Chapter 41: Disgusting food
A/N having writer block is kinda annoying and idk how I'm going to end this fanfic but I do know how I'm going to end my other one
The UA dorms were implicated a few days after Izuku had been brought to the staff apartments to stay in the meantime, the heroes deciding it would be a better idea for him to stay with Aizawa sensei, to please the officers who would be coming around in the next few days to finish up some details.
Thanks to the kind offer Nezu had given his mother, Inko was permitted to stay on the UA site until the first day of the new school term; staying only a few floors away in a guest apartment which Midoriya would make his way towards along with Aizawa sensei or an accompanying hero if he was busy each morning.
It had come very clear to Izuku that his mother knew of his activities, but never once decided to bring it up to his face; relieving Izuku from the anxiety he felt each day as he made his way to where his mother was staying.
Their conversation at first had been awkward and mostly silent, as the initial emotions wore off.
Izuku had felt so relieved when one day Present Mic, who had been accompanying him, gave Izuku the option to give his mother a tour around the school grounds.
That was another thing that Midoriya had noticed, living with his teachers for about a week who would constantly visit each other's apartments, that Aizawa sensei wasn't the only teacher who was surprisingly calm and accepting of his presence in the building; considering the circumstances.
As the days drew on that he stayed in Aizawa's guest room, Midnight and Present Mic were common visitors to the apartment, both of whom went out of their way to try and make Izuku enjoy his time there; even getting him a new phone after his previous one had been destroyed and left during the fight at the training camp.
Izuku appreciated their efforts, he really did, but he couldn't help the awkward feelings of shame and distrust overcome him with the undeserved shows of kindness and care that they were showing him; knowing full well that the pair of them knew why he was there in the first place.
It wasn't just those two teachers either, who Izuku had learned during their time spent that the pair of them along with Aizawa sensei had all gone to UA together, but also the rest of the teachers from other departments too.
After visiting each area while touring the school witkhis mother, he couldn't help but feel as if the lot of them had been told to act a certain way in front of him; the constant surveillance and the rules he had to strictly follow certainly did not help
as well
Thankfully, Izuku was brought to move into the Class 1-A dorms a day or so after the rest of his class had been settled in, and the few students who were aware of Izuku's hidden abilities were notified and warned against revealing any information to the rest of the class, who were being kept out of the loop.
He had been given a few minutes to drop off his boxes from Aizawa's room before he was dragged out of the building again, away from Uraraka and Todoroki, who had both wasted no time running up to him to see if he was alright before Aizawa told them to leave him until he had finished sorting his out his dorm.
Izuku assumed it was probably to avoid the unnecessary drama and accidental info leaks from happening due to his surprise arrival.
The two friends both worried out of their minds after hearing no words of his safety after being told that Bakugou and he had both been returned to safety.
Izuku quickly realized as he walked back to the school that Bakugou was the only student who wasn't at the dorms yet, when he had asked Aizawa sensei about it, his sensei had only given him a small shake of the head before telling him thatBakugou was busy taking care of something outside of school with his parents; leaving Izuku feeling let down as he walked towards his meeting that All Might had called.
Aizawa had escorted him to one of many staff rooms, seeing his mentor the first time he was allowed to see him since the fight at Kamino Ward.
All Might had spent the last week busy in the hospital healing from his wounds caused by All for One and meetings with students' parents regarding the UA dormitory system.
After Gran Torino had pulled him away from the fearsome battle, he was brought back to the police station he had awoken in, locked in with no internet or TV access; Izuku not even daring to try and break his way out after already being proved innocent once.
Izuku had spent the rest of the night crying, paranoid about whether he had taken All Might to his death, not knowing whether he had survived until Aizawa told him after rescuing him from his cell once again; just after overhearing a rather loud argument beyond the locked door between his sense and the police officer who had pushed him back in the cell.
In the car back to UA, Aizawa had kindly offered his phone for him to look up and see what had happened the night before, only to discover All Might's true form and injuries visible for the whole world to see leaving Izuku gasping shock as tears had rolled down his face while he watched the clips which had already been uploaded hundreds of thousands of times.
"Hey, young Midoriya..?" a voice called out softly,
"Your coffee is getting cold."
His mentors' voice pulled him from his train of thoughts, as he let out a stuttered 'oh' before picking up and taking a sip, ignoring the worried, furrow-browed look his bandaged-up mentor was giving him.
"Midoriya? Are you alright-"
"I'm sorry, All Might. I truly am..." Izuku began, lowering his head as he trained his eye around the cup of tea in his hand, looking at his reflection in the darkened liquid.
All Might raised his eyebrows before furrowing them worriedly again, letting out a sigh as he spoke.
"Midoriya, I've told you before, it's alright-"
Izuku shook his head, lifting one of his hands to rub the side of his face before looking up to his mentor with a weary gaze.
"I know. I know..." He repeated softly, " But I want you to know how truly sorry I am for keeping it all a secret from you...
Midoriya watched as Yagi widened his eyes slightly, listening to his successor apologize again in a more formal manner than before while nodding silently as he let him continue.
"I should have told you and asked for help, I realize that now." Izuku started again, looking down at his hands, "It was stupid of me to keep it a secret for so long, to try and deal with such a problem on all on my own.
He paused momentarily as he sighed.
"I'm sorry for putting you under so much stress, I'm sorry for making the people around me doubt my intentions. I feel horrible for dragging my friends into it when they shouldn't have had to have dealt with it in the first place..."
Yagi nodded subtly, lifting his drink to his lips to take a sip before placing it down.
"I know, Midoriya. I know what you did in the past was what you thought was best, and I don't blame you for any of it. You've said it before, my boy, but I'Il accept your apology anyway." Yagi started, knowing that denying his apology wouldn't help Midoriya feel any better about himself.
Izuku nodded as he let out a shaken sigh of relief, lifting his coffee to drink it as he tried to settle his nerves. The two One for All users sat in peaceful silence for a while before Izuku managed to gain some of his confidence back.
"I wasn't joking about how I know I deserve to go to prison, I'm honestly still surprised I'm allowed to walk around UA still."
Yagi gave a little wince at his students' words, sipping at his tea, before taking a deep breath as he replied.
"I think if you had been any older, and hadn't been a student of UA or my Successor, you probably would have been the case." Yagi began,"
Unfortunately, there are still a lot of people who think it would be better for you to be somewhere like Tartarus, but that's not going to happen. You would be in more danger of villains, and All for One, there than you are here.
Yagi lowered his cup onto his saucer, sighing as he silently saw Midoriya's face crumple with a grimace of shame.
"Midoriya, I would never let anyone take you away to a prison, my boy. "Yagi began with a caring smile, shifting forward in his seat as he rested a comforting hand on Izuku's shoulder.
"You just helped us catch the most notorious super villain of all time, without you, he would still be out on the run; causing more havoc and misery down his path. Besides, it would be unwise to place you in a jail closer to him where you can't escape if necessary."
Izuku tried and failed to hold back a wince, as he looked down shamefully to the floor at All Might admittance to the group of people who didn't want him to walk free, understanding deep down why so many people would be against his freedom.
He rubbed his green eyes tiredly as he watched the steam coming from All Might's tea, not feeling strong enough to bring himself to look his mentor in the face as he remained deep in thought.
Now was the best time to tell him, right?
Izuku took in a quick shaken breath, attracting his mentor's attention, hesitating for only a moment before he spoke.
"….. I was planning on giving One for All back to you, or giving it to someone else I trusted, but I couldn't decide who..." Izuku quickly confessed, face still tight with a grimace as he rubbed his eyes.
Yagi watched his successor worriedly, his eyes widening a little at the prospect of Izuku considering giving One for All away, "It's alright, Midoriya. Please don't worry about giving One for All back to me-"
Izuku looked up at his mentor with widened eyes, shocked and somewhat disgusted that All Might could still want him, a murderer, to keep One for All.
"-But why would you still want me to have it! After everything that I did?"
Yagi paused as Izukus desperate words interrupted him, looking at his panicked successor troubledly.
"The only thing i wish you had done was come and speak to me sooner, but that couldn't be helped, and i don't blame you for not asking me for help; but i know i choose right with who i wanted my successor to be, i chose you before you even had your ghoul quirk."
He paused as he watched Izuku gape silently.
"Midoriya, you still have the heart of a hero, I truly believe that. I doubt you would have aided Bakugou in your escape if you didn't. "Yagi continued, lifting his teacup to his lips once again as he took another drink before lowering his caring tone to something more serious, "Besides, if you didn't have One for All, All for one would have stolen the quirk and gained the insane healing abilities, speed, and power you possess along with it."
Yagi looked down from Midoriya's stunned face with a sigh, "I'll be honest, young Midoriya, the fight we shared had been a rather close call. All for One was still missing his eyesight and hearing from our previous battles, l'm not too sure I would have survived our battle if he had managed to regenerate those horrific wounds. Thankfully, regeneration quirks that hold the same level of power as your own, are exceedingly rare."
Izuku nodded his head silently, lowering his head in shame as he remembered the close call he had, almost giving away One for All to Bakugou.
"All Might, I have something else to tell you that's been troubling me with One for All." Izuku began quietly, leaving Yagi nodding as he prompted him to continue.
Izuku took in a deep breath before sighing as he fiddled with his fingers, " When I started heroic lessons here, I realized how One for All was affecting how much I needed to eat, from constantly having to re-heal myself from injuries.
It's been increasing the power outage I've been having to use, which is why I had to start- Ummm eating more..."
His words trailed off guilty at the end as he looked away from his mentor, tears dripping slowly from his eyes as he quickly rushed to wipe them away.
All Might furrowed his brows worriedly, before nodding understandingly, " I see, my boy, please don't be ashamed. I promise we will find a way to change that for you, you've already been told you've been pulled from heroic lessons, haven't you?"
Izuku nodded sadly in agreement, "Yea, Aizawa told me when he was telling me about all the new rules I have to follow...
Yagi held back a small grimace at the reminder, "
Ahh, I see."
The pair sat in silence for a little longer, occasionally sharing a few bits of information before Izuku quickly remembered something, causing him to sit up slightly as he muttered a little to himself.
Yagi looked at him questioningly, prompting him to talk
"Oh, sorry, I just remembered something I should tell you." Izuku began, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly, "|-uh, I told Kacchan about One for All while we were both being held hostage together."
All Might's eyes widened with surprise as Izuku continued.
"He had started to get angry with me, he knew I had been quirkless in middle school and I guess he wanted answers about where I managed to pull two quirks from." Izuku began softly, rubbing the weariness from his eyes, " I was just so tired and exhausted from All for One-"
He cut himself off with a sudden shake of the head, shoving the thoughts of the traumatic pain away.
"I was just so stressed out once I heard the villains coming down to open the door just before we had escaped. I had thought it was All for One and I just-panicked."
Izuku grabbed the sides of his face with his hands as he took a deep breath.
"I had been thinking of giving it away to someone else not long before, and the possibilities of going through the pain again was getting too much for me. I must have looked like a hysterical mess, but Kacchan never gave in and took it from me..
All Might looked at his student with concern, leaning forward in his seat to comfort his anxiety-ridden student, "I trust your decision to tell Bakugou about One for All, but Midoriya, do you genuinely not want to have One for All anymore..?"
Izuku shook his head, "...I really don't know anymore, I mean I still really want to be a hero but-"
"If you still want to be a hero, then please, keep it." Yagi interrupted, cutting Izuku off, "As long as the effects it has over your ghoul quirk don't get any worse, don't see a reason why you shouldn't hold on to it for me."
Yagi offered Midoriya a kind smile, "I chose you to succeed me with One for All for a reason, the fact you still have One for All after all this time is very commendable, reinforcing my decision that i choose correctly."
Izuku looked back up at his mentor with surprise,
"Oh, ok..." he stuttered, nodding silently just as the office door opened.
The two One for All users looked towards the door as they saw Nezu standing upon the detective's shoulder, the same man he had assumed had the truth quirk during his interrogations, as he walked into the room.
All Might stood up from his seat, quickly placing his tea down to greet the two men.
"Hello Principal, Tsukauchi" He began with a bow, Izuku nervously jumping up from his seat behind where All Might stood as he greeted them as well.
Nezu smiled at the greeting as he looked between the two One for All users.
"Hello Yagi-san, Midoriya-kun. I'm sorry for interrupting your meeting at such short notice, however, I was wondering if Midoriya here could answer me a few questions about something that's been bugging me for an answer!"
Izuku looked nervously at the detective and his principal as he felt his body tense, subconsciously shifting behind where All Might stood between them. It was clear that Yagi knew where Nezu was going as he grimaced and turned to look towards his successor, not sure about what to say.
Thankfully Tsukauchi managed to settle some of the tension as he offered Midoriya a kind, genuine smile.
"It's all right Midoriya, please try not to worry.
We're just here to ask you about where you had been sourcing your food during the two months before the training camp took place." The detective started softly, "We've already asked you friends about this before, and even though they didn't give us an answer, we believe their judgment enough not to suspect you of any foul play."
Izuku hesitated to respond as he looked between the trio of men in the room, eyes widening as he realized where this was going, gulping awkwardly as he tried to quickly think up a way to protect Kaneki's identity without setting off the detective's truth quirk.
"-i met someone with a regeneration quirk who offered to help me." Izuku began, Tsukauchi quickly nodding as he noted something down in his notebook.
Nezu looked from the detective's notes over his shoulder quickly before turning to Izuku with a smile, pushing for more information, not noticing Izuku's growing discomfort.
"That must have been some fortunate luck for you, Midoriya." Nezu began, his tone unreadable, "May I just ask how the two of you met?"
Izuku gulped nervously, feeling utterly uncomfortable talking about his disgusting eating habits in front of his mentor, trying to think of a way to describe how he and Hide had met.
Yagi reached out and ruffled Izuku's hair softly as he mistook his hesitancy for anxiety, bringing Izuku from his thoughts.
"Ah- well, we met through a friend i met outside of school..."
Nezu nodded his head understandingly, Tsukauchi quickly noting something down again.
been curious about why you attacked the homeless man while the rest of your targets have been either villains or already deceased bodies."
"Nezu-" Yagi turned to Nezu warningly, the dark sunken eyes of the hero narrowing, as Izuku grimaced behind him at the principal's blunt and insensitive words.
"hadn't known at the time that I had the ghoul quirk in me, I had only just gotten out of the hospital….." Izuku muttered out awkwardly from behind All Might, who was looking with surprise at him for responding at all.
Nezu nodded his head intriguingly, prompting Izuku to continue with an exhaustive sigh, fiddling with his fingers as his face crumpled with an anxious grimace.
"I just remember slowly getting more hungry during the day, and normal food just suddenly starting tasting gross." Izuku continued quietly, turning in All Might direction as he spoke, lowering his head as he began to feel disgusted with himself.
".. I was just walking home from the beach after I had gone out to meet with you, just after I had gotten out of the hospital when I smelt blood. I hadn't known it was blood at the time, and I came across someone's dead body..."
The room stayed silent as Izuku felt his body begin to shake a little. The overwhelming pressure he had placed on himself, to confess and always be honest about himself and his abilities, clearly started to stress him.
"I-I hadn't known it was blood, I had followed it and i came across someone-" Tears began to well up in his eyes, while he took a deep breath to try and settle his nerves, "I ran straight home and went into the bathroom to throw up when i caught my eye in the mirror. I don't remember what happened after, I was just so hungry."
Izuku dragged in a shaken breath, "I told the guy to leave me alone but I lost control-."
Yagi stopped Izuku mid-sentence, pulling the boy into a hug before it became too much for him, "It's alright, we understand Midoriya, you can stop now."
He patted the poor boy on the head before pulling away, leaving the teary Izuku feeling vulnerable under the adults' eyes surrounding him, not noticing the grimace shared on their faces as he looked down to the floor.
"Alright then, that will be enough for now. I apologize if I offended you or made you feel uneasy, Midoriya." Nezu began with his usual, slightly unnerving smile as Izuku quickly shook his head in response, "I'm sure you have already realized, but you won't be able to use your friends' abilities as a food source anymore. With your new food plan in place, we need to keep track of everything you eat and do while we try to find a more sustainable food source that will allow you to participate in hero course lessons again."
Izuku nodded numbly, his emotions flying through him to exhaustion, leaving him feeling awful and
alone.
He didn't need to be told he couldn't ask Hide for food anymore. He'd never wanted to use him like that, just like he'd never wanted to kill someone, but unfortunately back then he hadn't had the choice to opt for something more ethical.
He had thought once he had been told that he would be going back to UA that he would finally be able to feel happy without the looming secrets above his head, of course, there would have still been the wariness he held towards the staff members, but he hadn't felt better at all.
In some ways, being back at school surrounded by his classmates, he felt more isolated than before.
He still had Uraraka and Todoroki, and he assumed Bakugou would be alright with him once they saw each other again, but he hadn't spoken to lida since before the training camp.
After the conversation with Nezu, the detective and All Might be over, Nezu asked if he could contact Hide to invite him to UA to inform him of Izukus' new diet plan; and secretly for Nezus own curiosity.
It had taken a while for Izuku to get ahold of Hides' phone number again, not having spoken Hide or Kaneki since before the summer training camp, losing both of their numbers off his old phone which turned up to be useless when it came to transferring information over to the new one Midnight had given him.
Thankfully, with a quick trip back to the door, escorted by All Might, he had managed to get the number off Urarakas phone.
The phone call had lasted longer than he had expected, Hide much more enthusiastic to see him than Izuku had expected; although his enthusiasm died a little once he had explained the situation to him, understanding the seriousness of it all.
He hadn't known at the time that Kkaneki had been sitting beside him listening to their whole conversation, grimacing at the thought of the Principle of UA being on their case.
Izuku couldn't have brought Kaneki up over the phone or asked how he was doing, for obvious reasons, but thankfully Hide had confirmed that he was alright without mentioning his name at all during his time at UA; after his arrival to the school thesame day.
Aizawa had escorted him into the building once Izuku had confirmed his identity, leading them to a small office where Nezu spoke to the pair of them.
Hide had been more than understanding, treating the meeting as if it was some kind of parent-child conference when it came to talking about Izuku's food and privacy and safety while eating, much to the surprise of Izuku and his teachers.
He hadn't expected Hide to stick himself so far in his corner while dealing with the Principle of UA, although it made sense after a while, it would look suspicious if he didn't; Hide was probably trying to protect him from getting accused of forcing him.
After a quick, slightly altered yet still true version, of how Hide discovered his quirk, he made an offer to Nezu and the few other teachers in the room.
"I'd be more than happy to help with making sure Izuku has enough food, I don't like the idea of him running around attacking villains again." Hide had offered with a kind smile.
Nezu shook his head in response, "I appreciate your offer, however, it won't be necessary. We have already got Midoriya on a plan while we try to find a suitable alternative in the meantime, which will allow him to continue in his studies under supervision."
Izuku could almost see the gears turning in Hide's head as Nezu continued describing their plan to try and make an ethical food source for him, stars almost glistening in his eyes at the possibilities.
Once Nezu had finished talking, Hide's eyes closed with a wide smile at his words, "That sounds great!
Would it be ok if you kept me up to date with your progress, it sounds rather interesting!"
Nezu stayed silent for a moment, clearing deep in thought as he looked at Hide, seemingly trying to figure out if Hide's words were genuine; setting Izuku on edge.
He didn't want Kaneki to get revealed in the middle of this. Izuku knew how intelligent Nezu was, and even though Hide was also very clever, Izuku wouldn't put it past Nezu to do background checks on their friends and the friend they had met each other through.
Much to Izuku's relief, Kanekis's name was kept hidden and unsaid from speculation as Hide left not Jong after arriving, leaving Izuku behind to return to his dorm room, wondering how Bakugou was going to react to seeing him the next day.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone