‘There is absolutely no merit in taking on that faux villain.’ All Might grinned as he saw Izuku running forwards on the cameras. He couldn’t lie. He had been quite disappointed with Izuku’s performance in the exam so far, but he took that as his own failing. It wasn’t like he had actually taught his student anything. Their entire program had been dedicated to building up his body, not in developing any sort of combat skills. Izuku’s failure during the exam thus far was on his failings as a teacher. But now… ‘But that creates the opportunity… for it to shine brightly and rise to the surface!’ He clenched his armrests, and beside him, the mammalian principal of unknown descent quirked an eyebrow in interest at his friend’s excitement. They watched as Izuku rose high into the air in a single bound, and then his sweatshirt’s sleeve practically disintegrated off of his arm. ‘Squeeze your buttcheeks and yell this inside your heart: SMASH!’ His student’s fist launched forward.

Cheers erupted in the dim room as his student annihilated the Zero Pointer in a single punch. The massive, skyscraper-sized robot had its faceplate carved straight through from the blow. There was an almost perfectly circular hole in the robot’s head as it fell back. And that made Toshinori still, forgetting what he had been about to say. ‘What?’ His smile fell due to his shock. ‘Th-that was powerful! Too powerful! It was more powerful than one of my punches! Mine would have just caved its face in!’

“Toshinori?” Nezu looked at him curiously, realizing the man wasn’t celebrating like the rest of them over the child’s heroic spirit.

“That- can we zoom in on him with one of the cameras?” Toshinori asked, an uncomfortable feeling in his gut.

Nezu raised an eyebrow, but touched something on his chair and another drone took over the image. Cries of dismay replaced the elated cheers. Izuku looked completely confused, as though in disbelief. His right arm was completely red almost from his shoulder to his knuckles, as though every vein in the limb had burst all at once. His knuckles themselves had been completely shredded, the skin looking almost flayed off. And his legs were flapping behind him, the bones clearly broken as he fell from the air.

All Might coughed blood as Aizawa let out a disappointed groan, “How foolish. He’s saved one person and beat one villain and crippled himself for life.” Well, if Recovery Girl hadn’t been around, anyway. She’d have him just fine in a jiffy, but…

“Found him.” Nemuri called out, “What even is his…” She blinked as she stared at her pad, and then put it down, moved her glasses on top of her head, and then rubbed her eyes a few times. She dropped her glasses back to their place and looked at the pad again, “…Quirkless? What the fuck!? Did we just watch someone manifest a Quirk for the first time?!” She asked incredulously.

As Aizawa’s shocked eyes snapped to his old friend, Nezu eyed Toshinori, “I see.” He murmured in low tones, “I think we have some things to discuss, don’t we old friend?”

Yes, they most certainly did.

-]|[-

“I don’t understand!” Toshinori, now safely in Nezu’s office away from other prying eyes, was pacing back and forth. “He was ready! It was a rush job, yes. I knew he’d have some struggles, yes. But not like that! His limbs practically turned into purée! If it hadn’t been for Chiyo…”

“Yes, that wasn’t pleasant to look at.” Nezu agreed, sipping at a fortifying cup of tea. “You are certain he was ready?”

“Oh yes.” Toshinori sat in his chair and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “He’s spent the last nine months working tirelessly. He cleared the entirety of Dagobah beach of trash! He cleaned even outside of where I told him to! At most he should have experienced torn muscles, maybe some sprains and internal bleeding to go along with them.”

“His punch was stronger than yours, was it not?” Nezu asked, “Perhaps even you no longer understand how powerful One For All has grown.” Nezu postulated. “You are injured, after all.”

Toshinori sagged, “I… perhaps you’re right. I… I do not know what to do now, principal. How do I help that young man?”

“Perhaps it is time you give your old teacher a call.” Nezu said softly.

A full body shudder ran through Toshinori, “…No.” He shook his head, “No, certainly not. Gran Torino would eat young Midoriya alive as he is right now. He needs a softer hand for now. At least until he builds up his confidence.”

“Yes, I did see the panic in his face throughout the entirety of the exam. How badly was he bullied?” Nezu asked clinically.

Toshinori winced, “I’m… not sure. I’ve noticed it, certainly, but young Midoriya has been extremely reticent about sharing when I’ve tried to bring it up.”

“Very, very badly then.” Nezu said, “Sir Nighteye, perhaps? He’s done an excellent job with young Togata Mirio.” He knew this one would be rejected as well.

“No, definitely not.” Toshinori scowled, “Mirai did not take it well when I informed him that I had already passed One For All on. He still seems to have it in his head that my Quirk is his to pass on.” Toshinori bit his lip, “I can’t help him with this. One For All was weaker when I acquired it and my struggles were in keeping collateral damage low, not in even using the power without breaking my own bones. I need to take him to Dave.” Toshinori realized, “I’ve never really used support gear myself, but I know how useful it can be. If anyone can help young Midoriya contain his power until his body can handle it, it’s Dave.”

“He should be able to help the lad get a handle on One For All as well.” Nezu agreed, “At least to keep him from using it so self-destructively.”

Toshinori looked apologetic, “I know I’m supposed to be signing paperwork and all, but-”

“This is more important, yes.” Nezu agreed, “Will you leave as soon as Midoriya-san’s school year ends?”

“I think that’s a waste of time.” Toshinori shook his head, “I’d prefer to use every bit of time available to us, and if he’s been accepted already, going to finish out his classes is a waste.”

“Hmm, well I have taken the liberty of grading Midoriya-san’s examinations.” Toshinori bit back a cough. When the hell had Nezu had the time to do that?! “He’s passed with incredibly good marks. Not the best I’ve seen, but more than good enough to make the General Education track at minimum. I suppose I can… twist a few arms to convince his school to allow him to graduate early.”

“Thank you, sir.” Toshinori bowed his head.

“Don’t thank me yet.” Nezu smirked, “You still have paperwork to sign, so this won’t be a vacation for you either.”

Toshinori did not cough up any blood. He was quite proud.

-]|[-

“A-All Might?” Izuku panicked when he saw his idol waiting for him before he got home. D-Did he do so badly that All Might wanted One For All back?

“Midoriya-shōnen.” Toshinori dropped a hand onto the boy’s head, “Good job, kid.”

“G-good job?” Izuku jawdropped, “B-B-” He shook his head, “But I d-did awful! I d-didn’t get a single p-point!”

“Villain points, no.” Toshinori grinned, “Luckily for you, there were some hidden criteria. And on those, you did well.” Izuku almost started to cry, so Toshinori hurried the conversation along, “At the very least, you’ve already made it to Gen Ed, so if all else fails, you can crawl your way back up.”

“Really? Wait, h-how do you…?” Izuku started to ask in confusion, and again, Toshinori answered the unasked question.

“I shouldn’t be telling you this, but Nezu has allowed it. It’s not official yet and I still have a mountain of paperwork to go through, but as of the next semester, I’ll be a teacher.”

“A-All Might…teacher?!” He squeaked out.

Toshinori laughed, “Come on now, kid. You’d think after nine months that hero worship of yours would have died down just a bit.” He grew serious, “But now that that’s out of the way, we need to address the elephant in the room.”

Izuku flinched, looking down at his right arm, “M-My arm and legs… they exploded.”

“Yes.” Toshinori said gravely, “I knew you’d experience some kickback. I even warned you about it. But that was far more than I could have predicted even with my worst projections. That’s the kind of damage I would have expected if you had been training for only two months, not nine. And at a quarter of the intensity to boot.”

Izuku looked down, “Am I that wea-”

“No.” Toshinori gave his student a light chop, making him flinch. “This issue is One For All itself.” Izuku blinked up at him in confusion, “That punch of yours did far more damage to the Zero Pointer than even my own punch would have.”

“…Huh?”

“Yup.” Toshinori rubbed the back of his head, “It appears that One For All is now stronger than even I thought it was. I think my injury has made it difficult for me to judge how much it’s grown over the past five years. That’s why I underestimated how much kickback you would experience. We created your vessel in a hurry. I knew that going in. But the amount of effort you put in, going even beyond what I had been telling you to do tells me one thing. This IS something you can overcome. It’ll take time, and it’ll take a lot more effort, but if anyone can do it, it’s you, young Midoriya.” He smiled warmly at his student, who predictably teared up.

“S-so what will we b-be doing? T-there’s no more beach to clean…” Izuku mumbled, wondering if this time All Might would just have him lifting absurdly heavy weights.

“We will be leaving Japan tomorrow.” Izuku jawdropped again, “That’s why I’m here. I need to speak to your mother about it.”

“Wh-where will we be going?” Izuku asked, befuddled, “And I still have to finish-”

“Nezu is taking care of that.” Toshinori replied, “You’ll have your official graduation documents mailed out soon. Your scores for the educational tests at U.A. were more than good enough, so quite frankly, sending you back to classes is a waste of your time and effort. We can be far more productive by training you.” He grinned, “And as for where we’ll be going… none other than I-Island.”

Izuku’s shrill squeal of excitement nearly blew out his eardrums.

-]|[-

“Wow, it’s even more beautiful than I thought!” Izuku said. The island itself was massive, and despite the imposing walls that surrounded it, the actual island was gorgeous. There were four different cities, one in the middle, with three others at each point of a surrounding ‘triangle.’ Each island was surrounded by man-made lakes. Surrounding all the cities near the inner edges of the ring-shaped barriers were dense forests. Did he mention it was massive? It was nearly 40 km in radius.

They slowly descended and taxied on the runway, with All Might buffing up and filling out his costume. “Uhhh…” Izuku blinked, “Shouldn’t you, you know, go incognito?”

Toshinori sighed, “No, I told Dave we were coming, but not Melissa. I wanted to surprise her! The problem is, she doesn’t know yet… In any case, I was able to rest on the flight here, and we don’t expect All Might to actually be needed during this… vacation.”

The door to the plane opened, and they quickly walked off of it. There weren’t any tourists around (or very few of them, at any rate) since the I-Expo wasn’t for another couple months, which was utterly relieving for them because they were able to make it through immigration without too much of a fuss. Only the employees were around to want All Might’s autograph.

While his teacher was busy, Izuku marveled at all the tech on display. He felt like he had walked into a sci-fi world. It was even more advanced than the tech they had at U.A., and far more widespread. “So, where are we going now?” Izuku asked, “To the hotel?”

“I think not. Melissa should be here soon.” Toshinori said, before his ears caught a strange sound.

Boing. Boing. BOING. All Might smiled in genuine excitement as the boinging got louder and closer. And then they saw her. She was on what looked like a very high-tech pogo stick. She was very blonde, just like All Might, with wavy hair that went to her back. She was wearing tan, form-fitting, pale capri pants, with some plaid pink socks and brown heeled boots. Her shirt was a white, short-sleeved dress shirt with cuffs and a bow that matched her socks, along with a dark raspberry pink waistcoat. Topping it off was a pair of oval glasses, and it was a miracle that they hadn’t flown off from all the bouncing, “Uncle Might!” She cried out, before jumping off the stick and into All Might’s arms.

All Might laughed happily as he spun her around, “Melissa! You’ve gotten so big!”

“It’s been so long! I’m so glad you came!” Melissa hugged him again.

“It has. I’m sorry it took so long!” All Might said, “I almost didn’t recognize you, you know!”

“Well, I am seventeen now!” She replied cheerfully. “I’m pretty heavy now, huh?”

“Not at all!” All Might laughed. He had been holding her up by the waist, and playfully threw her a little into the air as easily as he could with a baby. She giggled in response as she flew, before being set down.

“I’m glad to see you’re well.” Melissa said, looking up at him, “Sorry I was so late! Papa told me a bit last minute that I needed to come here.” Thankfully, they didn’t need to know what her father’s call had interrupted. That would have been mortifying.

“Let me guess? He told you there was a surprise waiting for you at the airport.” Toshinori chuckled at the thought.

“That’s right!” She laughed, and then noticed Izuku standing there, blushing, “Oh?” She leaned forward a little, “Hello there! Are you with Uncle Might?”

“Y-Yes!” Izuku yelped nervously, “I’m Midozuku Iriya-” He shook his head rapidly, “I mean, Midoriya Izuku!”

Melissa laughed again, ‘Must be pretty shy. That was cute though.’ She gave him her best smile, “Nice to meet you, Midoriya-kun. Please call me Melissa.”

Toshinori took pity on the lad, “Young Midoriya here was just accepted at U.A.”

“Oh!” Melissa gasped, “That’s amazing! Did you make the Hero Course?”

“Uhm, we came h-here in a h-hurry, s-so it’s not official.” Izuku stammered, almost going blind from how bright she was. “S-Sensei says I did well though.”

“Ahahaha! Indeed, my student here had a good showing at the end.” Izuku winced. Did All Might have to mention that part? “Though there were some complications because of it, and I felt that the best way to help him further was to get the best Quirk analyst I knew on the case, as well as the best support technicians.”

Melissa gasped again, before smiling gleefully, “You’re my new best friend. To the lab!” She grabbed Izuku’s arm and her uncle’s massive paw before trying to drag them away. Izuku practically combusted.

…

“I AM HERE… SHAKING WITH EMOTION FROM OUR REUNION!” The big lug flexed before David and his assistant Sam.

“Toshi!” David sounded delighted, and quickly got out of his chair and rushed over to the man. The two men laughed uproariously as they met in the middle of the room, the far larger Hero almost crushing his friend’s back in a hug. “Ack! Toshi, air!” He almost fell over as Toshinori put him down, “Man, am I glad to see you! And you even called ahead this time!”

“I would have preferred to surprise you, but I couldn’t surprise you AND Melissa.” Toshinori said cheekily. “Man, how long has it been?” The blonde asked, fists on his hips.

“Oh, don’t remind me about how old I am.” David tapped his back with his fists, “Neither of us want to think about that, do we?”

“AHAHAHA!” The two laughed, “That’s for sure! I’m sure glad to see you!” The two bumped fists, before he stepped to the side, “Midoriya-shōnen, let me introduce my best friend-”

Izuku burst, yelping in excitement more to himself than the ‘audience’, “Professor David Shield! A top scientist in Quirk research who earned a Nobel Quirk Prize! He was All Might’s partner when he lived in America, and the one who created all of All Might’s costumes!”

“Ahaha! Looks like you have a fan, papa!” Melissa giggled, though she couldn’t help but wonder at the dichotomy. There wasn’t a hint of a stutter now as he rattled off facts. He seemed quite knowledgeable and passionate, actually.

“And I didn’t even have to introduce myself!” David laughed it off good naturedly, holding out a hand.

“Ack! S-sorry!” Izuku blushed, but took his hand, “I just get r-really excited.” He said, sheepishly. “I’m Midoriya Izuku, s-sir!” And the stutter was back.

“Just call me Dave, Midoriya-san.” David waved him off with a smile, “I’m not big on formalities. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He turned to Sam, “Sam, you can go on and take the rest of the day off.”

“Thank you, professor.” Sam bowed and quickly made his way out of their lab, unnerved by the Number One Hero’s presence despite having no real reason to be. After all, he hadn’t even brought up his plan to David yet. As soon as the door slid closed, David typed a few things on his computer to activate the security measures, making Melissa furrow her brows.

“So, how come you decided to visit, Uncle Might?” Melissa asked curiously, “Not that I’m not happy you did, but you hardly come by now.” She pouted at him, not noticing Izuku blush from how cute she was.

“A couple reasons.” Toshinori said, and she straightened up at his tone, her smile falling, “All of which I’ll discuss with both of you. The primary reason we came is to help Midoriya-shōnen with his Quirk.”

“You mentioned that.” David said, “But you didn’t give me much for details.”

“For good reason.” Toshinori said, “This is a secret I’ve kept even from you, Dave.”

Both of their eyes widened, and a look of hurt crossed his old partner’s face. “I see.” He said evenly, and Toshinori winced.

“And I have two secrets for you, Melissa. One of which, your father already knows about.” He sighed as a look of hurt crossed her face too, “I didn’t keep it from you because I didn’t trust you. I just… I didn’t want you to learn about it over a phone call.” He said finally.

“O-Okay, Uncle Might. What is it?” Melissa said, looking worried.

“My injury.” Toshinori said as he started to steam and then deflated.

Melissa screamed, backing up and covering her mouth, “Wh-what?! You?! You shrank! What is this?!”

“Gods, it’s even worse than I thought…” David looked horrified.

“It’s alright.” Toshinori replied, “Sadly, I’m used to it.”

“You shouldn’t be.” David let out a sigh.

“Th-This is really Uncle Might?!” Melissa looked horrified, looking back and forth between him and her father.

“Y-yes.” Izuku stepped forward, “H-he got into a fight that s-stayed out of the limelight s-six years ago now.”

Toshinori nodded as he took a chair, “I lost… a lot.” He said heavily, “I…I lost most of one lung in the initial blow. And my stomach. It was a miracle I even survived…” He pulled his torso through his costume’s neckline allowing them to see the gnarly wound.

Melissa burst into tears, “There-there must be something we can do to help!” She looked nearly wild as she whirled on her father, “Organ cloning, prosthetics, something!”

“If there is…” Toshinori laughed lightly, “Then for the first time in six years, I’ll actually have the time to have them done and actually recover.”

“I still don’t understand, Toshi! Why?! Why couldn’t you just take a few weeks to fly here?! We could have put you on the mend rather than leave you with that! As soon as you woke up, you dragged yourself out of the hospital!”

“The Symbol of Peace could not be daunted by evil.” Toshinori replied, “There was an old saying that if you made god bleed, the people would cease to believe in him. I…” He sighed and looked at his feet, “I believed my health was a small price to pay to keep the villains scared.”

“I don’t believe this!” Melissa apparently speedran through horror and was now firmly on outrage. “Did you not stop to think for a moment?! You’re human, Uncle Might! Eventually, you would die, even if of old age! Why would you actively kill yourself for just a few short years of peace?! I can’t even imagine the amount of pain you must have been in! You would have been more effective for longer if you had just taken the time to recover!”

Toshinori let out a dry laugh, “You’re not saying anything that I haven’t heard already, Melissa.”

“Well maybe this time it’ll get through that steel plate you call a skull!” She spat, before rubbing her face.

“Better late than never?” Toshinori asked weakly.

“We can try.” David said, before glaring at his old friend, “Though with the amount of time that’s passed, I don’t know how effective treatment will be now. Your stubbornness only hurt you, Toshi. Here you are, years later, taking the time off you didn’t want to take back then. And all it’s done is made recovery more difficult.”

Toshinori winced, “Yes, well…” He trailed off lamely.

David shook his head, “Still, despite the fact that you’re here now, this isn’t about you, is it? When we spoke, you were more concerned with Midoriya-san here, weren’t you?”

“That’s right.” Toshinori agreed, before reaching over and clapping Izuku on the shoulder, “Midoriya-shōnen needs a lot of help with his Quirk, and support gear as well.” He smiled warmly at them, “And there’s no one else I’d trust more to help him with that.”

David chuckled, “Well, you’re in luck, Midoriya-san. Melissa is even better than I was.”

Melissa blushed, “Papa!”

“It’s true!” David shrugged, smirking at the girl.

Melissa’s blush receded, “So, what do you need help with, Midoriya-kun? And what is your Quirk?” She focused on him in interest.

“Uhm, well…” Izuku looked over at Toshinori, who sighed.

“That’s the other secret, you two.” He focused on them, and both of them stiffened at the intensity, “And this one is the big one. I can count the number of people who know this on one hand, and one of them is dead by my hand.”

The two of them blanched, and Melissa looked confused, “Uh, no offense Uncle Might, but why does Midoriya-kun know about Forbidden All Might Lore then?” That startled a laugh out of Izuku, and she grinned weakly.

Toshinori laughed, “Well, it involved him, so he can hardly not know about it.”

David gasped, “Toshinori Yagi!” He used the full name, and in American naming order to boot, “Did you have a son and not tell me?!” He sounded infuriated.

Melissa burst out laughing as she witnessed Izuku’s soul vacate his body, but it turned into a cough of horror as she watched her uncle cough up blood. “Uncle Might?!” She sounded horrified as she squealed.

“I-I’m okay.” Toshinori wiped his lips, “It’s… that happens now.” He sighed, before glaring at David, “And what the hell Dave?! That was where your brain went?!”

“Where else was it supposed to go?!” David sounded utterly frazzled.

Toshinori shook his head, “No, Midoriya-shōnen is not my son. I’m merely his mentor.”

“Then what, Uncle Might?” Melissa asked, looking carefully between Izuku and Toshinori.

“Both Midoriya-shōnen and I were born Quirkless, Melissa.” All Might dropped that bomb on her.

It took a few seconds for both her and her father to comprehend the words that he had just spoken. Finally, David croaked, “Wh-what?!”

Melissa took a few seconds longer, and then her face got angry, “I-Is this a joke?!” She glared at him, “What the hell does that mean?! You just told us he came here to get help with his Quirk!”

“N-No… I.” Izuku looked down, “I have the second toe joint. I… I’ve been Quirkless my whole life.” Melissa sucked in a breath of shock, the anger falling from her face. She… she had heard that tone before. Seen that face before. It had been her face and her voice years ago, when the doctor told her she probably wouldn’t be manifesting any Quirk at all.

“Explain yourself, Toshinori.” David glared at him. Best friend or not, if he hurt Melissa, there would be trouble.

“One For All is an Olympic Torch.” The big blonde said softly, “Do you understand?”

David sucked in a sharp breath, and Melissa’s mind whirled, “Y-You mean to say-” She wet her lips, “Someone gave you your Quirk? A-And you gave it to Midoriya-kun?!”

“That’s right. I got it from my mentor, who got it from her mentor, and so on.” Toshinori sighed, “All the way back since the Dark Ages.”

“I don’t believe this!” David ran his hand through his hair, feeling nothing but frustration. All that work to first create the Device and then to try to get it unsealed to help his friend power on, and the man didn’t even have a Quirk to Boost anymore?! “What about Melissa?! Why didn’t you-”

“Papa.” Melissa cut him off. The room went silent, and she stared at All Might, “Did you ever consider me?” She asked finally. No one missed that she didn’t call him ‘Uncle Might.’

“…I did not, for various reasons. Will you hear them?” Toshinori said, and despite the huge spike of hurt that she felt from that, she merely nodded with pursed lips. “One For All came with…baggage.” He growled out, and both she and David stopped short when they heard the sheer hatred in Toshinori’s voice. “Have you never heard the saying? ‘One For All and All For One?’ Well, it has a very different meaning in real life compared to the story. All For One was my nemesis. He’s the one who did this to me.” He waved at the wound, and the three of them flinched, since Izuku had never heard about this before. “The bastard had the inverse power to One For All. Where we would stockpile power and hope to pass on to the next generation, he would simply steal what he wished. Over his life, he stole tens of thousands of Quirks from other people.”

Izuku paled drastically, “THE QUIRK BOOGEYMAN IS REAL?!” He screamed shrilly, and Melissa wasn’t much better.

“As real as you or me. He… created One For All, we could say. And it was the hope of every one of its wielders to bring him down for good. And on his side of things, all All For One wanted was his property back.” Toshinori growled again, “At the time that you were diagnosed as Quirkless, Melissa-“ Izuku gasped sharply. “I wouldn’t have passed One For All onto anyone, much less my honorary niece!”

Melissa shuddered, “…Thank you for that.” She said sincerely. That was a nightmare just thinking about it. “But what about after?”

Toshinori chuckled, “I didn’t lie to you when I told you Dave was my hero. He saved my bacon more times than I can count. I used his support gear for years before I truly came into my own and stopped needing them. I didn’t want you to grow up thinking your worth was tied to a Quirk.” Izuku flinched violently, something all of them noticed. Toshinori put a hand on his shoulder in comfort. “So, I encouraged you as best I could to follow in David’s footsteps, because I knew you could be as good at it as he is. If not better. The last thing I wanted was to give you false hope for a Quirk when I didn’t even know if I would survive to pass it on. And then by the time All For One was dead and I was ready to allow myself to even consider retirement, your dream had changed. I saw no reason to possibly reopen a healed wound. That’s why I didn’t consider passing it on to you.”

Melissa teared up, before moving over and giving him a hug. “Thank you, Uncle Might.”

“And sorry for doubting you, Toshi.” David said, his voice full of self-flagellation. Toshinori shook his head, indicating it was all water under the bridge.

Melissa backed off, and then turned to Izuku. She gently took one of his hands, and he both flinched and blushed brightly, “You really were Quirkless?” She asked softly.

Izuku nodded after a moment, “Y-You’re Quirkless too?”

“I am.” And that made Melissa feel the worst of all because she knew it wasn’t true. She just had no proof.

About six years ago, she started getting flashes of insight into people. As if she could see their intentions. What they really thought of her. It had weirded her out at first, and made her believe she was imagining things. She didn’t really have any other explanation for why she knew that her old best friend didn’t really like her and was just friendly with her because her father ordered it. She hadn’t believed it at first, up until she heard her old friend gossiping with another girl about the ‘Quirkless bitch.’

The more confusing thing was that the premonitions would cease. They’d begin abruptly when she met someone new, and end just as abruptly when she discovered something negative about them. Every time she started getting close to someone, she’d see that they only wanted to be her friend because her last name was Shield, or that they only wanted another notch on their bedposts once she became older, etc. etc. etc.

She had told her father about it, and they reason that she must have a hidden Quirk. After all, she lacked the toe joint. As her doctor had reluctantly told her and her father, while having the extra joint was a guaranteed indicator of Quirklessness, the reverse actually wasn’t always true. But then they tested her Alpha Factors, and her numbers had been utterly negligible. To the point even her father wondered if she had just imagined the whole thing or if she had been pranking him.

She’d not spoken about it again, and instead just gone through her school life in ever increasing loneliness. It saved her from dozens of bad actors, but those brief flashes of insight that then just stopped as abruptly as they came left her basically friendless. She was cordial with everyone. She sat at lunches and attended school events with people. She was never picked last in gym or anything like that. But it was all a façade. A veneer. She knew they didn’t actually like her. Even those that did initially like her didn’t do so for long. And that hurt.

She couldn’t imagine how Izuku felt without the shield (Ha!) that was her father to keep things cordial and even pretend friendly. She also dreaded the insights she would get from him up until this moment because she knew that they would be coming.

And come they did, leaving Melissa stunned when she felt the sheer loneliness, depression, and repressed rage Izuku felt. And that was without getting into just how beautiful he thought she was. Apparently she was the prettiest girl he’d ever personally met. He was almost at full crush already.

And that made her blush. Her? Plain Jane Melissa Shield? She let out a shy smile, “Looks like you’ll have to be Hero enough for the both of us, Izuku.” She unconsciously used his first name, still flabbergasted over what he thought about her. And that made him blush sharply. She could also feel he wasn’t sure what to say, his anxiety rearing its ugly head. They would have to work on that. Hopefully they would be here for a while. “So, you have… Uncle Might’s Quirk now.” She still sounded awed about that, “What problems are you having?”

“Uhm, well…” Izuku rubbed the back of his head, “One For All is…stronger than we expected.” He winced, “…The first time I used it, my legs broke, and my arm turned into purée.”

All the color vanished from Melissa’s face, “…That’s bad.” She said faintly, and dumbly.

She felt a spike of amusement from Izuku, “J-Just a little.”

“We should get you into the cradle then.” David said, standing up, “It’s the most powerful and sophisticated Quirk and health monitoring device I’ve been able to create.” He looked at Toshinori, “We should get you into one as well. Hopefully I’ll be able to work out how long you have…”

“Wait, what!?” Izuku blurted, “What do you mean?”

David raised an eyebrow, “You haven’t figured it out, Midoriya-san? All Might will eventually not be able to use his Quirk now that he’s passed it on. After all, he no longer possesses it. It’s yours now.”

“David is right, young man. Eventually these embers I have will go dark.” Izuku looked stricken, having apparently not considered that. Toshinori dropped a hand onto his head, “It’s okay, kid. Eventually I wasn’t going to be able to use it even if I kept it. I was looking for a successor for a reason.”

“…Right.” Izuku said softly, “I just… I don’t know. Didn’t think it would be so soon.”

Melissa cleared her throat, “Hate to interrupt, but you guys are only going to be here for a limited time. We should get started.” She said, not unkindly, and led them to a changing room. “Here, put these on.” She handed them garments that looked like tiny swimming jammers, “The cradle doesn’t really like clothes. Interferes too much. You’ll need to change into these. They’re one size fits all.” She smiled, “I actually made them myself. Doesn’t matter how big you are, provided you don’t have a gigantification Quirk. These will expand to fit you.”

Izuku’s eyes widened, “Did you get the idea from Dragon Ball?!”

Melissa laughed in delight, “I did! Sadly, I couldn’t figure out how to make them armored too… or… well… not for less than a couple million dollars.”

“That’s amazing! You must be super intelligent!” Izuku beamed at her, and Melissa’s heart skipped a beat from how sincere it was.

“…Thank you.” She blushed, suddenly bashful. “I worked really hard on it.” And the best part was, he didn’t compare her to her father at all. She had lost count of how many times people had complimented her rather snidely, ‘I guess she is Shield’s daughter after all.’ Was a sentence that she utterly despised.

Neither of them noticed David and Toshinori grinning.

Izuku took the garment from her and followed Toshinori into the changing room. David smirked at his daughter, “What’s this? Blushing from a boy’s compliment?”

Melissa’s flush returned with a vengeance, “Shut.” She quickly raced away as David laughed. It took a few minutes for one of them to come out, and it was Toshinori. She hissed like an angry cat as she saw the wound and his skinny form again. “How the hell do you fake it?!”

Toshinori rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “It’s not as bad as it looks.” He paused, looked like he wanted to say something else, and then sagged, “No, that’s a lie. It’s exactly as bad as it looks.” A momentary bout of depression rippled through him, “Anyway, you know how people puff out their chests at the pool? Yeah, like that.”

Melissa groaned, “That makes ZERO sense! That’s not how that works! That’s not how anything works!”

“If it wasn’t for that damn toe joint I’d wonder if you didn’t have a damn hidden Quirk.” David shook his head.

Toshinori shrugged, “Don’t really know what else to tell you.”

“Well, we’ll be able… to…” Melissa trailed off as Izuku shyly exited the changing room, wearing only the requisite garment she had handed him. He was even crossing his hands in front of his crotch and wasn’t able to look anyone in the eye. ‘Oh myyyyy…’  She thought as her face reddened. Those baggy clothes he had been wearing should be burnable offenses! They had totally hidden the fact that Izuku was a beefcake! He’d never be as tall or as muscular as All Might, but his hard work over the past nine, hellish months had put him at peak physical condition. His muscles were large, though not grotesquely so, and he was very well built. And the sheer gap moe being created from his appearance and shyness was awakening things in Melissa. A thin bead of drool escaped her slightly-parted lips.

It was all Toshinori and David could do to contain themselves. Toshinori just barely managed to contain the urge to ask if they needed a room, and David himself resisted the urge to give Toshinori a hug. He had been worried Melissa would end up a lonely old cat lady!

Melissa let out a squeak as David loudly cleared his throat, and her face flushed bright red, “Right, uhhh, dlecra! I mean, cradle! This way!” She hurried away, practically running.

Izuku was blushing down to his chest, “D-Did I have something on my face?”

Toshinori very carefully did not allow the thought that Izuku might very well end up with something on his face before their trip concluded to form.

They followed Melissa and Toshinori told Izuku to get in first. Izuku did, and Melissa hurried to get a few probes stuck onto Izuku’s skin. She didn’t notice her fingers lingering on his abs. He also slipped two cuffs onto his legs, which were connected to more monitoring equipment. Once that was done, he slipped on an oxygen mask, and then Melissa closed him in. The cradle was more like a high tech, see-through coffin than anything.

“Right!” Melissa said firmly, “Are we ready, papa?”

“We are!” David agreed, “Starting now.” The cradle lit up, with various bits of data immediately beginning to stream through. “I would have preferred to have started with a baseline, but I don’t imagine you ever went through a similar procedure, did you Midoriya-san?”

“No.” His voice was a little muffled from the oxygen mask, “My d-doctor just told me I h-had the joint and w-waved us away.” Like they had been wasting his time.

Melissa growled, “Quirkist bastards.” She muttered under her breath. She’d heard the implication even without Izuku saying anything. The devices let out a chime, and they looked at the screen. She couldn’t help the gasp that escaped her, “I guess it’s really true. Your Alpha Factor numbers are even higher than Uncle Might’s at their peak… and his numbers were higher than anyone else ever recorded.” Izuku was reading at close to ninety thousand.

“That’s how One For All works.” Toshinori chuckled, “Even the act of transferring it builds it up. It’ll be interesting to see how my numbers compare now. By its nature, my numbers should have kept growing as it is a Stockpiling Quirk at its core, but the loss of my organs likely knocked it down.”

“And your refusal to take any time off kept them decreasing ever since.” David elbowed his friend in irritation. “You were almost at fourteen thousand last time Chiyo measured you, you blockhead.”

“The growth must be logarithmic.” Melissa commented as she eyed the data, “I think that if One For All didn’t continue to grow in power, you might have already gotten into the danger zone for Quirk loss.”

“He absolutely would have!” David growled, “His peak wasn’t even twenty thousand. It wasn’t even close, actually.”

“Shit.” Toshinori sighed, “No wonder you annihilated that Zero Pointer, Midoriya-shōnen. Looking at this data, I’m surprised you didn’t blow your arm off.” David, Melissa, and Izuku all flinched.

“Let’s not think about that.” Melissa said firmly. “Papa, please switch to the body Quirk monitoring view.” A display of a generic human body appeared, “Good, now, Izuku, please call up One For All exactly like you did that first time. And don’t move a muscle. Hold it for five seconds, or until you feel any pain at all.”

“O-Okay.” Izuku said, before closing his eyes and reaching for the ocean of power within him now. He called up One For All, and the display lit up his legs and right arm. Inside the cradle itself, a green aura that thankfully didn’t actually interact with any of the sensitive equipment began crackling around him, and his three limbs were crisscrossed with emerald Lichtenberg patterns. After two seconds, he started feeling a little pain and dropped the Quirk.

“Are you okay?!” Melissa asked quickly as it ended quicker than requested.

“Yeah, it started to hurt.” Izuku replied.

“Well, looks like there was no damage.” David said, activating the MRI readouts. “Is there still any pain?”

“No!” Izuku said, his voice sounding thankful.

“Hmm…” Toshinori rubbed his chin, “Midoriya-shōnen, from what the display showed, you only used One For All on your right arm and legs. Is that right?”

“Y-Yes?” Izuku sounded confused, “I-Is that not what you d-do when you use it? Shunt the p-power to where you need it when you need it?”

“Not in the slightest!” Toshinori laughed, “Coming here was a good idea. You need to spread it evenly throughout your entire body. That should lighten the pressure. That’s what I do, and when I need more juice, I give my entire body more juice.”

“Oh!” Izuku wanted to slap himself, but that would just have banged his hand into the cradle’s lid. “I’m an idiot.”

“Don’t be like that, Izuku. You never had a Quirk. It’s not your fault for not being able to figure it out instantly. Everyone needs help and practice.” Melissa said decisively. She definitely didn’t want to hear him putting himself down. She couldn’t see it, but Izuku teared up a little in the cradle. “Are you ready to try again?”

“Yes!” Izuku called out, and took another deep breath. This time, he spread One For All throughout his entire body. His body was covered in those Lichtenberg figures again, and the lightning formed an aura around him. He counted down to five, but by the time he got to the last digit, he could feel the pain approaching again.

“Good job!” Toshinori praised him.

“I got to five, but it started to hurt so I would have dropped it anyway.” Izuku said, breathing a little deeper.

“That makes sense.” Melissa mumbled, “It’s a freaking electrical storm of power… A nuclear bomb of power.” She mumbled some more, “Okay, I want you to do that one more time, and this time you need to pay attention to how much power you’re using. The next attempt, we’ll try lowering it.”

“Okay!” Izuku called out, before being engulfed in One For All again. He held it for only four seconds this time as the pain built quicker.

“I see the damage starting to accumulate.” David called out, “So I want you to try a fifth of that next time, Midoriya-san. Hold it until you feel a little pain.”

Izuku did so, and the miasma of power around him was much less pronounced. He was able to hold it for twenty seconds. Once he let go, he started to pant.

“You’re doing great, kid.” Toshinori said, “This time use five percent. With any luck, that’ll be your ‘safe’ limit and you won’t feel any pain at all.”

Izuku nodded, not that they could see, and allowed his Quirk to engulf him once more. This time, rather than an aura, green lightning crackled around him. They started to wait, and Melissa began talking to him. “How are you doing, Izuku?”

“G-Good!” He stammered, “I- this feels w-weird.”

“I can imagine!” Melissa laughed, “From having no power at all to having all of it all at once.”

“I-it felt like an egg b-b-bursting in the microwave the f-first time.” He muttered, though not lowly enough for her not to hear.

She laughed a little more, “Weird metaphor. Definitely don’t need you bursting!”

He blushed sharply. “Y-yeah, it feels more like… like trying t-to hold b-back an ocean now.”

“Ooh, then you can imagine your control over One For All to be like sluice gates on a dam! Just open those gates when you need more power!” She suggested with a smile.

Izuku’s eyes lit up, “I-I like that!”

“Good. Do you think you would be able to move like this?” She asked him.

“…T-time to find out.” He said, and their eyes widened. Before they could tell him not to, he raised a hand and carefully squeezed a fist a few times. He then pumped his arms a few times up to his chest, very carefully and very slowly. He then raised his legs a few times as though paddling in a pool. He stretched out too. “Y-Yeah, I can d-definitely move. I-It does feel l-like I’m g-going to vibrate out of m-my skin though.”

They all let out cheers. “Excellent. I think you can stop now. It’s been a few minutes.” David said. He and Toshinori had just let the two speak, both of them eager for the two to form a connection.

Izuku did so, his Quirk vanishing, and suddenly felt exhausted.

“I think that’s enough for today.” Melissa said firmly, “The higher percentages were straining even without actually moving, so now it’s time to rest. We might even need you to take a day off tomorrow just to be sure.”

“N-No way! I’m so far behind!” Izuku said, raising his voice. “I-I need to-”

“Midoriya-shōnen.” Toshinori cut him off sharply, “Take it from this old fool, because I’ve been there, done that. I don’t want you to make the same mistakes I did. You need to be better than me, kid. And that means being a little better tomorrow than you were today. It doesn’t mean breaking yourself trying to compete against imaginary opponents. If that was what I wanted you to do, I would have… c-c-c-c-c-callled G-G-Gran T-T-Torino… rather than coming here.” They all goggled at the sight of All Might trembling in fear.

“Who is Gran Torino?” Melissa asked faintly, her eyes wide.

Toshinori shuddered in fear, “The boot tastes like broken dreams, sensei.” He whimpered, stuck in a flashback.

“…Let’s move on…” David said, nudging Melissa.

“R-Right.” She moved over to the cradle and unlocked it to help Izuku out. “C-Come on Izuku, it’s Uncle Might’s…” The lid slid open, revealing Izuku again, and this time he was covered in sweat and was glistening. Melissa’s throat went dryer than the Sahara as she croaked, “Turn…” Her hand involuntarily reached out and touched his pec, before pulling away like she had been shocked. His face flamed red as he spasmed. Her own face went equally as red as she ran away, before coming back with a towel. “H-Here…” She stuttered.

“Th-Thanks…” Neither could look the other in the eye.

“They’re so cute.” Toshinori whispered to David.

“Thank you, my friend. I have teasing material for decades.” David whispered back.

-]|[-

Toshinori had gotten his turn inside the cradle, and all of them had been rather despondent when they saw the sheer extent of the damage. But worse were his Alpha Factors. They’d had a sharp drop, and he was now barely over thirteen thousand. By their best calculations, due to the damage his body had accumulated as well as passing his Quirk on, All Might wouldn’t even last until Christmas. And that was only if he didn’t have to go Plus Ultra a single time during that span.

Toshinori had been utterly stunned to realize he wouldn’t even get to see Izuku graduate before having to pass the torch on. And that meant that there would be at least two years of uncertainty, because as much as he hated to admit it or even mildly disparage other Heroes… he couldn’t quite see Endeavor picking up the slack. He didn’t have the temperament or personality to be a Symbol.

“So, what now?” Izuku asked softly, looking perhaps even more devastated than Toshinori himself.

“Now, I suppose I better get started on your support gear and Hero su-” David started to say, but Melissa cut him off.

“No.” She crossed her arms, “You focus on getting Uncle Might healthy again, papa. I’ll be Izuku’s support technician.” She then blushed, “Uh, if you’re… okay with it, Izuku…”

Izuku blushed too, “Y-yeah!”

“Ohoho, you haven’t graduated yet, Melissa.” David gave her a small smirk.

“You hadn’t either when you became Uncle Might’s!” Melissa returned the smirk with a small glare.

Izuku didn’t know where it came from, but he got the odd sense that Melissa had the thought, ‘Someone else can have him over my dead body.’ Or something similar run through her mind. ‘…That was weird.’ He thought to himself.

David laughed, “Fair enough. If Midoriya-kun is happy with that, then I have no complaints either.”

“Do you have access to a private Quirk Gym, Dave?” Toshinori asked, “I would like to set aside at least an hour each day to train Midoriya-shōnen. I won’t be pushing it while I’m here though. Not with…” He glanced at the holographic readouts that still had his data all over them.

They all flinched. “I do, thankfully. I suppose there is no one better to show Midoriya-san the ropes.”

“Yes.” Toshinori chuckled in self-depreciation, “Even if I now have an expiration date. I’d hoped for more time. A lot more time…” He trailed off.

It was silent for a moment, before Melissa cleared her throat, “With any luck, papa will be able to buy you more time. At the very least, you should be able to eat properly again.”

All Might sounded wistful as he smiled, “My kingdom for a fully loaded burger…”

They all giggled a bit, “Well, no time to waste. We only have a few weeks before you start classes! Let’s go back to my apartment, Izuku. I’ll start to work on your Hero suit as well as support gear!”

Izuku flushed, ‘H-her apartment! I’m going to a girl’s apartment?!’ He stammered, “O-okay…”

The sense she’d just gotten from him made her sad. And angry. She grabbed his hand and led him back to the changing room, leaving her father and Toshinori alone.

Said skeletal man grinned, “A million yen says they start dating before we leave.”

David scoffed, “I’ve literally never seen Melissa like this. If they’re not joined at the hip before two weeks have expired I’ll eat my lab coat.”

Toshinori laughed, “I left some wiggle room for his anxiety.” David joined him in laughing.

-]|[-

It took almost an hour to get back to Melissa’s apartment, and it made Izuku freeze when he got inside. “Woah…” Apartment? This was a whole lab! It was like five times the size of his apartment!

She smiled, “Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.” She let out a chuckle.

“It’s so big!” Izuku sounded a little awed. His eyes caught sight of a couple awards on a shelf, “Woah, you’re really talented!”

She smiled, sounding sheepish. “Honestly, my grades weren’t very good for the longest time. I had to study really hard.”

He remembered what All Might had told him back before he’d eaten that hair. “Th-that’s even more impressive then…”

She had to turn away to not allow him to see her face burning. It was hard not to be affected when she could feel his sincerity. “I… I wanted to be a Hero more than anything when I was younger.” She walked into another room with a bunch of storage bins. “I wasted so much time daydreaming…”

And in the first room, Izuku felt a great amount of sadness and melancholy. He… he couldn’t tell if he was feeling hers or his own. He… he knew he had to share as well, “No one believed in me either.” He looked down, “…Not even my mom. She was… too worried about the danger.”

Melissa flinched as she grabbed what she had been looking for. She walked out of the room holding it, “…You… didn’t consider anything else?” She asked carefully.

He was still looking at the floor, “I… it was the only thing I ever wanted to be.” He said softly, “No one tried to dissuade me…” Izuku paused, “Or at least no one ever tried to help me find a real alternative…” He didn’t even realize he wasn’t stuttering. “…All they ever did was beat me down. Make fun of me. …Call me worthless…” He didn’t even say the last bit out loud, but Melissa heard it all the same.

She put the small box she had in her hand down and surprised him when she threw her arms around him. “You’re not worthless.” She said quietly as she hugged him. She could feel the maelstrom of emotions he was feeling as he teared up. Hell, she might cry too.

He shook in her arms, and, guided by something… wrapped his arms around her lower back too. “I just…” He was tearing up. It didn’t take much with him or his mom, after all. “No one ever even used my name. Everyone just called me ‘Deku.’ Even the teachers…”

“Deku?” Melissa frowned, “I… don’t get it? What does that mean?”

“…Short for Dekunobō. The wooden puppet…” He trailed off as Melissa let out a furious growl.

“Quirkist bastards.” She hissed out, squeezing him tighter. It was way worse than she thought. No wonder he was so down on himself! “And I bet all these bullies wanted to be Heroes.” She scoffed, “They don’t know the meaning of the word!”

Izuku snorted despite himself, “…Yeah, every single one of them.”

She let go, and he was surprised to see a vindictive smile on her face, “Well then, you’ll just have to make sure you’re the one that has the last laugh then.”

He let out a surprised laugh, before flushing, “Oh no, I’m so sorry!”

“Hmm?” She reached up to her shoulder before giggling, “Oh, don’t worry about it, Izuku. They’re just clothes.” She figured it out when she tapped the damp spot. “Come on.” She grabbed the box again and opened it. “I made this support item a few months ago. I noticed from Uncle Might’s video footage that he appeared to be getting a little weaker, so I tried to make this to help him back up to 100%. It’s only a prototype obviously, and was never tested, but it should help.” She grabbed the red band from the box and grabbed his hand, not noticing him blush. She wrapped it around his wrist, “Go ahead and press right here.” She indicated the panel on the ‘face’ of the band.

Izuku did as instructed when she backed away, and was surprised to see holographic hexagons cover all of it, before a light drowned out the red, and then the item expanded, wrapping around his whole arm up to his elbow. “Woah!” The red gauntlet looked super cool!

She beamed at him, “As I’m sure you know, the body naturally breaks down as we age. That’s why it’s much easier for an elderly person to break their bones than a younger one. I figured that since Uncle Might was getting on, he was being forced to pull his punches to avoid breaking himself. I made that to allow him to go Plus Ultra again if he needed to. It took a lot of calculation, but I created it to be capable of using his full strength three times before it broke.”

“Holy crap! That’s amazing!” He praised her.

She giggled, flushing a little, “Don’t get too excited. With what we know now, I know there’s no way it can take your one-hundred percent. And the device itself is maxed. There’s nothing on earth that I’ve been able to find that would work even mildly better than that material. But!” Her glasses gleamed, “It should help you go above five percent. If my math was right, it should be able to take twenty percent three times. Though I would keep it well under that just to be safe.” She giggled, “And obviously, it’s only a gauntlet. It was a proof of concept, so even if your hand and forearm could take twenty percent, you’d still break your shoulder.”

“It’s still amazing!” Izuku beamed at her, “What’s it called?”

Melissa giggled, “I never really gave it a name. I suppose we could call it the Full Gauntlet.”

“Full Gauntlet…” He breathed, “I love it! It’s even in one of my favorite colors!”

Melissa giggled, “Good to hear! It’ll be a nice basis for us to start from. After we test it, of course.” She pressed on the panel again, and it shrank back down. She again grabbed his hand, making Izuku blush once more. She was so touchy-feely! She brought him down a small set of steps down to an area with a mass of monitors and computers and other high-tech bits and bobs. Further beyond, the view was fantastic with a floor-to-ceiling window… and the ceiling was double height too! This was a penthouse suite!

“Now, let’s get started on your Hero suit!” Melissa declared, guiding him into one chair while she took another and logged into the system. “Did you have any ideas for it?”

Izuku flushed, “Just some drawings I did.” He reached down to his backpack and pulled out one of his Hero notebooks, his hands stilling as his anxiety roared again.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” She asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Just…” He sighed, and pulled out number thirteen. “I… take notes on Heroes…” He said, allowing Melissa to feel just how worried he was.

“Hero Analysis for the Future.” Melissa read, and gently took the notebook from his hands, “Number thirteen… it’s burned?” She turned a questioning gaze towards him.

He looked down, “Everyone thought it was… creepy and stalkerish. One of my classmates exploded it with his Quirk…” He didn’t say friend. He was half certain Melissa would find a way to reach across the ocean to strangle Bakugō Katsuki if he did.

Melissa scowled, before opening the journal, landing on Kamui Woods page. She read silently for a few moments, appreciating his talented artwork as well as paying close attention to the actual notes on the Hero and his Quirk. There were even postulated suggestions for improvements, though Izuku obviously lacked true insider knowledge on the Quirk, and only had his own educated guesses on how they worked.

She continued to flip through the pages, looking surprised for a moment as she read the utterly disparaging notes on Death Arms.

It was… skilled. Not masterful. That would have been ridiculous for an untrained talent. But Izuku clearly had a good eye and an analytical mind. She could see the logic in some of his leaps, though she didn’t doubt there were some inaccuracies too. But his notes on the incident that had gotten Uncle Might to notice him were concise, and he had come up with a very good battle plan for the Heroes on site to have succeeded in saving the victim Bakugō.

She growled. His plan was light years better than ‘waiting around for the right quirk.’ She put the notebook down and turned to him. Again, she grabbed his hands, making him blush as she held them gently. “Izuku, those notes were very good. You have a gift for analytics, and quite frankly, your teachers should have been pushing you towards that. Maybe you wouldn’t have listened, but you could have helped a lot of Heroes if you took this advanced amateur level of skill up to a professional level. Do not be ashamed because of what those… those assholes told you. Their opinions on you are worthless, okay?”

Izuku looked at her as if she hung the sun in the sky. Melissa’s heart most definitely skipped a beat. “I…” He teared up again.

Again, she hugged him. She had been doing that quite a lot for someone she had just met. But it was hard not to when her… Quirk? made it feel like she had known him for months already. When it allowed her access to his emotions and feelings. She couldn’t believe it hadn’t already snapped and stopped working like it had all the other times…

Maybe this time someone would actually believe her.

As she pulled away, she made sure to give him her best smile, “Be proud, Izuku. You have talent! And with One For All, you’re going to be a great Hero!”

“Y-You’re…” He choked out, “You’re the best, Melissa…”

She blushed, and didn’t even realize she scooted her chair closer to his, “…I’m just Melissa.” She said bashfully, “Now, let’s get this started!” She raised her voice to try to hide her pleased embarrassment. Melissa opened the notebook again and he directed her closer to the final pages. She blinked when she saw his design. “…Walk me through this, Izuku.”

He flushed, feeling a strange spike of bemusement that didn’t feel like it came from him. ‘What is that?’ He thought to himself. “Uhh, well, I didn’t really know what I wanted. I was just… homaging All Might, I guess? With the hair tufts and the faceplate mimicking his smile?” His face was beet red at the growing amusement on her face.

She let out a giggle, “I see.” She sounded very amused. “I think you need to get that thought out of your head though. All Might is a great Hero… obviously.” She giggled again, “But you are not him. You need to be your own Hero.”

Izuku didn’t pout, but it was a close thing, “I… I wanted to save people with a smile. Just like him!”

“I know. I wanted the same thing, long ago.” Melissa said, “But there’s a few issues. Primarily that this doesn’t actually look like you’re homaging him. For example, the ‘hair tufts’ look more like bunny ears.” He made a shocked face, and she burst out laughing. “S-Sorry, but it’s true!” She continued to giggle. “Why don’t I draw up a few different designs and see which one you like best?”

“Okay.” Izuku wasn’t still pouting, no siree.

-]|[-

“So, what have you cooked up, Melissa?” Two days had passed for Izuku to rest, and they were now meeting at the private Quirk gym David had been able to acquire for their use. Contrary to David’s belief, Izuku and Melissa were already tied at the hip. They’d spent almost zero time away from one another, spending most of the time in her lab designing and improving his Hero suit. They had only parted when it was time for Izuku to return to the hotel room for the night.

Melissa grinned, “The Suit is still cooking, so today I just want to get some data for my old prototypes. And watch you two fight.”

Toshinori grinned, before bulking up, “Then let’s get to it!”

“That’s still so freaky to watch.” Melissa grumbled, “How the hell does it work?” She shook her head, “Head in the game, Melissa.” She chided herself, “Okay Izuku, please go ahead and test out the Full Gauntlet. Remember, twenty percent!”

“Are you sure?” Izuku said, looking at the support item, “I don’t want to destroy it.”

“It’s going to get destroyed, and will even become obsolete after you get strong enough to go without it. But that’s the point. It’s to protect you until you get to that point. If you break it, I’ll just make another. Please, go ahead.”

“O-Okay.” Izuku mumbled, before engaging his Quirk and pushing his right arm and specifically his fingers up to twenty percent. “Delaware Smash!” He yelled, and Melissa rolled her eyes. That had been a losing battle, so she had given up on that front. At least she had been able to design a better costume. The blast of air from his finger forced him back and nearly knocked him over onto his back.

Toshinori raised his fist and punched out too. The two massive walls of wind impacted in the center of the huge battle arena. The winds compacted and practically exploded, forming a vortex ring of force that expanded outwards and sheared bits of the gym apart.

Melissa gaped, “Holy crap. Good thing this arena is surrounded by so much steel!”

David chuckled, “I knew we’d need it.”

“Excellent work, kid!” All Might gave Izuku a thumbs-up.

“It, it really worked!” Izuku yelped, “Melissa, this is AMAZING!” He beamed at the device.

“I’m so glad it worked!” She called down to them from the shielded observation deck. “How’s the Full Gauntlet?”

“It still looks perfect!” Izuku called back. “Let’s go ahead, All Might!”

Toshinori raised his fist, “Let’s! RAGHH!” He punched forwards, and again, their two attacks met and decimated the ground at the middle of the arena.

Izuku hissed, and Melissa shouted, “Are you okay?!”

“I’m fine!” He yelled back, “But the gauntlet is cracked! I guess you were right about it being able to take only three!”

“Let’s not risk it! I don’t want you to break your fingers!” Melissa said, “Let me come grab it. I want to perform some failure analysis. Maybe I could eke out a little bit more performance now that I have actual data.” She quickly made her way to the elevator and raced down to the arena. “Thanks.” She accepted the damaged band from Izuku and placed it in her pocket. “Now, have fun you two, but remember Izuku. You’re your own person. Learn how to fight in the best way for you.”

“O-Okay.” Izuku said, blushing as she gave him another hug.

“She’s right, kid. You might be well built now, but I don’t think you’ll ever be as bulky as I am. Your body just isn’t meant for it, I think.” Toshinori said, “We were in a hurry when we trained you up, and so I neglected to give you actual combat training. We will correct that now.”

“Yes sir!” Izuku said, and allowed five percent to engulf him.

Toshinori grinned, “We’ll start off with some sparring. There won’t be any better way to get you used to your new speed and strength than that. Once our hour is up, I’ll start teaching you actual moves.”

“I can help!” Melissa smiled, “I do have some training myself.”

“Oh?” Toshinori looked at her quizzically.

Melissa blushed, “I take gymnastics, and Papa had me take martial arts as well, after…” Her smile fell, and she looked down.

“Oh… oh, Melissa…” Toshinori dropped a hand onto her shoulder.

She teared up, “…Yeah. I… I miss mom…” She said softly, and Izuku gasped. She couldn’t help but smile as Izuku hugged her for the first time. She allowed herself to squeeze him, “It was… a long time ago… But it never hurts any less.”

“She was a good woman. I’m sorry I wasn’t there, Melissa.” Toshinori said softly.

“It wasn’t your fault. It was theirs.” Melissa pulled back, “Now, go on! Shoo!” She playfully waved them away before returning to the observation deck.

She smiled when she looked down and saw nothing more than green and yellow lightning bolts clashing against one another.

-]|[-

It took a week for Melissa to understand for certain that whatever her Quirk truly was, it wasn’t going away this time. The longest she’d ever had it active for was a couple hours in the past. Just enough to get her out of trouble with boys who just wanted in her pants, or for her to realize her ‘friends’ weren’t.

Instead, it had been active practically since they had met, and the insights she kept getting into him just kept getting stronger. Her Quirk was growing in power. She had no idea by how much, as she was not aware Izuku had started getting the same insights into her. Both she and Izuku had just been so lonely, and they had latched onto one another. And she had no idea what to feel about that at first. But the closer they got, the closer they wanted to be.

It was what led Melissa to her actions that Sunday night. “Here we are! Your completed 1.0 design!” She said proudly.

“It looks great!” Izuku said slowly, without even stuttering! Progress! “But… why is it so tight?” He eyed the design over a perfect 3D model of his own body as it slowly spun. He’d had to put on a different skintight outfit to allow a fancy machine to do a full-body scan for him for that. As for the costume, Melissa had used her ‘Saiyan-Inspired’ cloth as the basis. Izuku had balked at it at first due to the cost to armor it, but All Might had laughed and said that if she needed reimbursement, it was on him. So, with All Might footing the bill, Melissa had gone ahead and proceeded with the design.

As Izuku had stated, it was so tight it was like a second skin. Even tighter than the original garment Izuku had worn for the cradle had been. The armor honestly gave it a vague resemblance to the CryNet Nanosuit from those old Crysis games she had played a few years ago. The Full Gauntlet had been incorporated into the design and extended, reinforcing the parts of his body that most needed the support. She hadn’t been able to increase the power they could handle, but had been able to bring the total number of full power blows they could stand to five. The color scheme was primarily black, with green and red highlights. She had also created a collapsible helmet (with the same tech as the Full Gauntlet) that would silence him, something she had realized would be a necessity the first time she had experienced his mumble vomit.

Melissa didn’t look at him, “Primarily for mobility. These will give you a full range of motion.” She said primly, “I took inspiration from Uncle Might’s suit since you’re a fan, and plus, baggy clothes can get caught on things. The tightness also will hopefully help keep your body together in the event you ever have to exceed the parameters of the Full Armaments.” All perfectly reasonable and well-thought-out reasons.

Izuku would have believed her one hundred percent if it wasn’t for the fact that he could sense the blatant lies coming from her. Or more accurately, the excuses. He carefully placed those thoughts inside a box because he wasn’t ready to unpack that yet.

She smiled at him, “Do I have final approval to begin fabrication?”

Izuku smiled shyly back at her, “Yes, please.”

Melissa whooped in elation, and hit ‘approved.’ She then spent a few minutes sending out several orders. “And done! It’ll take another two weeks for them to be ready.”

“Them?” He blinked, tilting his head in confusion.

“Spares.” Melissa said, “Last thing we need is to need spares and not have them. The tech is experimental, after all. I ordered three.”

Izuku choked, “Th-that’s so much!” He said weakly.

“Uncle Might’s orders!” She grinned at him, before raising her arms and stretching. “Mhmmmm!” It felt so nice to feel her back pop. “And now that that’s done with, what will we be doing tomorrow?” She asked.

“T-Tomorrow?” Despite all the signs from the previous week, he still couldn’t really internalize that she still wanted to hang out now that the work was done.

‘If I ever get a hand on those monsters…’ She grumbled in the safety of her own mind, her smile turning a little brittle, not realizing that Izuku could feel the protective hatred that spiked through her. Instead, she looked at the weather, “Of course! Tomorrow is going to be a scorcher!” I-Island was much closer to the equator than Japan was. And that gave her the idea, “I know! Let’s go to the water park tomorrow!”

His face flamed red, ‘Waterpark?!’ He screamed shrilly in his mind, imagining the thicc, buxom girl in a nice one-piece. ‘M-Melissa in a swimsuit?! MY HEART ISN’T READY FOR THIS!’

If she had heard those thoughts, she would have cackled.

-]|[-

Izuku hadn’t thought about it, but he probably should have. I-Island basically had all the amenities. Really anything you could think of, including amusement parks and water parks. As an island nation, and especially an incredibly isolated, artificial island nation at that, they basically needed to have everything on site at all times. The closest landmass was hundreds of kilometers away. They weren’t Point Nemo, but they were far away enough that they needed to be entirely self-sufficient. The false island was massive on a scale that was kind of hard to understand without seeing it, and an engineering and technical marvel.

And that meant that they had basically the greatest water park on the planet. The tickets were rather expensive, but the park was big enough that with the somewhat limited population of the island, they probably wouldn’t be waiting in lines that were too long.

Not that Izuku really had eyes for the scenery, unless you counted Melissa as a work of art. The beautiful blonde had forgone her glasses in favor of contacts (…which made Izuku think that she actually looked much cuter with the glasses.) and was wearing a sky-blue sundress along with a straw hat. He was just in some stereotypical, touristy pool gear, and was carrying most of their bags as she rented a few lockers to fit all of it into.

As she came back, she looped her arm around his, “Got two of the big ones, right next to each other.” She said with a smile, before leaning in towards his ear. “Combo is your birthdate. Japanese style.” She murmured so no one would overhear.

She held back a wicked grin as she saw the shiver that raced down his spine, “O-Okay.” Izuku put the combo in to open it up, and placed the bags inside the first one with their towels as well as their changes of clothes for when they decided to leave. He took out their water shoes as well, since with a day as hot as this without a cloud in the sky… the ground would be like a frying pan.

He hesitated for a moment, before taking off his shirt. He missed Melissa licking her lips. She followed up by removing her hat and putting it in the locker gently, before pulling her sundress over her head. She was in a bikini. Not a one piece. A bikini. A tiny black and gold bikini.

Izuku.exe has stopped working. ‘Oh…she’s trying to kill me.’

Melissa smiled wickedly as she saw and felt his brain sizzling inside his head. And then, after a few moments, the stream of consciousness started making her feel very good about herself. She had never felt she was particularly attractive despite the number of guys who had wanted to do a hit and quit on her. If anything, those assholes only made her feel unattractive because all she was apparently good for was one roll in the hay. Still, she gave him a spin, revealing that her bikini bottom’s behind was on the more risqué side of things. “How do I look?” She asked teasingly.

Unknowingly guided by her Quirk, he managed to stammer out, “B-Breathtaking!” And again, the stream of consciousness told her exactly what was going through his mind. Izuku apparently found her so attractive that he was having to fight to keep control of himself.

… not that she wouldn’t have welcomed him pressing her against the locker and spending half the day kissing her. “You’re sweet.” She leaned forward and pecked him on the cheek, quite close to his lips. She giggled as his head turned into a strawberry, “Will you put some sunscreen on my back, I~zu~ku?” Maybe she was laying it on a bit thick, but she couldn’t help herself with him. It wasn’t like she didn’t find him just as hot.

“S-S-S-S-S-” The stutter was back.

She bit back a pout. Apparently she had pushed too far. “Yeah, I inherited my dad’s super sunburning powers, you know?” She giggled as that snapped him out of it somewhat.

“…That seems like an awful Quirk to have.” They both started to laugh, though the red didn’t vanish from his face. She handed him the sunscreen and turned around, bringing her hair to the front. “Make sure you don’t miss anything, Izu.” She said teasingly.

Izuku swallowed harshly as he squirted some of the white cream onto his palms before he started spreading it on her back and shoulders. ‘She’s so soft…’ He marveled, half believing this was a dream because there was no way a girl was letting him touch her! Again, her scowl at the stray thought went unseen.

He worked his way down, making sure to get parts of her sides as well. “O-Okay, done.” He said hesitantly when he finished with her lower back. He was getting these odd feelings that she wouldn’t mind more… but those couldn’t be right, could they?

“Do my thighs too, please.” She smirked as she felt his mental spazz. But he continued, getting guided by the feelings to give her a light massage as he rubbed the sunscreen in. He marveled again at her body. She certainly wasn’t overly concerned with dieting like some of the girls in his old classroom had been. A bit plump, but actually very well-muscled for someone who wasn’t an athlete or intending on going into the Hero Course. All the heavy lifting and machinery she played with left her deceptively strong despite her overall softness. She was surprised (and pleased) when he even did the exposed bits of her butt without being asked.

She would have asked him to do her front too, but she was pretty sure that he would spontaneously combust. Instead, she grabbed the tube of sunscreen, “Your turn.” She said silkily as she began spreading it on his torso, making his face practically grow incandescent. Her throat was just as dry as his had been now.

A few minutes later, she had also spread the sunscreen across her front, and the two were ready to go have fun. She opened the second locker and put all of their supplies and wallets away, before firmly grasping his hand and lacing her fingers with his. They both blushed at the action, but Melissa powered through, determined to make her first ever date the best that it could be. “Let’s go with that one first!” She pointed, a grin on her face. It was a tall double tube with many twists and turns around one another.

It took a few minutes for them to climb the stairs, and luckily they were early enough to not even have to wait in line, because there wasn’t one! The two were directed into separate chambers facing one another, with the employees closing them in. And there was a lever in between them two chambers, which made Izuku remember an old movie he had watched. “Pull the lever, Kronk!” He yelled out, making the employee smirk.

Across from him, Melissa burst into laughter. And then the floor fell out from below them, “WRONG LEVEGBHUBOUGHFGVUHLGBYUHI!” They yelled as they dropped, before being sprayed in the face by water. They both coughed and sputtered as they went down, and then came out the bottom into a pool. They both coughed for a few moments before they started to laugh again.

“Crap, I forgot the main flow of water blasted you in the face.” Melissa laughed some more, before coughing again.

“M…Maybe that wasn’t my best idea.” He mumbled despite the grin.

“Hell no, that was hilarious!” She countered, before grabbing his hand, “Let’s do this one next.” She grabbed a double tube, and they quickly made their way up the next set of stairs. Izuku got on behind, with her in front. This time there was no spray of water hitting them directly in the face, so they whooped and hollered all the way down as the ride tossed them about. Melissa giggled once they raced onto the catch pool at the bottom, “It’s surprising just how much fun that is even though you can go way faster on your own.” She said as they dismounted.

“Yeah, you’d think it would be boring, but it never is.” Izuku agreed as she took his hand again, “Where next?”

“We should hit all of the smaller and two-person rides early before the park starts to fill up.” She declared, “Like that one!” They started to make their way towards the next one, this one a ‘choose your slide’ type ride with no tubes. They made their way down those a few times, since there were four different slides to choose from, before moving on. They would have continued ‘racing’ but the lines were actually starting to form, so they moved on.

“Oooh, I hate this one as much as I love it!” Melissa moaned as they climbed the stairs to the tallest slide in the park. It was a straight shot down at super high speed.

Izuku hadn’t known One For All would make him fearless, but apparently it had because his heart didn’t even start to beat any faster. “I’ll go first and catch you if anything goes wrong?” Izuku smiled, half joking.

Melissa’s eyes widened, and she giggled, “Ooh, that would be fun. I wonder what it would feel like to move that fast?” She said wistfully.

“You guys going or not?” The worker asked, glaring at Izuku over the obscenely hot babe he had with him.

“Yup.” Izuku got on, crossed his arms and legs, and then was pushed off. “WHOOOOO!” He yelled as he went down, his body kicking up a massive wave that splashed the people walking by. He then got out and waited for Melissa to drop as well.

And drop she did, screaming her head off the whole time. As he helped her out of the bottom of the slide, she moaned, “Ohhhhh, why do I do that to myself?! L-Let’s do something a little less intense next.” She said as her legs trembled a bit.

“Okay!” Izuku smiled at her, “Maybe a few more and then lunch?”

“Yeah, that sounds-oh no.” Melissa went cold.

“Hey, if it isn’t Melissa!” A gaggle of girls had apparently recognized her, giving her ‘friendly’ smiles.

“Amy.” Melissa said, fighting a scowl. “Jess. Karen. Hiyori. Haruka.”

“It’s been a while.” Amy, the apparent ringleader said. “And with such a… prime cut of beef too.” All five of the girls were eye-fucking Izuku, and he felt the anger that Melissa experienced.

“What’s your name, cutie?” Karen winked at him.

Normally, Izuku would have gone into full panic/embarrassment over the female attention. But he really liked Melissa and could feel she didn’t like any of these girls. “Midoriya Izuku.” He said shortly and surprisingly gruffly.

“Nice to meet you, Izuku. Maybe you two would like to come have some fun with us? Could do with a few more for a couple rides.” Jess said, smiling somewhat predatorily at Melissa.

And as Melissa opened her mouth to deny them, Izuku surprised her by politely-but-firmly stating, “No thanks. We’ve been having fun on our own.”

“Izuku…” Melissa was surprised for a moment before she smiled and shrugged, “Well, you heard him.”

That put scowls on all their faces, “What, so you’d rather hang out with this frumpy Quirkless bitch than us?” Hiyori glared at him and turned her nose up a bit, even as she stuck her prodigious chest out. And it wasn’t like the girls were unattractive. All five of them were hotter than all the girls in his old school had been.

‘And there it is.’ Melissa glared as their real colors were revealed.

Izuku’s face grew cold as he glared, “I’d rather hang out with her a thousand times before I’d go with any of you.” And without another word or glance at them, he walked away with Melissa in tow, hand-in-hand. Neither of them so much as turned their heads as the girls yelled at their backs, to the point some employees had to usher them away.

Izuku was pissed as he led her to the wave pool, which was calm and pretty empty right now. They waded in till they were just under chest height before Melissa hugged him. “Thank you.” She mumbled, despite knowing she didn’t need to.

“I said what I meant, and I meant what I said. Those… those bitches.” He grumbled, worried that their day was ruined.

“Yeah.” Melissa sighed, “It just… it just gets me so angry!” She hissed, “Especially when they’re not even right!” She decided to just come clean with him. It wasn’t like she was trying to hide it… she just… they had both been ‘Quirkless.’ She had been worried this would change something between them if they lost that connection. But now, she was sure she had been worrying for nothing.

“Huh?” He blinked, “What do you mean?”

She let out a sigh, “I… for the past few years, I’ve suspected I’m not actually Quirkless. I just never had any proof.” She said hesitantly, “I…this past week has made me more sure of it than ever.” It was her turn for a huge spike of anxiety to rear its ugly head.

His eyes lit up, “Oh Melissa, that’s amazing! What is it?!” He asked excitedly.

She sagged against his chest, and started to smile tearfully, “I’m… not actually sure. It just… lets me read people, I guess? It first came up a few years ago, with that bitch Amy actually. We had been best friends… up until I started getting the feeling that she actually didn’t like me. It was weird and I didn’t really put any stock in it… until I heard her and Jess bad mouthing me behind my back. I was heartbroken.” She said softly as Izuku tightened his grip on her. “I stopped getting the feelings immediately after… and then started getting them from other people. Only ever one at a time, but each time, it just showed me what people really thought about me before it stopped working.”

“An empathy Quirk?” Izuku mumbled, “Those are rare. I wonder what the conditions for activation are? Clearly negative feelings can break it-” And off he went, Melissa giggling as he mumble-vomited at her.

She gave him a pinch, getting him to yelp, “It also kept me safe from…boys.” She sighed, “A few of them tried to get close to me, but only so they could get into my pants.” He again stiffened, “I steered well clear of them after that. Never wanted anything to do with them. Especially since I could feel all they wanted was a notch on their bedposts.” They were silent for a moment as Melissa reveled in the feeling of happiness as well as protective anger she could feel from him. “But… it’s all changed with you. The… bond? I guess? Hasn’t snapped. If anything, it’s gotten stronger.” She pulled back and smiled at him.

“That’s so cool… is it two way?” He asked her.

“I don’t think so.” She shook her head, “Amy was really surprised when I started treating her cordially at best. Why?”

“…I could feel how uncomfortable you were back there.” He admitted, and her eyes widened, “…It’s why the… attention… didn’t make me nervous.” She gaped at him, “It… it started earlier than that, though. I could also feel these… tiny flashes of insight, I guess. I didn’t trust them though…”

She trembled for a moment, “… What am I feeling now?” She asked, looking into his eyes.

He was silent for a moment, before he blushed, and then looked determined. He leaned forward and kissed her. She froze, before she erupted in joy and kissed back for all she was worth. Unseen to both of them, the tiny red strings that had been woven around them became strong cords.

It was only the buzzer and the waves that built up that separated them.

…

After that, their date had changed, as both became boyfriend and girlfriend. Their closeness only increased as they went for a ride on the lazy river on a double tube, and then had lunch. They even fed each other! After that was another few laps in the lazy river, and then the high intensity rides again.

Melissa even taught him how to surf, since there was an area where powerful generated currents made it possible. Both of them had a riot, and all in all, Izuku couldn’t believe what his life had turned into. He… he had never thought he would ever find someone to love him. Especially not someone as amazing as Melissa Shield!

But she did. Guided by her Quirk, their relationship had solidified at breakneck speed. By the end of their amazing first date (He’d gone on a date! Him!), Melissa had even begun making plans to leave with him and Uncle Might for Japan.

As much as he loved that idea… he also wasn’t sure what he felt about her willingness to give up all she had ever known for it.

“It isn’t just because we’re together now.” She said softly, feeling the anxiety eating away at him when he hesitantly brought it up. They had stayed all day at the park, even earning a light tan each! And now it was nearly dusk, with them safely in her apartment and lab once more. She leaned forward and kissed him again. “You’re my Hero, and I’m your support technician. I was still going to move with you… just maybe I would have decided a few weeks from now instead of right now.” She smiled, before closing her eyes as he kissed her back.

“…Love you…” He said, immediately cringing internally. He knew that was too fast!

She grinned dopily. She knew he knew it was too fast. And she knew it was too fast for her to say it back. And she didn’t care because she was just as much of a dork as he was, and her Quirk was causing a positive feedback loop. They really were perfect for each other. “Love you too.” She pushed him onto the sofa and straddled him, “Let me prove it.” She said huskily, before claiming his lips once more.

This time it was only hunger that separated them some time later.

…

LEMON CUT FOR PATREON GUIDELINES.

-]|[-

“Woah, what the heck happened to you two?!” Toshinori, his entire torso wrapped up from the first of several surgeries he’d be having for the next month, asked while laying down on a hospital bed. David had to cash in a few favors to get an entire automated surgery platform brought into his lab. It was a testament to Toshinori’s strength and resilience that already had him as lucid as he was.

“Didn’t sleep.” Melissa said cheerfully despite the eyebags under her eyebags.

“Melissa.” David groaned, “How many times have I told you not to pick up that bad habit of mine? And you even brought Midoriya into it too! He normally starts his day at four in the morning!” Indeed, Izuku looked even more tired than Melissa.

And yet the happiness and satisfaction on their faces had the two men… apprehensively curious.

“Oh, I couldn’t have slept last night even with an elephant tranquilizer.” Melissa said, giving him the happiest smile he had ever seen on her. All that was missing was a sparkling and cheerful background appearing behind her.

Toshinori chuckled, before letting out a small wheeze from pain, “Okay, I’ll bite. Why?”

“Papa, remember years ago I thought I discovered that I wasn’t Quirkless, but could never prove it?” Melissa asked, and both men’s eyes went wide.

“…Melissa… what happened?” David asked, his spine stiffening.

Melissa turned her smile at Izuku, who returned it, and then they laced their fingers together. Melissa’s smile turned into a smirk as she turned back to her father and uncle. The two of them ignited, her in golden lightning and him in his customary emerald and noticeably more powerful.

Toshinori desperately held in the coughs, knowing he was in for a world of hurt if he let them out this soon into recovery. David freaked out enough for him. “DID YOU GIVE MY DAUGHTER ONE FOR ALL?!” He screamed in shock.

“Nope!” Melissa chirped, “Izuku definitely still has it.”

“How?” Toshinori rasped, “How is this POSSIBLE?!”

“I was never Quirkless, Papa, Uncle Might.” Melissa smiled tearfully, “It’s… it’s some sort of Bonding or Empathy Quirk. But every time I got close to someone, the bond showed me their true colors. Because I was just the ‘Quirkless bitch’ they were getting close to because of who my father was.” Both men growled, “So every time, the bond snapped like a dry twig.” She beamed at Izuku, “Until you brought me Izuku to fall in love with, Uncle Might. It just kept growing stronger and stronger the closer we got.”

“Are you telling me your Quirk is letting you use Midoriya-san’s One For All at full power?!” David asked incredulously. He carefully ignored the ‘love’ comment. For now.

“Not full.” Melissa denied, “Izuku can use five percent, but I can only use one.”

“Y-Yeah.” Izuku said, “I can feel that her body isn’t ready for it, and every time she tries to go higher I subconsciously shut it down.”

“Th-that’s amazing, Melissa!” Toshinori exclaimed, and then winced and regretted everything. “Guh…”

“M-Maybe we should let All Might rest.” Izuku suggested.

“Not a chance!” Toshinori still sounded elated, “Dave, you need to get them both in the cradle again.”

“Yup!” Melissa said, before smirking. “Bye!” She said, and then the two ran away towards the changing room. The same changing room.

Toshinori finally let out a cough. “D-Don’t they have to get naked?” He asked faintly.

David glared at the shut door, before slowly inching his glare to his best friend. “It has been. One week.” He hissed out. “My sweet, innocent, cherubic daughter-“

“How was the trip to Egypt?” Toshinori snarked with a sly smirk on his face.

David studiously ignored him, “-who has never even been on a date, is NOT already getting naked with a boy she’s known for ONE WEEK.”

Toshinori chuckled nervously, “W-Well a Bonding Quirk p-presumably would…move things along, right? And they had such…similar experiences growing up. They would naturally be drawn together, wouldn’t they?”

David thought about it for a moment before his eyes widened. “Fuck.” He swore under his breath as he formulated a theory. “Fucking positive feedback loops.” He grumbled under his breath.

…

The four stared at the results of the tests in disbelief. “…Holy shit.” Toshinori sounded awed.

The results were clear as day. Melissa wasn’t simply using One For All. She had copied it, Stockpile and all. Her numbers matched Izuku’s numbers exactly. That simply wasn’t possible by just using some of his power via the Bond. His numbers had even already gone up a little bit from the first measurement! Not by much, mind you, but enough to be statistically significant.

For all intents and purposes, there were now two versions of One For All running around. David was leaning his chair back so far that he was staring aimlessly at the ceiling. “This is…” He frankly didn’t have words.

And that wasn’t even getting into the sheer amount of joy he could feel from both Melissa and Izuku as they embraced tearfully. He had thought the two would be joined at the hip, yes, but at this point he was wondering if his daughter would already have a ring on her finger before they even left the island. And that was something he was going to have to come to terms with. They hadn’t mentioned a thing yet, but he already knew. He cleared his throat, “So, what now?” He asked softly.

The two let each other go, and Melissa turned to him, “…You already know, Papa.” She replied softly.

David closed his eyes for a few seconds before he let out a chuckle. “After Toshi’s injury, I spent years researching and developing a Starlin Ring prototype, because I couldn’t imagine a future without All Might.” He said softly, and Melissa let out a strangled gasp.

“Wh-what’s that?” Izuku asked in confusion.

“A Quirk Amplifier. Like Trigger, except with no drawbacks.” Melissa replied and both Toshinori and Izuku blanched, “That’s so dangerous, Papa! What if it fell into the wrong hands?!”

“The board thought so too.” David said listlessly, “They sealed it away. Years of work, gone just like that. A little while ago, Sam even wondered if we shouldn’t try to stage a robbery to get it back.” It was Melissa’s turn to blanch, “I said no, of course… But he did stick the thought in my head. Some nights when I couldn’t sleep, I even considered it.”

“DAVE!” Toshinori yelled and instantly regretted it, clenching his side in pain. “I never would have wanted something like that! I would have destroyed the damn thing if you had tried that!”

“How could you even think of doing such a thing?!” Melissa asked, horrified.

“Of course you would have.” David groaned, before turning to Melissa, “And desperation can do things to a man.” David let out an exasperated chuckle as he answered them both. “I wish you’d told me, Toshi. I could have spent those years preparing to welcome a new Symbol of Peace instead of wasting them trying to fight a hurricane.” He grinned in elation as he sat up, “I suppose I’ll instead have to be happy knowing that we’ll have two new Pillars rather than one. I’m… I’m so proud, Melissa. And happy. You are going to be amazing.” 

“Papa.” Melissa teared up, and rushed over to hug him.

He smiled at Izuku, “You protect her, you hear, Midoriya-san.” He said, almost sharply. “And you protect him too, Melissa. You’ll have to watch each other’s backs.”

“We will.” Izuku said resolutely as Melissa let go of her father and took her seat again… on his lap. David’s eyebrow twitched slightly.

Toshinori meanwhile was pinching the bridge of his nose, “Why couldn’t I have just brought Midoriya-shōnen here last month instead.” He grumbled, “You could have taken the entrance exam with everyone else.” He sighed, “I’m sure you don’t want handouts, Melissa, and would prefer to earn your way in, but I’m going to have to pull some strings here.”

Melissa deflated, “Ah, right. Shoot, I forgot U.A. already had its entrance exam.” She let out a sigh, “I don’t like it… but I like the thought of being separated from Izu even less.” Izuku tightened his hug on her.

“Well, nothing for it but to do it, then.” Toshinori grinned, “I’ll give Nezu a call. In the meantime, why don’t you two go spar? I’ll have to start in on a plan to train your strength up, Melissa. I’m utterly shocked you can use even one percent.”

She giggled and flexed her arm, “Support technicians don’t have to be twigs, you know?” She stood and helped Izuku up, “We’re off then. Love you Papa, Uncle Might!”

The two raced out, and David waited for a moment before glaring at his friend, “This is your fault. I’m not even going to get to give him the shovel talk!”

Toshinori let out a few pained chuckles, “Yeah, they both could use you as a shovel!” He joked.

-]|[-

“Ah, good morning, All Might.” Nezu had been quietly puttering along on getting things ready for the end of the semester when his video phone rang. Seeing that it was All Might on the other line, he had immediately taken a break and answered the call.

“Good morning, principal. I see your coat looks as luxurious as ever.” Toshinori grinned at him.

“The secret is keratin! Humans can’t get hair like this!” Nezu liked this game they played, and always gave the same answer. “How are you?” He grabbed his teacup.

“Oh, I’m great!” Toshinori grinned wider, “The air has been nice and clean, the sun has been shining brightly, the birds singing, and my not-so-Quirkless niece has copied One For All from young Midoriya.”

Nezu choked on his tea, coming close to spilling a drop for the first time in his life as he aspirated the delicious beverage. After coughing for a few moments and putting the cup down, he rasped, “What?!” He shook his head, “Excuse me?”

Toshinori chuckled, and then grunted, “Ah shit. Sorry, surgery still hurts if I laugh or cough.” He groaned, “Brass tacks: My honorary niece Melissa Shield has a Bonding/Empathy Quirk. She thought she was Quirkless for most of her life, and even after she discovered it she had no proof because the bonds kept snapping when it allowed her to see what they really thought of her. And then in comes young Midoriya, who was actually Quirkless, and the two hit it off. They got on like a house on fire, and her Quirk formed a bond between them almost immediately. As the week went by, it just got stronger and stronger and made them closer and closer. The two basically speedran falling in love due to her Quirk, and once they…consummated…” He blushed, “-their relationship, she subconsciously started using One For All. Freaked the both of them out, though they recovered quickly.”

He scratched the back of his head, “As of right now, they know each other intimately well and can even share thoughts between one another. They can telepathically communicate and even share memories, knowledge, and experiences with one another. But most importantly, Melissa has a full-fledged copy of One For All. She can only use it at a fifth of the strength Midoriya-shōnen can, but it’s just as strong as his. Their Alpha Factors match down to the digit.”

Nezu stared blankly at Toshinori, so shocked out of his gourd that the inside of his head was just a bunch of Nezus running around an office tossing papers everywhere by mistake. “Th-that…” He shook his head, grabbed his tea, and gulped the entire thing in one go. And then he grabbed his teapot, filled the cup to the brim, picked it up, changed his mind, grabbed the teapot again, and started to drink directly from it. “That is…incredible.” He finally breathed out, “Do you know what this means?!”

Toshinori grinned, “That we’ll have two successors running around in three years?”

Nezu let out a nigh maniacal cackle, “Oh yes. This is fantastic. But your niece has even less training than your chosen successor. I presume that is why you called?”

“Yes.” Toshinori nodded, frowning, “I hate the necessity of doing this and Melissa hates it even more, but she missed the entrance exam.” He grunted, “I should have given Midoriya-shōnen One For All sooner. If this all had happened even three weeks earlier…” He clenched his fist, “She must be a student at U.A. We have a duty to guide her just the same as we will guide young Midoriya.”

“Say no more, my friend.” Nezu said, “I assume you’ll want them in the same class?”

“With the bond, it’s for the best.” Toshinori nodded, and then frowned, “Though this will be tricky because she only needs training as a Hero. She’s two years older than young Midoriya, and she’s also far more advanced than the academic classes she would take with either 1-A or 1-B. She would have been entering her third year in I-Island’s support course, and she’s just as brilliant as Dave.”

“Fascinating.” Nezu said, “A dual major then. We haven’t had one of those in quite some time. Maijima-kun will be excited.” He rubbed his chin and smiled somewhat ominously, “Working out her schedule will take some work, but there are a couple options available. Including taking her myself for the academics, if necessary.”

Toshinori coughed blood.

-]|[-

The rest of their time at I-Island passed in a whirlwind of action.

All Might had three more surgeries, and they all watched the man bawl on the third day of their second-to-last week when he was cleared for solid food. He immediately had a fully loaded American burger for the first time in over half a decade. Said burger was so big Izuku almost got queasy just looking at it.

Toshinori regretted everything soon after, and had to be injected with a bunch of medicines to deal with the world’s worst refeeding syndrome. They would have to make sure he stuck to his prescribed medication and diet plan until he was able to eat normally once more.

Melissa trained hard, with Izuku as her partner. There didn’t go a single day where the two didn’t stay in the Quirk gym for hours on end, and in the beginning he had to carry her out each time. But she went home happy each day, and fought her exhaustion to work on her very own Hero Suit. Something she still couldn’t believe she needed.

The two grew by leaps and bounds. By their final day, Melissa had increased her limit to two percent, and Izuku had actually managed to get to seven. Still meager before the full might of One For All, but noticeable progress. And having a partner did wonders for both of them, because Melissa was able to put her foot down on their fighting styles. Neither of them could possibly become behemoths like All Might, punching every problem away. They didn’t have the genetics for it. And Melissa proved it when she revealed that she had studied Toshinori’s data and figured out that his ability to buff up was actually just One For All expressing itself through his personal Alpha Factors. He didn’t have a Quirk, but that didn’t mean his body was normal. His buffing up was very similar to their lightning. (Which she shared because Izuku was her source.) Finding someone that was legitimately completely Quirkless (meaning zero Alpha Factors at all) was basically impossible in this day and age.

Thankfully, she was able to finish her Suit quickly since she based it off Izuku’s design, and the time she would have spent on that was replaced with dates. Izuku could firmly state that watching her booty jiggle as she shot a massive fifty caliber rifle at the gun range was one of his most treasured memories. The time she spent designing her costume was also replaced with sex. Lots of sex. So much sex. She was surprised they hadn’t gotten any noise complaints even through the soundproofing!

But all good things had to come to an end, and it was a teary-eyed Melissa who stood at the airport with Izuku and Toshinori, hugging her father goodbye. “I’m going to miss you so much, Papa.” She cried softly.

“I’m always just a short flight away.” He rubbed her back, trying to hold back his own tears, “You’re still a citizen of I-Island, so you can visit whenever you have the time.” He let her go and turned to Izuku, “And you’re welcome to come with her, of course.” He grinned, “Don’t go getting married without me there, you two.”

They both flushed, “Papa!” Melissa swatted him lightly.

“Ow!” David complained with a laugh, “You’re too strong for this old man now, Melissa!” She rolled her eyes but beamed at him, so he turned to Toshinori, who already looked a lot healthier. He had filled out a bit, though his other form was still a good disguise. Seeing his cheeks being not quite so sunken brought all of them a little joy.

What effect that would have on his ability to use One For All was still to be determined. The six weeks of rest and anonymity had actually increased his time limit a little bit, back up to three and a half hours.

Izuku had even joined Melissa and David in line to dope slap him when they realized it.

“I know telling you not to push it is like telling a tsunami to stop,” David said dryly, “But take care of yourself, Toshi. You’re doing better now, but we both know your retirement is coming. At least try to make it to their graduation.”

Toshinori chuckled, “I’ll try, old friend. Thank you for everything.” The two men embraced for a moment, before the three of them started to make their way to their plane. “Catch you on the flipside, Dave!”

“Take care of them, Toshi! And take care of the big lug, you two!” David waved them off. He watched as they got on the plane, and it took off. He didn’t leave until he couldn’t see it in the sky anymore.

-]|[-

“Hey mom.” Izuku beamed as Inko leapt into his arms the moment she saw him.

“Izukuuuuu!” She wailed, “Oh, I’ve missed you!” She placed a kiss on his fluffy hair.

“Missed you too, mom.” The two crybabies beamed at one another, drawing chuckles from Toshinori and Melissa.

“Like mother like son?” She asked Toshinori, which drew Inko’s attention.

“Oh, who are these two?” Inko asked once they pulled away. She tilted her head, “And where’s All Might? You went with him, didn’t you?” Even over a month later, she still couldn’t fathom Izuku suddenly developing a Quirk of his own. All Might had decided to take him to I-Island to try to contain his immense power. She had been terrified when the giant man told her Izuku’s punch was stronger than his own, and had wrecked his arm in the process. It was why she had basically asked no questions and had given her blessing for Izuku to miss the last of his classes to fly to the famous island.

Izuku blushed, and Inko gasped as he laced his fingers with Melissa’s, “Mom, this is my girlfriend, Melissa Shield.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Mrs. Midoriya.” Melissa smiled at her.

“G-G-Girlfriend?!” Inko shrieked, and then they witnessed the famous Midoriya waterworks in action.

“Holy stinking super crap, is that her Quirk?” Toshinori asked as the nervous woman nearly flooded the apartment. Melissa even had swirls in her eyes as she was embraced by Izuku’s mother.

“Oh, I’m so happy. I-” She continued to tear up, “I was so worried about Izuku for so long. His classmates all…”

“Hated him because he was Quirkless?” Melissa asked softly, and Inko’s bottom lip trembled as she nodded. “I know the feeling. I just had Papa’s name protecting me.”

Inko gasped, “W-Wait, you mean you’re Quirkless? Like my Izuku was?”

Melissa and Izuku traded looks, making Inko’s brows furrow. “Well…” Melissa said, “It’s a… bit of a long story.” She turned to Toshinori, “So why don’t you start us off, Uncle Might?”

“Uncle Might?” Inko looked terribly confused as she remembered the skinny man in her home. And then Toshinori bulked up into All Might. “ALL MIGHT?!”

“Ahahaha!” Toshinori let out his customary boisterous laugh, “That’s right! And I’m here to talk about your son’s Quirk!”

“Ooohhh.” The room started to spin, and Izuku had to hurry to catch her as she fainted.

“Wow, you weren’t kidding, Izu.” Melissa gaped as she kneeled next to him, “Is she okay?”

Izuku chuckled a bit nervously.

…

Inko had a blanket over her and was nursing a cup of tea, “I… I can’t believe it.” She said, having listened as calmly as she could as the three told their story. Izuku didn’t have a latent Quirk. He had been given his Quirk by All Might! Because All Might believed in him. And Melissa had grown up Quirkless because her Quirk had been all but invisible until she met the right person, and now she was sharing in Izuku’s great power!

It… it was something right out of a comic book!

She wiped her tears, “I’m… I’m over the moon, Izuku. I’m just… so happy.” She said tearfully, “And… and I’m sorry.” She blurted out, making his eyes widen, “Wh-when you needed me most, I failed you son. And I’m-”

Izuku jumped and hugged her, “It’s okay, mom.”

“It’s not!” Inko raised her voice, “I…all I could think of was your safety. I just… you needed support, and I couldn’t give it to you.” She sobbed out.

Izuku was quiet for a moment, “I won’t say it didn’t hurt.” He said softly, “But I know you were just trying to look out for me.” He said gently.

“I promise, Izuku. I’ll do what I should have done years ago.” She promised firmly, “And we’ll make sure you become the best Hero ever!” And then she hugged the stuffing out of him. When they let go, she beamed tearfully at Toshinori, “And thank you, Yagi-san. Thank you for being there for him when I couldn’t.”

Toshinori shook his head and smiled, “He’s an amazing young man, but our first meeting wasn’t quite so pleasant.” His smile dropped, “I never apologized for that, did I, young man?”

Izuku shook his head, “I… needed to hear it.” He said, “And if that meeting hadn’t gone that way… maybe the second wouldn’t have either…”

“What do you mean?” Inko asked, suddenly worried.

“Don’t worry about it.” Izuku said firmly, before standing, “Today we should celebrate, right?”

“Oh!” Inko jumped to her feet, mentally taking a note to try to ask Toshinori what he meant later. “That’s right! I need to start dinner! Do either of you have any requests?” She smiled at Melissa and Toshinori.

Melissa beamed at her, “Well, I’ve heard nothing but good things about your katsudon from this one.” She hugged his arm.

“I should have known.” Inko laughed, “Thankfully we have plenty of pork. I had a feeling he’d want his fix as soon as he got back.” She said playfully, smirking at her son.

“I’m not addicted!” Izuku said indignantly. His girlfriend and mentor burst out laughing.

“Sure, sure.” Inko smiled impishly, “Are you going to show Melissa around the house?”

Izuku abruptly thought of the contents of his room, “…I don’t think I will.”

Melissa smirked as she felt the surge of embarrassment, “Aww, why not Izu? I want to see your room.”

Inko and Toshinori laughed as Izuku’s face turned red, and Melissa started to steer him towards it. They were perfectly happy to be laughing too loudly to hear Melissa say, “Yeah, we’re definitely not having sex in here.”

-]|[-

There was a lot to get done and not a whole lot of time to do it. Back on I-Island, Melissa had quickly realized that as much as she’d like to live at home with Izuku, that simply wasn’t feasible with her need to take her lab with her. Again, her Uncle Might, who had more money than god due to the forty years as the world’s greatest Hero and little desire to spend it on himself, pulled through for her.

He had commissioned a new home close to U.A. for her and Izuku. His student was a little flabbergasted to realize he and his girlfriend basically would already have their own home for once they were married, though neither of them had actually discussed that yet or even proposed.

Inko had been a little uneasy at the thought of leaving their apartment, especially on someone else’s dime, but she was utterly reluctant to take any of the golden couple’s happiness away. She was also worried about how quickly their relationship had moved and that it wouldn’t last, but Toshinori had gone into more details regarding the bond for her. It had at least allayed those worries. And she couldn’t see any sign that the two weren’t utterly besotted with one another.

So, she had agreed to move into the very large home Toshinori had constructed for her son and his niece, and wasn’t sure what to think when she realized her own room was almost bigger than their whole apartment had been. The underground lab had made her jaw drop.

And before she knew it, it was time for their first day at U.A. “Do you both have everything?” She asked them at the door.

“We do.” Melissa smiled, “Izu made sure we were packed last night.”

“Good. Have a great day, you two!” Inko waved both of them out the door, “And Izuku, Melissa!” She yelled at their backs, and beamed at them when they turned around, “You both look so cool!”

Melissa giggled as the two waved back and continued on their way, “Mamadoriya is amazing. She’s such a sweetheart.”

“She’s the best.” Izuku agreed, smiling.

…

“1-A, 1-A…” The two were searching for their homeroom.

“This place is like a maze…” Melissa grumbled, “I-Academy seemed much more straightforward.”

“Oh, here it is! Wow, it’s huge!” Izuku exclaimed, looking at the door.

“Must be built with Gigantification Quirks in mind.” Melissa analyzed it. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah.” Izuku nodded, “I just… hope Bakugō and that intense guy aren’t here.” He sighed softly.

Melissa growled at the first name, “I hope he is, just so I can teach him some manners.” She knew he felt the spike of burning hatred that the name ‘Bakugō’ unleashed in her. Thankfully he had talked her down from the actual murder she had promised the first time she saw a memory of his treatment.

Izuku let out a wary sigh, before opening the door. “Remove your feet from the desk immediately! Such an act disgraces all the wonderful craftsmen who made our furniture and the upperclassmen who have come before us!”

The noise almost blew them back. ‘Oh, for fuck’s sake.’ Izuku felt the exasperation engulf him as the very first voice he heard was that of the intense guy from the exam.

“Huuuuh? What do I care about any of that shit?” And there was the one voice he didn’t want to hear. “What school are you from, you extra?” Katsuki sneered at the taller boy.

‘Extra? For Pete's sake, Bakugō.’ Izuku thought to himself as he made to step in.

“M-my name is Iida Tenya. I hail from Somei Academy!” The newly-introduced Iida stuttered for a moment before answering.

“Somei?” Katsuki put extra inflection on the word, “So you're a damn elite huh? I’ll have fun crushing you.”

“Cr-crushing? You barbarian! Do you truly wish to become a hero?” Iida had a little dark-blue shadow on his forehead before he turned a little and gasped as he caught sight of Izuku. “It’s you!”

That made Katsuki turn his head, and he immediately snarled, “Deku.”

Once, Izuku would have shied away from him and panicked immediately. Not anymore. “Don’t call me that, Bakugō.” He said coldly.

Katsuki rocked back as if stunned, and Iida took advantage of it. He hurried to Izuku, “We meet again! I’m-”

“Iida Tenya, right?” Izuku said tiredly, but held out his hand to shake. He wasn’t sure he wanted anything to do with the boy, but wasn’t willing to be combative about it. “Midoriya Izuku. And this is Melissa Shield.”

“Or Shield Melissa here in Japan, I suppose.” Melissa smiled thinly at him.

“It is a pleasure to meet you both!” Iida bowed, before turning and chopping his hands in the air towards Izuku, “Midoriya-kun, I wished to apologize for my conduct during the Entrance Exam!” Izuku blinked in shock, “I totally misjudged you, but you were the superior candidate. You perceived the true nature of the exam while I-”

“True nature?” Izuku cut him off, raising an eyebrow. “Are you talking about the Rescue Points? Because I didn’t know a thing about them, Iida-san.”

“If you are talking about ‘perceiving the true nature,’ does that mean you wouldn’t have tried to save anyone unless you had been told you would be rewarded for it?” Melissa asked, her smile even flatter.

Iida reared back as if she had slapped him, gaping at her. But he didn’t get the chance to reply as one more person entered the room behind Izuku and Melissa. “Oh, that curly hair! It’s you!” She said excitedly.

They turned, and Izuku let out a surprised smile, ‘Oh, it’s that girl I saved!’

‘Oh, she’s cute. Should I be worried?’ Melissa sent at him with a teasing lilt to her mental voice.

‘Mel…’ Izuku deadpanned back.

“You got in, just like Present Mic said!” The brunette said excitedly, before waving her fist up and down in a punching motion, “Makes sense though! That punch was totally rad!”

Izuku smiled at her, “Hey, you saved me too! And you spoke to Present Mic on my behalf too! Thanks for that!” Holy shit, he had actually talked to a girl other than Melissa. Without a stutter even!

She blinked, “Huh?” She then blushed, “H-how did you know that?”

Melissa chuckled, “It was on his admission holo.” The brunette let out a squeak. “Melissa Shield.” She held out her hand.

“Oh, nice to meet you…Shield-chan?” She tilted her head to the side, “Is that right? I’m Uraraka Ochako.”

“Sorry, I’m American, Ochako-chan. Keep forgetting to introduce myself with my last name first.” Melissa apologized.

“Ah, cool! I didn’t know we’d be getting foreign-”

“If you’re here to socialize, get out.” All four of them (including the forgotten but now slightly-depressed Iida) jumped as a gruff voice rang out. They looked at the doorway owlishly. On the floor was a yellow caterpillar! A shake of their heads and second glance later and they realized it was a sleeping bag. The face staring at them looked decidedly unamused, “This is the Hero Course.” A hand snaked out from inside the bag with a pouch, which the long-haired man squeezed empty in a single suck. Iida, Izuku, Melissa, and Ochako were slightly blue as they watched him sit up and toss off the sleeping bag. He wore all black which matched his messy hair and a grey scarf. “It took you all more than eight seconds to settle down. Time is precious. You kids aren't very rational, are you?” He said as he marched in, his eyes bloodshot.

“I’m your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shōta. Pleased to meet you.”

‘Who the hell is this?’ Melissa sounded befuddled.

‘Not a clue…’ Izuku replied, ‘But he has to be a Pro Hero, right? I’ve never seen him before. And I’ve never seen one who looked so worn out either.’

He sounded everything but pleased. He reached into his sleeping bag and pulled out a dark blue uniform with red and white stripes, “It’s a bit sudden, but you all need to put these on and head to the field.”

Everyone in the class had varying degrees of confusion written on their faces as the man walked right back out.

-]|[-

Aizawa wasn’t a man who liked it when emotions got the better of him. He prided himself in being logical and allowed that to guide his actions. But the situation he’d been handed was an irritating one. He had not wanted Midoriya in his class. No, it would be more accurate to say that he did not want Midoriya in the Hero Course at all. He didn’t have anything against the kid, but his showing in the entrance exam had been pathetic. One of the worst he’d ever seen. And then the kid pulled a brand-new Quirk out of his ass at the end, getting in with sixty points from his idiot coworkers despite the fact that he had shattered himself doing it.

So, he had protested Midoriya’s entry, even knowing full well that he was completely new to the Quirk he possessed. It wasn’t because he disliked the kid. No, far from it. He didn’t know Midoriya and didn’t have any strong opinions on him one way or another. What he was protesting was the fact that what they were doing was the equivalent of allowing a toddler into a university level course because his Quirk made him smart.

Midoriya didn’t have any of the necessary Quirk counseling, and his Quirk was so powerful he put himself in danger every time he used it. That meant that they would need to treat him with kid gloves and take baby steps upon baby steps just to get Midoriya to the starting line. Such a kid had no place in the most intense Hero Course in the world. He didn’t have anything against the kid becoming a Hero, but he would be far better off in a less intensive course that would give him the help he needed without him dragging the other students around him down.

So, he had been quite irritated when all of his logical arguments were shot down. And then less than two weeks later he’d been told he was going to have twenty-one brats in his class because fucking All Might’s niece had done the exact same thing as Midoriya. Forget getting in on Rescue Points! Melissa Shield hadn’t even taken the damn entrance exam! And she was being foisted on him because of that showboating idiot.

So Aizawa Shōta was quite vexed as he entered his homeroom for the first time, and as he watched the class assemble on the field, he already knew how today was going to go. Before the day was over, both Shield and Midoriya would be packing their bags.

“A Quirk Assessment Test?” The entire class repeated Aizawa’s words in confusion.

Uraraka took a step forward, “But what about the entrance ceremony or the guidance sessions?” She asked cutely in confusion. She had really been looking forward to those and getting to know the school, her new peers, and the faculty!

“A waste of time if you want to become heroes.” Aizawa replied lackadaisically, “You have very little time here at U.A. to learn what you need to learn. Our school prides itself on its ‘freestyle’ system of education, and that applies to the teachers as well.” Everyone had question marks over their heads, “The softball throw, the fifty-meter dash, consecutive side-steps, endurance running, grip strength, the standing long-jump, seated-toe-touches, and sit-ups. You all did these in middle school but were never allowed to use your Quirks. It isn’t rational, but the Department of Education loves dragging their feet about changing things and creating new standards.” He glanced towards the group, “Bakugo, step forward. What was your record with the softball throw in middle school?”

Katsuki stepped forward with an expressionless look on his face, “Sixty-seven meters.”

“Great.” Aizawa said carelessly as he tossed him a ball with a strange little gizmo wrapped tightly to it, “Let’s see what you can do. Go all out and use your Quirk. The only thing you’re not allowed to do is step from within that circle. Give it all you got.”

“Awesome. I think I’m going to like this class.” Katsuki was starting to smirk as he stretched his arms, ‘I’ll add a little boom to the pitch.’ He wound up, before chucking the ball as with a roar, “DIE!” A massive explosion accompanied it, and it flew nearly out of sight with smoke rings from the explosion accompanying it.

‘Die?’ The class collectively thought, utterly puzzled. All except for Izuku and Melissa.

Aizawa showed them his reader. 705.2 meters. “It’s important for us to know your limits. That’s the first step in figuring out just what kind of heroes you’ll be.”

The class erupted, “Wahooo! This is awesome!” A literally pink girl with horns and golden eyes in black sclera yelled out, “I can’t believe we get to use our quirks right off the bat!”

“Seven hundred and five meters? Seriously?!” A boy with straight, black hair, very strange-looking elbows, and a triangular smile showing all his teeth looked equally excited.

“The Hero Course is awesome!” A very short boy with what looked like round balls on his head yelled out.

The pink girl yelled again, “This is going to be so much fun!”

All of a sudden, a feeling of dread enveloped them, “Fun, you say?” Aizawa was staring at them. His expression hadn’t really changed, but there was something about him that made it seem like a bucket of ice had been dropped into their gym uniforms. “You’ve only got three years here and you’re thinking about fun? Alright then. If you’re just here to have fun, then I’m going to make a new rule.” He said as if talking about the weather. “The person who scores the lowest in these exams will be judged as hopeless and will be on a one-way train back home before the day is over.” Aizawa brushed his bangs back and had a strange smile on his face, his eyes wide and intense. He looked every bit a madman, “Your fates are in our hands. Welcome to the Hero Course.”

“What!” Uraraka gasped, “But it’s the first day and we’re risking expulsion?! That’s not fair!”

“Natural disasters… rampaging Villains… freak accidents… The world isn’t fair, Uraraka Ochako. Calamity is always just around the corner, and Heroes are the ones who correct that unfairness.” He grinned again, “If you were planning on hanging out for the next three years, you’re in for a rude awakening, kids. U.A. will do its best to put you through one hardship after another, because villains and disasters don’t discriminate. The only way we can guarantee you survive to be splendid heroes is by ensuring you are the strongest, so bring it on. That’s PLUS ULTRA.”

“Trial by fire, huh?” Iida took a sip from his drink.

At least one of them didn’t think he was serious, and he said something, “Oh come off it.” He muttered, “There’s no way he can just expel someone like that.” The tiniest boy in the class said.

“Oh, you don’t think I’m serious, do you?” Aizawa smirked at him, “Then I invite you to count how many students stand before me, and to remember there are only twenty seats in 1-A.”

They all stiffened, and several of them started counting each other. The tallest girl gulped, “T-Twenty-one.”

“That’s right.” Aizawa grinned madly again, “So at least one of you is going home. Which will it be, I wonder?” His smirk dropped and he hid half his face behind his scarf, “So let’s get to it. Seeing as we’re already here, we may as well start with the ball toss.” He tossed another at Izuku, “You know the rules, Midoriya.”

Izuku gripped the ball tightly as he walked into the circle. Behind him, he could hear Katsuki jeering, “Well, I already know which of you extras is going home. Say goodbye to Deku’s useless ass over there.”

‘Izu.’ Melissa said, ‘Crush him.’

“Any day now, Midoriya.” Aizawa said impatiently.

Izuku smirked as he heard both of them loud and clear. Emerald lightning ignited around him as he cranked One For All to eight percent. He took one step forward which cracked the pavement as he dropped the ball in front of him. “SMAAAAASH!” His right leg swung up in a brutal kick that launched the ball into the stratosphere.

Winds buffeted the class, sending the tiny boy rolling backwards. They all braced themselves, screaming as their hair and clothes whipped back. Finally, it ended, and Izuku put his leg down gently. “How was that sensei?” He turned, and smiled when he saw the man visibly gaping at the sky from behind his scarf.

The device in Aizawa’s nearly limp fingers dinged and he almost jumped, before looking down at it. “…Thirty-five kilometers.” He sounded completely flabbergasted as he said the number. Pandemonium erupted.

“THRITY-FIVE KILOMETERS?!” Almost the entire class nearly blew them over with sheer volume. “HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO COMPETE WITH THAT?!”

Only two didn’t say anything; Melissa because she was busy beaming at him proudly, and Katsuki because he was freaking the fuck out. ‘What the fuck is this? Quirks never manifest past age four! It’s impossible!! ’ He growled and launched himself at Izuku, “WHAT THE HELL?! EXPLAIN YOURSELF, DEKU!”

Izuku didn’t move as he saw Aizawa reacting immediately. His scarf came apart and then launched itself at Katsuki like a snake. It wrapped around him in multiple places and almost pulled his face off as the blonde bomber was stopped cold. “‘What the hell’ is my line, Bakugō. Attempting to assault another student? In front of me? Our estimation of your intelligence was apparently over bloated. Perhaps I should just expel you now and save the rest of us the trouble.”

Katsuki felt like a bucket of ice dropped down his spine, “I-I can’t use-” He clenched his hands to use his explosions but nothing was happening.

“Holy- You’re Eraserhead!” Izuku squealed in fanboyish glee, “You’re awesome, sensei! You can disable Quirks with just a glare!”

Aizawa blinked and furled his scarf back up, turning a raised eyebrow towards Izuku, “Impressive. Not many know of me.”

Melissa giggled, “Izuku is a Hero fanboy, you know? He knows even underground Heroes.” She said playfully. “That he didn’t recognize you immediately shows how well you did in keeping information out of the limelight.”

“Hmm.” Aizawa was oddly pleased by that. “Indulge my curiosity then. How did you find out about me?”

“Your Sports Festival appearance in 2253 where you succeeded in winning despite being a General Course Student.” Izuku rattled off immediately.

There was silence for a moment. Mentally, several students roared, ‘NEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRDDDDDDDDDD!’

Aizawa snorted and stared at Izuku. ‘Honestly? If it hadn’t been for him totally blowing my expectations away, I think I may just have tossed him at Nezu instead of expelling him.’ Nodding to the kid, he turned to around, “Hurry up and get back in line. The other students still need to go.”

“Right.” Izuku said, before he and the utterly stunned Katsuki made their way back into the throng, Katsuki shuffling and looking for all the world like the floor had fallen out from underneath him.

‘It’s…He wasn’t… he wasn’t supposed to be more than a pebble in my path!’ Katsuki ground his teeth.

The next to go was Iida, who displayed an impressive kick like Izuku, allowing the ball to fly over eight hundred meters. The next couple didn’t manage to do much of anything, with the worst performance by far being Mineta Minoru, who was only able to go thirty meters even with his best toss. There were students whose Quirks didn’t really help them physically, and for them, the most impressive was surprisingly the invisible girl. She actually almost managed to breach a hundred meters on her throw, and to hear her talk about it, her Quirk was just invisibility. Mina Ashido matched her almost exactly, and the two apparently linked brainwaves and became besties right then and there. A boy with a tail managed a hundred and fifty with a sharp swat.

And then Yaoyorozu Momo blew everyone but Izuku out of the water. Before Melissa and Izuku’s dropped jaws, she pulled a goddamn cannon out of her tummy and fired the damn thing just barely over five kilometers.

Soon, everyone had gone, with Ochako surprising everyone by beating Izuku with infinity, and then all that was left was Melissa. Aizawa eyed her apathetically, not showing any of the curiosity he was feeling. ‘I expected them both to be shattering themselves. Nezu tells me her Quirk is the same as his. Midoriya already proved me wrong. Will she rise up as well?’ She absolutely did. Golden lightning engulfed her, and Aizawa’s sharp eyes caught the fact that her lightning wasn’t anywhere near as energetic as Izuku’s was. And she got a worse score despite mirroring his kick, though that was a relative term. “8.75 Kilometers.” He said once the ball finally landed. ‘Four times weaker. Almost exactly.’ He thought, “Good. Your scores have been tabulated, so onto the next event.” He jerked his head to the side, “Over there. You’ll be running fifty-meter dashes two at a time. Shield, a moment.”

“Yes sensei?” She asked curiously as she neared him.

“The rat told me your Quirk was exactly as strong as Midoriya’s. Why the difference in performance?”

“Ah.” Melissa smiled at him, “Our Quirks are the same, but our bodies are not. He spent a lot more time than me training his body, so while I’m strong enough not to get torn apart by the power, my limit with it is far lower. Izu can use eight percent safely and ten percent in a pinch. I can only use two percent safely and two-and-a-half percent in a pinch. More if we use the support equipment I designed.”

Aizawa rapidly went through quite a bit of mental math. ‘…These two both have Quirks stronger than that blockhead.’ He let out a mental groan. “Thank you. Off you go.” She bowed and raced away, ‘Well, at least they apparently got the help they needed. Perhaps All Might isn’t as stupid as I thought if he truly brought Midoriya to David Shield to try to fix that issue.’ He usually hated being proven wrong. Mistakes like that were usually deadly on the field. This time though? He smiled slightly behind his scarf.

The tests proceeded rapidly, with every student trying their best. Some of them with increasing desperation as poor score after poor score racked up. And Katsuki forced himself much further than he ever had, almost risking actual injury to try to beat Izuku. And all he accomplished was growing the pit of despair he was feeling in his stomach more and more with every failure. The pack rapidly solidified their positions in the class power hierarchy, though plenty of students traded positions back and forth in different exams. And finally, Aizawa called an end to the endurance run with Iida, Izuku, and Melissa running with casual ease, and Momo riding a moped she had created. It was clear that none of them were really going to get tired and Momo could just refuel via a small tube that was connected to her arm from the gas tank. Going further was a waste of time.

“Good. Time for the results.” He said as he drew the device tracking everything from his pocket, “Your total scores simply reflect your performances, so explaining further would be a waste of time.”

A holographic projection lit up in front of him.

Melissa squeezed his hand in joy as she found herself the number two to his number one. Momo followed them, and Endeavor’s son Shōto followed her. Izuku felt a spike of vindictive glee as he saw Katsuki in fifth despite all of his effort. But both of them felt sad that Mineta Minoru was going to be expelled. At least if Aizawa held true to his word.

“NO! NO, I CAN’T BE EXPELLED!” Mineta started to cry, “HOW CAN I BE A HAREM KING IF I’M A LOSER WHO GOT KICKED OUT?!”

And that made every bit of sympathy dry up like a bucket of water transported to the Sahara. The invisible girl Hagakure Tōru, who was a respectable fourteenth, jeered, “Maybe become a human being instead of a pig.”

“Yeah, if you do that maybe you’d get one girl to take pity on you.” Jirō Kyōka sneered at him.

“Indeed, that seems like a personal problem, Mineta-san. You’re expelled.” Aizawa said carelessly, as with his comment, Mineta ensured that he was legitimately getting expelled instead of scared straight. Momo gasped, having been sure despite everything that Aizawa simply did not have that power.

“NOOOOO-MMMPH.” The boy screamed, up until Aizawa captured him with his scarf to shut him up.

“Let’s go see the principal to draw up your paperwork, Mineta-san.” Aizawa said, before turning to Katsuki and handing him a note. “Go have Recovery Girl fix you up. You forced your Quirk far too much and I could see your arms and fingers twitching from across the field.” Katsuki snatched the sheet out of his hand, squeezing it so tightly that it crumpled. Aizawa turned to the rest of them, “You’re dismissed for the day. Do whatever you like. If you really want to join the entrance ceremony or the guidance sessions they might still be going on with how much the principal enjoys talking. If you don’t care, feel free to leave. Tomorrow’s trials won’t be any easier so make sure you’re prepared.” And with that, he walked away, dragging the flailing, and crying Mineta behind him.

-]|[-

“That was a lot more intense than I expected.” Melissa said at the end of the day. Most of the rest of the class had indeed gone to the entrance ceremony and the guidance sessions, though some had skivved off. The other first-year classes goggled at their late entry, despite Nezu laughing about how it was fine and that it was their teacher’s fault. Izuku and Melissa had then taken a detour to go to the support studio… and then promptly turned around when a manic girl with pink dreadlocks had blown the room up before they could enter. According to the exasperated teacher’s roar, she had blown up three things in five minutes.

They decided to go home instead and try again at a later time. Hopefully once Miss Pink had calmed down a little. As they walked, hand-in-hand, out of the school, someone called out to them. “Hey you two! Are you headed to the station? Wait up!”

“Hey there, Miss Infinity.” Melissa smiled at her as the couple stopped for her to catch up.

“Thanks for waiting, Melissa-chan!” She said cheerfully, “And you too, Deku-kun!”

And that made both of them lock up immediately. Hurt surged through their bond from Izuku, and it made Melissa snap. “What did you call him?!” Melissa snarled, glaring at Ochako.

Her eyes went wide, and she backed up, holding her hands up, “Woah, I’m sorry! Did I say it wrong? I thought that was what I heard Blasty call him during the test!”

The two of them relaxed and let out deep breaths, “Sorry, Uraraka-san.” Izuku said, “My name is Izuku.”

“That name is poison to him.” Melissa spat, glaring at the floor, “Please don’t call Izuku that.”

Ochako teared up, “Gosh, I’m so sorry!” She sniffled and looked down, “I just wanted to be friendly… I thought ‘Deku’ was just a cute way of saying ‘Dekiru…’” She peppily swung a fist in front of her, though it was clearly forced, and she was worried, “Y-you know… ‘you can do it!’ I thought it was just a weird pronunciation…”

The two relaxed completely. “Sorry for blowing up on you, Ochako-chan.” Melissa apologized, “I should have known you didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Yeah.” Izuku smiled, “And while that… interpretation was cute, please don’t call me it again.”

She relaxed and smiled back, “Of course. I’m really sorry, Izukun.” She apologized again and gave him a different cutesy nickname. “But I don’t get it! What the heck does it even stand for? The only other thing I can think of were those Deku Scrub things in those old Zelda games.” She started frowning.

Izuku sighed, “You saw how strong my Quirk was during the entrance exam, right?”

She nodded quickly, “Yeah, it was totally awesome!” She turned a little green, “E-Even if you hurt yourself using it…”

“Yeah, well, imagine that much power in a toddler.” Izuku said flatly, and all the color vanished from her face. “Yeah. My body couldn’t handle it, so it never let me use it. Not until I started going through training hell to get strong enough to try the entrance exam Quirkless.”

“Holy shit…” Ochako totally destroyed their mental image of her with the swear, “Gosh, you’re even more awesome than I thought!” And then her eyes widened, “Wait, you-was that the first time you used your Quirk?!” She shrieked at him.

He nodded sadly, “Yup. Went my whole life thinking I was Quirkless…”

“So Bakugō created a name for him.” Melissa growled, “He misread Izuku’s name in katakana and told everyone that it was just another way to spell it. He took it from dekunobō. The wooden puppet that can’t do anything. And everyone just ran with it. The only person who actually called him Izuku was his mom. Even the teachers called him Deku.”

Ochako shook her head rapidly, “I hate bullies!” She growled out, clenching her fists tightly. She bowed to Izuku, “I’m so sorry, Izukun.” She repeated herself, “I promise I’ll never call you that again!”

Izuku and Melissa smiled warmly at her, “Thanks. Shall we go?”

“Un!” Ochako nodded, and the three resumed their walk to the station, talking animatedly now that they left that nasty business behind them. By the time they got off on their stop, they were elated to have made a new friend.

-]|[-

Done!

Had a lot of fun writing this one, and hope the lemon was passable. Poor Izuku getting a bit premature there :kek: I LOVE Melissa. For someone who was barely in the series and was introduced in a movie, she utterly spanks several other best girls in my book.

Borrowed Bonding from Griff, though my version was a little different. Could keep this solely IzuLissa, though if I wanted to, I could handwave Izuku copying Bonding as well to end up with an 849 situation. Haven’t really made up my mind.

As for what’s next… I have no fucking idea. My muse got hooked on HP, so I TRIED to do chapter 2 of Inferno’s rewrite, but the fucking thing was just utterly failing the vibe check. I STILL don’t know what it was, but I really just was not liking how it was coming along even if one of my friends did.

I started something new instead. Yeeting Harry at the Marauder’s era with the power of anime and hentai on his side. We’ll see if I continue vibing with that.

Toodles!