Work Text:
Having One for All as his quirk was… interesting was one word, Izuku thought, and 'interesting' didn't even begin to explain everything it did. All Might hadn't known any of it would happen, and so hadn't been able to warn Izuku of just what it was capable of.
It started with the small things. When he fell asleep while studying, he'd wake up with a blanket over his shoulders, or occasionally in his own bed. He'd find his favorite foods and snacks, no matter how hard they usually were to find, sitting on the kitchen counter. There would be little post-its stuck around his house reminding him of things he needed to do or to take care of himself. They were things his mother could've done, and so he assumed it was her, and didn't think much about it.
Then it was things that weren't as easily explained. He would find little notes in the margins of his own, written in different colors of ink. They would clarify things about his notes, or correct things he had missed or misheard, and sometimes gave opinions on people. Once, he had taken a nap while working on an essay on the beginning of the quirk era for Midnight Sensei, and woke up to find a new document opened. Written in it had been a full analysis of what it was like to live back then, from the perspective of someone who had, and it had all been written in green.
Since then, whoever was writing the notes took to the docs as well. Izuku, since he lacked names for them, had decided to use the colors they used: Green, orange, teal, purple, red, blue, and pink-red. Occasionally, there would be a note in a warm yellow color, but whoever Yellow was didn't talk often. When they did though, their voice, their way of talking and phrasing things, it sounded familiar.
Then, during the sports festival, when he’d been under Shinsou’s quirk - seven figures, ghostly, like they were made of fog - outlined in color. Something about them felt familiar, and when he saw them, they urged him on and pushed One for All through his body, his veins, giving him the strength to break Shinsou’s hold. He never told Yagi-san about the figures in the doorway, even though they felt familiar. They weren't trying to hurt him, he didn't think, but he couldn't tell what they were or what they wanted.
The incidents only continued to grow. The training camp and following incidents seemed to only make them increase.
He'd wake up to find his chores done or a home-cooked meal in front of him, a recipe he didn't know. Kaachan swore he made it, and had been mad at Izuku's insistence otherwise, but had backed off seeing Izuku's confusion and distress. He'd find himself missing chunks of time, notes written down that he didn't remember writing. Recipes written in a notebook that used to be empty, perfect instructions that his body followed like muscle memory when he attempted them. When had he learned them?
He hadn't, really, but his body responded like he had. Slowly, though, he did memorize the recipes written down - and he wrote to his mom asking for more. Whoever made them for him was kind, and so he would pay that forward. He could cook for the others, now, and he knew it would take away some of the stress. Even Kaachan seemed to appreciate the respite from being one of three people who could actually cook, now that Izuku was learning.
Besides, he could make Mom's spicy curry now, and he knew how much Kaachan loved that.
He'd even allowed Izuku to help him on the nights he cooked! And they'd been peaceful!
Izuku hoped they could be friends again.
Slowly, he started to get used to the little blackouts and memory blanks, and learned to accommodate for plans made in his absence. There would be notes for those, anyway, and never anything big - just stuff like going to a cafe with his friends on Friday, or something. He settled into the sort-of routine of finding his way through the world with only part of the time, did his homework, finished everything. Besides, the memory blanks didn't really encroach on things, and whatever happened during them seemed to help.
Whoever was cooking for him and making plans with his friends that he'd normally be too anxious to accept seemed nice, at least.
Then came the joint training exercise, and the first time he saw any of the ghosts that followed him.
He'd been shocked at first, but slowly, he realized that it made sense. Who else could the figures from the sports festival have been? Who else had such ready access to his body? And they'd never done anything bad to him, either.
And so he learned to dream, and he learned to access the place where they were while doing it.
He found himself slightly overwhelmed by how much care and affection they held for him. Nana would remind him over and over to take care of himself, and Uncle Yoichi (yes, finding out that he was related to All For One was a bit of a shock,) was always there to soothe his worries and geek out over pre-quirk media with him. Second and Third still hadn't talked with him much, but they weren't hostile - and he understood how hard it could be to trust. Banjo may be a bit of a prankster, but he had good advice. Shinomori was more reclusive, but on the days that everything was just too much and Izuku just wanted to hide, he could sit at Shinomori's side without judgment. Sometimes they talked, small, meaningless conversations, and sometimes they sat in silence and Izuku could let his thoughts go.
He'd gotten some good book recommendations from him too.
It's a few weeks before he has to share his body with any of them, though, and it all starts with Eri.
Eri loves apples, Izuku knows this. Therefore, he wants to make something with apples for her. After all, Sensei is letting her have a sleepover in the dorms, so he wants to make it special. The whole class does. They'd give anything to see her smile, all of them.
She loves sweet things, too, as most kids do. So Izuku decides that he'll bake apple pie for her!
Problem is, Izuku doesn't know how to make apple pie. So with a day or two left before Eri comes to the dorms, he lays back on his bed, and asks a question.
Almost unsurprisingly, it's Nana who answers, and suddenly, Izuku's eyes are open, still staring up at the ceiling. He doesn't know how, exactly, he's still hearing her, but he writes out what she says. He goes to the store the next day.
It's weird hearing her voice alongside his own thoughts.
It's even weirder, he discovers, to only be half in control of his own body. She moves around the kitchen like she's been in it for years, and maybe she has, he thinks, remembering the meals he found. Her hands are steadier than his ever were as she bakes the pie, and he finds himself mostly watching, though he does do some of it. It wouldn't feel as special if he couldn't at least help with making it, after all. It was his - their, really - gift to Eri.
The pie is a hit. Nana sits beside him somehow, not physically, but he knows, and downright squeals at the smile Eri gives when she tries it. Izuku has to hold back one of his own. Eri is precious, and her smile is something that was so rare for so long… he loves seeing it.
He gives Eri the unicorn plush he found while buying the ingredients, and scoops her up when she hugs him. He knew she would love it, but he's proud of himself anyway, seeing the bright smile she gives him. She falls asleep next to him on the couch not long after, and he can hear his predecessors cooing over how adorable she is. He stays there that night, not wanting to leave her alone, or risk waking her by moving. Somehow, the rest of his class gathers as well, and they have a sleepover, Disney movies, and Ghibli movies as well, playing on the common room TV.
After that incident, it got easier to talk to the other holders. He'd hear them making comments on things while in class, and he got more used to feeling them do something with his body. He'd started to sorta of absorb skills they had, picking up other languages and how certain tools worked.
Though the weirdest was probably the sudden ability to use both hands. Apparently, Third was ambidextrous, and Shinomori was left handed. Which meant that Izuku could use both hands with the same amount of skill now, at least for things like writing. Huh.
Still, it wasn't bad, because now he could take his notes at double speed.
Sometimes, he'd hear them comment on something in one of his classes - all of them had made comments about his history class before. He almost wanted to tell Midnight-sensei about them so that he could ask them for help with stuff, and he was sure that she'd like to talk to them too. But it seemed like a silly thing to get permission to talk about One For All for.
The first time he saw any of them outside of the headspace, well, it was a shock.
He'd woken up to a gentle hand waking him up. Nana's voice called out to him.
"Izuku, sweetie, it's time to wake up."
He just rolled over and pulled the blanket tight, but the gentle nudge didn't stop. Eventually, he blinked his eyes open and looked up.
Only to stare in disbelief at the semi-transparent form of Nana Shimura.
"How…?" His voice was soft, disbelieving. Nana only smiled. He wouldn't have made the connection that they'd appeared after his most recent development with One For All.
"I don't quite know, sweetie. Though, I think you might be the only one who can see us. No one else has reacted to us," she sat down on the edge of the bed, "Either way, it's time to get. Your friend, Kaachan, you called him? He's made breakfast for everyone."
Izuku blinked a bit, before smiling and nodding, slowly standing.
"Alright," he said, and Nana left the room so that he could change. Once he was changed, he went down to the small dining room that the dorms had. Nana followed, briefly pausing in the doorways. Second was leaning the wall across from Katsuki, and Izuku had to pause for a moment, taking in how similar they were.
Besides the darker hair, Second looked almost exactly like an older Kaachan. It was almost creepy. That level of resemblance probably wasn't a coincidence either, right?
He brushed it off, briefly smiling towards Second as he went to grab a plate. No one seemed to notice, which he was a little glad for, since it would be hard to explain. Second gave him a nod in return, and Izuku grabbed some food, heading towards the common room. Nana followed, but none of the others were there.
The day went on rather uneventfully from there, the rest of the holders would follow him to class or just hang out. They still made the same comments, but Izuku had long gotten used to that, and so it wasn't too much of an adjustment. He made it through his classes without accidentally responding aloud to any of their comments, and soon, the day was done.
He laid back on his bed, thinking himself lucky that it was Friday. He'd leave his homework for tomorrow, for once.
So, slowly, Izuku settled into a routine with the other holders.
On the days he was too tired to do much of anything, he'd lay next to Uncle Yoichi, and they'd watch old prequirk shows together. When he cooked for the rest of the class, he'd be accompanied by Nana, sometimes finding things he needed set right next to him. Banjo helped him train with both One For All and Blackwhip, and slowly, he gained access to the rest of the quirks as well. Shinomori stayed with him when he studied and when he just needed a quiet space, preferring to stay either in Izuku's room or the school library, where it was quiet. Second and Third still didn't talk as much as the others, but they seemed more settled around Izuku, now. They kept an eye on him a lot of the time, though Izuku had seen Second hanging around Kaachan as well.
The revelation that they could move things even while incorporeal had made way to a few of them, Banjo and Third especially, playing pranks on Izuku’s class by knocking things over and making them float.
And every once in a while, he'd catch a glimpse of yellow smoke curling around his body. It seemed to happen more when he was sad or anxious, and it felt warm, like a hug. Nana had been the one to tell him that it was the remnants of Toshinori's brief time in the headspace, not a full vestige quite yet. Still, he found himself smiling at the idea that even that little bit of Yagi-san, guided subconsciously, would comfort him.
With their advice, he made leaps and bounds with controlling One For All, and slowly but surely, he made his way to being able to use 100%. Slowly, the vestiges around him found themselves being able to make more effect on the world around him, able to leave more of an impact on everything.
He was lucky that he'd been training alone the first time it happened, seeing them suddenly become real, solid, was a shock.
But they had gone back to mere ghosts once he'd let go of the quirk, no longer using it. Uncle Yoichi had said that he suspected they'd be able to stay around longer the more Izuku used 100%. Izuku was sort of excited, but also a bit nervous, considering that would mean revealing his biggest secret.
It would have to happen eventually, but they assured him that he didn't need to feel rushed, and that he could do it when he was ready. He felt bad, though, about cutting them off from being able to interact with the physical world, even though they said it was alright.
As they explored more with the quirk, it seemed to Izuku that the vestiges could stray as far from him as they wanted, but could simply disappear and reappear near him if they wanted, or simply retreat inside the quirk. It was a small comfort, knowing that even if he couldn’t see them, they would be there to help if something happened. It had been a long time since he had been alone, completely on his own, and he wasn’t really keen on going back to that any time soon.
The first time any of them used these abilities, though, was when he went to visit Nighteye. He wasn’t really comfortable around the man, but Mirio had invited him along, and he didn’t want to seem rude - and he knew how much Nighteye meant to Mirio. So he went, despite his trepidation, and his problems with the man. He didn’t like to spend more time than necessary around someone who would put him down because of a judgment that wasn’t theirs to make. He didn’t know if Mirio had ever been aware of One For All, but it didn’t seem like it, and that left a bad taste in his mouth.
He’d just been expected to give up the quirk he’d worked so hard for, so it could be given away to someone who didn’t even know about it, might not even accept it if not for the pressure of it having been give up for him. And it wasn’t even Nighteye’s decision to make, either, the quirk wasn’t his - it wasn’t even just All Might’s quirk, anymore, as Yagi-san had reminded him again and again - it was his, too, now.
Plus, the man had supported the judgment of letting Eri be left with the Shie Hassaikai. If Izuku could go back and change anything, he would have taken Eri the moment she crashed into his legs, wrapping herself around him. He would have scooped her up and bolted, not listening to anyone’s shouts as he carried her to safety. That little girl, so hurt and afraid, and yet, even though he left her, somehow, she still called him her hero, saying he’d returned, come back to get her. If only he could have saved her earlier. If only.
But still, he went, not wanting to hurt anyone’s feelings, or drive a wedge between him and Mirio. Despite everything, Mirio had been a good friend, and Izuku didn’t want to lose that, especially since Eri liked him too.
If Izuku had thought being at the agency, Nighteye’s home turf, had been bad, being at his house was worse. He took a deep breath as he entered, and yet, he could still feel the panic settle in, mind rushing over all the worst possibilities. Mirio had gone ahead of him, and so, he was left alone with no one to break him from his thoughts. He was at the man’s mercy here, whatif something went wrong? What if Nighteye said he had only gotten in the way? What if-
What if he said that he still wasn’t worthy of One For All, and tried to make him give it up again?
He could feel the panic rising, feel himself tensing up, he knew he had to get through, but-
All of a sudden, a warm presence settled around him. He looked up, seeing trails of red and purple smoke surrounding him, settling around his shoulders.
We are here, they said. You will get through this.
Second and Third. He focused, took a deep breath, feeling their resolve bleed over. They might not have directly spoken to him as often as the others, but they had always been there, quiet and strong. They were there with him. He would get through this, no matter how badly it went, if it went badly at all.
He steeled himself, and with Second and Third at his side, he made his way deeper into the building.
It went better than he thought it would, honestly. Nothing about One For All had been brought up, and so, while he hadn't gotten an apology (he could almost feel Second's disapproval of that fact), nothing bad had happened, either. He smiled as he made his way out, walking back to U.A. with Mirio. Everything seemed to settle down for a while, a certain sense of calm settling over him.
Soon enough, though, his classmates started to notice the odd things that happened in the school, and like usual, they weren’t going to just let it go. Izuku should have known he could never go so long without something happening. And so, Mina got her hands on a ouija board, and decided to contact the so-called ghost that seemed to be haunting the dorms, and Izuku had quickly been roped into it.
Oh, if only they knew.
Sitting on the floor of the common room, amidst the circle of his classmates, he could feel Yoichi’s hand on one shoulder, and Nana’s on the other. They’d always be there to support him, he knew, and it provided endless security for him, knowing that they and the other vestiges would always be at his side.
Mina had, apparently, gotten the board from Hagakure. He wasn't all that surprised, she seemed like the type, though he was a bit surprised it was her instead of Tokoyami.
Mina set it up, and he sighed as he saw a few of the vestiges grin, fully prepared to freak his class out.
"Alright! Are there any ghosts here?" Mina asked the first question. The planchette moved to 'yes', Nana and Banjo's doing, and the class freaked out.
"Holy shit! We're haunted!"
"I didn't think there were actually ghosts!"
"Someone call the Ghostbusters!"
"Everyone calm down!"
"Iida! How are we supposed to calm down?! There's ghosts in the dorms!"
"What a mad banquet of darkness."
"Wait! The dorms were only just built! How are they haunted?!"
"Exactly!"
"Unless…" all eyes turned back to Mina, "someone here is haunted!"
Chaos reigned again. After a few minutes of shouting, Mina grabbed the planchette again.
"We should be able to see ghosts through the plastic bit on this!" she shouted, "Here, I'll see who it is!"
And before Izuku could react, she'd lifted it up, glancing over at him and choking on air. The others turned back to her once again, then looked to Izuku, who tried to feign confusion as Mina caught her breath.
"Midoriya," she started, staring at him with wide eyes, "Midoriya, you have seven ghosts."
The rest of the class began shouting again, and he curled in on himself, feeling Yoichi shift behind him to rub his back. He sighed, took a deep breath, and looked back up at her. "... Yeah. I… I'm aware."
"Dude, you knew?!" yelled Kirishima.
The door opened, and they all froze, turning to where Aizawa-sensei was standing in the door frame, hair floating as he glared at them. He looked over them, sighed, and pinched his nose.
"Why," he started, "is everyone screaming?"
"Midoriya has seven ghosts!" chorused Mina, Kirishima, and Kaminari, gesturing at Izuku. Sensei's gaze turned to him.
"Explain, problem child."
"Uhhh…" Izuku trailed off, glancing around. He caught Kaachan's eye, who, luckily, seemed to understand what was going on and the gravity of the situation.
“You planning to tell them?” Their classmates turned to Kaachan, watching, curious.
Izuku was quiet for a moment. “.. Yeah.”
He nodded, turning back to their teacher.
"Sensei," Katsuki started, "can you get All Might? We need him here if the nerd is going to explain this," he paused, "Tell him it's about One For All. He might have someone he wants to bring along."
Aizawa-sensei looked between them, then sighed again. "Damn problem children. Alright, I'll get him, but you will explain this when I get back."
Izuku and Katsuki nodded, and their sensei left, leaving the class alone with the vestiges once again. Mina picked the planchette up from where she had dropped it when Aizawa-sensei had entered, looking at the "ghosts" behind Izuku. She paused over one of them, before speaking again.
"... Hey, Midoriya, why does one of your ghosts look like an older, darker haired Bakugou?"
“Hah?!” Kaachan leaned forward, snatching the planchette from Mina’s hands, “Let me see that, Racoon Eyes!” He brought the planchette up to his eyes, focusing back on Izuku, and, if the choking noise he made was any indication, seeing Second. Second just raised a hand in a wave.
“L-let me have it again, Blasty,” Mina reached for the planchette as she spoke, “I want to ask them a few more questions.”
Katsuki let go of it without arguing, for once, and Mina returned it to the board. She, Kaminari, Kirishima, and Hagakure took their previous spots holding it. She took a deep breath. “Who are you?” she asked.
The planchette moved, this time with all the previous users pushing it.
O-F-A
“O.F.A.?” Hagakure questioned, looking towards Izuku for answers. Instead, the planchette moved again.
O-N-E
F-O-R
A-L-L
Jirou blinked from where she had been writing down the letters. “‘One for all’? What is this, some Three Musketeers reference?”
H-A-H-A
Yoichi had moved it. She blinked at the answer, and Izuku smiled, watching his uncle.
“What is One For All?” Mina asked, and this time, it was Third who reached out to answer.
Q-U-I-R-K
“A quirk? But quirks don’t work like that…” Momo said quietly.
“One For All does,” Izuku said, “but then again, it does a lot of things a quirk shouldn’t be able to.”
“Then how are these… ghosts connected to it, then?”
Izuku opened his mouth to answer, but saw Nana reach out, and stopped.
H-O-L-D-E-R-S
“Holders? Mina spoke up again, “That makes it sound like it can be passed down or something.”
The planchette moved to ‘YES’.
Everyone stared.
For a second, it was quiet, and then Mina asked another question.
“Then why are you haunting Izuku?”
N-I-N-T-H
Izuku smiled at Nana’s answer, watching as Yoichi reached out as well, spelling out a longer word, one that revealed quite a bit.
N-E-P-H-E-W
Mina looked up at Izuku in confusion. "One of them is your aunt or uncle?"
Izuku nodded, just as Yoichi moved forward to move the planchette again.
YES
U-N-C-L-E
Mina grinned. "Well, hi!" She waved in Izuku's direction.
H-E-L-L-O
A-S-H-I-D-O
Mina's mouth fell open. "Holy shit, he knows my name!"
"Of course he does, Raccoon Eyes, Izuku talks about everyone here."
"Oh, shut it, Blasty," Mina rolled her eyes. Katsuki was about to retort when the door clicked open once more. In the relative quiet, it was a lot easier heard than before. Almost as one, they turned to the door.
Aizawa-sensei stood there, accompanied by Yagi-san, and Gran Torino (not that the others would recognize him, Izuku knew). The adults entered, Toshinori taking the spot on the couch nearest to Izuku, and Torino taking the other end. Aizawa remained standing, looking down at them all.
"So, problem child. Explain."
Izuku took a deep breath. "Alright. Before I start this story, there are a few things you all should know."
He turned to his classmates.
"One, when I was four years old, I was diagnosed as quirkless," he ignored the noises that comment caused, "The quirk that I hold inside me wasn't mine until a few years ago."
He looked up at Yagi-san, who smiled back down at him, briefly reaching to ruffle his hair. Izuku smiled back, and felt the strength of the previous users at his back. He turned back to the class.
"Two, well, the ghosts you guys have been talking to may not be as ghostly as you thought."
With that, he activated One For All at 100%, allowing it to flow through his body as the pressure in the room built. He could hear his classmates gasping, and heard the choked noise Yagi-san made when Nana appeared. He waited, eyes closed, for a moment before releasing his quirk, looking up to see the vestiges remaining standing around him.
The class was staring at him.
He smiled back.
"Everyone, meet the previous holders of my quirk, the quirk known as One For All."