Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Hey Kid!” A young woman’s voice called out as Izuku sat on the island, his feet soaking in the pool of water. When he looked back he saw the musician Ember. “I wanted to talk about your fight against Nocturne.” 

“Oh…Yeah? What about it?” He pondered. He rose from the water and as he landed his boots reformed. “I will admit I don’t remember a lot of it.” He held his powers at the edge of his mind ready to strike out if she wanted vengeance. 

“You did something that to my knowledge no one training you previously could. And you did it like it was second nature.” Izuku’s face screwed up as he tried to recall exactly what it was he might have done. All he could come up with was the explosion that the king rescued the ghost of dreams from.

“I mean it may have been powerful but I don’t think it was much more than me letting the power run away from me.” He tried to argue.

“Kid, you called sound and thunder to be your weapon. The King can’t do that except with his wail. Boxy can do it if he can find an old Fenton BOOmbox. Frostbite and Knight can’t even dream of doing it. If you want some help to train with it sometime, invite me out into your world.” She offered him three guitar picks. “Burn one and say my name and it will call me and let me join you.” Izuku took them, placing them in a pocket of his jacket. If he really had this power he would need to train it. Present Mic might be able to help to a degree but Ember was a ghost with sonic based abilities and a century of experience. 

Something in the back of his head didn’t want to completely trust her and asked the obvious question. “What’s in it for you? I get the feeling you aren’t doing this to be kind.” 

“I won’t lie to you. I want to go to your world but need an invitation due to the King’s Law. I could walk through that portal right now but I’d leave much of my power behind and wouldn’t be more than a wisp of my true self. I’m sure you were given the lecture on obsessions. Mine is attention. Invite me out and I’ll teach you and in return you let me perform around your haunt. Sound fair?” She explained. 

“I guess that doesn’t sound like a problem. Deal.” He shook her hand and felt an odd tug down his arm and to her. As the two turned and went their separate ways he hoped this wasn’t a mistake.

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It was moving day for the two in their station. Their entire lives packed up in 3 duffel bags. One bag each for their clothes, the final bag contained Izuku’s entire supply of ectoplasm as well as the card Danny had given him in case of an emergency. The portal had been shut down three days ago in preparation for being moved onto the UA campus. Izuku wished he could actually open a portal and he would dump the bags on the island he considered to be his own. But despite most of his powers working when he wanted them to, he still couldn’t open a portal and the Wail he had been told he would have hadn’t manifested either. 

The duo stood at the gate Himiko squeezed his wrist. She knew she owed her life to this kind greenette. She would find a way to pay him back. As they joined the flow of students into campus. It was going to be so odd not living in the same room or even the same building. It was a detail they really hadn’t considered prior. 

They went to the 1-A dorm first. Everyone was focused on their own moves so while they nodded in passing no one really stopped the duo. The room had a dresser, desk and bed. It was bare bones but it was more than they were used to. “We can go shopping after we move in to pick up some things to make our rooms more…ours.” Izuku told her as he left the bag of clothes on his bed and the bag containing the ectoplasm and related equipment was slid under the bed. He knew it was likely against the rules to keep corrosive chemicals in his room but he hadn’t had a chance to speak with Aizawa or anyone from the school since he received his acceptance letter. 

So that was a problem for future Izuku. 

As they left the room he caught a glimpse of spikey ash blonde hair on the stairs heading higher in the building.  Of course Ka…Bakugo got in. With his quirk he was sure to get in. On their way out Izuku noticed the girl he saved during his entrance exam and smiled at her. She waved at him. “Thank you so much! You saved me and when you passed out I was so worried but Recovery girl said you were just exhausted and would be fine when you woke up. Please tell me you weren’t hurt saving me.” She rambled in a high voice. 

“I’m fine I promise. I just overdid it with the destroying the robot. I’m still getting used to regulating the high end of my power so it doesn’t consume my entire energy supply.” His eyes didn’t leave hers they were such a beautiful color. 

“I’ll say! I heard we were the only ones whose 0-pointer was stopped. Because of you.” She giggled. Then she seemed to notice something and her face became contemplative. “What are you looking at?”

“Your eyes. They are the blue of the sky just after dusk.” He said with a soft smile then blushed. “Sorry.” looking away.

“Wait. You can see me?!”

Chapter Text

“Yes? Why is that surprising?” He asked, tilting his head slightly. 

It was Himiko that pointed out what he couldn’t see. “Izu. She is invisible. I knew she was there because I could hear her heart and see her clothes. But yeah she is completely transparent.” Sighing as it truly wasn’t fair how much power this tiny green bean had access to and he had just found a new power. “We have to go see our friend over in the support dorms. Do you want to join us?” Looking roughly where the girl was. 

“No, Umm but can we trade numbers? I need to get unpacked.” The duo froze at her words. 

“Well that’s one more thing for us to get when we go shopping. I hadn’t even thought about the fact we needed phones. Wait…Will I need Mei to make my phone?” 

Hagakure looked so confused. “Wait, why would you need someone to make you a phone? What do you mean you don’t have a phone?” She looked cute with her head tilted. It made Izuku wonder if she never learned to hide her expressions since no one could see them before. 

“Don’t worry Ivisogirl, this is Izubean’s dorm so he will be back. And I will be here often.” The blonde explained with a giggle. “I’m Himiko, This is my brother Izuku.” Hoping it would put the girl more at ease if the hero crush she heard in the invisible girl's voice was real. “But he is going to help me and a friend move into the Support Course Dorms. So we do need to get going.” Taking Izuku by the hand she began dragging him away as he waved to her. 

Hagakure called out, waving back “I’m Tooru.” 

============

When the duo reached the Support dorms they were surprised when compared to 1-A’s brick and mortar appearance that resembled a more standard academic building the 1-H dorm looked more like a bunker. Concrete and steel. The inside was still just as beautiful and comfortable but it was hardwood and stained concrete instead of carpet. The back wall of the first floor seemed like it was made with garage doors large enough to drive a firetruck through. The chandeliers seemed to have been welded together from large gears with cages around the bulbs that seemed made from recycled glass. The ridges on some looked like they were from the tail lights of old cars. 

 They were met by Power Loader in full exoskeleton. “Find an empty room and put this panel on it.” As he passed Himiko a copper plate with her name carved into it the borders were engraved with Scissors, Pens, and flexible measuring tape. “I don’t remember seeing you at the exam. Name?” 

“Oh I’m Izuku Midoriya but I’m in the Hero Dorms.”

“Ah the top scorer. Congrats kid! You broke every record, including from All Might himself.” Patting him on the shoulder. 

“Thank you sir. But do you know if Mei Hatsume has arrived yet? She had something she needed my help with but after we needed to talk with you about some things.” At the mention of the pink haired demon Power Loader’s spine crawled. 

“Yeah I think she claimed a room on the second floor.” His voice sounded strained with worry or fear. It wasn't obvious which was dominant but there were notes of both. “I can’t really meet with you individually until after the last of my students arrive but I promise to make time to meet with you once they are. Can you tell me what it is about so I can kind of prepare myself. Does it have anything to do with how you didn’t submit a costume request?” 

“Indirectly. Any suit has to be made of a very unique material that only three people I know can make. But it is more about a special need I have. So I technically have to meet with you, Nezu, Recovery Girl and Aizawa. Do you think you can help make that into one meeting or should I try to make individual meetings?” 

“Aizawa normally has something big he does today but since you are in his class you will be involved in it. After that though I think all of us should be free though Recovery girl is unpredictable since I don’t think we have ever gone one day without a student needing to see her for something. But I will pass word on to Nezu and see if it can be arranged today but I can almost promise it will be this week.” 

With a nod the duo headed upstairs to find Himiko a room and meet with Mei. The portal lay in four pieces on her floor waiting to be assembled. Izuku was the voice of reason stopping Mei from putting those four back yet. “We should wait until after my meeting with the staff to rebuild the portal. Yes I’m going to be cut off from the Ghost Zone until its built but it will be a massive power drain when it first starts until the portal is self-sustaining. They may also not want it put in your bedroom or mine.” 

While Mei wanted to argue, it was Himiko who supplied the winning argument. “If you build the portal in your room you won’t have as much room to build new babies.” It was a very simple argument and yet it was enough to bring the anger of Mei to a halt and she nodded her acquiescence. So they spent the next hour flying back to Mei’s house delivering her tools and the remaining Ectoplasm cells for her babies. 

On one return trip Izuku saw Tooru heading for the 1-H dorm. Upon landing she informed him about a test they were having in ten minutes. Tooru learned what flying felt like and she fell in love with it.

Chapter Text

Tooru and Izuku landed behind a building and ran onto the training field just as Aizawa finished explaining about how they were about to be doing the physical education testing from Middle School but would be allowed to use their quirks. 

“We get to use our quirks, this is going to be so much fun!” A blonde with a lightning bolt in  his hair exclaimed. 

Izuku felt the wave of perverse joy that flowed off Aizawa at the fact someone stepped into the verbal bear trap he had planted. “If you’re here for fun then you should head back to the dorms and quit now. You won’t make it. So I’ll make a bet with you all. Whoever scores highest will get a prize. The lowest score will be expelled.” 

The chorus of outrage and how it wasn’t fair since they hadn’t even had their first day of class yet was cut through when he struck his hand through the air from right to left. “That’s enough. This world isn’t fair. Your job as heroes is to try to balance that scale as much as you can. Many of you are probably from smaller schools where your quirk made you a god among men. When what you actually were was lucky. You had a potent quirk but now you stand in the world of those who were nearly all that lucky. It won’t carry you anymore. You have to use your wit and your body to overcome every challenge from now on. You won’t always have been given the training to perfectly handle a situation but it is my job to make sure that you are prepared for as many as possible. So today is a test of your adaptability. Your quirks are tools but they aren’t the only ones you have. The best one is between your ears. Now then we are going to get started. Everyone line up.” 

He took out a ball and a tablet. Bakugo was first in line. “You can do anything you want to send that ball as far as you can but stay in the circle.” Tossing the ball to Bakugo. 

Bakugo sneered as he took the ball cocking his arm back before sending the ball flying with a massive explosion. “DIE!!!” They lost sight of the ball before Aizawa held up the screen reading out 705.2. Students muttered in line about how he would probably have the top spot. 

“What do you think the prize will be?” The boy who started this with his careless remark. 

“Probably the chance to skip a class?” A brunette with pink cheeks who scored an infinite after she sent the ball into the exosphere speculated. 

The line moved quickly with most scores being a lot more normal though one girl who created a cannon scored nearly as high as Bakugo at 688.5. Izuku was amazed to see all the variety of quirks that had gotten through the trial. He was in the last three with Tooru and a boy with gravity defying purple hair. When it was his turn he stepped up to the circle. 

“Remember you cannot leave the circle.” Aizawa remarked as he looked the kid over. He was still in the normal green appearance he knew was natural. Izuku looked back at him. 

“Do you mind if I go twice?” He asked in hushed tones. 

“Do you think you are special enough to deserve that?” The tired teacher countered just as quietly.

“Sir, I think after the Entrance exam you know why I'm asking. I need to know both sets of capabilities.” 

He sighed. At least the kid understood the reason behind these tests. “Do the tests in one form and if there is time at the end we will do them again for the other.” 

Izuku wondered if his normal form could compare but it was that same little voice of overconfidence he had during the entrance exam so he shook it off. Letting the rings of moonlight consume his body leaving the blue white haired boy in his leather jacket and pants. Izuku felt the pain that his transformation caused his teacher. From behind him he felt a wave of surprise and wonder that was drowned out by a massive spike of hot rage that was drawing closer. “DEKU! You piece of shit! I can’t believe you have been looking down on me so much that you hid your quirk for years! DIE!” Izuku dropped the ball, turning and throwing a wall of green energy between him and Bakugou’s rage only for the explosive blonde to be trapped in the scarf of their teacher and his explosions were snuffed. 

“What the hell, why isn’t this scarf ashes!?” He screamed while thrashing in the capture weapon. 

“Because I removed your quirk. Now Bakugo calm down and don’t attack your classmates.” Izuku was stunned that Aizawa had actually protected him. The shield he had thrown up dissolved into nothingness. When released Bakugo went to the back of the group growling and grumbling. Izuku picked the ball back up and considered how to do it. He could throw it and probably get further than most of them had just from his raw physical power but a different Idea struck him as he thought about how each of the students had done it. Looking around he saw the cannon created by the dark haired girl. A memory struck him. Throwing his hand towards it and pulling it into the circle with him. 

“Wait you’re gonna use Yaoyorozu’s cannon surely that cannot be allowed!” The blue haired boy cried out arm chopping as he looked at Aizawa. 

“He didn’t step out of the circle. Remember I told you to use your wits to overcome the challenges.” He felt an odd sense of pride come off his teacher. 

“It won’t fire without a charge.” Yaoyorozu argued since she had made it with one already in it to launch the ball when she did it. 

“You’re right so what is he going to do with it? Is he strong enough to swing it like a bat?” A boy with a tail asked. 

Tooru stared and Izuku could feel the wave of fear roll off of her as she remembered that he had a charge. Izuku held a finger to his lips. “Quiet while I concentrate if you don’t mind.” Holding his hand out a ball of green energy coalesced then ignited into emerald fire. He closed his fist condensing it ever smaller then feeding it another fragment of energy until he felt it was about right he wrapped it in a layer of stone. He slid it into the barrel. “I just hope the barrel survives.” He threw the ball down the open barrel hard enough to chip the stone and let his careful containment of the energies go. The cannon rocked with the force of the blast but held together as the ball rocketed out. Aizawa held up the screen 705.3. Izuku could feel Bakugo’s anger boiling. But honestly he was just happy that the little trick hadn’t wiped him out like the last two times he had relied on it. 

Tooru threw the ball, getting on the low end of the pack. But the boy with fluffy purple hair was up and stood in the circle. “Hey, you with the pink cheeks, what's your name?” 

Looking slightly offended “Uraraka.” And then her eyes glazed over and her mouth hung a little open. 

“Use your quirk on this ball.” And like an obedient little zombie she stepped forward making the ball weightless and he threw the ball into orbit for another infinity before releasing her from his quirk. 

The blue haired boy again argued against this. Making a knife hand towards Izuku “He at least used his own quirk’s power to send the ball flying. Surely using someone else’s quirk cannot be allowed!” 

Aizawa’s hair began to float as he stared down the loud obnoxious boy. “He did use his quirk. And the ONLY person who gets to decide what is or isn’t against the rules is me. If you don’t like it, pack your shit and go home, Tenya.” Dragging his gaze over the rest of the class. “The same goes for all of you.” With that threat hanging in the air they all made their way over to the next event. 

The fifty Meter Dash was pretty straight forward. It gave those like Tenya a chance to shine as they dominated the top of the leaderboard with Tenya, Bakugo, and Tsuyu at the top of the three slots. Most who didn’t have an obvious advantage in this challenge seemed to be conserving their energy by not trying anything clever. Izuku took fifth as he turned the ground to ice after seeing Todoroki do it. 

The grip strength trial resulted in Shoji using his multiple arms to crush the competition with a score of over 500Kg. Kaminari tried to short out the device to show a higher score which while the 99Kg it showed probably was higher than he actually could grip it wasn’t even close to Shoji’s. Izuku took Third in this challenge behind Sato with a score of 211 Kgs. 

The side steps challenge was dominated by Mina and Tooru who both had a lot of dance experience allowing them to really show their agility in the trial. Izuku took fourth as he phased his legs through one and another to keep from tripping. 

In the seated toe touch Izuku turned his core into a green mist and just folded himself in half glad for the fact his bones and organs were merely suggestions in this form. Tsuyu was in second place having still reached beyond her toes. 

The sit up challenge he again just made his core a suggestion and did sit ups at a steady pace for the entire time though it kept him in the top five he was not top of the charts this time. That honor going to Mina and Tooru again. 

The Distance run was a test of endurance and Izuku knew he wouldn’t lose this since he just didn’t get tired if he didn’t exert his powers. He ended up tying with Momo for first as she made a motorcycle and kept refilling it for thirty minutes before Aizawa called it. 

It was time for the final test and it was the standing long jump. The vast majority of the class completely cleared the box resulting in Aizawa deciding for the future they needed a longer sandbox to be built. But Shinsou decided to pad his score from the infinity by using his quirk again. 

“Greenie, what is your name?” He asked again. 

Izuku had a feeling it was a trap but didn’t see the harm in letting him. “Izuku.” And with that his eyes glazed over and he found himself in a dark place looking out a screen. He could kind of hear Shinso tell him to carry him across the sand but he was more interested in the woman standing with him watching. 

“Warn him if he ever attempts to take your freedom again he will be sent to an early grave.” Her voice was soft. Something about it didn’t match the threat. She was dressed in leather pants and a dark forest green peasant blouse. Her eyes were the color of the dawn before a storm. The rich orange red. Her hair was short and stopped just above her shoulder. It seemed to be made of silk. “I wish we actually had time to talk but he is already letting go.” 

And just as quickly he was released from the mind control. “That was amazing.” He said quietly as he looked to Shinso who had come closer to talk quietly. 

“Why did it feel like you could break free at anytime? You shouldn’t be able to do that.” He questioned hoping the greenette would reveal a secret of his brainwashing quirk its owner wasn’t aware of. 

“I am not sure but I think it might have to do with the fact I have two forms? Like if you use it I could turn into the other form to break your hold?” It wasn’t the truth at all but it was believable. And Shinso seemed to consider it before walking off. 

Aizawa threw the scores up and at the top was Izuku tied with Momo, Bakugo was in fourth behind Todoroki. In last place was Kyoka Jirou who was about to protest but Aizawa cut her off. 

“You aren’t being expelled. But you do have a remedial class to take with me to get your physicality up to a better level to offset your lack of a physical quirk. I just said you would be expelled to make sure no one slacked off thinking this didn’t matter.” Turning to the two victors. “Momo, your prize is you are the class president. Izuku, your prize is a meeting with Me, Nezu, Power Loader, and Recovery girl. Let's get going.”

Chapter Text

The meeting was held in a smaller meeting room seemingly meant for when Nezu consulted with the police on one of the missing person’s cases he was famous for. It was the four staff members on one side and Izuku on the other. 

“Am I a bear, a mouse or a dog? It doesn’t matter because I'm the Headmaster. You wanted this meeting Izuku. Perhaps you could enlighten us as to the purpose of it?” Nezu chirped. “I’d expect myself and Aizawa but for you to reach out to both the Dean of the Support Department and the Head of our Medical team…” The white mammal remarked. 

“My condition has some things that have to be accounted for.” Izuku started to explain clearing his throat. “Starting with Recovery Girl. My physiology is very different from a standard human’s now. My blood is acidic and will burn through anything not specially treated with a chemical to prevent it breaking down.”

“Are you baseline vitals normal?” Was her first question.

“Not remotely.” 

“So I will schedule to get those from you, How hard is that chemical to obtain and is the chemical harmful to others?” 

“So it is technically radioactive and corrosive the same way my blood is. As for how difficult it is to obtain…” He turned to Power Loader. “It is an extradimensional chemical that will require setting up a portal to obtain. I’d rather it be on the premises of UA for safety reasons but I will move it off campus if you are unwilling to allow it to be built here.”

Aizawa fielded this one “Where does the portal go?” 

Nezu at the same time “Will you allow me to study it?”

“I promise you don’t want the answer to that. And yes, Nezu sir. I hope you can tell me more about it. I'm taking a lot on faith.” 

“I need to know anyway.” Narrowing his eyes. 

With a sigh Izuku tried “The short answer is the land of the dead.”

The temperature in the room dropped several degrees. Before Power Loader spoke in starts and stops. “Does that mean you…”

“Are dead?” When Power Loader nodded slowly, afraid of the answer Izuku shrugged. “Kinda like technically only halfway?

Aizawa sighed. “What do you mean Halfway? And the longer answer?”

“You saw the version of me with the bright hair? Yeah I’m dead when I’m like that.” Izuku cleared his throat. “The long answer is that it is the Infinite Realms. It is a dimension that exists between all other dimensions. It is the glue that holds the multiverse together. The beings that exist there are the dead and beings which were never truly alive but both generally follow the same rules. Functional Immortality outside of specific things that can kill us.”

“Problem Child…”His voice cut out as he remembered the kid falling. Then the conversation about how someone got his head on straight. “The portal you are building, does it go to the same place that you went when you jumped?”Voice cracking on the last word.

“Yes. The portal I fell through was a natural portal. Only open for a few seconds at a time but as it was explained to me the fabric between this world and that gets thin on occasion in random places. If you are lucky you can find one though some places happen a lot more frequently such as the Bermuda triangle. Some entities are capable of ripping the fabric. Supposedly I will eventually be able to but in the nearly a year since gaining my powers I have never succeeded.”

“This does beg the question. Are the individuals who got your head on straight dead?” Nezu picked up the dropped thread of the conversation, his fur sticking up a bit.

“Sorta? Danny is a halfa like me. Frostbite I believe is a Neverborn. Actually most of the people I trained with were Neverborn except Boxy and Johnny.” 

The room fell into a long uncomfortable silence. “Do they have doctors? Anyone I might be able to consult in an emergency or to better understand your condition?” Recovery asked even her quiet voice a gunshot in the heavy silence. 

“The King’s court physician is Frostbite. Once the Portal is up again I’m sure I can bring him here. Or at the very least see if he has any documentation since he has been caring for Danny for a few centuries.”

“WAIT! Centuries! This person who is like you has lived for centuries!?” Power loader freaked out as he stood hands on the table. 

“Did this person who has lived centuries give you your quirk?” Nezu asked. Sharing a glance with Aizawa. 

“Yes but he said its not a quirk. It is a change in my physiology making me no longer fully human.”

Aizawa remembered a story of a man who supposedly lived for centuries and gave people quirks or took them away. “Have you ever heard of All for One?”