Chapter 31: A Scarecrow and a Rat
Summary: A second debriefing with Nedzu and All Might points out the obvious and highlights some potential problems.
Chapter 31: A Scarecrow and a Rat
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Twelve hours later, Izumi was once again going over her experiences. Though, this time, her somewhat smaller audience had simply had her upload the video feed from her visor and played the entire thing out at double speed, only occasionally pausing to ask questions. That had taken the better part of an hour, followed by another hour doing the same with the Overwatch stream that the HSN had recorded. That time everything had been played at four times speed, but Nedzu had stopped it more often to make some point or other to the other three people in attendance. Those people, of course, were Izumi herself, All Might in his Small Might form, and Momo. Now that the second video had finally come to an end, all of them leaned back to sip at the admittedly delicious tea that Momo had just refreshed for them. Nedzu waited a few moments, clearly enjoying the tea himself, which probably said quite a lot about how good Momo was at preparing it. Eventually, he set his cup down and spoke into the heavy silence.
"Reviewing all the footage, including that which has been made available from other heroes, proves two points. First, that All for One is almost certainly alive. One being such as the Nomu at the USJ breech could have believably been the result of an old project. Ten more of them appearing, however, diminishes the probability of that to nearly zero."
Nedzu paused just a few heartbeats to let that process, then moved on to his second point.
"Two, there is no question that Izumi was specifically targeted. That portal was opened with the Plasma Nomu directly targeting her from the start, and it never stopped even when Nejire-chan and Spring finished their own fight and attempted to intervene. Ryukyu was similarly jumped, but I believe it likely she was targeted merely to keep her busy."
Izumi grimaced but nodded.
"I came to the same conclusion when I was engaging it, at least about it targeting me. Its set of Quirks were just a little bit too on point for it not to be deliberately targeted. I doubt it was made specifically to fight me, not in so little time. But I suspect they picked the best one to…test me, I suppose. All for One considers me the most likely candidate for One for All's current holder, I believe. Or at least he did."
Nedzu nodded, eyes glinting in approval of the observation.
"Precisely. But the question then posed is does he still think that way? He used a Nomu that was, in many ways, the opposite side of the coin from the USJ brute. A way to maximize the new data he got on you. What, then, would be his conclusion?"
It was Momo that answered that, clearly having been thinking along the same lines.
"While we can't know for sure, I suspect the new data will have caused him to reconsider. Or at least injected a level of uncertainty. Compared to the USJ, he saw Izumi exhibit a broader base of abilities. The biggest one being the ability to summon a Pod. He can't have previously known where the Pod present in the Plaza came from. He might even have believed it was a security bot belonging to UA."
Nedzu nodded along, but gestured to All Might, who had been silent thus far…and was presumably the one that knew his nemesis the best after their years of playing cat and mouse. Given that the man underneath the All Might persona was far from stupid, he had to have absorbed a great deal about his opponent during the long fight against All for One's empire. There were a few moments more of silence, before Yagi finally spoke up.
"I'm afraid, in this case, the relatively unknown nature of young Midoriya's Quirk works against us being certain. If he was willing to probe like this, it means he isn't sure. He hates unknown variables. But the fact that it was an unknown at all, in turn, means he failed to get either UA or Nishimura & Croft's analysis of her Quirk. I think he'll probably be more confused and frustrated now than anything."
All Might shifted in his seat to look more directly at Izumi as he continued.
"Your preference for close-ranged combat is something he would believe to be a sign of being mentored by me. It was, as near as I've ever been able to tell, the one thing that truly made me difficult for him to deal with. Since I tend to close the range and stay close, he couldn't switch out Quirks the way he tended to do with others. Not easily and not to the same degree, at least. Young Yaoyorozu has to be on his radar as well…but she doesn't fight like me, at all. The years she spent sparring with a stronger opponent in you means she tends not to engage in slugging matches. She prefers to break off, out maneuver, or trap instead. Which, along with the disguise the two of you created in her battle suit, is likely why he considered you the more probable inheritor."
Everyone took that in, with Momo quickly returning to her own point.
"Yes, but Izumi used too many other abilities. Things that were clearly Quirk related, but not connected to One for All. Summoning the Pods, plus Telekinesis, at the very least."
All Might nodded.
"That's why I said he's likely confused and frustrated. If I didn't know what young Midoryia's Quirk was, I would swear she had several. Given his own nature, that's almost certain to be his first thought as well. If I had to guess, his current assumption is that she must be the product of a Quirk Marriage. If he's accessed records of her mother and father's Quirks, the telekinesis fits a One for All amplified version of her mother's ability. If a new generation of that enhanced it to Push as well as Pull, then One for All boosted it, that would pretty much match up to how she usually uses her telekinesis. Meanwhile, the energy-projection abilities of the Pod model 2B used in the fight could match with an enhanced mutation of Fire Breath."
Izumi scowled at the mention of her sperm-donor and his Quirk, her irritation causing her voice to come out a bit clipped as she poked a hole in the idea.
"My public Quirk listing specifies a Sentient quirk, though. He has to know at least that much."
Nedzu spoke up next, in support of All Might's point.
"Which would explain the Pod manifesting and operating independently. Most sentient Quirks can manifest some sort of body, after all. If there were unknown factors in one of your parents Quirks that made the idea of a Quirk Union attractive…yes, that is a likely deduction for All for One to make. Unfortunately, it also means he'll likely try again for more information. The question is, how? Targeting Nishimura & Croft would make some sense. So would going after your mother, which we'll need to do something about. Testing his other likely target is a third likely possibility, as he might try to eliminate Miss Yaoyorozu as a possibility. That would most likely mean attacking her out of costume to determine her base abilities."
Izumi and Momo looked at each other, then back at Nedzu. Momo shrugged.
"I've come up with something recently that would still let me make it less than obvious where the power was coming from. A sort of stripped down, portable suit. Very minimalist. But if I keep the strength downplayed while using it, it could confuse the issue more if he does target me in public."
The mammal-of-unknown-type looked intrigued for a moment, but then shook his head.
"That's good to know. But, ideally, we don't want to risk him targeting you at all. Not until you're more prepared for a fight of that magnitude. It might be best to move both of you onto the campus. I've already been subtly nudging the others of your class to move into the expanding dorms."
Both of them were visibly surprised at that for a moment, but shook their heads almost at the same time. Though it was Momo that responded after they did.
"That's completely impractical. I'm still the heir of the Yaoyorozu Group and regularly need to attend meetings and events. Both Izumi and I regularly meet with people for the HSN operations as well, not to mention all the projects we have ongoing at our own facilities. We'd have to leave campus so often that we'd be more of a target, not less of one. As it is, it's pretty random where we come from each day. My family estate, the Midoriya penthouse, or our own private workshop. Trying to intercept us without even knowing our starting point would be difficult even for their warper. But if we're always starting from UA…"
Nedzu frowned but nodded reluctantly. He knew full well they were right.
"That's going to complicate issues. I'd hoped to bring all the students onto the campus, into the dorms. But with two exceptions already in place, others may be less inclined to accept the offer."
Izumi and Momo both shifted uncomfortably. But they didn't budge on the point, choosing to ignore Nedzu's subtle prodding. Even aside from the truth of Momo's reasoning, they were disinclined to go along with it anyway. Momo had spent years trying to pry free of her parents somewhat smothering overprotectiveness. Her recent success in getting some actual freedom, living at least somewhat away from such oversight, wasn't something Momo was going to give up without a fight. Izumi cared less, having never been as restricted as Momo. But she would never take that success and the enjoyment it brought away from her girlfriend, meaning she wouldn't accept without fighting the idea just as hard. Nedzu, seeing something in their tensed shoulders, sighed and seemed to give up for now.
"Well, I wasn't ready to be overt about that yet, anyway. That still leaves the question of what to do about the fact you're both likely to be targeted. The fact that you're both in the same class makes them a possible target as well…and then there are your parents to consider."
Everyone grimaced. They would spend the next several hours trying to come up with solutions. To only very limited success…
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