Dad For One

Chapter 26 - Training

Izuku felt like he was floating, or was he sinking? He didn't know... It was an eerie feeling, yet he was so at peace with it. His mind was blank, but thoughts were running rampant at the same time. The only thing in his field of vision was Shinsou, yet at moments it seemed like he could see everything except the purple haired boy.

The only certainty he had was the hand that was placed on his shoulder. Solid and warm, despite the fact small whisps evaporated from it, despite the fact it shouldn't be able to touch him at all. The ghost of his father haunting this quirk had come to pull him from Shinsou's brainwashing once again. And with a small squeeze on his shoulder, Izuku blinked, snapping out of the trance completely.

Shinsou groaned in frustration, but he didn't have a lot of time to think about what went wrong, because now it was Midoriya's time to attack. They fought using hand-to-hand combat, but since Izuku had been training for most of his life, he easily beat Hitoshi after the brainwashing was negated.

"You okay?" Izuku asked, giving a hand to Shinsou to help him back up from the ground.
"I'm fine" the insomniac groaned.
"The more training I get in, the better my chances at making it into the hero course, right?"
Izuku smiled when he took his hand, helping him back on his feet.

Yeah, when his dad had asked Hitoshi what his goal was, he'd answered to become a hero like Eraserhead. Hisashi had promised he'd help him accomplish that and put a training regime together. He wasn't only a quirk counselor but also a quirk specialist, mind you, and therefore he knew all about the best ways to train the body for certain types of quirks. Not all that weird with his background and past quirk, but no one needed to know about that small detail.

Sparring against Izuku was one of the main things on his schedule since Shinsou needed a human being to use his quirk on. Outside of their sessions he mostly worked on building muscle and learning how to use support items. Yeah, he was really working hard... Izuku really hoped his new friend would make it in someday, Shinsou more than deserved it for all the effort he put in.

"I just don't get how you keep breaking free from my quirk. Nobody has ever done that before, let alone as consistently as you have" Hitoshi complained when they went to get something to drink.
"I don't know how it works either" Izuku shrugged, feigning innocence. He couldn't possibly tell him about the nature of his quirk, about the lingering will of his father drifting around inside of him. Definitely not when he hadn't even told his father about it.

"It's like there's a second consciousness in your head or something" Shinsou mumbled.
"I don't know, the feeling is hard to describe... It's just... It feels like something is protecting your mind, in a way? I just can't get a proper look at it without being thrown out"
Izuku frowned, staying quiet as he stared at his water bottle. Of course Shinsou had felt something... It would be impossible not to with how many times he's been brainwashed by now.

"I think we should take a break. I still have to study geography" Izuku said before Shinsou could make another comment. Exams were around the corner and that was one of his first subjects for the written portion so it was a fitting excuse.
"Yeah, I guess you're right... But hey-" Shinsou called out, grabbing Midoriya's arm to stop him from leaving.
"You'd tell me if you knew why my quirk acts up with you, right?"

"Of course" Izuku smiled, quickly feeling drowsy again. Wait what?! Shinsou-
"Tell me what's protecting your mind from my control" he quickly demanded, knowing that if he waited too long, he'd be thrown out. Midoriya was already going to be pissed at him for doing this in the first place and Shinsou truly hoped the green head would be able to forgive him for wanting to find out what could possibly be wrong with either of them. Izuku knew more than he was sharing with him.

"The lingering essence and determination of my father" Izuku answered in a monotone voice before it felt like he was slapped in the face and he snapped out of it. Fuck! Hitoshi was staring at him now and Izuku was freaking out, carefully taking a few steps back, calculating his options. Would it be best to run right now? No, he'd just chase him... He might even go asking around what he meant and that would definitely be worse-