Hello everyone, how are you all doing? Today's question is: What is the most underrated quirk in all of My Hero Academia?
The one with the most likes wins this little crown 👑
Anyway, glad to be back everyone, let's get to the chapter.
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[Takoba Municipal Beach]
[Izuku Midoriya]
[Third Person POV]
Izuku stood balancing on one leg atop a pile of trash on a beach. Sunlight shimmered off the water, reflecting on Izuku's sweaty skin.
His eyes were closed and his heart beat loudly in his ears as he attempted to meditate. Attempted being the keyword. Instead his teeth grit in mild strain as his whole body tensed.
Why? Well, it's because a 350-pound refrigerator was being held above his shoulders.
For the past two months, Izuku had been training under All Might in preparation for receiving once and for all. They had a total of ten months in order to prepare for the UA entrance exam and Izuku would be damned if he wasted them.
At first, he'd hoped that his body was ready to receive One for All from the start but All Might had insisted on being safe rather than sorry. Considering that it wasn't just a simple multiplication of his current power but rather a source of power more like a living battery that accumulates power over time and if misused the user could explode.
It had interrupted his current training with Bang though and although his sensei had been suspicious when Izuku said he started training with someone else as well he had been relatively understanding. As a result, though Bang had once again upped the intensity of their training sessions however.
Including but not limited to sparring against Bang himself, waking up at ungodly hours for morning runs and sessions, and even adding extra training weights to his body.
His training had been cutting fairly heavily into his free time and whenever he came home he was usually full-body sore and tired.
"Just ten more seconds young Midorya." All Might called out from above. Not beside, or behind, but above, why? Because the number one hero in the whole wide world was sitting on top of that same heavy refrigerator with crossed legs and a smile in his hero form.
Izuku breathed deeply and waited tensing his muscles and creating the force necessary to support both man and machine.
All Might counted out the last ten seconds before blowing on his whistle standing up and front flipping off the metal box.
He sticks the landing, because of course he does, and then he stands up arms raised with the grace of an Olympic gymnast.
He smiled wide and radiant as the sun before coughing up a mouthful of blood. In a surprisingly loud puff of smoke, All Mighty switched forms and started coughing.
*SLAM*
Izuku raised the refrigerator as high as he could before slamming it down on the white sands of the beach. Then he dusted off his hands as he quickly jogged over to his new mentor.
"You alright?" Izuku questioned placing a hand on All Might's bent over form. All Might shook his head as the fit of coughs slowly faded away.
"I'm fine young Midoriya. I should be more worried about you. An hour is a brand new record for you." All Might smiled wiping away the last few traces of blood and grinding again. Even in his small form All Might still had a winning smile.
For the past two months, the two of them had been bonding rather quickly. Early on in their relationship after Izuku had accepted to be All Might's successor, Izuku made it clear that he wanted All Might to truly trust and get to know him before just handing over the power. After all, he had only met Izuku that same day and one event wasn't the best judge of character.
All Might had insisted that he trusted Izuku but the emerald boy had been firm in his stance. He only wanted the power of All Might thought he was truly worthy of it. So even though his body was probably ready they'd held off on it for now.
"Eh, not really it's not like I was going until I couldn't any longer. Maybe we should try that out next time." Izuku said with a small smile. He jogged around All Might grabbing a towel set by a few water bottles some empty others half full.
"Or maybe you should consider telling your sensei what you're doing so you don't accidentally hurt yourself." An older, wiser voice calls out from behind them as the two turn around to see a white-haired man in a long-sleeve black compression shirt.
"Sensei Bang!" Izuku calls out as the silver-haired man walks over to them the only difference in his usual outfit being a pair of fresh beach slippers that Izuku had never seen before. Bangs toes aren't a new sight of course as he's seen them while sparing in the dojo and he's even watched the old man wear a pair of rocks and black and white Jordan ones while on the way to the store one time.
"Hey, brat." Bang glances up and down at Izuku who has already grown taller once again as well as more defined from his training. The old man sucks his teeth and suddenly unfolds his right hand from behind his back and chopping Izuku over the head with it.
"Fix your posture boy," Bang says the slightest hint of discontent seeping into his voice as the blow lands. Izuku tends to look down because of constantly watching his phone which has led to him accidentally looking at people's butts sometimes whenever he's walking behind them including but not limited to that time Itsuka caught him doing just that to her on accident one time while they were at a shopping mall with the others.
She'd been tactful about it of course, pulling him off to the side quickly to question it and Izuku quickly but mildly frantically apologizing about his habit. She'd said it was fine and that she wasn't upset or anything just curious why he was staring at her ass and before he knew it Izuku had asked why he shouldn't since she had quite a nice one after all.
Itsuka had blushed a full tomato red and Izuku had apologized for making things awkward trying to laugh it off as just a joke and she'd nodded before quickly walking away.
Izuku had brushed off the memory until it came back up at training the next day and the two of them had vaguely made up somehow while grappling during a sparing session.
Back pressed against him, arms struggling over her head Itsuka had equally apologized for how awkward things had become between them all day and for running away the other night.
Izuku said that she didn't need to and had nothing to apologize for but Itsuka had insisted sincerely before using that same derriere to buck him off of her with a mildly playful smile and attempt to seize the win again.
Izuku's consciousness faded back into the current moment along with pain as Bang chopped him over the head again.
"Ouch, r-right right, sorry old man, but uh w-what are you doing here?" Izuku stutters slightly as the old man retracts his hand and Izuku straightens back up slightly despite his tired and sore body having already trained for hours today.
"I got curious about where you were running off to while you were skipping training. Here I was hoping it was some girl but instead you're just training more, poorly at that." Bang huffed prodding a finger into Izuku causing half his muscles to twitch strangely before an odd yet pleasant cool sensation to fill his body.
"Wha-" Izuku opened his mouth to ask what the hell that was only for Bang to step past him and over to the shocked silent figure of All-Might.
"Silver Fang! Your young Midoriya's sensei?" The number one hero called out, finally managing to snap out of his stunned silence.
"Ahh, you're that yellow brat that old fool Torino was training. What was your name again Toshi? Fig tree? Magi? Something like that." Bang said leaping atop the discarded refrigerator and taking a seat.
"It's Toshinori." All Might frowned, it had been a very long time since anyone had gotten his name wrong so it wasn't something he was exactly used to.
"Right," Bang said casually hanging a leg off the side of the old machine. Bang turned his head to Izuku and smirked.
"I did notice you were gaining more muscle mass. Careful though young Midoriya a kid like you isn't too suited to the bulky physique just yet. It just wouldn't look right on you yet, wait until you're a little older, maybe then you'll finally get a girlfriend." He chuckled, seemingly pulling a bag of chips from nowhere opening the bag swiftly.
"Wha- that's not what I'm training for." Izuku blushed looking away from his sensei.
"Right right, although I'm sure little Itsuka would get her heart broken. It's a shame you almost had her on New Year's, I was rooting for Brat." Bang said with a teasing smile before taking another chip into his mouth.
"Unm master Silver Fang sir if I may ask, I know you've been training young Midoriya for quite a while now and I'm sure we can trust you, but you're not going to tell anyone about this are you?" All Might questioned cautiously.
"Tch stupid yellow brat! Of course not! Anyway since you're here training the emerald brat over there I'm assuming the rumors are true then." Bang snickered shaking his head.
"Ha ha w-what rumors?" All Might chuckled nervously looking away and scratching the back of his head, and an exaggerated sweat drop on his face.
"Don't lie to your elders yellow brat!" Bang scolled, causing All Might to flinch away.
"But I didn't." He whispered looking down and pressing his fingers together in shame.
Meanwhile, in the corner, Izuku stifled a laugh at his two teachers' antics. The fact that humans in this world looked and acted more animatedly than in his last life didn't help the matter either.
"Tch Torino never did learn to teach his students any respect. It's probably why he could never get out of bronze." Bang snorted taking another potato chip into his mouth.
"You're one to talk it's not like you were good at it." All Might murmured under his breath.
All Might could only shiver at the memories of the joint training sessions between him and Bang's students. Especially the moments when he had to spar against Bang himself, he could almost still feel the bruises.
"What was that you brat!"
"N-nothing!"
"Don't lie to me All brat! Respect your elders!"
'Wow, I thought that was just a me thing but he really does say brat a lot.' Izuku thought, still trying not to laugh at the two.
"And you!" He turned to Izuku causing the emerald boy to jolt, "How could you let someone badmouth your sensei in front of you hmm? At least this yellow brat spoke up for his sensei."
"Umm, I'm sorry, Sensei, for not telling you, and for not trusting you with my secret. All Might has been training me to be his successor, if that's what you mean." Izuku said bowing slightly.
"Hmph well at least this one is honest unlike some other disrespectful brats. Sigh well at least the results have been showing at the dojo. I'm assuming you don't have the quirk yet of course?" Bang asked twirling his perfect mustache between his fingers.
'Ah, so he knows the secret of one for all. That's not too surprising considering he seems to know Gran Torino.' Izuku thought before answering Bang's question.
"Ah yes I don't have it yet but we were thinking about transferring it at the end of the month," Izuku said crossing his sore arms and stepping closer. Closing his eyes Bang nodded his head and smiled.
"I see, well all things considered you should be roughly ready by now we could refine you a little. I suppose a visit to Torino could help as well you still have eight months left to train." Bang said rubbing his chin in contemplation.
"Ah yes well I'm not sure he would take young Midoriya on though." All Might said taking out his phone.
"Nonsense he's got nothing going on at home or in that head of his these days. Besides Izuku here has a talent for kicks and if there's one thing the old man knows how to do, it's that." Bang said with a chuckle.
"Ah very well then I'll see if I can call him." All Might said nervously trying not to worry about what the old man would say when he finally called. Although he'd offered to call him All Might had been deliberately avoiding contacting Torino lately.
"Non sense allow me. Oh and Izuku." Bang said, turning to his student with a smile that could only be described as malicious gracing his face.
"Yes?" Izuku said raising a single brow at his sensei's strange expression.
"Well done cleaning up this beach." Bang nodded at the tired boy and looked around at the white sands. The entire beach had been cleaned of trash and sparkled brightly. Instead of heaps of scrap metal and filth baking in the Musudafu sun, there were several custom-made obstacle courses formed from what little remained of the trash.
From rubber tires for runs and swings, traffic cones for balancing, incline walls, ditches, stepping stones, and quick turns. There were also monkey bars, different weights, and even a truck fashioned for a strongman truck pull.
"Now, Izuku hold horse stance until I'm done with this phone call. And after that well give the boy the quirk before he visits Torino." Bang said turning and walking away down by the waves of the beautiful beach. The phone rang a few times but soon Torino picked up. Izuku didn't catch all of the conversation but he did hear the start of it.
"Oi Sorahiko you foot lose bastard I need to talk to you about something! Yeah yeah, it's important! It's about that All Might brat you trained, you remember Nana's boy don't you? Well, remember what that brat Mirai said about him? Yeah, it's about that, so there's this kid ri-" Bang's voice grew quieter as he grew more distant and Izuku couldn't help but stare at him for a few moments. He felt strange in that moment it was a feeling he couldn't quite place. Before he could think about it further though All Might drew his attention with a cough.
"Perhaps he has a point young Midoriya. Physically speaking your ready to receive the quirk. I know you wanted to prove you were worthy of it but I'm sure you already are," All Might says his voice simultaneously fading into something soft yet firm and reassuring, genuine confidence in his apprentice's abilities.
"All Might I-" Izuku tried to speak but All Might cut him off.
"Listen young Midoriya you have proven yourself worthy whether you believe it or not and I am proud to call myself your mentor." All Might said with a warmer, more genuine smile than before.
Izuku gulped looking down, for the first time he let the entirety of his hesitation show. He felt unworthy and guilty, like he had somehow tricked the number one hero into believing in him.
"You may not be ready just yet to be a full-fledged hero, that's what school is for, but you are ready to receive my quirk. So if you are willing to accept my quirk. If you are willing to accept the burden of being my successor."
Toshinori shifts back to his larger more heroic form standing 7'2.5" tall and 562 lbs or 220 cm and 255 kg in weight. In his heroic form once again, All Might's hand rises and plucks a single hair from his head. Full heroic aura on display the number one hero makes his declaration at full volume.
"THEN EAT THIS!" All Might shouts presenting the long golden hair as if it were the holy grail. Izuku deadpans at the sight before shaking his head and reaching forward grasping hold of the hair.
"Sigh alright if you really think I'm ready then I'll do it," Izuku says his expression going completely stoic and taking a moment to examine the golden lock, All Might slowly lets go and waits. Izuku holds it firmly not wanting to risk the chance of it blowing away in the wind.
He takes a moment looking around at the shimmering white beach and admiring the sparkling crystal blue waters. He takes a deep breath of the fresh ocean air admiring the saltiness and cleanliness.
In both his last life and this one Izuju had always found the beach to be his only happy place. Something about the air around him the warmth of the setting sun on his skin just helped him find the closest thing he could to inner peace.
But now standing here Izuku realized just how much time and effort it had taken to get here and how much his life would change from this moment forward if he accepted the burden of being the symbol of peace.
But his decision is an obvious one and it comes to him extremely quickly, surprisingly so even.
'You're gonna carry that weight.'
That is what he has chosen, even if it breaks him, even if it shatters his life and all of his connections Izuku Midoriya will be the hero this world needs even if he isn't the one that it deserves.
And so his eyes narrow on the golden hair. This is the final moment of no return, the precipice of ultimate change, a decision that will define him for the rest of his life.
Izuku presses forward without hesitation and before he can even think his hand moves, his mouth opens, and he swallows the long, golden hair.
He feels nothing at first, but then it's as if a certain emptiness inside him fills up. As if a void that he both wasn't aware of and subconsciously always was is suddenly filled. Though the body itself hasn't reached a limit Izuku knows that this is his internal response to gaining a quirk.
"Well young Midoriya? How do you feel?" The number one hero asks staring down at his young apprentice.
"All Migh-" Izuku's mouth opens to form words only for his eyes to widen and his voice to stop mid-speech as something changes. His body, now completely stunned, goes into full paralysis as his arm slacks into his side.
Suddenly without warning Izuku's heart is pounding with a thunderous rhythm like never before and his only hope is to hold onto his already fading threads of consciousness as his vision darkens.
His hearing goes next as suddenly he's robbed of the calm rippling of the waves and the faint breeze that carries the chirping of seagulls and even All Might's muffled shouting as it all dims down with each infinitesimal second of his own personal reality distorting around him. Instead of a wide and vibrant beach filled with countless subconscious noises, his surroundings go utterly silent before a strange powering-up sound fills his ears.
He stares out, no longer seeing All Might or the pristine white beach around them as his vision, now black as the void, and that same void is staring back at him, not once or twice, but rather nine whole times as he stares back at glistening pairs of nine bold eyes, each of them a different vibrant color shining into the void around him.
Then the streaks of light come and suddenly that empty void is now filled with endless glowing power like shooting stars filling his vision in sequence. White, blue, red, green, orange, purple, pink, and yellow all shoot forward through the now-filled void as strange darkened silhouettes fill out before him. In his ears, he starts to hear countless endless whispers of unknowable truths and endless memories of nine lives all mixing into one. It's a sensation that would be overwhelming even to anyone and as Izuku floats in what was once unending now filling darkness he has no choice but to hear them, to feel them all in their full capacity. As each wave of countless contradictory emotions comes and fills his heart endlessly with their feelings Izuku can only scream in pain and ecstasy as his body changes from within and without.
It's so much, so much power, so much shame, so much guilt and so much rage that he can't contain it. Doesn't see the memories as anything more than flashes in the countless lights that fill his vision and they slide out of his mind just as quickly as they come. Then they stop as the echoes of nine lives slowly form into larger more defined versions of their original selves attempting, albeit failing, to hold him together as they silently surround Izuku Midoriya and whoever he used to be all in one form.
Izuku doesn't have time to count them all out though as his vision fills with a sudden pervasive white light of pure starlike supernovae-esque energy. Then as if haunted by evil that same power is counterbalanced by a bright yet somehow dark black and red aura of power and between them as if balancing them out purposefully, a single bright spark that had struck him even before he had been born in this world plays a perfect role as mediator between the two powers before banishing them both suddenly and abruptly in a simultaneous conclusion of Izuku's own subconscious efforts. That energy is as quickly dismissed as when it came and suddenly the void has returned.
[image here]
Then without warning or a break his vision fills once again as the vague forgotten remnants of the colors that once were form together into a strange silhouette of a woman or perhaps a young girl. Izuku's sight of her is cut off though as a system panel large enough to act like an endless barrier even here in the voided cuts the two of them off.
[Congratulations, you have gained a quirk beginning full system awakening! System AI will now be unlocked as well as several other features, including but not limited to the simulation room and the subconscious realm! Also, reincarnation sponsorships will soon be allowed as the allotted reincarnation grace period will soon have elapsed! Thank you for playing our game! And to our dear viewers enjoy the show! The following is a fan-based parody! All rights, characters, distributions, and freedoms belong to their respective owners!]
Izuku quickly finishes reading the glowing wireframe rainbow prompt and then he's sleeping. It's not long and simultaneously the longest time period of his life. His thoughts go in and out periodically as his mind slowly clears of fog and he's suddenly become vaguely aware of a few things.
One he's on top of something soft, very soft, and somewhat bouncy even. Then he noticed a warm sensation coming from on top of him.
Izuku opened his eyes and immediately found his vision absolutely full of rainbow hair. He tried to sit up and it kind of worked his body felt tired and sluggish.
Eventually, he had to slide out from underneath the other person. Only now did he realise it was a person, a girl to be more specific.
He sat up on his elbows and started to take in his surroundings along with the woman beside him. Above him, the void persisted, now with stars of various colors throughout it, and below him, a strange cloudlike mist. Pressing his hand down on it, it felt like the softest mattress that he'd ever touched.
Look around there seemed to be nothing here but him, the stars, and of course, the girl beside him. Their legs were still tangled and even though he'd separated from her slightly the girl hadn't stirred.
The first thing about her that had caught his attention the moment he woke up was her hair. Long and flowing, like a rainbow waterfall it was more than enchanting and it was he could do to not reach out and touch it. Still, he could only see her face in part but he could tell that the girl was beautiful.
Izuku attempted to disentangle himself from the girl further but the moment his legs twitched to move she began to stir. Izuku stared at her trying to speak only to realize he couldn't. He reached for his mouth only to feel something strange covering it.
He glanced down only to see a strange green and black mist covering the lower half of his face. He also noticed it happened to be covering most of his body as well.
Meanwhile, the beautiful girl slowly rose from her slumber wiping the sleep from her eyes.
Then she opened them fully and looked at Izuku with a smile.
"Hey you, you're finally awake."
Izuku heard her speak and understood the words but he was far more hypnotized
"Ah yes you can't speak here yet I can fix that." She smiled slowly reaching over and grabbing the mist off his face. Izuku inhaled but not harshly since the mist wasn't covering his nose in the first place.
"Hello there," She grinned.
"General Kenobi," He replied automatically.
The rainbow girl giggled mirthfully and to Izuku's shock literally started floating.
"Hehehe I've always wanted to do that." She laughed rising higher and twirling around in the air admiring he surroundings as she flew.
Izuku stood up swiftly continuing to examine his surroundings. He felt somehow that this was a safe space, that no matter what happened he would be okay here. Part of him wanted to panic and freak out about what had happened earlier. Instead, he just watched as the girl swirled around through the air flying, woping, and laughing in the air as free as a bird.
"Umm so sorry to ask this but uhh who are you?" Izuku asked scratching his head in confusion. He could automatically feel that this girl was his ally and harbored no hostility against him.
"Oh me?" The girl floated back down sticking a dramatic pose as she spoke. Her face widened in a grin and for a brief moment her rainbow eyes turned to galaxies. He stared deeply and she did so right back at him joy and with an emotion Izuku could only place as love.
Izuku realized he should be panicking, that he should probably just freaking the fuck out but he wasn't, he was calm, weirdly calm.
"I'm your system or more specifically I'm the system AI given to you by the creator of the system you met all those years ago." She answered, her gaze never faltering for an instant and her warmth never fading.
"Now Izuku Midoriya my host and master!" She swirled again in the air, a dramatic wave of sparkling stars swirling around her before fading quickly.
"Come with me if you want to live!"
[image]
She smiled even brighter than before and Izuku thought it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
He took her hand subconsciously and the moment he did they floated into the air.
"Ah yes, one last thing. I need a proper wardrobe change." Then the void around them suddenly started to change as she snapped her fingers and started glowing with light. It was so blinding that Izuku had no choice but to cover his eyes.
When it was over and the rays of light subsided Izuku was stunned her outfit had changed alongside the environment around them.
He examined her new outfit and was stunned.
[Chapter image]
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Sorry for the late update, everyone I know I promised a week at the latest and it's not what I do apologize for that. In other news, I'm flying out this week for the funeral of a family member so I may not upload again for a little bit. I won't make any promises I won't keep but just know I'm not dropping this story by any means.