6 Answers

Izuku's fingers raced across the keyboard as he polished up his most recent quirk analysis. An energy barrier quirk that, while not the most powerful, was incredibly useful and versatile.

He sent it along and moved on to the next, noticing a couple things right away.

The first was that this one didn't have any money attached with it, but that didn't matter all too much to him.

The way the payment worked was someone would send money with their request, and upon his completing it, it would be transferred to him. If, for whatever reason, he was unable to complete the request within the deadline, the money would not be transferred. He didn't really have to worry about that though; he hadn't missed a single request since he'd officially established himself as Deku. Under normal circumstances, he completed every one within twenty-four hours of receiving it, and the deadline was a full week.

It wasn't very often, but occasionally he would receive requests like this. Where the person would explain why they couldn't pay but still asked him to analyze their quirk. He usually saw those with people that struggled with their quirk on a daily basis. Those people were usually desperate for any help they could get.

He hardly ever batted an eye at those, though. He didn't particularly care if they couldn't pay. So long as the person wasn't a dick about it, he'd analyze them anyway, payment or no.

And why wouldn't he? The main reason he was doing this – aside from it being one of the highest-paying self-employed jobs one could get into if they were skilled enough – was because he genuinely enjoyed studying quirks. He wasn't going to just not analyze a quirk simply because they didn't pay him. It's wasn't like each request sucked away at his day or that he would lose out on others if he did it; with the amount he went through in a day, one or two more or less was hardly even noticed.

The next thing he noticed was the source of this request. It was another hero school hopeful with an interesting quirk, which just gave him even more reason to do it despite the lack of payment.

In all the years he'd been analyzing quirks, and the many more that he'd been taking them, he'd learn to expect the unexpected when it came to what they were capable of. They could be anything, from something as innocuous as enhanced healing or producing simple flames, to controlling the weather, to something world-shaking such as All Might's 'One For All.'

Even his own quirk. If he weren't the one wielding it, he wouldn't have been able to believe that-that type of power could even exist.

In particular though, he'd always had a special interest in those that could manipulate the world, or nature, in some way or another. Like Thirteen for example. Their quirk, 'Black hole,' while likely not actually based around gravity – more likely some form of uncontrollable suction or size-compression – was still interesting because it emulated something so powerful and out of reach.

Which was exactly why this quirk in particular was just as – if not more – fascinating.

They could, with five-finger-contact, completely nullify gravity's effect on an object or person below a certain weight limit.

Gravity! The single unifying force across the universe, canceled out by a tiny human with a shiny genetic defect. Fuck, how he wished he could get his hands on that. The amount of fun he could have and chaos he would cause…

He shook his head, snapping himself out it. Back to the matter at hand.

It seemed like they were having some difficulty when it came to the side-effects of their quirk. Using it for too long, or on objects that were too heavy, was causing some extreme nausea, sometimes to a debilitating extent depending on how far they pushed it. And using it on themself would only get them to that point even quicker. They wanted to know if there was any way to work past their limits, as well as any other advice he could give them regarding their quirk.

He rubbed at his chin as he stared at the screen, considering their dilemma.

There were a number of reasons why one would experience nausea. Anything from food poisoning, to intestinal diseases, to mental disorders.

Thankfully, this case being the result of a quirk – and a very specific type of emitter quirk at that – narrowed down the possibilities considerably.

The most likely possibilities were either some form of chemical imbalance in the brain – similar to those in mental disorders – caused by whatever portion allowed them to exert a gravity-nullifying force on an object, or motion sickness.

'Actually.' He thought to himself, 'Now that I think about it. Motion sickness is much more likely. Experiencing zero-gravity is supposed to be one of the most motion-sickness-inducing things someone can go through. Isn't it something like, seventy percent of all astronaut candidates experience major issues with motion sickness when in training?'

The vestibular system – the organ responsible for the human body's sense of balance – was gravity-dependent. It was possible that maybe they experienced a fraction of the gravity-nullification they exert on objects. Just enough for it to affect their sense of balance and give them nausea. Simply seeing something in zero-gravity could be exacerbating the issue even further.

If that was the issue, then thankfully it had a very simple solution: use their quirk as much as physically possible.

If this was a case of extreme motion-sickness, then the best way to overcome it would be to subject themselves to the cause of the motion-sickness as often as they could in order to build up a tolerance. Anything and everything, from their backpack while they're at school, to small objects around the house anytime they're home, to on themselves when they try to sleep at night.

Especially the last one. If they could use their quirk on themselves as they slept, letting their body adjust to the lack of gravity at its most relaxed state, they would likely get used to it fairly quickly.

He recorded all of that in his analysis, listing all the ways they could use their quirk on a daily basis to improve upon their limitations.

As with the other Yueii Hopeful, he noted how useful it would be if they learned some form of martial arts to augment their quirk's capabilities; touch-based quirks could be integrated into nearly any style of combat to make them unpredictable, while also giving them an excuse to get up close to use it.

As a final thought, he included that it would be for the best if they avoided using nausea-relief medicine as much as possible. Not only would it inhibit their building up a resistance to the side-effects of their quirk, but it would also cause their body to build up an immunity to the medicine itself. Meaning they wouldn't be able to use it when they became a hero and came across a situation where they really needed it.

After reading back through it all, and finding nothing to revise, he sent it off.

Stretching his arms out above his head, he glanced at the time. He'd already been working for several hours. It was nearly time to head out for the day.

He'd been working his way through more requests than ever before recently. In the two weeks he'd taken off from going out as Oni – which had just ended the day before. Last night was his first back out – he'd all but confined himself in the apartment just to relax as much as possible and break up his normal routine. Because of that, he didn't have much to do aside from analyze, read, watch TV, and work to catch up on about four years of missed sleep. Actually, he'd probably spent most of the two weeks asleep on the balcony, sunning himself in the quickly-heating-up April sunlight.

Now though, it was time to return to his regular daily activities.

Picking out a plain-white button up from his closet, and donning a pair of classic, brown leather gloves along with his usual bag, he made his way to the balcony.

Perched on the railing, he sat for a minute, feeling the breeze on his face as he considered where to go. It was still a bit earlier than when he would normally go out. A bit too early to have lunch just yet. Maybe he'd just go to the beach first, and then get lunch? It had been a while since he'd gone to clean it.

His mind made up, he took off into the air, going up instead of gliding down to the road below; he'd decided to forgo the slower route today in order to have more time to sun himself. He climbed until he was far higher than the top of any tower, coming to a stop as he found an updraft to hang on. Turning towards the beach, now partially visible at this height, he started moving.

As he got closer, he could make out that the crowd was a little heavier than it had been the last time he was there. The weather had started to warm up and people were taking advantage of it.

Landing near his usual spot, wings fluttering a bit to cancel his momentum, blowing up some sand, he was delighted to see that the beach was as spotless as he'd last seen it. Someone else must've taken it upon themselves to pick up trash. That brought a smile to his face. He didn't mind picking up the trash. Not at all actually. He hadn't done the initial cleanup for recognition or anything, and by now the smaller, daily rounds were just a part of his routine, but seeing that someone else, or multiple people, had decided that they wanted the beach to remain clean as well felt nice.

Since he didn't have to do any cleaning, he settled into his spot, coiling over himself and already thinking about what quirk he wanted to pull on to start experimenting with.

He picked one out and focused on it, feeling the now-familiar light feeling wash across him.

He'd been practicing with 'Ghost' quite a bit while he'd been staying in the apartment.

So far as he could tell with the experimentation he'd done, whether or not he stayed invisible was dependent upon his mental state. If he lost focus, or experienced any particularly strong emotions, on any end of the spectrum, then the quirk would lose effectiveness very quickly. But if he could remain calm and level-headed while he used it, then he could do practically whatever he wanted without anyone noticing.

That included using some of his more noticeable quirks in public.

A small smirk appeared on his face as he held an arm out in front of him, the skin changing as another quirk was activated. As he watched, his arm became silvery and reflective, stopping just above his elbow, and nearly blinding him when it reflected the sunlight directly into his eyes. He had to pull on a strength quirk to keep it steady in the air when the change brought on a very noticeable increase in weight.

This was the quirk he'd taken that night, from the so-called hero Alloy, which had shared the same name.

When he first started using it, during his rare trips outside of the apartment – he already knew from throwing Alloy around that it increased the user's weight, and Izuku was already fairly heavy. He didn't want to collapse his apartment's floor – he'd discovered that the quirk wasn't as simple as he first thought.

It didn't just transform the user's body into metal, it transformed them into any metal. Any metal that one could get their hands on, they could turn into.

They wouldn't even have to be in contact with the metal in order to transform. The quirk could 'remember' what metal they last touched and copy that.

Just based on what he'd known about the hero, the quirk didn't have that ability. Which meant that either Alloy didn't know about it in the first place – which was unlikely, given how integral that aspect was to the quirk – or he was just really good at hiding it, only using metals that were fairly similar in appearance.

Either way, he'd been almost unnecessarily excited at the prospect. It almost made up for where the quirk came from.

Currently, his arm – bones and all as far as he'd been able to tell – were made of aluminum. In the process of testing, he just grabbed a piece of silverware from the apartment to test.

He was excited to try this one out at some point when he went out as Oni. The boosts to his abilities that it offered were astounding, almost across the board. It didn't provide much in the way of strength enhancement – just enough to allow the user to move normally while transformed - but it still allowed him to hit much harder. A piece of metal striking something was much more effective than a fist.

Its biggest boost came in the form of its defensive capabilities. Not only was metal, obviously, much more durable than human skin, it increased his weight so much that he'd likely be able to tank just about whatever was sent his way. Even with something as light as Aluminum. If he used it when he was Oni, he'd weigh nearly three times as much as normal.

If he got his hands on steel, titanium, or something like tungsten – one of the heaviest known metals – it would only get stronger.

And if he came across a situation where he needed to use the quirk while he was out as Izuku…

He could only imagine how much his weight would increase then.

He already weighed around fifteen hundred kilograms with his tail and wings, and that would increase exponentially with each type of metal he used. If he found gold or tungsten-

He shook his head, forcing down the quickly rising surge of excitement that was coming from such thoughts. He didn't want to become visible again when his arm was still metal.

The only things the quirk wouldn't boost were his speed and his ability to fly. The increase in weight making both much more difficult. He might be able to use more enhancement quirks to meet the difference, but that might be more effort than it was worth.

For the most part, this quirk would be most useful if he were in a situation where tanking everything would be more efficient than how he normally did things.

Humming to himself, he closed his fist, listening to the satisfying clink as his fingers touched. He'd already found a new name for the quirk as well.

As cool as the old name had sounded, with his discovery of how the quirk worked, he needed to pick one that fit it a bit better. It could turn into any metal, not just alloys. A very specific distinction, but one that annoyed him nonetheless.

More than that, though, he didn't want to keep its original name because of where it came from.

So, after a frustratingly long time debating new names with himself, he'd come up with 'Metallum,' the Latin word for metal. It had been a tough decision between that and 'metallon,' the Greek word for metal. But he'd decided that the former sounded a bit cooler.

He still wasn't entirely content with the quirk. Thinking of the person who'd had it before him still left a sour taste in his mouth. But renaming it had been a step in the right direction.

Now he just needed an opportunity to start using it in the field, and he could really start to undo the wrongs attached to it.

In the meantime though. He could experiment with it to find its limits and potential.

The main thing he wanted to figure out, was whether or not he could 'store' metals. If he could turn into metals beyond the last one he'd touched, then its usefulness would increase so very much. He also wanted to know exactly how much he could control the transformation. He already had it down to where he could transform individual body parts, but what he really wanted was to change everything beneath the skin.

If he could achieve that level of control, then he'd potentially be able to utilize it when he was Izuku.

Reaching down, he opened his bag and pulled out a handful of trinkets. He'd gathered a few items made of different metals so he could experiment a bit easier.

Which is exactly what he was going to do. Placing a different metal in each hand, he got to work attempting to control the quirk's 'memory.'

---

Before long – about an hour later – he saw someone approaching in the corner of his eye, or at least heading in his direction; he was still invisible. Looking over, he saw All Might – in his scrawny form – walking towards him, looking around as if searching for something, or, more likely, someone.

Pulling 'Metallum' back into his chest, he reversed the change that was currently spread across the underside of his arms, before he dropped his focus on 'Ghost.' He could see the exact moment it stopped working, because Yagi's gaze snapped to him immediately. So he had been looking for something, then. Him.

Once again, despite knowing that nothing would come of it, he used 'Appraisal' on the man, frowning as the description ran through his head. He still couldn't fully wrap his head around that. Thankfully, he'd had the whole Stain debacle and his normal quirk analysis to distract him from the mystery over the weeks – wow, nearly a month – since he'd last seen them. But now, here he was, and it was fresh in his head again.

'Actually,' he thought to himself, narrowing his eyes ever so slightly at the approaching figure, 'depending on what he wants, if I play this right, I can get the answers to my questions.'

He adopted a friendly smile as the man drew closer, already raising himself up to match the man.

"Mister Yagi." He called out in greeting. "It's a surprise to see you here."

"Young Etsumi!" It's nice to see you too!" The man returned, a smile splitting his face that probably would've been blinding were he not so emaciated. "And please, drop the 'mister.' You're making me feel old. Just Yagi is fine."

"Alright. Just Yagi it is." Izuku responded, bowing his head slightly. "So then, Yagi, is there something you needed? You seemed to be looking for me."

"Ah, nothing in particular. I was just picking up some trash further down the beach when I saw you fly in earlier, and came over to say hello."

Izuku's eyebrows raised at that. "You were the one that's been cleaning the beach?"

"I am indeed. I noticed that you had disappeared for a while and didn't want the place to go back to being a dump."

'He's been watching for me.' Izuku noted, maintaining his friendly exterior. 'Why? Does he know that I know his secret? No… That can't be the reason. The only way he would know that is if he knew about "Appraisal." And if he knew about that, then I'd have bigger problems on my hands.'

"Well, thank you for that." Izuku said, genuinely, despite his inner turmoil and rising suspicion. "I appreciate someone else keeping the place clean in my absence. I had to deal with some personal matters that took far longer than I'd anticipated. And unfortunately, I was unable to come here to tend to the beach."

"Actually," He added, smile growing a bit at the sudden thought that sprouted. "Were you still curious about who cleaned this place initially?"

Yagi rubbed at the back of his neck. "Ha… I'd be lying if I said I wasn't."

"I'll tell you." He said. "But only if you tell me something in return."

"Alright. What is it you wish to know?" Yagi responded, smile still present.

"Why exactly does All Might, the Symbol of Peace, look like this." He asked, gesturing at the man's scrawny figure.

The other's smile dropped instantly, replaced by shock and a bit of fear. "P-pardon?"

"You heard me. I asked why you are able to transform from this," Izuku gestured at him again, "to the All Might everyone knows."

Yagi sputtered for a moment, struggling to find his words which, even though he already knew, only further confirmed it. "Well, I- I'm not sure what you're talking about Young Man. You- You must have me confused with someone else."

"You know very well what I'm talking about." Izuku said, leveling a serious look at the man. "Just as I know that I don't have you confused with anyone."

He watched the hero in disguise sputter some more, struggling to come up with some sort of excuse, and sighed. "Relax, I've no intention of revealing your secret to anyone. I'm aware of the sort of panic that would result from such a revelation. Assuming anyone would actually believe me in the first place."

He saw Yagi relax ever so slightly at his words, just as a fair bit of confusion entered the man's eyes. "Come with me. We can discuss it over lunch. I know just the place."

Turning away from Yagi, he moved up towards the road. He noticed the man's footsteps just behind him.

Before long, the two had arrived at the café he frequented, and were settling down at his usual table.

He glanced through the menu to check their specials for the day. All the while, he could feel Yagi's eyes trained on him.

A sigh, "I thought I told you to relax. I've no intention of doing anything."

Yagi spoke, no longer hindered by his surprise. "How did you know?"

"On the day we met," he started, "I also saw you apprehend the sludge villain."

He glanced up at the man, whose eyes were still focused on him. "You were wearing the exact same outfit. Which I had already noticed looked way too big for you. Your facial structure was similar, as were your eyes and hair."

Obviously, he had known just through his use of 'Appraisal,' but he couldn't exactly tell him that.

Shrugging, he added, "That and the fact that, even if I wasn't already sure, you just confirmed it for me."

He almost laughed at the hero's expression, somewhere between shocked and indignant. "Now, spill. What exactly is it that allows you to shift from a twig that, no offence, looks like he could be taken out by a stiff breeze, to the literal number one hero in the world?"

Yagi seemed to consider something for a moment before sighing, a defeated look on his face. He silently lifted up his shirt, exposing his left side.

Izuku almost spit out his drink, which had just been delivered by the server, instead he nearly choked as he swallowed it wrong.

The man's side looked like someone had taken a chainsaw to him. What the hell causes that sort of injury?

Doing his best not to cough a lung out, he voiced his question in the most eloquent way possible.

"What the fuck… is that!?"

Yagi glanced around, looking for anyone who might be listening in as he lowered his shirt. Thankfully, there wasn't anyone near them who might've caught sight at… whatever he'd just seen.

"An injury." Yagi started, somberly. "It's the reason I look like this. I lost most of my stomach and part of my left lung from the wound. And as a result," He gestured at himself, "I've slowly been wasting away.

"Of course!" Izuku exclaimed, slapping a hand to his forehead. It made perfect sense. "It's an injury. I've been thinking that you had some sort of transformation quirk, But it's really an enhancement quirk with so much energy that it's capable of sparing some of it for the sole purpose of reinforcing your body to handle the power, increasing your size. And you're so strong normally that a tiny dip in your abilities would barely be noticed."

"I- I suppose?" Yagi stuttered, clearly not expecting Izuku's sudden analysis. "I'm not entirely sure if that's how it works. But, because of this injury, my time as a hero is slowly fading away. I'm down to about three hours a day before the strain is too much."

"I see." Izuku said, taking in the fact that the number one hero was literally wasting away as he continued to save people. "I suppose you have been appearing less over the years. I'm not sure anyone has really noticed."

He nodded at the other. "A credit to your capabilities, then, that no one has noticed anything off about you, and that you're still working so hard despite the fact that you're wasting away because of it."

A small smile broke on Yagi's face. "Thank you, Young Etsumi. I don't want people to suffer just because of my shortcomings."

"Please," Izuku snorted, nearly rolling his eyes. "You could come out and retire tomorrow and the world would be just fine. There might be some panic, and there might be a slight surge in crime. But it'd be much better off than if you were to suddenly keel over in the middle of the day because of your injury."

"But regardless, that still leaves the question of who exactly is capable of damaging you to this extent." He continued, "It had to have been kept quiet. You've never had a public fight to that caliber."

"You're right. The whole thing was kept under wraps because of who it was and how strong they were. It wouldn't sit well with the public if they knew that there was a villain capable of standing up to, and even injuring, the Symbol of Peace."

Izuku frowned at that. Whoever it was must've been terrifying. Any villain with the ability to match up to and even injure All Might would be.

If he had enough time, he could probably amass enough quirks to do so himself – as it stood right now, he might be able to withstand a punch or two before he got sent flying, though 'Metallum' might be able to increase that – but for someone to be able to with only one quirk was nearly unthinkable.

It was weird that he couldn't recall anyone that might fit that description. He had a pretty good idea of all the big figures in the underground, but even he hadn't heard of anyone like that.

Instead, he ran through the incidents he could think of that would've been able to cover up what must've been a massive fight. There weren't but so many.

"Tokyo? About five years ago?" He asked after a moment. "There was a pretty big disaster there that the government labeled as a terrorist attack. It's the only incident I can think of that would've been big enough to hide a fight between you and whoever there is in this world that can stand up to you."

"You-. That's right." Yagi said, a bit of surprise present in his face. "That's where it happened. As for who…" his hand drifted down to his side, and his eyes went distant. "They're dead. I made sure of it."

"Wow." Izuku said, leaning back a little, looking up towards the sky. "Well, I guess that's one mystery solved then."

He looked back at the hero after a moment. "Well, I did say that I'd tell you, if you told me."

Yagi perked up at that, drawn – at least partially – from his memories.

Izuku smirked. "It was me. I'm the one that cleaned up the beach."

The other's mouth dropped open. "Wha- but you said it wasn't you!"

"I lied." He responded with a shrug, as if it were obvious. "Like I said then; you were a stranger asking about me out of the blue. And I had no reason to tell you the truth."

Yagi looked a bit disgruntled at that, apparently unapproving of his deception. "Alright then. Lying aside. Why did you clean it? Surely it can't have been easy all on your own?"

"Eh." He said. "It really wasn't hard. More time consuming than anything else. And as for why," he shrugged again, "I was bored, and I was able to help. I had nothing better to do anyway."

That wasn't the whole story, but it was truth enough for Yagi. He'd had a bigger reason to clean it all up, but that wasn't something that the other needed to know.

He'd had to deal with Dagobah quite a bit when he was younger. Much more than he would've liked to, and for reasons that he was glad he no longer needed to worry about. Now that he and Rei were in a much better place, he'd wanted to erase that part of their history.

"That's all?" Yagi asked. He seemed a bit surprised at his answer, but recovered quickly, a smile breaking out. "I must say Young Man, that is quite commendable! To take on such a large task simply because you could."

"In fact," he continued. "That's one of the defining traits of a hero! Doing something, helping, just because you can."

Izuku hummed in agreement. "I suppose that's mostly true." He mused. "Not all heroes are that selfless, but there is a noticeable difference when they are."

With the rise of heroics as a profession, it was inevitable that people would attempt it merely for the rewards it offered. That, by no means, made them a bad hero by default though. One can still be a good hero even if they're motivated by fame or other selfish goals.

It's part of why he found Stain's mission so ridiculous. That man had it in his head that one can only be a true hero if they are entirely selfless and perfect. He completely disregarded the fact that those that weren't, still did their job; stopping crime and keeping people safe.

If anything, those heroes were almost better than the 'true' ones when it came to that. The fact that they're in it for the fame and rewards could be relied on, because they could be trusted to do their best to receive more of said rewards.

"Take Endeavor for instance." He continued, "While I don't really have anything against him, he is definitely someone who's a hero for the rewards that come with it, rather than because he can. Unlike you."

"Comparing the two of you. Because I feel that, despite you having more outright power and the obvious advantage in a direct fight, both of you exhibit a similar amount of power when it comes to your day-to-day encounters. You both bring in roughly the same number of criminals, but so long as you remain a hero, you will always be number one with Endeavor chasing at your heels. The people will never rally around Endeavor the same as they do around you."

"Endeavor is powerful, fast, and efficient. And he has remarkable control over his quirk which, by its very nature, has the potential for a considerable amount of damage. If memory serves, I believe he's had only one case of destruction of property made against him in the past year. But he's never been one to provide hope to people as you do."

Izuku paused in his analysis of the hero as the server came back to take their orders. He went with the special for the day while Yagi only ordered some soup; evidently his injured stomach couldn't easily handle too much solid food.

"I suppose it's the difference between becoming a hero as your career and becoming one as a way of life." He continued once the server had left.

Yagi took a sip of his drink, watching him with curious eyes. "You certainly seem to have put a lot of thought into such topics. Do you maybe wish to become a hero yourself?"

"I do, actually." He answered without hesitation. "Well, maybe not one quite like you, or even Endeavor. I don't much care for the spotlight, and the rewards don't interest me that much. And I don't see myself as someone who can provide hope for people. If I become a hero, it'll just be to help who I can."

He planned on becoming an underground hero. What he'd said about not being a fan of the spotlight and not being interested in the rewards had been true, but a bigger part of it was that if he went underground, then he could do almost exactly what he did now, as Oni, only legally.

Underground heroes had fewer people overseeing them to allow greater freedom and secrecy in their work. He would have nearly free reign to do what he wanted. And then whenever he needed to do something that required a bit more force, or went a bit beyond what a hero could legally do, he could still go out as Oni to take care of it.

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, Young Etsumi. As you were getting at a minute ago, the reason why one becomes a hero doesn't matter, so long as they do it to the best of their abilities. And your reasons are quite noble. To want to help people without recognition or reward is the mark of a true hero."

Izuku smiled as he nodded in agreement to the man's words. He generally wasn't one to doubt himself when it came to what he wanted. He knew what he wanted and he had plenty of reasons to justify it – not that he had anyone he needed to justify them to – but hearing the number one hero reassure him warmed his hearts in a way he hadn't expected.

The server returned with their food then, and they halted their conversation to dig in.

---

"So, I've been wanting to ask." Izuku started after a bit. "Why are you even in Musutafu to begin with? It's pretty far from your agency in Tokyo."

"Well, you see… Hmm…" Yagi paused, looking like he was considering his next words carefully.

Finally, he looked back up at Izuku. "I've already told you the secret of my injury," He murmured, almost to himself. "Perhaps I could tell you one more…"

"Whatever it is, you have my word that I'll keep it." He reassured. He had no intention of revealing any of the man's secrets to the world. Who knew what sort of repercussions would occur if they got into the hands of his enemies.

Yagi considered it a moment longer, before he seemed to reach a decision, his expression hardening with resolve. "I came here to seek a successor. And not just to my legacy." He added in.

He took a deep breath, before continuing. "Young Etsumi. If you would accept it, I would offer you my quirk."

Izuku felt his heart – both of them – skip a beat.

'What? What does he mean?' Izuku thought to himself as he struggled to maintain a neutral expression in spite of his frantic thoughts. 'Does he know about my quirk? How? More importantly, if he knows about my quirk, why did he even agree to talk to me in the first place?'

Through the chaos roiling in his mind, he managed to squeeze out a tiny "What?"

Yagi didn't seem to notice his internal panic, launching into an explanation. "My quirk… Is special. It is one that can be passed along, like a sacred flame, from wielder to wielder gathering strength with each one."

"It is called, One For All."

Izuku was starting to get his mind under control with the man's explanation.

'So that's what it meant by "past users."' He realized. 'It wasn't referring to direct genetic predecessors, but just people that passed the quirk on.'

He nearly sighed in relief. 'So he doesn't know about my quirk after all.'

Getting over his momentary panic, he focused on the quirk itself, matching Yagi's explanation to what 'Appraisal' had first told him. Out of everything else, it was weird that it could pass itself on in a way separate from genetics.

"So, it's one that can pass itself on to others?" He asked, mostly to himself, "It's odd that a quality like that would manifest alongside enhanced strength. I would almost be willing to say that it seems more like two quirks than just one, but then, there are a lot of weird quirks in the world. Maybe it has to do with energy, rather than normal enhancement? That would make sense if it were a stockpiling quirk instead of a regular enhancer." That bit matched up with that part Yagi had added at the end of his explanation. About the quirk gathering strength.

He didn't notice the look on Yagi's face as he made his analysis, sprinkling in some of what he already knew to help make the connections.

"I don't know of any heroes in the past that matched up to All Might's level of strength, so a stockpiling quirk that stockpiles energy maybe, from the past users, makes even more sense. If it were an energy-based quirk, that would also make it easier to believe that it can be passed on.

"T-that's exactly correct Etsumi." Yagi stuttered out, drawing Izuku from his thoughts. "I'm not too sure about the energy part of it but, as I said, it does stockpile strength from the past wielders."

He paused for a moment, then. "How exactly did you manage to work that out so well, and so quickly no less."

"My job relies on my ability to pick quirks apart." He replied with a partial truth. "Once I knew that it could be passed on, and once I knew the way it enhanced your strength, what with it also changing your form, it made more sense for it to be an energy quirk rather than a true strength one. And you said that it gathers strength. It's much more believable that it could pass on some form of energy rather than just a vague concept of pure strength."

"Outstanding…" Yagi softly exclaimed. "But wait, what do you mean your job?"

"Ah, right. You don't know." Izuku realized. "Well, since you explained your secret to me, it's only fair that I share with you a secret of my own."

"Oh, that's not necessary, Young Etsumi." Yagi responded, waving a hand in front of him. "You don't have to do anything like that."

"All the same, I would like to. A secret for a secret. Besides, you didn't exactly share yours with me willingly, at least the one regarding your form."

The other relented after a moment. "Alright, I shall keep this secret for you, whatever it is."

Izuku bowed slightly in acknowledgement. Then, "Have you ever heard of Deku?"

Yagi scratched at his head. "The name sounds familiar. Aren't they a quirk trainer of some sort? Why do you ask?"

He ignored the surge of giddy pride that started to rise at the thought of even All might himself knowing about his analyst persona, even if it was only vaguely.

"Close enough." He responded with a smirk. "I'm actually a quirk analyst. Though I am certified as a trainer as well."

He laughed internally as he watched Yagi's mouth drop open and his eyes widen in shock.

"W-what!?" He stuttered. "You're Deku?"

Izuku spread his arms outward a bit. "In the flesh."

"But, if memory serves, Deku has been around for years." Yagi continued. "You look as though you are still in school."

"You're not wrong." Izuku responded. "'Deku' has been around for roughly, oh, six years now. And I am only seventeen."

That was only partly true. His career as an established quirk analyst had started when he was eleven, but he'd been doing it unofficially for a few years before then.

"Then, how…?"

"I'm smart, that's how." He answered. "I finished school a few years early, and already had a passion for quirks. So why not start making money from it?"

Again. Only partially true. Part of it had been necessity, not just passion that led him into analysis as a profession.

"You mean that you graduated from high school before you were even eleven?" Yagi asked, clearly shocked.

"Yep. And I had a degree in quirk analysis as well; I needed to in order to officially accept paid requests."

Seeing Yagi speechless at the idea of a child earning a college degree at such a young age, he shrugged. "Like I said. I'm smart."

Multiple intelligence quirks all compounding onto each other tended to do that to a person.

"So, the reason you were able to work out the details of One For All…"

"It's because I'm actually certified to do so and have several years' experience in doing that sort of thing."

"Incredible…"

Yagi shook himself out of his daze after a moment. "Well, Young Etsumi. My offer still stands. If you accept it, I would have you inherit my quirk."

Izuku's face fell at the offer, and his eyes dropped to his plate. 'Right. That.'

It wasn't just a question of whether or not Izuku wanted the quirk. He did. So much that his blood nearly boiled.

Just the mere thought of acquiring such a powerful quirk, that he for whatever reason could not take by himself, made the collector in him twitch and burn.

But… It was also about whether he wanted the legacy that came with it. Yagi wasn't just looking for a successor to inherit his quirk, he also wanted someone to inherit the legacy of All Might, the Symbol of Peace. Izuku wasn't sure he could inherit that, or if he even wanted to try… Or if he even really deserved to in the first place.

Izuku held no delusions that he was a good person. Sure, he wanted to be a hero, and he went out as Oni to help people, but that wasn't enough to make up for who, or what, he was.

He'd hurt people, crippled them, even killed some. He took delight in fighting and terrifying criminals, to the extent that he could be considered cruel. Even his natural quirk, by its very nature, was evil. He took and took for himself and, despite his wanting to help, cared very little for those that weren't himself or Rei. Aizawa and Tsukauchi were probably the only two others that he cared for at all.

No. He didn't think he'd make a very worthy successor at all. That privilege belonged to someone better than him.

"I… Don't know." He finally answered.

He looked up at Yagi, whose smile had faded ever so slightly.

"I'm honored that you would offer your quirk to me, don't misunderstand." He continued, seeing the look on Yagi's face. "But I'm not sure if I could accept something like that."

"It's alright Etsumi." Yagi reassured, looking a bit disappointed, but not in him. "I offered, and it is absolutely, completely your choice whether or not you accept. You are under no obligation to do so."

"I appreciate you saying that." He responded. "I'm not saying no, but… Just let me think about it."

"Of course!" He said with a smile. "Take all the time you need. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

Izuku nodded, then shifted himself away from the table, rising back up to his normal height. He would head home a bit earlier than he originally planned; he'd gotten the answers to his questions, but he'd also been given a lot to think about.

He pulled out his wallet, ignoring Yagi's protests as he dropped money on the table. As he did, a thought entered his mind that distracted him from the man's offer for a moment.

"I'll think about what you said. But in the meantime. Are you familiar with Nezu, the principal of Yueii?"

"I am." Yagi answered immediately, but with a slightly confused look on his face.

Izuku nodded. "If you happen to talk to him, could you please be sure not to reveal my identity as Deku to him? I know you already said you would keep that secret, but I just want to make sure you're extra careful around him."

"Of course, Young Etsumi. You have my word. But may I ask why you wish to keep it from him specifically?"

He smirked. "I've actually been in communication with him as Deku. I know that he wants to figure out my true identity, and I want to see how long I can keep it from him."

"I see…" Yagi responded, still slightly confused.

"By the way." Izuku continued. "Is he aware of any of your secrets? Your injury or your quirk?"

Yagi nodded. "He is one of the few."

"Excellent." He responded with a smile. "Then, do you mind if I reference those to him as Deku? I want to present theories to him about you that loosely resemble them and see if it's enough to give him an aneurysm."

"I suppose? So long as they are kept from those that don't already know them, I don't see why not? Though I don't see why you would want to do that to him."

Izuku waved a hand in front of him. "It's an expression, don't worry. I just want to see if I can render him speechless. I don't think that's ever happened to him and I want to see what happens."

"Alright?" Yagi responded. "As I said, so long as you're careful then I see no issue."

"Wonderful." He was already putting a plan together in his head for how he wanted to do it.

"We should do this again some time." He said. "This has been… enlightening. And there are more topics I would like to discuss with you."

"I think I would like that." Yagi responded. "Unfortunately, I can't do it but so often. Right now I only come down to Musutafu about once a week. But we could meet up then?"

"That works for me."

They exchanged phone numbers, before Izuku left the café, working his way down the road back towards his apartment. He had to hold in the unnecessary excitement at knowing that he had All Might's personal phone number. How many people could say such a thing?

He smiled. So far, not too bad for his first day back.

---

Yagi watched as Etsumi walked – or, slithered? – away from the café. He'd gotten some answers to his questions but, ultimately, he was just as confused as he was before.

For starters, he'd at least learned why the young man seemed to be analyzing him with every look. It was because he likely was.

That was a concept that Yagi was still struggling to wrap his head around. It was shocking enough to learn that Etsumi was the quirk analyst; Deku. He hadn't really been too aware of Deku before. He'd always been preoccupied with his hero work and had never really needed a trainer to help him get a handle on One For All. But he'd heard the name enough to know that they were fairly well known and, from what he could tell, quite skilled.

But then to also find out that he not only finished school, but also had a college degree at the age of eleven…

Just how smart was Etsumi?

The way he'd completely picked One For All apart in mere seconds, especially when Yagi had only told him that it could be passed along to a new user and gather strength along the way, was astounding to say the least.

He'd almost be willing to say that the young man was just as smart as Nezu.

An involuntary shiver traveled down his spine at the mere thought. Nezu was already terrifying enough, and the two of them were already in communication with one another?

He could only imagine what they could accomplish together.

The realization of just how smart Etsumi was, only further reinforced his decision to offer One For All to him.

He wasn't too sure what made him decide to do so in the first place. He'd only met the young man once before, and knew next to nothing about him, but he couldn't help but to feel that he was the right choice.

Just as it had felt like the echoes of the previous wielders had reacted when he first shook Etsumi's hand, it almost felt as it was them that was urging him to make the offer.

That, along with hearing his explanations for why he cleaned the beach and why he wanted to become a hero, had pushed him to make the offer. He could tell that Etsumi had what it takes to become a great hero.

He looked down at where Etsumi's number was displayed on his phone. He would honor his decision if he decided not to accept One For All, but maybe he could convince him the next time they met.

---

4:20 [Deku]-

-'So, I have a theory that I've been toying with for a few days that I'd like to run by you.'

4:21 [MysteryBoxMammal]-

-'And what might this theory be?'

He and Nezu had just wrapped up a game of chess; he was proud to say that his lead was being maintained with a score of 208 to 205. He'd been toying with his idea of messing with the animal, working out exactly how to do it, and he'd finally come up with something perfect.

4:21 [Deku]-

-'It's about All Might. And what his quirk might be.'

4:21 [MysteryBoxMammal]-

-'Oh? That's one of, if not the, most widely debated subject in modern quirk theory. No one has been able to work it out thus far.'

-'Do go on.'

4:22 [Deku]-

-'Essentially, it all hinges on All Might having an energy-based quirk, rather than a simple strength enhancer.'

-'Most strength-based quirks can only get so strong. Because the body itself can only be pushed so far by a single enhancement quirk. Most strength quirks function by either increasing, or condensing, muscle mass. There are a rare few that enhance using the body's own natural energy, but those would not be able to push much further because of the limits of one's stamina.'

-'Therefore. I'm thinking that maybe All Might has a quirk that somehow stockpiles energy. Energy that can then be utilized as raw strength.'

-'Exploring that line of thought, though, has me wondering where he would be able to gather such extreme amounts of energy from in the first place. Looking at other stockpiling quirks, such as Fatgum, there is a limit to how much the human body can store in natural scenarios. So, unless All Might's quirk can store an essentially limitless amount of energy – and he's been stockpiling his entire life – or he can take in energy beyond what the human body can produce, there must be something else at work.'

-'I'm wondering if maybe the former is the case. Maybe his quirk can store an effectively limitless amount of energy, and it's been gathering for a long time. Potentially even longer than his life alone.'

He saw Nezu start to type at that. The icon appeared and vanished several times in quick succession, before disappearing entirely. It seemed as though he wanted to wait to see where his 'theory' went.

A smirk split across his face. Oh, he was going to take it so much further.

4:26 [Deku]-

-'If his quirk truly does stockpile energy, it wouldn't be entirely unbelievable that said energy could be transferred between people. Perhaps if the quirk has a unique mutation that allows it to remain the dominant gene when being passed down from parent to child. If that were the case, and it's been in existence since the appearance of quirks, then it would have gathered up a massive amount by the time All Might manifested the quirk, explaining his nearly unbelievable strength.'

-'So, to summarize. I believe that All Might has an energy stockpiling quirk, that manifests itself in the form of raw strength. And that this quirk can be passed down from user to user, allowing each subsequent user to make use of a larger amount of energy than the last.'

He saw the icon appear again, this time staying for nearly a full minute before a message finally appeared.

4:28 [MysteryBoxMammal]-

-'That is certainly an interesting theory. I can see the logic behind it.'

-'Do you have any evidence to back it up?'

Izuku smirked again. He figured that's where Nezu would go. The rodent wanted to know if this was a product of pure speculation or if he actually had any physical proof.

He suspected that if he were to answer that he did, then Nezu would start trying much harder to find his identity. Whether that be just to find out who he was and how he'd found out, or to blackmail him into giving it up or swearing to secrecy.

He didn't want to press to far and push Nezu over the edge. Though he wasn't too sure what that edge would even be.

4:28 [Deku]-

-'Unfortunately, I don't. This theory is nothing but guesses based on observation.'

4:28 [MysteryBoxMammal]-

-'I see.'

-'Well. It is interesting nonetheless. I am excited to see if it goes anywhere.'

-'Do please let me know if you find anything to prove it.'

-'Now. I apologize, but I will have to cut this discussion short. There are matters that I must attend to that cannot wait.'

Izuku didn't get a chance to respond before Nezu disconnected.

If he had All Might's number, then he was probably already calling the hero to inform him that someone knew – or at least had guessed – the secret behind his quirk.

He couldn't help the small laugh that bubbled up at the thought of what was going through Nezu's mind.

Shaking his head, he moved away from the computer. He could hear Rei starting to move around. It was almost time for him to start cooking dinner, and he wanted to talk to her about what he'd discovered.

Especially the offer that Yagi had made. He still wasn't too sure what to think of it, let alone whether he should accept it.

Maybe she'd be able to help him sort it out.