Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Once Bitten, Twice Shy, Thrice Burned
–Pov Gravity–
‘What do I do?!’ A brunette girl screamed into her own head, trying desperately to free herself from the rubble and debris on top of her, as a massive robot slowly advanced. Because she had landed on her stomach before the debris fell on her, she was pinned in a way that prevented her from reaching up and using her quirk. And if the sharp pain she was feeling in her leg and hip, and the slowly growing patch of wetness were any indication, the debris might not be her only issue. Blinking away the tears building up in her eyes, the girl turned to see two people running up towards her, one being the green haired boy she had helped earlier when he tripped, while the other person was a girl she didn’t recognize. Behind the unrecognized girl floated an assortment of debris like that which was pinning her down. The brunette’s wonder at the thought of meeting another person with a gravity quirk quickly faded as another sharp pain flared through her body. She turned her head to see the green haired boy trying to move some of the debris on top of her.
“Midoriya-kun, cease. There’s a piece of rebar in there that’s gone through her body. You're exacerbating the injury.” The girl spoke, drawing the brunette’s attention towards her. She was immediately drawn towards her golden red eye, framed by dull amber bangs that gradually changed to yellow, with what looked like medical bandages covering up her right eye. “Midoriya-kun, come here, grab her gently. When I lift these off of her, pull her out, but do NOT pull out the rebar in her hip unless you have no choice. It’s keeping her from losing too much blood too quickly.” After giving the green haired boy, ‘Midoriya’ her mind supplies, instructions, the amber haired girl gives the brunette her full attention. “Don’t worry. We’ll get you out. Just concentrate on my voice for now. Can you give us your name?”
The brunette grit her teeth as another, smaller wave of pain wracked her body, before gasping out her name. “U-u-uraraka Ochako!” The amber haired girl nodded, her concern clear in her eyes. “Alright, Uraraka-san. My name is Kinson Izanami, and he’s Midoriya Izuku. When I say ‘go’ I want you to brace yourself. I can’t tell if the rebar is connected to any of these pieces, but if it is, it’s going to hurt even more once they are moved. If you have any apprehensions about this plan, please say so now.” Ochako couldn’t really find much of a fault in the plan, at least, not now, with her vision starting to blur a bit. Her main concern was the Zero Pointer. “W-w-w-what about the r-r-robot, K-k-k-kinson-san?” Izanami smiled at Ochako warmly, filling her with a sense of peace and warmth, as if everything would be ok. “You need not worry about that. The Zero Pointer is currently being held back. Are you ready, Midoriya-kun?” Ochako felt Midoriya’s arms wrap around her, and tighten ever so slightly. “A-a-a-as ready as I can be.” Izanami nodded, then inhaled. “Go.”
Ochako quickly braced herself as the debris holding her down lifted up one by one, floating over to Izanami. When the big piece that was directly on her shifted and rose, Midoriya gently began dragging her out, shifting one of his arms to support her hips and keep the rebar from moving too much. Izanami spared Ochako a quick once over as Midoriya helped flip her over onto her back before setting the debris aside. Ochako turned her own slightly blurry gaze towards her hips and leg, before turning pale at the sight of the metal bar sticking out of her hip, the bloody clothes surrounding it, and her assuredly broken leg. She heard Midoriya gasp, and honestly she couldn’t blame him. She quickly averted her gaze by looking towards Izanami, who had knelt down next to her. “Ok, the lower right leg is broken, and rebar through the right hip area. Uraraka, I’m going to press my fingers around the metal gently. I want to make sure that it didn’t already pierce the bone.” Ochako tried to shake her head, to protest that the two should continue with the entrance exam, only for a loud yell to echo across the cityscape signaling the end of the exam. Izanami barely acknowledges the announcement, as she gently prods around Ochako’s wound. During Izanami’s inspection, Ochako, through the pained winces and gasps, turns her attention to the Zero Pointer, and lets out a much louder gasp at what she sees.
The Zero Pointer stood silent, a massive gaping hole through the center of it, as well as an equally sizable hole through it’s head. It’s treads were mangled, with bits of debris sticking out here and there, and one of its arms seemed to be utterly demolished, with various large gashes torn into it and exposed wires sparking in the air. Stifling another pained gasp, she turns back to Izanami, who was giving her a quizzical look. “Hm? Oh, concerned about the Zero Pointer? Honestly, all the debris it created served as its undoing. In a field such as this, my quirk’s power rises exponentially.” She gives Ochako one last gentle poke, before nodding her head. “So, good news, the rebar did not pierce bone. Bad news, I think it may have pierced your intestines. If we remove it now, bleeding out may be the least of your worries. Are you ok with me carrying you to the on site medical staff?” Ochako only had enough time to nod once, before she was lifted up into a bridal carry. A soft squeak escaped her lips as she turned bright red. “Midoriya-kun, let’s go. And thank you, as well.” The last thing Ochako heard before everything went dark was panicked denials and soft giggles.
–Pov 9th–
Today had turned out to be a really odd day for Izuku Midoriya. First, he had to eat All Might’s hair on the way to Yuuei’s Entrance Exam, with the warning that it would take a few hours before he would be able to access One for All, and the admittedly terrible advice of clenching his butt and yelling Smash!™ to use it. Then he ran into Bakugo(He couldn’t call him Kacchan anymore. Not after what he said that day.), but didn’t say a word to him. Then he tripped over a broken piece of concrete, and was helped by a nice girl with blush circles who had a gravity quirk! Even though he didn’t manage to say a word to her to thank her, he hoped he would see her again, if only to actually say thank you, and also ask about her quirk. The written test went by in a blur, but he was fairly confident he did decent. Having to sit next to Bakugo during the briefing for the physical part of the exam and getting yelled at for mumbling by someone who shouldn’t have been able to even hear him unless that boy had a hearing based quirk was pretty shitty, but then he met someone that flipped that around on the bus ride to the test site. Izanami Kinson was honestly the most interesting person he’d ever met, and that was without including the bandages wrapped around her eye and the way her hair went from a deep amber to a golden yellow, like someone had personified the season of autumn into her hair. When Izuku first saw her, she was writing in a notebook. She didn’t even look up when she had waved him over. Half expecting a scolding, Izuku was further surprised to learn she was inviting him to sit. After brief introductions, Izanami closed the notebook, then started talking to him. Someone actually WANTED to talk to him!
“You seem quite nervous, Midoriya. Is aught amiss?” Jolting from his thoughts, Izuku turned towards Izanami. Without even realizing it, Izuku had followed her off the bus onto the field. Panicking a bit, he realized he still couldn’t feel One For All. “Izuku, breathe. You're on the cusp of a panic attack. Follow my voice, ok.” Oh, was that why he felt like he was drowning again and everything was blurry? Slowly, and gently, Izanami guided Izuku through his panic, until he could breathe again, and his vision cleared. “There we go. Now that you’ve calmed down, might you be able to tell me what drove you towards such a state?” As much as Izuku didn’t want to lie, he knew his reaction just now had worried Izanami greatly. Which was yet another piece of evidence that today was rather bizarre. Bracing himself, and hoping that Izanami wouldn’t hate him, Izuku began explaining. “I…I can’t feel my quirk at all. I’m supposedly a late bloomer with a stockpile type quirk, but…the person who helped me realize that and helped train me said that I should be able to access it by the time the exam started. Right now, I’m still quirkless.” As soon as he uttered that dreaded word, Izuku curled in on himself, expecting jeering, or scolding.
Instead, he felt Izanami’s arms pull him into a small hug. “Oh, Little Jade, no wonder you panicked. You’ve not had a kind life, have you?” That gentle tone, with not even the tiniest hint of anger, or contempt, shook Izuku even more. “It’s alright, I understand your trepidation. Now then, we have scant moments before the exam starts. Would you like to work together?” And just like that, Izuku’s brain grinded to a halt. She didn’t hate him, or think he didn’t belong here? Izanami wanted to help him?! Why was he meeting such a wonderful person now, minutes before the exam that would make or break his entire life. A soft giggle jump started his brain and he quickly nodded. In the remaining time, Izanami and Izuku bounce ideas off each other. Izuku was particularly excited when they got to the topic of Izanami’s quirk, but they were interrupted when the boy who had yelled at Izuku earlier approached them, going on about how Izuku was distracting the other participants, and how he should just leave if he wasn’t going to take the exam seriously. Feeling that drowning feeling starting to creep up again, Izuku shut his eyes and gripped at his throat as he struggled to calm down.
And then, a loud slap rang out and reached his ears. The dead quiet that followed gave Izuku enough time to come down from his panic. Izanami stood protectively in front of him, shaking her hand out, while the boy who had been yelling was holding his cheek, looking at her in stunned silence. “How dare you.” Izanami growled out, her visible eye giving a hardened glare. “Who gave you the right to demand that Midoriya leave? Who do you think you are, that you get to decide who is allowed to take this exam? I honestly hope you don’t pass, because if someone like you, who would actively sabotage this poor boy out of some perceived slight to your inflated ego, can make it into Yuuei, then clearly, this school isn’t all it’s advertised to be.” Izuku was absolutely flummoxed at this point. So lost in his head at the thought that someone would actually stand up for him, he didn’t feel Izanami gently guide him away, until her quiet assurances towards him drew him out of his thoughts. “There you are, Midoriya. Thought I lost you for a moment. Right then, we have less time to formulate a plan thanks to that boy. So, we have to improvise. My quirk, Gaia’s Blessing, will provide what we need as we need it. As soon as the exam starts, we move. Stick close, Little Jade.” Izuku nodded, preparing himself as he saw Present Mic at the top of a stage and the gates ahead began opening.
“Exam Start!” boomed across the yard, driving Izuku forward as he and Izanami raced past the other examinees. He barely caught someone saying that the two of them had lost their nerve, only for Present Mic to exclaim “What are you waiting for?! There are no countdowns in real life! Those two have the right idea!” Izuku turned his attention back towards Izanami, as the earth around her began levitating and orbiting her. Once a decent chunk of rock and debris had been pulled up, it solidified into a shield that Izanami slammed into a two pointer’s head. More earth was being raised even as she acted, throwing herself into a light spin to grasp Izuku and pull him closer, letting him finish off the robot with a kick that knocked off its head. The two nodded at each other, as Izanami grabbed another chunk of floating earth and turned it into an earthen spear, and Izuku shifted the shield he now had to get a better grip. The duo continued on, working together in surprising unison, demolishing robots as onlookers stumbled whenever they witnessed them in action. Izuku himself was amazed at how well they were working together. The shield he was using had been morphed into a mace, another spear, a sort of sword that was more like a rod with a hilt and pommel, before settling into a surprisingly comfortable staff. Meanwhile, Izanami had simply extended the range of her spear by morphing it into a naginata, all the while still pulling up chunks of rocks to orbit around them. All the while, Izuku’s mind raced, trying to analyze the quirk before him. ‘She called it Gaia’s Blessing, but I thought it would be a simple geokinesis quirk. Instead , she’s not only manipulating the earth to orbit around us, she's capable of molding it to suit her needs. How advanced is her quirk? Does she have a limit to how much she can manipulate? Wait, between moving the rocks she has orbiting us to intercept attacks, maintaining the molded weaponry, and pulling more earth towards her, not to mention also shielding other participants, her multitasking ability has to be absurdly high!’ Before Izuku could continue analyzing, he was jolted out of his thoughts by the sudden shaking of the ground beneath his feet before hearing Izanami. “An obstacle to avoid indeed. Are you back with me, Little Jade?” Izuku gives Izanami a brief nod, before seeing what had no doubt caused the earthquake. A massive robot towered over the exam grounds, slowly advancing towards the currently fleeing participants on threads. Izuku felt his panic starting to rise again. How was something that dwarfed the buildings around them a mere ‘obstacle’?! “Midoriya, there’s someone trapped in it’s path.” Izuku snapped his head towards Izanami, who was already booking it towards the Zero-pointer, the earth she had torn up previously concentrating into 4 rapidly growing spheres. Following suit, because what kind of hero runs away from someone who needed help, Izuku struggled to keep up with the taller Izanami.
When he caught a glimpse of who had been caught in the falling debris, his heart leapt into his throat. It was the nice girl who had stopped him from falling flat on his face. He felt his body lurch forward on it’s own, driving him to try and lift the rubble, only to be stopped when Izanami said he was agitating a piece of rebar in a dangerous position. Following the instructions given by his partner(?),He wrapped his arms under the trapped girl’s shoulders. Throughout the entire process of Izanami carefully lifting the rocks, He felt a warm heat in his chest, but wrote it off as embarrassment at the fact he was holding the gravity girl. He barely contained his amazement as Izanami destroyed the tank-like treads with the debris she lifted up and shaped into large spikes, but he refocused on the pretty brunette girl as he tried to be as gentle as possible when pulling her away. Once he was positive he’d made it a safe enough distance away, Izuku helped the brunette turn onto her back. He gasped when he saw just how much blood had soaked into her uniform, along with the way her leg was bent in a horrendous fashion. He could also see the piece of rebar sticking out of her. Both Izuku and the girl paled at the sight, before Izanami knelt next to them both. As the autumn haired girl began inspecting the brunette’s wound, a sharp gasp drew his attention to her face, then to the giant robot she was staring at. The two gaping holes, along with the shredded robotic arm were quite a sight to Izuku. When he and the brunette turned to Izanami with questioning eyes, Izanami simply gave a small humble response about how she excelled in this kind of environment. With another warm smile, Izanami gently picked up the brunette, ‘Uraraka Ochako’ he realized, before the two began trekking back through the exam grounds to find the on site medical staff.
One thing was certain to Izuku. Whether he passed or failed, today had shattered his expectations. He met someone who not only didn’t care that he was quirkless, but even went out of her way to help him. A feeling of hope filled his chest that maybe Yuuei really would be different. And as he headed home that day, with his phone a little heavier from the two new numbers of Izanami and Ochako and an autograph from the Youthful Heroine, Recovery Girl, He pondered what other surprises were in store for him. So lost in thought, Izuku didn’t notice the warm feeling filling his body slowly dissipating.
-PoV Gaian-
Izanami Kinson was, simply put, confused. All throughout the exam, She noticed that her quirk was…tampered with. But the tampering wasn’t harmful, instead, it was beneficial. If there was one thing Izanami had a solid grasp on, it was her quirk. And frankly put, there was no way Gaia’s Blessing should have been able to punch two giant holes through the Zero Pointer that easily. The shredded arm and busted treads, yes, that was within her power, but definitely not the rest of the damage. And as she mulled it over, she kept returning to the same possibility. The shy cute enigma that was Izuku Midoriya. A boy who went through life quirkless, but found out he had a stockpile quirk from his mysterious mentor. And honestly, that wasn’t what bothered her. Stockpile quirks were notorious for coming late. No, what bothered her was the fact that Izuku didn’t realize he had been using his quirk the entire exam. Every quirk had a signature that signified its use. Her own quirk gave her a constant mental connection to the very world around her. She could feel every inch of stone, metal, and even wood within several miles. And each had its own little song that identified what she was feeling. Maybe Midoriya’s signature was something he could mistake for adrenaline?
Izanami shook her head, glancing to her right at the other examinee that caught her attention, Uraraka Ochako, who was gingerly holding her side while leaning on the taller girl. Her stamina had been too low for a complete healing, so rather than have her travel all the way back to her home in the Mie prefecture still injured, Izanami had instead invited Ochako to her house, while also letting Ochako send the address to her parents so that they could come see that their daughter was ok with their own eyes. Seeing Ochako starting to absentmindedly rub her hip, Izanami decided to draw Ochako’s mind away from her ruminating thoughts. “What’s on your mind, Little Moonstone? You seem as lost in your head as Midoriya was before the exam started.” Ochako seemed to frown a little more, before turning to face Izanami. “ I guess… I’m worried. I keep turning it around in my head, but… If you and Midoriya hadn’t rescued me, I could have bled out underneath that rubble. I knew, sorta, that going into heroics would be dangerous, but I don’t think I really thought about just how dangerous it would be. I could have died just during the entrance exam. If I did pass, how much worse are the classes going to be?” Izanami gave a soft hum in response. “ Your concerns are quite valid. But… I don’t think that’s what is really on your mind. I won’t judge you, Uraraka, and you can tell me to drop it if you so desire.” Ochako seemed to hesitate more, chewing on her lower lip as she thought. Izanami sighed a little, not pressing the issue further. The silence that followed wasn’t uncomfortable, but Izanami felt like she may have overstepped. She still wasn’t used to interacting with people around her age. Granted, there was at least a year difference between her and most of the kids who took the entrance exam today, but that wasn’t the point. She was about to open her phone when Ochako spoke. “Do you think… they’ll penalize me for getting hurt and needing help? I mean, they’re looking for the next aspiring heroes, so… would they even consider me at all?”
Now that just wouldn’t do. Izanami reached over and cupped Ochako’s face in her hands, drawing the brunette’s eyes up to her single one. “Uraraka, If they did do so, they’d hit me with a bigger penalty. Besides, even pro heroes need help from time to time. That’s why we have support heroes like Recovery Girl, and Support Gear companies. Not everyone is like All Might, thank goodness.” Letting go of Ochako’s face to ruffle her hair a little, which provoked the most adorable giggle from her. It wasn’t long after that, that the two girls departed the train and were standing in front of Izanami’s house. “Fair warning, we have a Flemish Giant, and she’s very friendly.” Unlocking the door, Izanami ushered Ochako in, then led her over to the nearest couch to rest. “I’ll be back in a moment. If you hear snuffling, that’s Loppy being a nosy bunny.” Izanami headed deeper into the home, and sure enough, Ochako heard snuffling coming from her right. She turned to see the biggest bunny she had ever laid eyes on, sniffing her hand. With sparkles in her eyes, Ochako started petting the giant bunny, worries forgotten momentarily. “It seems Loppy likes you, dear.” Startled out of her petting, Ochako looked up to see a beautiful woman with snow white hair sitting across from her. “A-ah, sorry, Mrs. Kinson?” a soft sad smile spread across the woman’s face, as she responded. “I’m afraid not. Mrs. Kinson died a long time ago.”
“My name is Rei Himura. Formerly Rei Todoroki. I’m Izanami’s adoptive mother.”