Chapter 35: The Assimilation Protocol

The silence that followed All Might's entrance into the hospital room was so thick, it could have been created by Momo's Quirk. The Symbol of Peace stood frozen in the doorway, his iconic smile fixed on his face, but his eyes, normally twin beacons of hope, were now two abysses of complete confusion. His hero brain, trained to process threats at the speed of light, completely short-circuited at the scene before him.

His young student, Izuku Midoriya, was awake, sitting up in bed, pale but undeniably alive. And surrounding him, like a Valkyrie honor guard, were the four most important women in his life. They were all fully clothed, yes, but the atmosphere in the room was anything but normal. It vibrated with a strange energy, an intimacy and emotional exhaustion so palpable that All Might felt as if he had walked into a secret meeting in the middle of a life-or-death decision. The gazes of all five people locked onto him, a mixture of relief, surprise, and a monumental panic they failed to hide.

"Young Midoriya…" All Might's voice boomed, a thunderclap trying to sound casual and failing spectacularly. "I'm glad to see you… awake! This is wonderful news! But… am I interrupting something? The atmosphere in here is… thicker than the smoke after one of Young Bakugo's explosions."

The quintet jumped. Panic, an old acquaintance, returned with the force of a hurricane. Ochako shrank in her chair, Momo sat up with a stiffness that betrayed her nervousness, and Inko brought a hand to her chest, her heart racing.

Izuku, however, felt the engine of his "Coach" brain roar to life. Panic was replaced by the cold logic of survival. We can't tell him the truth. Impossible. "Hey, All Might, it turns out my Quirk is activated by intimate contact and we had to form an emergency harem to save my life." Yeah, that would sound really heroic.

"All Might-sensei!" It was Momo who reacted first, standing with a dignity that was struggling not to crumble. Her voice, though a bit higher than usual, was a pillar of logic in the midst of the chaos. "It's not what it looks like! We were… we were performing an emotional attunement stabilization protocol! It's a psychological support technique that uses proximity and shared narrative to stabilize a patient's vital energy in a critical state. The concentration of moral support is essential for recovery!"

All Might blinked, his great hero brain trying to process the torrent of jargon. "An attunement… protocol?"

"Yep!" Toga exclaimed, popping up from behind Momo with a mischievous and sabotaging grin. "We were telling him embarrassing stories so he'd want to wake up just to shut us up! And it worked! It's emotional shock therapy! Very effective!"

Ochako, desperately searching for something to say, nodded vigorously.

"L-lots of moral support! We were cheering him on! As a group!"

Inko, seeing that the girls' excuses were only making things worse, decided to take control with the undeniable authority of a matriarch. She stood, approached All Might, and her expression was not one of panic, but of a fierce, protective calm.

"My son almost died, All Might," she said, her voice quiet but with an edge of steel. "His team and his mother made sure he didn't give up. We were here for him, giving him our strength and our will to live. I don't think we need any further explanation."

A mother's logic was irrefutable. All Might, the man who could topple buildings with a single punch, felt completely outmatched.

"No, of course, Midoriya-san," he stammered, scratching the back of his neck, a strangely human gesture in his muscular form. "I… I get it. Extreme family support. It's admirable. I'm glad Young Midoriya has such a… close support system."

As he retreated slowly, muttering to himself about the strange "encouragement techniques" of today's youth, his gaze drifted for a moment to the blonde girl with the sharp smile. She looked vaguely familiar, a strange sense of déjà vu he couldn't quite place. Utterly confused, but not daring to question a mother with that look in her eyes, he closed the door. The quintet let out a collective sigh of relief.

Just then, a friendly, middle-aged nurse entered the room for her rounds.

"Well, looks like we have a party in here!" she smiled upon seeing Izuku awake. "I'm so glad to see you doing so well, young man. Your vitals have shown a miraculous improvement."

As the nurse was working, a soft knock sounded at the door.

"Midoriya? It's Detective Tsukauchi. May Director Nezu and I come in?"

Everyone's blood ran cold. Toga's smile vanished.

"Toga!" Izuku whispered urgently. "Quick!"

With the silent agility of a cat, Toga slipped out of her chair and, before the nurse could even react to the new visitors, hid in the room's small bathroom, closing the door without a sound.

The nurse finished her check-up, cast a curious glance at the bathroom door, and said her goodbyes just as Detective Tsukauchi and Director Nezu entered. Reality had come knocking again.

"Aizawa and Thirteen are out of danger, but their recovery will be long," Nezu reported, his calm voice contrasting with the gravity of his words. "The attack was a major blow to U.A.'s reputation, but we will not be broken."

Tsukauchi turned to Ochako, his tone professional but not without compassion.

"Uraraka-san, the prosecutor's office has reviewed your case. Given the extreme circumstances and your state of shock, no criminal charges will be filed. However," his voice hardened slightly, "mandatory psychological therapy has been ordered, and a permanent note regarding the use of lethal force will be entered into your hero file."

Ochako nodded, not looking at him. The words "therapy" and "file" settled on her shoulders like an invisible weight. She had saved her friends, but a part of her future had been forever darkened.

"As for the League of Villains," Nezu continued, his black eyes shining with a calculating intelligence, "they are a real threat. This was a declaration of war. And for that very reason, the U.A. Sports Festival will be held as scheduled. It will be a demonstration to the world that we are not afraid. That the next generation of heroes is stronger than ever."

As the director spoke, Izuku felt something new. It wasn't a thought. It was a background vibration, a low, persistent frequency in his own mind. It was Ochako's anxiety. He didn't hear it, he didn't see it, but he felt it like an undercurrent in his own nervous system. The connection… he thought, it's not something that activates anymore. It's a constant part of me now.

When they were alone again, the atmosphere shifted. There was no more panic, only intense curiosity and a new intimacy. It was Izuku who broke the silence.

"I feel… different," he said, moving his legs in the bed with an ease he shouldn't have. He flexed the fingers of his right arm, the one that had been shattered by the Nomu. The pain was a distant memory, and the skin under the bandage felt strangely warm and… new. "Not just healed. Upgraded."

The four women looked at him, expectant. Toga slipped quietly out of the bathroom.

"I think I know what happened," he continued, his green eyes shining with the light of a discovery. "When you saved me, when you created that circuit… my Quirk didn't just take your energy. It did something more. It made a copy of the foundation of your Quirks. And it installed it in me. Permanently. Now, the fundamentals of your powers are part of my biology."

He turned to Momo, his voice filled with awe.

"Yaoyorozu, the wound on my arm… it's almost healed. The doctors said it would take weeks to close. My cellular regeneration ability is much faster now. It's because my body assimilated the 'concept' of your Creation Quirk, your mastery over matter at a molecular level. It's like my cells learned how to repair themselves more efficiently."

Then he looked at Ochako and stood up on the bed with an agility that should have been impossible for someone who had just woken from a coma. His balance was perfect, like a tightrope walker's.

"Uraraka, I feel… incredibly light. My balance is perfect. It's not that I weigh less, it's that my body understands gravity in a new way. I assimilated the foundation of your Zero Gravity, giving me a bodily control, a proprioception, far superior to what I had."

Finally, his gaze fell on Toga, who was watching him with a fascinated smile.

"And Toga… my reflexes. They're faster. It's like my muscles know what to do before I do. It's because of your Transform Quirk. I can't change my shape, but I assimilated your mimicry ability, applying it to my own muscle memory. It's like my body can imitate and perfect movements at an incredible speed."

An astonished silence filled the room. The implication of his words was monumental.

"And best of all," Izuku said, his voice now a whisper charged with emotion, "is that these upgrades are passive, but not static. The circuit we created… it's still there, dormant. As you all get stronger, more skilled with your Quirks… my assimilated upgrades will get stronger too. Your growth will fuel mine. And my growth, when I boost you, will fuel yours. We feed each other."

"It's… a symbiosis," Momo murmured, her logical mind marveling at the elegance of the concept. "A positive feedback loop. The potential is… exponential."

"And that brings me to you, Mom," Izuku said, his tone full of reverent awe as he turned to Inko. "Your Quirk… your control over vectors… I assimilated that too. It was the final piece. The one that connected everything."

Izuku took a deep breath, like a professor about to reveal the theory of everything.

"I saw your manual. Again. But this time, it was different. It was… connected to mine."

[QUIRK ANALYSIS - EVOLVED COACH MODE]

[QUIRK NAME: MINOR ATTRACTION] [USER: INKO MIDORIYA]

[LINKED PHYSIOLOGY:] Generation of a telekinetic vector from the user's center of mass. Its primary limitation is a self-imposed mental barrier, now significantly weakened by training and willpower.

[ASSIMILATION-MIDORIYA (INKO): BIO-VECTOR CONTROL (PERMANENT UPGRADE)]

Assimilated Foundation: The conceptual mastery over "vectors" of attraction and repulsion.

Passive Upgrade for Izuku: The assimilation grants him permanent, optimized control over his own body's internal vectors.

Perfect Proprioception and Balance: Absolute awareness of his body in space, a product of the synergy with Ochako's Quirk and enhanced by vector control.

Explosive Strength and Speed: The ability to control the vectors of his own muscle fibers (the "pull" and "push" of contraction) for maximum efficiency and power. His physical strength is no longer based on muscle alone, but on the perfect application of force.

[LATENT POTENTIAL (ATTAINABLE BY INKO):]

VECTOR SHIELD: Projecting her vectors not to move objects, but to create invisible barriers of force capable of deflecting low- to mid-impact projectiles or physical attacks.

MULTI-OBJECT LEVITATION: Fine, simultaneous control of a telekinetic swarm of up to fifteen (15) objects, allowing for coordinated attacks or complex defenses.

VECTOR PROPULSION: Inverting the vector of attraction on herself to perform enhanced jumps, dodges, and bursts of movement, using nearby objects as telekinetic "push" points.

[SUGGESTED EVOLUTIONARY PATH:]

Phase 1 (Fine Control): Multitasking exercises with complex patterns (making objects orbit, create spirals, move in non-linear trajectories).

Phase 2 (Practical Repulsion): Practicing the act of "pushing" or "deflecting" light projectiles thrown at her to develop defensive reflexes.

"Your power isn't just moving things, Mom," Izuku explained, his eyes shining. "It's controlling direction. Vectors. By assimilating that, my body can now control the vectors of my own muscles. Every contraction, every movement, is now perfectly efficient. That's why I feel stronger, faster. It's your power, inside of me."

Inko looked at him, her eyes filled with tears of astonishment and pride. The idea that her "small" and "useless" Quirk was the key to her son's new strength was overwhelming.

It was Toga who, as always, broke the solemn moment with the question they were all thinking. She leaned back on the bed, a sly smile on her lips.

"Hold on, hold on," she said, raising a finger. "I'm processing. All this stuff about symbiosis, permanent upgrades, and deluxe manuals is fantastic. But, just so we're clear… is the groping part still necessary for the 'turbo boost'? To power up our Quirks so you can read the details?"

A furious blush colored the cheeks of Izuku, Ochako, and Momo. Even Inko looked uncomfortable.

Izuku cleared his throat, avoiding everyone's gaze.

"Well… yeah," he admitted, his voice an embarrassed mumble. "The passive connection gives me a constant read on your general status, that's why I felt Uraraka's anxiety. But to actively boost your Quirks… to force an evolution and see the full manual… yeah. The intimacy, the contact with each person's 'power source,' is still the strongest catalyst."

A silence. And then, a peal of laughter.

"I'm in!" Toga exclaimed, sitting up again. "This is, without a doubt, the best training plan in history!"

The hospital room, which had been a stage for tragedy and desperation, was filled with a new kind of energy. It was the energy of complicity, of shared ambition.

Inko, with a new determination in her eyes, took Izuku's hand.

"Then, the training continues," she said, her voice firm. "For all of us."

Toga summed up the situation with her own particular, twisted logic.

"Let me see if I've got this straight…" she said, looking at each of them with a predatory grin. "For all of us to become super-powered goddesses, capable of rewriting the laws of physics and biology… and for you, Izuku-kun, to become the Number One Hero who can kick anyone's ass… you have to, occasionally, give us a good boob squeeze?"

The vulgarity of the phrase, and the undeniable truth it contained, broke the last of the tension. Ochako let out a nervous giggle, Momo covered her mouth to hide her smile, and Inko just shook her head with amused resignation.

"Definitely the best training plan in history!" Toga concluded with an air of triumph. "I'm signing up for life!"

Izuku, blushing to the roots of his hair but with a genuine smile on his lips, looked at his team: his strange, dysfunctional, and now terrifyingly powerful family.

She's right, he thought, feeling the warmth of their hands, the vibration of their presence. It's the most perverted and brilliant plan in the world. And with it… we're going to show everyone what we're capable of. This isn't just about my dreams anymore. Now, it's about ours.