach alone."
"I knew something was up when you told me that," Hagakure said with a groan. She then turned her attention back to the former pro hero and asked, "But why were you training Izuku of all people? I mean he was quirkless at the time his training started."
All Might clenched his left hand into a fist as he explained, "Cause I had chosen the boy to not only be my successor as the Symbol of Peace but to also inherit my quirk One for All."
The man then went into detail about the day he met Midoriya and was inspired to train him. Then came the explanation of the ten months of training his pupil went through. But the meat of the conversation then turned to One for All. It's origins; it's specifics, and why Izuku was always injuring himself so much. Tooru had questions here and there, and Izuku answered a few when he could, but for the most part, the couple remained silent during the explanation, which took almost an hour to tell.
After All Might finished with detailing his fight against All for One, he stated, "And that's the secret between Midoriya-san and me. As you can tell, this was all very sensitive information and should remain as such. But hopefully, this answered any lingering thoughts you had of your boyfriend's behavior up to till now."
"Oh don't worry, it's helped explain a lot," Hagakure said with sass. Midoriya let out an awkward chuckle at her statement. She then asked another question, "I have to ask though. Why tell me this, I mean besides being his girlfriend. Your explanation as to why earlier seems truthful, but I feel there's more to this."
The girl's statement made the former pro hero laugh for a few seconds before stating, "Am I that easy to read? But to tell the truth, it's because of the impact you've had on the boy. Midoriya-san has grown a lot since I met him in April of last year. And not just in strength, but in character. You are a big reason for that Hagakure-san. Sure I've inspired the boy to think and act like a true hero, but you've helped him grow as a person socially. He's not the weak constituted child I met so many months ago. Now he has a great group of friends and an amazing girlfriend to rely on and work with. And by keeping this secret between just me and him, just isn't fair to you Hagakure-san considering all you've done for him."
After a few moments of silence, Tooru let go of Izuku's hand and stood up, which surprised both the males. She took a few steps forward then plopped to her knees to give All Might a hug. She then stated, "Now I know where Izuku learned to woo a girl like me."
The skeleton of a man smiled at this and brought his left arm across her back. With an index finger from the same arm he then motion Midoriya over. The boy got up and joined the two in the embrace from the left. This surprised Hagakure but then she brought her left arm over to instead bring the boy in closer. Izuku then stated, "Thanks for everything All Might. I couldn't have told her alone."
"Yes. I'm immensely grateful you two were finally open to me about this," Tooru stated with glee.
"No problem kids," the former pro hero said with care. After a couple of moments, however, All Might stated in a wheeze, "While this is nice and all, this affection from you two is actually quite painful for my injuries."
The two teens quickly but carefully removed themselves from the injured man and apologized.
The man then stood up and said, "It's fine. But you know, since we're getting to know each other so well, and seeing as I'm retiring from the pro hero business, you two should know my real name."
Midoriya had been waiting for this moment for some time since his mentor revealed his last name.
After clearing his throat, All Might stated, "It's Yagi. Toshinori Yagi."
If you are wondering why I fleshed out the summary for the Forest Battle but not so much the Rescue Arc it's because the former had some changes from the main canon. Again I felt there was no need to spend too much time on the main manga plot too long as you all know how that song and dance goes by now. Focusing on new content is my strength I feel anyhow.
So you might be wondering, why did I have All Might reveal his and Izuku's secret to Tooru at this point in the story? First reason, it gave me an excuse to use her at this point in the story. Second, with how things are gonna happen going forward, now was a better time for the reveal. Otherwise, another opportunity wouldn't present itself until Midoriya vs. Bakugo round two. That in itself is going to have a significant impact on the couple and having the One for All info dump on top of that would have been a bit much. Thirdly, doing this now sets up for Tooru interacting with Toshinori scenes earlier on than if I had waited. Finally, it got me an opportunity to use Mr. Ojiro again, as it will be a while until he shows up again.
I didn't realize that swapping Tsuyu and Tooru would be such a hassle before the forest battle. First I had to think of a way to have Tsuyu still present for visiting Izuku in the hospital (as having her unconscious as long as the others would make the scene of the first night at the dorms less impactful). Another was replacing her as the one to throw the boys towards Mr. Compress. Koji and Mashirao being the ones to do it seemed like the best fit as he shows the former growing in confidence and the latter just being a bro. The bottom line is that I wanted Tooru out and about so she could have some early interaction with Toga, for future plot shenanigans.
I'm glad that these last two chapters are behind me now. They had a lot of canon plot that, while needed to be addressed, were kind of annoying to write about when I summarize events (minus the changes I added). When covering the four weeks leading to the week before the exams that were skipped in the manga was my favorite part to write about so far, as it was almost entirely original content. So time skips/gaps are great cause I can focus on big ideas and not be constricted by the main plot. Hence why I can't wait for the dorms (starting in chapter eighteen) cause they skip a lot of the in-between time there, plus all the kids are under the same roof, so less time/effort is needed for me to set up scenarios between the characters. In chapter seventeen we will see the aftermath of the U.A. dorm recruitment as well as Izuku's birthday. So a little canon plot at the start and then entirely new stuff the rest of it!