5 Chapter 5: School
Morning came quickly for both Midoriya's, their sleep deep and restful despite the previous day's events. Breakfast was brought in for Izuku, which he shared with his mom, though the size of the meal was larger than he would have expected for one patient. The meal itself was as delicious as you would expect of a hospital, but the mother and son duo enjoyed it all the same. Shirai, true to her word, showed up to give Izuku his morning checkup just as the two were finishing their food. She measured his vitals, asked him an array of questions pertaining to how he was feeling after a good night's rest, and even used her Quirk – Soothing Hands – to gently heat and massage his sore muscles.
The checkup done, Shirai grabbed her clipboard and began making some notes. "Well Izuku-kun, you're not back to 100%, obviously, but there seems to be no lasting damage. The bruises from your side and jaw should fade soon, and thankfully none of the blood that was around your mouth belonged to you, since your teeth and jaw weren't cut or broken. While the fact that you were knocked out still worries me, I trust your mom to keep a close eye on you," a smile appeared on her face before continuing. "Get lots of rest, don't overwork yourself, and Inko-chan, make sure this boy gets some good meals into him!" The last bit said with a mirthful giggle.
Standing up and giving the woman a quick hug, Inko smiling gratefully, "Thank you Shirai-chan."
A small blush appeared on the doctor's face, "my pleasure, Inko-chan."
Shirai gave Izuku a brief hug, before saying her farewells as she had other patients to attend to. The duo waved her off, and following her departure Izuku and his mom got ready to leave as well.
After a brief change into some fresh clothes - that his mom had brought from home - and a short walk to the outside of the hospital, Izuku found himself in a cab heading home. The two sat in comfortable silence, Inko holding his hand, and the day not even half over. This suited Izuku just fine, considering what was still whirling inside his head.
An hour later Izuku found himself home, sitting at his desk in his room, the excuse he had given his mom being that he wanted to relax and catch-up on his homework. She had lamented to this after seeing his large puppy dog eye's, on the condition that she would check on him regularly, although as she left, Izuku swore he heard his mom mumble "those eyes are a Quirk."
So, there we he was…. alone. His thoughts more relaxed than they had been for the last day and half, since now he had access to something he didn't before: information.
Izuku poured through ever notebook he had, delved into the deepest online official and non-official Quirk studies available, and even watched videos on theoretical powers. He needed to know what that spire was connected to, whether it was someone else's Quirk that had affected him, or dare he even hope, the manifestation of his own.
No matter how fearful he had been, no matter the darkness or uncertainty he had felt, something was drawing him to that place, and once he realised that he could leave the spire, the place felt less…. intimidating. Could he go back? If so how? These were the questions that needed answers, especially if he wanted to figure out the mystery of that first pedestal.
His thoughts from the night previous had proven right, the notebook had confirmed it. The first one he had opened had been the first one he had written, a red bound, plain looking, spiral notebook, with a small #1 written in the corner. It contained notes on the first Quirks that he had studied, after becoming obsessed with them following his - Quirkless – diagnosis. Inside showed notes and drawings on Quirks that belonged both to Hero's and Classmates, page one had himself, with it simply saying:
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Midoriya Izuku, Quirk: None.
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Page two, however…
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Bakugou Katsuki, Quirk: Explosions.
Notes: Can make explosions using his sweat (so cool!), that allows him to blow up bad guy's! He get's stronger the more he sweats, but I think he will run out of eventually if he doesn't drink lots of water. Kaachan can beat any villain one day… I worry that he won't want to save people though, he likes to fight more than help.
(OH! I also saw him shoot forward with an explosion, so maybe it can used to "fly?" I will have to find a way to ask him.)
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The notes had been taken after following Kaachan to a spot in the nearby park, where people liked to dump their garbage. He had watched in secret as a four-year-old Bakugou had blown apart cans, appliances, and general refuse, far away from the prying eyes of the society that didn't let him test his power. All the while, Izuku's younger self had taken notes about what he saw, admiring him from the bushes.
Those were the good days, Izuku sighed, a sad smile gracing his lips.
The format had been different, and the info had contained no child like wonder, but the details of his Quirk had been the same, that pedestal showed everything Izuku knew about his "friends" abilities, no less, no more. Hence why he was digging through ever bit of Quirk info he could find. Either that place had been someone else's doing, meaning he would need to know how to deal with it properly in the future, or it's-
Or it's coming from me.
Hours passed, his mother coming in from time to time to bring him snacks, make sure he was holding up ok, or just to give him a hug. It was appreciated, but in in the end it did little to alleviate his frustrations.
Absolutely nothing! No Quirks that had anything to do with what he had experienced or felt in that place, he had a few mental based Quirks highlighted, but the similarities were fleeting at best, and non-existent at worse. The alcove spire remained a mystery, as Izuku leaned back in his chair with a deep sigh, hand holding a cold compress to his forehead.
Perhaps I'm thinking of this wrong?
A deprecating chuckle escaped his lips, the hope that it was in fact a facet of his possible Quirk began fading away. The part of his mind that had been beaten into submission over the years doing it's best to convince him that it was likely just a dream, or a hallucination brought on by being K.O.-ed by Kacchan's fist.
But it felt real! I remember it clearly, no blurry details or fading images, every bit of info from those displays I can recall with ease, although the second was less helpful, perhaps if I had had that sample it-
Luckily Izuku was alone, otherwise he would have had to explain why he shot up like a rocket, and nearly face planted into his desk. The cold compress fallen on the floor, forgotten.
"A sample," Izuku gasped, "the second pedestal needed a sample of something! The first showed Kacchan's quirk, but the other had no sample to draw data from. I got so hung up on the info displayed being related to my own notes, I didn't even consider that the first pedestal likely had needed a sample to display that info at all. The question wasn't - what is that place? - but rather, what do I need a sample of to unlock it!"
Midoriya went over the memories of the previous days events for what felt like the tenth time, only now he was looking at it from a different perspective. He somehow had gotten a sample of Kacchan's quirk, but how? It couldn't have been Bakugou using it on him, he had been singed and burned by the explosive boy's power for years, whenever he thought the teachers weren't paying attention.
Making a mental checklist, Izuku began mumbling out possible options of what could have happened the previous day. "Skin contact is right out, since I've made contact with Bakugou's skin many times in the past - whether I wanted to or not – perhaps breathing something in? Possible I guess, but I'm around people (and Bakugou) all the time, so it should have triggered sooner if that was the catalyst. Shirai said I had bruises and not cuts, so nothing could have gotten in an open wound. That leaves only one way my body could have "acquired" the sample: by ingesting it. But what did I swallow?"
Based on his injuries and what he remembered, Bakugou's fist had impacted not only his jaw, but also nailed his mouth, meaning that's when it must have happened. Then, the memory of his morning diagnosis demanded his attention, Shirai-senpai's words giving him the answer:
"Thankfully none of the blood that was around your mouth belonged to you, since your teeth and jaw weren't cut or broken."
None of my blood…
The final piece of the puzzle had slide into place, like a Tetris block falling into the last remaining gap.
If it wasn't my blood, then it had to be Kacchan's! He cut his hand on my teeth, blood got into my mouth,- "and when I ingested it I blacked out, which is why I can still remember being hit and landing on the ground, I hadn't swallowed the blood yet!"
It was a solid theory, with the data to back it up, but like any theory it needed to be tested before it could be called fact; however, for Izuku that didn't matter, a smile graced his lips, one that looked far more appropriate on his face then the grimaces and fearful eye's that he usually had. He did what he was best at, thinking his way out of problems, and it had worked, although now he needed to somehow get more blood.
Midoriya conceded that he would sadly have to wait. Going out and about to get a blood sample from someone else wasn't going to happen, at least until his mother deemed him well enough to leave the house. Speaking of his mother, she was the only person he had access to right now, and unless she somehow cut herself while making dinner, he would have to be the one to make her bleed, and that would NE-VER happen. So, Izuku acknowledged the fact that he would need to wait just a little longer to get his answers.
Just a little more time, to maybe get what I have been denied for so long…
The next few hours passed by quickly, Inko checking on her son like clockwork, and before long dinner came and went for the Midoriya's, Izuku keeping his discoveries to himself. At least for the time being. He kept his mind busy by watching reports on heroes from the other day, and catching up on the homework that he was supposed to have been doing that whole time. It was an early turn in that night, telling his mom he wanted to get plenty of rest, which she gladly agreed with. In truth he wanted to rest and heal as fast as possible, the quicker he "recovered," the faster he could convince his mom to let him go back to school.
Heh, imagine that, I'm actually excited to go to class!
