All IN One Hero

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It was her fault. It was all HER fault.

Itsuka sniffed, using her hands to wipe at her eyes while she slumped lower in the hospital chair she had found in a quiet hallway where no one would see her..

She'd HURT Izuku.

She could still remember the pain and horror in his eyes from his...mutation. Only one had been his normal, brilliant green eye; the other had changed, the sclera becoming pitch black while his pupil had split into a red slit. She hadn't wanted to do it, but it was the only thing she could think of to make it stop. It had worked, as soon as he had hit the floor his mutations had receded into his body leaving him his normal, huggable self. She'd grabbed him before he had hit the floor, his body had felt so limp in her grip.

She had saved him but it was still her fault.

Only Gran Torino had stopped her from using One For All to rush Izuku to the hospital, he was much faster than her and she didn't even know the way to get there but she hadn't cared and wanted to do it. As if that would make up for what she had done to him. The old man had picked Izuku up easily despite his height and age then flown off leaving her and Asui to follow after him on foot.

How could she have done that to her friend?

When Izuku had asked for her quirk she had been unsure, something telling her to refuse him. He had been so eager despite how haggard he had looked. He was finally excited about using his quirk for the first time since she had met him! It was supposed to be a breakthrough for him! She had brushed her thoughts aside as just her being over protective of him and had put her hand in his. The mucus had been weird but his hand had felt warm in her's.

It had been her touch that had set him off. She just knew it had been because of One For All.

It had been all her fault.

"It's not your fault, Itsuka." Gran Torino grumbled as he ambled up to where she had been sitting. Despite the fact that even though she was in a chair and still physically towered over him his presence somehow made her feel small. Was it because he had set aside faking his 'senility' and was talking to her seriously as a Pro Hero? Was this what made All Might so afraid of him? "You're muttering just like him. It's contagious."

"Yes, it is...my fault. You saw it. One For All-" Itsuka argued but Gran Torino cut her off with a sharp whack of his cane against the leg of her chair.

"One For All...is a quirk that can't so easily be copied by anyone." Gran Torino said with utter finality, "It's not just a stockpiling quirk or an emitter quirk."

"If...if it's not so normal then how do you know-" Itsuka wanted to argue with him. She had caused Izuku to lose control of his quirk. She just knew it. Again Gran Torino cut her off the same as before.

"I know. I've seen it in action more years than you've been alive." Gran Torino sighed, for a moment his eyes wandered away from her. It looked like he was replaying an old memory. He grunted again before he continued, "Quirks are like muscles...you've heard that a lot before, right?"

Itsuka nodded.

"From what you, the kid and Toshi have said about him, Izuku has lived his entire life since the age of four without willingly using his quirk. Am I right?" Gran Torino waited for her to answer him.

She didn't know for a fact...but he was most likely right. Quirks could be completely harmless or they could be utterly destructive. Izuku's quirk certainly was closer to the destructive end of the spectrum considering what it did to his body and what kind of quirk he copied, but even he went above and beyond treating it like it was an open flame or poisonous. He had been coming around to see his quirk in a new light...but she suspected the events from earlier that day would make him even more loath to use his quirk.