….
"Kid, I have been shouting at you for like two minutes and you can't even talk back? Seriously?" He let out a huff of realization, looking genuinely embarrassed. "Man, that's… okay, that's actually pretty rude of me. My bad, Ninth. Guess the connection's still a bit buggy."
He sighed, his booming energy settling into something more earnest.
"Ah. Running out of time." He flexed his fingers, watching the smoke drift. "Figures, it's the first real conversation and I gotta rush it."
He looked back at Midoriya, the grin was still there, but something underneath it had gotten serious.
"Alright, listen up, because I can only say this once. That power you used out there… the green stuff, the tendrils… that's my quirk. Black Whip."
He raised one hand and dark tendrils erupted from his forearm, thick and controlled, wrapping around his fist in a clean, disciplined demonstration.
Then he dismissed them. "But what came out of you isn't the same as what I had. It's evolved, got stronger by a lot, if I do say so."
He looked at his own hands, the edges of his fingers were dissolving; breaking apart into wisps of reddish smoke that curled upward and disappeared.
"One For All has been growing, ripening, for eight generations. Now it's finally reached the Singularity. It's not just a strength-booster anymore; the seeds of our individual quirks that were buried deep inside are finally starting to sprout.
"When you were fighting that blond kid and getting your ass handed to him. And right at the end, when you were cornered, you wanted something so bad your whole body screamed for it, the power answered."
He pointed at Midoriya's chest.
"That's how it works. One For All responds to what you feel. You use it in anger, it comes out angry. You use it in desperation, it comes out desperate. Wild, uncontrolled, dangerous to everyone around you including yourself." He paused. "What you need isn't more power. You've got plenty of that. What you need is control over your body, yeah, but more than that… over your emotions and your heart. If you let your anger or your fear take the wheel, you won't be a hero. You will just be a disaster waiting to happen."
More smoke, his forearm was starting to dissolve now.
"And for what it's worth…" His voice dropped. "For a first-timer using Black Whip? That was outstanding, and the fact that you didn't tear yourself apart or hurt anyone around you, that's remarkable. You will get the hang of the rest, give it time."
He grinned again.
"That breathing thing you had learned; the concentration technique, so keep doing it, that's the key. Control your breath, heart and power. You're already halfway there."
His legs were gone, and his torso was dissolving fast now, the red smoke pouring off him like he was being unmade from the bottom up.
"Okay, last thing. Pay attention because this is the important part." His voice was getting fainter but he was still pushing volume into it through sheer force of personality. "What happened today is just the first one. You've got six more quirks from six more users, all of them living inside One For All, waiting to manifest. And the world isn't going to wait around while you figure it out. The great evil is moving. We don't have time for you to be a passenger anymore. You've got to be the one in the driver's seat."
His chest and neck was gone, his face was the last thing left; that wide grin, those small blue eyes, floating in the dark.
"Control your heart, master the power and earn the trust of everyone living inside you." The grin widened one last time. "You're the one who's going to complete One For All, kid."
A beat. "Next time we talk, I better see a mouth on that face. Catch ya on the flip side."
He was gone, Midoriya hung in the dark, trapped in a green mist, his mind overloaded and his mouth still sealed shut.
Six more quirks.
….
Outside, Dabi and Aizawa decided it was best to take Midoriya to Recovery Girl, as the prior simply lifted him like a sack of bad, and headed toward the exit.
Behind them, Shinso stayed; he and Bakugo had already been dismissed for the day, yet he couldn't help watching Midoriya, his expression difficult to read.
He had put Midoriya under his hypnosis quirk three times in the past hour in between his battles with Bakugo.
He was also pretty curious if Midoriya had any trick up his sleeve; since he was the one who broke his brainwashing through sheer will during the sports festival.
And now he just manifested an entirely new power out of nowhere
Shinso looked at his own hands, then back at Midoriya.
He didn't say anything, as he adjusted the practice capture scarf around his neck and stepped back.
At the far end of the training ground, Bakugo hadn't moved too, still standing where Dabi had set him down after pulling him out of the tendril's path, arms loose at his sides, bag resting on the ground, his face unnaturally still.
It was wrong; Bakugo's expression was never empty…
His normal face would be constantly shifting through annoyance, contempt, or that relentless competitive edge, but now it had gone quiet.
He glanced at his hands, the bandages from the microsurgery mostly gone, leaving behind thin, pale scars across his palms and fingers where the skin had been retouched; they trembled slightly, not from fear, but from something tighter, more controlled.
His gaze shifted back to Midoriya, who is currently being carried by Dabi towards the exit.
So that was the new power.
He had felt it the instant those tendrils came at him, the one Dabi dragged him clear of. Even from afar, he could sense the force and the raw destructive power coursing through those green cables.
And with the instinct of someone who had spent his entire life measuring strength, he knew what he had witnessed wasn't anywhere near its limit.
It was going to grow significantly.
His eyes moved to where Dabi and All Might were discussing secretly.
So that had been the point of it all, He thought; the brainwashing, forcing Midoriya to fight stripped down to nothing, designed to trigger this, whether Dabi had known, guessed, or simply taken the chance.
Tsk…
He was supposed to be standing at the top. And everyone else from his age; Midoriya, Todoroki, anyone who thought they could keep up, should be beneath him.
And yet Midoriya and Todoriki had been a pain in the neck for him from the day one of his hero course; the feeling it left behind was complicated, which he hadn't felt until now.
Bakugo considered it for a moment, then dismissed it.
Whatever it is…
New power… Old power… or Borrowed power…
He is gonna destroy it.
Bakugo picked up his bag, slung it over his shoulder, as he also started walking toward the exit.
"Oi, Bakugo."
Dabi's voice carried across the field just as he reached the edge of the door, stopping him without turning.
"Good work today." A brief pause. "Be back tomorrow after class at the same time. We've got more to do, and I am not letting you fall behind."
Bakugo stood there for a moment, jaw tight, scarred hands gripping the strap of his bag, then continued walking without a word.
Aizawa also spoke. "You too, Shinso."
….
.
Recovery Girl looked at Midoriya with a defeated expression.
"You again." she said.
"Hi, Recovery Girl. Sorry to–"
"Don't apologize. Just lay down." She was already moving, pulling out supplies. She checked him over; bruises on his arms, scrapes on his knees and elbows, a few cuts that were bleeding sluggishly.
After a few minutes–
"You're physically spent, Midoriya." she said, stepping back. "Drink your fluids, sleep, and for the love of my sanity, try to make it a full week before you grace me with your presence again."
"Yes, ma'am. Thank you."
She retreated to her office, muttering a dark litany about first-year students, insurance premiums, and the sweet, distant allure of early retirement.
….
Three more people joined the infirmary, not counting Midoriya, who was sitting up in bed drinking a juice box he was handed over.
All Might stood near the window, still in his skinny form. Dabi leaned against the far wall with his arms crossed.
Between them all, Principal Nezu sat in the visitor's chair. He looked remarkably composed, a cup of tea balanced on one knee, appearing entirely too comfortable in a room vibrating with unspoken secrets.
"Young Midoriya." All Might's voice was careful; the voice he used when he was trying to be a teacher instead of a symbol, and wasn't entirely sure he was doing it right. "What happened out there... when the energy broke free. Did you see them again? The Vestiges?"
Midoriya lowered the juice box, the straw making a faint click against his teeth. He glanced tentatively at Nezu, then shifted his eyes toward Dabi.
"It's fine, Midoriya." Dabi hadn't moved from the wall. "Principal Nezu is one of the few people who knows about All Might's secret."
The way he said few made it clear he had opinions about the number of people who qualified for that list and how rapidly it kept growing.
.
….
[To be continued…]
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