Chapter 37 - Worry

When an explosion occurs, they would be accompanied by a loud glaring sound of its inevitable detonation. This explosion, however, produced no sound. Chibaku Tensei uses both Shinra Tensei and Bansho Ten'in as a basis for its creation.

The orb first pulls in every possible matter in its surroundings using Bansho Ten'in, omnidirectionally. Then, of course, comes its counterpart, Shinra Tensei. Using the same amount of force it used to attract its surroundings, it then repels everything back, using the orb as the anchor.

Safe to say, the destruction of its second part can cause far greater damage to the surrounding wider area than its first. And it did.

Izuku's eyes opened wide as he saw the ball of matter he unwittingly created exploded. He even felt the pushing force from the orb hit his body and he needed to counter it with his own to avoid falling. The others behind him didn't feel as much but still stumbled when the force hit them.

The residual push, however, wasn't the end of it. All the matter it had amassed flew through the air with frightening speed. Izuku saw a scrap iron flying toward a stumbling contestant near him and quickly used his quirk to push it away, "RUN!"

The contestant hurriedly nodded and got up and ran away, utilizing his quirk to escape faster.

Izuku couldn't waste any time and continuously used whatever remaining energy he had to deflect or pull in any incoming debris from the fleeing contestants and himself.

He thought he would be able to save everyone from harm but he had severely underestimated the power of his own creation. Maybe if he wasn't tired he could just force everything back in one big push but it was impossible right now.

After deflecting an unimaginable amount of flying items, a piece of debris slipped through his field of vision and hit the leg of someone behind him. The girl shouted in pain and looked in fear as she saw another pile of clumped earth hurtling toward her.

Izuku gritted his teeth and wondered whether he should tap into his last reserve of stamina he kept just for his safety to guarantee that no one would be harmed. In the end, he didn't. He knew the chances of her dying or being crippled was high but risking his life for her isn't worth it.

Izuku saw, out of the corner of his eye, his sword flinging towards him and chuckled. Of all things, it was his sword that aimed him last. Just as Izuku was about to save himself and let the debris hit the girl, a flash of yellow dashed over his flying sword and the injured girl before immediately moving on to the surrounding contestants.

Izuku saw his expensive sword is now but a scrap of crumbled particles on the ground.

'My sword…'

He looked around and saw All-Might donning his signature suit and smile checking in on everyone else.

Izuku then saw a couple of heroes nearing the explosion area, several he recognized while others not so much. Though, Izuku's body soon realized that the danger was no more and finally allowed itself to relax.

Izuku fought the desire to relax since he knew that once he closed his eyes, he would faint, and that was the last thing he wanted to do right now.

If he faints, the safe and easy entrance exam he promised Inko will turn to dust. Izuku forced his body to stand back up and walked towards the murmuring crowd where Toga and Lin were.

U.A. will definitely call his mother, and if he passed out, he won't be there to placate her worry, but alas, he had spent too much energy. His teenage body has had enough of his actions.

*poof*

Izuku's body fell as his face crumbled into one of annoyance.

~~~~~

Izuku slowly opened his eyes and felt Deja vu. He looked around and couldn't recognize where he currently was. It looked like a very luxurious infirmary.

Izuku looked to his left and saw his mother. Weight was also on his chest and he noticed it was Lin sleeping on top of him.

Izuku scratched Lin's head as she purred before turning to Inko, only to notice small dark eye bags accompanying her rather pale complexion as she slept tightly, holding his hand.

Izuku rolled his eyes in annoyance. He could've prevented Inko from worrying if he had just stayed up for a few more hours, but his body couldn't. Just a single cast of Chibaku Tensei, albeit unintentional, was already enough to weaken his body that much.

'I doubt my limit is only one of those…My body should be able to improve more,' Izuku thought. He assumed a body improved by god should be able to withstand much more than this.

Even if Izuku isn't a battle junkie, he desired more strength. After seeing All Might's prowess firsthand, he knew he had little chance of winning should they ever fight, and that is a potential danger to him and everyone around him.

All Might may be righteous, virtuous, and every heroic word in this world, but, Izuku knew that there will always be a possibility of them clashing. No matter what, he wanted to have at least 80% of winning against him, and only then will Izuku take things a bit slower.

Not to mention, this world is different than his previous one. He might be considered strong and deadly before, but so what? A surprise gunshot to his head and he's dead.

In this world, however, being at the top actually mattered.

Izuku looked at the sleeping Inko and caressed her head slowly. For the first time, he was disappointed in himself for not being tough enough. He regretted taking things for granted and reducing his training in recent months, what with Mitsuki and all.

Izuku stopped dwelling on it and was just glad that nothing serious actually happened. He didn't know what Inko will say after this but one thing was for sure, He would need to somehow placate her worry.

He opened his phone and noticed it had been a day since the entrance exam, meaning Inko had waited for quite a while now.

Izuku also saw several text messages from Toga and Mitsuki. He had given Mitsuki a second phone to text him with since being extra careful won't hurt.

Izuku replied to Mitsuki's worried text and said he was fine and wasn't injured or anything serious. He did the same for Toga and she wanted a call but he refused, seeing that Inko was fast asleep.

He did remember promising her a wish for safely bringing Lin out of harm's way.

[Where are you?] Izuku texted,

[Back home. I don't want to stay in that small body for so long.]

[What do you want for your wish?]

[Can I have anything? Let me stay with you!]

Izuku shook his head when he read her request. One day, he might need to teach her about a certain thing called boundaries. At least boundaries between her and his other closed ones. She's a bit too scary for a normal person to handle.

[If you don't mind not acting so crazy all the time then maybe.]

[Ehh, I thought you liked me this way!]

[I do, but not everyone does. You should know.]

Izuku felt a bit bad constantly reminding Toga of her rather sad days but it's leverage he isn't willing to give up. It's much easier to control her actions with it. Though, it's not like feeling guilty had ever stopped Izuku from doing anything.

The door to his room suddenly opened as four figures walked in. Izuku quickly texted that he was leaving for a while to observe the four. Except for a humanoid animal, he recognized the rest as All-Might, Recovery Lady, and Detective Naomasa.

"Young Midoriya, glad to see you fine!" All-Might said with a smile. Izuku couldn't really put his finger on it but he felt like up close, All-Might is very different from the rest of the world, as if he was drawn differently.

Anyway, Izuku attributed it as anime bullshit and quickly said, "I was only tired, nothing serious."

"You fainted for a whole day, lad. I wanted to heal you with my quirk but…I was worried," Recovery Lady said, her face donning a confused and weird expression as she wondered about Izuku's situation.

Izuku laughed wryly since he also didn't expect the situation to go that far out of control.

Not wanting to disturb his tired mother, Izuku got up with Lin and carried her to his bed. It was better if they wanted to discuss things elsewhere since he also didn't want to make his mother worry even more.

Thankfully, Inko was too tired and slept soundly after Izuku kissed her forehead. Under the gaze of the four figures, Izuku pointed to the door and said, "Let's talk outside," and walked away with Lin trailing his steps.

The four looked at each other and found the same confused gaze within each other. They knew from his most recent file that he was a massive hero fan, and acting this nonchalantly is a bit unexpected. Nezu only laughed it off and trailed Izuku out, his mood a bit cheery as if he had just discovered an interesting thing.

~~~~~