Deer

Chapter 6

Yagi Toshinori first encountered Midoriya Izuku standing in the middle of the school hallway. In one hand, the boy carried a paper bag filled with notebooks, while the other clutched a deer plushie close to his chest.

Yagi Toshinori, AKA All Might, blinked, stupefied. It was normal to cross paths with a teenager at UA, but the new semester had not begun yet. They had just finished testing students with a hero's recommendation that morning, judging whether they were truly worthy of acceptance into UA High School without having to pass the normal exam. Perhaps the boy was one of those five students? But Toshinori could not recall seeing such unusual green hair...

His name was Midoriya Izuku. He and his mother lived in the recently constructed UA dormitory, which would be open to any students who desired to stay on campus. Izuku, who was supposedly skilled at quirk analysis, would be assisting the school as an unofficial counselor. No, he was not a student of any program, though he would be placed in Aizawa's class, which the man groaned loudly at hearing. Yes, he was essentially freeloading on UA's goodwill. And yes, his decision is final, unless you want to have young Izuku's death on your hands.

Toshinori felt the information click into place, while the others gaped at the boy who may as well have been sleeping at Nezu's side. He remembered now, the ongoing case which had consumed Detective Tsukauchi for several years. Whenever they met, his friend was sure to complain about a certain child adding to his workload. Often enough, the story was practically burned inside his mind.

This boy. This boy was the target of the infamous Yakuza group, Shie Hassakai.

Nezu was not exaggerating when he said they would be signing Izuku's death warrant if UA turned him away.

"Now, with that out of the way..." Nezu clapped his tiny hands. The tone of his voice made the hair on Toshinori's neck stand up and everyone unconsciously straightened their backs. "...let's start with the reason why I called you all here. Midoriya, the floor is yours."

Izuku stirred back to life, grumbling as he unglued himself from the table. He put the plushie down and stood up, rummaging through his bag to give each one of them a spiral notebook. Aizawa's half-lidded eyes opened wide the moment he read whatever was written in his. Present Mic let out a startled scream and Cementoss uttered a soft curse. Toshinori himself coughed up blood almost immediately.

Toshinori's notebook was filled with information about him, not just as Toshinori, but as All Might as well. About his life, his quirk, how his quirk functioned, and any weaknesses that he might have. And there were suggestions for improvement too! How to take better care of his health, and how to use his quirk more efficiently. A paragraph also mentioned pills that Recovery Girl would make sometime soon. He immediately asked the woman who sat right beside him about the pills mentioned. She showed him her own notebook. Izuku had outlined the recipe for a new drug that consisted of powerful stimulants and nutrients such as rice, various flours, dried vegetables, and fruit seeds. It would grant the patient enough energy to keep going for three hours beyond their endurance. Toshinori was expected to consume this medicine only in emergencies. For example, if he has to put down a villain at full power when he is already past his limit. As soon as the effects wore off, he would plunge into complete and utter exhaustion. No more than three pills in twenty-four hours, the notebook warned, or the repercussions for his health could be dire, and there was a possibility it would put him in a coma.

Clearly, consuming this willy-nilly was not an acceptable option.

While Cementoss demanded Izuku to tell him who made this observation list.

"Nezu-san already said I'm going to be a 'Quirk Counselor,' didn't he? Everything written down? That's my work, buddy."

And Recovery Girl asked if people would develop a dependency on this pill.

"No way. The backlash is too severe. I made it taste like a mud ball, too, just to make them less appealing." Toshinori's mind was full of questions once again, his lips pursed in worry.

Honestly, how the hell did this kid know about his dual forms? How could he possibly describe how All-Might's quirk worked with such accuracy? But at least he didn't know that this power could be passed on to someone else. A bit of a relief there.

So, Toshinori finally asked. With a wary gaze on the boy who knew too much, he voiced the main question the hero had been thinking for the last couple of minutes.

Izuku just stared at Toshinori like he was an idiot.

"Nobody has ever seen you outside of battle, even with that big form of yours. That means you live far away from the city, or that your quirk is a transformation one like Mount Lady. I eliminated the first option because you're always in the area when there is trouble. You can't have a teleportation quirk because it does take you a minute to join the fight, so definitely a transformation quirk. Then there's your height. Blondes are everywhere, but someone as tall as you? That's a rarity in Japan if you discount those with a mutation quirk." Izuku crossed his arms and one eyebrow rose, "Frankly, I'm surprised nobody ever put two and two together. Just because Yagi Toshinori and All-Might appear physically different, that doesn't mean you should forgo all discretion. At least clip back your bangs with a pin or something after you change into your civilian form. That hair is your most telling feature. Honestly, troublesome hero..."

Well, when he put it like that...Toshinori blushed in embarrassment, chastising himself for his stupidity.

A few inquiries from the other heroes, double confirmation about something or other written down, and then finally the meeting ended. Izuku took back his notebooks, saying he would burn them as a precaution.

"You haven't memorized it? Too bad. I'm not going to jeopardize your life by leaving this stuff lying around for any villain to find and exploit your weaknesses. Come find me if you have any questions." The boy then declared he was ready to go back to his room for a nap. Before Izuku stepped out of the teacher's lounge, however, he tilted his head to one side and threw out one more mind-blowing revelation for them to chew on.

"Do an investigation on Endeavor. If you can't recognize child abuse that obvious, then you don't deserve to bear the title of 'Hero.'"

Then the door closed. Leaving them all in a shock silence and contemplative silence.

Yagi Toshinori remembered, between coughing up blood and wiping up sweats, that Present Mic had spoken the words they were all thinking, "he hated us, didn't he?"

Nezu cheerfully nodded.