Chapter 71: Epoch

A/N: Izuku heads back to the agency and has some thoughts. Then there's a time skip, and then there's a hint to events on horizon. Yeah, it's vague. But it's what you get ;)

P.S. Lack of edits this time around again. Be wary of errors!

An hour passed by the time Izuku rose from his position on the rooftop ledge that he'd found himself upon. He stretched his arms over his head, not really caring for his closeness to the edge.

Eyeing the stars above, he lowered his arms with a sigh. He closed his eyes, reaching out and connecting to the bugs around him, feeling the cold air of the night. After a few more moments, he decided it was time to head back.

Jumping across the rooftops and back to the agency, Izuku thought back to his time on the rooftop. The conversation with Hawks was unexpected, sure, but it was eye-opening nonetheless.

The Paranormal Liberation Front was a threat; that was for sure. Thousands of unknown people with unknown quirks, an unknown number of traitorous heroes, and the League of Villains itself — a prime recipe for disaster.

Coupled in with the Nine, who by themselves were already causing so much destruction, and Japan was in for troublesome times ahead. And what was possibly worse, was that Izuku didn't know what to think of it.

I'm not even close to finding this 'Nine' guy that Kentaro's obsessed with. The police can't even find anything about him — so why am I just sitting around doing nothing?! If I find him I can cut off the attacks from the Nine for at least six months! It's not like I'd be my first time going around and using my bugs to stumble across information. If I find him, the heroes can have a moment of reprieve and we can focus fully on the new danger this Liberation Front poses! Why the hell did Kentaro have to choose me? Why'd I have to get mixed up with all this interdimensional nonsense? Why does it have to be so complicated? I just—"

"Hey Izuku."

Izuku swiped, knife in hand, at the space beside him. He stumbled somewhat, landing as he leaped from one roof to another. Once he caught his footing, he immediately turned, ready to face the sudden and unknown threat.

That is, until he noticed it was Setsuna's head that was floating before him, with a freshly made cut sliced clean across her left cheek.

"Sheesh man!" Setsuna exclaimed, leaning her disembodied head forward. "Watch where you're pointing that thing will you?"

Izuku blinked, the full realization of what he'd just done only then reaching his thoughts. He immediately lowered his knife, sheathing back at his leg.

"S-s-sorry Setsuna," he stuttered. "Didn't know it was you."

"No kidding," Setsuna huffed. She sent a glance over at Izuku, her mouth pressing into a thin line as she did so. "You're really out of it, huh?"

Izuku merely shrugged in response.

Setsuna shook her head. "That's no good." She floated forward, nudging Izuku in the shoulder as she brushed past him. "Come on. I made some tea for you."

Izuku perked at that. "You did?!"

Setsuna giggled. "Of course that'd get you riled up and out of the strut."

"Well yeah but— Wait." Izuku paused. "What are you doing all the way out here? Were you for me?"

"Izuku," Setsuna intoned. "You're right on top of the agency."

Izuku looked down at his feet. And then he sent out his bugs to thoroughly examine the interior of the building he was standing on. "Oh."

Izuku sighed. He took his mask off, putting it into his pack and then wiping his face. Am I really that much out of it?

One of Setsuna's hands then zoomed out of one of the building's windows, the one connected to the break room, Izuku noticed.

"Yeah. 'Oh.'" Her free arm pulled on his, leading him toward the rooftop door and Setsuna's waiting head. Before Izuku knew it, he was through the door and on his way towards the break room.

"So," Setsuna said, drawing her arm towards herself. Izuku didn't miss the irony of her in turn leaning her head on her hand despite the actual lack of need of doing so. "You've cooled off?"

Izuku sighed. "I… guess? I don't know. And Hawks didn't really help."

Setsuna's floating arm and head froze. "Hawks?" Her head jerked around. "Has As in, the number two pro hero, Hawks? The one with wings? And projectile feathers? And, you know, is number two?"

"Uh…" Izuku let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah?"

Setsuna rubbed her nose with her hand. "Of course you'd end up getting into a late-night talk with Hawks. Only you." She sighed. "Do I wanna know?"

"Ehh… probably not."

She sent a glare towards Izuku. "It's part of that weird secret life you have, isn't it?"

"Well, uh—"

"Yeah yeah. I know; won't say. Don't worry about it. Besides, we're here already."

True to her word, Setsuna pushed past the door and led Izuku through into the breakroom. And, quite unexpectedly, he found the rest of Setsuna's body to be playing some sort of game with Sero and Mineta.

Setsuna's body was in the middle of copying some sort of dinosaur's stance — Izuku was certain of that — when the door opened. The movement led to the two other boys in the room to move their attention towards the newcomers.

"Oh, hey Midoriya!" Sero greeted. "You doing good, man?"

Izuku nodded, making his way to the prepared tea on the counter while Setsuna's head and arm joined the rest of her body.

"I suppose," Izuku said as he poured himself some tea. He sat down, eyeing the still ongoing game of charades. "I'm assuming that the others went to bed."

"Uh huh," Mineta said. "You know how Shiozaki is, the early sleeper she is. Kaminari just got tired of waiting I guess."

"Hmph. Edgeshot and the others back yet?" Izuku asked.

"No, actually," Setsuna informed. "They're— umm." She paused. "Well, they're staying at the scene tonight; for cleanup they said. It was… messy. As per usual."

Izuku clenched his fists and let out a sigh. "Of course. What's new."

Izuku took a sip of his tea. And promptly did a spitake.

"What the heck is this?!"

Setsuna blinked. "It's… oolong?"

"Oolong?" Izuku questioned. "This isn't oolong! This tea is nothing more than hot leaf juice!"

Setsuna raised an eyebrow. "That's what all tea is, Izuku."

Izuku sent an incredulous glare at the girl. "How could my friend say something so horrible?"

"Ha!" Mineta exclaimed. "So it wasn't just me!"

"Oi!" Setsuna retorted. "Are you questioning my tea-making skills?"

"If this is the best you've got," Izuku said, "then I've got to say that he has the right to."

Setsuna stuck her tongue out. "Ass." She huffed, shaking her head. "Nezu really turned you, didn't he?"

Izuku shrugged. "What can I say? Tea's great! Saying that though…" Izuku walked over to the sink and emptied his cup. "I'm going to have to do something about this."

"What? You gonna teach me proper tea-making skills?"

"Maybe. I might have Momo do it though, since she'd be better at it. Fact of the matter is that some drastic changes are needed if you want…" Izuku paused for a second, cutting himself off.

"Huh." he muttered, his own words sinking in.

He ended up staring off into nothing in particular.

"And there he goes again. Don't worry. I've got it," Sero said as he walked over. He waved his hand in front of Izuku's face. "Midoriya. You're staring off at nothing again."

Izuku blinked, eyes refocusing. "Right… Right. Of course it'd be Setsuna's horrible tea-making skills that'd convince me to go ahead with it," he muttered.

"Wow, thanks." Setsuna said. "But um… I convinced you to do what exactly?"

"Nothing dangerous. Yet. I promise." He stood up, tea forgotten as he made his way towards the door. "Though I think I'm going to head to bed. I need to think."

"That all? Really?" Setsuna asked.

"I'll be fine in the morning," Izuku said. "Night everyone."

"Night!" / "Night!" / "Goodnight, Izuku."

Izuku made his way towards his room. He waited a bit, making some distance from the others before he pulled his phone out and made a call.

[Heyo! You've reached my voicemail! Whatever or whoever this is just leave a message fo—]

Izuku dialed up the next tone and skipped straight to messaging. "Come on Mei. I know you're awake. It's too early for you to be sleeping already. So can you pick up the—"

–Hey 'zuku! What's up?–

And explosion went off somewhere in the background.

–Don't worry about that– Mei said. –It was a controlled explosive.–

"Sure it was." Izuku shook his head with a smile. "But that doesn't matter. I do have a question for you though."

"Fire away!" Mei exclaimed. "What d'ya need this time?"

Izuku sighed. Now or never, he supposed. "Can you make a… drone? Like, a really small one that remote controlled. As small as you can make it, without any lights or loud noises. You know, like if you needed it for… surveillance."

Mei guffawed. "Of course I can! I have plans for something like that already made up. Kinda hard not to when I'm hanging around you all the time."

"You do?"

"Well, I meant to say that I had it queued for further down the line. Though… I suppose that I can move its production up."

There was a metallic clang on her end, followed by another explosion. "Can I ask why you need 'em despite having actual bugs?" she asked, completely unfazed.

"You'll have to see for yourself." Lies. I wouldn't risk you. Never.

"Hmph! I better! You're pushing back development on my death ray!"

"But you already have…" Izuku did a mental count in his head. "Three? I think?"

"So? This'll be death ray number four!"

Izuku sighed, a smile on his face. "Right. Night Mei. See you."

"Nighty nighty!~"

A couple days later...

Quite predictably, the rest of the time spent as an intern at Edgeshot's agency had been uneventful. Partaking in and successfully fending off an attack made by Stain did that, Izuku supposed.

As such, by the time it was time to head back to UA, Izuku and the others were able to do so with little little fanfare. Though, of course, considering his unique situation it wasn't that simple for Izuku. Hence his current presence in Nezu's office.

"You really know how to get into trouble, don't you Midoriya?" Nezu poured a cup of tea and held it out towards Izuku. "Oolong?"

Izuku narrowed his eyes, glaring down at the drink before taking it. He hesitated a bit before taking a sip, though when he finally took in its flavor he settled down.

When Izuku eventually went ahead and looked at his Nezu, he found him with a full-blown smirk.

"A bad experience with oolong tea recently?" Nezu asked.

Izuku shrugged. "You… could say that."

"Mhm." Nezu took a sip of his tea. "Back with Edgeshot Agency, I'd assume. One of your friends tried to make some tea to raise your spirits?"

Izuku nodded, something which Nezu responded to with his own nod.

"So," Nezu continued, "How was your encounter with Stain? The fight certainly looked interesting on video."

Izuku tilted his head, backing up in his chair a bit to get a good view of the principal. "Is that what this talk is really about?"

"Of course not!" Nezu chuckled. "But humor me! At least before we get to the juicy stuff. Come on. It'll be worth it."

Izuku sighed. "It was… I guess what I'd expect a fight with him and his group to be? Well, at least for the first half."

"You did fight Gentle Criminal before. Incapacitated him and La Brava even," Nezu said. "And by the looks of it, it wasn't too hard to do so the second time."

"No, not really," Izuku said. "It just took cornering him with the right timing to trip him up."

"Of course, of course," Nezu agreed. "The ways he uses his quirk are creative for sure, but he could branch out a little — especially against a foe he has already lost to before."

Nexu tented his paws up on his desk. "But that was only the physical part of the fight. The section you were prepared for. The 'easy' part, you could say."

Izuku narrowed his eyes. "What are you saying?"

Nezu hummed in thought. "Well… I'd like to talk to you Midoriya, if you don't mind."

"But we're already talking," Izuku said. "Unless you mean a certain type of 'talk?'"

"Exactly," Nezu smiled. "Glad to know that your sharpness hasn't dulled where it matters. But that's not what you want to hear, I know. What you want to hear is that I'd like to talk to you about the real deep stuff. The important stuff. The stuff you hold close to your chest."

Iiuku shuffled in his seat. "Like?"

"It's simple," Nezu said as he spread his arms out. "You're more troubled with the psychological fight that you had. You're wondering if you deserved Stain's mercy."

Izuku scoffed. "I'm not—"

"Or rather," Nezu interrupted, leaning forward, "if you deserved his words of praise for being a hero."

Izuku didn't respond. Nezu continued on.

"You're not thinking of yourself as the hero Stain paints you out to be."

"Of course not," Izuku cut in. "No one can contend when compared to All Might."

"Mhm." Nezu took another sip of his tea, shaking his head solemnly afterwards.

"You and I both know that's not what I mean. What I mean is that you don't think that you stand up to Stain's ideals. Especially with you being directly responsible for multiple injuries and deaths among dozens of villains. Your power requires a lot of restraint to be used effectively, after all."

Izuku grimaced, moving his gaze towards the floor.

"But there's another aspect you're concerned about: your recent failures. You don't think that you're doing enough — you hadn't even before Stain confronted you. Perhaps even before Kentaro pinned that challenge up on you."

Nezu leaned back in his chair. "You've been penting up these thoughts. Blaming yourself for things out of control, thinking that everything hinges on your role in this undergoing crisis."

"But it does!" Izuku exclaimed. "You just— You wouldn't understand."

"Then help me understand, Midoriya."

Izuku promptly opened his mouth, and shut it up immediately. A moment of silence followed, the two occupants of the room looking at one another in uncertainty.

"And why should I?" Izuku finally asked.

"You want the honest truth?" Nezu asked. "Because I will lay it all before you if you ask."

"Then it's simple. I honestly have your best interests at heart. Your wellbeing, your education, your childhood, and your survival — they all matter to me. And I can tell you right now that the Commision only cares about a small amount of things concerning you, and none of the ones I mentioned are even in their top ten priorities."

Izuku tapped his finger on the desk, moving his head up and meeting Nezu's gaze.

"If it helps," Nezu offered, "I can present what I've already learned?"

Izuku gave a curt nod.

"Alright," Nezu said. "Well, I've already pieced together some of the clues, and first things first, and it's quite obvious; it isn't a coincidence that you're caught up in the middle of all of these things. There's something special about you that's attracting all this trouble."

"Second: your quirk. Or rather, your type of quirk, given that you are part of the select few people who aren't late bloomers and yet got their quirk late. Considering your past after I did a bit of investigating myself… you're one of those given power through… trauma."

Izuku looked on with a small amount of worry. "Okay. And so what?"

Nezu smirked. "More tea, before we continue?"

"Might as well take it."

Izuku suppressed the urge to yell out at QA's sudden intrusion. Instead, he took a second to take a deep breath and exhale before agreeing to the tea.

Nezu began pouring Izuku his tea. "Well, it's quite simple if you scrutinize the situation for long enough. You've somehow gone deeper than anyone else — you understand these… trauma quirks much more than the average person. You have an intimate understanding, so to say."

"Hmm…" Izuku hummed. "What you said didn't actually mean anything. It was just a bunch of flowery words put together. There wasn't any actual revelation of knowledge."

Nezu shrugged. "You caught me. What can I say, I like leading people on." Nezu took a sip of his tea. "What does your friend have to say about that?"

Izuku's eye twitched involuntarily. "Friend?" he said slowly.

Nezu hummed. "There are some things that don't add up. Like you supposedly robbing a bank and holding hostages by placing spiders on them. Or you purposely implanting maggots into someone's eyes."

Izuku narrowed his own eyes at that last point.

"You never asked. I would have told you if I did."

"Stuff like that isn't like you," Nezu said. "And you knowing somebody who did do those things makes sense."

"Did Nighteye tell you those things?" Izuku asked.

Nezu nodded. "I was in a meeting with him and a few others a few days ago. It's the reason Hawks came to talk to you, actually."

Izuku did an intake of air.

"No worries though. Most of the others thought of it as hearsay. They didn't really believe it possible for you to have done those things. The Commission was especially confident, given their surveillance on you since middle school."

Izuku exhaled.

"None of that matters though. Not really."

Izuku blinked. "What?"

"Since it actually is true." Nezu pented up his paws yet again. "Your friend is responsible for plenty of crimes. Many things immoral, others in the morally grey. Her presence in your life affects your decisions and actions, and minor things you've done reflects that."

Nezu rested his head on his paws. "Truth is, she's a horrible influence on you, and is leading you on a path of destruction. You'd be better off without her. You wouldn't be having these thou—"

Izuku's mouth opened involuntarily, the words of QA right on the tip of his tongue. Izuku held her back though, cutting the words off from his mouth. He did it despite how mad QA — or Izuku himself, even — was at Nezu.

"Sorry about that," a smirking Nezu said almost immediately, cutting off any possible retort from Izuku. "My sincerest apologies to you as well… Miss." He looked at Izuku's forehead when he said that. "I promise that I didn't mean any of it."

Izuku blinked, Nezu's words still sinking in. "You didn't… mean any of it?"

"Nope!" Nezu quirked his eyebrows. "I just said all that to get a reaction out of your friend!"

Izuku froze at that remark. "You…"

"Don't worry," Nezu waved his paw. "Your secret — or rather, your twos' secret — is safe with me. I swear on my integrity as the school's principal. And my slight lingering grudge on humans."

"You mean to say," Izuku started, "that you think that I…"

"Foreign presence in your brain," Nezu finished. "I'm still not sure of all the details, but I do know that the presence is sentient and separate from your own mind. And female in origin. And related to these… trauma quirks in some way."

Izuku was speechless.

Nezu chuckled. He took Izuku's teacup — long since empty — and began to clean up his desk. "As for all that's happening these days…" He looked at Izuku. "I believe that you'll do the right thing in the end. You shouldn't worry so much."

"Now go. Shoo," Nezu waved Izuku away. "Have your fun with 1-B in that party of yours. You'll appreciate the fun before your trip."

That finally shook Izuku out of his thoughts. "Trip?"

"Ah, I wasn't supposed to tell you that yet. But I might as well tell you now," Nezu said as he stood up. He walked towards Izuku and began pushing him towards the door. "The Commission set something up. You're all going to Nabu Island for a little field trip-slash-learning experience."

They'd reached the door by then, Nezu gently leading Izuku out of his office. "Try not to tell the others yet though. It's supposed to be a surprise." Nezu waved. "Bye for now!"

And the door was shut in his face.

Izuku blinked. "Did we just get figured out with no repercussions whatsoever?"

"... You alright with me swarming his office wi—"

"No QA. Leave him alone. I trust him… I think."

A/N: And there we go! Fun things this time, and fun times ahead! Next stop: the second movie!