Chapter 11: Nedzu and Izuku

"Ah, hello Nedzu. It's good to see you again!" Inko greeted with a smile on her face, "I'm glad to see you made it,"

"Well, you didn't really leave me a choice," Nedzu smiled back warmly as he entered the apartment.

"I'm making dinner. In the meantime, you can chat with Hisashi and Izuku in the living room. Shikamaru is here too," Inko notified.

"I'm surprised he found the energy to get here," Nedzu laughed.

"More like Hisashi had to drag him here. Plus, Shikamaru couldn't say no to Izuku. He's like a brother to him now," Inko said and walked to the kitchen.

"There you are Nedzu. Inko was just about to make me call you," Hisashi greeted.

"H-hi Nedzu-san," Izuku spluttered. Izuku was very nervous. He was meeting the principal of UA, the greatest hero school to ever exist. The school where All Might learned. While he had given up on pursuing his dream of being a hero, he still loved to follow them or as Shikamaru called it, fanboy over them, "It's an honor to meet you!"

Nedzu stared at Izuku for a while making him even more nervous. Was Nedzu going to be disappointed in him for being quirkless too? Izuku gulped down the thought and mentally shook his head. No, Nedzu was the one to put in the quirkless clause in the UA entrance exam, he would not do something like that, Izuku reasoned with himself. But there was still a bad feeling at the back of his mind.

Finally, Nedzu spoke, "Are you sure this is your son?"

Izuku gaped. Of all the things he was expecting Nedzu to do, he certainly wasn't expecting something ridiculous like that.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hisashi frowned.

"Well, it's just that he's so respectful and kind while you on the other hand…" Nedzu trailed off.

It took a moment for Izuku's brain to click onto what Nedzu was saying and then he giggled much to Hisashi's frustration, "I'm not that disrespectful,"

"I seem to remember a certain incident just a few days back, involving a certain well-known hero," Nedzu looked to be in deep thought.

"That was different. He was being an idiot. As long as you aren't an idiot and know to pull your weight, I have no problems with you,"

"Sorry, but which hero are we talking about?" Izuku asked interestedly.

"Hmm, can't say that. It was a pretty confidential talk," Nedzu smiled back, "I must apologize though Izuku," Nedzu said warmly.

"Huh? Apologize?" Izuku asked, startled, "For what?"

"Well, the only reason your father went abroad was to find the villains who had experimented on me. If it weren't for that, he would have stayed in Japan and could have looked after you. You wouldn't have had to go through everything at Aldera. For that, I apologize."

Izuku looked at Nedzu with slight shock but then smiled, "You don't need to apologize for that. Dad was helping to catch a villain who could have hurt more people and he did it willingly. It's not like you forced him,"

Nedzu looked at Izuku with a calculating look, "Easily forgives and chooses the option which is good for everyone but him. Unselfish," he marked down mentally, "Even so, I still feel like I have a favor to give. So, if you need help with anything, let me know,"

Izuku seemed to think for a while before talking, "Well, there is one thing…"

Nedzu's ears perked up in interest, "What is it?"

"Well, I'm supposed to get homeschooled for the police academy recommendation exam. Dad is great at helping me keep my body fit physically but he sucks at explaining subjects like math and science even though he knows them well,"

"It's not my fault. The books look like alien writing now. They changed so much from when I was in school," Hisashi interjected with a pout to try and defend himself.

"So, how about you teach me?" Izuku asked with a glint in his eye.

Nedzu blinked a couple of times. No one had ever had the courage to directly ask him to be a tutor. Nedzu would accept it regardless since he owed it as a favor but the glint in Izuku's eye made Nedzu cackle internally. Izuku knew exactly that he was playing a card that Nedzu couldn't refuse, and he loved it, "Hisashi wasn't kidding when he said his son is even crazier when it comes to negotiation tactics,"

"I was mistaken Hisashi. This is definitely your son," Nedzu smirked.

Hisashi didn't reply and only had a knowing smile on his face.

Izuku grinned back devilishly.

"While I will teach you, I do need to understand at what level you are. You don't mind if I give you some quick tests right now, do you?" Nedzu asked.

Izuku shook his head, "Nope,"

"Well, I do!" Hisashi interjected, "Inko has a ban on studying right before dinner because Izuku gets too immersed into it,"

Nedzu chuckled, "Rather studious you are I see. Then how do I measure his skill?"

"Hmm," Hisashi thought before suddenly sitting up straight, "Izuku, go get your analysis notebooks,"

"But dad!"

"What, they are good,"

"They are embarrassing, and probably worthless too. It's just a hobby!" Izuku argued.

"It definitely is not worthless from what I have seen. Let Nedzu be the judge, ok? Any one notebook?"

"Fine," Izuku pouted. He returned from his room shortly and handed the notebook to Nedzu before scurrying off to near Shikamaru who had his eyes closed.

Nedzu opened the book and flipped a page,

Hero Analysis

Subject: All Might

All Might's quirk has not yet been named. Therefore, some of the hidden characteristics of the quirk cannot yet be determined. However, from video footage, we can determine some of his abilities and say that his quirk grants him the ability to push normal human capabilities to a superhuman form.

Abilities:

Super Strength

Super Speed

Super durability (Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. In order to throw such strong punches, he must be able to endure the same force onto himself)

Super hearing (All Might has often jumped from one crime scene to another even though news of it was not known yet)

Wind pressure manipulation (While this may be a bi-product of his super-enhanced punches, it may also be a hidden ability of his quirk. As a result, it is still worth noting)

Enhanced sensitivity (Since he has super hearing. his other sense organs may also be enhanced. There is no way to determine this through video footage but might be a part of his quirk)

Strengths and Fighting style:

All Might tends to use his hands and fists in fighting. He never uses his feet and instead uses them for grounding so that he is not blown off by the resultant force of his punches. He has immense experience in handling different types of villains. He has also never had a civilian casualty yet and has shown that he is excellent at restraining and grappling villains.

Weakness/ Methods of takedown

To note : Strength quirks will not be of much use against All Might. While they can hold off All Might's attacks, they may not possess super speed. In such a case, All Might can use his superior speed to use a pincer attack on their exposed parts as they will not be able to react fast enough.

Therefore, it is best to have a speed quirk against All Might. With the help of a speed quirk, the user can keep up with All Might and dodge All Might's strong punches. The speed quirk user can speed up his punches to a very high level so that the momentum of his punches creates a force strong enough to counter All Might's punches. However, with the lack of a durability quirk, the speed quirk user would falter. The best choice for the speed quirk user would be to obtain a blade and create slashes at the joints to restrict movement.

Another method would be to have a flying quirk. All Might does have the ability to jump at extraordinary heights, but he cannot exactly fly. Therefore, someone with a flying quirk can fly up into the sky. All Might will be lured to jump at him in which case the person can dodge easily while remaining suspended in the air. In this case, All Might will be open to any attack as he has no way of defending himself. All Might can still throw punches and create shockwaves to alter his flight course. This is why it is important to this in a residential zone where All Might cannot do this in fear of civilian casualties.

The final method of the takedown is not physical. All Might boasts a zero civilian casualty rate and 100% rescue rate which has given him the status of the symbol of peace. This plan is something a villain would do while the above plans can be done in training. However, it is still worth noting.

The first step would be to gain a hostage near All Might's office. Inevitably, All Might will appear on the scene due to his enhanced hearing. This is where the plan starts. All Might always appears on the scene with his trademark smile and slogan, "I AM HERE!" to instill hope into the public. Most villains make the mistake of thinking that they can get away because of the hostage but All Might's super-speed proves them wrong. In this case, the hostage must be killed immediately as All might arrives. The 2 seconds where All Might announces his presence to the public is precious and enough to kill the hostage. This may act as a shock to All might and a deadly blow can be dealt. On the off chance that All Might still has enough sense to subdue the villain, high damage will still be inflicted. The media will cover All might's first casualty as hot news and will make it seem like he's losing his touch as the symbol of peace. His reputation will take a massive hit and more villains will be determined as they will know that All Might is no longer the most powerful and can be damaged. All might may go into a depressive spiral due to this and lose his touch. As more villains are determined to take All Might down since he's losing his touch, his depressive spiral will make his abilities fall and actually get him killed by the sheer quantity of villains. Even if he does not fall into depression, villains will get more cocky knowing that All Might cannot protect everyone. Crime rates will rise and Japan will be plunged once again into a villainous society. The symbol of peace will not shine as well as it did again.

It should be noted that this method is purely circumstantial on how a lot of things will happen and depends highly on media coverage and also people's emotions which are hard to predict.

Ways to counter the weaknesses

The first few weaknesses can be taken care of by All Might himself who has immense experience in all of those situations. However, regarding the last one, All Might should always go for the villain first and then announce himself with his theatrics. This method does not give any time for the villain to act or kill a hostage and also lets the public's hopes remain.

The reason why I say that All Might will be killed by more attacks on him is because his appearance time in public has been decreasing steadily over the past five years. It is safe to assume that he has an injury we do not know about or his age is getting to him. As his time gets shortened more to the heightened rate of attacks, All Might will fall.

There were still several pages left concerning other heroes but Nedzu closed the book with a pale face, "How many notebooks have you written?"

"Um, 13. Why?" Izuku asked hesitantly.

"Bring them to me," Nedzu ordered. Izuku nodded but didn't understand what was wrong. Nedzu sighed to himself, "Thank god he didn't turn into a villain! While that last plan does depend on the media, the media are scavengers who will do something like that. With all that Izuku has gone through, he could have become a villain. If All For One had gotten his hands on him…" Nedzu shuddered at the thought of the villains getting their hands on such an asset.

Izuku brought the notebooks and handed them to Nedzu who took them, "I will be confiscating this,"

"What!?" Izuku exclaimed.

"Izuku, this analysis of All Might is something no professional analyst has ever written or analyzed. Your analyzing skills are already on a pro-level. That last plan of yours is especially realistic and deadly and would mean danger for Japan if your notebook was taken by a villain,"

Izuku gulped, "I never thought they were that good…"

"Well, they are. I will be reading your analyses later and I'll code them with my trademark code which only I know. You will get back your books after I teach you my code and the key,"

Izuku nodded before exclaiming, "You mean-"

"Yes, I will teach you," Nedzu smirked, "And your skill level is something far beyond what I imagined. Good work,"

Shikamaru was intrigued and sat up, "Let me see,"

Nedzu passed it off to Shikamaru knowing he was trustworthy enough with such material, "I'm disappointed you did not bother to code it Hisashi,"

"I didn't see the All Might one either. I only saw his hero analysis of Eraserhead and that was more about how he could improve on his strengths and not weaknesses. I should have checked the other ones, sorry," Hisashi apologized as he read with Shikamaru.

Nedzu suddenly got an idea, "You know, Izuku, UA does have a quirkless clause that allows you to become a hero,"

"I know,"

"So, do you want to become a pro-hero? You would be my personal student and have my backing. With your analyses, you could be as important as I am!"

Izuku frowned, "I'm sorry but, no. Even heroes are mean to me because I'm quirkless. People went to you because they knew that you have an intelligence quirk. On the other hand, I'm quirkless, they wouldn't think that I would be as smart as you,"

"But as the first quirkless hero, you could provide hope to all quirkless people. Like how I, as a mutant made things better for those with mutant quirks," Nedzu argued.

"Perhaps. But I would need to do 3 years at UA and then again at least 5 years as a pro-hero before I could be in a position of respect to do something like that. Even then villains and the media would probably target me. It would be easier for me to instill hope and change as a police officer who has more authority. As police, I can rise to an authoritative rank faster and change even the hero system!" Izuku replied.

Nedzu tried to think of a good argument against that but couldn't. He knew Izuku was right. He could still give hope as a police officer, "But even then, most people want to be heroes. Wouldn't that make them feel that quirkless people are just not fit to be pro-heroes,"

Izuku stiffened slightly at that. Hisashi looked at Shikamaru who understood what Hisashi was thinking, "Izuku, could you leave the room a bit?"

Izuku nodded and left without a word, his thoughts still in turmoil, "Nedzu, you do realize, that if he becomes a pro-hero, he will be under the hero commission's thumb," Shikamaru pointed out.

"I'll protect him!" Nedzu said determinedly.

"You can but who is to know they won't use him to get to you? On top of that when they figure out that he's Hisashi's son, they will try to use him against Hisashi. Hero commission is in charge of handing out hero cases and who's to say they won't send Izuku to dangerous situations purposely?" Shikamaru said.

"On top of that, All For One is back and working with the commission. He might try to get Izuku since he seems to be targeting quirkless people. It's best to let him be police, where I can keep a watch on him," Hisashi said.

Nedzu frowned slightly, "Alright. But does that mean you will stop if him if he says he wants to be a hero?"

"No," Hisashi replied, "Just don't push too hard to change his mind and lose his trust,"

Nedzu nodded. Izuku entered the room again, "Mom says dinner is ready,"

"So, you are sure you want to be a police officer?" Nedzu asked.

Izuku nodded instantly with determination, not a single show of hesitation on his face. Nedzu smiled, "Very well then. But I will still tutor you even after you get into the police academy,"

"Can I do that?" Izuku asked his father. Hisashi smiled and nodded, "Yup. The academy lets students have private tutors and attend college too,"

Nedzu nodded, "Of course, you can also attend Gen-Ed at UA alongside the police academy since UA can act as the college?"

Izuku shook his head, "No. If I do that, whenever I do something, it will be because I learned at UA and not because of my own achievements,"

Nedzu smiled to himself once again, Izuku really was a genius. Shame he wouldn't be a hero. He would be the perfect successor for him to leave everything to. Heck, he would probably even be the best successor for All Might, but he wouldn't tell that to Yagi. He would let Izuku pursue his dream of being a police officer who brings change, "I'll send you your UA pass, this week,"

Izuku blinked, "But I just said I'm not attending UA,"

"No, you're not. But you need to enter UA for me to meet with you and teach you. My schedule is often packed, and time will be wasted if I have to travel to and from your house. This makes it easier for me," Nedzu replied.

Izuku looked at him in shock. He couldn't believe that Nedzu was so interested in him that he was doing everything in his power to be able to have the opportunity to teach him. On top of that, he would be going to UA to learn with the principal without giving the entrance exam. Izuku held back tears of happiness and smiled, "That would be awesome!" he exclaimed.

"Izuku, help me with preparing the table!" Inko called.

"Coming mom! Can't wait for our classes, Uncle Nedzu!" Izuku said with a cheeky grin.

Nedzu stared after him with shock. "Seems like he's adopted you as his family too," Shikamaru chuckled.

Nedzu smiled, he had never had a family before. Izuku calling him uncle had made him feel so… warm in his heart. He had never felt like that before.

"You know Hisashi," Nedzu said, "Generations have tried to take down All For One with their quirks. Maybe what we need is someone quirkless,"

Hisashi looked at Nedzu through the corner of his eyes but said nothing. Only time would tell.