Chapter 45

(I apologize for the sudden over-a-month-long cliffhanger–slash–hiatus. Writer's block is quite a biatch...I'm such a terrible author. I'm sorry.  I'm also sorry for such a short chapter. I wanna cry.)

Sudden silence stretched over them, as if they were pulled out of the reality they were, unfortunately, living. For a moment, there was peace. It came unannounced, forcing them into a state of relaxation as they shared their sorrowful kiss. Flashes of light swirled around them, muffled voices suddenly speaking up inside their untouchable void.

Vestiges...Izuku came to realize.

It had been quite a while since he had spoken to them or, well, more like letting them speak to him. With all his depressive episodes, he had blocked them out and genuinely forgot their existence inside his consciousness.

"Izuku Midoriya, the ninth wielder of One for All. It's been quite a while," a voice said, grabbing his attention as he stared forward, taking in the former user of his current quirk. He noticed new faces he hadn't seen before, one belonging to Nana Shimura.

Float, Izuku thought. His eyes drifted to the others, only one of them facing a wall. He managed to name each one of them and their quirks, not giving much of a reaction despite his slight shock.

"You had blocked us out for quite a while, Midoriya," the white-haired man spoke, staring down at Izuku's kneeling form. The green fog surrounded his body, covering the majority of it minus half of his face, his big, emerald eyes looking up at them. He would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous. After all, he had been avoiding them ever since his mother's death.

"We understand your need to grieve and cope with the pain," Nana said, catching his attention. "Losing a loved one is never easy."

The words caught up in the greenette's throat, not like he could actually speak at the moment. He was ignorant of the fact that the vestiges could feel what he he felt; read his mind. There was no doubt that they were in the depths of his subconsciousness, watching the horrid scene unfold. No words could describe the level of remorse the poor freckled boy was experiencing at the moment.

"Due to the incident of your last fight with my brother, we were forced to lend our quirks earlier than what we were supposed to," the first wielder pointed out. "It proved to be handy considering the turn of events as of now. Hisashi is not holding back, and you need all the help you can get."

"Which is why we support your desicion of transferring your quirk."

Izuku's eyes widened as he realized what was happening. Flashes of recent events crawled in his mind. The taste of blood and the feel of warm lips lingering on his own. Kacchan!

His gaze snapped to the side when he sensed movement, eyes locking with an astonished Katsuki bound in the same way he was. Kneeling on the ground with his body covered in the mist, taking in the fact that he was in the presence of the vestiges in Izuku's subconscious.

"Katsuki Bakugo," Hikage, the original wielder of Danger Sense, smiled at the explosive blond. "One for All will take a toll on your body. You must learn to properly activate it, but due to the current situation, I'm afraid that it is not possible."

"Your physical body has sustained a lot of damage already. You're not even supposed to be...conscious right now. But I must say, you have one strong soul," En, owner of Smokescreen, nodded in acknowledgment.

"What you did was reckless, Midoriya," Daigiro huffed dissaprovingly. "Controlling Blackwhip in his condition won't be easy. He's a time bomb, and my quirk can easily hurt people with how hot-headed this boy is. You've experienced first-hand how Blackwhip behaves under a strong emotion."

Everyone heard a sound between a huff and a grunt, coming from said hot-head. Daigiro glared at him, crossing his arms. "We both know I'm right, don't argue with me."

"You two are incredibly strong individuals. This won't be the first time you both fight alongside using One for All," Yoichi noted, giving a smile to a confused Katsuki. "You don't remember that day since the transference of the quirk wasn't fully completed due to you both losing consciousness, but this isn't the first time Midoriya has transferred our quirk to you."

Shocked, Katsuki snapped his head in Izuku's direction, who had a guilty gleam in his eyes. It's true.

"We're running out of time, Yoichi," Nana warned. The white-haired male nodded in understanding, his expression becoming serious as he eyed the two teenagers.

"Now is your time to right the wronged, and bring peace to our world at last. May this be the beginning of a new era and the end of this wretched chapter. May One for All grant you full power to defeat our enemy."

Izuku's eyes widened as a blinding light began to fill the strange void of his subconsciousness. However, he didn't miss how the last person, who hadn't spoken once and stood facing a wall, slowly revealed himself.

"Go beyond..."

He was forced back to reality when his back collided with a hard surface. A strangled scream escaped his lips as his body fell to the ground ungracefully, bare hands scratching against the rubble.

"Plus Ultra!"

Green and orange lighting mended together, movements quick as the dancing of colors appeared in front of Hisashi all of a sudden. He wasn't given a chance to react before he received a powerful blow to his stomach and face. His body was sent flying by such brutal force, sending pieces of debris around them. Sparks flew in the darkening sky, being the evidence of both teenagers in the battlefield.

Their clothes were torn and shredded, chests rising and falling heavily as they glared at the man responsible for so much suffering. Their eyes had gone completely white, hair flowing gracefully around their heads as their signature aura encased their bodies in its captivating glow.

Hisashi's body came to a halt about 35 meters away from the teens, teeth grinding in pain, but overall, irritation. Of course, Izuku would've given One for All to the explosive blond. That's what made such a quirk extremely powerful and dangerous. No wonder it was meant to be his downfall. He created it.

"I made a huge mistake giving that quirk to my useless brother," the man snarled, standing up on aching legs and spitting out some blood. It was disgusting how it splattered inside his mask, tainting it red and giving it a copper smell. His lungs burned each time he inhaled, indicating that his time was running out.

"Midoriya. Bakugo!" Someone yelled, catching their attention. Izuku's eyes widened as a battered Aoyama came at them at full speed, Iida serving as his nitrous. "Put these on!"

They didn't have much time to think about it as a pair of headphones were thrown their way, Iida and Aoyama covering their ears with their own. To say they were confused was an understatement, but when they caught sight of Present Mic from afar, the headphones seemed to make sense. Hisashi didn't have much time to react, even when sensing the upcoming loudmouth with his infrared quirk.

A loud screech startled them all, the ear-splitting nose coming from Present Mic himself. It implored Hisashi to cover his ears, the sound resonating against his eardrums as they popped painfully. This bastard just busted my eardrums!

His head pounded, the world around him becoming fuzzy as he stumbled on his own feet. Izuku and Katsuki quickly sprung into action, throwing their headphones aside as they took Hisashi's state to their advantage. Both surrounded his body with uncanny precision, timing their attacks in astounding synchronization, to which Hisashi had to time to dodge. Between the intense throbbing that pulsed throughout his system and his bleeding ears that now deemed him deaf, things proved to be extremely difficult. His body flew from the force used in the teenagers attack, collapsing and rolling quite painfully against the cracked up concrete.

This is it. This is our chance!

Izuku looked over at Katsuki with a determined expression. A new surge of power flowed within him, like the final piece to an incomplete puzzle. He suddenly felt... complete.

With newfound fury towards the man who had ruined his life in more ways than one, Izuku managed to lift a big chunk of broken concrete. He mustered up enough strength to throw it in Hisashi's direction, his muscles aching in protest. Katsuki watched in astonishment as the piece of debris suddenly flew...faster? The way Izuku looked at the object with a furious glare as he bent his knees had Katsuki on alert. What was he planning to do?

"Izuku!" The blond yelled as Izuku leaped into the air while All for One readied himself for the upcoming attack. He couldn't help but wonder if that was the second user's quirk. The one quirk that Izuku had yet to awaken. Was that what the white-haired male meant by "full power"?

Katsuki clicked his tongue, irritated with himself for simply ogling his boyfriend in the middle of the battlefield. The moment All for One used his air cannon to break the concrete to pieces, the blond jumped into action. He hated himself for falling behind as Izuku did things by himself. Now was not the time to process things, damn it!

If Izuku truly awakened his entire power, that meant one thing and one thing only...

They had to defeat All for One.

For once, and for all.