MHA/BNHA react to For The Want of A Nail by Clouds part 1

"You rely on your quirk too much."

Izuku almost felt bad saying it, especially since Shinso was taking time out of his day to talk to them during lunch. His quirk was amazing, so of course he relied on it, and it was part of him, so Izuku couldn't discount that, but...

Shinso: But it'd be better if I could fight without it.

"Yep!" Mei piped up, shoveling a spoonful of rice in her mouth. "But don't feel bad! Most heroes do, but that's why you have us!"

Shinso looked at them skeptically, "And how am I supposed to be a hero without my quirk?"

Kurogiri: That's not what he said.

Izuku waved his hands frantically in front of him, "Not without your quirk! We would never tell you to hold yourself back like that! It's just that... well, you see..."

"It's the activation requirements." Mei interrupted. "You're pretty good at making people respond to you, but eventually you're going to come across someone who has more self control than you have sass."

Spinner: Or a mute person like Osore. Like seriously have you never thought about that?

Shinso: ...No comment?

A lot of people: Seriously?

Izuku couldn't hold back a huff of shocked laughter, "Yeah. What she said. The fact is that once people know about your quirk, you have a huge handicap. It would be like if a villain immediately took Snipe's gun at the beginning of a fight. He would still have his quirk, but he wouldn't be able to use it."

"The only difference here is that Snipe can use his quirk to protect his gun, you can't." Mei thought for a moment. "He also carries an extra gun. Izu-kun! Let's give Extra-Credit-Kun a gun!!!"

A lot of people: No!

Shinso looked at them in shock and a bit of fear, so Izuku figured he wasn't quite ready for that, despite the amazing potential the idea had, "Maybe let's start with something smaller, like how we can prevent villains from finding out about his quirk."

"Nice thought." Shinso pointed at them with his chopsticks. "But that's the thing about my quirk. If you fall for it once, you know how it works."

Mic: Not unless you pretend the activation requirements are something else just like the other Shinso from The Undead Schoolgirl.

"Maybe..." Izuku flipped through his notebook until he found a page that he'd used to scribble ideas. "How long does your connection last?"

Shinso shrugged, "No idea. I've never been allowed to control someone for more than a few minutes. That experiment with you the other day was as long as I've ever gone."

Midoriya: That's not what I meant...

"That's not what I..." Izuku had to take a second to gather his thoughts. "I mean, that's good to know, but how long can you wait between getting a response and taking control?"

Shinso looked surprised, then thoughtful, "I don't know. I always thought it was best to just take control as soon as I can, so I've never actually tried to wait or anything..."

Aizawa: Another thing to test.

Izuku grinned and flipped to a new page in his notebook, "Perfect! So, how do you know the connection has been formed? Do you have to try to brainwash then or can you just feel it?"

"I can feel it." Shinso said quietly. "It's like the person is inside my brain... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told you that. I don't want to make you uncomfortable."