Todoroki was troubled. The fight hadn't amounted to much-- Shine wasn't even that mad-- but Momo was upset, and that upset him. What if Bakugo was right? Had the class been hostile to her still? He never noticed that kind of thing much.

In reality, Momo was just stressed out. She had a lot of extra work on her plate, and she knew the class was still wary of her. She cried for an hour after the fight more from being overwhelmed than any other reason.

Todoroki apologized to Shine after a while because he wanted to smooth things over, and he thought Momo might be better then. Shine didn't press the issue and said she might have been too sensitive about it. Then she said, "Let's not talk about the world stuff anymore for a while. I think it's too much too soon for you all. You know enough anyway."

"Is there anything you haven't told us that could be dangerous?" Shoto said.

"Not about that." Shine was cryptic.

Privately, Shine wondered about the events that had taken place since their arrival. She got the feeling the LOV would have been doing more things if they hadn't shown up. She was sure more things were happening away from the school that none of them could know about. How much was different now? Again she felt frustrated by how little she seemed to be doing.

But things took a turn on the following evening. The class was at the dorms, and Shine had done a head count; she was in the habit of doing this whenever they were all supposed to be around. She didn't see Deku anywhere. Uraraka told her he was probably training in the woods. How Uraraka knew that, Shine didn't ask.

Shine was getting really tired of how much these kids over-trained and decided to go out and fetch him herself.

She spent several minutes checking the woods near the dorm and wondering how the robots had not found him yet. Some of them came up to her and said things about humans sneaking around. Shine hated those things and gave one a swift kick. "Go  away," she said, eyes flashing. The robot skittered away indignantly.

The robots clearly only patrolled the grounds of the school with cement, probably because they couldn't roll over the dirt as easily. So she went off the walkway and farther into the trees. 

She was surprised to run into All Might hiding behind some trees. He nearly jumped out of his skin. Shine saw Deku in a clearing trying to practice his quirks... and not having much success, from the look of it. But he kept getting back up.

"How did you find us, Miss Likstar?" All Might asked.

"Where else could you be training after hours when the gym is closed?" Shine replied, "But it's late, Deku is supposed to be in the dorms."

"Deku? Oh, right. You call him by his hero name."

"It's easier for me to say, and it suits him." Shine didn't know that it meant useless in one translation, or she might not have said that unironically. All Might luckily assumed she meant the more positive use of the word. 

"Why are you watching him?" Shine asked.

All Might looked guilty. "Well... I can't really help him much with his training, but I want to make sure he's all right."

"But he's exhausted," Shine said, "He can't keep pushing himself like this, you know."

"It's not every night, Miss Likstar. He's trying to master his new... skill," All Might said.

Shine was certain he was going to say something else. She peered at Deku... Hmm. "He's developing more than one quirk."

"What?!" All Might balked. "Why would you say that?"

"It's nothing like his old one," Shine said, "I suppose it's part of that quirk complexity stuff. Todoroki practically has two quirks."

All Might hesitated. "I suppose it's possible."

"Don't bother, All Might," Shine sighed, "I'm sure Bakugo has already spoken to you. Let's not pretend otherwise. I'm not going to ask you anything about it. But Deku is going to come back to the dorms and go to bed before he collapses. Or I drag both of you to Aizawa for breaking curfew."

All Might felt Shine could make good on that threat. "Uh... I suppose he's worked enough for one day."

Shine had the nerve to do what All Might didn't, which was show herself staunchly. Though in the moonlight, it took Deku a second to see her, and he almost took her out with a release of power. Shine moved out of the way.

"Oh!... Miss Likstar..." Deku sputtered, "Why are you out here?"

"The better question is why are you out here, young man?" Shine said firmly.

Deku looked around. "Oh... uh... well... uh, I just wanted to get in some extra--"

"--Extra training," Shine finished coolly, "Yes, well, you can just train tomorrow. March, Midoriya! Now."

"But, Miss Likstar, I need to master this move. This quirk is still giving me touble," Deku said, "I mean, this part of my quirk is very hard to control."

"The capture thing or the other thing?" Shine said.

"Oh... well... both..." Deku said.

"Deku, I don't think your body is ready for both of those powers," Shine said, "It would be wisest to stop pushing yourself so hard. You're going to snap one of these days and hurt someone."

Deku looked crestfallen. "I know I could... That's why I'm trying to hold back."

"We both know you'll use it in a pinch, and you always get yourself into one," Shine scolded. She grabbed his arm. "Come on. No more tonight." She began leading him back towards the school.

Deku found he didn't dare resist now. She was too commanding.

"Uh... Miss Likstar..." he said after a bit, "your quirk has a lot of different functions, doesn't it? How do you keep up with them all?"

"It's not a quirk, Deku... and I use only what I need to for the moment," Shine said, "If I didn't know better, I swear I'd say you didn't have a quirk either."

Deku stopped short, making her yank his arm by accident. "Oh, sorry."

"No, sorry it was my fault," Deku said super nervously, "I was just uh... I mean, why would you think that?"

"You suck at lying," Shine said, "but don't worry. I'm not going to tell anyone about it."

Deku glanced at her oddly. "About what?"

"Your big secret with All Might," Shine replied calmly, "But if you need help, you can always come to us. Goodness knows we've had enough experience with this stuff."

"With... this stuff? With quirks?" Deku was completely incautious.

"No... with powers, though," Shine replied vaguely, "Powers usually have a similar root source, you know, from world to world. Usually a spiritual source."

"A spiritual source?" Deku stopped short again, this time for longer.

 Shine turned to look back at him. "Uh, Deku, come on."

Deku stared at her intently. "Miss Likstar... what do you mean spiritual? Like, someone's spirit passes on a power?"

"Uh... no... well, yes," Shine said, "Often it is... it's called a mantle, in my faith. Sometimes an anointing...." She saw that she had his attention so she decided to just go for it. "That's how I got my power."

"What? It is?" Deku sputtered.

"So is Wally's. His is inherited," Shine said. 

[It is in the Flash comics anyway. Wally West was the 2nd or 3rd Flash.]

She knew she'd hit the nail on the head from the look on his face.

"Deku... you inherited All Might's quirk, didn't you?"

                                                                                            * * *

As soon as she said that, it seemed completely obvious from the start. So simple that it would have been hard to think of before, but it was undoubtable once you saw it.

 Deku froze up. "Wha--what?"

"It all makes sense now," Shine mused, "I don't know how, but it's not so very strange. Some quirks can be passed on, no doubt, just like with other things."

She was the only one who would not have called it strange.

"Likstar..." Deku looked panicked. "No one else is supposed to... It's not true. Quirks can't be inherited except from your parents."

"If you know something I don't, that's all of a piece," Shine said dryly, "But it's no use denying it, Deku... Let's go before someone else comes searching for you." She resumed walking. Deku had no choice but to follow.

"How did you figure it out?" he asked.

"Things came together for me," Shine said, "I suspected something was off, but it just clicked as I was explaining our powers. You're like us, aren't you? You have a mantle."

"Yes, that's it exactly... but Miss Likstar, this had to be a secret. If the world knew, they'd try to steal the power," Deku said.

"People have done that for centuries to no avail, Deku," Shine said, "True, good power is not stolen... Can it be stolen?"

"Well, no, I have to pass it on willingly, but people won't know that," Deku said, "And it's dangerous."

"I suppose it is. They might try to threaten you to get it," Shine said, "But I have no reason to broadcast this information."

"You're... awfully calm about this," Deku said.

Just like Bakugo. What was it with people finding this out?

"There is no reason for me not to be. It's not unusual," Shine said, "not to me. You don't understand that the difference between worlds is not so large. This is old hat. But, Deku, I warn you-- I didn't know if I would find out, and now that I have, because you were being incautious, you are going to have to deal with the consequences. This probably means you will need our help at a future time."

Deku wondered what she meant by that, but as they got very close to the dorms, he said suddenly, "Could you help me learn how to control it? I mean, if you have before..."

Shine gave him an odd look. "I don't know much about it, Deku."

"But I could tell you... You see, I've been having these visions..." Deku began. Shine turned at once and looked him right in the eye. "Visions? Of the past or the future?"

"The past... They say--"

"Shh, Deku, the robot cams are everywhere." Shine held up her hand. "You tell me about this tomorrow. I'm rather good with visions and dreams. I have them often, myself."

"You do?" Deku said.

"Not now. Go inside," Shine insisted, "We'll talk later."

Deku nodded and hurried inside. He walked upstairs and thought to himself that for all he would have expected to feel devastated that someone else had found out, he actually felt kind of relieved. Could Shine and Wally actually help him? How did they know about this?

He went to bed, but he didn't sleep much, and when he did he had dreams that were rehashing the previous dreams.

***

Bakugo guessed that Deku had finally spilled the beans to Shine by his behavior the next day: He acted nervous around her.

Shine had told Wally about it before, and he nodded at Deku knowingly over breakfast. Deku looked nervous then too.

Bakugo wanted to punch him more than usual. Stupid nerd could not keep a d--- secret for crap.

Shine noticed Bakugo looking and pulled him aside briefly. "Don't worry about it. I think we might be able to do some good here. Perhaps it was meant to happen. You shouldn't give Deku a hard time."

"Get off me." Bakugo shoved her hand away. "He's a flipping moron! And so are you!"

"You're worried, but I really doubt anyone will think to ask us about this," Shine said.

"You idiot, anyone could interrogate you. The more people know, the more of us they can target." Bakugo was sour.

"Anyone could do that to you, and more people know about you than us," Shine said, "We all take risks, Bakugo, but perhaps we are given the knowledge of these things because we are the ones willing to take them. Get on now, before the others get suspicious."

Bakugo frowned. And left.

                                                                                             * * *

It was the weekend, but the students still had training. Deku could barely focus though. Bakugo blasted him to relieve his feelings. He hadn't done that in a while. Deku kind of had a feeling why he was doing it and didn't even get mad, to the other's bewilderment.

Finally it was over, and he rushed back to the dorms.

Shine and Wally were in no hurry to talk though. They were watching a show together and mocking it incessantly.

"Seriously, they solve everything by the power of feelings!" Wally said, "That crap doesn't work!"

"It does when that adrenaline kicks in," Shine said, "but sometimes it's just too unbelievable..."

"Uh... hi..." Deku didn't know how to start.

Luckily, Shine was considerate of him.

"Let's finish this later, babe. I'm sure Deku is dying to know if we can help him out."

"Right," said Wally, turning off the TV. "Well, what can we do you for, Deku?"

"Uh..." Deku said. 

"Yes, we need to go upstairs," Shine agreed, "but I want more snacks first."

"On it," Wally said. He dashed out.

Shine and Deku went up to Wally's room and sat on beanbags. Wally came in with snacks.

"All right, Deku. Now, from the beginning, tell us about the visions," Shine said.

Deku felt weird at first, but then it seemed natural, and they didn't act like any of it was weird. He told them about the festival with Shinso and seeing the figures, then about his dreams, activating his quirks by accident, and that All Might didn't know what was up with it.

Wally laughed at that, and Shine snorted, but other than that they didn't react.

Deku was on a roll now, so he ended up telling them how he'd gotten the quirk from All Might too and couldn't use it at first. They could have guessed that much anyway.

But he stopped short of telling them about All For One. It didn't seem like he should. If he'd known how much Shine had already found out, he might not have hesitated, but that's how it was.

"This is one heck of an origin story," Wally said, "And here I thought getting my powers from my uncle who died was hardcore... but eating a hair, man? That's gross."

"You got your power from a dead person?" Deku said.

"No, he didn't," Shine said, "But I thought... nevermind."

Deku didn't get it. "Well, uh... so, what do you think?"

"There was lot to unpack there." Wally rubbed his forehead. "My brain hurts... Powers are so complicated."

Shine was silent for a moment, then she said, "Any more recent visions?"

"No... I get them every time I unlock a new power... and the holder told me I would end up with 7 total," Deku said, "I mean, 7 counting his, but I guess its more like 6, since I already have the original, and for some reason it took this long to be able to hold all the power, which I don't really understand and it's just kind of overwhelming--"

"Deku," Shine interrupted, "can you please talk at a normal rate?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry," Deku said sheepishly, "So... uh, did this ever happen to you?"

"I did have some trouble controlling my speed at first," Wally said, "but it's only one power. Not a bunch. What about you Shine?"

"It's different for me," Shine said, "When I use my gifts, I'm not controlling them. The Spirit in me is. But that is not happening for you... or it is, but the goal is for you to control them yourself, to truly become one with the power: One For All. It makes sense."

"Oh... yeah, that's a good way to put it," Deku said.

She'd gotten it much faster than he had. He felt kind of embarrassed. Was he just slow? Or was it her experience?

"I have reached a point with some of my gifts where I can use them as if they were my own. My language is one," Shine said, "But my gifts sometimes require something from another person in order to work... faith, usually. And portaling has its limits, as it should. Insight I can turn off and on now with relative ease, and it's rarely blocked. How many quirks do you currently have?"

[Since I am not following the show's timeline, I am going to change a bit here.]

"Right now, it's three," Deku said, "but I can't use the third one really with any control, and the second, I only used it a few times really well. The first one, I'm going between 8% and more at certain moments."

"Can you explain that Percentage thing more?" Shine asked.

So Deku did.

"It hurt your body?" Shine was shocked.

"Yeah... Wait, doesn't it hurt you to use your powers at first?" Deku said.

"No, never," Shine said.

Wally shook his head. "If I overuse it-- but using it at all doesn't hurt me."

"Oh... wow..." Deku said. Maybe he really was just weak.

"Deku," Shine had been thinking it over more, "you didn't have a quirk before this, did you?"

"What?" Deku sputtered. He hadn't mentioned that part, as he thought it might be a bad idea to do so.

"You act like you've never had a quirk until you got this one, so you didn't have one? You were part of that 20% or less," Shine said.

"Oh... it's that obvious." Deku hung his head.

"What about All Might? Did he have a quirk?" Shine asked.

"What? Why would you ask that?" Deku said.

"Curiosity," Shine said, "I was doing the math, and you're the 9th holder, but you're only getting 6 quirks in addition to the original one. That means at least one other person didn't have a quirk who held the power. You described seeing all the other holders in your vision who had quirks, so it sounds like either All Might or his predecessor didn't have one. Which was it?"

"Why does it matter?" Deku said.

"It matters," Shine said.

Deku supposed she was too close now to not tell her. "It was All Might, but I don't know what his mentor's quirk was. Or any of them, except the ones I have."

"Why wouldn't he tell you something like that?" Wally said.

"I mean, maybe he just forgot-- or didn't think it was important," Deku said.

"And you'll get to use them all with the boost of One For All?" Shine said, "I... don't see how you physically are capable of doing that. It's godlike power, like Samson or Elijah, and it's more than they had... What's more, I don't think you'll be able to pass on that quirk again."

"What?" Deku said.

"If it nearly killed you to use it, then I can't imagine how anyone else could take it once your power is added to it," Shine said, "At most, maybe it could be passed on one more time. Ten is a good, even number, a symbolic number... but so is 9. Three is the number of holiness and importance, and three sets of three is even more important-- signals the end of an age often enough."

"In what? I've never heard that before," Deku said.

"In the Bible," Shine said, "Three sets of 3 usually means judgments or blessings, depends. Three is also the number of living beings. We are three parts: spirit, mind, body. Numbers are significant, Deku. You being the 9th holder is no accident on the timing of all this, I'm sure. There are also 9 fruits of the Spirit. It's a power number too. A family is made of two parents and a child. A three-cord strand is not easily broken. While it sounds like superstition, Nature follows this pattern very often. Three stages of life: youth, adult, old. Earth is the third planet from the sun. Water is made of 3 molecules. A triangle is the strongest shape.... What I'm saying is, pay attention to these things."

Deku didn't understand. "But what does it have to do with controlling One For All?"

Wally didn't get it either. "I'm just as lost as he is, Shine."

"Don't you see?" Shine's mind ran a mile a minute, "The whole reason Deku cannot control One For All is more than a physical reason. It is because there's something mystical about it. It's clearly not just about the quirk itself. The whole way it was handed down, even its origin-- it's significant. Trying to separate the quirk from its purpose, use, and reason for existence is foolishness... But something tells me, in training, that's exactly what you've been doing."

Deku blinked.

"Correct me if I'm wrong." Shine held up her hand to form a list. "But you've used One For All successfully without breaking your bones only a few times. Why don't you tell me what those were, and we'll test my theory."

"Well... the first time I used it to save Uraraka in the entrance exam," Deku said. 

"Did you hurt yourself?"

"Yes, I did... but I had only just gotten it then," Deku said, "I didn't know how to activate it till that moment."

"It was a breakthrough, then. When did you use it next without hurting yourself?"

"I punched someone during a villain attack, and it didn't break. All Might said maybe it was subconscious. I knew better," Deku said.

"Link that to the purpose of the quirk," Shine instructed.

Deku thought about it. "The purpose was to protect people--oh..." His eyes widened.

Oh... wow..." Wally was impressed, "Nice, Shine. I never thought of that."

"Oh, we're just getting started," Shine said, "When did Quirk number two activate?"

"When I was worried about defending my teammates from Monoma," Deku said.

"Has a quirk ever activated or gone out of control fighting someone who you didn't perceive as a threat to your friends?" Shine asked.

"No," Deku said.

"And have you ever directly used it on someone and hurt them fatally?" Shine said.

Deku shook his head.

"There you are," Shine said, "There's a deep connection in the quirk. It's not actually you who is stopping it, it's the nature of One For All to protect people. How something like this is given to you can affect everything about how it works. Stolen power corrupts, always, without fail. A gift power is used for good. It's hard for it to go wrong, as long as you keep that in mind... In fact, the worst thing we can do is start to think we just own that power for ourselves, and we can use it selfishly. I don't use my gift to go around beating up people for fun, and Wally doesn't use his to do that either. It would be disgusting to do so."

"I'd never use One For All like that, Miss Lisktar," Deku said.

"I don't think you would, but my guess is, your lack of control is coming from not having an actual threat," Shine said, "All this pretending in training is going to jack you up because you know deep down those people aren't a real threat. Trying to use it on them is a bad idea. It's training you to call good evil, in effect, with your quirk... I suspect a huge part of the reason you aren't moving forward is because you keep using it that way."

"I don't think that's true," Deku balked at this.

"Let's test it further," Shine said, "When did you make a breakthrough controlling One For All? First it was to save Uraraka. Was there another time?"

Deku thought. "I know I made strides when I was with Gran Torino, but I really didn't start pulling it off until I was rescuing... uh... some people." He thought. "Come to think of it, I think I kicked into a higher gear when I was trying to help Bakugo too... and Kota.... Well, I almost destroyed my arms doing that."

"Yes, power like this takes a toll on our body if we push it," Shine agreed, "But I trust you are seeing a pattern here."

"Miss Listar... I never would have thought all that was connected." Deku was amazed. "But it seems so simple now that you are saying it. Only, why did I activate it while Monoma and Shinso were threatening us in training? That wasn't real."

"On the contrary, Deku, it was only too real, based on how those idiots were acting, and no doubt you subconsciously felt it." Shine was annoyed over that still. "In fact, it's rather telling that Monoma's behavior is exactly like a villain's in every respect I can think of-- but isn't called out for it."

"Wow..." Deku blinked.

Wally rubbed Shine's shoulder proudly. "You're amazing, baby."

"It's not so hard to apply a little logic to it," Shine said modestly, "And I could be wrong, as this is not a Spiritual power like mine is, but a different sort. Still, I think it's likely it works on very similar principles, don't you?"

"It all checks out," Wally said, "and I think especially, that it's on the field that Deku's breakthroughs are happening-- or in training that has gone too far-- is a really good point. I think that tells us how he can improve."

Deku nodded. "I need more actual practice... like my internship."

"School is wasting your time," Shine mused, "as far as training is going. None of it is really going to help you. Strengthening your heart would be better. Isn't that what one vision told you? You see, Deku, I don't think a hero school is going to teach you that. That has to be learned by coming to care for people. Do you think your ability to do that has grown since coming to UA?"

Deku drew a blank on that. "I... don't know... I think I've made some good friends."

"I thought so," Shine said, "It hasn't... Stupid school. Why am I not surprised? Oh, right, because they literally teach the student to view each others as enemies... And Deku, that's not only a huge waste of your time, it's dangerous. You don't want to start seeing fellow heroes as enemies. You might fool your gifting that way. It's happened before. One thing I constantly cultivate in myself is the mindset of who is and is not my enemy, so that I don't unleash power recklessly on anyone who annoys me. You'd better be doing the same."

That was probably the most solid advice Deku had gotten in a long time, and he had no clue what to do with it. Shine was just speaking plain common sense, if he looked at it how he would have before starting at UA, but it didn't sound very Plus Ultra of her to tell him training wasn't important... though it was uncanny how on point she was about his quirk development. Only when he felt things were real did he ever take a step forward, never in training that he thought of as such.

[I would count helping Todoroki as a real feeling scenario to him, but his quirk didn't actually change in that one. The only exception might be with Shinso, but that could be explained by saying that wasn't his quirk, so much as him having the spirits of the other holders there to help him.]

"How can I improve?" he asked.

Shine and Wally exchanged a look. "You want practical advice?" Shine said, "Quit over-training your body. Spend some time actually reading, relaxing, and hanging with your friends. Then once you're not stressed out of your mind all the time, I'd be happy to give you some materials."

"Not... train...?" Deku looked rigid, like she'd suggested he not eat.

"Oh, brother..." Wally muttered.

"Or you can ignore everything we just said and go about your life until you give yourself an ulcer from the stress. Your call." Shine opened the door. "We have some R&R to get back to ourselves, so how about you think about it? Let us know. I'd be happy to order you to relax more, if you'd feel less guilty about it."

Deku didn't know how to handle Shine, so he just went out.