MHA: Dark Matter

With curiosity on my face and a feeling of gloating satisfaction inside, I watched as the number one hero and Izuku tried to coherently explain why they were together. Midoriya's eyes practically screamed the word "panic." It was so amusing that even Melissa started looking at them suspiciously.

The situation had to be resolved by the only professional hero among us. All Might declared that "young Midoriya's" Quirk was extremely similar to his own, but due to its late awakening, it could cause injuries to the user. Therefore, as a "U.A. teacher," All Might had decided to help Izuku master it, and for company, he had brought him to I Island.

After that, we were politely asked not to spread this information. Melissa accepted this version without issue. I, on the other hand, could only inwardly applaud the number one hero's decent improvisation. Or was it not improvisation? He could have prepared reasons for such close interaction with one of his students in advance. Surely he wouldn't just divulge information about his Quirk to everyone who became suspicious.

After that, we headed to David Shield's workplace. The younger Shield immediately became interested in the "late awakening of the Quirk."

"Izuku, when did your Quirk awaken?"

Clearly embarrassed, the green haired teenager, glancing at his teacher, answered:

"About a year ago."

"So late!"

"Yes."

"What kind of Quirk is it? If it's similar to Uncle Toshinori's, it must be a Quirk that enhances your physical characteristics? What kind of injuries do you get when you use it?"

With surprise, I watched the animated girl. I hadn't noticed such curiosity about Quirks in her before, except for the purely professional kind related to creating equipment tailored to the user. Still, her main interests were robotics and programming.

"At first, I couldn't use it at all without getting injured. Then Ken helped me figure it out."

"Is that so."

Melissa looked thoughtful, and I noticed sadness in her eyes. A deep, lingering sadness that I hadn't seen yesterday. Although yesterday, the girl had been acting strange herself. Too embarrassed and excited. And that was cute.

"The appearance of this Quirk… was unexpected. I thought I'd go crazy with joy."

Izuku quickly glanced at All Might, who was walking behind us. I looked at my friend's face and finally understood. A pang of pain echoed in my chest. I had forgotten that look. The look of sadness and hope. The same look I had once had. I, the Quirkless one.

The phenomenon of late Quirk awakening. An incredibly rare occurrence and the hope of thousands of Quirkless people.

*"It will awaken. It will definitely awaken. I just need to wait. My Quirk will be the best."*

*The black haired boy thought, looking at the pitying faces of the kindergarten teachers.*

I closed my eyes. I felt the hero with the piercing blue eyes start to look around. I suppressed the feeling. I hated those memories of when I was weak. After them, I wanted so badly to prove to myself that I was strong.

I opened my eyes and put a smile on my face.

We had arrived at the private laboratory of Melissa's father. Or rather, an entire complex of laboratories in the research district. While the main place for research was considered to be the nearly 200 story tower in the center of the island, which was almost the main attraction of I Island, the tower itself also served administrative functions. Add to that the fact that it housed representatives of the International Hero Association, the US Public Safety Commission, and UNESCO.

Why was the US Public Safety Commission here if I Island was neutral territory, practically a separate country? That question interested me too, so I had to study the history and economic situation of the world. After all, what was I Island and why was it created? It was arguably the most advanced technopolis in the world, a place where knowledge that was decades ahead of the rest of the world was concentrated. And this knowledge directly touched on the two cornerstones of the modern world: Quirks and technology.

Could countries leave such power to corporations that produce equipment for professional heroes? Ha ha. Even if access to all the knowledge of I Island could lead to the collapse of the world market? Absolutely not.

Now, what is the Public Safety Commission? To put it simply, it is a law enforcement agency responsible for "controlling" heroes and their interaction with the rest of society. And the first commission was created in America after the appearance of the first professional heroes. After other countries joined the hero initiative and created the International Hero Association, the Public Safety Commission became an international organization to create a sort of balance with the association.

But due to general distrust between countries and different legal frameworks, the commission as an international organization did not last long. Soon, each country had its own commission. Although this did not prevent it from acting as a "counterbalance" to the International Hero Association, this state of affairs greatly complicated international cooperation between heroes.

Finally, let's return to I Island, which is visited by hundreds of professional heroes from various countries every month. Perhaps a Public Safety Commission could have been created here. But they decided to do things more simply and invited the US Public Safety Commission as the one most loyal to heroes from different countries. Of course, the fact that the US provides the most financial support to I Island has nothing to do with it. Nothing at all.

Distracted by my musings, which had started from explaining the lack of research space in the central tower, I practically on autopilot followed the others to David Shield's office.

"Dad, look who I invited."

"I am here! To greet my friend!"

"All Might is just All Might."

I thought, looking at the number one hero frozen with his arms raised. A man with curly chestnut hair, a small beard, and glasses, who was filling out some paperwork, stared at our motley group in surprise. It seemed someone had decided not to tell their parent about the expected arrival of guests.

"To… Toshi? All Might!"

"Haha. Long time no see, David."

Throwing aside all his work, the famous scientist hugged his former partner. He didn't really have a choice anyway, since All Might was going to hug him "as an old friend!"

"Don't remind me. At our age, it's bad to think about time."

"Haha. Well said."

During this meeting, I felt awkward. Like a friend who had been invited to a birthday party for his friend's friend, whom you had never met in person. Or maybe that's how it should feel, since I had only celebrated birthdays with Midoriya and Mei. I could only congratulate Melissa via video call. And neither of them could be called particularly "communicative." Except Izuku was starting to improve.

I looked at the frozen, statue like Midoriya.

Correction. He wasn't improving. His classmates were improving him. I rate their work 5 out of 10.

"Young Midoriya, my boy, meet him. My old friend…"

"I know him! Professor David Shield! He won the Nobel Prize for his research on Quirks. He was All Might's partner in America. Creator of…"

"Midoriya is just Midoriya."

I thought, moving away from the boy. The awkwardness reached a new level. And looking at the "glazed over" expression of the Nobel laureate, I reassessed Midoriya's classmates' work to 3 out of 10. Melissa's quiet giggles did not help reduce my awkwardness.

"…I'm amazed."

"It looks like I don't need to introduce myself."

Shield smiled. Izuku, judging by his widened eyes, realized how his actions must have looked. He bowed.

"I'm sorry. I just…"

"No, don't worry about it."

The man waved his hand, then shifted his gaze to me.

"Dad, this is Ken, my friend. He arrived yesterday, and I told you about him."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Shield."

At least someone in this room had to greet him politely. The man perked up immediately, shifting his gaze from Melissa to me and back again. There was curiosity and… jealousy? in his eyes.

"Nice to meet a friend of my daughter's."

He shook my hand and looked me intently in the eyes. Hey, she hadn't said anything strange about me, had she?

All Might's cough interrupted our staring contest. Shield's face frowned for a moment.

"I haven't seen All Might in a long time. Would you allow me to speak with him alone?"

"Um, yes."

"No problem."

I nodded, discreetly looking at All Might's smiling face. It looked somewhat tense.

"Melissa, will you show them the exhibition?"

"Yes, Dad."

As I followed the girl out, I caught a glimpse of steam rising from All Might's figure out of the corner of my eye. An old, melancholic quote ran through my head:

Nothing is eternal under the sun.

****A/N***

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