A/N: I basically kept editing the same parts over and over, hence being a couple of days late, and even then I still would rather you all read this now than it staying with me in perpetual editing hell. This is the result, and also where things start getting a little more interesting. Enjoy!


Izuku waited quietly in the U.A. infirmary. His right arm was in a sling, resting against his chest. With everything that had happened lately, he'd thought that things were beginning to look up. He'd learned that he had a quirk, started practicing with it, and even minimized the damage when he used it, though it still bruised his limbs like crazy. He'd also met Ashido, someone who considered him a friend and even wanted him to meet her friend on top of it. Things were getting better.

Yet here he was.

He had no memory of the past hour.

Apparently, during the quirk apprehension test, when he was in the middle of the ball throwing test, their teacher, Aizawa, deactivated it due to Izuku's penchant for injuring himself. What had happened afterward, nobody could've predicted.

Shift failed, and the amplified force detonated catastrophically while still inside his arm.

Now, while Izuku's arm was fine for the most part, he could no longer move it unless his quirk was active.

It was apparently called Quirk Factor Abstraction.

An instinctual failsafe reaction from a quirk user's body if it thought the limb was in danger of being permanently damaged or lost outside of quirk use. There was nothing any of them could do to restore full function to his arm. The only way to regain full use of it was to gain enough proficiency and strength that his body felt 'safe' enough to regrant use. Izuku could still use it while using Shift, but outside of that, it was defunct for all intents and purposes.

What a horrible day. Even when things were going well, he just couldn't catch a break.

But it wasn't the end of everything, Shift was his quirk, neither a gift nor a different quirk. He'd learn how to use it properly and regain regular use of his arm. Still, Izuku was scared. He knew it'd be difficult learning One For All, but this was on another level. There were so many unknowns with dormant quirks that he was flying blind. He hoped that no one saw him as strange from now on. Excluding the few he'd met the week prior during the exams and Kaachan, the rest were all new people to him. Kaachan had definitely been pissed when his quirk was listed as a Shift. He hoped that wouldn't come back to bite him, as futile as it was.

"Midoriya," a monotone voice brought Izuku out of his thoughts, causing him to look up. His new teacher, Aizawa, stood at the foot of his bed in the infirmary. He looked tired, and both of his hands were still in his pockets. "Can you stand?"

"Y-yes Aizawa-sensei" Izuku slid out of bed and draped his coat over his shoulders.

"Come with me." Aizawa turned and began walking out of the room.

Realizing he was being left behind, Izuku hurried after his teacher. Once he caught up, they walked in silence as he followed the pro-hero to their unknown destination. Izuku was too frightened of his teacher to ask questions, but he wondered just what his teacher was thinking, and what sort of plan he had in store. Several minutes later, Izuku got his answer as they returned to the location of the softball throw portion of the apprehension test.

Reaching into his pocket, Shota pulled out a softball and held it towards Midoriya. "As a teacher, I have a responsibility to all my students. You can't control your quirk, but... I caused your initial failure and injury." He looked out towards where the others had thrown the softball previously. Walking up to him, the teen grabbed the ball in his hand. "You have two more tries." Shota didn't think Midoriya would actually succeed, but the perpetually-tired teacher owed his student the chance to impress him.

Midoriya, activating his quirk as gently as possible, lifted his arm out of its sling and stretched it out several times. Once he felt ready, Izuku began thinking of how he could cancel out the effects of the backblast without injuring himself, or at the very least, mitigate them. Slowly the cracks of light appeared on his arm like before and pulsed gently as the energy built up for his throw.

Observing his actions from a distance, Shota could see the gears turning. Midoriya was probably thinking about how he'd get a high enough score to pass without shattering his arm as he did during the entrance exam. He saw Midoriya concentrate on his right hand the same way he did before, though this time, instead of using his entire arm, taking care to be sure his right hand was fully functional while using Shift just as they'd said. As Midoriya readied up for his throw, Shota could already see that he was preparing to break his own bones again. He had his work cut out for-

Winding up and pouring all of Shift into his hand, Izuku settled for what he was about to do. Abruptly, at the apex of his throw, just as the ball was leaving Izuku's fingers, an odd burst of glowing energy erupted outwards from the back of his hand.

"Smash!"

As the ball left Izuku's hand, it nearly split apart before flashing through the air, leaving behind a thin streak of light and an unbelievably thunderous roar. The air around Izuku became quiet immediately after his throw but was now noticeably several degrees warmer.

As both the student and the teacher waited for the results, they registered after several seconds.

755.3 meters

"This kid," Shota muttered to himself.

"Aizawa-sensei, I can still move. It's only bruised." Midoriya's entire right hand was already turning red, but he was nevertheless able to close it, and it didn't look banged up in comparison to earlier. By some creative measure, he'd managed to negate the recoil of Shift, though just barely from what Shota could tell. It would probably leave a nasty bruise throughout his hand and arm. This was interesting, maybe the kid did have potential. Looks like he wouldn't be expelling anyone this year. However...

"Head back to class and get your hand fixed during lunch. You'll be allowed to use your quirk during class and lunch due to your current circumstances. If you use it outside of those times, I'll expel you myself." With that, Shota turned and walked back towards the main building.

Turning, Shota nodded to All Might with a knowing look about wanting to speak with him.

"Y-yes sensei!" Though Izuku's hand hurt pretty badly, he smiled as he felt a sort of fulfillment at what he'd just managed to accomplish. He still needed to get back to class, however. Returning his arm to its sling, Izuku disliked the loss of motion in his arm after deactivating Shift. Not noticing his idol, Izuku made his way back to class.


As Midoriya walked off, All Might approached Aizawa in his hero form. Walking with the fellow pro-hero, he looked rightfully furious. "Do you know what you've caused," he hissed, "how could you have let something like that happen?! Do you have any idea how difficult this will make things for him?!"

"Yes, I do," Shota dryly replied, "and for that matter, I also plan on notifying his mother. I may be harsh but I'm not cruel. We'll need to arrange for a parent-teacher conference tomorrow after school."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, All Might let out a sigh, "I want what's best for that boy, he's already been through enough. You've made things difficult, outside of the fact that you've temporarily crippled the poor boy. There will be hell to pay once his mother finds out," All Might grit his teeth," and you're lucky I'm forced to stay out of this since I'm teaching him personally."

"I'll fully accept any consequences she deems fit." They continued to make their way to the teacher's lounge, "You should know better than anyone that I'm not omniscient. I couldn't have predicted it, but I owe it to assist him as well as I can if he'll have me from now on."

"Damnit Aizawa! It's not him you have to convince, it's his mother, and from what I saw he doesn't blame you anyway."

"I understand that, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm still his teacher until a decision is made. He's still my student and I at least owe him the opportunities afforded to one, regardless of what you might think."

It was strange, All Might noted, hearing someone say something uplifting so monotonically. Arriving at their destination, he stepped forward to get the door. "Fine," All Might sighed as he opened it, "but you still need to let Principal Nezu know."

All Might and Aizawa walked inside and the Number One hero paused outside the door to his office. "He'll manage the fallout from this but you better be ready for the meeting. I'll let the rest of the faculty know and Cementoss should already be aware of what's happened. I know you didn't mean to, but a lot of folks are going to be livid, his mother most of all. You better hope this doesn't come to bite your career too badly, let alone your position here." Stepping into his office, All Might gripped the door. "Midoriya may not blame you, but that will only get you so much credence with his mother. We'll talk later." All Might shut the door. The teacher's lounge grew silent once again.

With little sound, Shota simply moved to his desk and began typing away to inform Principal Nezu, though he had no doubts that he was already aware as well. He didn't regret the action he took, as he fully intended to use it as a learning opportunity on improper quirk use. But, in the same vein, he did intend to make it up to his student, he had his duty as a teacher. Midoriya seemed motivated and creative, if not somewhat frightened of the world around him. It would all be resolved before tomorrow evening.

Shota would accept what came, no matter what. He'd unintentionally hurt his student, but hurt them all the same. It was his duty to accept the consequences that came of it.


Though no one else had seen what he'd just done nor had it been recorded, Izuku was ecstatic at his results on the throw even though he was last overall. As Izuku continued through the U.A. halls, he thought about how he managed to keep his bones in one piece. Though he didn't know it would work beforehand, just after emitting as much energy as he could handle into the ball, he'd ejected all the remaining power from the back of his hand into the air. It almost felt like he was opening up his hand and letting his quirk flare out. It was strange because Private Eye had told him not to, but he was out of ideas, maybe she was mistaken. Either way, it'd worked and even kept his bones from breaking, even if just barely.

Realizing that he was at his homeroom Izuku opened the door.

Everyone stared at him as he walked in, the room was dead silent. Not understanding why, it took a cough from the current teacher, Cementoss, to bring Izuku out of his thinking. "Midoriya, that was a splendid display of your quirk, but please sit down so we may continue the lesson."

"Display?" Izuku, realizing the implication, scanned the room until he spotted what he was looking for, the TV in the front corner of the room.

It was currently displaying a live feed of the quirk apprehension testing area. Izuku's classmates had absolutely seen him throwing the softball as well as how dangerous Shift was. Why didn't he realize that they'd have a feed of the testing area? Obviously, other teachers would need to be able to observe events for progress reports!

Now in a daze, Izuku didn't register that Cementoss had gently nudged him to his desk and sat him down with his quirk, everyone's eyes following him the entire way. He again got lost in thought until Cementoss spoke again.

"I know what everyone is thinking about what you just witnessed, but please save your questions until lunch and only if Midoriya wants to answer them. Remember that his circumstances are different from everyone else's."

Izuku looked at Cementoss with thankful eyes.

Cementoss was about to continue when the bell for lunch rang. No one got up, and he remembered that he needed to dismiss them first. At least they maintained discipline once they were reigned in.

"Alright, class dismissed!"

Immediately, several people attempted to rush to Izuku's desk, to include Ashido and Bakugou, but the latter was held in place by cement.

"No violence." Cementoss was kind, but not ignorant nor innocent. Bakugou grunted but made no attempt to resist. After being let go, he merely stalked off towards the cafeteria while glaring towards Midoriya.

"Fucking Deku."

Looking back to the unique case that was Midoriya, Cementoss could see that there were only 3 students there. Uraraka, Iida, and Ashido. As much as he wanted to help, Cementoss couldn't play favorites and, as such, left for the teacher's lounge. Other than those four, everyone was already filing out of the room.

Izuku, for what he was worth, was doing his best job not being overwhelmed as he slowly stood up to leave for lunch.

"Please refrain from such grievous self-injury when using your quirk." Tenya, while knowingly strict, meant well. He didn't want to see any classmates injuring themselves accidentally.

"S-sorry, I'll try not to from now on, Iida-san." Izuku bowed lightly.

"Midoriya, that was awesome! And what was that beam of light? It was cool!" Mina was beaming in excitement.

"I d-don't really really know A-ashido, though I h-have a couple of theories." Izuku, again, bowed lightly and smiled nervously.

"Haha, you still don't need to be overly formal because we're in school, you know!" Mina would have to work to get that

"Nonsense! Order is the foundation of a quality school experience!" Tenya was having none of this, it was borderline chaos what Ashido-san was suggesting.

Izuku, during all of this, was getting worse by the moment, all he'd wanted to do was disappear. This was far too much attention on the first day of school, and it was barely lunch!

While the two others argued on what school life discipline to follow, Uraraka, who'd been quiet the entire time, finally spoke up.

"Are you alright, Deku?"

Izuku froze at the nickname, and both Iida and Ashido stopped squabbling when they noticed his reaction.

"Please don't c-call me that."

Looking confused, Ochako inquired, "Didn't Bakugou just call you that, though?"

"I-i don't… have the best h-history with that nickname. My a-actual name is Izuku. Kaachan's just being a bully, I'm sorry." Izuku waved his good hand as if brushing off the mistake.

Trying to salvage the situation, Uraraka spoke up. "Well… I think-"

"Hey, Mina, you still haven't gone to lunch yet?" A red-haired teen suddenly interrupted. "I'm Kirishima Eijirou. How about the rest of you, do you want to get lunch as well? Any friend of Mina's is a friend of mine!" Making eye contact with Midoriya, Eijirou gave him a discreet thumbs-up and grinned. He might like doing things straightforward, but Eijirou knew when someone wanted out of a topic, even from a distance.

"That would be preferable, Kirishima-san." Iida adjusted his glasses.

"Anytime, Eijiro!"

"That would be nice, Kirishima" While Uraraka regretted not being able to give Midoriya something more positive to think about, with things taking a better turn already, she'd just try and tell him about her thoughts on his nickname later.

Silently thanking Kirishima, Izuku couldn't help but ask, "Are you s-sure you're alright eating lunch with me?" They didn't know that he wasn't the most popular guy at his last school, if not the most unpopular.

"You're joking, right? I might not have said anything before, but that throw was one of the manliest things I've ever seen! You at least owe us an explanation over lunch." Kirishima grinned happily.

"If you say so." Izuku meekly replied. As much as he wanted to resist the invitation, refusing a genuine one was out of the question.

The party of five made their way to lunch, the conversation turning to idle chatter as they separated to get their meals. Each was in awe at the wide selection of food available to them and even at no cost to them, fully allowing them to take full advantage of a full meal while maintaining proper nutrition.

Izuku activated Shift so that he'd be able to hold his tray and eat properly. From what he could tell, he could get away a decent uptime for it as long as he released the built-up energy every so often and watched himself to prevent any sudden or quick movements. It still hurt to move his hand though, he'd need to be careful until he could get it fixed right after lunch.

Once the first of them found a suitable table, the rest followed suit.

As they sat down, the conversation picked up again until Mina asked the question on all their minds. Pointing her fork at Midoriya, she cleared her throat. "So, what was that thing that you did?! Was that your quirk? I mean, I know I was there during your exam, but like we heard the boom in class! And what was that bright light? Also, is your arm alright, why is it in a sling earlier but now you're moving it just fine?"

As Ashido finished her barrage of questions, Izuku looked around the table and found that everyone present was once again staring at him quietly, waiting for an answer. He figured he had two options, either pretend that his quirk was present all his life and that he'd recently found a difficult patch in his usage… or that he'd had Dormancy and that he only recently unleashed his quirk. Thinking about the two options quickly, as nervous as he was, Izuku knew which of the two options would be more comfortable in the long run, as painful as it'd be for him now.

"W-well… I, have-or rather had, Dormancy. I only r-recently gained my quirk." As much as Izuku didn't want to admit it, revealing his previous affliction would be better. The trick was in how he'd tell them about his quirk, and it's volatility. However… He still couldn't under any circumstances reveal One for All

"Midoriya-san, you're going to need the utmost discipline in order to gain your quirk's full potential," Tenya remarked. Pausing a moment, he continued, "Though I'm curious, when did you gain use of your quirk?"

"E-erm, I actually gained Shift during the entrance exam," Izuku clarified as his face grew redder with each word, and he looked away from the group once he finished. Though the rest of the cafeteria was bustling with activity and noise, the silence at their table was nearly tangible.

"What?!" Mina was the first to react, slamming her fork on the table in surprise, she looked at Midoriya wide-eyed. "You're telling me that when I met you on the bus, you didn't even have a quirk?!" Mina exclaimed while her face gained a look of confusion. She ruffled her own hair with both hands in frustration. "Ugh! I wasn't even able to tell!" Mina's head drooped down slightly as she let out a sigh but quickly snapped back up after a moment. Begrudgingly she picked her fork up off the table and took a large bite of food to prevent herself from speaking further, looking more upset at herself than anything.

"Sorry about that, Ashido," Izuku apologized, "I-i had to trick everyone for the proctors to let me in." Izuku felt cheap for the deception, and at the time, considered it necessary.

"H-hey Mina," Eijirou began, "It's alright, it's not like you would've known ahead of time. Hell, it did take you a second to recognize me because of the red, spiky hair." Eijirou covered for Midoriya, but he could see that Ashido wasn't buying it very well.

Finishing her current food, Mina narrowed her eyes at Midoriya. "I might not be the smartest person, but that doesn't I enjoy being lied to," she hmphed and looked at the others sitting down before returning to Midoriya, "you can trust us from now on, right guys?"

Everyone else, having continued to eat while the conversation had taken place, had already finished their food and backed up Mina with their support.

"Of course."

"Indeed."

"For sure, man."

"See?" Mina started, "We're all here to learn how to be heroes together." She smiled brightly at Midoriya.

Izuku, by this point, had stopped eating due to the nature of the conversation. He couldn't believe how forthright everyone was for how short they'd known each other. Things were progressing so much faster than he thought they ever would. If it was anyone other than Ashido and if he only had One for All to rely on, he'd have waited on really attempting to make friends. It felt like it should've turned out differently than before, but it felt... right. Good to have someone reach out with complete disregard for how he was judged before coming to U.A.. Ashido was willing to bridge the gap along with everyone else. If she was willing to do that then maybe he should do the same.

"Ok," Izuku smiled softly at everyone, "let's work hard to become pro-heroes."

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

Izuku and Mina realized they hadn't finished eating yet and scarfed down what food they could. While walking their trays to the proper area, Izuku returned his arm to the sling and deactivated Shift. Rejoining the group, they all made their way back to continue their lessons. They barely made it, as Izuku had to make a detour to the infirmary with the others in the group deciding to go with him.

Once back in class, they found their seats in preparation for the next teacher to come in.

Izuku reactivated Shift and prepped his notebook. He couldn't help but wonder about how activating his quirk felt now. It definitely changed how his arm felt when it was on. Looking at his arm, it felt as if the strange heat that built-up whenever it was on was trying to spread into his chest.

The next teacher, Midnight, walked into class and began the next lesson.

Izuku would think about it more once the school day was over.

Class passed by quickly, and the rest of the day passed by without much fuss. Before anyone knew it, the final bell rang, and everyone said their goodbyes as they filed out of the classroom.

After saying his goodbyes to the few classmates he actually met on his first day, Izuku found himself walking upstairs towards the roof. Partially because he wanted to go and partially because Ashido had passively mentioned that he should head up there after class. Though in all honesty, for better or for worse, he sometimes found himself on the roof of his previous school for different reasons, some good, some less than stellar. Izuku's legs continued to carry him to his destination. This time, he just wanted a quiet place to think away from home, though he wouldn't be staying long.

Izuku realized that he was at the door that likely led to the roof. Hoping it wasn't locked, he pushed it, taking care to use his left arm, Aizawa's warning still fresh in his mind. The door opened smoothly.

However, instead of the sight of an unoccupied roof, what greeted Izuku was a rather unusual scene.

Walking around the roof in the light of the afternoon sun, it seemed like someone had dropped a couple dozen pieces of blue meat. Wasn't there an American book on something like that? Either way, it was kind of creepy.

Izuku went to pick up one of the pieces, but the moment he touched it, it moved away from his hand, startling him.

"You know," a voice from directly behind Izuku piped up, "it's kind of rude to try touching someone you've never met."

Whipping around in surprise, Izuku saw where the source of the voice had come from.

It was a floating head.

Because of the combined shock and confusion at spontaneously seeing a floating head, Izuku made the split-second decision to freeze like a deer in headlights and drop his schoolbag where he stood. He mumbled to himself about the absurdity of floating heads and green ham, doing little to acquiesce his current situation. Izuku was so lost in thought that he failed to notice the floating head approaching him, stopping once it was within acceptable conversation distance.

"Hey, are you gonna be alright?" the head questioned. "You know this is my quirk, right? I'm not dead," it taunted while checking for the confused teen's reaction.

Izuku still maintained a thousand-yard stare. He had his hand on his chin and was still mumbling about quirks. Though, now he looked less confused and more focused but nevertheless lost in thought.

Studying Midoriya's face, the head noticed his green hair and his right arm in a sling. He couldn't be that person, could he?

Abruptly, all the blue pieces lying around on the roof converged to form a girl about Mirdoriya's age, with green scales covering her body instead of skin, save for her face. After taking a moment to put on the school uniform and recede her scales, she walked up to Midoriya and put her face in his direct line of sight.

"Hey, Izuku."

Hearing his name broke Izuku's concentration, and he realized that he'd been ignoring the person in front of him. Wait, when had the head become a person, and how did they know his name?! Swallowing the unsettling feeling he was getting, Izuku responded.

"U-uh, hi, who are you, a-and how exactly do you know my name? Ha-have we met?" Izuku hoped her answer wouldn't make this any weirder for him.

"Oh, I'm Setsuna Tokage from Class 1-B, and we haven't exactly met before." Taking out her phone, Tokage searched for several seconds before finding what she was looking for. She turned the cellphone around and inquired, "Recognize this?"

Staring at the screen, Izuku spotted what she'd wanted him to see, it was her contacts list, but one name stood out: Ashido Mina.

It took only a moment for the realization to hit Izuku fully.

"You're Nama-san."

"UGH," Tokage shouted, "I told her not to call me that!" She paused, letting out a sigh, "Yes, I'm Nama, but please call me either Tokage or Setsuna and drop the formality. A friend of Pinky is a friend of mine."

"Is Pinky Ashido's nickname?"

"Yep, if she's gonna give out mine, then I'll give out hers," Tokage shrugged her shoulders, "It's only fair."

Noticing he was still pretty of out it, Tokage opted for brevity. She wasn't a shy person, and now more than ever would use that to her advantage.

"You're pretty meek for someone who has such a strong quirk. I thought you'd be cooler."

Somewhat peeved and confused again at her taunt, Izuku could only ask, "W-what?"

"We've been standing here for a bit, so why don't we sit down first, and you can tell me about your quirk."

"What?" Again, Setsuna was making no sense. She taunts him then wants to hear more?

"I said I wanted to meet you, didn't I?" Tokage began walking over to the wall next to the rooftop entrance, "or did Mina not pass along the message?"

"O-oh, she told me already s-so don't worry." Izuku unconsciously walked over to where she was but didn't sit down.

Tokage flashed her fanged teeth, "Watch out, or I'll bite." She motioned for him to sit down next to her, which he did reluctantly. Tokage was definitely doing her best to be accommodating and help Midoriya relax.

It didn't stop Izuku from being any less nervous, but he could at least figure out why she wanted to meet him in the first place. Looking over at Setsuna, he could see she merely waited for him to ask the question that had been on his mind since he knew who she was.

"S-so, why'd you want to meet me anyway? I don't think I'm that interesting, and even now, Ashido barely knows me."

"I had a hunch," Tokage began, "that you'd turn out to be someone pretty unusual. I mean," she chuckled, "it's not every day you meet someone who can set a destruction record for the exam, and who also needed help to walk back."

Did she just want him here to poke fun at him? Before Izuku could come up with any more sour ideas, Setsuna interrupted him.

"Don't think that I'm here to just ridicule you, by the way, that just sort of happens, so don't take it personally. I'm just curious what made you want to try your hand at the entrance exams knowing that you didn't even have an active quirk." Midoriya made a face to stop Tokage, but she continued, "yes, I know about your Dormancy and how it only activated during the exam. Pinky texts during class, gonna bite her in the ass one day."

If she already knew that much about him, he may as well roll with it, he didn't have much else currently. Resigning to his fate, Izuku decided he'd oblige Setsuna's questions. It's not like everyone wouldn't know in due time anyway, and they were all classmates, so it could only help. He couldn't help but stay reluctant about it.

"W-well, what would you like to know."

"Yikes, don't be so timid," Tokage teased, "It'll only be a couple questions. Firstly, what's the name?"

"Shift, like back and forth, not A to B."

"What's it do?" Setsuna practically bore a hole through Izuku's skull with how focused she was on him.

"It lets me energize the molecules in my body and amplifies any force I create or receive, though I haven't tested the receiving part yet."

"So it's an Accumulation-type quirk?"

"Oh no, it's just an Emission-type, I can't store anything once it's off."

"So... how'd you take out the giant robot so easily then?"

Izuku took a moment to think of a valid sounding twist of the truth to keep One For All a secret, then answered.

"It builds up very quickly on its own, and if I move, even faster." Seeing that Setsuna was eyeing his injured arm suspiciously, Izuku explained. "It's what caused this, but I can only use it when Shift is active." He didn't know why, but it felt nice just talking about the problems he was already facing but who had nothing to do with them.

"Can you show me?"

"Isn't that against school rules?"

Tokage chuckled, "You just saw me using my quirk to sunbathe earlier, do you really think I have a problem with that?"

Izuku couldn't contest that.

Activating Shift in his right arm, Izuku took off his sling, stretched out his arm, and flexed his hand in the process. Glancing at Setsuna, he noticed she had a crude look while watching him move his arm.

"Why are you looking at my arm like that?"

"So, you can only use it in your right arm and both legs?" Tokage noted the odd look Midoriya was giving her. "I heard about your super jump from Pinky, but that's just odd."

"Well, no, but..." Izuku couldn't really think of anything denying her statement, "at the time, I didn't really think, I just sort of acted."

"So try it out then."

Stumped again, Izuku inquired, "Try what out?"

"Try using it everywhere, throughout your whole body," Tokage teased.

"I-i don't think that's a good idea. It makes sense that it'd work, but Shift is really volatile." Izuku was definitely not confident in his ability to pull something off like fully drawing out Shift.

"Mina told me you were pretty strong, so I'm sure you can figure it out easily enough," Tokage grinned in a friendly manner, "you don't really know me, sure, but trust me. How about if you activate it, then just turn it off right after, that ain't too dangerous, right?"

"Yeah, that shouldn't be too risky..."

"Well, there you go!"

Tokage offered a hand to Midoriya, which he took, pulling himself up. Walking about a quarter of the rooftop away, Tokage reassured him. "I'll even stand over here just in case."

"T-tell me why you trust me on t-this?" Izuku couldn't help but ask. If it was up to him, he'd wait until he was alone to really focus, but Setsuna's overconfidence was infectious. If he remembered correctly, according to Ashido, Setsuna passed the recommended student exam, so she was definitely a cut above.

"Ha! That's easy. You look like the kind of person who can figure out the oddities of a quirk real easy, but has the hardest time with the simplest parts. You overthink things too much." Even while saying it, Tokage still smiled confidently.

Did she have to be so blunt about it?

Still reluctant, but willing, Izuku merely replied, "If you say so." Focusing on his arm, Izuku closed his eyes and deactivated Shift. With Shift inactive, Izuku's arm hung at his side, unusable.

He knew it was now or never, however odd a test like this might be for the current situation. Izuku recollected how it felt when he used Shift before, about the warm feeling it gave him. He remembered what he'd told Private Eye and All Might, that it felt like a cold sun that was heating up and growing brighter. This time, however, he tried invoking that same feeling throughout his entire body. Again, there was that feeling that Shift wanted to spread...

Within an instant, Izuku's entire body was covered in cracks of light, all converging at the center of his chest. Every several seconds the cracks pulsed gently in unison. His eyes remained closed.

It was like his entire being was ready and waiting to take off at any moment! He'd experienced this kind of energy before, right when he'd leaped skyward during the exam! Except, this time, it seemed... slower. Like it would take longer to build up like before. Though that wasn't a bad thing! Izuku was curious about how quickly the energy amplification would work when he used his entire body instead.

"You asleep or something?"

"Oh, u-uh," Izuku opened his eyes, "sorry. Got distracted."

"Yeah, I noticed. So how's it feel?"

"Weird," Izuku shook his legs slightly, "it's like my body is ready to launch by itself." Jumping several times lightly, Izuku could feel every impact and launch with a higher sensitivity each time he landed. He also noticed that each time he jumped, it was slightly higher than the previous one. Maybe the compounded and received energy were outside impacts? Like a calm lake that someone threw a rock into? It was still confusing, but now he had a little bit of a clearer picture.

An idea struck Izuku, and, against all his usual habits, he decided he'd try it there and now. Looking over to Setsuna, he excitedly stated, "I have an idea."

Tokage who'd been watching the fellow green-haired teen think, responded in kind with a quick, "Well you don't need to tell me twice, go for it!"

Steading himself and 'flaring' the energy he'd built-up (which wasn't much overall), Izuku readied himself for his sudden experiment. Activating Shift one again throughout his entire body, Izuku jumped with some effort this time. While it wasn't as much lift as during the exam, he gained several meters of air, but he could definitely feel a significant impact through his legs when he landed. Strangely enough, the warmth that he felt when Shift was active increased similarly.

He wasn't done riding this emotional high. He'd already been through enough in two days to warrant him wanting to try this out against his better judgement. This is what it felt like to have a stable quirk! It was actually fun! In his haste to experience the feeling again, Izuku jumped once more, but with full force.

Izuku went even higher than before, getting at least a dozen meters of air. It was at that moment Izuku realized that his angle had been slightly off.

He was now falling off the building.

Izuku was about to scream when, without warning, he felt something, or rather, someone, hook their arms under his armpits and gently start lowering him back over the roof.

"You know, experimenting is great and all, but it's better to do it in a controlled environment. Though you're kind of new to this, so I can't blame you."

Turning red as he heard the voice, Izuku looked down and saw no legs other than his. Looking up, he saw Setsuna's upper half was by itself, flying and currently carrying him down gently. He became acutely aware of his position relative to how she was holding him.

Noticing that he was looking at her, Tokage grinned. "Also, you're heavier than you look." She finally reached the roof and, after placing her fellow rooftop compatriot on the ground, reconnected with her unmoving lower half.

"T-thanks, I don't know what I-i would've done if you hadn't been around." Izuku was embarrassed, but it didn't look like she'd make fun of him for something like that.

"Bah," Tokage flippantly waved at him, "don't mention it. We've all been there, and now so have you." Tokage walked forward and put her hand out, "We just gotta help each other out when it comes to training, how about it?"

Eyeing Setsuna warily, Izuku dubiously asked, "Are you serious?"

Without missing a beat, Tokage replied, "Sure, you get to practice with your quirk, and I get to practice with mine. Speaking of which, mine is Lizard Tail Splitter, it lets me break my body into pieces that can regenerate and even fly, which is how I rescued you! You can one hundred percent trust me."

It was an odd feeling meeting so many genuinely friendly people in such a small timespan... but a welcome one.

"Alright, let's help each other out from now on." He reached out, but when he grabbed Setsuna's hand, she yelped as a surge of electricity arced from his arm through hers and made it recoil harshly. Immediately he deactivated Shift and sputtered out, "I'm so sorry! I-i don't know what happened I thought I got rid of all the excess energy I-"

Setsuna, seeming slightly worse for wear but nevertheless fine, held up the hand that the surge of electricity had coursed through, "Check it out." Compared to before, while it was still her arm, it was vastly changed.

Her arm now had solid, plated scales armoring it heavily. It could be compared to natural heavy plate mail or the armored body of certain lizards and reptiles. Additionally, the skin had an almost thick, leathery hide appearance. Though her hand hadn't changed shape or form, on the back of it were smaller versions of the scales on her arm. Lastly, what looked to be little claws were visible on her fingertips, including her thumb, with her palm having only a slightly more durable-looking skin.

"This. Is. Awesome!" With a look of awe on her face, Tokage backed up a bit and gave the fierce-looking appendage several test swings. "I need to tell my dad about this, he's gonna freak!" As quickly as it started, it ended, and her arm suddenly molted from her shoulder down, sloughing off all of the additional features. Tokage locked eyes with Midoriya (who'd been quietly observing), and resolutely stated, "You have to practice with me now. I didn't know your quirk could do that!"

"It doesn't?" Izuku looked at his limp arm, "At least I think it doesn't."

"Doesn't matter, that was amazing!" Tokage had an expression of absolute glee. "This is the first time it's ever done this, my arm looks like my dad's, basically prehistoric!" Turning to Midoriya, she abruptly asked, "Hey, do you ride the metro every day to class?"

"U-uh, yes, why?"

"What station do you arrive at? Ah this is great!" Tokage was getting more frenetic by the minute. She needed to tell her parents about what just happened!

Izuku had a feeling that his answer would be getting him deeper into some ever-present ditch. "Hoya and I-i walk the rest of the way, a-again why?"

"Yes! Same station, cool," the frenzied teen ran to the doorway and picked up her school bag, "I'll meet you out front of Hoya tomorrow morning so you can fill me in on how you did that! I gotta go, cya!" With that farewell, Setsuna opened the access door and sprinted off towards the railway station that Izuku would be using momentarily.

More at a loss for words than anything, Izuku put his arm back in its sling and quietly strode over to where he initially dropped his bag, picking it back up. The bag, forgotten about due to the circumstances, was dusty, but no worse for wear.

Just what was he managing to get himself into? And what did he do to Setsuna just then? She seemed to be in good enough condition to still be ecstatic about what had just occurred, but... something was off and he didn't like it. The more he learned about his quirk the more questions arose. That shouldn't have happened at all.

Taking out his phone, he sent a message to All Might explaining the situation that had just occurred and asked him for advice on how to proceed. This was entirely new territory in more ways than one.

As the sun continued to set, too much had transpired on the first day of class. First, his arm goes haywire due to an accident. He then tells some of his classmates that his quirk is dormant after they saw his demonstration, and they even thought it was cool! Lastly, he meets the friend Ashido was talking about, Setsuna, only for that very same person to offer to train with him! Then what happens, somehow he completely transforms her arm, and she finds that awesome?! And just what was she doing on the roof in pieces in the first place?!

As Izuku walked to the same station that Setsuna ran off to earlier, he could only anticipate what would befall him in the coming days.

He hoped he'd be able to keep up.


A/N: Totally pushed off sleep to finish this. With this chapter released, I'm going to be moving to 2 weeks between releases as it works way better for me. But, if I ever finish a chapter before the 2 weeks are up, then I'll just release it then so it'd be like an early gift! This was also a bit of a rush near the end so I'll probably be going back and making more edits this week to spiff it up a little more. As always, if you see anything that could be described better or have any likes/dislikes feel free to let me know. Every little bit helps me improve! The next chapter should be around the 24/25th!