Viridian: The Green Guide

Chapter 21: Knowledge

Izuku was starting to wonder if maybe Eraserhead had been telling the truth when he said that he was smart. He had just been doing his assignments like he normally did, but because he could submit them multiple times, he'd decided that it would be best to submit the first time, get a preliminary score, and then correct what was wrong after, but...there wasn't much to correct. When he was at Aldera, he'd been changing half his answers because he'd been convinced he couldn't be right, but either his online assignments were way easier than the stuff he'd been doing or he needed to learn to trust himself more, because he was consistently getting higher scores than he'd gotten since preschool in less than half the time!

His favorite class was his quirk theory elective. It was really easy, since they were basically testing him on common sense, but they'd linked him to a lot of really cool articles that explained why quirks worked the way they did. Izuku had to keep himself from getting distracted and reading all the articles in the bibliographies of his assigned readings, because he really couldn't afford to waste any time. He couldn't help it! It was interesting!

He was also enjoying his programming class. It was a new way of thinking, but it was a fun challenge, like solving a puzzle! In the last two weeks since he'd officially begun online classes, his vigilante time had gradually turned into his programming time. When he'd wake up in the middle of the night, instead of restlessly trying to get back to sleep, he would get up and do his programming homework until he got tired. Most nights, he would spend an hour or two researching extra resources on hacking specifically, since that obviously wasn't covered in depth in a beginning programming class, but Izuku felt like he was actually starting to get the hang of it!

He was currently in the middle of taking a test for quirk theory. It was taking longer than he thought it would, but then again, he hadn't really paid attention to the introduction that said how long the test would take. It seemed to be cumulative, whereas most of the other tests he'd taken had only asked questions about the most recent unit, but Izuku saw the logic of occasionally testing old material. He figured that as long as he was done by the time Mom called him for dinner, it wasn't that big of a deal.

It was almost two hours later by the time he finally submitted the test and stretched out his sore muscles, ignoring the way his arm itched beneath the cast. At least he was healed enough that he was able to type again, his programming class would be much harder if he was still having to do everything one handed. Izuku glanced at the clock. He still had about twenty minutes until dinner, so he may as well get a head start on the next unit.

Izuku scrolled to the bottom of the page and frowned when he realized that the next page button was nowhere to be found. That was strange. Normally, when he finished one assignment, he just pressed the button and it took him to the next one. Maybe he had to go back to the index page for the whole class? That seemed needlessly complicated, but Izuku didn't want to question the website designers, so he clicked to the overview tab and scrolled past everything that said complete so he could figure out what unit was next, only to reach the bottom of the page.

Izuku did a double take.

Had...had the test he'd just taken been the final? That would explain why the whole thing had been cumulative and why it had taken so long, but...he really needed to pay more attention to what he was doing, that was so embarrassing! But, sure enough, there was a little checkmark by the final exam, stating that he'd completed it just a few minutes ago. Was he just really far ahead in that class, or....?

He clicked through his other classes, his eyes widening a little more every time he realized that he was only one or two a unit or less from completing a class. The only exception was art, but that was because it took him so long to draw every assignment. How had he finished them so fast?

Izuku closed his laptop and frowned. He supposed it made sense. He didn't have anything else to do while he healed besides work on his homework, and he wasn't too tired from running around as Viridian to stay awake in class. Or maybe it was because he wasn't worried about his bullies stealing his books or beating him up after class? That had been a constant in his life ever since he turned four, so he hadn't really realized how distracting it was until he didn't have to worry about it anymore. It was kinda nice.

He felt strangely guilty about feeling so grateful though. Maybe if he were stronger, he would have been able to deal with the bullying without letting it affect his grades, but instead he had just run away like a coward. He really was a deku, huh? It was a good thing he'd given up on being a hero, because heroes weren't cowards. They didn't run away.

It was a good thing vigilantes did.

Izuku shook his head and went out into the kitchen, where Mom was setting the table. She smiled as he came in, "Hi, baby! How were your classes today?"

Izuku shrugged, "I think I need to pay more attention, because I could have sworn when I registered that each class was the equivalent of one semester, but I finished one of them today, so they have to be shorter than that. I think they're just quarter classes."

"Still, it's impressive that you're already done, Izuku!" Mom said proudly. "I'm glad you're doing so well, baby. You seem a lot happier."

Izuku shrugged. He was still a deku, still useless, but at least going to school online meant that Mom didn't need to worry about him, so it was worth it. If him leaving Aldera meant that she was happy, then it was worth it, no matter if it meant he was a coward for running away from his problems.

The only thing that could make her happier was if she didn't have to deal with him at all, but there was nothing Izuku could hope to do about that until he was able to go out as Viridian again.

Shouta was so tired. It wasn't surprising, considering that tired was his default state, but the last few weeks had pushed his normal tired into exhausted. There had been at least two instant villains a week, and trigger sales were booming in accordance with the marketing, so Shouta was neck deep in problems and interrogations as he tried to make headway on the case. To make things worse, Viridian was still missing.

At least he wasn't the only one worried over the vigilante's sudden absence. Amplifier and Rock Lock had promised to tell him immediately if they ever caught sight of him, and a lot of other heroes in surrounding areas were starting to keep an eye out just in case he'd just switched neighborhoods. Shouta still couldn't help himself from checking the obituaries, but thankfully, that still hadn't turned anything up. He just hoped that, wherever Viridian was, he was safe and taking care of himself. Actually, him taking care of himself was probably too much to hope for, considering the kid's mental state, so Shouta would be happy to settle for him being safe.

He was currently at home on his day off, doing an internet deep dive for anything regarding the symbol of evil. When he'd mentioned the lead to Mic the other day, he'd said that he'd seen it on some conspiracy theory message boards, so that's what Shouta was currently reading. Most of the theories were completely insane, with mad leaps of logic, but each of them was based on small kernels of truth that could be useful eventually.

Finally, he caught sight of what he was looking for. It was a post from a few years ago, but had a very substantial thread attached where other people had shared their evidence and experiences. Now to sort the evidence from the bullshit.

The Symbol of Evil, also known as All for One, is widely considered to be an urban legend that was popularized around the dawn of quirks. The story goes that All for One was a man that could take one person's quirk and give it to another person, a skill that he used to gain a cult following in the substantial chaos of the time. The story is often discounted as wishful thinking of quirkless people who wanted quirks, or of quirked individuals who experienced bigotry and persecution because of their quirks.

But what if it wasn't?

The assumption definitely makes sense! But most legends are based on real events that people just didn't understand, or that got twisted by the years and countless retellings. Considering how widely known this "legend" was during the dawn of quirks and how quickly it spread, there had to be quite a bit of truth to it, truth that perhaps has been discounted or hidden by the hero commission to hide the truth of the nightmare that might still be in our midst...