Chapter 3: Getting Attention Unintentionally

Summary: As canon approaches, a certain someone takes notice of Izumi and Momo...and an offer is made.

Chapter 3: Getting Attention Unintentionally

- Izumi: Age 17-

"Shit! Momo, more bandages! Come on, we are not losing him!"

Grim faced, Momo produced more bandages from her Quirk, grimacing at how low her reserves were but powering through regardless. Knowing she couldn't produce a set of replacements if they soaked through, she added a clotting agent to the strips of cloth. The difference in cost was negligible, more taxing on her mind and imagination than her body, and this way it would hopefully stop the man's bleeding long enough for the paramedics they'd signaled to get him to a hospital.

Five minutes later, the stabilized man had been handed off to be transported, and the two of them were scrambling back into their place in the search pattern. Izumi's visor was deployed, even though she looked ragged herself, already having had to give up on maintaining 2B's Pod three hours ago. Neither said anything about the other's obvious exhaustion. Both of them knew they wouldn't give in until they couldn't move any longer, or they'd found every last person still alive in the wreckage of the massive apartment complex. Destabilized in a villain fight, Momo and Izumi had been two of the first people to respond…and neither had left since they rushed to the scene.

A few of the heroes to respond early on to the disaster had tried to shoo them off, only to have a pair of first-responder Quirk licenses shoved in their face to shut them up. Heroes may be the only ones with effective carte-blanche to use their Quirks in all situations, but there were other conditions under which you could get a less comprehensive license. Such as by having Quirks suitable for search, rescue, and first-aid. All you needed was the appropriate training, which hadn't exactly been hard to get. First responders were always needed. And there was no arguing against the fact that Izumi's sensor suite and Momo's ability to make medical supplies on site were extremely valuable in such situations. It would be a year yet before they could apply to UA, but they both refused to let that stop them from helping people right in front of them.

Toshinori Yagi watched with sharp eyes as a pair of teenagers staggered into the medical area, carrying a man nearly the size of his hero form between them. In truth, it seemed that the shorter of the two was carrying most of the stone-skinned man's weight. But the other, black-haired young woman was doing a good job helping balance and guide the two, using her greater height to help keep the heteromorph's awkward size from causing the shorter woman issues. Indeed, despite clearly being dead-on-their-feet, the two young women work with a fluid teamwork that spoke of long association, and possibly some mutual training.

In the grand scheme of things, he might have missed the two of them. There were plenty of other rescue workers around, after all. Enough at this point that they might have faded into the background. Except, of course, that it had been him that put the villain that caused the disaster down. He'd been too short on time to do much more than deliver the villain to the police after he did, but he'd been unable to stay away from the site of the collateral damage. He hadn't arrived yet when it happened, but that didn't make him feel any better about not being able to do much about the rescue efforts.

Not much.

He hadn't gotten this far in his career without at least the solid basics of first aid, and even in this weakened shell of his former self, he was still a lot more physically powerful than he looked. He'd thrown himself into the efforts at recovery, even using a few tiny sparks of One for All here and there without buffing up to his hero form, in order to help clear debris.

And as a result of that effort, All Might had not missed the pair. The two young women had already been here when he'd returned to the site, two of the very first people to respond. And, sixteen and a half hours of back-breaking efforts later, in the early dawn hours…they were still here. Even most of the professional paramedics had rotated by now. And Yagi himself had been forced to take multiple breaks, albeit short ones. But these two…

Toshinori Yagi surreptitiously snapped a photo of the pair. He had a little digging to do. And he knew just the rat-bear-dog-thing to help him do it.

UA University – Dean's Office – Three Weeks Later

"I have to say, Toshinori, that you do have a talent for finding me the most interesting puzzles! Why, I never anticipated you giving me this much entertainment so soon after you agreed to teach! It's quite delightful."

Yagi tried not to shudder at what sounded suspiciously like unholy glee in Nedzu's voice. He'd known it was a possibility, of course. The Dean could often find trouble from the most innocuous of requests. He had to admit, however, that he couldn't imagine what had triggered this strong of a reaction.

"You said this was about the information I requested regarding those girls, Nedzu. What on earth did you find that qualifies as a puzzle? They didn't seem dangerous to me."

The rat-bear-dog-mammal grinned unsettlingly, before taking a sip of his tea. Not wanting to be impolite, particularly to this host, Yagi mimicked the action as the Dean spoke.

"Oh, they are quite dangerous. Though not in the criminal sense. One of them is considered a Class 1 International Economic Risk. And the other has one of the twelve recorded sentient Quirks in all of Japan. The fact that both of them are independently wealthy, from a series of inventions that include the Hero Scouter and its network, and that the Class 1 threat is also the heir of a multinational megacorp..." Nedzu paused for effect, even as Yagi choked on his tea, "…suffice it to say that they were far more interesting than I expected them to be. Indeed, between the Yaoyorozu Group's corporate security and what I suspect may have been Ms. Midoriya's Quirk at work, it took quite some effort for me to gather information on them. Quite an entertaining challenge!"

Yagi, using one of the many handkerchiefs he was forced to carry these days, cleaned up the tea and blood he'd coughed up in his surprise, even as he stared at the Dean in consternation. Any one of the things he'd just said would have been worthy of a spit-take on its own. All of them at once, in response to a simple inquiry on his part, was a bit much. Wrestling with what to ask first, he finally settled on what seemed the most alarming bit of information.

"What on earth is her Quirk, that one of them is a Class 1 Economic Risk?"

"Why, I'm glad you asked! It's truly something special…even if I did have to hack a few databases to get much detail on it! Dear me, if the HPSC knew just how badly they are underestimating her Quirk, they might have done something unfortunate. Or tried to, at least. The Yaoyorozu's private security is really quite a bit better than I think anyone realizes. Truly, the auto-turrets took even me by surprise! And I'm very interested in how they got lasers with that much throughput into such a small package! Though I suspect the girl's Quirk might be the answer."

Yagi rubbed his forehead, fighting an oncoming headache.

"The Quirk, Dean Nedzu?"

"Right! Ms. Yaoyorozu's work is, officially, called Creation. According to the official registry, she's capable of converting her lipids into any material that she understands the molecular structure of! Quite a powerful Quirk, one that would easily let her destabilize a dozen precious metal markets if she really wanted to. Which is what earned her the classification, of course. Given her family's immense existing wealth, monitoring has been fairly light for her classification, however. Young Momo simply doesn't have a motive to break the world economy, even if she technically has the means."

Well, that certainly explained a few things. Including a few comments he'd overheard from the paramedics at the disaster sight who'd been surprised at the quality of some of the supplies used on victims. Some of them had been shocked enough at getting patients that had been treated with expensive blood clotting agents to comment on it. With the girl's power, though, and then there was the fact that…

"You said that was her official registry entry. But you wouldn't have needed to hack that, given your position as head of a major Hero University."

"Quite right! No, the far more fascinating information was when I managed to get into the Nishimura & Croft patient archives! The information on both young women there was far more interesting than what the HPSC had in their registry."

Yagi winced. Okay, he probably owed a lot of people some serious apologies if he'd accidentally convinced Nedzu to go on a hacking spree of that level. Nishimura & Croft were one of the premier outfits for handling children of pro-heroes. Under normal circumstances, even Nedzu would have left them alone. Still, the fact that the terrifying-force-of-nature-disguised-as-a-rat had found something that had caused him to go that far was worth noting…and asking about.

"I…trust you found something that justifies that level of invasion of privacy?"

Nedzu didn't even have the grace to pretend to be sorry at his All Might is Disappointed in You Voice. Instead, the rat just poured more tea and answered the question.

"Several things! For example, both of them have intelligence boosting aspects to their Quirks! Ms. Yaoyorozu might have been able to pass as a natural genius to most tests. But N & C turned up some distinct changes to her brain, specifically ones that allow for enhanced processing and memory retention. Added to the fact that she truly is a natural genius and it's quite a potent combination with her Quirk…which is also considerably more than it seems. It appears that she only needs to understand what she's making, rather than focusing on it in minute detail. And her lipids only act as some sort of fuel, rather than being directly converted. Combined, those details make the Quirk quite a bit more versatile and quick to use, with a much higher mass ceiling than the public files would indicate. It also likely explains why she already has a number of University level engineering, physics, and chemistry classes on her record."

That was…interesting. And the Quirk was powerful. But it didn't quite manage to explain the unholy cheer the dean was still exhibiting. Which meant…

"And the other girl?"

"Oh, dear me. The other girl is a positive delight. And quite a mysterious one! Why, I'm quite sure I barely scratch the surface with young Ms. Midoriya. N & C had several dozen unpublished papers regarding her Quirk. Which is called, interestingly enough, Automata…"

Earthquake Recovery Site – Four Months Later

All Might had run out of time again. Though this time, at least, he'd done so after managing to spend over an hour helping with relief efforts. Honestly, by the time he had been forced to make a hasty exit, everything but the rebuilding was mostly done. Despite that, he'd stuck around in his civilian form, because he'd recognized a pair of faces during the relief efforts. He'd kept a quiet tab on the two of them, in so much as he could do so through their admittedly effective security screen. Still, young Midoriya and Yaoyorozu had popped up fairly regularly at disaster relief sites, and there had been one very amusing encounter where they'd stopped a slime villain with an overpowered taser.

He'd actually seen that one personally, having been about to intervene when young Midoriya had made the villain stop by throwing a bag of flour in his eyes, and young Yaoyorozu had proceeded to taser him while he was blinded. It had been quite effective. It has also, notably, left the police stymied in their lecture of the pair by the fact that neither had obviously used their Quirk. All Might was fairly certain that Yaoyorozu had created the taser. But she hadn't been seen doing so, which left the police no valid arguments. He'd gotten close enough to hear the duo lamenting that they'd have to double back to the store for more flour, or else go without the cookies Ms. Midoriya's mother had promised. And he'd been even more amused at the fire in young Yaoyorozu's eyes at the idea of missing out on those cookies. She'd practically dragged her companion back to the store…

All of which was somewhat relevant to the current situation…but not entirely. The truth was, the unconscious, unhesitating actions he'd seen with the slime villain had crystalized his decision. Up until now, he'd simply been putting things off because of the obvious complication. Specifically, the fact that there were two of them. Well, he had a plan for that. If they both accepted his initial offer of training, fully accredited through the credentials he'd had whipped up for Toshinori Yagi as a trainer from the Mighty Agency, he'd have until UA started to figure out which one of them was the better fit!

For now, he just had to focus on not being creepy when he made his offer of training to two seventeen-year-old-girls, while looking like a walking skeleton. On reflection, this might be slightly harder than he'd hoped, come to think of it.

-One Month Before UA Entrance Exams-

One month before the start of term, All Might was internally sweating, even as he stared out in pride at the completely clear shoreline of Dagobah Beach. When he'd set this task as part of their training, with the rest being spent in the facilities at either Might Tower or the N & C training complex, All Might had assumed that one of the two girls would prove more dedicated than the other. That, he had reasoned, would have been the final means to choose between two, frankly fantastic, possible successors.

It hadn't worked out that way.

It hadn't worked out that way at all.

Instead of either of them giving in, the two of them had taken it as a challenge to finish it faster than he'd asked. They'd worked together, with an equally scary determination mirrored in each other, to create a detailed plan of attack and tackle the beach with an almost terrifying level of efficiency. Neither had slacked off in the slightest. Not on the beach project and not in their other training. Worse, while Midoriya's Quirk probably made her more physically suited to One for All, the adaptations Yaoyorozu's body needed for her own Quirk made her a perfectly serviceable vessel as well.

Which means he still didn't know who to make the offer to.

Well…when all else fails…chicken out and make them decide! Besides, the two of them were dating anyway, so whichever one he'd chosen was bound to have told the other, right? Pushing aside his doubts, All Might approached the two as they sat staring out over the water…

Momo and Izumi stared at All Might in shock. Slowly, in nearly perfect sync, they glanced at each other, then back to the massive hero. They had, of course, figured out his secret some time ago. Even if it had only been polite not to dig into his private affairs, even to discover just how he'd ended up as he was. But this…a fight that had left him crippled? A transferable Quirk? He wanted one of them to be his successor?!

Perhaps surprisingly, given her love of analyzing Quirks, it was actually Izumi that recovered first.

"Momo should take it. For several very good reasons."

Her girlfriend made a sort of strangled sound, looking at her in disbelief.

"Izumi! You can't just say that…you're way more…I mean I'm…"

Izumi shook her head quickly, lifting a finger to Momo's lips to silence her. Momo blushed at the intimate gesture in front of All Might…but it did work to stop her from spiraling.

"It's not just me. 2B thinks so too. And that's just one of the reasons. There's no telling what a Quirk like this One for All would do to a sentient Quirk, right?"

All Might blinked at the question, clearly directed his way. Frowning, he shook his head.

"No. It's never come up before. I know my own mentor's Quirk got a major boost from One for All. But what it would do to a sentient Quirk…"

Izumi nodded. Sentient Quirks were rare. And 2B wasn't normal even for Quirks like that. There was no way Izumi would risk her oldest friend. Not even for All Might. Besides, there were other reasons.

"And that's just one issue. There's also the fact that…it might be a bad idea, Momo. You know, even better than All Might, just how powerful my Quirk actually is. As is, I'm probably one of the few people that can fight him toe-to-toe. For a little while, anyway. Adding One for All on top of that? Bad idea. Better to have two heroines that can serve as a check on each other rather than one stupidly over-the-top one. What if I got corrupted by some Quirk? Or someone with a stronger cyberpathy Quirk overcame 2B's Firewalls?"

With obvious reluctance, Momo nodded. It wasn't something she had a counterargument for. Momo herself was the one that had first pointed out how ridiculous Izumi's Quirk made her. She wasn't going to give up completely without a fight, though. Pulling back from Izumi's finger, she made her own point.

"It would be easier to hide it with you, though. You're already so fast and strong that you could easily hide the boost as an awakening."

Izumi grinned, eyes twinkling madly. This she already had an argument for. Thanks to 2B being much faster to recover that she had been.

"Already figured that out! Or…well…2B did. Do you remember Project Titanium Girl?"

Momo blinked at the seeming non-sequitur.

"Of course I do. We worked on it for years before finally giving up. We couldn't find a power source that…would…"

Momo's eyes had blown wide open as the gears turned in her head.

"Right. The only generator that could run it required a constant flow of…Quirk energy."

Izumi meant 'Maso' and Momo knew it. The fusion power plant that powered YoRHa androids had used Maso to kick start and sustain itself. Izumi had long since shared the information, with Momo at least, that 'Maso' existed and was nearly identical to the energy that fueled Quirks. That only some difference in their reality had given rise to Quirks, instead of turning everyone into salt. Though both of them were still concerned that White Chlorination Syndrome might still be the end result, if the Quirk Singularity Theory was correct. Humans adapting to use the energy might have only stalled the problem, rather than solved it. Still, that was a problem for the future. For right now…

"Your Quirk wasn't suited to supplying a constant stream of energy to fuel the reaction. One for All should be able to do that, if it's a power stockpile type. Better yet, we can streamline the suit to remove all the strength enhancers. You won't need them. And since no one will know you don't have them…"

Momo looked excited as she worked her own way through the problems.

"You're right, it would hide the fact that I'm the one actually providing the power, wouldn't it? Without the need for strength boosters, it would be a lot more agile, too! We could actually make it work!"

A quiet cough from All Might, who both of them had somehow forgotten was still there, caused both of them to stop brainstorming and blush. He gave a hearty laugh at the sight of them both looking sheepish, getting them back on track with an ease that made him feel nostalgic for his time working with David Shield in the States.

"I don't know exactly what you're cooking up, but I believe this means that Young Yaoyorozu will be the one accepting? And that you think you have some way to disguise her Quirk taking an unusual turn?"

Momo bit her lip, glanced at Izumi's supportive expression…then bowed deeply.

"I-I accept, All Might. That is, if you're sure? I mean, surely there must be better people…more deserving people."

All Might's booming laugh filled the empty beach again, even as he reached up to pluck a hair off his head.

"There is a difference between being a good fit and earning this, young lady. And you earned it. First when you, despite all the advantages you were born with, choose to go out and help everyone you could. Without any thought of reward. When you moved with no conscious though to put down a villain. When you dedicated yourself to this community service project, never questioning if it was the right thing to do and putting your whole heart into it. You've earned this, Yaoyorozu Momo. Now…eat this!"

Complete confusion descended as All Might tried to feed Momo a bit of his hair…