Chương 11: Chapter 11
The Herrscher of the Void leaned against the wall. She didn't like being in a medical office. She didn't like doctors at all, but this was where her host had taken her, so this is where she went. She glanced over at Inko taking note of how different she looked here.
She was taller, slimmer, a far cry from the short and chubby lady the Herrscher was used to seeing. Before Izuku and Inko sat a doctor, with a bald head and bushy moustache, slouched in his chair. "Sorry kid, it's just not gonna happen." The doctor informed them.
The Herrscher glanced at them, taking note of the situation. She saw when Izuku dropped the toy, he had been holding, an All Might action figure. What the Doctor said next wasn't much relevance to the Herrscher, her focus was on the young host before.
She glanced at the young boy; who was 4-5 years old with an indifferent stare. His eyes had widened but the rest of his body had been frozen from the shock. "This is your worst memory." She spoke to the boy. He didn't answer and she sighed to herself, of course, he couldn't.
She stared at him once more, taking note of the tears forming on his face. Izuku Midoriya's worst memory was being told he was quirkless. Was this supposed to be a joke? The Herrscher reached out and touched the teardrop. The moment her fingers contacted the tear; a wave of voices washed over her.
"A strong hero needs a strong quirk."
"You can be an awesome hero with an amazing quirk."
"When I get my quirk, I'll be a hero just like him."
The Herrscher blinked and she found herself standing before a computer. Young Izuku had been running to it, jumping into the chair, and excitedly rocking as Inko approached it. The white-haired girl watched as Inko put on a video, Izuku's favorite video.
It showed the worst-case scenario, a terrible disaster had occurred to humanity. Amid the chaos, All Might had emerged, carrying people with him, laughing in the face of danger. "He's so cool." Izuku cheered as he held his toy.
The Herrscher sighed. So that's why her foolish host idolized the blonde buffoon so much. She recalled Izuku's words, he always thought saving people was cool. All Might saves people, many people, that's why Izuku admired him. The Herrscher rubbed her temples.
Her host's worst day wasn't being quirkless, it was being unable to be a hero. She scowled at this way of thinking. He had no reason to want to save these insects, and yet he still wanted to. He was a fool even back then and still a fool even now. Why did her hosts always end up being foolish heroes?
The memory changed once more, the room was darker and Izuku was…smiling….and crying. The Herrscher looked on alongside Inko who was just remorseful. She watched as the mother consoled her son, a son whose idiotic dreams had been crushed and shattered before him.
"I'm sorry Izuku." Inko apologized as she hugged her son. As if this was somehow her fault. The Herrscher just turned and left. She didn't need to be reminded how much Inko loved and cared for her son.
"Still no hero memories." The Herrscher thought as she continued to scan through what she could. It had irked her, how her host had been able to lock away such information. If he could hide info from her, then that meant his will was strong enough to rebel. All his memories should be accessible to her.
She wandered around for a while before finding herself in a park. Another boy was cowering and Izuku had stood to defend him. The Herrscher's eyes glanced at where he was facing, and she frowned at what she saw. It was the brat she had skewed before.
"You want to pretend to be a hero. You don't stand a chance without a quirk. Deku." The brat taunted as he punched his fist, a small explosion igniting when he did. The Herrscher looked on as her terrified host was then jumped by the three boys.
She let the memory play out. They thrashed her host and left him on the ground, barely unconscious. It was…a very frustrating sight for the Herrscher. She looked at the boy who had been beaten down, her weak and powerless host, who couldn't even stand up to his bullies, was showing enough resolve to resist her attempts at accessing his memories.
"You can't hide yourself in such childish delusions forever." She sneered at the child before her. Soon or later he was going to have reality and see the truth of the world.
Izuku felt excited. Today was the day. He had already submitted his application to his new school and was currently waiting to see if he was accepted. Due to the nature of the villain attacks, it was rather easy to move around, especially since his grades were good enough. Now he'd wait and see if he got in, but for now…it was time to train.
"Alright, this should be good. Not many people in the area." He noted as he looked around. He had gotten a head start on the day. It was Saturday and he had just arrived at a nearby park at the crack of dawn. There was barely anyone around except maybe a little old lady feeding the pigeons nearby.
Izuku took out his notepad. He had been going through possible workout plans. He had considered weight training, but then realized the cost might be too much, he neither had the money to afford training at a gym nor buy the gear for home. The presence of the Herrscher also discouraged him from finding any gym, a small part of him felt it best to avoid populated spaces regularly if he could.
Glancing down at his routine, calisthenics, Izuku began to stretch to prepare himself for what came next. Calisthenics was simple exercises, focusing on using the body's weight to train it. It was basic stuff, push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and running. It was easy to do and affordable for him. He sincerely hoped this was a good start.
It was 4 exercises; 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and a 10 km run. "I should be fine."
"Well, what do you think? Any bright ideas in that head of yours for how we deal with this girl?" All Might questioned as he sat across from Nezu. The principal in question was currently looking over the footage gathered from the Herrscher's latest outing.
"Hard to say, her ability to make portals certainly is astounding, she can redirect and store attacks making most projectile attacks quite difficult to use. Not even melee attacks are completely viable since as your fight shows, she can just turn it on yourself. Additionally, it would be almost impossible to hold her while she's conscious due to the chances she'll just teleport away. Her ability to make constructs means she also has a means to go on the offensive."
"In other words," All Might trailed off.
"I need some time to ponder this," Nezu noted as he rubbed his head. "Quirk users with spatial manipulation are always rather perplexing individuals at times."
"It's puzzling to me as well." All Might added. "It's one thing to rampage and attack heroes and civilians, but this time she didn't even seem interested in doing so." He pondered.
"I heard about that. According to the security footage we retrieved, the only real victims of the Herrscher this time were the villains. It's a rather puzzling development." He noted. "It seems the previous assumption people made that she was working with them was false."
"Are you sure?" All Might questioned. "She could have just double-crossed them when they accidentally struck her."
"While possible, I think the more likely case is just that she was in the area. These villains had several attacks in other areas prior, and she was absent from all of them. If they were allies she wouldn't have been so brutal to all three of them. At best, she would have only killed the one who wronged her." Nezu pointed out. "But I concur we can't rule out any possibilities, they may have recently recruited her."
All Might sighed as he leaned back in the chair. Another potential lead had potentially become a dead end. It was frustrating, to say the least. He had been so sure the villain's attack could lead to something. They had one of the villains in custody who could potentially reveal information but given the almost insane nature of the villain and the other circumstance, it was seeming very unlikely now.
"You seem to be rather frustrated. I think it may be best for us to switch topics for the time being. No use trying to grasp at straws." Nezu told All Might. "Is there anything else that's on the mind as late?"
All Might glanced at him. There was one thing but he wondered if he should indulge his curiosity. He had considered leaving it to True Man after all. Still, it couldn't hurt to ask the principal. "Does the name Izuku Midoriya sound familiar?" All Might questioned.
"Izuku Midoriya?" Nezu questioned. "It sounds familiar."
"He's a young boy who I am assuming applied for U.A." All Might noted.
"Assume?"
"I met him the other day. He shared with me his dreams of becoming a hero." All Might recounted.
"Sounds like many young people these days," Nezu noted. "What's his quirk?"
"He doesn't have one. He's quirkless." All Might added. Nezu's ears perked up at this as he looked up from his computer. He hadn't even touched the keys yet. "He asked me if I thought he could be a pro-hero without a quirk."
"I presume you told him no," Nezu noted. He wasn't against the idea personally, anyone had the potential to be a hero, but that didn't mean he wasn't aware of how challenging such a task would be on the young boy, how dangerous the job truly was.
"I did. I told him he couldn't. If he wanted to save people, I told him to go work with the public servants. He'd have much better luck there." All Might noted.
"A quirkless hero isn't impossible but it would require a lot of work and resources," Nezu noted. "If I'm not mistaken I remember another quirkless boy who thought the same thing."
"It would have been easier back then." All Might told him. "The power gap has only grown with time. Back then though difficult, a quirkless hero did seem possible but now…I'm not so sure."
"Do you think you'd still have tried if you didn't meet Nana?" Nezu questioned.
All Might looked up at him. "I don't know." He answered truthfully. "I've never stopped to consider it. It didn't seem to matter honestly, I got to be a hero either way. I became All Might, the number one hero, the World's Symbol of Peace. I did what I always wanted to do, save the world and give people hope. It's…hard to imagine living my life any other way."
"So why the sudden interest? It can't just be because he's quirkless. Perhaps his speech touched you that much." Nezu noted.
"I won't lie, he did remind me of myself, but I know better than anyone how hard it was to compete against people with quirks." All Might confessed. "But that's not the reason this time, you see, a young child at the villain attack site, had informed me a boy matching Izuku's description had saved him from some falling rubble. According to the boy, Izuku was buried underneath, but when I arrived and cleared the rubble, he was gone. If the one who saved the kid is Izuku, then perhaps…I should personally go and thank him, or at the very least, arrange for him to meet the kid. Selfless acts of heroism like his should be acknowledged as such."
"Rightly so," Nezu noted. "Ah, here's his file." The principal delighted said as he started to read Izuku's application. However, as soon as he read it, a frown began to form on his face. "How curious?"
"Is something the matter?" All Might questioned.
"Izuku Midoriya is a student of Aldera Junior High School," Nezu answered. He saw All Might's eyes widen at the revelation, but he continued regardless. "He's one of only two students who applied from said school, the other student being, Katsuki Bakugo."
"That's…."
"Worrisome." Nezu finished.
One of the first places the Herrscher destroyed in her rampage was that specific school. One of the first victims she claimed was a boy who attended said school. Now her second appearance had another boy from said school present. Once is a fluke, twice is a coincidence. They certainly hoped there wouldn't be a third one.
"I think we may have found another lead." All Might told Nezu. Hopefully, they could find the Herrscher without having to worry about her causing any more trouble.
"I don't think I can move anymore." Izuku sighed as he collapsed underneath a tree. He was exhausted and he felt his whole body ached from his routine. That was good, right? No pain, no gain, that's what they said.
"Young man, what are you doing?" A voice called from beside him.
Izuku jumped in surprise. He then screamed in pain as his sore body did not like the sudden jerked movements. "Ow." He whined.
"Easy there, young boy." The lady told him as she helped him sit back down. "Are you alright?" She questioned. Izuku glanced at her. She was a short elderly woman, if he had to guess maybe over 50 just to be safe.
"Yeah," Izuku reassured her as he tried to give her a thumbs up. It didn't work his arms still felt sore and he winced a little when he flexed them. "I'm just sore from training that's all." He told her.
"I'm not sure about that." She noted. "You look ready to pass out." She reached into her purse and brought out an unsealed bottle of water. "Here drink this." She instructed.
"No…I'm just a little tired." Izuku told her as he politely refused. "I got up really early." He explained. The old woman glanced him over. She was shorter than him but that didn't stop him from feeling a little intimidated by her gaze.
"Very well." The old woman told him. "Just remember if you feel tired while working out, it's a sign from your body that you should stop and rest. If you push yourself then you risk passing out and that's not good when you're alone." She warned.
"Thank you for your advice, Ma'am." Izuku bowed. "I'll remember that in future."
"If you don't mind me asking, what are you training for?" The woman questioned.
"Uh…well…I'm training to be a hero." Izuku nervously chuckled.
The woman seemed to just chuckle at this. "I should have figured." The woman mused. "I presume you're applying to UA." She guessed.
"Yeah," Izuku told her. "I'm applying to UA. How did you know?" He questioned.
"Lucky guess." The woman told him. "Tell me. How long you have been training?" She wondered. "This is the first time I've seen you in this park."
"Well, I uh…. just started today," Izuku admitted. He was half expecting she'd scold him for being so late.
"Really." She wondered. "Well, I suppose now is a good time as any. You still have what 10/11 months. Plenty of time to get in shape."
"I suppose so," Izuku told her. He was surprised, she didn't ask for his quirk or lack thereof. As he glanced her over, he didn't notice anything that would indicate she might have a quirk. He could be wrong though.
"Well, good luck." The old lady said as she turned to leave. "Take care dear and make sure to pace yourself. I'm curious to see if you make it." She commented.
"Thanks, ma'am," Izuku responded as he watched her leave. "What a nice lady." He thought.
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