Chapter 42 - Anticlimactic Reveal

"Are they even…" The rat thing—Principal Nezu, asked. His eyes were fixated on the largest monitor in the middle that displayed a satellite's view of Japan, specifically the area where the exam took place, and he saw just how gargantuan the scale truly was.

The clouds that have gathered above the four Battle Centers were split into two, with a large smoky hole in the middle, while flowing forward into the northwestern front, the direction where Izuku's kick was pointed at.

Principal Nezu rubbed his chin and tried to analyze the data. Luckily for him, his quirk was greatly suited for analytical and observatory tasks like the one he is tackling now.

"Ha…" He sighed and rubbed his furry forehead. "Where did these three even come from?"

"I know that this young boy, Izuku, would have some potential considering he's All Might's protege, but those two just appeared from the shadows without any prior notice!"

"Especially Ryuji." Principal Nezu grabbed a folder from the table beside him and flipped it over to a certain page.

He read out the contents, his voice sharp and his eyes squinted. "Ryuji Anwir—he traveled abroad from America to supposedly study here in Japan. His records at Glory Academy are good, but not as exemplary as the one he showcased previously in the practical exams."

"Not only that, but this also states he's an orphan who has lived all alone since a young age."

"A lot of details here are irrelevant, but it shows that he's completely fine. His plan is clean with a few blemishes here and there."

"At first glance, this would appear as normal as it could get with nothing to take note of, but that's the problem."

"His past is too normal for someone as eccentric and extraordinary as him. There's no way Ryuji Anwir would only be a 'good' student of Glory Academy." Principal Nezu shifted his gaze onto the photo of Ryuji placed inside the pages of the folders.

The face greatly resembled Ryuji but just a tad bit younger. It was a photo of him a year ago when he graduated from Glory Academy and just before he flew off to Japan.

"Luckily for us, there were some inconsistencies we managed to find out with a little bit of effort and elbow grease."

"His social media presence is pretty much nonexistent before he arrived in Japan. There are nearly no traces of his existence before a year ago, and it seemed like he was only created in that timeframe between graduation and his arrival in Japan."

"So, his identity must be fake." Principal Nezu threw the folder back on the table and shifted on his seat. "But why is he using a fake identity?"

"It appears that he has received help from America's national government to create this identity of his, so it doesn't appear that he did something illegal before. Rather, it even seems like he did America a favor which is what caused them to help him out like this."

"Now comes another reason. Why is he in Japan? Why is he using a fake identity in Japan? Is it a mere coincidence that he's in Japan? Or is there something important here?"

Principal Nezu shook his head and tapped the edges of his table. "All of that would be answered soon enough. I just need to wait and see how things would go."

"But there is a need to keep an eye on him from time to time."

As Principal Nezu moved on to continue his analysis of the power those three wielded and how strong they are compared to others, his ears twitched and the door behind him opened with a loud click.

He stared to the side and saw a frail, thin, bony skeleton of a man walk in with messy blond hair. He wore a simple white shirt and green pants, a stark contrast to the prestigious place he was walking into, but Principal Nezu didn't seem to mind. In fact, he even appeared to be excited upon seeing the man.

"All Might-san!" Principal Nezu jubilantly greeted as All Might closed the door behind him.

"Principal Nezu." All Might smiled warmly and greeted the principal in return.

"Are you okay? You look worse since the last time I saw you." Principal Nezu inquired as All Might sat on the seat beside it.

"I'm fine. I've already transferred One for All to Izuku-shounen, so my body is a tad bit stressed because of it. Not to mention how taxing it is to deal with those three's antics." All Might chuckled and shifted his gaze to the monitors that displayed footage from the recent exam.

"So Izuku-kun is your protege. But those other two sure were a surprise. They even surpass your protege, especially that Ryuji boy." Principal Nezu moved his gaze to the folder beside him, an action that All Might caught clearly with his own eyes.

"I see…" All Might shook his head helplessly and realized what Principal Nezu was hinting at. He was saying to All Might indirectly of his own suspicions regarding the person named Ryuji Anwir. "It seems you're also suspicious of that boy's pass."

"I felt the same way too before, but I can assure you that he has no malicious intent nor did he come here to do something bad." All Might addressed the current doubts Principal Nezu had, and with his status as the Symbol of Peace, his words were heavier than gold.

Who would dare doubt the words of the man who brought the world into this current era of peace? With his reputation as the world's greatest hero, no one would dare believe he would lie about something as important as their current topic.

"Hmm, I suppose the Symbol of Peace wouldn't lie about something as important as this." Principal Nezu shook his head and promptly grabbed the folders sitting right beside him.

Then, as he turned to the side, he threw the folders into the trash bin beside him and spoke with a knowing grin, "Very well, I'll respect whatever that boy is trying to hide and stop prying into his past."

"Instead…" Principal Nezu widened his smile. "I would like to know how those three are so strong!"

"Did you employ some sort of special method?"

"What teaching technique did you use? What training regime did they undergo?!"

"How did those three become such monsters in the first place!"

"Ah, that…" All Might paused and rubbed the back of his head with a wry grin. "To be honest, I have no real clue either."

"The only thing I could say is that Ryuji has been more so a positive influence on those two kids than what I originally thought."

"Even though he's a bit eccentric and likes money a little too much, there's no doubting his talent and skill." All Might chuckled. "In fact, his arrogant claims might hold more truth to them than what you may first think."

"Even I feel a bit threatened with that last skill he used." All Might shook his head.

Principal Nezu was shocked by what he just heard and nearly stood up, but he remained calm and asked, "You're telling me he's that strong?"

"Are you saying he's at the same level as the Symbol of Peace already?"

"Not yet, but I'm not too sure either." All Might rubbed his chin and turned to look at the footage playing on the screens. On it, videos of Ryuji's final blow replayed over and over again. "You saw it too, right? He only covered his arms in scales, giving him strength that rivaled a fraction of my peak strength back in my prime. Maybe if he were to use his full power, he might employ strength that rivals my original strength fully…"

"Or…" Principal Nezu murmured with a horrid realization. "Or power that even surpassed you in your prime."

…

"Achoo!" Ryuji sneezed out of nowhere.

He rubbed his nose and opened his eyes. With confusion on his face, he looked around the noisy infirmary and murmured, "Who's thinking about me right now?"

As he tried to look for anyone who was suspicious, he heard a subtle grunt of melodious pain and looked to the side with a teasing grin, "What did I hear is? Was that the heavenly hymns of consequence?!"

"Tch, I still can't believe you ignored my advice." Ryuji shook his head, disappointment clear in his eyes, and shifted his gaze onto Katsuki. "You too! Why are the both of you so reckless?!"

Katsuki rolled his eyes and replied in a snarky tone, "It's not like you didn't go wild too. I was simply doing what you! Would have done."

"At least I had the finesse and grace to back it up." Ryuji rebutted and rolled his eyes.

Izuku mumbled from the side. "I-I'm sorry for using it at full power, R-Ryuji-san. I promise I won't do it again next time."

Even though he had the strength to bend metal with bare hands, Ryuji can't help but feel that he was staring at an apologetic cat that was saying sorry to its owner.

Unable to hold it in, Ryuji chuckled and patted Izuku on the head, "It's fine. At least you got some experience with you know what. Besides, it's okay to be a little reckless once in a while."

Katsuki glanced at the two with squinted eyes. He murmured, "It seems you two are hiding a little secret, huh?"

"T-That," Izuku mumbled with a distressed tone and his eyes moved from left to right.

"It's fine." Katsuki rolled his eyes and moved his gaze back to the ceiling. "If you don't want to share it, then just don't."

"It's not like I'm an asshole." Katsuki snorted and blinked his eyes.

Ryuji seemed to have heard something funny and looked at Katsuki with a weird gaze. Izuku, on the other hand, calmed down and delved deep into his thoughts.

And, as his eyes turned blanker and blanker, they suddenly regained their brilliance and shone with resolve.

Izuku exhaled a turbid breath of air. He used his free-to-move left hand and clenched the hem of his clothes and bed.

"I…" Izuku paused and moved his gaze towards Ryuji and Katsuki, staring at them right in the eye with unwavering resolve. "I!"

"Woah there!" Ryuji suddenly cut him off. "Hold your horses there cowboy! I know what you're about to say right now but we're not in the appropriate place for that."

He swiftly looked around and saw that no one else in the crowded infirmary seemed to realize what just happened. Then, using that small breather of safety, his eyes lit up in a golden flair, and the three's eyes rolled to the back of their heads.

In the next moment, they found themselves standing within an endless white void where nothing else seemed to exist other than the three of them.

Katsuki and Izuku looked around with befuddled eyes. They were awestruck by the sheer scale of the place they found themselves in. They were also curious as to what the place was.

"Whew, okay, you can continue."

"I put us in a connected illusion, meaning we're practically in a simulated environment. I have some surface-level connection with your minds right now, so I can conjure anything you want to create passively, so feel free to create some sits and snacks."

Ryuji snapped his finger and materialized a comfortable golden couch beside him and sat on it.

Katsuki and Izuku tried to do the same, and surprisingly enough, they found their respective seats appear out of thin air in front of them.

"Nifty." Katsuki shrugged his shoulders and sat on his simple chair.

Izuku cautiously touched the edges of his chair and inspected it, making sure that it was real and wouldn't collapse with a mere touch. After making sure it was safe, he planted his ass on it and sat down.

"So, please continue!" Ryuji smiled and manifested a bowl of popcorn in his hand.

"Ah, yes!" Izuku stiffened his back and regained the fire in his eyes.

"Oho, this is going to be good," Katsuki smirked from the side and grabbed a handful of popcorn from Ryuji's bowl.

"Tch, you could have created some yourself, you little punk." Ryuji clicked his tongue and nodded at Izuku, an indication for him to continue.

"Ahem." Izuku cleared his thought and tried his best to calm down. He formulated his words slowly and carefully before he finally felt that his thoughts were clear-cut and went straight for what he wanted to say.

"I inherited All Might's quirk, One for All."

"…"

It was complete silence. No one spoke for a while as they processed the ridiculous sentence Izuku just uttered.

Within the endless white void, gold and blond stared at green with the same general feeling, surprise, but for different reasons.

"Wow, so direct." Ryuji shook his head and dismissed the bowl of popcorn. "I thought there was gonna be a long tangled explanation which I was going to enjoy, but that's that."

On the other hand, Katsuki sighed and leaned forward. "How did that even happen in the first place?"

"Y-You two don't seem to be that surprised," Izuku asked, confused by their unexpected reactions.

"Dude, it's not that deep." Ryuji rolled his eyes.

"I gotta agree with him for this one." Katsuki rubbed his temples. "It's just confusing how that even happened in the first place."

"I thought you manifested your quirk like just yesterday or something like that, but a full-on quirk transferral… and from All Might himself at that?"

"WAIT!" Katsuki stood up with wide eyes. "DON'T TELL ME!"

"WAS THAT OLD MAN ALL MIGHT?!"

"Huh? You only realized that now?" Ryuji looked at him with a bemused grin.

"Holy fuck! HOLY CRAP! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME!"

As the two quickly entered into a loud argument, Izuku sat at his chair with a wry grin.

He murmured under his breath, a small smile plastered on his face, "I guess I was worried over nothing again."

AN: This chapter has 2355 words.

There's a tiny little "easter egg" (a synonym for mistake) here that I decided to leave alone because it's just funny as hell in my opinion.

Anyways, do you know what's a bigger mistake? It's when I first fell in love. Shiver me timbers, I can't believe my heart would even flutter that way. Now I'm kind of glad that I'm (most likely, still unsure, still weird, still eh) demiromantic because aromanticism is pretty fucking poggers.

Also, GRRR, I don't wanna go to school. I just wanna die already with all this stupid ass dances and research defenses and proposals and barrage of school reqs.

(May 27, 2023 - 548th day of writing)