Someone who can't do Anything

"Does everything fit?"

Kurogiri's question prompts me to go over my outfit one more time. I feel like I've examined it plenty but it's always worth it to double check. Or quintuple check in this case. I run my hands over the fabric, occasionally pulling at random spots in order to check how loose it is. My role in the plan revolves around me being inconspicuous so my attire is fairly generic. A tattered black jacket, that is zipped all the way up, grey pants, and thin leather gloves. Beneath the coat, I've got a navy blue shirt. My face is hidden by a simple, dark red bandana that covers my mouth and nose, leaving the top half of my face unprotected. The whole getup looks more like something Shigaraki would wear, considering the overall prevalence of dark colors. Despite how shabby it looks, the clothes do fit well and I there aren't any significant restrictions on my movement.

Kurogiri seems to agree, finally. He was the one who picked out the outfit, so I'm not surprised by the fact that it feels fine. Though, I am worried about my temperature. I don't foresee the U.S.J being all that cold, so I wonder if I'll start burning up. Maybe Kurogiri knows something that I don't, so I'll just stay quiet about it. However, I will take the liberty of unzipping the jacket just a little, as well as leaving the bandana down until we're in the U.S.J.

"If everything's alright, then there's nothing stopping us from beginning the mission. Shigaraki is already waiting downstairs." My breathing hitches in immediate response. Kurogiri clearly notices but doesn't respond. Instead he just calmly moves to exit my room. Just as he's about to walk through the door, he turns towards me and speaks.

"I believe… that you will be fine, Midoriya." His encouragement is so frank that I can't even respond before he walks away. I stand still for a few moments before following him down the stairs.

When I reach the bottom, I'm surprised to see that Shigaraki is actually there, waiting patiently. The idea of him being awake and prepared before me is somewhat hard to believe. He seems just as casual as he always is, which contrasts with his change in apparel. His wardrobe still consists of only black but he's covered with multiple hands similar to the one on his face. They look like they're holding on to him with a death grip. Are these also connected to his quirk or are they just an aesthetic. I genuinely do not know.

The one to speak first is Kurogiri. "The time is almost upon us, which means I have to speak with all of the villains." We didn't inform any of the recruits about All for One, so they think that Shigaraki and Kurogiri are the masterminds. As a result, Kurogiri was chosen to talk to them, remind them of the mission, and warp them in. He continues, "You two will be the last ones that are warped, followed by Nomu. Don't forget that you need to mix with the crowd, Midoriya. After I seperate the students, just jump into the gate that's closest to you. And Shigaraki, please stay back and support Nomu."

The two of us nod in response, though Shigaraki's seemed pretty reluctant. Kurogiri takes a deep breath before opening a gate and stepping through. He manages to utter one more sentence as he slips through. "Good luck."

And just like that, it's only us.

Only a few moments go by before Shigaraki turns and addresses me.

"So, feeling nervous?'" he says, his voice dripping with venom. I don't respond but it's not because of shock this time. I want to see where he's going before I say anything bold. He takes my silence as an opportunity to continue speaking. "As far as I'm concerned, this is your only chance to prove yourself. Anyone can sneak into a high school and take a few photos. Kurogiri may think of that kind of work as 'excellent' but I don't. And neither does All for One."

That last comment makes my skin tighten and he knows it. "I talked to him earlier. I told him that you needed to produce some results, results that are worth all the time that's been sunk into you. He agreed with me, wholeheartedly. So if you don't impress me today, you're history." He finishes with a flourish, dragging his thumb across his neck slowly.

Shigaraki's words should feel like a sledgehammer to the face, but they don't. In fact, it feels like he's just repeating everything that I've been thinking. It's all true. I haven't done anything noteworthy even though I've been a member for months now. All that I've managed to do is take up everybody's time. If Shigaraki had brought this up a few days ago, I would have fallen apart. But I've had a lot of time to think about all of it, so I manage to keep myself together. His words have helped me realize something. I turn to face Shigaraki and look him straight in the eyes for what might be the first time. I start to clench my fists. When I speak, the words come out strong and with no nervous stutter.

"You're absolutely right, Shigaraki. I haven't contributed to the League at all. For as long as I've been here, I've actually been wasting All for One's time and resources with my training." He is taken completely off guard by my boldness. I continue without hesitating.

"So I need to pay him back. The only way that I thought I could do that was by succeeding in every task that I was given. But you made me realize something. Just scraping by isn't enough. I need to do more than that, I need to excel." A part of me doesn't want to keep talking and say the words that come next. My confidence falters a little and my hands loosen, falling slightly. I keep speaking but I've fallen into a quieter tone.

"But I don't know how to excel. I've never really had the chance to do something important for someone. So I need your help." Shigaraki was surprised before but my brazen request nearly floors him. My voice grows more intense and I clench my eyes due to the intensity of my own speech.

"I want you to hold me to a standard, a requirement that I must meet in order to be useful. If I'm going to move forward as an asset to the League, then I need you to watch me. If I ever falter, you've gotta be there to keep me in line. If you can do that for me, I promise that I won't fail you or the League." I open my eyes to see Shigaraki staring back with a baffled look on his face.

He doesn't respond, choosing to just gawk at me instead. I can feel the urge to back down building up inside me. I resist it and choose to peer right back at him. We stay like this for what feels like hours before Shigaraki chuckles lightly.

"For a little, submissive brat, that was pretty commanding." When he speaks, he does so without all of the bitterness that he possessed earlier. Suddenly, as if on cue, one of Kurogiri's warp gates opens in front of us. The first one is supposed to be mine. I walk towards it but just before I go through, Shigaraki starts to speak again.

"I'll be holding you to all those tough words. So you had better be pretty damn impressive." I smile a little before nodding in return and walking through the gate.

When I step out of the portal, I become immediately aware that my bandana is still down. I hastily fix it before analyzing my surroundings. I'm in the middle of a large cluster of villains, standing in the center of the U.S.J. The whole building is one large dome that consists of smaller zones which simulate natural disasters. The plan is to split all of the students into the zones so the villains can deal with them, while Nomu fights All Might. Just as that thought crosses my mind, another gate opens behind me. Shigaraki walks out, followed by Nomu. The hulking monster's presence has already changed the mood of the entire situation. It's blank gaze and exposed brain are deeply unsettling. I choose to focus on the students instead.

They're all at the entrance of the building, slowly backing away from our group. A part of me feels pity as some of the students start to panic. A man with black hair and a long, grey scarf steps out from amongst the students. Even from this distance, I can tell who it is. The Pro Hero, Eraserhead.

Suddenly, he leaps forward and into battle with the front lines of our formation. Some people can't resist the urge to fight and dive in as well. Still, a large portion of us stay back. We must be the only ones who are actually going to follow the plan.

A few minutes pass. All of the people that charged Eraserhead are promptly being thrashed. His quirk, Erasure, is rendering all of them completely helpless. It's a little strange that All Might hasn't entered the fray but before I have time to dwell on that, a gate appears nearby. It's just one of several and we're all supposed to enter the closest one. I allow the crowd around me to filter through before entering.

I emerge in a jagged, rocky field. Since I was the last one through the gate, the group is already moving forward in search of the students that were sent here. All of them have hungry looks on their faces, eager at the idea of hurting someone. They all decided to join, in spite of the fact that there targets are kids. I can't help but be a little disgusted by their behavior. To me, these guys are the worst type of people. People who cause chaos and pain because they want to, not for any greater goal or purpose. They're different from someone like me or All for One. For us, these fights are a means to an end, not the goal.

I'm too busy ruminating on this to notice that the group has already advanced out of sight. As soon as I do notice my solitude, I begin to run to catch up. Just as I start to climb up a high, uneven, I hear various people yelling.

"AGHHHH!" "Who the hell are you?!" "This kid's a monster!"

When I reach the top, I'm met with a field of ice instead of stone. Every villain is trapped in a crowd, their bodies frozen to the ground. In front of them is a boy with multi colored hair. One half is snow white and the other is a deep, fiery red. He doesn't match any of the people that I saw in our group, which means that he's a student. The idea that someone in their first year of high school could be this powerful is ridiculous. He's taken out everyone here and looks barely annoyed. Although, it does make some sense. This class is full of prospective heroes so they would naturally have pretty powerful quirks.

I'm located behind the student but he seems to notice me, as he turns around without flinching. There is a dark red patch of skin covering his left eye. "Hey, you." It takes me a moment to realize that the he is attempting to talk to me. "You look too young to be with these guys but I don't recognize you from the class. Why is someone like you here?" If I pretend to be a student, it'll just catch up to me later. Eventually, we would meet a teacher or student that knows that I'm not in the class. Then I would have to deal with this guy and someone else. For now, I don't respond. "If you won't answer me, then you're an enemy," he continues. I stay silent. "Fine then," he says as he raises his right hand.

In an instant, a wave of ice shoots forth from his hand and straight towards me. I can barely bring myself to roll out of the way, narrowly dodging the stream. The attack is so surprising that I fail to catch myself after I dodge and I fall to the ground. He readjusts his aim slightly and I can see patches of his form on his palm. I take a deep breath.

"It is called Impel."

I was wondering why All for One summoned me here. I asked him why and that's how he responded. I was left very puzzled for a few seconds before he bothered to explain himself. "Impel functions by activating the quirk of the target. For a brief interval, approximately five seconds, the user can control the activation and output of a quirk. There are no visual cues that hint at it's activation and the only requirement for use is that the target be in full, unobstructed view. Once the five seconds are up, it can't be used for another five seconds. Of course, I have never really bothered with it so I am not sure if the time limits can be extended or reduced respectively. It is a very unique quirk because if the user is alone, then it is a completely worthless ability because there is no other quirk to activate. However, the more powerful the target is, the more powerful Impel becomes. I believe that it fits you quite well, Midoriya."

As he finished, All for One held out his hand towards me but I couldn't bring myself to respond. At the time it didn't feel real. Even though I had always persisted in my dream to be a hero, I had never thought for even a second that I would be able to obtain a quirk. As long as I had been alive, the title "Quirkless" was more important than my own name.

I took his hand. He smiled. And I could tell that something changed.

Before the student can launch another surge of ice, I activate Impel. From his or any bystander's perspective, I wouldn't look any different. But on the inside, something has changed. I can feel his quirk, the cold in my right side and a stirring fire in my left. I'm not sure about the heated left side but I think I understand his right. I focus my thoughts on the cold and imagine all of it bursting out, like water from a hose.

Instantly, a small glacier erupts from the student's hand. It encapsulates his legs and most f his torso, immobilizing him. The shock of his own power activating against his will is too much and he remains motionless. He recovers quickly though, and places his left hand on the ice. Steam begins to rise and the ice slowly melts away. I don't intervene because Impel is still on cooldown and I can't risk being attacked without it.

The ice thaws and the student is freed. However, he doesn't emerge unfazed. He is already worse for the wear, as he has started to pant and sweat a little. He must still have plenty of stamina because he immediately launches another stream of ice at me. I repeat the process again, forcing the ice in his left hand to break out and trap him. He is much faster in melting this one and launches another wave quickly. His reactions are so fast that I need to dodge again. If he keeps attacking with that speed, I won't be able to activate Impel and he'll crush me. He launches another wave but I can redirect it this time. He's responds even quicker than before, causing the ice to melt before it can even form. Thinking back to the hot and cold sensation that I felt, he must be able to control ice and fire.

At this point, the fight has reduced to the two of us taking turns attacking each other. He seems to be aware of this and uses his chance to set up. Instead of a large ice wave, he covers the ground beneath me with a thin layer. He's trying to make it harder for me to dodge. I can only counter attack by trying to cover him in ice again. The student burns his right side again but I notice something different.

By melting the ice that quickly, he's inadvertently burning himself with the light steam that forms from the reaction. His right arm is slowly turning more and more red. Additionally, he's starting to wheeze a little as his stamina slowly declines. This battle has become a war of attrition on my part. Impel doesn't take much energy each time I use it but his ice and fire does. My attacks are whittling down his energy and hurting him more with each successive attempt. Eventually, he will run out of steam.

Maybe he knows this as well. His next barrage is different. He launches two lines of ice but not at me. Instead, they miss me by a few feet. The ice has formed a straight, thin alley with no room for me to roll out of the way. Because of the ice beneath me, I can't run either. He's got me completely trapped. It's obvious that he's been setting me up for a big attack, probably his last one.

I only have two options. I could try to attack him one more time and hope that it succeeds. But I know that it won't work. While the student is slowing down a little, he certainly isn't anywhere near stopping. My other plan is to wait and assume that he won't notice that I didn't activate his quirk. I choose the second. I don't use Impel once the timer is up, leaving me to do nothing but hope.

Even though I'm not doing anything, he still heats up his right side. Without pause, he launches a flood of launch that fills the alley that I'm trapped in. It only reaches out a few feet before I take control. I can feel his massive output of cold in my right arm. I direct all of that raw power at the floor beneath him.

In a flash, the student is enveloped in a massive chunk of ice. It reaches far beyond his body, creating a veritable iceberg that freezes over the incapacitated villains and almost reaches me. Beyond the crystals of ice that now cover the field, I can see that the student isn't completely frozen over. However, his body is mostly encase, save for his face and left hand. He doesn't attempt to melt the ice of launch another stream.

He remains motionless, seemingly focused on his own breathing. The second I notice that, I become aware of my own breathing as well. It's ragged and interspersed with I'm tempted to collapse to the ground out of exhaustion but I don't deserve it. My fatigue isn't due to any physical exertion on my part since all I did was roll around a little. I'm only feeling so tired because I was thinking about the fight so much. It's as if my mind just ran a marathon in five minutes. Still, that's no excuse to take a break when I could be needed elsewhere. I turn to leave the zone but I spare a second to look back at the student. He gives me a stare that is filled to the brim with disdain. Yet, I feel like not all of that contempt is aimed directly at me.