"FEAR NOT, STUDENTS! BECAUSE I AM HERE!!!"
I got it. I finally got it. I always felt All Might was a bit of a clown. An intentional clown, mind, who hammed it up because that was his persona as a hero. No doubt motivated by the abject terror a power like his inspires in the hands of anyone who wasn't a giant golden retriever.
He was fun, he was goofy, he was safe. And he was an undeniable good in the world.
Worthy of respect, but I never got the devotion so many gave him.
Until the moment Nomu moved again. Still coming for me, because the 'command' in its head was that I was the primary target. And All Might intercepted with a punch that should have killed us all with the shockwave.
And we were still standing. "Get back! I shall take it from here!"
He couldn't. The fragments of his power weren't enough. "It's stronger than you!" I retreated as ordered. "Don't try to beat it in a straight match! It has some sort of shock absorbing power, as well as strength, speed, and regeneration. You're probably faster, but that's your only advantage!"
I had to hope my advice would be enough.
"Absorption, you say?"
He punched the thing again when it turned its head to look at me.
"Then it has an upper limit!"
He can't be fucking serious. "If it does, it's beyond my power to see!"
Two more punches in an eyeblink, hammering the exact same location. Whatever passed for its mind realized that All Might was threat enough to ignore its commands for. It swung back, and I couldn't tell if it landed a punch or All Might blocked, they were going that fast.
I saw the problem, beyond all the other problems like All Might choosing to brawl a death machine. "It's not a person! It's some sort of living weapon, made to carry multiple quirks and programmed to kill you!"
As fast as they were going, I think I still saw All Might slow for a moment, before taking his attacks up to yet another level. "Meant to kill me? Stronger than me? Then I'll just have to go beyond that!"
Forget shockwaves, they were fast enough that the wind alone was a threat to anyone nearby. We retreated as All Might continued his barrage. Aizawa and I did our best to suppress the creature's abilities while the onslaught continued.
And it was working. I hadn't noticed before, because it was so powerful, but this thing did have a battery, and it was depleting. If I had to guess, the combined onslaught of the class had cost it perhaps ten percent of its strength.
But every one of All Might's strikes was targeted to deal maximum damage for effort, faster than its regeneration could keep up. Faster than its regeneration could have kept up even if I hadn't seen to the thing getting enough phosphorus in its system to kill a small town.
All Might drained the rest in under a fucking minute. And with one final move, punched the thing out of the building.
But it cost him. Oh, how it cost him.
He stood there in the aftermath, trembling. I didn't know how he found the strength to remain on his feet. I didn't know where the power even came from in the first place. He used more energy than the storehouse of power he retained should have been able to supply.
Some of the other students, now that the battle was over, ran up to congratulate or thank or in some cases borderline worship him.
Then a wall of stone went up between us, and him. Cementoss stood at the origin. "Please, we must ensure the students are safe, and wounds are tended. Gather near the entrance, and stick together. This is still an emergency situation until we know for a fact that all villains have been neutralized."
A lie, but a lie to protect All Might. I respected that, and went to the stairs.
I also spared a glance to Izuku; of all of us, he was in the worst shape. But he was being propped up by Ochako and Tsuyu. And I wasn't going to ruin that.
Momo was next to the regenerating girl (whose name I should really learn given how often I borrow from her), treating her missing hand. The two of them had been working together in the battle, with Momo making various weapons and she used her ability to telekinetically detatch her body parts to deliver them into the fray.
Even Junko survived- Midoriya was just that fast when he needed to be.
"I must say, I'm impressed." Midnight, the 'arts' teacher at the school, hummed and tapped her riding crop against her shoulder. I imagined a lot of the guys would be finding a way to work that into their curriculum next semester. "Dozens of villains, and all of you still standing. Not a single major injury."
"Tch, villains," Bakugo spat the word. "Most of them were trash mobs."
"Much as I hate to agree with him." I'd gotten used to Tsuyu's ticks enough to recognize the soft croak as a kind of sigh. "We had the same thought. They were so unprepared that they dropped me of all people in the 'flood zone'."
"And don't forget Deku!" Ochako shouted. "Without him, that big monster would have killed all of us!"
I was in the best position to analyze it, save maybe Shoto who'd been awful quiet since the battle ended. "They were cannon fodder, nothing more. Only three of any strength. The rest, a distraction, probably meant to keep other heroes busy while they deployed their Nomu against All Might."
Now that it was over, I could see the cause for caution. Most of the heroes here, while not a match for All Might or the Nomu, were more than a match for us students. Earth manipulation far in excess of Todoroki's power, superhuman accuracy and I bet his guns were custom as fuck, a bruiser that might even be able to keep up with the Nomu for a while.
They stood above us the way we stood above the 'trash mobs'.
"Yes," our tiny bipedal dog-like Principal Nezu said. "I believe that assessment is correct. And we would like to have a... I believe you would call it a 'debriefing' with you. But first, you should clean yourself up, that's a lot of blood."
"I'd say none of it was mine, but if anything that makes it worse," I said. "I'll be putting in a request for a full spectrum test for infectious agents. On your dime."
Nobody laughed, for some reason.
But Nezu took it in stride. "We have shower facilities here, as well as an assortment of gym uniforms for emergency situations. That, too, will be on 'our dime'."
How generous of them.
I really needed that shower.
"Miss Rinshou, you and Mister Mineta shall shower separately," the principal continued.
"Aww, but I just got him back!" She nuzzled into him. Which smeared even more blood all over him. He was soaked by transfer alone.
Better him than me. She was who they were talking about when they said 'do not stick it in the crazy'.
I just wanted to get clean. Blood was a pain in the ass to scrub even when fresh, and a nightmare after it dried. Fortunately, they had very good showers, and a selection of soaps each labeled with different specialties. Motor oil, blood, glue, ink... all the good stuff.
And then it was a trip back to school, where I was in a completely separate vehicle to the rest of the students, with the principal and Aizawa.
Nezu looked up at me. "So, how does it feel to kill six people?"
Six? I thought I killed seven. I shrugged. "Wouldn't know, I've only ever killed terrorists."
Aizawa tensed up, but Nezu just tilted his head. "Ganowicz, famous Polish mercenary circa the Cold War. An interesting quote to paraphrase, but is that how you truly feel?"
I sighed. "No, not really. I can't trust my emotions right now. The natural response to an adrenaline crash is fatigue, apathy, and irritation. Once I've had time to recover, I'll take stock of the situation and form a long term strategy for any lingering effects."
"That is a remarkably scientific approach," Nezu stated. "You're in a much better state than we usually expect people in your situation to be. Shock response isn't uncommon, but you're more lucid than most."
"Been training since I was a kid. One of the three critical skills trained by sports. An understanding of teams, an understanding of competition, and an understanding of your body and brain chemistry."
"Then I trust you're aware of the impact of adrenaline in both the short and long term."
"You mean how I'll never forget a moment of the last hour, but there's a chance I'll have a complete blackout over this conversation?"
"Indeed. Aizawa here says you did well in the fight, aside the killing and disobeying orders, and also you got a good look at these... Nomu, you called them?"
"Right, the villains." I closed my eyes. "You'll want that while it's fresh, otherwise you'll never be able to trust my testimony later."
"I'm glad you understand. Many people don't."
I knew he was flattering me as a manipulation tactic, too. But it wasn't like I had much to gain from denying the request, so... "I probably need to start by explaining that my quirk isn't an ability to 'see' quirks, exactly. It's a novel sense that doesn't perfectly match any other. I call it 'sight', describe it that way, but in some ways it's closer to sound or scent. Or even sensing feeling like 'personalities' or emotional states, instead."
Nezu nodded. "A frequent issue, with sensory quirks. I'm familiar with the metaphor of describing color to the blind. I, myself, don't sense the world the way humans do. I'll ask for clarity, if it's necessary."
"The head villain, he's the one who called them 'Nomu'. I'm not aware of any meaning in the name other than the obvious." Which more or less translated to 'brainless' in English.
"That's fine, we have investigators for that, just focus on what you do know."
"He also claimed the big Nomu was a weapon to kill All Might. It had several quirks, each of them... broken, somehow. All jagged edges and discordant tunes that were then wedged together to make something functional, but repulsive. I compare them to Frankenstein's monster."
"Interesting, and disturbing."
"The shadow guy, and the hands guy... had far fewer quirks, maybe that's why they could keep their intelligence. Though, neither of them struck me as particularly stable... I think their creation impacted their psychological health."
Nezu nodded along, and I gave my full account of all their abilities. By now, we should have been at the school, but we were still moving.
"I may have asked the driver to take a longer route," Nezu said.
That was fair.
"Now, what do you feel should happen next?" Nezu leaned forward. "I'm sure you've given some consideration to your actions, and how they reflect on this school."
Right. "Well, obviously, you're going to have to punish me. Which is completely unfair, but I wasn't expecting anything less."
"It is irrational," Aizawa said. "But there's little to be done."
"We were hoping, by bringing you in on it, you would have suggestions of your own."
Dammit. Whatever, I'd come up with something. "Like make me perform extra homework or training? That's fine, I can jog five miles a day as corporal punishment rather than because your routine's still too soft for me."
The pair looked at each other. "And last, we need to talk to you about what you must have realized when watching the fight between All Might and the nomu."
Fuck. "No hiding it at this point, is there?"
"No, there is not," Aizawa said. "You revealed during the attack that you have some sense for the physical wellbeing of quirk wielders."
"And All Might is deteriorating fast," I finished. "Yes, I noticed. He... transformed there, near the end. When his power faded out."
"What would be your assessment, then?" Nezu asked. "How long does he have left?"
"I have no idea." And that was the cold truth. "Frankly, he should already be dead. His quirk is keeping him going, somehow, but it shouldn't be. According to my sense, him being alive is impossible. Which means it's wrong and can't be trusted."
"A... common enough problem," Aizawa said. "Even with mundane senses."
"I admit, not an answer that fills me with confidence," Nezu said. "But it was only a passing hope that your insights might prove useful. I take it you would be able to identify other Nomu in the future?"
"If they're like the big one? Easily. If normal quirk users are candles, and powerful users are lighters... that thing was a torch. I could probably spot it halfway across the city. Handy and Shadow, don't stick out much more than any other powerful quirk, so I have to get close and pay specific attention.
"Which reminds me... I almost forgot in all the excitement, but I saw something similar from one of my classmates. Yuga Aoyama."
"You're suggesting Aoyama is a Nomu, then?"
"I don't know. His was less twisted than the others, but still... like it was cut in half, and then stitched together to create something both more and less than it once was. For all I know, he's completely unrelated to the Nomu, the result of something else entirely. But there are similarities."
"I promise, we will give that utmost consideration," Aizawa said. "Now... This is our stop. Recovery Girl will be able to tend to you if you wish, but given the circumstances you can't go to the nurse's office, not while All Might is recovering."
"I'm fine, nothing a good night's sleep and some bloodwork won't fix." If anything, I felt stronger than I should be.
On the jog home, I confirmed it. When I'd copied the Nomu, its regeneration, it had healed my body to better than it had been before. Not by a little bit, either, more than fifty percent but less than double. From the lower ends of Atlas 1 all the way to the floor of Atlas 2 was my guess. Though with more strength and less flexibility than my usual build.
I was going to need to hide this until it could be due to the school's training regimen. I'd try to match myself against Todoroki. He was my closest peer for physical ability and style.
Once again, I arrived to an intruder in my apartment. Once again, that intruder was Momo. At least this time she knew my passcode.
"Honey, I'm home." I opened the door, and was again stunned by my beautiful girlfriend and her equally amazing choice in costumes.
This time, she'd chosen 'birthday suit'.
But, much as I wanted to appreciate the sight for a moment longer, she didn't give me the time. She pounced on me and my back slammed against the door, closing it.
In the balance, today was a pretty good day.
=====
A/N- Aftermaths are fun. Alex is, of course, slightly off about the 'Nomu' thing, thinking it was referring to all of AfO's experiments in quirk-modification, but... that's fine. Just don't be dumb enough to think I don't know the difference.
"I'm fine, nothing a good night's sleep and some bloodwork won't fix."
Kayama, Midnight in costume, hummed in thought as the security (some might say spy) video concluded. "Interesting coping mechanism. Using a clinical mindset to distance himself from the emotional side of the events."
Inui, Hound Dog in costume, sigh-growled. "I know America has its own way of doing things, but, this compartmentalization seems a bit much. At least he is aware that it's a coping mechanism, and that he's only delaying his reaction. I've seen far worse."
"If he doesn't delay it too long," Midnight added. "But we're not really here to discuss the mental wellbeing of a student. Or even our reputation as a school."
"No, of course not," Principal Nezu said. "Though that might be cause enough in its own right. Our friends in the police have analyzed the captured Nomu. It seems to have DNA from no less than seven individuals, and has been lobotomized and modified in ways we don't truly understand."
"So, Howard's analysis was correct." Toshinori, All Might, groaned. Then coughed. "An engineered weapon, but one with a human core. I'm not sure how I feel about trying to kill them, knowing they were once people."
"I've seen the brain scan." Inui's frustrated growl came out a sound of mourning which only a canine throat could produce. "The term 'Nomu' is almost literal. It's more than merely a lobotomy, it's closer to a persistent vegetative state, near brain death if you want to call it that. The average goldfish has a richer mental life than these unfortunates."
He shook his head. "I'm not saying you should kill them. But... if anything like that ever happens to me, I want taken off what passes for life support."
The others accepted Hound Dog's wishes for himself. But when it came to making that decision for other people, not even villains, but victims of a villain, that was an ethical topic they'd all need to tackle in more than an informal after-action analysis.
Except for Nezu, who as a literal nonhuman, confronted his existential demons long before this conversation. "We'll be giving all the students who were present at the USJ attack a blood test, under the guise of excess caution. But we're looking for similar anomalies."
"Then you suspect Howard was right about Aoyama?" Aizawa, Eraserhead, stated what everyone suspected. "We also cannot rule out the possibility that he's the agent. Or both are, and he's choosing to burn Aoyama to save himself."
"I... almost said that he's a terrible spy," Kayama said. "But that reflex would make him a very effective spy, wouldn't it?"
"Well, yes," Nezu said. "His pattern of behavior is very much that of a double-agent. He has the quirk for it, and has wasted no time in developing increasingly close relationships with all the most promising students in his grade, and then beyond. Providing advice well in excess of what we teach first year students."
Toshinori coughed, then wiped some blood away from his mouth. His health was an increasing concern, and the Nomu battle left him in a worse state than ever. "I've noticed that as well."
Midoriya talking to the echoes carried by One for All was something he couldn't have expected, certainly not so soon. Where Yagi himself took to the physical side of One for All with laughable ease, Izuku had already surpassed him in the mental side.
He would be a very different wielder than his predecessors. And Yagi could only hope that was what would make the difference against All for One.
"His after school training program has become popular fast," Aizawa agreed. "And I've noticed rapid improvement from those he is closest to. I was under no illusion that our methods were superior to nations like the USA, but if they're teaching them so young..."
"I... can speak for my time in America. This is not normal, but Howard claimed one of America's top heroes as his mother. Their family resemblance is undeniable." Bizarre circumstances aside. "When compared to young Todoroki, of a similar background, they are also similar in talent."
"And it's hardly like there's a lack of students who have received advanced training from hero parents before coming here over the years," Kayama said. It was culturally discouraged (and doing so safely was expensive), but not illegal. "Few so monstrously talented as those two, but it's more their behavior than their ability that stands out."
Some nods around the table. There wasn't a person here who wasn't aware of Endeavor's son, though there had been some whispers about his upbringing. Nothing substantiated, but it was hard not to notice some of his personality traits suggested abuse.
"Although," All Might continued. "I must ask why we don't teach first year students what Howard is teaching them, and Todoroki could if he wished."
"Irrational nonsense," Aizawa muttered. "The government ties our hands and wonders why there are so many villains and vigilantes out there."
"A more generous interpretation is that nobody wants hero schools to be seen as training private armies." Nezu spoke with the tired ease of someone who'd had this conversation many times. "So we teach the practical, educational, and socially acceptable first. Only after our students have either proven themselves responsible or been ejected from the school do we focus on the combat and empowerment training."
A glance around the room was enough to know this wasn't an ideal situation in any of their opinions, but they were heroes. Sworn to protect society, not defy it in the name of their own convenience.
"In effect," Nezu continued. "We've been allowing him to continue his extracurricular activities because it gives us deniability. With, admittedly, the risk that were one of his students to go villain, it would mean a much more dangerous villain."
"I know I was one of those most in favor," Inui admitted. Pretrained students weren't common. Maybe one in ten devoted significant time to teaching classmates. And he was the first to be any good at it. "But that was before you said he might be a spy."
"For the United States, yes," Nezu stated. "His entire psych profile shows an almost... religious devotion to his country. I've little doubt every training strategy he receives, he'll take back home to supplement their own. As well as the long American tradition of using their wealth to tempt our best and brightest to expatriate."
Not terribly unusual, and regularly stated outright. Joint and cross training with allies was something many nations insisted upon, and the United States were were among the most zealous.
"Which, while annoying, seems almost fair, given that we're using him in return," Aizawa admitted. "It's not our place to tell alumni they aren't allowed to pursue their fortunes abroad, if they wish."
"I concur," Nezu said. "Which is why we accepted him into the school, and why, barring a compelling reason to rethink our position, we'll continue letting him advance his agenda and our own. Now, we should talk about our other surprise this day."
He pressed a button, and another security video came up, this time with a pretty redhead who had her gym uniform completely unzipped. Her breasts were covered, but otherwise her abdomen was exposed. Junko Rinshou, as most of the teachers already knew.
She wasn't even a member of the hero course. She'd ditched her afternoon classes to join her boyfriend, and thus was caught up in the chaos. Where she could only be described as having slaughtered her way through the villains' ranks.
"- killed twenty eight people?"
"They threatened my Minoru." "Nobody does that and gets away with it."
On the screen, Midnight nodded along, almost as if nothing was wrong. She quite literally looked down to read off a piece of paper. "I understand. You obviously care about him. How did you meet?"
"Yes, it is that insidious," Kayama said. "My quirk's nature makes me more resistant to mental effects than most, but when she said it, it felt almost normal. Like I was supposed to comfort her."
They all hummed their agreement. With exception to All Might, each of them had dealt with the occasional student with some mind control, and all of them had been trained to recognize and resist the influence as much as that was possible.
Junko's was both better and worse than most. Better, because the amount it could do to the victim was very limited. It compelled people feel for her as if she was their daughter or mother, or some other close relative that needed to be protected.
Worse, because within that very narrow band, it was exceedingly compelling. If it weren't for it wearing off so fast, it would have been a true nightmare instead of a containable threat.
Or so they'd thought before she revealed she could stab people without hesitation or remorse. The power to kill was commonplace, the mental state fortunately rare.
"But you stuck to the script, as trained," Nezu said. "I almost interviewed her, myself, and left Howard to others. Her power uses an infrasonic wave carried by her heartbeat that subliminally reminds people of their mothers' heartbeats in the womb. It has a deep psychological impact on others, but as I'm not human, I'm not susceptible to her power!"
They all knew that, but the principal did love his rambling.
This also explained why the audio to this recording had been extracted, run through a speech-to-text, then a text-to-speech dub put in its stead. Something most of the teachers had experience with before. Nezu turned the recording back on.
"It was the orientation day for the... special classes... and I was in a rush. I sat down in a chair, only to find that my darling was already in the chair." Her grin showed how she cherished the memory. "He said it was okay, and he was happy to be my seat."
Her smile faded. "At first, I thought it was just another... well, who cares? I got up, to move to another desk. And then..." She fidgeted in her seat. "He grabbed my ass and told me I was wearing his favorite underwear. I never wear underwear."
"We lost our virginities right then and there, in that seat, while the teacher droned on about whatever it was."
They stopped the video, and the teachers all looked at Inui, the guidance counselor and general ed teacher for the 'troubled students'. "I swear, I didn't notice. They sounded off as I called their names, but..."
"That is the nature of her ability," Nezu said. "It makes her very easy to trust. And you wouldn't suspect someone you trust of doing such a thing, so your mind misses some details, especially in a high activity environment where you have other, more obvious, difficulties."
"But still, I never caught it," Inui admitted. "I noticed something, with my sense of smell, but I go out of my way to ignore what my nose tells me about my students' lives, unless it's critical."
"A situation we understand completely," Nezu agreed. Training about sensory quirks and privacy was mandatory, but only those who lived it daily were aware of how many secrets people revealed by ignorance of their own biology.
"I know why Rinshou's in the troubled class," Kayama said. There were many students who had trouble with their quirks, and some were troubled. "But... Mineta's behavior is also important to this dynamic."
"Multiple counts of sexual harassment, minor but frequent." Inui stated. "In his senior year of high school, he was caught hiding in the girls' locker room. He's narrowly dodged any serious consequences thus far, and we accepted him in the hopes of reforming his behavior.
"In retrospect, I'm not sure it was the best decision."
"You may be surprised," Kayama said. "Let's continue the video."
"That seems a bit fast, don't you think?" Midnight asked.
"It was, but I've never been so sure of anything in my life."
"I believe you, but it would help to explain in your own words why you're so very fixated, and willing to kill. Most people would find that behavior disturbing."
Junko sighed, and opened her track suit. The recording blurred the show, while Midnight all but ignored it. "When I was five, my power started. At first, it was amazing. I could stay up as late as I liked, eat candy, and my parents were okay with it.
"I got bored and stopped because it felt... insulting, I guess. And it was boring, when you can get away with anything a six year old can think to do."
She fought back tears. "I started noticing boys. They never noticed me. I'd dress like a slut, find some cute couple and sit on the guy's lap. The girls allowed it, not a fleck of jealousy. And why would they be? It's not like the guy would ever think of me as anything but a 'little sister'!
"I had so many fucking 'big brothers and sisters', my whole school! All my classmates fell in love, fell out of love, one got pregnant. Twice! In high school! But never once did anyone want me!
"No, I'm a precious little sister, a fucking a porcelein doll! Something to treasure on a shelf, but never play with!
She sobbed. "Once, I went to a bad neighborhood, one which got on the news every week for some murder or mugging or rape. There was even rumors of a fucking vampire!
"I bought myself a bottle of whisky, and walked the streets in a nightgown. Woke up in a drug den. Still had my purse, found the damn whisky bottle next to me in that flea-infested bed!"
She stood, as much as she could when riding in the back of a sedan. "Minoru is the first person who has ever treated me as a woman! The only one who says I'm beautiful! I don't feel bad about killing those men, I never will."
She collapsed back into her seat, and began crying in earnest. "Because no writer or religion has ever envisioned a worse hell than my life before I met him."
The video ended there.
"As you can see, that young woman needs extensive therapy," Nezu said. "Which her own power renders nearly impossible to provide. But, so long as she and Mineta remain... fixated... on one another and of a heroic inclination, I suspect any action on our part will only damage an already unstable dynamic."
"It's not unusual, to see a warped sense of the world, from those with mind control quirks," Inui said for the others. They all had the basic training, but he was the one with degrees on the subject. "From a young age, they are confronted with a different reality. One where they can avoid many consequences for their actions. Where concepts like 'free will', held in such high esteem by so many, is shown to be something so fragile as to be meaningless."
"And one where so many others hate them by default knowing what they can do," Kayama added. Her quirk wasn't exactly 'mind control', but it came close enough that she'd seen the bigotry for herself.
"Nobody likes being confronted with such a challenge to their beliefs, and will often seek someone to blame," Inui agreed. "Even, perhaps especially, if it's outside their control."
"Which brings us to the reality that she might well be right that Mineta is the only point of... normalcy in her life," Kayama said. "There was a time when I was young when I had limited control of my powers. I was terrified I might be left the same way, alone, locked away in a room and only able to interact with others through a rubber suit."
"And you had resistant family, and can control your power," Inui said. "Miss Rinshou had neither of those points of stability."
"It would seem we are forced to accept the status quo for now," Nezu said. "But I could arrange a monitoring program, to follow and alert us of warning signs in real time."
"I'm afraid I really must object," Inui said. "As much as I understand the caution, she's still a student and entitled to rights. The blood test is pushing the limits, but at least that is for everyone and can detect health risks. Not specifically singling out one troubled girl."
"And brings undue attention to her," Aizawa added. "We have at least one infiltrator for this League of Villains. Alex is not the only foreign student who may be seeking our training secrets for their homelands. And all others with a vested interest in powerful quirks who may be more subtle in their methods. We'd be painting a target on her back. Moreso than already is."
"Yes, yes, that's all true," Nezu muttered. "I may be violating an NDA to say this, but there are certain important figures in Japan's government already interested in Miss Rinshou's development."
"Wish I could say I was surprised," Inui growled. "Never takes long for those parasites to crawl up out of the sewage."
There was some more conversation had, about the public announcements over the villain attack, what should be shared and what should be kept from the public. As well as some suggestions on how to feed Aoyama information that might bait the League of Villains into acting on false leads. Or at least confirm his spy status.
And when it was over, Yagi Toshiniro waited for the others to leave, to ask the question he wanted but couldn't the entire time. "He knows, doesn't he?"
"I believe so, yes," Nezu admitted. "It's possible he's unaware of you being the former bearer of One for All, but he's had more than enough time near Midoriya, and used his quirk on him at least once. One must assume he's aware of its properties. He might well be the closest thing we have to an expert on the power. But, you're better at reading people than I. What do you think?"
Yagi considered the question, and kept considering. "The advice he's provided seems in many ways tailored to Midoriya's exact needs. And when I'm honest with myself, I acknowledge Howard's been a better mentor than I.
"While I share your concerns he may be trying to poach him, that seems a small risk, or price to pay. I've little doubt America would sooner side with us than All for One. Nor would Izuku side with them if they did. What happens after that, is his right to choose."
=====
A/N- I'm taking the hints Horikoshi placed, and expanding upon them where I have to for worldbuilding. Including U.A. at least trying to help students with fucked up powers.
And trying to make UA staff look competent, but not omnipotent. Meanwhile, Mineta's a nasty little gnome, Junko's batshit, and Nezu is very, very pragmatic.
Momo was aggressive with her kissing, clinging to me with legs far more muscular than they looked at first glance. Without thinking, I grabbed hold of her ass with one hand, and the other I placed around her back. She was such a delightful combination of soft and hard, muscular beneath the little bit of extra padding her quirk needed to function.
Her taste, her scent, all of it drove me wild, in no small part...
Fuuuck... I pulled back. "We... we have to stop." You have to stop, I won't be able to much longer.
"Why?" Lust met with confusion, with concern. And because she was a better person than most, the concern won. "Is something wrong?"
Yes, very. "We're drunk."
And now confusion was in the lead. "I... don't believe that we are?"
"Not literally. It's the adrenaline, the intensity of the day. It's nature's most powerful drug, and it's an aphrodisiac on top of everything else. You may want this now, I want this now, but in the end, we'll end up regretting it."
Had to say 'we', that tiny little lie. I was quite familiar with sex on the adrenaline high- my ex was a junkie for that shit. It's why we didn't work out in the end. But Momo would regret it, and I would regret that.
I begged with my eyes for her to listen.
"I..." she rested her head on my shoulder, and relaxed her legs, until she got one foot on the ground. "I thought I lost you. When that monster hit you. You were... you looked so... there wasn't a pulse, everything was broken."
Fuck. I held her, let her cry out the trauma. That was the double-edged sword of human empathy. We could do so very much, in the name of protecting those we loved. But when harm came to them anyway, it hurt us that much worse than any injury to ourselves.
I made a decision. One that Dad would punch me in the teeth for (or get someone bigger than me to do it, instead), but my decision to make. "I've been lying about my quirk."
"You..." She trailed off. "I think I suspected. But I kept dismissing it as inexperience or those little oddities that all quirks seem to have."
That's not surprising. If anyone could have deduced it, it would have been Momo. Who knew me for so long, and had such a brilliant mind. "The sensory stuff is true, but it's a medium for emulating quirks. Temporarily..."
I went into the basics, and then into some of the specifics. Not everything, because any proper discussion of a quirk could go on for hours, but the broad details. "Right before it hit me, I was running a copy of the Nomu's power. It..."
"Then you did die." She sobbed into my chest again. "You did! But we must have killed that thing a dozen times, and it kept regenerating. Just like you."
Thank you, crazy evil All Might hating mad scientist. Your overengineering fetish saved my life.
"If there was ever a time for me to lament it being a temporary thing... I'd never let that one go if I had a choice." I would be sure to shower my quirk with gratitude, too. It also had to keep going even past my death.
And I was going to now refuse to ever think of that again. But for how scared she must have been, when I was in that state. "I'm sorry I made you worry."
"It... it's not your fault. It was that Nomu, and those villains." Strength returned to her tone- another thing I loved about Momo was she didn't like to dwell. "Next time I see them, I'm going to shoot them."
If they're still alive, that is. "You'll be unstoppable now that you know the ultimate weapon against evil: guns."
I came clean about my quirk and felt better about myself for it, but I wasn't telling my girlfriend I used her power to engage in a bit of chemical (and incendiary) warfare. Not tonight, not while she was in this state.
She hit me in the chest. "You're not allowed to joke, not tonight."
"That's fair. Let's get to bed. I'd like to get my probation on humor over with as soon as possible."
Her eyes narrowed. "I'm not sure if I should count that or not."
"Uh... borderline, I'd say. But, in the interest of giving me half a chance, could you put on some underwear? It's taking all my willpower not to jump you right now."
Her power sparkled into life, and she ended with a t-shirt and shorts combo. Still sexy, in an understated lazy sort of way, but not 'naked woman has offered herself to you, all your cave man ancestors cry as one across the ages that you know what you must do'.
She managed to smile. "I guess I did put you in an awkward spot. And through it all, you chose to comfort me how I needed to be, not how I thought I wanted to be. If you hadn't... I wouldn't have blamed you. Myself, maybe, but not you."
Maybe. Momo was smart, but she was still human. "Hey, what are boyfriends for?"
"From what I've heard?" She kissed my cheek. "Trying to have sex as often as the male refractory period allows is a common feature."
"That is true. And I have to admit, All Might would be impressed with my willpower right now. Not that I'd tell him the story."
She 'glared' at me, but there was no heat in it so it was more cute than worrying. "You better not, or anyone else for that matter. I'm embarrassed enough as it is."
"Taking it to my grave."
"Good. And, thanks again, for not doing what I wanted. I know it must have been hard on you."
Something was hard, that's for sure. The thought went through my head, it probably went through hers, but I was smart enough to leave it unsaid. "Don't worry about it. I'm in this because I want you. Whatever comes, will come when it's right, not because of a cocktail of of hormones."
She kissed me. "Keep talking like that, and you might change my mind again."
"Temptress." And I kissed her.
"Pot." She kissed me back.
"Kettle." I kissed her again.
We did that for a little while, just taking turns giving each other quick little pecks and the occasional teasing semi-insult. This led to the bedroom, but didn't go much further than cuddling together and napping.
Because it was like four in the afternoon and even Momo and an adrenaline crash couldn't make sleeping for the next thirteen hours viable.
Also, I woke up starving. With Momo laying on my chest, tracing my abs. "I didn't notice before, but you look different. Bulkier."
Right. "A side effect of Nomu regeneration. I think it almost doubled my strength. Less so my reflexes or flexibility, but still a notable increase. Kinda tempted to go back for round two."
She rolled over and looked me in the eyes. "Even joke about that again, and you won't have to worry about the Nomu. I will kill you myself."
I believed her. "Fine! Fine, no poking the superweapon for gains. But you know there will others. This was a planned operation, and I doubt that thing was even a prototype, let alone first of its kind."
"I know."
I was still starving, so after a bit more cuddling, I got up and prepared dinner. And by 'prepared' I meant 'opened the pizza freezer and pulled out three for the oven', and by 'dinner' I meant 'Momo and I put away one each, split the third, and had two more cooking' while watching some sappy romance-comedy because even in Japan there was nothing good on.
"So..." Momo sighed. "I've been wondering how to tell you this, but, there will never be a good time to say it. If, when, we do it... we'll either have to use condoms, or other methods of intercourse."
I considered that demand a moment. Some people had their hangups about sex, but "The way you said that doesn't sound like a personal preference?"
"It's my power's fault." She slid down and laid her head in my lap. "My power does work by drawing off my body mass, of that we're pretty certain. But the details are... more complicated.
"Anything I eat is instantly broken down, converted straight to material, and stored... somehow, with little impact on my weight. I barely feel it hit my stomach. Water seems to work as normal, and I suppose I should count myself lucky I wasn't cursed with unending hunger. And my power and metabolism work without me having to worry about nutrition deficits. But testing shows drugs don't affect me as much as they should, even topical or injected."
Ah. "And that includes birth control."
"Presumably. I haven't tried the one conclusive test. Nor will I any time soon. I want children some day, but not right now."
I was in full agreement. "Sounds like you've put a lot of thought into this."
"Thought, and time," she said. "I've known that sooner or later, I'd, well, have a partner, and I'd want to be able to satisfy him. So I've... let's call it testing and training."
I resolved to make no comment about how hot that was. But that didn't stop me from picturing Momo from playing with various toys so that she was ready. Yeah, I needed to veer away from those thoughts immediately. "You always were dilligent. One of my favorite things about you."
"Funny, I seem to remember you doing nothing but complain about how I was too slow, and needed to stop 'thinking too much'." She nuzzled against my lap, demonstrating why my prior thought process needed to end.
"Okay, so maybe I've matured a little since I was eight."
"Matured, huh?" She looked up, patented eyebrow on full display. "Are you sure you're not thinking about how I effectively told you we'll do things that most girls won't do?"
"Hey, I told you I'm happy with us being like this. And I'll be just as happy with whatever we may or may not be doing."
"You mean laying here putting a small but notable dent in your 'pizza freezer'? Which begs the question. Why do you have a full sized freezer stocked with nothing but pizza?"
"As I told the guys in customs: in case I need a pizza. This frozen trash is the closest thing I'm going to get to good pizza around here, and I need it to last me all year. Japan, where they cook sashimi better than pizza."
"America, where the best thing to happen to the tea is after it's drank."
It felt good to laugh after such a trying day. "I am going to have to ask a favor of you, however. I need to hide my upgrade, so... would it be possible for you to remake my costume and boots to be heavier? Like, tungsten plating or something?"
Her eyes widened, and then she grinned. "So it is true, men only think about food and toys."
"Hey! That's not true." I held my head up and did my best snooty accent. "We also think about the Roman Empire and the largest animal we can beat in a fist fight. Julius got what he deserved, and I'm pretty sure I can take a gorilla. Maybe not a full on silverback, but most gorillas."
She groaned and buried her face in her hands. "What is wrong with you?"
"I dunno, but considering the most beautiful woman in the world is in my lap, I must be doing something right."
"I can't believe you said that." She groaned again. But her hands couldn't hide how pink her face was getting.
"Are you upset because I said it, or are you upset because it worked?"
"How about we focus on your costume and work on your flattery later?"
"Works for me." I was nothing if not gracious in victory.
In the end, we redesigned both our costumes. Having literally come back from the dead as a feat of prowess, and not pounding Momo through the bed as a feat of willpower, I felt I had earned a bandana. But only in faded red. Bright red or, glory of glories, camouflage, I was yet unworthy of.
And twin tungsten alloy rods that I could hook together for an effective bo staff. Because why be so half-assed as to use regular steel and titanium? And a pair of sheaths that went across my back in an 'x' formation.
For Momo, we designed a cloak. Apparently she shredded her shirt in her fight with the villains, so she wanted a bit more modesty. I suggested a few more permanent toys for her, so she didn't have to magic up everything with her power.
All in all, it was a good time while we ate the last two pizzas and went to bed for real.
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A/N- So I set up a cliffhanger for a lewd chapter. Delayed it with a completely unrelated scene. And then the lewds don't even happen?
Clearly, I'm running low on pitchforks and need my readers to bring me some.Last edited: Jan 5, 2025 Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:Puru, Ojama, CodeLibra and 681 othersTanaNariJan 4, 2025Reader modeAdd bookmark Threadmarks MadGreenSonVerified Devil Tiger, The Childish YandereJan 4, 2025Add bookmark#554TanaNari said:My theory is that he was about thirteen and was jerking off (probably thinking of Izuku), and accidentally blew up one of his testicles.Bakugo can't masturbate. His sweat is explosive. Masturbation and losing control of his feelings in an orgasm would have unquestionably exploded his pelvis by age 14 if he did.
Probably can't ever fuck either. Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:[Quixotic_being], Zentari2238, CollegeStudent#Whatever and 116 othersUnseen RunesmithVersed in the lewd.Jan 4, 2025Add bookmark#555There is nothing manlier than delayed gratification.
O7