MHA: A Cat's Way (Ch 99) (Patreon)

(Uraraka, yes, still)

“So,” I start, with a headache having steadily built behind my eyes. Kneeling in front of me is All Might in his skinny form, with Gran Torino standing with his arms crossed off to the side. “Care to explain how you just so happened to forget to mention the fact that you painted a massive target on the backs of me and my family!?”

All Might, to his credit, shrinks into himself. “I, um. I killed All For One, so I didn’t think it was relevant!”

I just stare at him with an unimpressed expression for a moment. “Uh-huh. How did you kill him?”

The number one hero blinks for a moment. “I- Uh, I smashed his head in?” He says it almost like a question and I can’t help but groan while dragging a hand down my face.

“All Might,” I say tiredly. “Gran Torino told me a bit about this guy while we waited for you.” I look at him deadpan. “Do you honestly believe that someone who has lived for two hundred years would really die just because you punched him really hard!?”

“He didn’t even have a skull!” All Might defends himself. “How is anyone supposed to survive with their brain destroyed!?”

“Regeneration quirks exist! The Nomu at the USJ had a regeneration quirk! And someone who, again, has been collecting quirks for two hundred years is sure to have more than one! Do you really think he wouldn’t have gotten some kind of quirk to deal with that!? Did you even have his body!?”

“No…” All Might lowers his head at his admittance, clearly not having thought of that before.

I have to hold back a scream of frustration, closing my eyes and taking several deep breaths to try and calm down. Once I’m sure I won’t punch the Symbol of Peace in the face, I open my eyes and give him a bright smile. “So, All Might. Are there any major lapses in foresight you want to tell me about?”

“I don’t think so.” All Might says while scratching his cheek.

“What about Nighteye’s death prophecy?” Gran Torino asks with a smirk.

I scream and feel the crunch of cartilage under my fist. It’s official.

All Might is a fucking idiot.

`~`

“So, you mentioned something about my sudden floating?” I ask Gran Torino with a calming cup of tea in front of me. No idea what kind it is, but it’s helping me bring my blood pressure down after the two of us beat All Might’s hollow skulled ass out of the building.

The old man nods solemnly. “That’s right. You see, including Toshinori, there have been eight holders of One For All before you. The seventh holder, Nana Shimura, had the quirk known as Float.”

“Hmm.” I hum in thought while resting my head on the back of my hand. “When All Might first explained One For All, he said that it stockpiles power. Do you think this means it’s also stockpiled the quirks of the past users?”

“It’s possible,” Gran Torino admits before taking a sip of his own tea before setting it back down with a clink. “But it’s also possible that the power simply powered up your quirk, forcing it to undergo an evolution.”

“Is there a surefire way to check which it is?” I ask with a frown. “That seems like it would be a pretty important distinction to understand when training to master it.”

The man hums before dropping off the couch with a huff of effort. “I have a box filled with what information Nana and I managed to gather on all the previous users before All For One killed her. If we look through it, we should be able to find out what most of their quirks were, and see if we can’t force an activation from them.”

I get up from my own seat and follow him as he climbs the stairs leading up. “How would we force an activation?” I ask with my head tilted.

He chuckles, and I can’t help but feel a shiver crawl down my back. He doesn’t look back as he answers. “Well, the best way to learn is by practice. So that’s just what we’ll do!”

`~`

The day after learning about the past users finds me groaning as I try to push myself up from the floor on shaky arms, only to drop back down. I stare ahead at the sideways world while my body complains about the punishment it's been put through. “I think… that I’ll just lay here for a bit.”

I get a few moments of blessed peace before I hear the sound of footsteps, and then a pair of yellow boots that will be in my nightmares step into view. Quickly followed by a chuckle from the voice that will also be in my nightmares. “Come on now, Young Uraraka. Surely you aren’t done already?”

I firmly close my eyes. If I can’t see him, he can’t see me. Universe, align for me!

For a few moments, nothing happens and I hold out hope that it somehow worked. Then I feel something heavy on my back and roll away to throw off the sadistic old gremlin.

Thump

“Huh?” I open my eyes and see Gran Torino standing where I was laying only a second ago, staring at me with a surprised expression. “What happened?”

The old man blinks at me before he hums and rubs his chin. “How about you tell me what happened?”

I look at him deadpan for a second before groaning. “Well, I thought I felt you standing on me, so I rolled over in the hope you’d get off and let me have a break. Then I heard a thump and you were standing where I was.”

“Hmm.” He peers at me. “You said it felt like I was on you? Or did it feel like something else?”

I frown and push myself up to a half-sitting position, leaning on my arms while letting out a groan as my muscles protest. “Ugh. It felt like there was something heavy on me. I thought it was you because, well, you’re the only one here.”

He nods in understanding. “Close your eyes and don’t move.” I look at him suspiciously for a moment before doing as he asks. Last time I didn’t listen he kicked me into the wall. Yes, it’s because he said dodge and I didn’t, but the point still stands!

There’s silence for a moment as I wait for him to say something. He doesn’t, and the silence quickly stretches into minutes. Eventually I start feeling air brush past me and I tense up, but that’s all that happens.

Then I feel a heavy weight on my chest and let my arms drop my upper body from the suddenness of it, accompanied by a yelp of surprise. At the same time, I feel something brush past my face and my eyes shoot open, just barely catching a brief flash of yellow passing by above me.

Back to laying on my back, I tilt my head to look behind me and see my mentor with a satisfied smile on his face. “Well then, I think it’s safe to say that you’re using the quirks of the past holders of One For All.”

“Huh?” I make a questioning sound as I look at him uncomprehendingly. He nods sagely as he explains.

“I was blowing past you the entire time, and if you were watching you would have flinched. But you didn’t react until I was actually going to hit you, and I aimed at your face. Tell me, did you feel something on your face?”

I blink as my mind turns that over for a second, answering absently. “I felt something heavy on the entire front of my body before I let myself drop… Wait! You were going to kick me in the face!?!?” I glare at the old man when I finally possess his words, but he only chuckles in reply.

“Ain’t no villain who’ll care about hitting you in the face while they’re trying to get away. Hell, didn’t you punch Toshinori in the face earlier too?”

I blush at the reminder but push past it to maintain my glare. “Don’t change the subject!”

He snorts. “I’m not.” He gets serious again. “Danger Sense. The quirk of the fourth user, Hikage Shinomori. That’s all the information about the man I was able to find after Nana’s death, and even that much took years to find. But I doubt it activated the same way for him as it does for you.”

I frown, thinking about the feeling. It felt like a heavy weight on the spots he was going to hit. But that’s not quite right. It was more like… “Gravity increased in the direction the danger was coming from?”

He nods. “Sounds like it. Looks like One For All has hit a singularity, and is incorporating the quirks its stockpiled into your quirk, with Float being the most direct boost it could give.”

I nod thoughtfully. “Because I use my quirk to make myself float, and Float, well… Floats.”

He snorts. “That’s right. So, the question left is whether or not all the stockpiled quirks will be able to join your quirk. If they can’t, will they not manifest? Or will they manifest directly as themselves?”

He gives me a cheery grin that has me letting out a groan at all the pain I’m sure I’ll be feeling in the future. “It’s gonna be interesting to figure it out!”

And I'm back on schedule!