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It was three am, absolutely no one should be up at this ungodly hour, yet here Hitoshi was, standing in the doorway of the kitchen like he had just seen a ghost. Or maybe he was seeing a ghost because whoever the person in front of him was, it certainly wasn’t Midoriya.
The supposed green bean was hunched over a pot of coffee, muttering to himself. That alone wouldn’t be so unusual, except for what Midoriya was muttering. “People these days don’t know how to make a good brew. Back in my day, we used to actually be able to buy real fucking beans from the store without having to sell our kidneys for a bag.”
Also, did the tips of Midoriya’s hair look strangely white, or was Shinsou just seeing things?
Not-Midoriya turned around, finally fully facing Shinsou and the purple-haired boy froze beneath the tense stare. Okay, definitely not Midoriya. Unless Midoriya had gone through a complete personality change in the past four hours since Hitoshi had last seen him.
“Oh, hiya Shinji.” Not-Midoriya waved awkwardly with one hand, the other nursing a steaming cup of coffee.
“Who the fuck are you?” Hitoshi asked.
“What are you ah- talking about Shinji-kun.” Not-Midoriya paused for a second. “I mean Shinsou. Shinsou-kun.”
“You’re clearly not Midoriya.” Hitoshi hissed and Not-Midoriya flushed and looked away.
“Of course I am! I mean, who else would I be? Some ghost possessing Izuku?” Not-Midoriya asked nervously. Hitoshi could swear that he heard six people shouting ‘you dumb ass’ but that was probably just the wind.
“I don’t know.” Hitoshi challenged. “Are you?”
Not-Midoriya froze, seemingly realizing his mistake. Then he awkwardly laughed. “Uh, I’m not going to answer that- for legal reasons. Have a good night sleep Shinji- Shinsou-kun and uh… don’t tell anyone about this, okay?”
“Sure.” Hitoshi nodded, because if his classmate got possessed by a ghost then it wasn’t really his place to spill the tea now, was it?
Not-Midoriya gave him a grin and a double thumbs up, before walking past Hitoshi.
(He swore he could hear Izuku’s actual voice going, “Banjo-san, why?”)
-
Eijirou walked into the boy’s bathroom, expecting to find nobody there because everyone tended to make themselves scare the moment Eijirou even mentioned that his dye was starting to fade. Turns out his hair dye had a habit of staining everything it touches and workout gear is ridiculously expensive.
To his surprise, he finds Midoriya leaning over one of the sinks, staring intently into the mirror. Even more surprising is that asides from one shock of green, Midoriya’s hair was completely white. It kinda reminded Eijirou of Kaminari’s hair.
“Yo, Midobro, you trying to dye your hair?” Eijirou asks, though there are quite a few odd inconsistencies if that is the case. For instants, there are literally no dye bottles anywhere to be seen and Midoriya’s hair is pretty fucking dark which means it would take multiple.
Midoriya turns to look at him, a hint of a smile on his lips. “I suppose you could say that.”
“What?” Eijirou nervously laughs.
“Do you think it looks good?” The boy completely steams-rolls over Eijirou’s obvious confusion in favor of turning back to the mirror. “I understand that this is a strange look on us- me.”
“It looks great Midobro!” Eijirou quickly assures. “Why white though?”
Midoriya looks at him again, eyes alight with a look that Eijirou has never before seen in the other boy’s eyes. “It just feels like a natural endpoint, does it not?”
“I mean… I guess?” Eijirou uneasily agreed.
“Thank you for your kind words Kirishima-kun. Also, if you want to prevent your hair dye from getting everywhere may I recommend some saran wrap?”
(Later on in the day, when Eijirou crossed paths with Midoriya again, he blinked rapidly.
“Hey Midobro, where did your white hair go?”
Midoriya looked up at him with an innocent expression. “What white hair?”
Needless to say, Eijirou was very confused for the entire rest of the day, much to the amusement of fourth.)
-
There were a lot of strange things that made up Midoriya Izuku, Fumikage had long since come to realize. Between the impossible amount of bone break, the seeming summoning of notebooks to his hand, and the strange air around him, Fumikage had long since decided that Midoriya was not quite as human as the rest of them.
But he didn’t get that theory confirmed until the day they were partnered up for a stealth exercise. Fumikage was not nervous about it, not at all, especially not since going into a dark tunnel may cause Dark Shadow to lose it. He tried to hide his nervousness from Midoriya as they went to the privet room to talk strategy together.
“I have a plan,” Midoriya informed. Hold on a second- no. That was not Midoriya.
Unless the dark parts of Midoriya’s hair had suddenly turned white, and the expression on his face somehow, by some sort of divine intervention, his own. He was also hiding half of his face behind his collar as well. “Of which type of spirit are you?”
The spirit residing inside Midoriya huffed out a laugh. “A benevolent one, don’t worry. I won’t control your friend for any longer than he wants me to.”
“And what should I call you, then?” Fumikage asked, because if this was not a malicious spirit then he saw no need for any sort of intervention.
“En, if you please. Now, back to the training exercise. I have a plan that will give us victory for sure. Plus it involves you not having to climb through that tunnel.”
Dark Shadow looked very happy at the mention of that.
Needless to say, the plan went very well and over the course of it, Fumikage learned that En used to be an underground hero before his death and if he ever needed someone to bond over having a sentient quirk with, Midoriya was the way to go.
(The next day, Fumikage walked right up to Midoriya- who was back to being Midoriya- at breakfast. “Midoriya, I would like to know what mad banquet of darkness those spirits around you are cooking up. Would you care to invite me to dine with them?”
“...what?” Midoriya asked because everything that just came out of Fumikage’s mouth may as well be gibberish to him and his headache state. Seriously, where did En even find alcohol on campus?)
-
“Iida, can I ask you something?”
Said boy looked up, about to happily agree to help when he noticed Izuku’s hair. It was pure white, not a hint of the original color to be found. “Izuku, you’re hair! I was unaware you dyed it!?”
It is especially surprising seeing as how Tenya had seen the boy only five minutes ago and he still had his forest green hair then.
Izuku just grinned. “Don’t worry about it too much okay? Just got hit by one of the support student’s quirks. It’ll be back to normal in about five minutes.”
“Oh.” Tenya allowed himself to calm down. “I see. Please forgive my outburst, I was just surprised to see such a drastic change on you.”
The other boy laughed and Tenya couldn’t help but feel as though it sounded a bit… odd? Not in a bad way by any means. It was still a heartfelt laugh full of life and warmth but it wasn’t Izuku’s laugh. “It’s okay Iida.”
“R-Right! Well, you came here to ask me a question, and I am willing to answer it to the best of my ability.” Tenya said, trying to fight off the nervous blush on his face.
“Well, since you’re a younger brother I wanted to know: if you wanted to annoy your older brother, how would you go about doing it?” Izuku’s eyes seemed to drill into him, pinning him to his seat until Tenya could give him an answer.
“Why do you want to know?” Tenya asked, “Also, I try my hardest not to annoy my older brother-”
“Iida, relax, I’m just writing a book where the main character has a very irksome older brother but I’m struggling to come up with cathartic ways the mc can annoy his big bro. Do you mind helping me?” Izuku asked.
Any retorts died in Tenya’s throat as he quickly pushed up his glasses in order to hide his eyes. “Well, not to say I did any of these but the best way to do it is to bring up past misdeeds, no matter how small. For instants: you didn’t do the dirty dishes that mom told you to do. Or you can go with the route of: I’ll tell mom (insert thing here)-”
“Did you just say (insert thing here) out loud?”
“-As well as bringing up any embarrassing moments you can remember.” Because, as younger siblings, you tend to know about every little mistake your siblings make. Trust Tenya on this one.
“Oh, in that case,” Izuku’s eyes gleamed with mischief, “I have a whole bunch of ideas! Thanks for the help, Iida!”
“It was no issue at all Izuku,” Tenya assured.
(Later that night, as he was walking down the hall to his room, he heard Izuku cackle. “All For One can suck it!”
He decided not to question it for the sake of his own sanity.)
-
Momo is pouring herself a steaming cup of tea when she feels a gentle tap on her shoulder. She turns to see Izuku standing there. Three things strike her immediately. One, his bangs are now white. Two, his posture is far more confident than it normally is. Three, there is a giant stake of papers in his arms. “Hi, Momo, I was wondering if you were free to discuss something with me. It involves your hero costume.”
Momo was a bit surprised at the tone of Izuku’s voice. It wasn’t unfriendly, nor unkind but it just had more authority, more confidence, more… presences. She nodded. “I’m free right now. What do you want to talk about?”
He guided them over to a pair of chairs and set the papers down with a hefty thud. Then he started explaining, “I was researching older heroes and I started specifically looking into Shimura Nana. She’s most well known for being All Might’s mentor however she did quite a few things on top of that as well. The most relevant being that she started the revolution for women hero’s costumes. She’s a big factor in why a look of suits have built-in bras, pads in their medical pouches and why quite a few of the older female heroes have more sensible designs than the ones of today. In short, she was quite amazing.”
‘Wow, seventh, real humble eh?’
“I’ve never heard of such an amazing hero before.” Momo gasped.
“That’s because she’s pretty old in terms of hero history. Most older heroes aren’t really remembered all that well today.” A bitter smile played on his lips before it was quickly wiped off and replaced by a gin. “Anyway, she started a hero costume design agency with one of her friends, Yoshizawa Haruta. They specialize in outfits for female heroes that A, aren’t any more revealing than what the wearer is comfortable with and B, that actually work from a practical standpoint.”
“Really?” Momo asked, and she felt a spark of hope light up in her.
“Yup! Here’s their contact info. While they mostly do work overseas nowadays, their main office is still here in Japan. You don’t have to if you don’t want, but I remember last week how you were talking about how uncomfortable your outfit made you, and…” Izuku rubbed the back of his neck.
“Thank you Izuku.” Momo bowed to him, clasping his hands in hers and giving him a sincere smile. “I really appreciate it and I’ll make sure to give them a call.”
“Great!” Izuku smiled back.
“Oh, and Izuku.”
“Hm?”
“I like the bangs. They look good on you.”
“I know.”
(Later that month, as Momo was waiting for her appointment, she looked around the waiting room. Her gaze stopped on the photo that hung on the wall across from her. The plaque said it was the founders and the photo itself included a much younger Madame Yoshizawa and a woman with a confident smile, jet black hair, and stark white bangs.
Momo couldn’t help but feel like she’d met her somewhere before.)
-
Katsuki grumbled to himself as he waited for Aizawa to come back. The teacher had left him to monitor Deku while he went to call Aunty Inko and inform her of the situation. Katsuki had definitely not pouted when he asked why he had to be the one to watch the nerd.
The stare his teacher gave him should have been enough of an answer, but Aizawa still spoke, “You were the one that thought punching him into concrete was a good idea, Bakugo. The least you could do is watch him until either I come back or Recovery Girl arrives.”
And that was the end of that discussion.
Bakugo glowered at the clock. Couldn’t Aizawa come back already? He huffed and glanced back down at Deku only to immediately startle. “What the fuck?!” he choked.
Izuku’s eyes were wide open and he very slowly sat up, like someone making a barbie doll sit up. Or maybe more accurately, strings pulling him up. It also allowed Katsuki to get a better look at Deku’s hair and how it had changed.
…did concussions cause people’s hair to gain white streaks in them? Because Deku’s green hair was now intertwined with stands of white. Like someone had thrown both colors at a canvas and called it a day.
What startled him more what Deku’s eyes. They were far more cold, far more calculating. They scanned the room, searching for any signs of danger before he turned his head and stared straight at Katsuki.
He fought back a shiver, waiting silently for what Deku was going to say.
“Oh, it’s you.” Deku- or could he really call the person in front of him Deku?- spoke.
His tone instinctively made Katsuki straighten.
“I don’t like you.”
Then, Deku’s eyes rolled back into his skull and he promptly passed right the fuck out.
(Aizawa came back to a steaming Bakugo and an unconscious Midoriya, but Second promises the other vestiges that it was in fact a hundred percent worth it.)
-
“Midoriya, what are you doing here?” Mirio asked with a tilt of his head. His underclassman was just standing in front of the third-year science labs, looking like a lost dog.
Midoriya turned to look at him and he almost took a step back by how intense that gaze was. It almost made him question if he had mistaken a random student for his younger friend. Well, that, and how half of his hair was not white, not unlike Todoroki’s.
“Toogata.” Midoriya gave him a nod of acknowledgment as he strode over to him. “I will be very honest with you at this moment since you are already aware of One For All. I am not Izuku. I am the third user of One For All possessing his body.”
“Oh. Okay. Why?” Mirio asked, trying to wrap his head around everything. He knew One For All was a bit of an odd quirk, but he never knew that ghosts came along with it. Every single time he talked to Midoriya, it deepened his relief that he had said no to the impossible legacy.
“Midoriya, while he has gotten better about letting his body rest, has been bad about letting his mind rest.” Third explained. “So, we take over for him while he void naps.”
“Void naps..?”
“It isn’t important. Anyway, today is my in charge, however…” Third winced, “Even when I was alive, I never had a very keen sense of direction. Two hundred years of not actually walking the earth have made that even worse.”
“So you’re lost.” Mirio summarized, suddenly very amused by the turn in this conversation.
Third blushed and nodded. “I suppose I am.”
“What classroom are you looking for?” Mirio asked.
“The first year’s science lab.”
“Come on then, I’ll show you the way.” Mirio started walking, and Third quickly followed. As they made their way through the large halls of UA, he let a question bubble to the surface, “What’s with the hair?”
“I honestly don’t know.” Third admitted. “It happens whenever one of us takes over. Not exactly like this- for instants First taking over causes his hair to go completely white while Nana only turns his bangs. It’s reflective of where we had white hair when we were alive.”
“You all had white hair while you were alive?”
“Yes, though we didn’t all die with it since Banjo became bald… but that’s not important. It usually appears within a year of the user getting the quirk.” Third explained.
“But what about All Might? He doesn’t have any white hair does he?” Mirio tried to recall.
“No, but his relationship with One For All was always a bit… odd.” The ghost admitted.
“Huh, interesting. Well anyway, we’re here.” Mirio stopped in front of the large door. “Good luck with your possession and tell Midori that I said hi, alright?”
“Will do.” Third grabbed the door handle and then paused, looking Mirio up and down before frowning. “Are you All Might’s love child or something?”
Before Mirio could even being to process that, the Third user stepped inside the classroom and disappeared from sight.
(“I’m telling you guys! It makes sense!” Third stood in front of a whiteboard covered in string and photos.
“I’ve met Mirio’s dad!” Izuku tried to point out.
“No, you met the man that Mirio’s mother married. Or maybe Mirio’s dad is trans. We can’t throw out my theory over one minor inconsistency that has a few explanations for it.” Third waved his hand dismissively.
“Don’t worry,” Nana said, patting Izuku’s shoulder, “I have a magazine full of inconsistencies and if he doesn't shut up soon, I'm about to riddle that board full of bullets.”)
-
Shouta stared down at the problem child. Midoriya seemed rather intent on focusing anywhere that wasn’t him.
“Problem child, I need you to be very honest with me,” Aizawa said through gritted teeth. “Where did those black tendrils come from?”
“Okay- so like- you have to promise to hear me out first.” Midoriya fidgeted beneath Aizawa’s intense stare.
“I promise.” He responded, because yeah, he was a little (a lot) upset about this situation, but he wasn’t about to not let the kid explain himself first.
“Right, so, and I promise I’m not making this up but-” Midoriya took in a very steady breath.
“I think it’s the ghost's fault.”
(By the end of the explanation, Shouta just sat down heavily beside him and put his face in his hands.
“Moments like this remind me of why Nedzu keeps a stash of liquor in the staff room.”
“So that’s where En got it!” Midoriya exclaimed.
“What?”
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it sensei.”)
-
Midoriya was sixteen years old and he already had white hair.
Or well, white roots.
“Sometimes, I really hate this quirk.”