Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Izuku was walking to school when a villain attack happened. He blinked twice as he saw Kamui Woods show up, and took out his notebook, starting to sketch a couple of notes as he tried to get closer.

“Illegal use of Abilities during rush hour, as well as robbery and assault?” The Hero said condescendingly. “You’re pure evil.” He added, making Izuku roll his eyes when this was all that stupid marketing.

“A Gigantification Quirk against ‘Arbor’, Huh?…” Izuku mumbled as someone let out a chuckle from his side.

“You know the name of his Quirk?” A man said before adding a comment about Izuku being a fanboy or something. “You must want to become a Hero, right kid?” The man asked and Iuzku glanced at him.

“There are many Quirks out there, it is better to know how they work before becoming a Hero-” Izuku replied, satisfied with the data he was getting on gigantification before another variable leapt over his head. Literally.

“Canyon Cannon!!” A woman jumped over to the bridge holding the railways, kicking the mugger in the chin before Kamui Woods could use his ‘Preemptive Bindinding Lacquered Chain Prison’. For someone that tries to sell himself with narratives about who’s evil or not, the Arboreal Hero sure had a mouthful of names for his Super Moves.

“Today’s my debut!” The woman with blonde hair and purple horns leaned her… erm… posterior closer to the bystanders –currently, her public, meh– as paparazzi suddenly appeared from whatever dimension they were hiding in before pulling out a dozen cameras. “Pleased to meet you all! You can call me Mt. Lady!” The woman said and Izuku frowned, trying to get her height compared to the buildings around.

“… She’s twice as big as the average Gigantification.” He mused, sketching her figure, her name and adding a “plus 20 meters” where he’ll write whatever info he’ll find on her Quirk later.

He took out his phone and started to google whatever information he could get. Heroes usually have some social media pre-made from their debut to try and bank on a rush of popularity.

“Why is she even in Musutafu? I refuse to believe she’s just ignorant to the railing she destroyed mid-fight…” He muttered, bouncing into a cameraman that was growing lens from his body. Well, that’s interesting. “Excuse me, sir, but how does your Quirk work?” He asked and the glassed man gave Izuku a smile and a curious look back.

“Well, it’s not every day when I kid asks about the Quirk of the everyman.” The man laughed, taking one more picture of Mt. Lady before making the lens disappear, and then reaching for a handshake. “Taneo Tokuda. A freelance journalist, working for Juzo News.” The man presented himself and Izuku accepted the handshake, noting one of Tokuda’s eyes also looked like a lens.

“How about I tell you what my Quirk does, and you tell me what you’ve been writing there.” He proposed and Izuku looked the man in the eye as he took a picture with it.

“Izuku Midoriya. Just some student from Aldera Junior High.” He raised the notebook and the man’s eyes went to the title. “I just note some details about the Quirks I find interesting.” He explained and the man gleefully took a glance through Izuku’s notebook.

“ ‘Quirk Analysis for the Future’, huh?” The man opened Kamui Woods' page, and then his smile grew. “This is quite useful…”

Katsuki walked inside the classroom and noticed that a lot of students got around the Nerd’s desk again. ‘Great, what did the dumbass do now?’ He thought to himself before using his Quirk, Explosion, to startle the group. “You’re blocking the way.” He growled and Glasses gave him an unimpressed look like always.

“There’s the other row.” She pointed out before returning to whatever they were doing. “Izuku-Kun met some famous photographer.”

Katsuki rolled his eyes as he pushed through. “The fuck are you doing nerd?!” He asked and, wouldn’t you know it, Izuku was just writing in his notebook… But that’s when he saw it. “What the fuck?!” Katsuki cursed as he snatched the picture of All Might’s debut in the highest quality possible.

“Don’t bend it, Kacchan.” Izuku warned as Katsuki was still looking at the bullshit picture, turning it around to see the name ‘Taneo Tokuda’ in the back with a phone number. “He uses that picture as his visit card, I don’t want to lose it.” He said before Katsuki glanced down at the notebook, seeing the same name and the Quirk ‘Whole-Body Lens’.

He only had to read the words written down and see another high-quality selfie of the nerd and some adult to get the whole story. “You just happened to stumble over the one guy who took a picture of All Might’s debut?!” He almost wanted to burn the picture out of jealousy, sparks coming out of his palm despite the Nerd’s warning looks.

“Katsuki. Put it down.”

“You’ll just throw it inside your notebook like all your notes!” Katsuki accused as he still held what was probably a picture worth a couple of thousand dollars. “You don’t even like All Might! You just collect shit for the sake of doing it!”

“Katsuki…” The nerd’s eyes turned cold. Izuku suddenly raised himself from his chair. “Put. It. Down.”

There was a moment of uneasy silence before Katsuki yielded, dropping the picture onto the table. “Shitty Nerd.” He grumbled before getting back to his desk.

“What’s gotten into Katsuki today? Did he wake up on the wrong side of the bed or something?” One of the other extras asked but Katsuki tried to ignore them.

Shitty Nerd, getting everything like he always wants.

After school was over, Izuku made a detour as he heard All Might was in Musutafu for some reason. “–And you say that he was capable of creating lenses from everywhere on his body?” Dad asked and Izuku let out a hum. 

Hisashi Midoriya is always busy with work but when it comes to a call from his son, the man never misses it.

“Yep. Katsuki was jealous when he saw I got the pictures of Mt Lady, and the one from All Might’s debut.” It was obvious that the explosive boy wouldn’t care about the selfie Izuku got with the man, so it wasn’t much of a variable. “I wonder how valuable that photo is.”

“If it has Taneo Tokuda's signature…” Dad mumbled as he was probably making some calculus from the top of his head. “I guess it could be sold with at least twenty thousand dollars in the US? The prices of old merch have already skyrocketed. Also, getting All Might’s signature would increase the price ten-fold, especially with the pristine quality.” He explained as Izuku walked into an underpass. “But what about Katsuki? Is he becoming a bother again?” He asked and Izuku let out an awkward laugh.

“You know how he is…” Izuku sighed, thinking of Dad’s more extreme side. “He’s always angry at something. It’s not worth getting into an argument with him.”

“I still cannot comprehend why you try to align yourself with such an uninteresting individual, Izuku. There’s nothing special about that boy outside his Quirk… And even that is debatable… ” Dad grumbled the last part as a similar discussion came to mind.

After all, Izuku got into his habit of looking into Quirks from his father. It was interesting to see what makes them tick. Dad would also go on tangents on how he or Izuku could make better use of them if it was in their hands. The thought exercise was always nice, even if it was only daydreaming that he could use someone else’s power.

Just as Izuku was about to leave the underpass, there was a slouchy noise behind him. “A medium-sized body…” A mass of sludge towered over Izuku, a pair of eyes and unnatural teeth looking down at him before it leapt.

“Help!” Izuku screamed, dropping his phone as the muddy liquid swirled around him, pulling him back into the dark as it tried to shove itself down Izuku’s throat.

“Izuku?! IZUKU!!” Dad’s voice came from the phone before it was doused in the living liquid.

“Don’t worry, Kid.” The Villain said as the liquid tripped him over. “It will take 45 seconds or so and everything will be over!” It laughed and Izuku tried to reach for his taser Dad pestered him to get it, but there was no way he could reach it in his backpack.

Izuku’s lungs hurt as the sludge made its way into them. He could feel faint when he saw a hand appear out of thin air. “Freezing. Propagate.” A distorted voice came from somewhere as the world was turning dark.

There was a sudden feeling of cold as the sludge was turning solid, freezing before a sound was heard behind them.

A loud *clang* was audible before a deep voice rumbled against the walls. “Fear not, Kid! I Am Here!! ” Izuku was almost lights out when he suddenly heard– “Texas SMASH!!” –and the now crystalline mud shattered into a million pieces, the shockwave hitting him hard enough to put him to sleep.

Toshinori felt his blood go cold as he caught the kid from falling. “Wow there…” He said, realising that the child was knocked out. “This… is bad.” He said looking around for any of that sludge; If there was any moving, then he-

Suddenly, a foreign ringtone was heard and Toshinori saw the phone on the ground, opening it only to cringe at the word ‘Dad’ on it.

“Oh boy…” He sighed, contemplating whether or not to answer the call and tell the father in question what happened. Toshinori carefully placed the kid on the ground and slid his thumb over the screen, opening the call. “Hello, good sir–”

“Is my son alright?!” A voice shouted from the other side and Toshinori cringed even harder. The man must have been talking with the boy a moment ago… Why does this voice sound familiar though?

“He is uninjured–”

“Is he breathing properly?”

Toshinori listened using his enhanced hearing. “A bit raspy and his heart beats a little faster from the rush.” He explained, hearing a groan that he is more than used to from irritated parents. “… He is also unconscious.” He lamely said, hearing a louder groan turning into a sigh.

Seriously, where does he know that– “Call an ambulance or something. I don’t know his exact location to do so.” The man ordered and Toshinori gave an automatic nod, trying to forget the sense of Deja-Vu.

“Very well, sir. Do you want me to keep you in the line?” He robotically said at that point, getting back into the routine as he stepped into the light, opening his phone to see his current location and ping it on the Hero Network…

*Woosh* There was a sound behind and Toshinori glanced at the boy. Nothing. “Did you call an ambulance already?” The man asked and the Hero returned to send a proper message… only to realise something was odd.

“Give me a moment sir.” Toshinori said before going to the boy, crouching next to him as his breathing got clear all of a sudden. “… Sir, may I ask what is your son’s Quirk?” He could have sworn half of the Villain was frozen a second ago, light still sparkling over the shards of ice spread all over the street from his move.

“He’s Quirkless.” The man said and Toshinori paused.

Sure, the Number 1 Hero isn’t a doctor, but he could have sworn that… “Your son might not require an ambulance. His breathing and heartbeat levelled to normal. No bruises or cuts…” Peculiarly unharmed.

“Will he be able to walk it off?” The man asked, something in his voice not sitting well with Toshinori but it probably was that Deja-Vu.

“I think he can.” He confirmed. “A shower would be needed after the foul smell left by the Villain but I do not think that he will be left with more than a scare.”

“… Thank you.” The man didn’t seem to be pleased saying those words. “Go open his backpack and sign the picture he has in his front-most notebook, All Might.” He instructed and the Hero let out a laugh.

“Oh, so this was it about.” Toshinori’s uneasiness faded a little as he carefully moved the boy, checking for any injured for the third time before taking a notebook with an interesting title: ‘Quirk Analysis for The Future’. He paged through it and found an entry about himself and a one-of-a-kind picture held by a clip on the page. It was All Might carrying multiple people away from the unfortunate events that acted as his accidental debut in Japan.

Toshinori took out the picture and flipped it, letting out another small laugh as he saw the photographer’s signature. He covered the remaining white space with his own before pushing it back in its place, then sliding the notebook with interesting contents back into the backpack.

The boy started to groan, slowly waking up as Toshinori held himself taller. “Your son is getting up right now.” He announced the worried parent over the phone as All Might leaned forward. “Young man, you have a worried father waiting for you.”

“A-All M-Might?!” The boy yelped as a long sigh was heard from the phone, making the boy grimace as he swiftly took it back. “Dad?… I’m fine, I think?” The boy kept talking with his father and Toshinori took that as a queue to leave.

Toshinori used his speed to pour the contents of one of the bottles he had before going around and scooping all that sludge and frozen shards. He gathered it all up and screwed back the cap before reading to leave, stretching a little before crouching– “W-Wait, All Might!” –The boy shouted but the Hero was already tensed up, leaping into the skies, ready to wave goodbye… before realising that the boy wasn’t there anymore. “CRAP!!”

Oh. Oh no! “Young man, what’s the meaning of this?!”

Izuku… For the past hour or so, Izuku’s life turned into a blur.

Clinging to All Might’s leg and almost falling. His childhood Hero tells him that being a Hero is too dangerous for someone without a Quirk. Katsuki gets attacked by the same Villain that attacked him earlier and now…

And now THIS. “No!” Izuku said as he stared All Might in his weakened form straight into his shadowed eyes.

“P-Pardon?” The man said, genuinely surprised.

“You told me not even two hours ago that I cannot be a Hero.” Izuku said as he pointed back at the Symbol of Peace, looking more decrepit than anyone would even believe him. “Now you tell me that your Quirk can conveniently transfer itself to someone else?!” He asked, baffled by the statement even more. “What’s more? You can take and give Quirks to people?! ”

All Might coughed some blood and Izuku felt a little bad. “That’s… not something any living man can do…” He trailed off but Izuku was more interested in that line of thought than anything else. “However, young man. Such an event is not something that comes back a second time, I can let you think about it… How about you give me an answer in two days? I will be around Takoba Municipal Beach early in the morning. Give it a thought until then.” All Might suggested and Izuku gave a hesitant nod.

His parents wouldn’t be too pleased to hear about such revelations.

“He. Has. WHAT?!” Dad shouted over the phone and Izuku flinched. “You didn’t accept such a proposal, right son?!” He desperately asked and Izuku decided to just hold his phone away from his ear.

“No. Of course not!” Izuku tried to reassure his father. “I told All Might no, but he said to think about it for a day.”

Dad sighed. “Let’s just say that purely hypothetical, what he says about One For All is real, then such a Quirk would, by nature, put a target on your back with the sum of every single person that wants All Might gone. If that information gets out, every single criminal would either want you dead or try to kidnap you in hopes of taking the Quirk from you.”

“… But?” Izuku prodded and Dad let out an even longer sigh.

“No buts, Izuku. Such a Power is a death sentence.” Dad said but Izuku knew this wasn’t a real depiction of what could happen.

“But what if no one finds out?” Izuku asked and his Dad sounded even more annoyed on the other end.

“But… If we get to silence All Might and have you use it how you see fit… there is an off chance that no one will catch on that a kid completely unrelated to the Hero has a maybe too similar Quirk.” Dad grumbled and Izuku’s lips perked up a little. “BUT no ‘Symbol of Peace’ Garbage! That would attract the exact kind of attention you don’t want and draw the parallel. Not to mention that only All Might has a worse work schedule than mine. Blegh! ”

Izuku smiled. “So you’re letting me meet All Might and try to get his Quirk?”

“… Yes.” Dad sounded defeated. “You’d be a fool not to snatch that. General Enhancers are one of the best Quirks and he has the best. Period.” He lamented as the sound of rhythmic tapping came from him. “But the problem is your mother… You know how she is about Quirks… and lack thereof.” He grimly added and Izuku’s mood also turned gloomy, finally pulling his phone closer to his ear.

“So we don’t tell her?” Izuku asked.

“Not until the Quirk is a guarantee.” Dad confirmed. “She’s too weak of the heart sometimes. Giving her hope only for it to go null… I wish she’d review her mentality about Meta Abilities.”

There was a knock on the door and Izuku got off the bed, walking to the door as his Mom’s voice was heard. “Izuku. Dinner is ready!”

“I'm coming!” Izuku replied before he heard Dad say one more thing.

“And keep quiet about the… incident with the Villain. Katsuki can get all the attention on the TV for all we should care.” Dad urged and Izuku couldn’t disagree with the idea, closing the call as he went to eat.

The kitchen was quiet as always; Mom already sat at the table. “So how was your day?” She asked as Izuku took a seat.

“I saw a Hero debut in the morning.” He replied and Mom kept quiet. “I also met a photographer that could grow camera lenses out of his body.”

“Quite the Quirk.” Mom swiftly said as she started to eat. “Nothing interesting at school?”

“They gave us the High-School Choices Survey.” Izuku replied and saw his mother brighten up. “I put UA as my first option.”

And suddenly that glint in her eye was gone. “And the second one?”

“Shiketsu?” He replied and mom only kept the nice smile, making him uncomfortable despite her not saying what was bothering her. “I also talked with Dad and someone else. I’ll go meet with someone to see how I can train to become a Hero.”

“Is that so?” Mom replied and Izuku started to eat.

He knew it for so long that his Mother didn’t want Izuku to be a Hero without a Quirk, she always fussed up about him being hurt, talking about how dangerous things can be.

At least Izuku can talk with Dad about it. He isn’t a fan of Izuku being a Hero either but his reason was always different. ‘Wasting Potential’ and all but at least he was entertaining the thought, even if he expects Izuku to do something else when he grows older.

It was better than the feeling he was talking to the wind.

Rokuro Nomura was walking the streets of a city in the Chiba Region from Kanto, scratching his head as he tried to find the new Headquarters of the Springer Agency. “Why did they have to move office just as I had to assassinate him?” He grumbled before he saw a black-haired kid, skulking over a piece of paper. He was also dragging a school bag behind so he was a local. “Heya, kid, mind if you point me to Springer’s Agency?” He asked and a pair of red eyes looked up at him, a little confused.

“O-Oh… Uhm…” He pointed down the street and Rokuro’s eyes followed. “Turn at the first corner and then go down the left avenue. It should be a 15-minute-ish walk. There’s a bus station nearby that heads there, but you’d complicate yourself with it.”

“Thanks, bud, you’re my Hero.” Rokuro patted the kid on the shoulder and got a glimpse at the page he was mulling over. “UA? Do you want to be a Pro?” he asked and the boy gave a sheepish look.

“Yeah… but my Quirk is just a Hardening-Type.” He explained, flexing his arm and the skin took a rough texture.

“Hm. That’s tough… no pun intended.” Rokuro crouched a little to inspect the kid’s arm, arranging the baseball cap on his head to shade his eyes more. “I bet that it will grow stronger but it’s one of the easiest Quirks to counter. Not to mention the health problems.”

“H-Health problems?!” The kid got suddenly startled and Rokuro straitened up.

“Eh. It’s not something that you need to worry about if you make bank and retire early.” Rokuro waved his hand dissmisevly. “Wasn’t that why… I forget his name. Crimson… red?”

“Crimson Riot?” The kid corrected him and Rokuro gave a thumbs-up.

“Yeah, him. As it turns out, joints really don’t like to turn solid. If they snap, they won’t heal like muscles do.” He tried to remember some details, Boss had that Quirk stored somewhere. “There was one of those retirement interviews, his Hardening did a number on his health when he grew older.”

The kid let out a sound that could only be described as confusion and disappointment as Rokuro left. He activated his Quirk and his whole body started to get overclocked, the world around him starting to slow down as Number 6 had a mission to accomplish. The dreams of a Hero-wannabe were crushed and, in 5 minutes tops, Springer’s Agency will be crushed too.

If Boss wants Spring-Like Limbs, then Six must procure the Quirk.

2 Days Later

Izuku walked to the entrance of Takoba Beach, looking around until he saw a skeletal man deeper into the hills of metal. He didn’t know much about the place before, so he looked it up and saw news articles about the dumping of trash in the area.

The pictures didn’t do justice to how dirty the place was.

“Ah, young man.” All Might’s weakened voice was heard as he approached Izuku. “Did you think about what I asked?”

“Yeah…” Izuku replied as he got a bad feeling about the area, the wind blowing as making the towers of scrap wobble. “I talked with my Dad and he said I should try getting One For All.”

“You talked with your parents?!” All Might said with a perturbed tone. “Didn’t I tell you to keep it secret?!”

“Um, no?” Izuku replied and the Hero paused. “You told me not to tell anyone about your current form. I can’t hide from my parents that I’ll magically manifest a Quirk either.” He pointed out and the man gave an awkward nod.

“… Fair enough.” All Might coughed. “I doubt I can get something like that past that man either…” He looked away for a second as a hurr was heard from deep in the illegal dumping area. “Speaking of which. What does your father do? He sounded familiar but I couldn’t place my finger on it.”

“He has a Pharmaceuticals Company in the United States.” Izuku frowned a little. “He hates showing up on the news too, his company makes Quirk Boosters so there’s always some controversy, so no interviews or anything.”

“That sounds like a lot of politics.” All Might commented and Izuku nodded. “Now that you mentioned it, I would have half-expected him to come too if he knows about it.”

“He would have been here if he could. He’s still in the US with work.” He explained before realising something. “Um… How should I call you, sir? It’s not like I can call you All Might if someone shows up.” And also how awkward would be for Izuku to just say ‘Sir’ over and over.

All Might smiled before flexing, his muscles expanding as that odd One For All Quirk was at full display. “You can call me Toshinori Yagi, young man.” He laughed as he deflated again like it was some punch line to a joke. “But what should I call you ?” He lightly poked Izuku in the chest. “Neither of us was keen on introductions with our odd meeting. Your notebook was signed ‘Midoriya’ if I remember correctly.”

“Izuku Midoriya.” Izuku said as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry for not giving a name… May I ask you a question about your Quirk?”

“Shoot.” All Might –Yagi– encouraged. “You’re gonna need all the information you can get if you want to wield it.”

“Were you capable of buffing up before you got One For All?”

Yagi opened his mouth to answer but paused, his eyes growing distant for a moment. “Huh… Now that you mention it. I don’t think it ever came up before? It was 40 years ago but I think it began like a gig in the changing lockers at UA. We all tried to flex to show our muscles after training and… it sort of happened.”

“Almost like a Quirk.” Izuku pointed out.

“I…” Yagi’s eyes slowly opened wide. “I was Quirkless before and I never thought to check with some DNA test of a before and after.” He mused and Izuku hit two rabbits with one stone.

First: All Might was Quirkless before he got One For All.

Second: There’s a chance that One For All can cause Quirk awakenings!

Once the day was over, Hisashi 'Midoriya' got a message from his son about what kind the training the Blonde Idiot was trying to put Izuku through.

The only reason the phone didn't meet with the wall at the speed of sound was that he needed it to call competent people to fix the conundrum.

Chapter Text

Izuku walked to Takoba Beach, ready to train with Yagi before realising something was odd with the place. A considerable part of it was cleared compared to yesterday. “Did All Might…?” Izuku walked onto the sand, noticing how… red it was.

“Metal Oxidation?” Izuku mumbled, only seeing one Quirk ever capable to tear apart objects into rust. He made his way to the clearing, deeper into the dump and noticed the heights of the piles being way lower, filled with the rust in between the trash. “But why would he be here? Kamino is well over two hours from away by train…”

“Tenko-Kun, be careful climbing all the way there!” A woman’s voice was heard and Izuku came to a halt, peeking past one of the trash piles and seeing a woman with green and blue hair, looking up at the garbage.

“Yeah yeah, Kurose-San. I know what I’m doing.” The black-haired boy grumbled as he climbed to the top, turning around to reveal a red pair of eyes and a cocky smile. “I’m the best when it comes to destruction.” The man crouched, pressing his hand on the rubble beneath him and the sound of caving in was heard, only for a second, before everything crumbled away. The woman –Kurose?– let out a sigh before her hand turned black and a vacuum of sorts began to suck in all that dust and go nowhere.

‘Was she storing it inside her Quirk? Pocket Dimension Quirks tend to either put weight on the person or eat away at their stamina.’ Izuku thought to himself as neither seemed to be a visual effect on the woman. ‘What is she destroys matter? There are rare Quirks like Thirteen’s so it’s not impossible.’

The man finally made his way down to the base, all that dust and rust got on his clothes, and Izuku decided to show up finally. “What are you doing here, Tenko-Kun?” He asked and Tenko Shimura didn’t even pretend to be surprised, probably seeing him from up-high in the first place.

“Heya Kid!” Tenko said as he clapped his hands to dust off the dirt. “Your old man called me for a rant yesterday. Did you get your tetanus shot for this hellhole?”

“So this is the kid you’ve been talking about?” The woman spoke up, looking at Izuku with a bright smile as her hand turned back to normal. “Anan Kurose, nice to meet you!” She greeted and Izuku gave a bow.

“Izuku Midoriya…” He trailed off, looking at Tenko. “Dad sent you here? Why?”

“I think I can guess the answer.” Yagi’s voice came from behind Izuku, the tall and skeletal man looking even more decrepit than yesterday. “Sorry for being late. Your father left me a message containing an attachment with an edited training schedule… And what kind of legal actions he would put me and Might Tower through if you get injured or ill under my watch.” The man grimaced as he looked at Tenko, suddenly freezing in place.

“Your mouth is hanging,” Tenko replied with a scowl Izuku rarely heard from the young adult. “Are you sure you can teach Izuku anything?” He glanced up and down over Yagi and Izuku flinched at the realisation. “Sensei was pissed last night! It’s no wonder with a sack of bones trying to preach training regime.”

“All Might was the one who made the training schedule,” Yagi replied and Izuku wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to take one foot from the grave, only to put the other inside it. “Midoriya-San was very detailed in his concerns. We’ll find the best way to rework–”

“Sensei already reworked it for you, didn’t he?” Tenko interjected, getting uncomfortably close to the man as he stared up at him with no hesitation. “One is a stick figure, the other is a wall of muscle that probably uses steroids.” He accused and Yagi seemed to choke at that. “How in long do you expect Izuku to clean this place? All with his bare hands no less.”

There was an uneasy silence as the woman pulled Tenko away. Izuku glanced at the place, seeing how his older friend already doubled the size of the clearing and wondered how much would have taken him to do that alone. A week? Maybe Three?

At how things paced out in front of his eyes earlier, Tenko and Kurose-San couldn’t have been here for more than an hour. “Could I even clean half of the place by the entrance exam?” Izuku muttered to himself. He never had proper training before, fixating himself on data gathering more than anything else. Brains were better than Brawn, that was how he looked at the world, knowing that he would never be able to create explosives or anything flashy. He didn’t even inherit the bare minimum of his parent’s traits, with Dad being fire resistant.

He looked back at Yagi, who was promptly questioned about the safety of things by the woman, the man lacking any answer outside of ‘I was going to watch over him’. As All Might, his reflexes might be enough, but for a nobody as Yagi… Yeah, the discussion was getting heated.

Nedzu looked at his E-Mail Inbox, seeing three messages from very distinct people and, for the first time, they were all on the same subject.

The first one was from All Might under the guise of his civilian persona, Toshinori Yagi. He mentioned that he found a potential successor and won’t be taking the teaching position this year.

The second was surprisingly from the owner of the Hisui Dragon Pharmaceuticals, Hisashi Midoriya. Despite how progressive the man was with his interest in Quirks and raising conditions for people overall, he was blatantly xenophobic towards Nedzu in the past. Thankfully, both of them could act professionally on the rare occasion of working together.

Nedzu still cannot comprehend the insult of being called a New York Rat with thumbs and Timbs.

Anyway. The third one was from a student that graduated from UA’s Support Course just this year, Tenko Shimura. Nedzu pretended not to know the connection between him and Nana Shimmura over the years, unfortunately finding that the boy’s family was dead and that he was under the care of a man called Sakiro Tabikura, with a Quirk that could only create some sort of fog.

The last two E-Mails were similar, mentioning that someone from the Might Tower has gotten interested in Hisashi Midoiya’s son and, surprisingly, the boy was also a friend of Tenko.

While the first one was hopeful that the boy would make a good Hero under All Might’s wing, the other two were asking if the man training the boy was to be trusted. Nedzu also noticed the similar nature of the mails from Midoriya and Tenko-Kun, realising how alike those were.

The mammal with questionable origins sighed, realising that Hisashi Midoriya was the ‘Sensei’ Tenko-Kun sometimes dropped in a discussion. “If it was only All Might and Tenko, I would have tried to calm both sides and ensure everything goes smoothly… However.” Nedzu opened the attachment in Midoriya’s message and started going through the training All Might seemingly prepared, realising that most of the text was red from Midoriya commenting on every paragraph how and why that’s a bad idea, and how a more sterile environment was a thousand times better.

Is cleaning a beach, used for illegal trash dumping, considered an honourable act? Yes, quite so.

But is it a good idea to put a 14-year-old do it, then only send a message to the parents about it as an afterthought?

Erm… Nedzu already has enough complaints from Aizawa’s students and their parents. Having the Symbol of Peace pull that sort of thing is only a disaster waiting to happen.

Of the three, Midoriya was the only one he cared to make happy so no lawsuits and ‘unfortunate accidents’ could happen. Nedzu picked up his phone and dialled a number he hadn’t in years. “Good Morning, Gran Torino, did All Might contact you recently?” There was grumbling on the other side of the call. “Well, it seems that he found himself a Successor.”

Izuku suddenly felt a shiver down his spine as he kept moving the trash around to train more. Tenko and Kurose-San kept destroying trash as Yagi was hopelessly hanging around, giving some encouragement as he kept staring at Tenko.

“Young Midoriya, may I ask what’s the name of your black-haired friend.” He absently asked as Izuku dropped the pile of junk he couldn’t even identify, trying to take off his work gloves as he felt his arms sore.

“Tenko Shimura…” Izuku said and notice how the man had brightened up. “But he doesn’t like All Might.” He added and the man gave a confused face, clearly requesting an explanation Izuku wasn’t comfortable giving. “I don’t want to get political but there’s a whole debacle about Heroes not being worth the money they are given.”

“He thinks that All Might is paid too much?” Yagi asked and Izuku thought of the many charities Might Tower donates to.

“He thinks All Might enables bad people to work as Heroes.” Izuku replied, trying not to think of how Mt Lady was casually destroying stuff during her debut… How the Heroes chewed out Izuku for jumping in to help Katsuki, when they were standing to the side with a hostage dying… Or how All Might just left Izuku on the top of a building, only to change his mind about him being good for a Hero. “Yagi-San?”

“Yes, young man?”

“If I don’t get…. 'That Thing' by the end of it, do you still believe I won’t have enough to be a Hero?” Izuku asked, instantly seeing how troubled the man was. “I mean, your ex-sidekick, Sir Nighteye, has a mental Quirk. There’s not much of a difference between what he does and what I would be able to do.” He suggested and saw the uncertainty on Yagi’s face. “So?” He prodded, running short on patience.

“W-Well…” Yagi stuttered before his phone started to ring. The man gave another apologetic look before taking out his phone… and turning pale as a sheet of paper before storming away.

“Saved by the bell.” Izuku grumbled, still salty about it. He crouched to reach for the garbage again but his phone rang as well. He glanced at it and saw his Dad calling. “Yeah, Dad?” he automatically answered as Tenko collapsed another pile of garbage in a second, making it possible to see the waters.

“Did Tenko bring that friend of his?” The man asked and Izuku watched as every single pile was gone in seconds.

“She almost had an aneurysm at Yagi’s excuses.” Izuku explained, looking around for the Hero. “But did you have to do him this dirty? I know that you shouldn’t know about All Might but…”

“Izuku, if I could kill that waste of oxygen without any repercussions, I would.” Dad said condescendingly. “Endeavour is doing more than him these days anyway. All the hype is why All Might is the Symbol of Peace.”

Izuku thought of the mention from Yagi and how he had a 3-hour limit on the All Might form. “You keep track of All Might’s activity score?” Izuku might have told Dad about the two men being the same person but not any details… at least not yet.

“They are easily accessible.” Dad said dismissively. “I also moved another piece or two to move after your training is done. Talk tonight.” He explained before closing the call just as Yagi returned.

“Young Midoriya… do you have any plans after today’s training?” Yagi asked hesitantly and Izuku shook his head. “Well, my old teacher seems to want to meet you…”

“Okay… Why do you make it sound like I’m going to a funeral?” Izuku asked as he hit the mark with the grim face the man had.

“Let’s just say that he and I didn’t see each other eye-to-eye in a long time.”

Izuku wasn’t sure what that was supposed to mean but he nodded along as he continued what was left of today’s training. “So where are we supposed to meet with your teacher?”

“UA High.” Yagi said and Izuku almost dropped the hunk of junk over his foot.

Sorahiko Torino stood in Gym Beta along with Nedzu and Chiyo Shuzenji. “So you’ve never seen the kid before?” He asked Nedzu who was moving around on a Roomba, looking at his tablet.

“It is a new development.” Nedzu hummed as Sorahiko looked over the mammal’s shoulder, seeing Toshinori and an entourage around him as one gree-haired kid gawked at everything around. “The only reason why I was adamant about bringing everyone relevant to One For All in one meeting is because of the boy’s Father.” He switched the cameras so he would follow the group and Sorahiko got a glimpse of the black-haired guy. “Are you familiar with Hisui Dragon Pharmaceuticals?”

“You mean the drug monopoly in everything but the name?” The old man scoffed. “I’m surprised how they are even allowed to function internationally with how many scandals about them illegally distributing Boosters.” There was a whole rabbit hole conspiracy that the Hisui Dragon was selling Trigger to All for One but neither Nedzu nor Nighteye could find a connection between the Japanese wing of the company and the Super Villain. “Does he still send you death threats?”

“Only on Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and on what’s my alleged Birthday.” Nedzu swung his tail from left to right as the group was getting closer. “Such a shame that the man is dead-set on keeping the respect only when it comes to business and the inspections I’m asked to do by the Commission.” Sorahiko didn’t say it but he’d be equally pissed off if the Government would keep trying to find dirt on his life’s work.

Was the big pharma guy suspicious? Yes. Is it worth paying Nedzu fat stacks of money each year, only to come back empty-handed? That was a can of worms that nobody really wanted to open.

Finally, Toshinori and the rest were reaching the gym and Nedzu got off the Roomba, allowing it to continue to do its thing as it cussed out its creator. Sorahiko put on his little gimmick, moving with his cane as the door opened and a terrified Toshinori started at the smiling and ‘senile’ old man.

The kid popped up from behind the man and Sorahiko got an odd feeling from the boy. “Is that your teacher?” The boy frowned, tilting his head as he held the old man and the blissfully ignorant smile under scrutiny. He slowly approached the old man, even steps that shouldn’t have been so unnerving for someone who’d seen it all like Gran Torino.

Something was wrong with this kid. He could feel it. “I heard Toshi was helping you become a hero.” He said in the most braindead voice possible to fit with the smile, reaching an arm for a handshake as the boy was overly cautious. He saw the kid glance at the cane as they met hands and Sorahiko dropped the act, gripping the piece of wood as he held the boy’s hand in a steel grip. “Let’s see what you’re made of–” Sorahiko wanted to say but the brat swung his foot, trying to kick the old man and forcing him to use his Quirk.

“Heteromorphic legs.” The boy muttered as he used their very grips to body slam into Sorahiko. The old Hero had to let go, flying over the kid as he toppled and fell to the ground.

“You’re Sharper than I imagined.” Gran Torino commented as he still dropped on the boy’s back. “But a stick figure nonetheless.” The boy groaned in pain as Sorahiko got up and looked at Toshinori. “And when did you intend to call me?! You just go do your job and forget about… my… existence…” The man stared at the black-haired guy moving in front.

“What?” The guy scoffed as he stared at Sorahiko with a sunken pair of red eyes. His face was rough with a scar on the lip and one on the right eye, with a mole was hanging under the chapped lips. “Prick.” He said before going past Sorahiko, helping the kid to get up.

“He just showed up in the morning.” Toshinori whispered as he was just as perplexed.

“Long time no see, Tenko-Kun.” Nedzu chirped as he got next to the duo. “How’s the work at H-Tech?”

“I’m Good.” The guy, Tenko, grumbled as he helped the kid get up. “Mind explaining why an old man just bullied my Sensei’s son?”

“Well, that explains how much you know.” Nedzu said with his tail wagging. “Izuku Midoriya has stumbled over an opportunity to trein ahead, in hopes of becoming a Hero given by All Might.”

“Yeah, tell Thirteen how much that of an opportunity that is.” Tenko complained and the woman with green and blue hair steeped up, giving Toshinori and his teacher a not-so-pleasant look.

“Being woken up at three in the morning by a screeching Tenko wasn’t in my plans–” “Hey!” “But I’m glad I went to see what was going on at Takoba Beach.” The woman’s expression turned into a cold one as her gaze was trained on Toshinori. “I do not know why this young boy ‘scored some special training' or wherever happened but I would suggest a more safe and, most importantly, sterile environment.” She enunciated before going into making a picture of what ‘Takoba Beach’ Looked like and its decrepit state.

Sorahiko Torino tried his best to train Toshinori to his best capabilities but as the story progressed, it was painfully obvious that the Number 1 Hero might have been a little short-sighted when it came to his alleged Successor’s training…

The old man still glanced at the kid as ‘Thirteen’ went on with her explanation. The boy didn’t have anything standing out about him, so why does he have an uneasy sensation when looking at those emerald-green eyes?

Izuku was a bit confused by everything since morning, trying to make sense of what his Dad pulled in the middle of the night to even change so many things.

“Izuku Midoriya, right?” UA’s Principal, Nedzu, asked as they were the only two of them in his office. “It was quite the surprise when your father mailed me in the morning.”

“You know my Dad?” He asked, trying to get the basics of what was going on.

“Only by his scowls at my presence.” Nedzu replied but it didn’t seem to be a joke. “My High-Specs is good at finding patterns. Let’s just say that I’m more familiar with your Father’s Company and its inventories than the man himself.”

Izuku let out a quiet ‘oh’, cringing as he remembered talking with Yagi about Dad’s business. “I get it that you two don’t like each other?”

“It’s more of a one-sided thing. I just do what I’m asked for.” Nedzu explained as he kept tapping on his tablet. “And just so you know, I’m aware of One For All’s existence and so does Recovery Girl, and Gran Torino, the retired Hero and former Teacher of All Might.”

“So five people total?”

“Seven.” Nedzu corrected. “All Might’s former Sidekick, Sir Nighteye and a detective called Naomasa Tsukauchi are the other two aware of it but, so far, they are not aware of you.” That… would be a pain to move around if All Might wants Izuku to inherit the whole package of the Hero. “I find it extremely interesting how your father operates too.” The mammal spoke up, confusing Izuku a little.

“Operates how?” He asked, noticing the swirl in the animal’s tail.

“Moving people around like pawns on a chess board.” Nedzu hummed. “He saw your training and set things in motion in three moves. Hisashi-Sama messaged All Might through the number you got from the Hero, making sure that he gets the comments about his lack of care. He sent the same thing to Tenko, forcing the young man to come to Musutafu and bring Thirteen as an expert to check the safety. And then he sent me the E-Mail, not so subtly asking if ‘Toshinori Yagi’ could be trusted despite my fair guess that the man already knows that’s All Might’s real identity.” Izuku jerked a little as the Hero was aware Dad knew from the boy himself. “He made sure to hammer down that nail. One other person was this thorough with the Symbol of Peace before and… Let’s just say that wasn’t a pleasant experience for anyone involved.”

“Was it a Villain?” Izuku asked and Nedzu nodded. “… The same that injured All Might?”

“Unfortunately so.” Nedzu said in a less happy tone. “Any other Questions?”

Izuku paused for a moment, smirking as he thought of Nedzu’s comment about the playing board. “What was the Villain’s Quirk? And where did One For All come from?” The answer to those two was all that Izuku needed to see the board himself.

Yagi said that the Quirk was passed over generations. The crystallisation of strength blah blah blah, it didn’t matter outside of the origin point. And then the one who had the potential to hurt All Might in the first place.

“Interestingly enough… The Villain was the cause of One For All’s invention.” Nedzu looked to the side, almost unsure what to say before looking back at Izuku. “He is no longer a threat but his Quirk could essentially–”

“–Take other people’s Quirks!!” Izuku said excitedly as he explained everything to his Dad over the phone, dropping on his bed as he just came home from UA. “Imagine stealing anyone’s Power and using it as your own.”

“A Godly one, almost.” Dad said fondly from the other end. “There are just as many possibilities as there are people on Earth. More even.”

“Yeah…” Izuku said in awe as he daydreamed of this ‘All For One’. “How could someone even lose to such a Quirk?”

“By underestimating One For All… I assume.” Dad said it in a gimmer tone. “Who knows what kind of weaknesses that Villain hid about himself.”

“I guess…” Izuku mumbled, the phone still glued to his ear as he moved to the computer. “It would be hard to quietly get Quirks too.” The computer booted and he quickly searched the internet for ‘Villain All for One’ and ‘Quirk Stealing’, surprisingly finding stuff. “The age of communications.” He muttered as a Cryptid Story among many showed up, mentioning a Demon with white hair but a face impossible to be seen, outside from the eyes turned green from greed. Red and black lighting bounce around the monster as he steals someone’s Quirk. ‘Every story as a grain of truth.’ Izuku smiled as he went through the description again. “I’m reading some story online and it almost sounds like they are describing you.”

“Does it now?” Dad laughed. “Is it apophenia or do I need to wear a pair of glasses too? I can turn from Clark Kent to Super Man in one move.”

“Ha ha.” Izuku absently said as the pattern kept going through the stories. A giant man with white hair and shining eyes. Sometimes it was some Mafia Boss, other times a Demon, but many times it was the monster under a child’s bed. “I guess you and Mom couldn’t scare me that if I don’t eat my vegetables, All for One will come at night and take my Quirk away.”

“It would have been confiscated before you would have gone to sleep if that was the case.” Dad played into the joke. “It’s unlikely to find something reliable on the internet about that topic. Try searching about One For All and its previous Holders.”

“On it.” Izuku opened a notepad on the side, writing ‘All Might – Toshinori Yagi’ on the first line before pressing Enter. He hummed as Dad quietly listened to Izuku’s search.

Gran Torino was Yagi’s teacher but not his predecessor, meaning that it had to be someone else. One quick search of the Hero revealed his agency and his old co-workers: Sky Runner and Smog. He quickly searched both names and both were dead, the most recent one being the woman. Izuku opened a page from an interview with her and… “What the–” He blinked twice as he saw the picture meeting him of a muscular female with black hair, black eyes, and a mole under her cheek. “Nana Shimura.” He said that name out loud and Dad sighed.

“That was faster than anticipated.” The man grumbled and Izuku held his phone properly.

“You knew?!” He exclaimed in surprise as all that his father said was a series of grunts.

“I mean… It’s not that hard to figure once you connect the dots.” He ruefully said as Izuku looked for the other Hero. “Smog was an underground Hero, personal stuff is classified so there’s no way to tail his origin without connections.” Izuku stood silent for a moment before Dad spoke up again. “… That being said, search ‘Lariat’.” He instructed and Izuku was met with a bald Hero.

“Daigoro Banjo. Quirk: Black Whip.”

“That’s the one!” Dad said as Izuku noted everyone’s Hero Names, Names, and Quirks. “I have no clue who held it before Banjo. There was that whole transition from the Vigilante Era to the Hero Era; Destro wasting everyone's oxygen; It was just too nasty to continue searching.”

Izuku looked over the list as he tried to eyeball the periods.

1. All Might – Toshinori Yagi – ‘General Enhancer’
2. Sky Runner – Nana Shimura – Float
3. Smog – En Shimura (?) – Smoke Screen
4. Lariat – Daigoro Banjo – Black Whip
5. ? –? –?

“This should be… 70 years or so?” Izuku muttered as he still had at least half over that to figure out the whole timeline.

“You shouldn’t worry too much. Outside of All Might himself, there shouldn’t be any other obstacle between you and obtaining One For All.” Dad reassured Izuku as he still tried to search for any meaningful detail.

“Unless All for One had some Necromancy Quirk…” Izuku countered, thinking how little Nedzu wanted to actually share. “I can’t say that faking his death would be easy but… It would be weird for someone who dodged death for so long not to have a Plan B or C ready. You know what I’m saying?” Izuku would have some safety nets if that was the case.

“… It would be the most logical conclusion.” Dad said lamely and Izuku realised that talking about the possible dangers looming over his head with his worried father might not be a good incentive to let Izuku continue. “Just… Keep yourself safe. Who knows what waits around the corner.” He warned and after saying their goodbyes for the day, Dad closed the call.

Izuku stared at the computer for a long moment, contemplating everything happening. “Shimura… Tenko moved with Sakiro-San at the age of 5 and he turned 19 this month.” So 14 years ago, when the Villain stopped dealing with the woman almost 40 years prior? It didn’t add up to that either, since Yagi was clueless about Tenko.

There was also the Villain himself. “You sound too smart to die after so long…” He mumbled as he continued his search for All for One. Izuku didn’t know why, but he had a gut feeling this Symbol of Evil, as one story put it, might still be lurking around.

Six stood in the middle of the forest, near the peak of Jaku Mountain as his Boss was adjusting his Quirks. “Let us see…” The Villain said, his voice distorted by the black mask holding his respirator inside as one arm raised.

The man’s arm started to twist under the black suit, growing in width as it bulged from the forearm but it extended to the entire limb. He grunted in pain, making breathing harder before two words were uttered. “Air Cannon.” A thunderous sound echoed through the forest, threatening to bust Sixes’ eardrums as the trees bent to the man’s will.

And by ‘bent’, Six meant turning into splinters as the shockwave destroyed the terrain, easily unrooting the trees and sending them flying without abandon. There wasn’t even dearth on the ground as it was blasted away down to the bedrock.

“Nice!” Six exclaimed before noticing his Boss, swaying from side to side before the man’s legs were giving out. “Oh, Shit!” OverClock came to life as he sprinted to the safe, almost falling into the crater in front of them but he managed to hold the man from collapsing.

“I can’t even handle Heavy Payload.” Boss said through gritted teeth. “I could stack 4 or 5 Kinetic Boosters but their yield would decrease with each one.” He pushed Six away, suddenly recovering his strength. “I’m useless! Worthless!” He condescendingly spat those words about himself as he took two steps back.

“No chance of using energy attacks this time?” Six asked but Boss shook his head beneath the helmet.

“He took the last hit to the stomach, tearing my throat out, and splattering my brains on the ground!!” He shouted in rage, still breathing heavily from all that effort. “I must fight fire with fire. “If he uses blunt force, then I’ll throw an entire wall of powers to pin him down and beat him to death first!!” He started to mumble before arranging his suit. “The Hero Karma has a Quirk called ‘Impact Recoil’. It won’t be able to take all of All Might’s strength but it will sponge enough. If it works with ‘Reflect’, even better!”

“Anything else?” Six asked and the man turned quiet.

“I need something to fix my face and lungs. My brain is too hard to fix and Chisaki would rather kill me on his operation table than fix me… Concentrate on the lungs part. I can find something useful for the head myself.”

Six gave a half-hearted shrug as one of Kurogiri’s portals opened. The two men made their way through it and ended up inside the Lab. The Speedster ran to the computers and opened the copy of the National Quirk Archive, starting to search for something that could help his Boss.

“And one more thing…” The man said as he rested his hand on Sixes’ shoulder. “I have someone that needs to be observed from the distance. I want reports of abnormalities happening with his route.”

Six smirked at the request. “So I’m bodyguarding someone?~” He joked, knowing that the man would give him a flat look from beneath the mask if he could. “Don’t worry, Boss, I’m your one-man team for a reason.” He reassured and the man moved his hand away.

“You might find this one interesting.” Boss added and Six smirked until the scar on his face appeared. “Fascinated with Quirks. I need him prodded in the right direction.” He explained and Six took the mission to heart, already knowing whom this was about.

It’s finally time to meet the Mini-Boss.

Chapter Text

After two days of rather extensive training, Izuku was exhausted after he left school and headed back home. “Do I really need to go to UA?” He asked no one as he flopped on his bed, looking at the card allowing him to enter one of the most prestigious schools as a guest.

Since they already live in Musutafu, it isn’t hard for Izuku to just take the bus and head to UA so he could train there. Dad did everything in one go, paying for whatever expenses the Izuku needed so he could use Gym Alpha and Beta, the most basic and normal gym in the whole school and exactly what Izuku needed.

Begrudgingly, Izuku got up with this still-hurting body as he started to change. He looked at his stuff, taking notice of the still-dirty notebook from the Sludge Villain incident. “Yuck.” He complained, grimacing at the greasy texture as he paged through it. Thankfully, the pictures and All Might’s autograph were intact as he took them out, cut the signed paper with scissors, and left everything in a drawer.

“Mom, I’m going to train again!” Izuku exclaimed before leaving and he got a ‘be careful’ as the door opened and– Was met with Katsuki’s face, as the boy was ready to ring the bell.  “Great.” He grumbled as he closed the door behind himself. “What do you want?”

“Fuck you too.” Katsuki replied as he scoffed back. “What the fuck happened with you today? You were hella quiet.”

“I was tired.” Izuku countered as he started to walk away, the explosive boy following behind. “Was that it?” He asked and Katsui started to create sparks.

“Why did you jump for the save with me?” He asked. “We hate each other’s guts.”

Izuku raised an eyebrow. “So? Should have I left you to drown when those Heroes did nothing?”

“What if it dragged you in too, you dumbass.” Katsuki argued as they got on the stairs and quickly descended to the ground floor.

“Then I would have died like a Quirkless dumbass and you would have been praised as the victim burning everything around.” Izuku countered. “Did you even think to stop blasting for a second?”

“I was doing damage.”

“To a liquid damage sponge.” They got out and Izuku held tightly to the straps on his backpack. “You were hurting so I jumped in, and then I got chewed out for it.” He lamely said as they were left with nothing else to discuss.

“… Where are you going?” Katsuki asked and Izuku thought for a second.

“It’s my business.” He deflected before walking away.

Telling Katsuki about UA would just make him ask more questions. The fewer people who know, the better!

Rokuro Nomura tailed the kid as he walked away from the apartment complex.

He intentionally bumped shoulders with the fire-cracker brat to see what was up with him. ‘Katsuki Bakugo’, huh? Rokuro liked the way the kid’s hands jerked at the provocation, ready to use an explosion, but the boy wasn’t more than some basic bitch as they walked away.

The man didn’t put much effort to dress up for the occasion. He has some sneakers, jeans, a hoodie, his quilted jacket, and a cap on his head with the hood over it. He looked alright but not enough to scream that he was rich or somethin’ to attract attention.

He hopped onto the bus at the same time as the kid, nonchalantly sitting next to him as they went through the stations with the boy writing in his notebook. “You like drawing?” Rokuro finally asked as the boy looked up at him, making the man smirk at the suspicious look in that pair of green eyes.

“Yeah, what about it?” Aww… Look how hard was the kid trying to act cool.

“Can I try?” Rokuro asked, pointing at the notebook. The kid was hesitant at first but he slowly pushed the thing to the man, handing over the pencil too. “Mt Lady, right?” He asked and the boy gave a sheepish nod. He could do something generic but what fun would that be?

OverClock came to life, going to his Twelfth Gear of speed as he used the eraser to wipe everything away. Rokuro started to draw the general figure of a person kneeling and looking up, the angle of the drawing meant to face the reader as he sketched the hands to be on the head. One was on the back of it while the other was resting the fingers between the neck and chin.

He glanced at the kid before starting to make the details. “You good?” He bit down a laugh as the boy was turning red, realising what Rokuro was drawing but said nothing.

The man started drawing the skintight bodysuit of the woman, starting with the chest as the kid was getting more embarrassed at the details. Rokuro drew the horns and the mask, messing around with the hair as the caricature of the Hero was playing with it. He made sure to draw a flock of hair passing between the fingers resting on the face, as that one pinky finger was so close to the mouth that it looked like the Heroine was biting on it.

“Does it look good?” Rokuro asked as the kid snatched his notebook back, trying to hide it from peering eyes as the man’s sensual drawing of Mt Lady stared back at them. “I forgot to do the mask.” he pointed out twirling the pencil in his hand, as the boy was torn between embarrassed and amazed.

“Enhanced Processing.” He muttered before the notebook came back into Rokuro’s possession, drawing the mask that attracted even more attention to the face before writing his number below. Seeing the pure shame on the kid’s face as he closed the thing shut made things a thousand times funnier, with the boy returning to his senses. “Are you a mangaka?”

“Nah, this is just a hobby of mine.” He winked as he adjusted his cap. “You like writing about Heroes too?” Rokuro tapped on the now-visible title of Hero Analysis. “Rokuro Nomura, by the way.”

“Izuku Midoriya…” He mumbled as he held the notebook close to his chest. “I like writing about their Quirks.”

“Neat.” Rokuro encouraged as Midoriya started to look less like a ripe tomato. “I need to get out at the next stop.”

“So am I.” Midoriya said as both got off their seats, patiently waiting at the doors as they waited. “So if you don’t do that for a living then…”

Time to play his card. “I’m doing a Hero gig on the side.” Rokuro explained as the bus stopped and they got out. He took out his wallet and showed his Hero license. “Part-Time Hero: Rock.”

“I don’t follow.” The kid frowned. “Why part-time?”

“Because I don’t give a crap about it. I just want to go around and not get fined for using my Quirk.” Rokuro explained as he put his wallet in the back pocket. “Quirk Use Licences are not that great when you’re using your power in public places. You can still get fined for endangering people and crap, I just use the law to break the law.”

“Are you even breaking the law at that point?” Midoriya asked and Rokuro smiled.

“I run the other way if someone asks me about my Agency Headquarters or reports of activity.” He raised his hand, readying a fist. “Good luck with whatever you do, kid. It’s been fun to chat.”

Midoriya raised his hand and mimicked the gesture for a fist bump. They went in different directions and Six glanced back at Izuku Midoriya. “You have your old man’s look, kiddo. Don’t waste your time with Heroics.”

Six adjusted his cap and– “S-Sorry!” –A blonde girl bumped into him, quickly moving to catch the bus as the man took notice of the gall’s dirty face and oversized cardigan. She glanced at Six as the doors of the bus closed and the man realised something was missing from him.

“… She just stole my wallet.” He realised as the bus left the station. “I don’t know if I should call that based or not.”

Sixes’ scar appeared on his face as he called for OverClock, reaching the 30th Gear as the world was slowing down. ‘Let’s see ya the next stop.’ He thought to himself before running, Explosive Strength helping him break through the air drag as he got well over 60 kilometres per hour.

Izuku was finally inside Gym Alpha after today’s classes, looking at the indoor terrain meant for football and a running track circling it. Near the entrance was a bench where Yagi and Torino waited as another girl was actually making rounds on the track.

“Welcome, young Midoriya.” Yagi said as he held a printed form of the new training. “There’s been a couple of things happening but you have nothing to worry about.” He explained but all that Izuku could hear is ‘something changed, don’t tell your father’ from the man. “A student from the second year also uses the running track after the classes. We could move to some normal warm-ups, then leave the running for the end.”

Izuku looked at the girl as she made her way to their side of the gym. She was wearing UA’s gym uniform that he'd seen on TV during the sports festival. The girl had violet-blue hair and blue eyes, a bit shorter than Izuku from what it seemed as she glanced at him and continued to do her thing. “No, I’m good…” He mumbled as he looked after the girl. “Second or First year...” Izuku usually watches the third year’s Festival, since they got the hang of their Quirk by the end of High School. “Can I start or not?”

“20 laps. Go.” Torino said before going back to the bench, grumbling about being too old to do this kind of stuff as the Symbol of Peace kept flinching.

Izuku shrugged before changing his shoes and started to go for the run. He looked at how the girl had a better pace and already catching up with him. “First-Year?” She asked and Izuku gave her a cautious look.

“No.” Izuku stared into her eyes.  “You’re from the second year?”

“Yep.” She hummed, adjusting to his steps. “The two men standing there are with you.”

“Yep.” Izuku replied. “What’s your Quirk? If you come running on your own, it must be related to stamina.” He asked and the girl raised her hand, a swirl of energy coming from her palm.

“Wave Motion. Converts my stamina into this; What’s yours?” She asked but when Izuku kept silent, she pouted at him. “It’s no fun if you dodge questions.”

“Then ask something else.” Izuku replied, wondering how should that be answered from now on. “What’s your name.”

“Yours first!” She said, still pouting and Izuku smiled as he rolled his eyes.

“Izuku Midoriya.”

“Nejire Hado.” Suddenly, Hado wasn’t so upset anymore as they did a lap. “You’re not a UA student. You would have had the gym clothes if it was the case so you got in here to train.”

Izuku would have commented stating the obvious but Hado-Chan was receptive. “My Dad’s rich. He just pushed the envelope until Nedzu let me use the place… It’s not like people use it that much anyway.” If it were, they wouldn’t have been surprised by that. “Aren’t Quirks related to the base strength of the body? Or do they train somewhere else?”

“Most students train the ceiling, not the bottom.” Hado explained as Izuku started to break a little bit of sweat already. “They care about power, not duration output.” It made sense but that didn’t mean it was the right way to do it. “You seem to know a thing or two about Quirks.”

“It’s good to have counters.” Especially when you don’t have one; Nejire Hado gave one long look to Izuku before running ahead, back at her normal speed. “… Stamina, huh?”

He thought of All for One and the ability to use multiple Quirks. Doing that is bound to drain someone of energy faster than anyone else, right?

The girl rushed out of the bus at the next station, sprinting out of anyone’s view as she found an alley to hide in. She knew it was bad to steal but it was not like there was any other choice, crouching behind a dumpster as her nose was already adapted to the horrid smells from almost a month of living like this.

She opened the leather wallet and felt a mix of shame and relief when there was actual cash in the Cash Compartment. Too many people use debit cards, making it useless to steal them when they can block them from an app on their phone. If they don’t use their phones to make the payments themselves.

She flipped the thing upside down, trying to shake the coin pouch on its side so the coins would fall into her hand, but all the cards from it fell onto the ground. “Idiot.” She groaned to herself before trying to grab everything that fell, seeing the man’s ID and– “Oh no.”

A Hero Licence. “I robbed a Hero!?”

“That would be correct.” A voice came from the alley’s entrance, scaring her before she got a sense of who stood there. “You have quick hands.” The man hummed as a pair of orange eyes stared down at her golden ones. “Blonde hair. Between 150 and 160 centimetres…” The man trailed off as he took out his phone, glancing only for a second so she could get away! “Cat-like eyes…” She tried to run but a hand yanked her back by the clothes and backpack, giving her an unamused look as suddenly hanging in the air. “Is this you?” He asked before moving the screen in her face, making her blood run cold as she recognised herself.

Himiko Toga wanted to cry as she struggled to escape the man’s grip. He actually let her on the ground but wouldn’t let go. “I don’t want to go home!!” She shouted and the man let out a long sigh.

“Abusive parents?” The man asked, taking Himiko by surprise.

“W-what?!” She stuttered and the man rolled his eyes.

“Let’s go.” He ordered but instead of pulling her into the street, they went deeper in between the buildings. “I’m not a Nomu. No child would run from home if they had a happy life.” He let go of her clothes but held firmly onto the backpack’s handle. “The report is 26 days old and you don’t smell like you washed since then.”

“I-I t-tried to…” Himiko stuttered as the man fully let go, pinching the bridge of his nose as he muttered something under his breath.

“And I’m going to pretend that attempt might not be some puddle or rainwater.” He leaned against the building as he kept tapping on his phone. “When was the last time you ate properly?” Himiko didn’t know how to answer that as the man snatched back his wallet. “Keep the change. We’re going to get you some food until I figure something out.” He tried to push her but she refused to move from the spot.

“N-No!” Himiko shouted, feeling her eyes starting to sting. “You’re j-just going to get me back and they'll…” Mother and Father would try to force her to be normal again! “You don’t understand!!”

The man raised an eyebrow. “Okay. Here is what we’re going to do.” He raised his hand and pointed to the other end of the alley. “I’m going to give you a 10-second head-start. If you get out of here and I can’t find you, it’s fair game and you can go be miserable until you die of the common cold because you don’t have a warm place to sleep at night.”

“And if you catch me?” She asked, heated by the argument before realising how dumb the question was.

“I guess you’re going to face your fear of me and the cafe that sells sandwiches at the street’s corner.” He replied before resting against the wall again. “Ten… Nine…” The man started to count and Himiko’s heart skipped a beat, turning around on her heel, and starting to run the same way they came from.

“I’m not that dumb.” She grumbled, knowing there was no way to get away if she went the long route. Himiko turned back the corner and saw another bus entering the station, jumping on it. She should still have two more–

“One!” The man’s voice came from behind her again and Himiko screamed, startling the entire bus as the man smirked, patting Himiko on the head. “Game over.” He added before moving his hand away, cringing as he wiped his hand from her unkempt hair. “Nothing to see here, people! Just a dumbass looking out for a kid.” He moved Himiko out of the bus, standing there with her before lifting his Hero Licence. The bus driver got out of his seat to get a better look but got back to his job the next moment anyway. “That’s what happens when you go against a Speedster.” The man laughed before patting Himiko on the back, slowly pushing her from behind as he took the wheel.

There was a treacherous thought in Himiko’s head, telling her just now that the man got from one station to another, way faster than the bus itself.

“You. Have. What?” Boss asked over the phone as Six held it between the head and shoulder as he washed his hands in the bathroom. “You realise how much that derails from my orders, right?”

“Yeah yeah.” Six said dismissively as he dried his hands on a paper towel and properly held it near the ear. “I’ve followed the Mini-Boss to the last station. The only person doing anything odd in the first place was me.” He explained as he made it back inside the cafe, half surprised that Himiko Toga didn’t take the opportunity to run away. “She snatched my wallet so I gave chase. The whole package came with a kid that ran from home.”

Boss groaned as a rhythmic tapping was heard from him. “Sent me the files on ‘Hoarder’. You should still be assigned to the Dragon’s Hoard.” The man grumbled as both of them knew the agency was of American origins, bringing a couple of red flags unless they passed the problem to someone else. “Give me the details now, I’ll see what Hero I blackmail to make a proper report for you.”

Six sat down at the table, watching the anxious girl fidget as she waited for him. “Who are you talking to?” She asked and Six rolled his eyes.

“My Boss is looking up into your case but there’s nothin’ on your Quirk. Why is that?” He prodded and the man could see the fear hidden in those eyes.

“I… hurt people… for my Quirk.” She cryptically said but it didn’t help much.

“Put me on the speaker.” Boss sighed and Six obliged, sliding the phone to the middle of the table. “Himiko Toga. Correct?” He asked and the girl made herself small at the man’s deep tone.

“Y-Yeah.”

“Your Quirk registry says that, and I quote: ‘She can Transform into other people if conditions are met’. Is that statement remotely true?”

“… Yeah.” The kid said, quiet like a mouse.

“Mimicry Quirks fall into three categories when it comes to transformation. Sight, Contact, or Sampling. Since ‘hurting’ doesn’t fit the first two, it leaves me to believe you need to sample DNA from the person you transform into.” Himiko’s eyes turned wide in shock as the man gave his explanation. “You either need to taste or ingest something, possibly blood, to trigger the transformation.”

“H-How?!” Himiko asked in bafflement as Boss gave his trademark sigh.

“I have many Quirks in my back pocket. I need to know that kind of stuff to do my thing.” He cryptically said back as the tapping stopped. “That boy, Saito…” Himiko flinched again. “He is also fine.”

“Wait. What?!” Himiko shouted, getting a couple of glances from the people around.

“I’m looking over the lacklustre rapport and the boy got his treatment. He is getting counselling for the traumatic event, but nothing that time cannot heal.” Boss explained but the girl didn’t look so sure.

“B-but he was hurt. Badly hurt!” She tried to argue but Boss let out a ‘Meh’.

“Welcome to the Twenty-Second Century, young Himiko. We have idiots running on the street wearing spandex and shouting super moves, and then we have medical equipment that could heal almost any wound.”

“So everything is fine?”

“Outside of your well-being? Mostly so.” Boss explained again as the girl was left speechless. “I am sorry to inform you, but you of all people were dealt the worst hand at the end of the day.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Himiko squeaked like a mouse and Boss sighed again.

“From the report and  its attachments, I found a video of your own parents calling you a demon on national television, did you see it?” Boss asked and the child was quietly sobbing by that point. “I am sorry for being the one to bring you comfort, young Himiko, but  despite how people see you, you’re not the offender of this story…” By that point, Six got out of his chair to pat the kid on the back, trying to reassure her despite the Speedster noticing how tense she was getting under the touch. “You are the victim.” Boss concluded as the waitress came to see what was going on.

Six took his cheat out of this discussion as he just handed her the Hero Licence. The woman turned apologetic and he used Radio Waves to EMP the phone of the guy recording them from the shop’s corner.

Shit people are going to keep appearing. At least Six knows not to capitalize on the suffering of children for some clicks on a video.

“So you’re saying you like researching Heroes?” Torino asked and Izuku nodded, pretending like the man wasn’t giving him some odd looks as he kept paging through the new notebook. There was an awkward moment when the man got to the page on Mt Lady and Izuku suddenly remembered about the Nomura guy from noon. The retired Hero let out a snort as the Symbol of Peace looked mortified at the… inviting drawing. “Well, that caught me off-guard.” Torino laughed and Izuku took back his notebook, trying his best not to look affected.

“So why did you want to see it?” Izuku tried to change the subject as Torino hit Yagi in the leg with the cane.

“This dumbass saw them at one point and got his fancies for the detail… the written detail.” He enunciated and Izuku screamed on the inside. “That stuff is actually good. Are you really in middle school? There was plenty of anatomy and chemistry in that.”

“Quirks can be anything.” Izuku shrugged. “The Idatens are known for the Engine-like limbs, you’d need to look up some engineering stuff to understand what’s going on. The same applies to just about any Power.”

“So Biology for Enhancers and Augmenters. Zoology for Animalistic Quirks. Then physics and chemistry for Emitters or Operatives.” Torino mused as that look from earlier returned. “And how does a fourteen-year-old know that much already?”

“My Dad and the Internet.” There wasn’t much behind it. “Dad works with Quirks so I ask him stuff. If he cannot answer me, he just sends me some book to look it up myself. The internet fills in the gaps since you can’t find research papers about some Hero and their Quirk on some forum.”

“Then what do you think of One For All?” Yagi asked with an expecting look on his face and Izuku had to think about it for a moment.

All Might had a habit of just saying something and moving on. Could Izuku use that to his advantage, now that he knows about the previous users? “… It’s a standard General Enhancer. The Quirk is not special by mechanism.” He replied, seeing the excitement dim a little. “It would probably raise the effects of other Quirks. I’ve actually talked with Hado-Chan about baseline strength as we ran on the track; Since the body in itself gets stronger, the lower threshold of output will be raised significantly, which could skyrocket the upper strength of the other Quirk.”

“It checks out with what we know.” Torino grunted as he rubbed his beard. “The previous user could make herself weightless, gravity around her started to get fuzzy after she got One For All.”

And the one before that could cover half a city Ward in smoke, but it’s not like Izuku would share the fact he knows that. Not to mention that Torino knew both of them.

If they didn’t want to share things about All for One, fine. Izuku will dig up half of the internet to get what he wants.

Tenko was on Takoba Beach with Kurose-San, overseeing some employees from a trash removal company.

“How in the world did you even turn steel into rust?” A man with a lizard appearance asked Tomura, scratching his head through his pink hair. “Our Ferokinetic is happy he doesn’t need to lift heavy stuff but still…” They all looked as one of the three identical men collapsed into an odd sludge, making one of the two left groan in annoyance before looking at the trio shovelling all of that into a crucible. “The guys would have been happier to move the fridges and whatnot, than starting to do metallurgy on a beach.”

“Bubaigawara, another one broke.” The man complained and the blonde man from the Shovel Team threw some sludge that instantly expanded into a pillar, instantly taking the appearance of the Fero Guy before continuing to work. “Why are they so brittle?” He asked and the other clone cursed him out.

“The replicas were weaker than the real thing, be happy that they force themselves harder so you don’t have to move that much.” The blonde man, Bubaigawara, said as he kept throwing the rust in the crucible, the Pyrokinetic and his two clones blasting it from the other side to turn it back into something sensible to transport.

“Sorry…” Tenko squinted at the nametag on the man’s uniform. “Iguchi-Kun, I kinda got carried away.” He apologised but the reptilian man could just shrug.

“Hey, if it puts bread on the table.” Iguchilet out an awkward laugh, making Tenko and Kurose-San glance at each other with a knowing look. Some people just don’t escape Quirk discrimination. “Anyway. This is way too much to deal with in one day. We need a week or two to even clean this mess up, Quirks included.” He gave a more hearty laugh before one of his clones from the Shovel Team collapsed, ruining the dude’s mood.

Tenko and Kurose gave their goodbyes before they started to walk away, leaving the professionals to do their thing.

“So how have you been, Tenko-Kun?” Korose asked and the young man shrugged.

“I’m alright. Nedzu’s recommendation got me a Job at H-Tech, so I’m there most of my time, tinkering as I try to make something original between the Support Gear I’m tasked with making. They let us patent our inventions so I’m good when it comes to money, there’s also this shield that I try to make but it requires compressium.” He explained, taking out his phone to show a couple of pictures. “How ‘bout you? Still the normal schedule?”

“Yep. UA uses the USJ one week at a time; So I’m one here and the other three doing my job in the cities around.” She hummed, looking at the designs on his phone. “And what would this do?”

“You know how Robots are kinda… brittle?” Tenko replied, trying to hide his mile at the pun.

“What’s not brittle with a menace like you?” Kurose jabbed as she handed back the phone. “My nerves sure were with you in the first batch of students I ever thought to.”

“Hey, you wanted to become a rescue instructor in case of a calamity. I just showed you how much of one I am!” He joked and the woman started to punch him.

“Yeah yeah, keep rubbing it in. Here I was starting to teach important stuff at the age of 25, only for a 17-year-old to sneak into the USJ and start messing with my stuff!!” She complained as her hits slowed down, making him laugh even more.

“Blame Nedzu and his shit security. I bet a whole criminal organisation can just waltz in there and attack the students.” He snarked and Kurose hit him, seriously this time.

“Don’t jinx it!” She said with a stern voice. “I keep telling Nedzu to move some Robots as a security measure but he keeps going about expenses and garbage. It’s his fault that UA has thousands of acres of god-damned forest under its belt and we do nothing with it.”

“Yeah, the Rat just hoards territory.” That wasn’t even a lie. Nedzu had kinks in his head that had no relation to his Quirk. “UA is just weird.” He added and both of them seemed to agree before two figures appeared in front of them, Tenko recognising one of them.

“Yo, what’s up!” Rokuro Numora said as he moved in front of them, a blonde girl staring from behind him. “Long time no-see, Tenko. Boss told me you’re here with a Hero or somethin’.” He said with a smile, prodding the girl to move in front.

Tenko took a long moment to process what was going on before sighing in annoyance. “Who is she and what happened?” He asked as Kurose, the Hero in question, looked at the scared child.

“This brat stole my wallet and I gave chase. Some trolling later and I found she’s a run-away.” Rokuro explained and Kurose gaped in shock.

“W-Wait. What?!” She crouched to inspect the girl who seemed to get quickly overwhelmed. “Are you okay?” Kurose asked in a hushed tone as the girl looked back at Rokuro, almost like she asked if it was okay to talk.

“26 days on the streets.” Rokuro said and that took Tenko by surprise as well, making his friend gasp as the child stood quiet. “Blood-Consumption Quirk. Bad parents and bad counselling. Can I trust your bud to look over her?”

“Of course, I would!” Kurose exclaimed as he held the girl with an incredulous look.

“Really?” The girl’s voice cracked at the question as Kurose tried to level with her.

“What’s your name, sweetie?” Kurose gave a soft smile as the girl made the courage to talk.

“Himiko… Toga.” Himiko whispered as Rokuro took out his phone, with Tenko knowing that he was messaging Sensei. “Nomura-San looked up what happened after I left and said things are alright. Is… is that true?”

“I’m going to check the Hero Network App in a moment and I’ll tell you.” She reassured before getting up but keeping a hand on Himiko’s shoulder. “I don’t know who you are but I… thank… you…” Kurose looked where Rokuro was supposed to be but the Speedster disappeared with the wind. “Where did he go?!”

“He was in a hurry.” Tenko waved his hand dismissively. “He appears in and out of places so I’ll give him your thanks next time.” He reassured before the subject of discussion returned to Himiko Toga. “You okay, kiddo? A month on the streets is no joke.”

The girl gave a quiet nod as she stared at where Rokuro was a second ago. “Am I really going to be okay?” Himiko asked and Tenko tried not to think about it for long.

There was a 5-year-old kid, over a decade and a half ago, that asked the same question before meeting its Sensei.

Nedzu watched the cameras as Izuku Midoriya left UA. before turning back to the video feed of Gym Beta. “Are you sure Midoriya is a good option?” Gran Torino asked as he stood with  All Might in the quiet school.

“Why wouldn’t he be?” All Might asked and Nedzu had an idea why that was. “He’s smart and crafty. You praised his notes yourself.”

“Yes but…” Torino stood silent for a long moment. “He gives me an odd feeling. Like he is plotting something under our noses.” Nedzu hummed, satisfied to know he wasn’t the one with the bad premonition.

“Sir, he’s fourteen.” All Might pointed out. “The boy just has a hard time trusting people. Is it really that odd when we told him to change his whole life to train for Quirk?” He made a good point but Nedzu wasn’t so sure himself. “I made the connection myself between the Hisui Dragon and Hisashi Midoriya, but all the investigations going there were fruitless. The Father works in a questionable field, sure, but is it fair to leave some prejudice on that boy?”

“I don’t know.” Torino grumbled. “What about the mother? Did she say anything? Her husband is sure busy so where is she?”

“I…” All Might paused and Nedzu started to look at those details himself in real-time, finding unsurprisingly little with the man being so notorious for hiding himself. “I will talk with young Midoriya. After all, it will be good to know more about the boy.” He replied and Nedzu turned off the cameras to concentrate on his own search.

Inko and Izuku Midoirya both had social media but neither posted anything. No pictures or videos, and no comments on their accounts. The whole family was quiet when it came to the web and the internet.

Nedzu really wanted to get his hands on those notebooks. If the boy had a good head on the shoulders, then he might help with whatever the Midoriyas might want to pull with All Might.

Might Makes Right. If the mightiest of all cannot leave an impression on Izuku Midoriya, then Nedzu will gladly fill that role when the boy gets One For All.

Chapter Text

Anan Kurose scratched her head as she re-read the report on Himiko Toga’s Quirk and circumstances, concluding that she had no clue whatsoever how to handle this. That’s why she was going to the Recovery Girl’s office right now, entering and seeing the woman file up some paperwork. “Hey, Recovery Girl!” She tried to sound cheery under her costume despite her anxiety. “You saw the message I sent. Right?”

“Yes Yes. Just come over here so I can see the file.” The elderly woman replied and Anan complied, sliding all the data in front of her before opening the file and– “I can’t help you.” She said out if the blue, pushing it out of her sight.

“W-What?!” Anan shuttered. “But why?!”

“It was done by a foreign Hero Agency. I don’t mess with the US Heroes.” She said without a bit of care, pushing it until Anan had to pick it up or would have fallen onto the floor. “Dragon’s Hoard… It’s an Agency created by ‘Hisui Pharmaceuticals’, they are nothing more than their personal security. Just drop the case and have them solve the problem if they decide to get their hands on helping someone.”

There was a deafening silence that Anan could even hear her own blood pump inside her ears. “What.”

“The Agency isn’t–”

“I don’t give a shit about the Agency!!” Anan shouted, her voice muffled by the helmet but the older Hero turned around in surprise anyway. “It’s a child that needs help! Why in the world would it be a problem that a Meds Company filed the report?! This thing is more detailed than anything I’ve ever seen! ” In all honesty, reading it all made Anan’s heartache as the Hero who wrote it went through the recordings and news reports, pointing out how many red flags were just ignored by the press when Himiko Toga’s own mother called her a Demon Child. At this point, she’ll take the word of whoever ‘Hoarder’ is when they write about the kid’s Quirk and what she needs.

“Then go to Inui-Kun for help.” Recovery Girl countered, looking away. “I’m sorry but… I have a long history, Thirteen, and every time someone from another country swoops in and does something. They are either incompetent due to the different ways Heroes operate in different countries, or doing something bad under wraps. It’s nothing personal, It’s the bureaucracy and all the legal paperwork that comes with it.” She tried to sound apologetic but Anan still had a foul taste in her mouth because of it.

In the end, she did as suggested and headed to Hound Dog’s counselling office. The man better not reject her as well!

Sakiro Tabikura heard the phone of his Sensei and he already expected the coming sigh. “Worthless woman.” The Villain mumbled but in the empty warehouse, it was echoing at full volume.

“Did Thirteen failed to her task?” He asked, used to his Master’s idle chatter.

“No. Thirteen seems to simply adjust to Recovery Girl outliving her usefulness.” All for One finally took out his phone and checked the Hero Network App. “Healing is useful inside UA, it greatly reduces the chances that students with potential Quirks would quit due to injuries.” Sakiro nodded idly as All for One raised from his chair. “More healthy students leaving the gates of that school means more Quirks at the display for me to look into, then add to my collection.” His head was directed towards the oxygen pump for his mask, letting a more pained sigh as he stretched his left hand, pointing his index and middle fingers before the large device started to levitate. The power cord left the socket but most of the equipment had batteries. “I’ve wasted enough time around here, Six can deal with it. I still have my duties to fulfil in the US… Maybe I finally find a Quirk to fix my appearance as well.”

Sakiro nodded as he called for his Quirks that compounded in Warp Gate. ‘Locate’ Allows him to always know his own position globally and measure any distance with nearly perfect accuracy. ‘Cloud’ and ‘Fog Warping’ synergised as a portal of black mist appeared in front of his Master. He walked in without any concern with Sakiro following through his own ‘Warp Gate’ to a first stop in Russia. For how much range the combination has, even this Quirk is limited to roughly 5 thousand kilometres; To get to New York, he’ll need 3 jumps for that. The second jump was to Canada, before finally reaching the United States.

Sakiro’s head was spinning, needing to take a seat as he was getting dizzier with each jump, the stress on his mind quickly accumulating as they were on the roof of Hisui Pharmaceuticals. One of Sensei’s fingers extended with ‘Rivet Stab’, coiling around Sakiro’s chest and shoulder, offering some hold as they slowly walked to the entrance.

All for One’s illusion Quirk activated, making it look like he had a face but it was a still image. Someone looking at him for more than five seconds would see the ‘shadows’ on his face not really making sense. “It was just 9 in the morning, but here it is 7 in the evening.” He said, annoyance coming from his tone as the man already had a messed up sleeping schedule from a dozen other things. “I’ll be here for a while. Rest, then you can return to Japan.”

Sakiro nodded, still glancing at the oxygen pump as both of them were sick of this motion. All Might nearly stole everything from All for One. If the Villain had his face, then he could have enjoyed his other identity while building back his power.

Thankfully, Izuku Midoriya and his father are pursuing to take One For All from under the Hero’s nose.

There was another buzz from Sensei’s phone before the man actually took it out of his pocket. “All Might visiting the Midoriya Household.” Sakiro could feel the wind suddenly stop as the man’s irritation grew into a typhoon.

Izuku was sketching inside his notebook, trying to not think of the anxiety he was feeling by Yagi’s request that he would like to meet his Mom.

Why was that? Was it because Yagi was All Might? Izuku knew by this point that the Hero's worth is dependent on the Quirk… He felt a bit weird thinking of All Might not being worth more than his Power but looking at the shrivelled Yagi, Izuku had a hard time thinking that One For All wasn’t just carrying his career for the past 5 years.

In the end, he got up and paced around the room, thinking about how Mom would react to the man. Yagi was sickly, would she trust him to train Izuku to become a Hero when he looks so bad? There still was that Heroic confidence behind it all, but will it be enough? Would Dad need to talk with Mom to convince Izuku to keep going?

Izuku cringed at the thought of his parents talking again. Mom was a housewife since Dad was making bank but that doesn’t mean the two are on the best of terms. When was the last time the two actually talked? It was before Dad’s accident, and going to the US to concentrate on his job. Mom hates leaving Japan, she mentioned the culture shock from going to the US once, and Dad isn’t the kind of man that you’d see face to face normally anyway.

Izuku’s Dad moving to where his business somewhat helped Izuku since the man was now reliably found via phone. No more back-and-forth, just punctual calls that the father and son could talk unimpeded. Izuku hasn’t heard Dad mention talking with Mom in years and neither did the other party.

“I really should go visit Dad in the summer.” Izuku mumbled to himself, the stress of everything and his reminiscing wearing down on him. “… Oh?” He said, looking out of the window as he saw a figure standing on the bench.

Sportswear, a familiar cap, and holding some clipboards.

Izuku glanced back at his still-opened notebook, seeing the number under the Mt Lady drawing as he was trying to replicate the detail. Without much thought, he typed in the number in his phone and called.

The man on the bench reached into his pocket and held the phone to his ear, continuing to draw as the clipboard was now in his lap. “The Fastest Man Dead and Alive; now on a break. Who’s calling?” The person on the other end of Izuku’s call confirmed the stranger’s identity.

“You remember the kid that you drew Mt Lady?” Izuku asked and the man chuckled, clearly amused as the boy looked at him in scrutiny.

“Izuku Midoriya, right?” Rokuro Nomura asked, looking around the place. “How's your day? Any cool Quirks you saw?”

“Two… Am I bothering you by any chance?”

“Multitasking is my game, kiddo. You’d need 30 people to overwhelm me.” He explained, looking around the place. “I’m still in Musutafu. Looking around the place for some shits and giggles.”

“Are you drawing something?”

“Yep. There’s this apartment complex in some clear area. It’s a nice suburban scenery; Nicer than what I see in Naruhata Ward.” He commented, looking at the sunset. “We got up at the same station, right? Do you live near there?” He asked but Izuku felt the question disingenuous for some reason.

“… Perhaps.” Izuku replied and the man looked up and around, the pair of orange eyes shining from the setting sun as he looked to the block until it landed on Izuku himself with a sine.

“Do you like watching people like that in general or I’m just your new favourite Hero?” The man let out a laugh, closing the clipboard and sliding it into his backpack.

Izuku frowned. “So you've just going to leave because I saw–” He paused as the man turned into a blur right in front of his eyes. Nomura instantly dashed to Izuku’s building and just as he broke the line of sight below, Izuku leaned close to the window to see if the man was entering the–

“Heya!” The man said, suddenly appearing in front of Izuku’s window on the third freaking floor. Izuku jumped back, holding a shout of surprise as the man was just hanging on the ledge of the window. “So… You wanna open this or…?” He asked and, after a moment of recovery, Izuku tried to put on a confident look as he opened the window for the smirking man.

“Isn’t this considered breaking and entering?” Izuku countered as Nomura-San put his foot on the ledge before stepping inside.

“You opened the window.” He said, glazing around before letting out a low whistle. “All limited collection merchandise. Is that an unreleased 10th anniversary All Might poster? From the US?”

“Dad works over the seas.” Izuku explained, avoiding saying that he had the other 18 out of the 20 made. Dad just bought them all and burned one of them in front of the second-highest bidder so he could record it. Even Izuku wouldn’t deny that seeing All Might’s sidekick cry as a grown-up man was just as amusing as it was messed up… Maybe he should take it down, just in case Yagi remembers what that was about.

“So what brought you near UA on weekends? You don’t seem to be a student and the zone is kinda barren, so the school is the only place that comes to mind.”

Izuku wasn’t sure if he should tell a complete stranger that he was training at UA… But the fact that the person was casually sitting on Izuku’s bedroom window was maybe a few steps ahead of politeness. “I had some business around the place. What were you doing there, Half-Hero Half-Mangaka?”

“Roaming the city.” Nomura-San shrugged stretching and leaning out of the window, making Izuku anxious he might fall. “I have an apartment at the other end of Musutafu. I just come to the city from time to time to run some errands. It’s chill compared to Tokyo.”

Izuku squinted at the man. Why was he so casual? “Then what are you doing for a living?” He asked accusatorily but the man’s smugness wasn’t going away. “As a Hero, you can earn a revenue to live off it with a Quirk like yours, but you wouldn’t have called it a ‘hobby’ if that was the case.”

“Well, that’s confidential for once.” The man smirked, winking at Izuku. “ Buuut I can tell you that I’m using my Quirk during my real job.~”

Izuku felt a little irritated at the man’s avoidance of answers when he invited himself into his room. “You really like to mess with people.”

“So? Am I hurting anyone?” The man challenged but before Izuku could counter, the doorbell rang at the entrance. “Guests, huh?” Nomura-San said, shifting as half of his body was already outside. “Then I won’t bother ya that much. Talk later.”

“W-Wait!” Izuku stuttered, trying to not raise his voice as Rokuro Nomura jumped off. The boy’s eyes followed every detail of the man as he just rolled when he hit the ground, giving Izuku a thumbs-up and a smug look. Just like before, the speedster turned into a blur before darting away from the apartment complex, going god knows where as Izuku was left with a desire to know more.

One For All was a General Enhancer, meaning that it also affects brain processing. If Izuku gets the Quirk, he’d be able to do so much more than the acrobatic man is displaying.

“Coming!” Mom said as he heard her footsteps, already heading to the entrance as Izuku rushed to see Yagi.

The hinges of the front door creaked just as Izuku left the bedroom, seeing Yagi in a horrible-looking yellow suit. Izuku isn’t much into formal attire, even the T-Shirt he was wearing had the kanji for ‘shoes’ written on it as a joke, but Dad has always dressed well and… “Greetings. Inko Midoriya, correct?” Toshinori Yagi asked with a sheepish smile and Izuku had an urge to just kick All Might out, even if he wasn’t even in the apartment yet.

Himiko Toga was feeling anxious about her position. Anan-San gave Himiko the guest's room and promised to go talk with people to see if she can get some help. It’s only been a couple of hours but the loneliness.

Could Rokuro Nomura and his Boss have been wrong?

“What’s up with the long face?” A voice came out of nowhere as Himiko’s eyes darted around the living room until they landed on a man with a cap, holding a bag. "Better not start crying, I just brought you dinner since your new pal is having a hard time with paperwork bullcrap.” The man said, his face bright as he smirked at Himiko.

“H-Hi….” Himiko stuttered shifting on the couch as she could faintly smell the food. “Why are you here? I didn’t hear the door.” Not that Himiko was complaining, the man was so nice to her last time, even if it was in his own weird way.

“That’s because I entered through the window.” Nomura-San replied, placing the bag on the coffee table in front of them, the girl having a hard time processing what was said. “Tenko told me where Thirteen lives so I was never here, okay?” He replied, pushing a can of coke into Himiko’s hands.

This was… weirder than before. “You… just let yourself in?”

“I thought it’d be funny.” He explained, opening the box as Himiko was hit with the delicious smells of every dish. “Plus, you’ve did it with your own hand, stealing my wallet. This way I can get back on you.” Revenge… By bringing her food?… Keeping her company?… The man just seemed to make stuff up.

Himiko also noticed a second bag, placed far away from the rest and left unopened. He must have bought something for himself too. “Are you going to eat?” She asked and the man’s eyes followed her gaze.

“Ah. Nope.” Monura Adjusted his cap and Himiko could swear she saw a scar appear on the man's face for a second. “That’s for a bud of mine. He’s working day and night in his lab so someone has to feed that doctor too.” He said, something just feels wrong about the man’s face all of a sudden. “… Anyway, just much up and try not to choke.” He joked again as the unease was gone.

“Are you alright?” She asked, unsure as to why even to herself as the man stared at her, keeping her under scrutiny. “You’re not like any other Hero on the news but I didn’t meed one before to…” She trailed off but the man got the idea.

“Heroes and Villains. They are both humans.” He stoically said. “Sure, there are a couple of psychos on the ‘bad’ side but people don’t become crimminals because they want to. So why should I treat them like I’m some clown in spandex? I like being my own type of clown! ”

The man chuckled and Himiko snorted at that, finally getting the courage to get the plastic cutlery and start eating. She looked at the man, not saying anything; Just keeping a watch on her without judging or showing any major emotion. Himiko had never played any gambling game before but she can imagine that this was the ‘poker face’ that people talk about in movies and stuff.

She thought of herself to be pretty observant, trying to pick up on every detail from her classmates so she could get along with everyone. She was supposed to be good at reading faces so why was such an animated man so hard to actually predict?

He seems ‘caring’ but he doesn’t seem ‘to care’ about anything. That was the only way Himiko could make sense of the man.

She continued to eat, the food almost making her tear up from how good it was compared to the meal from yesterday with the man, and the dinner and breakfast with Anan-San. “Where did you get this?!” She said, her mouth full as she grimaced at her actions.

The man huffed in amusement. “There’s a good restaurant but its like a 30-minute drive from here. When stuff gets sorted out, I’ll get you there to eat.” He reached for her as she hesitantly followed the man’s hand stretched out… patting… her.

It… felt nice.

“I looked up stuff ‘bout you. You’re pretty smart.” He praised and Himiko felt a bit funny. “The high school that you signed up for… It’s the kind of place stuck-ups with rich parents go to. Your family doesn’t seem to be that remarkable so you must be very smart to have gotten in there.”

“It was my parents’ choice.” Himiko said in a quiet tone, seeing the man raise an eyebrow. “They wanted me to be perfect.” The man scoffed, seemingly getting the idea.

“I mean, the school is good. It actually produces some useful members to society compated to most Heroes.” The man took out a soda for himself… Wait. Did he just complain about Hero- “But the whole thing with keeping upstright and all that jazz it annoys me to all hell.” He continued but things just kept piling up in the back of Himiko’s head again.

“Is this normal?” She blurted out, getting the man’s full attention. “You looking through everything about me.”

Nomura-San stared at her for a moment before giving a nod. “Background checks. Yes they are normal but…” He looked to the door of the living room, almost like he was expecting someone to be there. “… I shouldn’t be telling you any of this. Period.” Himiko tilted her head in confusion and the other continued. “Legally speaking, I should have never looked into anything about you the moment I passed you over to the Space Hero. It’s her job now, but I know how bureaucracy bullshit works. You’d be send back to your parents if I don’t unearth every single things ‘bout you and point them out as being their fault.”

Himiko felt her stomach sink, feeling dizzy all of a sudden from how fast she ate. “S-So I’m just supposed to go back?” She stuttered, dread coming over her but the man reached for her head. Himiko tried not to flinch before she realised that the man was just patting her on the head again. When was the last time she felt this sensation?

“That’s what I’m tryin’ to avoid.” He repeated himself and Himiko could see the mark on the man’s face again. “Anyway. Much on quick and air out the room. Thirteen should show up in 20 minutes or so.” He said and Himiko looked back down at the food, feeling her eyes tear up a little.

Rokuro Nomura kept her company until she was done before taking all the trash with him and jumping out of the window. Himiko almost yelled as she realised that the man just jumped from the fifth floor!

The man just seemed to laugh, saying something along the lines of ‘it gets them every time’ , before leaving out of sight. It was just in time for Himiko to hear the front door open and the girl to see Anan Kurose with two large bags in her hands. “Sorry for being late, I went and bought some clothes for you while you stay with me.” The woman explained, completely unaware that someone broke into her apartment so they could talk with Himiko.

Six was walking through the dark corridors of the Lab-dash-morgue underneath Jaku General Hospital. The smell of drugs and unknown chemicals ran all over the place as he passed by the ‘Low-Grades’, tapping on Mocha’s small test tubes as it was still unstable. “Where’s Johnny? He should have warped me inside when I was near the entrance.” He asked but the little head-dude just squirmed in his container, not even Radio Waves was working inside him.

Six just moved along, the ‘Middle-Grade’ actually being larger than the failed experiments and Mocha because it was easy to store it there. He walked into the ‘High-Grade’ tapping some of the test tubes holding his ‘siblings’, now inoperable. “Sup Seven, Two, One…” He idly said, knowing that the things stored were just remains used for research now. It was a miracle Six even got salvaged after the Naruhata Lockdown.

Lastly, the ‘Top-Grade’ was the most spacious one, holding the most sophisticated experiments. He didn’t bother with those guys, only tapping Hood’s glass tube because he likes how the dude fights. Roboto was chill before but the prick didn’t like Six even before he signed off for these additions.

“Doc? Where are you?” Six shouted, hearing Garaki cursing from the edge of the lab where he was probably slicing up another body. He entered his third gear, rushing to the source of the sound to see Johnny on the operation table. “What are you doin’ to thing this time?” Six asked, looking unimpressed as the little thing was already healing under the effects of their best Quirk Boosters.

“What do you want, Six?” Ujiko Garaki asked, adjusting his glasses as his eyes landed on the food.

“You know, some natural sunlight wouldn’t hurt.” He complained but the ancient man simply scoffed.

“Back in my day, we’d tell people to touch grass.” Doc replied, stopping to tweak whatever he was doing to Johnny as he got up to wash his hands. “What did you bring this time?”

“Yaki Udon Noodles.” He placed the box on one of the intricate pieces of equipment before hooking up his brain to Johnny's, feeling the little guy’s pain as it was still smiling. “Boosting his range again? Isn't it too much?”

“Transmission still has potential.” Doc confirmed as he started to eat just after he operated on the head with legs. “It’s not Fmailiar Presence, Locate, nor Monitor. So the alternate of Fog Warping must be the cause.”

“Yeah, because you jacked the thing up from condensation up to whole liquids.” Six argued, sitting next to the operation table he was accustomed to being strapped on since he was a kid. “It’s too hard to cover someone in it and there’s also the problem with saliva bacteria growing exponentially in it.” He grimaced, knowing that it wasn’t something they even understood as the liquid turned black. “I need access to the Quirk Archive. Boss wants a fix again… And I think I just know where to search .” He said and Doc gave him a curious look.

“Just access my computer, it’s not like you don’t know my passwords.” Doc replied as Six unhooked himself from Johnny’s mind and connected to the main computer.

He could feel all the data flowing in the back of his mind, closing his eyes as his brain was interpreting it all like the screen itself. OverClock entered its 30th gear as the information went at a rapid pace.

Himiko gave him an idea thinking of that school. Why wait for Quirks to hit places like UA and Shiketsu is he can just browse stuff like middle schools and prestigious names to see what sticks. Of course, he could just look at words related to biology or healing and see if they are good, but most of the time they weren’t living up to the hype of their names because the User was an idiot.

… Oh?

‘Shimano’ and ‘Cell Activation’ sounded interesting, Nabu… That place seems to have 4 or 5 healers on the Island, which is huge with how rare those Quirks were.

Also ‘Lizard Tail Splitter’ had an interesting description and, from the looks of it, the user was still in middle school but ‘Tokage’ had some interesting description on her Quirk. Regenerating parts that she loses if not attached back. How does that work? Would Boss be able to drop a lung on the floor and pump the other one with oxygen until the first grew back?

There was also ‘Fast Shedding’ when looking up scars, allowing the person to grow his skin like a lizard and healing any scarring that he had on top of it. Neat, it might not help growing eyes, ears, and a nose but seems good enough… Would it help repair the hair roots?

Six opened his eyes and saw the Doctor still eating. “I’m going to Saitama Prefecture. I think that I found some half-decent Quirk.” He explained as he got up, not waiting for the goodbyes from the man.

He got the equipment to sample some blood and had the three Names and their locations in his mind. Cell Activation is way out of his reach with his time and lack of a warper, but the other two are manageable. That ‘Lizard Splitter’ had a combative advantage as well.

Cell Activation… the name and description were almost like eye candy. “Increases regeneration, and recovery time, and can even improve physical condition”, huh? They looked at already strong Quirks from Heroes and renowned Doctors, hoping that something might show up, but this?

This felt like a bait and Six would gladly bite it hook, line, and sinker, if it meant he can get his hands on a DNA sample. Just a little bit of blood for Doc to take the Quirk out of it. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Chapter Text

When Toshinori Yagi went to visit the Midoriya Household, he expected a couple of things. An imposing house with a respectable interior, and with Inko Midoriya being just like her son or her more imposing husband.

So, imagine his surprise when he got to an apartment complex, he was met with a shorter woman than the boy, and what could only be considered a small but cosy home.

That, however, didn’t stop feeling the burning gaze that Izuku Midoriya cast upon Toshinori. Since he entered through the door, it felt like the Hero stepped into the den of a lion; the image grew clearer as he thought of Hisashi Midoriya being far from home, so he couldn’t tear One For All out of Toshinori’s heart… ‘Why did I think of that of all things?’

As he sat at the kitchen table with the boy and his mother, the former’s phone started ringing. “… It’s Dad.” Izuku-Kun said, glancing at his mother as he was obviously asking if he can go the woman gave a non-committed nod, sending the boy away to his room.

Toshinori let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding as he heard the boy close the door behind himself, being out of earshot.

“It is nice meeting you.” Inko Midoriya repeated what was said at the door when he first entered.

“The pleasure is mine.” Toshinori gave a smile tight smile as he bowed a little, genuinely more relaxed. “Midoriya-Kun is an interesting kid.” He tried to be nice despite the awkward moment.

“He’s always been more eccentric like his father.” Midoriya-San smiled back but the Hero got an odd feeling from it. “In a way, he is much like him. Disappearing for a bit to do something, only to come back to dinner. Adding more pages to his notebook or bringing something else with him.”

“He seems to be fond of Heroes and their Quirks.” Toshinori agreed. “But he likes getting collectables?”

“It was Hero Merch when he was younger.” She gave a more honest smile. “He was actually a big fan of All Might…” Yagi would have perked up at that if it wasn’t for the woman’s smile cracking a little. “But then Hisashi did or said something about the Hero and his interest dropped overnight.” Her smile remained but only as a sign of politeness. “I am sorry. You came here to talk about Izuku right now. I was also curious what motivated you to help my son become a Hero.”

Toshinori gulped, honestly wanting to get to know what kind of person Hisashi Midoriya was, now more than before as he seems to be more than capable of influencing his son. “I think he surprised me when he jumped to save that boy from the Sludge Villain.”

“Sludge Villain?” Midoriya-San’s tone turned serious as she seemed more alarmed.

… Does she not… No, there’s no way… “Your son jumped to help someone around his age escape from the grasp of a Villain.” He explained and the expression on the woman’s face only worsened as the room turned dead silent. All Might has only seen that face a couple of times in his career, but he could easily pinpoint it as a parent just now hearing that their child was one step from dying with them being none the wiser. “I see…”

“IZUKU!!” The woman shouted and the door was heard before the boy himself appeared. “Did you jump in a fight someone had with ha Villain?!” Midoriya-San said, exasperated as Izuku Midoriya shot Toshinori a glance.

The Hero was not religious but Jesus Christ , Izuku Midoriya might as well have Laser Vision with how much he was burning the Number 1 Hero with one look. “I-I had to!” The boy quickly said, a more innocent look given to his mother. “Katsuki was the one caught, and the Heroes were going nothing!”

“The Heroes are professionals.” Inko Midoriya countered but the boy did not do as much as to flinch as the scolding. “You and Katsuki might be friends, but it was the adults’ job to save him.” There was a pause before she continued. “Wait. Why did not I hear anything from Mitsuki–”

“The Heroes would have left him to die if it wasn’t for All Might!” Midoriya-Kun interjected, not letting his mom finish the thought. “I just… Jumped in, threw my backpack in the Villain’s car tire-sized eyes, and then pulled him out. All Might showed just in time to splatter the Villain in a thousand pieces the next moment.”

“Then you should have stayed put and All Might would have gone it!”

“And what if All Might didn’t show up to magically save the day?!”

“That’s not–”

“ENOUGH!!” A familiar voice appeared out of nowhere, almost muffled by the family argument before it scratched at the back of Toshinori’s mind. He almost turned into All Might from reflex before realising that Izuku Midoriya’s phone was still on. “Everyone, calm down!” Hisashi Midoriya said over the speakers of the phone, oddly loud for such a small device. “What Izuku did was borderline suicidal, but he is alive and well. It is good that at least he is fine, and it only happened once .” Toshinori could hear the threat from the man as the Hero opted not to tell the man’s wife about how the first meeting went. Telling an already worried mother that his child was attacked twice a day isn’t a good idea.

Also, what is going on with that scratch at the–

“Of course, you knew about it!” Inko Midoriya took the phone out of her Son’s hand. “What else are you keeping a secret that should concern our family?!” She asked and Toshinori felt Izuku Midoriya’s glare once more.

Okay, maybe they should have discussed a cover-up story before coming here.

“Plans of taking over the world through sheer capitalism.” Midoriya-Sama drawled those words like an old-timey Villain. “If you would have bothered to listen to Izuku a bit more, I wouldn’t need to call almost every day to see what he is up to! I have the Pacific Ocean and the entirety of the United States between me and Japan!”

“I better get that Quirk by the end of it all.” The boy whispered; the mother was busy arguing with her husband over the phone as Toshinori was getting what he asked for in the worst way imaginable.

So that’s why the Izuku Midoriya wasn’t saying anything about his family life.

Akari Aikawa was entering her home with a girl she had met at the bar. “And this is my humble abode.” She spun on her hill to gesture to the living room of her apartment before her eyes landed on the guest.

“You got a pretty place…” Rokuko-Chan said letting out a low hum as she looked around. Akari didn’t miss the escaping glace back at her, both were a little tipsy, but Akari could feel herself blush at the attention. Rokuko-Chan was a head taller than her and was wearing boyish clothes. The fact that she was also the first to make a move really got Akari fancy the woman. “So, what now?” The ‘guest’ said, throwing the cap she was holding onto the couch before taking off her sports jacket.

Akari had to stop a giggle from coming out as she finally saw how worked the woman was. “You are pretty. ~” Her lips escaped those words and saw the girl wink at the comment. That pair of orange-gold eyes was really awakening some feelings. ‘Oh. ~ Tonight, is going to be interesting! ~’ “I’ll be ready in a minute.” She quickly said, turning around to head to the bedroom.

“Sure. But can you tell me if this rag smells like phosphine or not?” Rokuko asked and Akari stopped, turning around to give a confused glance at the. “Hush…” The woman whispered as it was suddenly in Akari’s personal space, not realising something was pressed on her face until the rotting smell hit her nose. She wanted to vomit from how much it reeked but her eyes suddenly got blurry as… she had… a hard time… thinking…

Akari's mind went blank from the knockout gas as she was dragged back into her bedroom.

“All this effort only to get you home.” Rokuko’s voice was seeping through, but nothing was registering. “But nooo! Boss had to go to the other side of the planet now of all days.” Akari was finally going unconscious as she was placed onto her own bed, a small but sharp pain going through her arm. Almost like a needle. “Doc better knows how to deal with alcohol in the blood sample.”

Izuku had never wanted to murder someone before but, with how things were going with All Might’s visit, this might be the first time.

Not only does the Hero miss the entire point that “Hey, but I might also not be able to tell my mom that I was attacked by a Villain. Twice. But it would also be extremely odd for All Might or his secretary to just offer Izuku mentorship so he can get into UA” . Might as well tell Mom about it, and then share it with the entire world, since he isn’t that interested in keeping secrets with him, leaving Izuku alone on a rooftop with the knowledge of his weakness.

If it were just some Villain that All Might happened to save, the weakness of the Symbol of Peace would be spread like wildfire or worse, be auctioned so the person could make a profit out of it.

“I did not expect you to keep a secret about the Villain incident, especially considering…” Yagi trailed off and Izuku knew what he was getting at. 

They just went outside after the visit went so wrong, so they went to the bench Nomura-San was standing as he was drawing. “She worries over nothing most of the time.” Izuku grumbled, not wanting to admit he was in the wrong. “Dad knew already so it didn’t matter!”

“I would tend to agree with your mother on this one. She has all the right to know and be worried that her son was in danger.” Yagi said in a serious tone as Izuku was left to look at the pavement. “In all honesty, I was worried about your father being a questionable man–” Izuku tried to shoot another glare but, unlike when he did it in the apartment, the man was unphased by it. “Young Midoriya. I will admit that I deserve a couple of ugly looks for not threading more carefully but this is not something that would have been a problem if you would have told your mother about it.”

“So, it’s my fault.” Izuku grumbled. It wasn’t a question, but Yagi took it as one anyway.

“Unfortunately, so.” The man hummed, clasping his hands together. “One For All is quite a burdensome secret if you have friends or family… Did you tell your father about it?”

Izuku tensed but tried not to show it on his face that he was caught. “N-no. Dad doesn’t like Heroes, anyway, telling him that I’d inherit the Power of the Symbol of Peace.” The last bit wasn’t a lie so maybe All Might would buy it.

“That is also something I’ve been meaning to ask.” That did not sound good to Izuku. “Before the… ‘slip-up’, your mother mentioned that you were quite fond of All Might.”

Izuku groaned. “I told her not to mention the walls of All Might merch!”

“The walls of what?” Yagi asked and Izuku tensed even more than being called out on talking about One For All. He glanced at the Hero and saw the smile on the skeletal face.

“N-Nothing!” Izuku stuttered, feeling his face turning red as Yagi let out a hearty laugh and patted him on the shoulder.

“That’s worth coming for a second visit on its own.” The Hero teased before turning a bit more serious. “But what did your father tell you to make you lose interest in me overnight? Not to brag but my face is stapled on anything from mugs to underwear.”

“Weird flex but okay.” Izuku grumbled but the Hero wasn’t fazed by it. “… You’re too violent.”

There was a pause as Izuku stared at the confused Yagi who was blinking slowly. “Pardon?”

“You are faster than bullets and you’re durable enough to survive bombs and rockets. Why do you use that speed to punch everything and everyone when you could just handcuff them before they realise what’s going on? Hell, let’s say that you cannot carry dozens of restrains but one well-placed blow can send them to sleep instead of a blow that sends them to hospitals.” Yagi seemed to realise the criticism, but Izuku had one more thing. “… Dad also taught me not to trust anyone that smiles too much… He said that means they are hiding something behind a nice face.”

Yagi coughed at that, a bit of blood landing in his fist before pulling out the handkerchief. “I don’t smile right now!” He protested.

“When is the last time All Might was seen not smiling ?” Izuku asked and Yagi opened his mouth to argue only to close it right after. “I know that Heroes have some personas, but I never knew that Toshinori Yagi was hidden under that permanent smile.”

Yagi nodded as they were both left in a moment of contemplation. “It was something that was taught by my Master, my predecessor of One For All.” He explained as he got all of Izuku’s attention. “She said to always smile, even in danger.” A small smile grew on his face. “She told me that it shows that I can push through fear and make people feel safe.” That was… clever. “But just as many other things in life, even my smile is left to interpretation. Comfort for Civilians. A moment to breathe for fellow Heroes. And a heeding warning for Villains. Distrust wasn’t part of my message as you can guess… It makes me more curious what kind of man Hisashi Midoriya is to be disapproving of me after decades of work.”

“He is just like that.” Izuku replied, not thinking much about it. “Dad is about two things. Doing your job right and making a profit. People can complain about Hisui Pharmaceuticals all they want but Dad isn’t someone who just glances over something and green-lights it. There’s a reason he is in the US and not with us.”

“Maybe he is pissed that I give too much to charity.” Yagi said, giving a chortle as Izuku thought about it.

“That would do it.” Izuku tried not to laugh at his father’s expense, but Hisashi Midoriya wasn’t the man to give something away if it didn’t help him. Dad was sponsoring orphanages, hospitals, and schools but Izuku never heard anything about funding anything about avoiding Quirk discrimination.

Maybe he should ask about it when they talk again. Dad avoided the subject when Izuku was little.

Hawks was hovering over the buildings of the city at night as he was trying to track everything that happened in the area. A lot of clubs and bars were open tonight, so it's bound to have one or two Quirk misfires from some drunks. Not many Heroes patrol at night so he had to pick up the slack if a first responder was needed.

His focus shifted to one of the feathers he had scattered around the streets. It was the one he used to tail the two drunk girls from earlier to make sure they got home without some genuine creep following them.

Hawks refused to think that his Quirk can be considered ‘stalking’ when someone can just take advantage of people if he’s not in the earshot with his feathers. “Yeah, I got her.” A man said as he seemed to get out of the apartment complex the two headed into not even 5 minutes prior. Odd, the man had the same speech mannerisms as one of the girls. “One sniff of that and she was going limp. It took two minutes tops to do my bit.” Well, now Hawks had to go and check what was going on. “Her Quirk was a skin-shedding one. Yep, you know how reptile-like stuff works on mammals. She won’t even have a bruise when she wakes up.”

“I’m going to slice your throat when I get to you.” Hawks muttered to himself as he got onto the street, hoping he was wrong about his hunch. The Hero didn’t get more than a good look at the girls’ clothes from the sky but that cap on the man’s head sure looked like one of them was holding on. He quickly got behind the man and let himself fall to the street with a thud. “Hey, buddy.” Hawks said with faux friendliness as the man froze in place. “Are you talking about with your buddy over the phone?”

“Wing Hero.” The man said but his voice was changed. A Shapeshifter, it seems.

“The one and only.” Hawks smiled as the man turned his head to look back but his face wasn’t visible yet. “Can I see some ID?” He asked and the man let out a long sigh.

“Sure, give me a min…” The man reached into the front and Hawks recognised the gesture. “Fuckin’ bastard!” The unknown man swung at once, pointing out a gun and pulling the trigger twice at nothing.

Hawks pulled all his feathers to his location, ready to slice the real bastard in a million pieces. “Says the guy who didn’t hear about consent.” He said, emotion gone out of his tone as no one else was around to see a Number 10 Hero ready to turn someone into mincemeat.

“What?! What do you–” A first batch of small feathers showed up, swirling as a hurricane around the man as it closed his clothes and the arms and legs underneath. “–Ah… Erm… Yes. I’d think of that too if I were you.” The man grimaced but was unphased by the swarm of daggers cutting him up.

‘The hell?’ Hawks frowned, going for the ligaments but the dude seemed to have the version of the Quirk that can just fix himself… ‘Wait. Why aren’t my feathers stained from blood yet? ’

“Four more shots.” The man grumbled. “Better make ‘em count.” Hawks’ instincts went into overdrive at the man’s words, making him fly around as the guy showed some intense speed himself.

The first bullet missed but the Hero wasn’t dumb to sit still. The second almost grazed his cheek. And at the third one Hawks’ felt a sharp pain in his left thigh. ‘Fuck.’ “No wonder you finished quick!” He tried to taunt as the rest of his feathers were in the zone, all pointing their tips as they went for stabbing motions. His twelve longest feathers were going for the organs as the dude didn’t seem to bleed or feel pain.

“Listen, bud.” The man said before all the feathers stabbed into him, making what should have been the goriest porcupine in the world. “I can be charged with a hundred things, but sexual assault isn’t one of them.” The man was struggling to move against the telekinetic hold Hawks had on his feathers. “I should have been dead 20 times over if my Powers weren’t utter bullshit.”

Hawks wanted to make a snarky remark, but the man suddenly turned into a flash of light, blinding the Hero as he had to emergency land. ‘Wait, he has one more bullet–’

*Bang*

Came the fourth one as it hit him in the shoulder, making him groan in pain before getting a look back at where the creep was…

Or was supposed to be?

“Everyone, send a red alert!!” Hawks shouted over his earpiece, his sidekicks waking up from their drowsiness. “A person with sliced clothes, 180 centimetres tall. He seems to be a high-grade Shapeshifter, but their base sex seems to be male! I’m stuck on the ground! The red bird is grounded!” He said his code for being useless without feathers as he finally caught the smell of smoke in the air, seeing the ashes and red bits on the ground where the man was as the charred remains of fierce wings. “He made to destroy my feathers with a body blast or something. Don’t get in arms’ reach.” That was the last warning before he went to the apartment complex, breaking his way in as he had to look over the poor girl the bastard had exploited.

Hawks ran through the halls, checking every single door before some brave resident seeped out of their apartment and saw that a Hero was checking around. A couple of words were exchanged before he was sent to the fourth floor, the woman, Akari Aikawa, was known for attending parties around the neighbours.

He opened the door and shouted for her, hearing nothing. When Hawks entered the bedroom, he was met with an unconscious woman but thankfully, she was fully clothed. He was next to her in two steps to check her pulse and she was good. “No bruises…” Wait, no.

Right at the elbow pit, there was a bit of swelling. Raising her arm a little and he caught the smell of disinfectant. Okay… The worst to mind never happened but that happened. Did he drug her and leave? Draw blood maybe?

One thing was certain and that was that she needed medical attention. He called another report in his earpiece to call for an ambulance. They can get the details of what happened later.

Anan Kurose looked stood next to Himiko on the couch, watching some old Horror Movie as the girl seemed hypnotised by it. Whoever ‘Hoarder’ was, he knew how to read people just by glancing at their Quirks from what it seemed. Even Hound dog was scratching his head at the leaps of logic on the report but so far, there wasn’t something that couldn’t be covered by some suspicious additional notes…

Okay, now that she has organised her thoughts a little more, Anan maybe shouldn’t really put all her faith into a man she’d never seen before. Like, how many Quirks are out there that have blood digestion as the main mechanism of activating?

…

Maybe she should look that up as well.

Anan took out her phone and after searching ‘Blood Quirks’, she found herself with mixed answers. Hemokinesis was rare on its own around Japan Vlad King being the only Hero she even knows with such a Power– Oh… Okay… Looking at the results, Europe has plenty of Vampires and Blood Benders.

There is even a Romanian Hero, The Blood Lord, who precisely has a YouTube channel that is giving explanations and tutorials on how to use such a Quirk and what are its limitations.

‘Why isn’t this taught in schools?’ Anan thought to herself as her mind went over the elemental Quirks. Sure, no power is the same but when was the last time she’d seen someone teach a kid not to set things on fire just because it looks cool? She remembers the makeshift targets some of her childhood friends made in her small home city. Thinking back on it, those were clear hazards; Hell, some plastic trash bins might have even been set on fire if her memories weren’t playing tricks on them.

“What are you looking at?” Himiko asked and Anan jumped a little in her skin, forgetting the girl was beside her.

“I was looking if someone else has a Quirk like yours.” She explained, giving a smile but the girl looked a bit sad.

“Oh…” Himiko said, turning back to the movie as she was now a little gloomy. “And there’s none, right?”

“There seem to be plenty, actually.” Anan said and the girl looked back in shock.

“W-What? How?!”

“Here, look.” Anan said as she pushed the phone in the middle, allowing Himiko to see it as she had a mixed reaction. 

“Vampires? Ghouls? Werewolves? Are those Quirks even real?” She was sceptical but then they found a video with some ‘Top 10 Mythical Quirks’ on the internet with a guy transforming into a Wolfman before running through the forest with a GoPro strapped to his shoulder. It was scary how someone could manage such terrain like a jog through the park.

Suddenly, the monster movie on the TV was shadowed by what real people can do in other corners of the world. “They seem to need more meat since their bodies are bad at extracting nutrients from plants.” They paused as the Video showed a Spanish Hero called Caper, walking menacingly up a vertical wall to catch some thief with a Heteromorph Frog Quirk who thought it was safe to stay off the ground.

“W-What do you mean the wall was tilted by 2 degrees?!” Himiko blurted out as the Hero caught the Frogman's tongue and was holding him from running away, all while still standing on the side of a wall in leather shoes .

“It seems not even superpowers can beat mother nature.” Anan laughed, trying to hide how perplexed she was by such Quirks’ existence. She almost heard a heart attack when the German Basilisk was written on the screen, one of the few S-Ranked Villains in the world, but the channel blurred his eyes behind the helmet, so people won’t be affected by his paralyzing gaze.

That was however the Top 2, as the first one was Blood Lord from the earlier videos, with the man being able to make many constructs of blood as he seems to be able to regenerate it and make it leak out of his veins without any injury. Seeing a man that can make giant bat wings out of blood throw crimson spears that turn into blood snakes of one of the most terrifying things Anan has ever seen in the world.

Even Himiko let out a ‘wow’ in awe, hypnotised by the blood bath in the good sense of the word if that was even possible at this point. “And they are just allowed to use Quirk like that anywhere they go?” She asked, her curiosity worn on her sleeve.

“Laws are different for every country but if you have a Quirk-Use License, it should be all right as long as you don’t hurt anyone.” She tried to be encouraging but Himiko went back to being said.

“But… But how can I take some blood and use my Quirk without hurting anyone?” She looked up at Anan, those golden cat eyes melting the woman’s soul.

“You could ask first?” She suggested, not really making up the details with Hound Dog about usage. “Sure, people might say no. But if someone agrees, you can draw blood using syringes. You just need the be careful.” Anan grabbed Himiko by her hand and clasped her in her own. “How about you try my blood one of these days? We can see how your Quirk actually works and get you some more help.”

“R-Really?” Himiko asked, her face brightening up. “And you say that I don’t need to hurt?!”

“As long as you are careful with the needles to not poke the wrong way.” She smirked as the little girl’s eyes started to grow wet.

This wasn’t on Anan Kurose’s job description, but she doesn’t regret any bit helping Himiko Toga get past her own problems. No child deserves what she’s been through.

But now she needs to talk with Tenko to see who ‘Rock’ and ‘Hoarder’ really are. For as useful as the latter was, she cannot rely on the words of a faceless man .

Chapter Text

Katsuki was fuming all day after he got an earful of complaints from his parents last night. The nerd ratted him out and Ma and Pops fuckin’ went ballistic on the fact that he just walked off a Villain attack. He’s been flaring at Izuku every fucking occasion that he got, the prick obviously knowing what was up but it's not like they could talk it now.

So that’s why after the classes ended, Katsuki dragged Izuku past the corner of the school. “You turned into a snitch all of a sudden, huh?!” He growled but the nerd just had that fucking annoying face stapled on his face.

“Katsuki, let go of my uniform.” The nerd sighed, grabbing Katsuki by the wrist as the explosive boy gripped harder on the black fabric. Their uniforms were durable beyond reason for how shit the place was but it's not like he’d complain about how easy was to wash that sludge from the attack. “Katsuki…” He turned a bit serious, and Katsuki let out some sparks from his free hand.

“You tell everything to your old man, so why the hell did Auntie call Ma a week and a half after it went down?!”

“Kacchan,” Izuku said coldly, those annoying green eyes looking like Uncle Hisashi’s. “Let. Go.” He said through gritting teeth and after a moment of them staring at each other, Katsuki relented. “Thanks.” He said in his normal tone as he adjusted his uniform. “I… Dad got someone that can train me to get into UA and they saw it when it happened. There was a slip-up and Mom must have fact-checked it.”

“Sounds like a load of bull to me,” Katsuki growled. “I already go to sleep at 8, Pops wants me to cut all the grass in the yard, do the shrubs in the front of the house, and shit.” He groaned as today just happened to be warm enough to get him sweaty. “What did your parents make you do?” He asked and the silence coming from the green-haired kid just annoyed Katsuki more. “Nerd?”

“… About that…”

“Nerd, if you tell me that you got scoot free, I’m beating the shit out of you right now!” Katsuki looked Izuku in the eyes, all those faces that were giving an air of superiority gone as Izuku stared back like a dumbass.

What happened instead was the Nerd having the gall to kick him in the tibia before bolding it out of there. “YOU FUCKER!!”

“Sorry. Not sorry!” Izuku shouted as he got past the gate, running like a coward as Katsuki was in hot pursuit.

He hated how the Nerd was faster than him when not using Explosion for a boost or to turn sharp corners. So, what if the Nerd wants to be a Hero? It’s not like he’s going to be popular and shit with how he acts anyway so he can do whatever the fuck he wants before getting bored like always and going to research Quirks. There’s not a shadow in Katsuki’s mind that Izuku Midoriya just wants to be a hero for the Hell of it.

Just as they got to a calmer zone of the city, Katsuki pulled his hands back and jumped, the recoil of his explosion giving him a boost as he was getting close to the target. “Good to see that you use my Quirk suggestions!” Izuku cackled and Katsuki could swear a blood vessel was about to pop.

“Shut up!” Katsuki shouted as the nerd turned another corner and he finally used one explosion to turn it in an instant.

The problem was that the Nerd finally stopped and when Katsuki saw the swing at him, it was already too late. Izuku’s fist connected with Katsuki’s stomach, blowing out all of the air from his lungs as the explosion fucked him over. “Too much momentum, Kat,” Izuku said, groaning as well as Katsuki rolled a bit further, grasping at his own stomach. “You’re lucky I wasn’t born with a Strength Enhancer, or you would have ruptured something.”

“Stop…” Katsuki let out a shuddered breath, trying to get up. “Coping. You nerd bastard!” Fuck, his vision was blurry. “You never had a Quirk and You’ll never get one! Stop fucking telling me about shit when you have no Power running through your veins.”

“Like you have nitro-glycerine running through yours?” Izuku asked, his tone actually serious. “So what? Do you think that you’re going to be the Number One? Sure, you can do it after All Might kicks the bucket, but you aren’t going to keep your Hero story for long either.”

“Shut up!” Katsuki felt his eyes tear up. Where the fuck did the nerd learn how to throw a punch that nasty?!

“Nitro-glycerine relaxes smooth muscle within the walls of blood vessels, Kacchan. We’re still kids but what going to happen when you’re going to get old? And I don’t mean retirement, I mean your late 20s–”

“I told you to shut up!!” Katsuki recovered a little, but his next swing still missed.

“You don’t have Regeneration, nor Muscle Augmentation. Your arms are muscular because you train and your recoil is manageable, but what will happen when your heart will–”

“I don’t want to hear it!!” Katsuki shouted, not caring if he pisses anyone else around the empty street. “I have my fucking Quirk and I will put it to good use. You can go fuck yourself with all those jabs on how I’m going to bring myself into fucking dust with it! I never asked for your ‘medical’ opinion, and I never will!”

There was an uneasy silence between the two, Katsuki giving the meanest glare that he could muster as the Nerd just had that look on his face like he was trying to solve a puzzle. Katsuki hated being looked like that but the last time he tried wiping that look off Izuku’s face, Uncle Hisashi threatened to break his wrists.

Like father. Like son. “Then I guess I’ll be seeing you get lowered in a casket 30 years from now,” Izuku said in an icy tone that made Katsuki freeze. It really was like looking into Hisashi Midoriya's soulless eyes with the crazy shit that he was saying.

But this time, the one under scrutiny was Katsuki’s very being. “Tsks, just get out of my sight before I put you into one…” Katsuki threatened, looking away, and the Nerd actually left.

He looked down at his palm, already sweaty because of his Quirk before letting out a small blast. He didn’t mind the heat close to his face as the caramel-like smell entered his nose. For how sweet it was, it made his stomach turn knowing that one day, Explosion might be the one thing ending his career… Or worse…

Katsuki looked around to make sure the Nerd was gone before heading home, still grimacing at the pain in his stomach as he did not see the spider-like robot climbing the walls of the buildings.

“You only make me want to mentor you more, Izuku Midoriya.” Nedzu hummed from the comfort of his own office. Brilliant use of the other’s movements and emotions. “You really did string him up where you wanted him.” And not to mention his take on the Quirk. Nedzu will have to pull this Katsuki Bakugo’s medical records but if the Quirk involves nitro-glycerine, it will most certainly align with the claims.

Thirteen already came with Himiko Toga to UA this evening. Might as well invite this boy of wonder and see what his take would be on Disguise as well. 

Rokuro has tried to stalk that girl Setsuna Tokage and found out that had Lizard Tail Splitter and found out what the Quirk was doing. The kid was able to detach parts of herself and make them float. If they are standing away for too long, they will die off from lack of… something ; He’s sure he saw the girl speak with her head detached so the limbs must get some connection to them. Was it portals? Rokuro sure as hell had no clue what the fuck was going on.

Anyway. The idea was that if he were to take a blood sample, there would be a good chance that the kid would realize and even track where it goes. So, the best shot would be to go after Cell Activation.

Thankfully, Mister Shimano seems to be working in Japan, with only his kids standing on that island. It made him wonder why the fuck that was the case with his wife being dead and all but that’s not to judge why the guy wasn’t keeping his children on an island, than close to him. So here it was, in the corner of a parking lot, knocking out the guy and drawing out his blood to have the Doctor extract the Quirk before placing him into his car. “Have we really gotten to such crude motions?” A voice echoed before Rokuro was forced to jump out of the car, leaving the man in the driver’s seat.

The lights started to dim as a dark fog started to leak out of nowhere. Soon, a pair of yellow lights pierced through it before a towering figure of a man stepped out.

“How much have I fallen for me to resort to such methods?” All for One asked rhetorically and Six stood up straight.

“Boss, it’s not that bad.” Six placated. “Sure, they are not heroes but–”

“But this is still below me.” All for One cut in with a jagged sigh. “People don’t care anymore about understanding how Quirks work. I should have had Cell Activation on the print if combative Quirks weren’t so in trend with Heroics.”

“I have Regeneration for that…” He paused for a moment before letting out a long sigh. “Or at least I had. I can feel my brother mocking me from the afterlife, for how I ended up as pathetic as he saw me as.” He grumbled, going to the car before Rivet Stab sprang into action, reaching the man before a green aura enveloped the person, seemingly healing him. “If I wanted to be a comic book Villain, kidnapping people, then I wouldn’t have spent billions of dollars in medical technologies… Maybe I should have invested in more things on I-Island instead of cornering the Pharmaceutical Markets.”

“Boss. You can still do that but now we’re in some tough shit.” Six tried to argue as Kurogiri placed a hand on his shoulder. The speedster tried to ignore the disapproving look the warper gave him.  “So, what if I’m taking some Quirks from normal people? You always get your Powers through the Quirk Registry Archive anyway–”

“Those are given as medical files. Six. The reason I am even printing Quirks is to make trades, not steal like how I did in the Vigilante Era!” All for One shouted, pointing at the car. “I am supposed to be the face of organised crime! Not this pathetic pseudo-kidnapping for a quirk that isn’t even TRAINED!! ” He started to breathe heavily as the respirator wasn’t keeping up yet. “Give me that vial of blood already. I want to be done with this and pretend like I’ve never scurried so low .” He spat the last word, pressing a button under the metallic collar before a hiss came from the top side, releasing the locks on the skull-like helmet protecting the man’s head.

A pair of hollow sockets stared at Six as the oxygen mask was foggy from the man’s quick breathing. He didn’t hesitate to give the vial to All for One who took it, lowering the silicon side of the mask and drinking the blood without any hesitation. He knew that Blood Quirks were common around the world but Six forgets that his Boss had one Quirk of each kind by this point.

the “It’s… It can be used to fix my lungs. The necrotic tissue can be rebuilt but it would take years to fix my brain in this state… Plus it’s a blood type dependent power but I have a Quirk to change that too.”

“How many Blood Quirks do you have?” Six asked as his boss tried to remove his Villain Helmet, becoming acutely aware of how desperate the man was to do it here and not wait for Kurogiri to send them elsewhere.

“Hmm… Five? Only one of them is offensive but it’s not like I will use them right in my state.” All for One explained as he took off the equipment, pulling out the tube stuck in the back of his throat before manifesting a lesser-sized machine with its own mask. He strapped that to his neck but didn’t push the new tube inside yet. “On the record. If this damages my lungs more, I will make you on one of the Doctor’s lists of candidates for High-Ends.”

…

Actually, Boss can find ways to fix himself on his own. “M-Maybe we go check it with the Doctor first?!” Six tried to negotiate, unsure if his Boss was in the right mindset to take it seriously or not. “Safety…” He paused, seeing a green light growing from All for One’s chest as he gulped. “First…”

All for One placed a finger on the hole in his throat, an orange light shining in his throat before inhaling and the glow poured down where the green was. When the Villain breathed out again, a plume of smoke escaped his lips before starting to cough his lungs out. He almost fell, but Six and Kurogiri were at his side, clutching him as his voice turned raspy. “Th-The… Pump.” He said and Six grabbed the small tube of plastic, shoving it into the man’s throat and flipping the switch as the white, small, rectangular box started running, the hum of a ventilator of sorts coming to life as his breathing slowly turned normal. “The air…” Fuck, don’t tell me that– “It doesn’t feel like I’m breathing glass fibres.” –Thank GOD.

“S-See Boss. I told you that I found some good Quirks.”

“Fast Shedding.”

“Doc is cooking it. It should be done by now?”

“That Lizard Tail Splitter?”

Oh no. “She was still a kid, so I bailed on the idea.”

All for One hummed, getting his footing back into control. “Good that you still have the decency for that.” He adjusted the device on his neck, pressing the silicon mask where a nose should be. “I will admit that it had the most potential, but I am not that petty.”

“Of course, Boss. Hard times but we are still respecting ourselves.” Six lies through his teeth, hoping that the kid doesn’t become a Hero and the man realizes that altruism wasn’t the reason he didn’t go with it. “Let’s see if we can get your face back. Doc said that it should react well to a Heteromorph Type Regen.”

“Then my sensory organs will come back.” All for One added. “Sight, hearing, and smell. All good but with how limiting my mental faculties are…” The next hum wasn’t that pleasant, but the man was still in a good mood. “It has been a while since I’ve seen for real.” He finished on that note, gesturing to Kurogiri to open a portal and the warper obliged.

All for One stepped through, leaving his two servants behind. “You are lucky for that sharp tongue of yours.” Kurogiri accused.

“And you’re lucky that you always stay silent.” Six sneered, stepping through the man’s portal… and waking up on a rooftop ledge, almost falling to his death. “Fuck, dude. Don’t you take a–” he turned around, but the fog dispersed, leaving him alone in some city in Japan with no knowledge of where he was. “–Joke…?”

Welp, this will be a pain to get home.

Izuku looked down at his phone, seeing the message from Nedzu that he would like to meet with him without Dad or All Might to know. The problem was that he never met Nedzu in person, never got his number, nor did he ever write him in his contacts. He looked back up and he was in front of UA, wondering if he was really doing the right thing after he was caught hiding the Sludge Villain attack from his mom.

For as much as Izuku hated to admit it, he couldn’t deny that what Yagi said was right. Mom should have known, or the man should have been informed about her not knowing. It was… Hard telling people stuff, he always did it with Dad, but his classmates never cared about the details that he was so happy to read about.

Mom wasn’t happy with his hobby being the glorified tutorial to Dad’s business. His classmates only give him any mind only when he gets high grades or pulls something impressive as the picture of Mt Lady’s debut or the autograph that took the most memorable picture of All Might in the past 30 years or so. Even Katsuki wasn’t happy with Izuku trying to give him any advice on his Quirk, good or bad. Anyone outside Dad never cared about the things that made Izuku happy, so he decided to just not talk about them anymore.

But now, Izuku had one of the few Heroes that plays his cards from afar contact him, Mister Principal… Or at least he hopes that happened and not someone else was hacking into his phone and convincing him to come here when his entrance permit is only available for weekends.

“Izuku Midoriya?” A voice came from past the gate and when Izuku looked up, he saw a scruff-looking man with baggy, black clothes and messy, black hair to match it; with a grey scarf, way too long for reasonable use wrapped around his neck. Not a hobo with him being on the other side of the gate, so it must be an obscure Hero. Definitely not a daylight one with that unkept beard and dead look in his eyes. “What are you staring at?” The man asked, his voice neutral but disinterested.

Twilight or Underground Hero with a long scarf, probably used to entangle targets since it’s unlikely he covers himself over those large clothes. “… You are Eraser Head.” He declared and the man raised his right eyebrow a little.

“Clever brat.” Eraser Head grunted. “Come on. Nedzu’s been staring at you through the cameras from the corner of the street.” The man turned around and started to walk towards the building.

Izuku stared a little at the man before looking at the threshold of the gate. He took a deep breath and hopped over to the other side, his foot landing on the heel before looking back at the gate he passed without Yagi. Nedzu really wanted him to come and meet.

He looked back at the Hero and quicken his pace to catch up. “So, what does it mean to ‘erase’ someone’s Quirk?” Izuku prodded and Eraser Head gave him a side look.

“I look at them and their Quirks stop working.” A short response but it’s better than none.

“Is it telepathic? Do you have some control over the person’s genes, or do you just shut off the side of the brain working the Plus Alpha?” He continued and Eraser looked at him in suspicion.

“My Quirk isn’t registered–”

“–Because you’re an Underground Hero, I know.” Izuku cut in. “The Hero Public Safety Commission seals those records to ensure the safety of civilian personas since your type of Heroics deals with more notorious criminals.”

The man opened the door, and they walked inside, Izuku mused a little at the main building as the training area where he was with Yagi was somewhere else entirely. “… You’re not calling them Villains.”

“You don’t need a Quirk to run the Yakuza.” Izuku chirped and Eraser Head stopped in his tracks to look at him. “What?”

“You’re the kind of clever that gets you in trouble, aren’t you?” He asked back and Izuku felt himself in an awkward position.

“Perhaps…” Funny how he had that ‘chat’ about it with Katsuki today. “You still haven’t answered my first question.”

“The latter way. Now answer mine.”

“I never said that I’d answer yours in response.” Izuku tried to be clever.

“The fact that you’re dodging to answer is the proof that’s the case.” Eraser Head replied and proved that Izuku was not clever enough. “How did Nedzu even find you?”

Izuku isn’t going to make the same mistake Yagi did. “You can ask him for details.” He deflected. “Now… How does your Quirk interact with Heteromorphs? What about the Quirkless?”

The done look on the man’s face was enough to know it would take some time to prod the information about ‘Erasure’ out of the man. Thankfully, it seemed that they were taking the elevator, so it was perfect for an annoying teen to ask a man all sorts of annoying questions until he yielded.

‘What the fuck is wrong with this kid?!’ Shota thought to himself, groaning outwardly but he was screaming inside. How can a kid that is in middle school even have the knowledge of him as a Hero, let alone of Erasure?

Sure, Eraser Head is the most notorious Underground Hero, but people don’t just search Shota and find information about him. Just as the formulated questions, the kid’s research on him was methodical beyond logic. Literally .

This “Izuku Midoriya” was making leaps in logic, but he was getting them right. Sure, it makes sense that if Shota uses his Quirk on a Heteromorph with extra limbs, the target will lose control or make them go limp; But how does he know about Passive Enhancers, Augmenters, and Transformers?! The Passive-Types were even more obscure than Accumulation-Type; Quirks that, just like the name implies, passively work without any input or control of the person. They are so rare that it’s believed most of them died off in the first two or three Quirked generations.

Midoriya isn’t your average teenager; He’s an outright info hazard if he knows this much about any other Underground Hero. “Is there a limit on how many people you can suppress their Quirks?” The kid asked, a dangerous glint in his eyes as he seemed all too pleased with himself to get the answers he has gotten, even if they were half-assed.

Shota was contemplating keeping his mouth shut by this point, but he’s already fucked himself beyond comprehension. “I don’t need to select people to Erase their Quirks.” If he figures that out, then–

“So does that mean you can de-select people?” –God damn it! “You can erase the Quirks of a crowd but support whomever you want in your sight to keep theirs.”

“I never said that my Quirk is sight related.”

“Then why aren’t your eyes red right now?” Does he have pictures of Shota?! “But that wouldn’t explain those yellow glasses with slits on them…do they have glass behind them or are they just so criminals don’t know where are you looking at? You could just rear shades or have those one-way mirror glass if that was the case.”

Only just now did the elevator ding to signify that they got to the floor where Nedzu’s office was, making Shota wonder if the kid was just that exhausting or if the Rat messed with the speed they were moving at.

“So?” Midoriya said, looking at Shota with an expecting eye.

Shota didn’t know why, but an insidious thought was forming in the back of his mind. He flashed Erasure at the boy, showing him the red pair of eyes, he just spoke about and… and it wasn’t connecting, at least not properly. “ You don’t need a Quirk to run the Yakuza ?” Shota repeated the boy’s words, the origin of that analysis bordering on criminality with how much Midoriya wasn’t supposed to know.

The brat just tilted his head. “My Dad works in the Pharmaceuticals and Quirk Supplements business.” That sounded oddly convenient as they got out of the elevator. “Also, I think you can get sued for using your Quirk on me without consent.” Midoriya added, suddenly scratching his palms as he muttered ‘ Why am I feeling itchy ’.

“I am allowed to proceed with my own teaching methods within UA.”

“But you’re not my teacher, though,” Midoriya said, distracted as his own palms seemed to be of more concern, flexing his fingers in an opened and closed fist before dropping his hands to the side. “And you don’t know how a Quirk affects a person’s body. You could just kill someone with a glance if you have bad luck.”

That… was a fair assessment. The biology of Quirks doesn’t even make sense half of the time. Ask Ingenium how his elbows even work with jet pipes coming out of them. The fact that Shota could even stagger the engine with one look made him question both Quirks in action. And it’s not like it was the only incident he ever had; There were plenty of Villains that found out that their Quirk is Transformative just as Erasure removed an extra pair of limbs or some ‘attachment’ they had, just because they didn’t have the option to do it before their brains got a forced shutdown by Erasure. Sure, in the long run, it wouldn’t affect them, since they can’t turn it off without him, but it really creeps everyone out except the Underground Hero that has to pretend those were common occurrences as they beg to either “give it back” or “take it away again”.

Thankfully, his musings didn’t go on for long as the elevator closed behind them, and they walked to Nedzu’s office. “Get inside and you can storm the Rat with all the questions you have.” Shota gave an upward nod, looking at the door and Midoriya turned from curious and inquiring, to restless and uneasy.

Shota raised an eyebrow, surprised by the switch in the mood. Just as the boy pressed on the handle, the man wondered how ‘interesting’ Izuku Midoriya must be to catch Nedzu’s attention.

Nedzu looked at the boy whole entered his office. “I was quite surprised when All Might described his would-be successor.” He hummed, inspecting every inch of Izuku Midoriya… and realising that he was doing the same thing. Brilliant!

“You hacked your contact into my phone,” Midoriya said, not asking a question but demanding answers, nonetheless.

“Because I was curious about you,” Nedzu replied, his tail swinging behind him. “I have heard you want to study at UA.”

The boy stared at him for a long moment before speaking. “… Okay, I don’t like it when it’s done back to me.” He grumbled, his shoulders going lax. “Can I sit down?”

“You’re more than welcome,” Nedzu replied, stretching out a paw to gesture at one of the chairs. “So, One-For-All. What do you think of it?”

Midoriya sat down and took in the question, growing a little. “All Might say that his “Muscle Form” is unrelated to it so it’s an Enhancer, not a Transformation-Type… I thought that it was a General Enhancer, raising the performance of every single aspect of the body, but that wouldn’t exactly align with the ‘Form’ or the self-transference part… or at least not directly.”

Nedzu perked up at that. “Is that so?” The boy had this little knowledge, but he seems to be on the same track Nedzu once was.

“All Might was too powerful for how little he ate and slept in his prime years. There are reports of him going full days without sleep and always smiling.” Midoriya started flexing his hands, almost like he wanted to grasp something. “You can fight through fatigue, but Enhancers are like furnaces, they burn calories like crazy to keep them working… It also explains how he can still be a hero with half of his digestive tract being gone.”

Nedzu’s tail stopped swinging. Izuku Midoriya jumped a few steps, almost concluding. “Do you not have any other theories?” He prodded but the boy shrugged.

“Yes, but they are wrong.” He said with a level of overconfidence that should not be possible for someone his age. “People can call it the Sixth wonder of the world all day if they don’t know what kind of Quirks are out there.” Fair, but that still didn’t explain the leap– “All for One was smart, very smart .” The boy continued his theories and Nedzu just had to listen. “I don’t know if Healing Quirks were a thing back then or what kind of condition his little brother had, but he chose the right Quirk to deal with it; A glorified Battery Pack that would raise the baseline strength of the body. If the brother was not keeping up with his bodily functions, then he needed to raise the bar from somewhere else. He just made one mistake, but I can’t really blame him.”

“You never talked with All Might about this, right?” Because this was one step from the conclusion and Nedzu prepared 15 other minutes to get there.

“He cares about the effect, not the process,” Midoriya replied. “I ran this idea with my dad already, so I ironed out any problems with it.”

Nedzu really wanted to let out a sigh. Of course, the owner of Hisui Dragon Pharma would teach his own son how to find Quirks. “Please continue.” He nodded, still not happy with how on point the Midoriya family was on the workings of One-For-All with only third-party data from footage and the knowledge of All Might’s current medical problems.

“My best guess is that All for One didn’t know how a Quirk like his own felt from the outside, so he assumed his brother was Quirkless. I don’t know how One-For-All or All-For-One works but must have connected it to the “main body” in a way, allowing it to jump hosts along with the brother’s Quirk…” Midoriya paused, this being the conclusion that Nedzu had as well.

“Anything else?” Nedzu prodded but Izuku Midoriya shook his head. This was the end but why does the boy… “Are you sure?”

“Is there more?” Midoriya asked back. The overconfidence turned into curiosity as the Mammal with unknown origins was in the spotlight.

Izuku Midoriya knew something or at the very least, he had a theory that wasn’t willing to share until he got the Quirk. Keeping his card close to his chest just like Hisashi Midoriya… and another person . “Does this knowledge of Quirks expand in other fields as well?”

“Dad says that if a test isn’t easy, then I didn’t learn enough.”

Nedzu blinked at that. “He has quite the expectations of you.”

Midoriya made an unreadable face, but it was not a good one for certain. “It’s better to be smart than strong.” He said defensively.

Nedzu didn’t know much about the boy, but he got up to date with what was happening in the Midoriya family before Izuku got here. A father with high expectations and a mother that doesn’t sit well with what her husband is teaching their son; Izuku Midoriya seeking out his father’s approval only leads to the relationship with Inko Midoriya being strained even more. All Might should tread carefully if he doesn’t want to worsen the situation that his Successor stands in.

Thankfully, Thirteen and Himiko Toga seemed to have arrived and entered the elevator as well. “Now that we’re done here. How about you help me with some input on another Quirk.”

Midoriya instantly brightened up at that. “What does it do?”

“That’s what I am trying to find out,” He replied and saw the glint in the boy’s eyes.

Truly, his fascination for Quirks seems to exceed Nedzu’s expectations.

Inko was alone in the living room, staring into her black tea as she was alone once more. Izuku went off on his own like he always does, probably to train for UA or look up some Heroes. She sighed, not sure where she got it so wrong… Or at least not exactly.

She thought of memories, well over a decade into the past. How she played Heroes and Villains with her son, and how she pretended to be a person in need of help for her Little Hero to come to save her. Inko clenched her fist, remembering Izuku sobbing after he got the diagnosis, asking if he can become a hero just for her to get flustered and tell him that she was sorry.

When Hisashi came home, she was relieved that the man managed to patch up what Inko messed up. The man that she loved and married was cold at times, but he always cared about them… Only if she knew how that would change over the years. Over his ‘accident’. “Stop thinking like that,” Inko mumbled under her breath, remembering the call she got from one of Hisashi’s employees that her husband was caught in the crossfire between a Hero and some Toxic Chainsaw Villain. Was it All Might who fought that day? The press was all over the place, and she was worried of the man she thought she loved would die.

A building collapsing. Brain damage. And a coma. Those were the three things that she has gotten from the events as she felt like fainting over that call. Hisashi didn’t wake up for weeks, but the Doctor was overly confident that he would wake up.

Thankfully he did but… Inko knew he wasn’t the same man. Is voice was hollow most of the time, anger and irritation being the only two emotions he managed to hear in his voice after that.

That was the only contact she had with him after he woke up. His voice. It turned out that he couldn’t even see properly but Hisashi was adamant about not telling Izuku how badly he was hurt. Back then, she agreed, not realising how stupid that was.

Hisashi was also a good actor, he would lie to someone’s face, and they wouldn’t even know it if the lie was staring back at them. The man was able to pretend like nothing was wrong with Izuku, with Inko feeling more guilty that she knew the truth of what probably was on the other side.

Five years. It had been five years since she hadn’t seen the man, she once loved him face to face and now, she isn’t sure he even loves him anymore. Or if he even loves her back. How long is she just going to pretend like a call a month was a miracle to hear directly from Hisashi’s mouth while the man was calling Izuku almost every day? The fact that he still conceals his face really worms the idea that he was fine all this time, lying and hiding himself, as he tried to hide their son was almost killed by a Villain.

Inko’s heart hurt every day when she finally realised that, even without Hisashi around, her son was just like him in anything but appearance. That was probably what set her off last night and what bothers her so much. Izuku almost got taken away without her even knowing, yet the boy was hiding as his father does. And now, he is gone like always like nothing ever happened.

Inko heard the front door unlock and open and she got up in frustration, heading to see what in the world her son was up to until now. “Izuku, you finished classes 2 hours ago! Where have you been running until now!?–” She didn’t intend to shout but that’s how it came out as she turned the corner to look into the hallway.

“He left on his own again?” A man’s voice came from the door Inko saw and recognised who it was. Tall, almost needing to hunch over to get inside. White, curly hair. And a black suit that looked impeccable. What did not fit the person she was seeing was the cane, the pair of sunglasses, and the transparent mask on his face. “And here I was, trying to surprise you two.” The man raised his sunglasses to show a pair of near-white irises, only a glint of green in them as she stared back at Inko. “Hello, Inko, it has been a while.” He smirked but his eyes had no emotion in them.

“H-Hisashi?” Inko asked, staring in shock at her husband as he closed the door behind himself. “W-What are you doing here?”

“Don’t I own this apartment?” He asked, looking at her but he might as well be blind with that hollow gaze. “It seems that you’ve been taking care of yourself.” Hisashi hummed and Inko paused at the comment.

“Is that your way to call me fat?” She sputtered, insulted by his words.

“The word that I thought of was ‘chubby’ .” Hisashi let out a tired huff. “As long as it doesn’t affect your overall health, I am happy.”

“Isn’t it a bit late to care about my happiness?” She shot back as he tried to pull his luggage, making him stop in his tracks. “It’s been 5 years, Hisashi.”

“I know,” Hisashi said flatly. “They weren’t kind to me either.” He pulled his sunglasses back onto his eyes and then grabbed his cane from under its hilt. “Say the word and I’ll go to a hotel instead.”

Inko stood there, mulling over her options as she looked back into the living room. “… You might be too big to sleep on the couch.”

“It’s all right, this little bugger keeps me awake most of the time anyway.” He tapped the small box strapped to his neck and Inko just now saw the tubes going to the mask… and the base of his throat. “It’s a small ventilator.” He replied, as if she read her mind… or just saw the look on her face. “I’m supposed to be on an oxygen tank but breathing got more bearable recently. I still need it if I want to make sure my lungs get enough of it, though.” Hisashi stood up straight, stretching his hands to the side as far as the walls of the hallway allowed for. “So how is it going to be?”

“… Get inside before I change my mind,” Inko grumbled, crossing her arms as she avoided looking at him.

Hisashi got inside the living room, as she sat back at the kitchen table, the tea cooling enough for her to drink. “May I get a coffee?”

“Don’t try your luck.” She quickly replied, giving him a side glance as his face showed a bit of emotion. Disappointment.

“… Very well.” He sighed, defeated. “Are they in the same place?” He asked and Inko gave a sharp nod, leaving the man to do his thing as she tried to hold herself from crying. Inko forgot how her husband has a habit of showing up whenever someone thinks or talks about him, eerily enough to make her think of the Devil.

It would certainly fit with how cruel it is to come back after all these years.

Chapter Text

Izuku looked at the picture that Nedzu slid over his desk, inspecting the 5 faces on it as his eyes lingered on the girl in the middle. “You want me to guess their Quirks by just looking at them?” He asked, already knowing that would be impossible despite two of them having Heteromorph features.

“Just one of them.” Nedzu hummed and Izuku just looked at him conspiratorially. “One of them is called Himiko Toga, a girl a year older than you that had some… particular problems with her Quirk.”

“And the name of the Quirk is…?” He tried to prod but the rodent turned silent, giving a tight smile as the boy was left to do what was more guesswork than what was done for One For All. “… What do I get out of this?”

“Pardon?” Nedzu asked back, a glint in his eyes.

“You want me to crack this with only a picture? Shouldn’t I get a reward for it?” Izuku replied, trying to channel every single business discussion he had ever heard his dad have, trying to get something out of the rodent.

“And what would that be?” Considering how his tail was wagging, Izuku was on the right track.

“All relevant information on all One For All users… And on All for One.” The tail stopped wagging.

“Unfortunately, the latter is not something that can be shared, criminal records on All for One are not to be released that easily.”

“But you can get me intel on the Users, right?” Izuku continued, remembering how Dad said once that if chosen with two options, the person would choose the more convenient one. Nedzu wasn’t even human for that to work but Izuku knew what classified documents were.

“… It should be achievable, yes.” Nedzu nodded and Izuku noted that this wasn’t something he already knew. Either All Might didn’t tell him –which is likely– or they didn’t know in general. “But this implies that you must be capable of doing your part.” He gestured to the picture and Izuku took in all the details.

‘Particular’, huh…? 5 girls. The one in the back with mice traits and pink skin. The one on the left with grey hair and horns? They were far too in front to be ears to they had to be horns. The two girls on the right either had Operative or Transformative Quirks and the one in the middle… “It’s the blonde girl.” He exclaimed and Nedzu raised his head a little.

“Yes, but how–”

“Her skin is pale. Sicily pale. ” Izuku said, bringing the image closer to his eyes like it would raise the quality as he tried to take any other details. “She had fangs… and slit pupils? I can’t tell with this picture.” Nedzu quickly pulled another picture with ‘Himiko Toga’ and the pink mice girl, this time from a closer frame for Izuku to see the pair of cat-like golden eyes and the pale skin… with circles around her eyes. “Feline mutations.” He looked back at the first image and noted another detail. 4 Vanilla-White. 1 Red. “Does she have a preference for the colour red?” She also wore a red dress in the second picture. It might not be related to the Quirk but it's probably good to know. He looked at Toga’s arms, not knowing if she was thin by nature or… “Is she not eating well?” Better to just ask.

“It seems that you are on a roll.” Nedzu chuckled, those beady eyes trained on Izuku like he didn’t believe it. “Just… How?”

“You said ‘particular’ earlier, not difficult or dangerous or any other adjective.” Izuku stared at Toga’s picture, unsure why his eyes lingered on her. “Her Quirk isn’t strong, but it does something…” ‘Bad’ was the first thing that came to his mind but threw that in the same box in the back of his mind he has all the time someone referred to a Quirk as Villainous. “Unpleasant.”

“What made you think she’s not well nourished?”

“Dad works in Pharmaceuticals. Quirk supplements aren’t that uncommon so her parents either can’t afford it or they couldn’t get it.” Does Nedzu realise that his tail just turns on and off swinging when he’s happy or upset?

“In her case, it was a bit of the latter… but first and foremost, they didn’t want it.” Why does this feel like Izuku shouldn’t know this? “Seeing someone crack down on it with two pictures and knowing that she was ‘unwell’ is not something you see every day. It only makes me wish someone like you could have seen it and called out on it.”

Izuku felt a bit sad at those words, his eyes still on Himiko Toga and her face. Those golden eyes and her smile… the smile felt a bit odd, now that he looked at it. Everyone else was smiling from ear to ear, only hers was controlled. The second picture also had the same thing. “Ha…” He chuckled as he thought of how unhinged Katsuki looked when he smiled; It wouldn’t be hard to see that on her face.

“Is something amusing you?” Nedzu asked and Izuku shook his head.

“Only thinking of a friend, nothing important.” He deflected. “Anyway. My best guess is that her Quirk is related to her diet. If she gets what she needs, then she’s healthy and she can use it; If not, we get this.”

“Her Quirk is called ‘Disguise’, does that help?” Nedzu gave another nugget of information, but Izuku was still lost. You usually disguise into other people but most Quirks of that kind use touch or sight. The latter develops some sort of photographic memory, which is unlikely with how her Quirk seems to be related to nutrients.

He looked back at the first picture, the red ice cream calling to him, but he wasn’t sure if that only meant Toga was the only sane one to dislike the Vanilla flavour. Something about those fangs also made him think about biting like an animal. “I don’t know…” He mumbled. “She needs to drink the blood of her target to transform?” Okay, that wasn’t so funny of a joke, but it was the only thing that came to his mind.

“Brilliant!!” Nedzu explained, hopping out of his seat and onto his desk as Izuku almost jumped out of his skin “I have met dozens of people, two or three times your age, but I am certain they wouldn’t have been able to pin down her Quirk like you just did!!”

“Wait, I was right? –” He paused himself. “–Erm… Yes, that was the most likely thing with what you told me.” Izuku corrected himself, feeling a bit guilty that his noncommittal answer was the right one but it’s not like he can complain. Dad would just roll with it, so he had to do the same. “So, you’re going to get my info on the One For All users, right?”

“It will be a pain tracking them through the annals of history but not impossible.” Nedzu chirped. “Now, do you want to meet this Himiko Toga yourself?”

“I-I don’t know about that.” Izuku faltered, thinking of the times he tried to strike up a conversation about someone’s Quirk and being labelled as creepy. “She’ll just think that I invade her privacy!”

“I believe that’s going to the quite the opposite.” He said cheerfully before some sort of ringtone was heard from the man’s computer. The mammal seemed to lose its joy as he tapped on the keyboard, muting it. “It seems that we’re short on time, so we better get going.”

“Don’t I have a say in this?!” Izuku complained as Nedzu jumped off his desk and onto the floor. “Seriously, you didn’t even tell me why I’m here!”

“For the same reason why everyone else goes to school.” The door automatically opened for the being way too small to reach the handle. “To have a learning experience,” Nedzu said like it meant something before getting into the hallway where Eraser Head still waited for them. “Come on now. We don’t have all day!” He urged and Izuku begrudgingly got out of his seat.

Izuku darted into the hallway just in time for the elevator to open and for the three of them to get inside. “You’re worse than my dad.” He complained and Nedzu hummed again.

“I have a feeling we’ll soon learn what’s his opinion on this. Sooner than expected.”

At that, Izuku suddenly remembered that his phone was on silent, so he decided to check… his… messages…

43 from Mom.

…

27 from Dad.

…

Yeah. He isn’t coming back home alive. “Does UA have a Dorms System?” Izuku asked, getting a tail wag from Nedzu despite the teen just wanted to hide from the wrath of his parents.

A hole in the ground is good enough. Just not deep enough so Satan cannot pull him down to hell, and then hand him over to Dad.

Nemuri started at her phone, taking in the message from the silent alarm of the gates, something that she didn’t even know was possible, then headed to the entrance as per Nedzu’s automated message.

When she got out of the main building, she saw two men standing in the middle of the walkway from the gates to the school. One dressed in more casual attire, jeans, a zipped hoodie, and a baseball cap that made it hard to see his face. And the towering man in a suit, white hair, and something strapped around his neck as a plastic mask of sorts was covering his mouth.

The fact that they weren’t phased by the ten giant robots that came out of the ground to stare them down was an indicator that they weren’t ordinary trespassers. “The Victory Model, correct?” The white-haired man said, the mask reverberating in his voice. “Good for a display of power but two rows facing each other, really?” The scoffed. “The bullets would just ricochet in the other set.”

“You two realize that you’re trespassing, correct?” Nemiri gave an incredulous smile as both men seemed to be annoyed at her presence. It didn’t matter though, she liked a challenge if they were to play hard. ~”

“Where is my son?” The tall man asked, irritation in his tone as she was slowly getting close to them on her heels… noticing how tall the man really was without 20 metres and a set of stairs between them to skew her perspective.

“I believe the students already left, darling.” Nemuri winked at him, but the man had his resting bitch face as a response.

“Right.” The man tapped his cane on the pavement. “The tracking app that is on my son’s phone says that he is inside the building and moving. His name is Izuku Midoriya, roughly 160 cm, has green hair and is still in middle school. Mind telling me what Nedzu has to do with him?”

Nemuri frowned a little. The tracking comment didn’t sit well with her but more importantly was the claim of his son being here. “I am sorry, but you should have called out on the interphone, not passed through the gate.” The one that should be automatically closed if you were not UA staff or student, but it didn’t matter now. “If you take one more step, the machine guns on the robots will still fire, ricocheting bullets or not.”

“Yes, unless I do this.” The man suddenly snapped his fingers and the baseball cap guy reached in his pocket. All the robots were ready to fire before a sound came from the guy and–

– And the robots collapsed, smoke coming out of them!

“EMPs.” The man hummed. “Technology turned more compact so you can hide it in a backpack with ease.”

Nemuri just now realised that the guy had the straps on his shoulders. They came here with a freaking bomb! “UA Code–”

“Nope!” The capped man turned into a blur before Nemuri could react and something hit her in the side of her head, throwing her to the ground. She didn’t have time to scream before something covered her mouth, realising that it was a ‘muzzle’, the one used for voice-related Quirks as her arms and legs were moved without her will. “I know better than to let you finish.” The guy said, looking down at Nemuri with that pair of orange eyes as her hands were cuffed behind her back, her ankles getting a similar treatment as she couldn’t adjust to get back up.

“Well done but the robots breaking down are bound to trigger some reinforcement procedure.” The man clicked his tongue before the doors of UA opened.

Nemuri was forced to roll the other way around, tired up the in the least kinky way possible, and forced to just look as Ectoplasm got out. If her suit had torn on her fall, she could have at least helped out a little.

“Clones.” The man sighed, lifting his walking cane like it was a baseball bat. “Proceed with lethal force, the main body wouldn’t leave a secured area.” The guy with a cap let out a grunt before reaching behind himself and pulling out a large military knife from what Nemuri could only guess was a hidden pocket of sorts. She couldn’t even blink and the guy turned into a blur charging at Ectoplasm’s Clone that now mate itself in over a dozen.

It couldn’t even be considered a fight as the speedster got in the middle of them, slicing or stabbing the throats of all the clones, the silvery goop falling on the ground where it started to evaporate.

Nemuri just stood in scare as the white-haired man crouched over her, his grey eyes having a glint of green in them as they judged her every move. “The R-Rated Hero: Midnight. Real Name: Kayama Nemuri.” He hummed, reaching for her waist as she tried to wriggle out of his grasp. “You’re quite the example of fatherless behaviour. I am not someone who condones striking my own blood but if I had a teenage girl go naked on the streets, I would make sure it would never happen again.” He mockingly said, his eyes filled with Nemuri could only call disgust as she exposed the part of her past no one else knew about. “This will do. ~” He took her whip and more importantly, her Teacher ID Card.

Nemuri could only struggle, unable to shout at the bastard how the fuck does he know that, but the muzzle muffled didn’t allow that privilege as she tried to glare daggers back at him. The man simply snapped his fingers again and the capped man was at his side once more, terrifying her as he was given her ID and headed to the main building. If they get the one on Ectoplasm, then they can go anywhere they want on campus without a worry in mind.

“I thought that they would throw Eraser at us.” The capped guy spoke for the first time, stretching as the white-haired man adjusted his respirator.

“And risk him being ambushed or overpowered?” He waved his hand dismissively, still holding on to Nemuri’s whip. “Even if it’s the best terrain for him, that vermin won’t let his most valuable card leave its paws.” He looked at the object’s handle, seeing the opening mechanism before the length of the weapon doubled. “Go neutralise whatever Heroes are in the way and bring me a key card, Tenko’s little toy will keep me entertained for a bit.”

 The cap nodded and left again, forcing her to give all attention to the white-haired man. “I come back home after so long only to find my son to be missing…” He mumbled, looking down at her as he used the whip in the air, the *crack* that she loved to hear when using it ringing in her ear from the kick she got from the other guy. “… I think I am entitled to be a little irritated for the lack of hospitality.”

He hissed and, for a long time in her Hero career, Nemuri was afraid for her life.

Himiko was waiting with Anan-San in UA’s nurse’s office, still trying to recover from all the gawking at every detail that the school had to offer as they walked here. “So… what are we doing?”

“Recovery Girl will show up soon and The Principal said that there’s another person that would be good to look at your Quirk,” Anan explained and Himiko could only nod, sitting on the hospital bed and rocking her legs back and forth.

“Are… are you sure you want me to drink your blood?” She sheepishly asked, looking at the woman who just smiled back, making her feel a bit funny.

“I promised you that so I’m going to do it.” Anan got close and hugged Himiko, making the girl try not to cry at the idea in general. “Sure, it’s going to be a bit hard for you to change your life around it, but you’ll manage.”

Himiko stifled, realising that Anan was just telling her that it would be hard for Himiko herself to drink the blood… Well, she still felt guilty about Sait–

“Sorry for being late. ~” A chirping voice came from the door as an elderly lady stepped in, she looked in confusion at the one truly speaking was someone that looked like a giant mouse. “Hello there! Am I a mouse? A dog? A bear? Well, it doesn’t matter because I am UA’s Principal! Nedzu!” The man greeted but Himiko felt something odd about it.

“Still doing this bit, I see.” Anan huffed as the man walked closer to them. Something was definitely off with him. “This is Himiko, the girl that got help from the foreign Hero Agency.” She explained and Himiko gave a sheepish wave. The fact that Anan was giving the nurse a pointed look didn’t escape the teen's notice either.

“And I’ll keep doing it until someone stops me!” Nedzu exclaimed before heading to Himiko. She didn’t even have time to get out of bed before the man jumped his entire height and got next to her. “Himiko Toga, correct?” He stretched out a hand and Himiko sheepishly took it.

… Wait! “You only have 4 fingers?!” She asked, looking at the paw in her hand before the man moved it away.

“That would be correct!” Nedzu spread out his fingers to show the three normal ones and the thumb. But even that looked odd to her. “Can you guess why is that?”

“You Quirk?” That would be the same reason as for the rest of the animal looks.

“Nope. Quite the opposite!” He said cheerfully. It was obviously his way to cheer her up – which is fair, it works – but she couldn’t really make out any other cause. “Anyway. As you ponder that along with the secrets of the universe, how about we bring the boy that might come to use!” Nedzu exclaimed as the door opened again to reveal–

Oh. Oh no! “S-Saito!?” That word escaped her mouth as she was met with a soft face and curly hair. She almost jumped out, trying to run wherever she could before Anan placed a hand on Himiko’s shoulder.

“Easy, Himiko, everything is going to be all right.” She hushed but Himiko was still panicking.

“Erm… My name is Izuku?” Saito spoke… but it wasn’t his voice. Her eyes suddenly trained on the boy, realising that he had a completely different colour palette. “Izuku Midoriya. I don’t think we met before?” He explained and Himiko looked at every detail of him.

The curls that she saw were dark, but they were green. His eyes were also a shining green, almost like jewels. And right under them were two sets of freckles.

Himiko didn’t know if she should feel better or worse as this boy looked even better than Saito. “I-I’m sorry.” She stuttered, covering her face to hide the blush forming at the Midoriya boy’s curious look.

“Note: I look like a previous target of the user.”

“W-what?!” Himiko raised her head, looking back at Midoriya, this time with a shocked look as her cheeks were still flushing red.

“He didn’t say anything,” Anan said but Midoriya took a closer step.

“Augmented Hearing, she heard me mutter under my breath,” Midoriya spoke again with him looking awkward about it. “I just meant that I look like that ‘Saito’. Sorry for making you uncomfortable.”

“Why did you use Target!” Himiko shouted. “I never wanted to hurt him! I-I just couldn’t–” She paused, not wanting to continue her thoughts.

“I told you this was a bad idea.” Midoriya said to Nedzu.

“Maybe, maybe not.” The man replied. “Maybe I should have done an introduction beforehand, I didn’t take note of the similarities between the two… Though, I would prefer if you two did it on your own.” He looked at Himiko and the girl realised that Anan wanted to do the same thing.

“… Himiko Toga.” She grumbled, having a hard time not looking into those green eyes as her face was still red. “So why are you here?”

“I guess it’s to help you with your Quirk. Disguise, right?” Does he know?!

She looked at Anan, but the woman was clueless, leaving the only culprit being– “I am a rather high Ranking Hero.” Nedzu said and Himiko wanted to push the man off the bed. “He managed to guess your Quirk from just knowing the name and a picture of you from social media.”

“It was two pictures…” Midoriya said but his tone died down. Himiko gulped, unsure if his anxiety was because of her or something else. “You need a DNA sample for your Quirk to work. I assume that blood is just the easiest thing to consume.”

“I guess,” Himiko grumbled as Midoriya took two more steps, standing at the edge of her personal space which was already invaded by Nedzu. “What can you tell me about my Quirk?” Does he have one of those famous Analysis Quirks? She heard of how those work but couldn’t wrap her head around it.

“Any tendencies to bite?”

Himiko gave him a flat look. “I am not an animal.”

“But I am!” Nedzu said and– Wait, what?

“Stop making fun of me!” She retorted, actually trying to push the man away but he hopped to the bed deeper into the office.

“He is not lying, sweetie.” The nurse, Recovery Girl, said as she took out a set of synergies and needles for them. “Nedzu is a Quirked Animal. One of the few with Intelligence Boosting Quirks.”

“Indeed, I am!” Nedzu said, now on the floor as he walked to Midoriya who had just as bothered to look at the animal (?) as Himiko. “You humans are the odd ones from my side.”

“You always lived among humans.” Midoriya pointed out.

“Nedzu, stop antagonising the kids.” Anan sighed as Recovery Girl had a syringe in hand.

“You can argue all you want later.” The elderly lady cut in. “Let’s just get this over so you can argue about Quirk semantics after. Thirteen, please sit down and rest your hand on the table.”

“Wait, we are doing it now?!” Himiko asked but the two Heroes already got into motion. Anan sitting next to her, her right arm resting on the nurse’s office as the needle slipped under the woman’s skin. There was a small grimace from Anan, but Himiko’s eyes were on the red liquid being pulled into the syringe until it was full.

Recovery Grill pulled it away, then took out the needle and stretched out her hand to Himiko. “Well, young lady, this is your queue.” She almost placed it in Himiko’s hand, leaving her to stare at it like she wondered if it was real.

This was it? Two, maybe three seconds to draw out the blood and Himiko had the red liquid that she was desperate to get. Simply sitting in her palm as she was surrounded by strangers.

Himiko looked around, seeing Anan giving an encouraging look and Midoriya giving a thumbs-up. She gulped before bringing the syringe to her lips, sticking her tongue out a little and quirting the liquid. It was so odd, the salty taste of blood being so sweet to her. Himiko felt her eyes turn wet, her Quirk acknowledging the taste as she remembered the nights, she bit her own wrists to get some of her blood to drip out for a lick.

She always felt so guilty when using her Quirk but this time around, Himiko felt a warm hug envelop her. When her eyes opened, she was met with Anan doing the embracing. “Feeling better?” The woman asked and all the teens could do was weakly nod.

The warmth took a step back as Himiko was left with one more thing.

“So, you can use your Quirk now?” Midoriya asked and Himiko shrugged.

“Yeah, I should be able to–” She paused, looking down at the clothes that were fitting her well. Or better said, they were too small for the adult to wear them. “Err… Nope.”

“The clothes?” The boy asked and Himiko’s eyes trained on him. “You can disguise into people, so you either transform or you cover yourself in something. There’s this Hero called Miss Mirror that bends light to hide herself and look like others but that’s not likely with your set of traits.”

“And what are my traits?” Himiko asked, more baffled than anything else.

“Fangs and slit eyes. You seem to have some feline mutations. That’s why I asked if you tend to bite, you might have a stronger fight response and other animalistic habits.” Midoriya explained and it actually made sense, some of her friends in middle school also had some kinks from their animal counterparts. She remembered one particular friend, being as jumpy as a mouse despite being the biggest one in their group.

“I… found out my Quirk when I bit down on a dead bird.” Outside of what Hoarder said and the file Anan got from her, Himiko didn’t get to know much about her own Power. “W-What else?”

The awkward and hesitant look on Midoriya’s face was nearly gone, a shine in his eyes getting a shine out of nowhere that made her feel a bit funny. “Many carnivorous get their sustenance from meat. It’s calorie-rich, and their bodies are just made to process that better.”

“So, you’re saying that I’m not eating enough?” Well… Himiko was always on the thin side, but she thought her metabolism just sucked as she tried to eat more but got her nowhere outside of an earful from her parents…

Oh. They thought that… “I am like a wild animal?” The comments from her parents suddenly made a lot of sense. Was she just not normal enough for them?

“That’s not true!” Midoriya spoke up, the glint in his eyes changing again as she couldn’t take her eyes off his. “There are millions of people with harder Quirks to manage. So, what if you need to drink some blood from time to time? It isn’t the end of the world.”

“Well, good luck finding someone who’d just give me blood all day, then!” Himiko shouted as Midoriya’s gaze didn’t waver. “Why did I have to be born with this Quirk and whatever mutations you go on about?! Why couldn’t have I just been born normal?!?”

“Well, I am the most normal one here and it freaking sucks!” Midoriya shouted back, the anger in his voice making her whiplash to the calm and sheepish nature the boy had.

“Boy, you might as well be burning someone with that glare on your face.” The nurse scolded but before Himiko could even ask what that meant, gunshots were heard from the hallway.

Nedzu let out a long sigh. “Welp, I guess the show is over.”

“Snipe is the only one with a gun,” Midoriya added, looking at the door before glancing back at Himiko, this time with a more apologetic look on his face. “Did someone break into UA?”

“Indeed. A special ‘guest’, if you could call it like that.” Nedzu went to the door and Anan made Himiko get up, the woman just as confused as the rest.

When they all got to the hallway –minus Recovery Girl– and they stood there looking at a scruff-looking man with floating hair and an absurdly long scarf. The gunshots abruptly stopped and Himiko only now realised how tense she was.

Her blood ran cold when someone stepped from the corner, holding an absurdly big gun to the head of a cowboy-looking Hero. “Shut your Quirk, Eraser, or I’ll pop hot lead in Snipe’s skull!” The figure shouted the clothes familiar to Himiko as the barrel of the gun was pointed under the Hero’s jaw.

“Rokuro-San?!” “Mister Rokuro?!” Both Himiko and Izuku shouted simultaneously, looking at each other as they recognised the intruder.

The man looked over to them, the orange pair of eyes acknowledging them before he smirked. “Oh, the Mini-Rober is here too! The Boss wanted to look into your Quirk anyway.” He replied before the scruff Hero took one step further and Rokuro didn’t hesitate to aim the gun at him at shoot at his feet. “Na nah! My aim is a bit sloppy without my Quirk, but I can still get a headshot.”

“That won’t be necessary.” A foreign voice came out of nowhere before a blur passed by Himiko, barely seeing the swing from the unknown figure before the Hero was struck in the head with something. “You Heroes tend to get tunnel-visioned on rescue operations.” He grabbed the second hostage. “I can exploit it when things turn dicey.” She looked at the towering man with white, curly hair and grey eyes. A plastic mask of sorts on his face as he wore what seemed to be an expensive suit.

“Ah, Hisashi Midoriya!” Nedzu spoke up around the same time Midoriya-Kun shouted “DAD?!”. The man stretched out his cane as a sharp blade sprung from its heel, pointing at UA’s Principal. “Could you please put down my employees before I take any measures against it? Or should I take my problems with the Hoarder?”

Midoriya Senior suddenly looked at Himiko, then at Anan. “ … You fucking Rat! Can’t I have one secret without you Heroes sticking their noses in it?!”

That’s when it clicked with Himiko. “You’re the Hero that talked over the phone!”

“My dad is a what?!” Midoriya asked, perplexed as the Hero on the ground groaned in pain only for the boy to kick him in the head. “Dad! What the fuck!?”

“Language.” Came the most stereotypical line of a parent.

Chapter Text

The moment the Midoriya appeared, the world seemed to fast forward for Anan. One moment she was in UA, the next Nedzu kicked them out.

“I don’t think you should be the one with the right of being upset.” Hisashi Midoriya said as Anan found herself in a limousine. An armoured limousine; the kind that not even telepathic Quirks can force their way through—something about lead shielding underneath the plating.

“I can’t believe that you broke into UA! How in the world did you even manage to do that?!” Izuku Midoriya shouted at his father, pouting as the adult seemed more amused than anything else.

“Oh, come on.” The man rolled his eyes. Was the man blind or…? “I did the rat a favour by assessing the security measures.” His eyes focused on her, and she got the answer. “Space Hero: Thirteen. Real Name: Anan Kurose. Pleasure meeting you.” He nodded and she felt the urge to bow despite being seated. “To think that Nedzu would play a cat and mouse game to get me here.”

“The Principal did that?” Himiko asked. She wasn’t beside her in the back of the limo but in front of the man that first delivered her to Anan. The same man threatened to kill one of her Co-Workers.

“Nedzu is a prick and a half,” Nomura-san replied, driving the car. “Boss is the US’s biggest seller of Quirk Boosters, so he’s always seen fishy in Japan.”

“My associate is correct.” Midoriya-Sama hummed. “So many allegations and investigations thrown at me, it’s fairly obvious that they only try to halt my reach in Japan’s area of influence.”

“And this associate just happened to be walking around our apartment complex,” Midoriya-kun asked, fixing his father with a look.

“You can never be too cautious.” The man replied and Anan looked through the narrow gap leading to the front. Recovery Girl wasn’t entirely wrong about foreign Heroes having their agenda. “In retrospect, which helped young Himiko in the end.”

“Wait, what?!” Himiko suddenly blocked the view as her head was in the narrow divider. “I got help because of you stalking your son?!”

“That’s enough, Kiddo,” Nomura said, pulling Himiko back into her seat. “I crossed paths with the Boss’ kid. We were dropped at the station before a certain pocket thief tried to pull a fast one on me.” He laughed and Anan could hear the indignation from the teen.

“Can someone tell me where we are going?” The Hero finally said, and Midoriya-Sama smiled.

“I seem to have miscalculated. Rokuro was driving us to my home. I hope you and Himiko won’t mind staying for a bit as I try to figure out her Quirk.” That didn’t seem so much of an error as the man diagnosing her wanting to know what he was dealing with.

“That’s going to upset mom.” Midoriya-kun responded.

“If she has a problem, then she could look where the family’s income originates.”

…

Oh.

Ah, crap! It’s that kind of family!

Rokuro Six felt like he was in the belly of a beast. To be more exact, the Midoriya household.

“Thank you for dinner, Midoriya-san.” The Vampire kid said as they started to eat.

There were six people in total: the Midoriya Family, Thirteen, Himiko, and Himself. Rokuro decided to avoid eating at the same table with his Boss, taking a seat on the couch as he glanced at the group.

Boss was at the head of the table, Izuku to his right with Himiko right after, and Inko Midoriya to his left with Thirteen facing Himiko. Thank God Rokuro didn’t make the mistake of sitting at the other end, Boss had that kind of look when something bothered him.

“There’s no problem. Thankfully, I had time to prepare something extra until you all appeared.” Mrs Midoriya replied with a smile, but the Speedster saw her micro features. She was annoyed, not at the Kid, but at Boss. “I am a bit curious about how you know Izuku.”

The kid looked at Kurose who took on the lead. “Himiko has a bit of a problem with her Quirk and Recovery Girl from UA was trying to help. We then crossed paths with Nedzu and your son.”

“You were at UA?!” The woman asked, startled—like, for serious. “What were you doing there?!”

“Erm…” That was a face of Let’s make shit up if Rokuro ever saw one. “You know how Yagi-san is helping me train, right?” he got a nod in response. “Well, he kind of knows Nedzu, and apparently, one thing led to another, and I got an invite. We were just crossing paths and then Dad showed up with Nomura-san.”

Inko Midoriya looked at Rokuro and he simply nodded. “I go wherever Boss tells me to.” You aren’t getting anything out of me.

And now, the woman was left to talk with her husband for an answer. If it wasn’t so socially awkward, the man would have fallen onto the floor and laughed at the woman looking at her husband and deciding otherwise.

“So…” Boss was the first one to speak up. “You are the Hero Thirteen, correct? Tenko told me a couple of things about you.”

Seeing Izuku perk up at this was just as hilarious as the situation itself. “Wait. You’re Thirteen?! I didn’t recognise you without your helmet. Your Quirk is Black Hole, right? How does it work?!” The kid was just buzzing with curiosity.

Izuku Midoriya might not be the wrong person after all. That’s what Himiko thought as the boy sent quick-fired questions about Anan-san’s Quirk at the table.

“So, you just destroy matter or is it released in some other way?” The boy asked and Anan shrugged.

“There’s no heat, so my best guess is that it’s deleted somehow.” She replied. “Plenty of Quirks pull energy out of nowhere, so it was a matter of time until the opposite would appear. Isn’t Tenko’s Quirk the same?”

“I mean… Kind of?” Midoriya-kun made a cute and confused face, tilting his head a little. “Whenever Tenko uses Decay, it should just break stuff apart. Stone turns into gravel, gravel into sand, and sand into dust. All at once. But every time we tried to weigh anything it’s just less. He also tried to break down the ground, but he just left craters, so I assumed the dust flies away when it decayed.”

“I was wondering why you two left for the woods that day,” Midoriya-Sama grumbled.

“You remember that?” Midoriya-kun asked with raised eyebrows.

“Of course, I do!” The man scoffed. “You two came covered in dirt so I went to see what atrocities you committed there. I almost fell into one of those holes; Twice!”

Himiko let out a snicker at the insulted tone of the man, getting everyone’s attention before she realised her mistake. “S-sorry.”

“Don’t worry, Himiko-chan.” The man replied with a smirk. “The one that should be apologising is Izuku for trying patricide at the age of seven!”

“I’m pretty sure you told us to leave the house because we were breaking things.” The boy deflected. “And I didn’t make the holes! Tenko did, so blame him!”

“Yes. And you most definitely didn’t tell him to make the holes that way to see if a hill of sand wouldn’t rise.” The man spoke sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. “You should be ashamed of yourself. I thought I taught you better. It’s obvious that you had to make me write a will before trying to bury me alive, imagine all that inheritance going to waste.” 

Himiko couldn’t help but smile at how offended the man sounded at the fake attempt at his life. He was almost like an actor.

“I think that’s enough for your macabre jokes, Hisashi,” Midoriya-san said flatly, and the gist was over, the man looking back at his wife for a moment before returning to eating.

“Right…” He mumbled as the broody mood returned. Himiko looked around and even Anan seemed to be happy with the comments of their host. 

Himiko eyed Izuku a little, also upset with how things were going. “… You’re nicer than I thought.” She replied and turned her eyes away when he looked at her.

“… Thanks.” She could see him smile from the corner of her eye. “It’s nice to see you aren’t all defensive about yourself,” Midoriya-kun remarked but his mother shushed him off, neither seeing the small smile on Himiko’s face.

He got the banter from his father, huh?

When the dinner was over Izuku didn’t get to talk much with Toga-chan or Thirteen. The duo had to leave if they wanted to get home before sundown, and Nomura-san said that he had something else to do. But considering that Dad was finally home too, Izuku would take the trade so he could see what his father was up to.

“You…” Toga paused as she was putting on her shoes. “You wanted to know more about my Quirk, right? That’s why we came.”

Izuku shrugged. “Dad seems to have finished writing your report. He must have gotten a good look at you at the dinner and figured out everything that was missing.”

“You’re joking.” She said standing up straight, but Izuku didn’t change his expression. “Come on. He might have looked over my records, but there’s no way he’d figure it out like that.”

“Nedzu had me figure out your Quirk with just two pictures of you.” He replied and the girl blinked. “There was a group one where I had to figure out who had the Quirk.” He casually pointed at her. “Then a close-up image to find more details.” The fact that he threw the blood-related idea as a joke didn’t matter. What did Dad call those events? ‘Task Failed Successfully’?

“So that’s how Nedzu lured you.” Dad came from the living room, ruffling Izuku’s hair. “Drop a keychain with a quirky ‘Quirk’ in front of my son and he loses all sense of preservation. I raised quite the troublemaker!”

“Daaad!” Izuku whined, trying to move the man’s hand away, feeling himself turning red in front of the guests.

“I know the picture trick. You can pass by a person a hundred times and not think much of them, but the moment you tell someone that the person is different, you start looking for signs.” Dad moved his hand away but placed it on Izuku’s shoulder. “But it also takes skill to figure it out. That’s why you use a photo; A picture is worth a thousand words, right?”

“So how much is meeting someone in person?” Toga asked, shifting a little.

“Hm… Reading your file, I already figured out your life story, but if I were to go with what I saw at the table…” Dad sighed, looking up at the ceiling for a moment. “Your parents didn’t let you speak out of line, correct?” He asked and Himiko turned paler. “Fret not. I’ll deal with everything. They might have had their ego pretend like they are big in society, but they don’t know what real power tastes like.” He ominously said before Thirteen was also ready to leave.

“… Thank you… Midoriya-Sama? Hoarder-Sama?” Toga asked and Izuku suddenly remembered that Dad was Nomura’s Boss.

“Just call me Hisashi. I am used to how foreign people call me anyway.” He dismissed and Toga gave them a curious look.

“Thank you, Hisashi-Sama,” Toga repeated, this time quieter as Izuku noticed her blush growing. After that, she looked at Izuku too. “And sorry if I upset you.”

“Don’t worry.” Izuku dismissed, smiling back at her. “You’re…” Out of all the times his brain could go blank, why this time?! “… Seem nice too.”

Toga blinked twice and Dad laughed. “I think we should let our dear guests leave in peace,” Dad said before everyone exchanged pleasantries and the three people were gone. He locked the door and the father and son stared at each other for an uneasy moment.

“So…” Izuku cleared his throat, unintentionally reaching for it in the process. “What is that?” He didn’t need to elaborate as Dad tapped the apparatus covering his neck, a small box with a ventilator resting below his Adam’s apple.

“A rebreather. It filters out carbon dioxide, pushing the oxygen back into my lungs as I have a hard time breathing.” The man explained and Izuku gulped.

“You didn’t let us see you after you got injured.” Izuku continued and Dad shrugged.

“I’ve got severe brain damage from blunt force trauma. I am glad for neuroplasticity and the Quirks available for surviving the incident.”

“Sorry…” Izuku mumbled, not wanting to see him meet his Dad’s gaze. “W-What about the eyes.”

“The lungs collapsed, and my senses were weak. The optic nerve wasn’t spared from the… incident.” He grumbled as Izuku got his answers. “Hey, at least I’m no longer in a wheelchair.”

That got Izuku to look up. “You were in a wheelchair?!” He asked, shocked at the news.

Dad looked over at him. “It’s… I’m sorry, Izuku, but the whole event took a toll on me, and I still need to recover.” He explained as they walked back into the kitchen.

“Anything else you hid from us?” Izuku asked again and Dad paused, the boy could see the contemplative look on the man’s face.

“No. Not really.” He walked to the kitchen table, starting to pick up the plates as Mom went to the bathroom. “Let’s just say that between the Hero and Villain that caught me in the crossfire, Toxic Chainsaw was the last of my problems.” The world seemed to halt at that moment, the words settling him as two pieces fell into place.

Dad… Dad was caught in the fight between All Might and ‘Toxic Chainsaw’.

Izuku felt his palms itch, realising what it meant as the words ‘blunt force trauma’ echoed in his mind.

After leaving the Midoriya Household, Anan headed home with Himiko and Nomura-san on the side. “Thank you for helping out, Himiko, Nomura-san.” She smiled at the man as he was occupied entertaining Himiko.

“Nah, don’t worry.” The man twisted using his Quirk, making it look like he teleported into another pose due to his super speed. “I like to be on the move anyway.” Nomura spun on his heel and started to walk backwards in front of them. “All this speed is making me restless.” He winked and the woman had a feeling why Tenko and this man seemed to be friends. “So, what does it mean to be a Rescue Hero?”

“I could ask you the same about you being a Foreign Registered one.” She quickly replied as the man raised an eyebrow.

“Okay. I’ll tell you after you answer mine.” He replied, taking off his cap again and placing it on his chest as he bowed for effect.

Anan thought about it for a second before answering. “Well… For starters, I don’t do any fighting. I was trained for it, but it doesn’t fit in my niche.”

“For me, it’s the opposite. I always need to be on the edge.” Nomura started to play with his cap, passing it from one hand to another. “I have my license but I’m more of a glorified guard for the Boss and his stuff.”

“That sounds like an abuse of power.” She pointed out.

“Well, nobody woke up to check it out and take it from me.” He quickly remarked that Himiko made a sound, making the two look at the amused girl. “Hey! I don’t have problems laughing at myself but at least let me start my joker act!” He jokingly complained and Anan rolled her eyes, reaching more familiar streets for her. “I saw your Hero costume. I don’t know if you were trying to be an astronaut or move to Alaska.”

“It’s made to protect me from my own Quirk. The air also gets vacuumed, so it gets thin, not to mention the winds coming from it.” Her apartment complex soon came into view. “It’s also thick to protect me from falling debris.”

“Yeah, but it’s waaay too puffy in my opinion,” Nomura complained. “I’m surprised Tenko didn’t convince you to make it thinner. Maybe try to reinforce it?” He took his cap and shamelessly placed it on Himiko’s head, messing up her hair buns. “Not to mention if a Villain shows up mid-rescue. You’d be a sitting duck!”

Anan wanted to protest but the last argument was rather solid. “I do happen to work in more urban environments… My Black Hole is best for clearing places of natural disasters but–”

“The biggest disasters these days are made by other Quirks,” Nomura said better than she could have. “Between a Villain and an earthquake, I think the first one creates more collateral.” Especially when the houses are already built to be proofed against the latter. “Just saying. I wouldn’t want to be in sight of someone with laser eyes, only for me to have a hard time running.” They got to the stairs of the building and Nomura looked up to it. “I guess this is where we part ways.” He reached to take the cap of Himiko, but the girl pulled away.

“You messed with my hair, I got to keep it!” The teenage girl pouted, and the two adults snorted at that.

“Sure, Kiddo, just don’t lose it.” He patted her on the head, pressing the cap on her head much to the girl’s dismay.

Anan was amused by how Rokuro Nomura acted, almost like Tenko if you remove the angst of a young adult. “… Himiko, could you go ahead, I’d like to talk something with Nomura-san.” The girl gave a confused look but obeyed, waving her goodbyes before going up the stairs and into the building.

They waited a couple of moments before the man spoke. “… So, what’s this about?”

“I hope it’s not a problem to ask but… how is the Midoriya family fairing?” Anan asked and Nomura was poker-faced, needing a moment before he sighed, and his shoulders slumped.

“Shoot. I don’t know much about the Boss’ family, but I’ve been working under him for a while.” He explained as Anan had to weigh the question.

“Is… Do Hisashi and Inko Midoriya see each other eye to eye? The man seems to be working over the seas but the kid…” She trailed off as the man nodded in understanding.

“Boss is gone most of the time. To be honest, he’s more married to his job than he is to his wife.” He explained and, in all honesty, Anan could see it. “The problem is that the Mini-Boss is wired, just like him. I don’t know what made the two get together. Maybe a one-night-stand, maybe a Quirk marriage, but it’s obvious to me that Boss doesn’t take his son with him because of work.”

“So, the mother takes care of Midoriya-kun but he’s way too much like his father.” She summarised and Nomura nodded. “And what exactly is the problem? If it’s not too much to ask, of course!” This must be so awkward for the man to answer.

“Nah, it’s all right.” He stretched a bit before looking back at her. “Boss is someone that is very observant and knows a lot of shit in his Business. He can take 20 people off the street and just by following them for a bit, he can crack down on what kind of Quirk they have.”

“That’s impressive!” Anan said. Even more so if it wasn’t the work of a Quirk.

“Yeah… The problem is when it turns from cool to creepy.” Homura said grimly. “Boss knows that people live their lives trying to accommodate for their Powers. From the way they dress, to how they walk and speak. Someone that has a Super Strength Quirk acts entirely different from someone who can make themselves Invisible…” He looked around, almost like he expected someone to listen to them. “Quirks define people. Get it right and you’ll be able to crack on what makes them… well, themselves!”

Anan thought of Himiko and how shy she can be when talking about herself, and the medical reports ‘Hoarder’ wrote despite her Quirk registry being functionally empty. He did know the little girl was unwell by just looking at her.

“Thank you, Nomura-san, I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.” She apologised but the man just huffed.

“Don’t sweat it. I have a feeling that the Vampire Kid and the Mini-Boss might keep in contact. Better to know what to avoid, right?” He smirked and that made Anan more comfortable. “And call me Rokuro, I’m not a formal guy anyway.”

He stretched out a hand and Anan took it. “Thank you, Rokuro-san.” She smiled as they shook hands. “I’ll try to convince Snipe not to come after you after taking him hostage with his gun.”

“I’d like to see him try,” Rokuro replied, a mean smirk on his face. “I might not be dodging bullets, but I can still move faster than he can pull the trigger.” He exclaimed and after seeing what he could do at UA, Anan was willing to believe it.

“Then I guess I’ll see you around.” She chirped and they parted ways. Anan looked at the man leaving before turning to the entrance and–

And Himiko was just peeking at them through the glass door, hiding a moment too late not to be discovered.

“How am I supposed to look over this kid?” Anan shook her head. Now that he met Midoriya-Sama, she could just ask him how to take care of a child.

The Next Day

It was early in the morning when the doorbell rang at the Toga Household.

“I’ll answer.” Nekoko Toga said before heading to the door, looking through the door visor and seeing three distinct figures. The woman frowned but put on a nice smile before unlocking the door.

“Good morning.” A tired-looking man was the first to speak. “Is this the Toga Family?” He pulled out a police batch, making her stiffen. “I am Kira Yoshikawa, a Detective that took over the missing case of your eldest daughter.”

She looked at the three people, all looking like they came from different backgrounds. The representative was a detective; But the person to the back right seemed to be a Hero, dressed all white in a puffy jacket and an odd astronaut helmet.

The man on the right is standing tall, his height just as imposing as his eyes. With how well he is dressed, he might be from the Hero Public Safety Commission or even the Government. The medical equipment and the cane told her that he’s been through some things.

“Who did she hurt this time?” Nekoko asked, thinking of that disappointment of a–

The well-dressed man scoffed, his voice reverberating through his breather.

“Is your husband home? We would like to talk with both of you.” Yoshikawa-san asked and Nekoko allowed them to enter.

Her husband, Omosaki, swiftly appeared as they all gathered in the living room. “What did it do again?” Omosaki was annoyed but the Togas kept their composure.

“You have a second daughter, correct?” The Suit Man asked, looking at the ceiling like he could see through it. “Hm… I’d guess it’s the last room on the first floor, the furthest in case of an intruder…”

“Aiko is normal,” Nekoko assured but the man’s look didn't change for the better. “We made sure to tell her how bad Himiko was.”

“Normal and Bad, huh?” He mumbled. “This is the age of Quirks, Mrs Toga. Things stopped being ‘normal’ the moment people started to grow Lego pieces for heads. As for the ‘bad’ statement… Well, I shall let my associates discuss that matter.” He gestured to the Hero and Detective, the man himself walking to the hallway, looking up to the stairs as he seemed to notice something.

“We would like to first say that your daughter has been brought in and she is safe. Thirteen here is the one overseeing her.” Detective Yoshikawa pointed to the person in the Space Costume.

“We’re so sorry that you have to deal with her.” Omosaki apologised as the person seemed to nod under the helmet.

“Uh-Huh… deal…” The voice seemed feminine but there was a sense of distrust.

“It must have been so stressful to capture her.” Nekoko sighed. “We’re thankful that you took her before she could attack some–” A hasty sound of a click was heard, pausing the woman as a low whistle was heard.

Looking around, the Togas found the source in the form of one of Thirteen’s gloves; her odd gloves had an open cap on the fingers. “I now understand why Hoarder dragged me out at 5 in the morning.”

They all suddenly turned around to look where the Suit Man was, but he was nowhere to be seen. Instead came a set of heavy footsteps as the man seemed to have appeared from upstairs. “They threw out all of Himiko’s furniture, even if we were to hand her back, the child wouldn’t have a place to sleep.”

“You wanted to send it back to us?!” Omosaki protested. “We couldn’t handle raising it for 15 years and you just want to bring it back like nothing happened?!”

“Himiko is not an ‘it’!” Thirteen spoke up, her tone more irritated. “She is a teenage girl and needs to be treated as such!!” More caps flew off as the whistles multiplied. “I couldn’t imagine the reports, but I guess there are people so horrible to call their child a Demon!”

Nekoko paused, finally taking the look the three people were having. “Y-You aren’t here for Himiko…” Dread came over her.

“No, Mrs Toga.” The Detective sighed. “I wanted to obtain some more information, but I guess that is going to be left for the police station. Nekoko-san and Omosaki-san, you two are arrested for charges of child neglect, abuse, and endangering people around via proxy by not taking care of Himiko Toga’s biological needs due to her Quirk.”

“It is your choice whether or not we will have to force you out of the house.” The Suit Man explained, holding two pairs of handcuffs in one hand. “A SWAT Team is outside, ready to remove you from the premises. I would suggest you do so; You wouldn’t want your last child to see how horrible people you two truly are before we make sure she’s in safer hands.” He had hissed the last two words as the Togas were frozen in terror.

“Y-You don’t understand!” Nekoko pleaded. “She’s a demon! She already attacked Saito, there’s no telling when she’d go crazy again!!”

“You are such a– Argh!” At that, Thirteen took off her helmet, as the Hero glared with such fierceness that it could extinguish a star. “The only monsters that lived in this house are you and your husband! Himiko’s been staying at my place ever since we found her and she’s still a good child without even us giving her blood!!”

“You can’t be saying that you want to feed her blood?!” Omosaki shouted. “That’s just going to make her more dangerous!”

“It will be quite the opposite, you braindead moron.” The Man with the respirator replied. “Once she gets the needed blood and food –don’t fucking think we didn’t figure out she’s malnourished– and gets to exercise to deal with the vestigial Feline Mutation, she’ll finally reach the healthy state that she could be the ‘Normal’ you two idiots hoped from her.” He slammed his cane on the floor, the impact sounding more like thunder. The smile growing up on his face resembled the snarl of a wolf. “So, congratulations! You actively sabotaged your daughter to become what you two wanted from her and now I’ll make sure that neither of you will see the light of day!”

As the man approached with the handcuffs, Nekoko could only think of one thing. “S-She must have t-tricked you! Himiko isn’t human! She’s a Demon–”

“Himiko isn’t human! She’s a Demon–” That was the thing that had Anan slip over the edge of reason, taking her bullet-proof glass helmet and bashing it in Mrs Toga’s head.

“Call Himiko anything like that ever again and you’re DEAD!!” Anan lost her composure, seeing red before realising that the woman fell to the floor, seemingly unconscious.

She didn’t even have the time to register what was going on as Mr Toga tried to jump to take revenge, but Midoriya grabbed him by the throat and pressed him against the wall.

 “You see, this cane of mine isn’t only good for walking,” he lifted the wooden object, pointing the other end at Mr Toga’s heart. “Inside it, there’s a barrel and a sniper round.” He adjusted the grip on the handle almost like he was ready to press on a trigger. “Act clever with me and I’ll tell your daughter that she’ll never have to worry about seeing you alive ever again.”

“Hoarder, that is enough!” Yoshikawa warned. “I know you hate these kinds of people, but we already have the police involved!”

Anan took the picture in front of her, feeling the anger bubbling inside her heart as she had to see first-hand a type of ‘Villain’ she never thought of existing. She closed her eyes, pushing away all of that and the temptation to tell Midoriya to pull the trigger, no matter if it was real or not.

She breathed in and out, finding it ironic that she had to use Tenko’s methods to calm herself. “Let him go, Midoriya, he’s not worth the effort,” Anan said and after a couple of moments, the man dropped the abusive parent, leaving him to gasp for air.

“You… won’t get… away with this.” Omosaki Toga panted but that didn’t stop Midoriya to kick him while he was down.

“I’ve been using Japan’s system for a lifetime and twice over that.” Midoriya mocked. “I can promise that you are not the first or the last to die in a prison cell by trying to create a Villain.” He said with a vindictive tone that even made Anan wonder if the man had seen something like this before.

Thankfully, the Togas got handcuffed and a set of Police Officers came to remove them. Another group of far friendlier-dressed people headed upstairs to pick up Himiko’s sister.

“I think it’s better to keep the two girls separated,” Midoriya explained, and Anan nodded.

“I don’t think I can even manage a small kid.” She remarked. “I just hope she won’t end up worse…”

The man hummed as Yoshikawa discussed with the police, seemingly placing the blame on Mrs Toga’s lack of awareness on Midoriya instead of her. “Yes. There is always the chance that the caretakers might not be able to be up to the task, but that doesn’t mean we should leave a child in a toxic environment either. I had to re-educate some people on how Quirkless-ness isn’t some sort of disease in this day of age.”

That sparked a bit of curiosity for Anan, but she decided to leave it to the side for now. That’s not why they came here.

Hopefully, Himiko will feel better knowing that they finally got her justice.

Chapter Text

“I am thankful that you found the time to accept our proposal, Shimano-San!” Master Hisashi Midoriya said, “Daruma Ujiko” sitting to the side as they saw the man with one of the most intriguing Quirks, they got their eyes on.

“If my Quirk can help people, I don’t have any reason to deny meeting up, correct?” Mr Shimano gave an awkward chuckle as ‘Daruma’ tried to keep his eyes from rolling. Sure, like Midoriya-Sama wiring 10 grand into the man’s account wasn’t a factor. “Anyway. I hope the data you collected on my Quirk today is enough.” He said, getting up from his chair as the white-haired man came closer reaching for a handshake.

“It will most certainly be, Mister Shimano,” Hisashi-Sama said with a polite smile as the man accepted the handshake. “Though… You did say that your son also bears the same Quirk, correct?” He asked and the man turned a bit uneasy.

“Yes but…” He paused. “…Katsuma rarely left home and no offence, Jaku General Hospital seems a welcoming place, but he’s never been to a big hospital before.”

“Would some compensation help, then?” Midoriya-Sama said in a hushed tone, raising his phone as Shimano looked at the screen, his eyes widening in surprise.

“You can’t be serious–”

“Mister Shimano.” Midoriya-Sama cut his words, his tone turning dead serious. “Quirks like yours are a blessing on this earth. I mean you have no effect either, but the boy being stuck on Nabu Island instead of being guided to higher education is cruel!” He made sure to enunciate that word. “Hisui Pharmaceuticals are more than willing to help your son achieve his potential… even if it means turning this five-fold.” Shimano’s face turned pale, staring at Midoriya-Sama’s emerald eyes as his words seemed to die in his throat. “But in a sign of good faith and in hopes that the Cell Activation running through your family can save thousands of lives one day, I will still send this right now, and we can discuss the rest at a later date!” He cheerfully said, pressing on his phone as the money was delivered to the man’s account.

After a couple of minutes, Shimano thanked him and was gone, leaving Hisashi Midoriya to sigh in annoyance.

“You’ve been quite… Generous.” The cheerful persona of Daruma dropped just as it did Midoriya-Sama-s smile.

“Worthless bastard.” The man sighed. Dropping into the office chair behind the desk. “I might have him assassinated by Rokuro after I have the kids back on the mainland of Japan.” Using Psychokinesis, the man opened the fridge holding the blood bags and flew the one from Shimano. “His Quirk isn’t compatible with my blood type but that doesn’t mean anything when I can change it on a whim.” He added, raising the blood bag with a contemplative look. “If I wasn’t genuinely interested in helping people with our research, I would have just warped to his home and stolen his Quirk months prior.” The blood bag disappeared from thin air as he finally got up, a swirling mass of black fog appearing in the room. “He has a Quirk that can kill cancer, yet he dries trucks for a living!”

With that, Master was gone through the portal and Garaki was left to continue his day… and perhaps work on his more nightly works in his “private wing” of the hospital.

Toshinori Yagi stood at a table at a restaurant with his friend, Naomasa Tsukauchi. “Anything on Hisashi Midoriya so far?”

“I was hoping that you’d get more out of your Successor than from me.” The man sighed, looking down at the sets of papers, none of them having any meaningful information from what it seemed. “There’s no trace of the man! You think that you have him one second in a public place, then the next second he disappears, and I go searching for hints about him again!” The man paged through his notepad before ripping out a page. “It would be easier to search for a ghost, at least those only haunt one place.”

“It is quite an unfortunate thing.” And a pattern that Toshinori hoped to have never seen in the past half a decade. “What about his business?”

“Hisui Pharma is always in some scandal but from what it seems, it has yet to lose a court case. They are clean of non-consensual human experimentation.” Naomasa complained as their drinks were finally brought, two black coffees that were both for the Detective. “It’s a breadcrumb trail that’s days, if not weeks old! It just reminds me of that Man–” The man paused in his tracks, his eyes snapping to Toshinori.

“Inko Midoriya doesn’t have much to share about the man either.” The blonde breathed out in annoyance. “They don’t seem to have that much of a relationship outside of the money wired to her account to take care of young Midoriya.” Naomasa started drinking his coffee, and the Hero subtly pushed the other closer. “Nedzu’s been in touch with the man through the investigations on the man’s Pharmaceutical Empire, he seems to be quite the xenophobe towards Quirked animals but that’s not something that’s that odd in the world or the United States.”

“You think that he’s taking out his hate with Quirked Animals Experiments?” Naomasa raised an eyebrow, but Toshinori dismissed it.

“No. Nedzu would have shut him down already if that was the case. Plus, Human Quirks and Animal Quirks don’t work the same. Normal lab mice and other experiments are done but nothing extreme.” They paused as his food finally came and Toshinori looked at the unappetising salad. “Nedzu’s interest in the boy also worries me. There’s something that I’m missing that the rodent and Hisashi Midoriya are keeping out of my sight. I am afraid that things will turn for the worse before the boy finishes his training and that I will have to look for alternatives.” There’s the fact that Mirai keeps suggesting that Mirio boy. “I can see that Midoriya has the heart to do good, but what should I do if it ends up tainted by the hidden agendas of other people?”

“I guess it is better to be prepared than regret it when it happens,” Naomasa grumbled as the waiter came with the Detective’s food.

“Anything else, Sirs?” The male waiter with the black ponytail hair asked, a polite smile on his face as his golden orange looked at them with hospitality.

“That will be enough for now.” Toshinori smiled back at the stranger, they must have hired him recently if the Hero didn’t know his face.

“Perhaps a glass of water?” The man’s eyes were on the coffee cup that was obviously on Naomasa’s side of the table by now.

“… It would be appreciated.” He accepted the offer, realising that he didn’t have what to drink. The nameless waiter nodded and left once more, with Toshinori noting how observant the man was.

The two men decided to drop the discussion while eating, leaving Toshinori to ruminate on his thoughts and salad of what he could do to help Young Midoriya become a Hero. The boy’s father already changed the training and the diet and Toshinori couldn’t have a say in it when the man knew the kid’s needs better than a stranger.

…

Maybe he can show Izuku Midoriya what it means to work as a Hero. A visit to Might Tower could be eye-opening to the boy and help build a better student-teacher relationship. Toshinori gave a weak smile, the idea of showing the boy what his legacy has built would be quite interesting for both of them.

Now all he needs is to set a date in his schedule.

The nameless waiter walked into the back and the storage room.

Quickly taking out his phone and calling his Boss’s number. With the call as a means of location, the man’s hologram appeared in front of him. “How is the investigation going along, Rokuro?”

“The blonde is getting iffy about the Mini-Boss as his successor.” He explained and the man raised an eyebrow at the nickname. “You and Nedzu are too pushy, he’s picking up that neither of you has Heroic intentions when it comes to the kid.”

“How worrisome are we talking about?”

“He might consider other people as his successor if he gets the time to find someone.”

Boss let out a ‘tks’, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Nighteye keeps pushing Mirio Togata to All Might as a possible candidate. The Hero wouldn’t settle for a cheap knock-off of himself, but we cannot afford to dismiss the option.”

“What about Shōgeki?” He suggested piquing Boss’ interest. “All Might is weaker than before. The Shock Absorption Nomu is ready to use. And I can keep up the pace with both of them. Just rig the thing with a Radio Waves Quirk so I can send controls remotely and I pounce on him after the man’s work hours are over.”

Boss kept silent for a long moment, his hand on his chin as he started to mumble to himself over the idea; His hologram kept glitching about. “… We need to do it as soon as possible. The more time he has to think it over, the riskier it gets that he might come up with some ‘bright’ ideas. Keep following them around and report if an opening will appear.”

“Got it,” Rokuro replied as the hologram disappeared, leaving him to return to the front where he finally got that glass of water and headed back to the duo. “Sorry for the wait.” He said with the fakest tone and smile he could muster, placing it in front of the living corpse before something caught his attention on the lower streets.

Ingenium was running after a criminal, a second Hero with a familiar costume gliding along the street as Rokuro felt his scar throbbing on his face. He instantly left the table, not bothering to hide his phone as he opened the browser and searched for 3 words.

The Sky Crawler

Koichi Haimawari was back in Japan with all those debts from their last meeting paid off.

Koichi was back in Rokuro’s Tokyo.

Izuku was walking through Tokyo around Naruhata, looking for a specific Hero. With social media and pictures of the ‘Cruller’ on social media, it was easy to find his latest location where the man was still giving autographs to the Hero Ingenium.

“Heya, kid, want an autograph as well?” Ingenium asked Izuku, the man’s helmet pointing straight at Izuku’s notebook.

“If possible!” Izuku said gingerly, opening the notebook to the page where he kept the notes of Ingenium and passed it to the Hero.

“Nice sketch! You got quite the talent!” The man praised, seemingly squinting through his helmet. “… How do you know my Quirk needs grapefruit juice?” He quickly added as Izuku gave an awkward laugh.

“It was only a theory but thank you for confirming it. I looked at the Idaten Family tree a bit. Funny how an entire lineage of Heroes has a thing for Citrus Fruits…” Okay, maybe he shouldn't give his notebook. “… Plus, your marketing campaign for your brand of juice is a bit on the nose.” And the one your father has for lemonade as well. “A friend started teaching me how to draw recently, thank you for the compliment.”

The change of subject seemed to have reset the man. “Right…” He took the pen and signed right below the drawing. “Just keep it to yourself, all right? You don’t know when a juice-themed villain might show up with Quirks around.” He laughed, defusing the situation but it was obvious the nugget of information was meant to stay with Izuku.

Until he can make use of it, at least.

The notebook was handed right back, leaving the boy to glance over to his real target. “New Sidekick?”

“More or less. He’s been overseas for a bit.” With Captain Celebrity and his flight Quirk, yes. What would Izuku do to have one Quirk like that, even with One For All on the table? “Feel free to ask him for an autograph, I’m pretty sure he’s gonna make it big one day!” The man moved out of the way, encouraging the boy to get closer as Izuku acted none the wiser.

Going to The Sky Crawler, Izuku inspected the man’s costume. Aerodynamic, probably to keep him warm at his speeds as his visor covered most of his head. “You’re the Crawler, right? I’ve heard of you since you were a Vigilante!”

“I’m not the Cruller, I’m the…” The man paused, registering the name. “Yes! The Sky Crawler at your service!” His mood instantly got better, and he gave a thumbs-up like he was posing for a magazine.

“Your Quirk is Slide & Glide, right?”

The man paused, his mood already going down. “Yeah… Listen, bud, I get the question a lot of times, but I don’t know how my Quirk got so powerful in a couple of years. Just luck and genetics, I guess.” So, it was a commonly asked question, huh? Fair, who wouldn’t want to know how to go from a misfit to a Hero without going to a Hero School or getting their Licence?

“Any tricks on how to deal with all that speed of your Quirk? You always dash around corners or come to a halt in an instant.”

“That’s something that Ingenium taught me. Sort of.” The Crawler laughed. “My Quirk moves in the direction that I want, so I can either pick up speed like a car or burst all of it at once. I do the same thing when I try to stop, but more in reverse. You’d like to start up slow and pick up speed, then halt by inverting the direction and screeching to a halt.” He scratches the back of his head, realising that his helmet is in the way. “The sharp corners thing is just me blasting off with my Quirk. It can hurt if you do it too fast, but I got plenty of experience from my Sensei–”

“Our Sensei.” An arm wrapped around the Hero’s shoulder, making Izuku blink as the unknown figure seemed so relaxed, his face hidden behind a face mask and a familiar cap. “Long time no see, Koichi.” The voice was also familiar before the man’s orange eyes met with Izuku’s emerald eyes, a quiet panic going through the mind of the ‘Stranger’.

What are you doing, Rokuro?

“S-Sorry, kid.” The Crawler spoke up, the smile on his face was quite the red flag. “It seems like the duty calls.”

“So, you two know–”

“Sorry, kiddo, but I need to borrow this Hero for a bit.” The man dragged the other way, leaving Izuku with more questions than answers, but at least now he had a source of whom to ask later.

Izuku looked at his unsigned notebook, the notes on the Crawler sparse and an autograph missing. “I still wanted more data on that Quirk…” His hands started to ache again, making him look at his palms. “Just what is going on…?” It’s been happening ever since Eraser Head looked at Izuku with his Erasure.

He started the whole escapade with One For All going on the idea that All Might’s Buff Form is a manifestation of the man’s late Quirk. What if another Quirk can also do something like that?

Dad’s Quirk is Fire Breathing, so the only Quirk in his family that uses hands is Mom’s “Hand Gestures” Telekinesis. Did Erasure suppress some vestigial mutation that Izuku never knew he had? “… Or I’m just a teen and I get sweaty palms that itch.” Izuku deadpanned. Occam's razor theory says that the simplest explanation is preferable to one that is more complex. “I’m just freaking out about getting a Quirk and I’m imagining things.” Or it’s a late manifestation, he did hear about people getting their Powers at puberty, even if it’s a rare case– ‘Okay, how about I stop?!’

Izuku sighed, sliding his notebook back into the backpack before heading away. None of the Heroes around have any interesting or valuable Quirks to know about.

Rokuro Nomura was staring at the man he hadn’t seen in almost a year, Koichi Haimawari. “You are back in Japan early.”

“And you seemed to have learned some manners since the last time we saw each other.” Koichi quipped, making Rokuro raise an eyebrow as they sat at some random cafe, the Hero’s helmet placed to the side. “I had a feeling that you didn’t die that night.”

Rokuro tensed, Overclock was not helping him at this moment. “That would have been the plan…” He mumbled as the waiter came with their coffees and quickly left. “So, I get that the late capitalism Hero Lifestyle paid for your debt already?”

“I have a feeling that you should have been the one paying for those demolished buildings,” Koichi replied, making Rokuro genuinely surprised at the accusation, even if it was entirely light-hearted. “So… Are you doing all right? You did kind of… blow up in front of me.” And here’s the Koichi he knew.

“You really don’t change, do you?” Rokuro huffed, ignoring how fucked up the thing is in retrospect. “A mentally unstable Villain waltzes right to you, acts all buddy-buddy with you with civilians around, then kidnaps you for an interrogation.”

“Last time I checked, you brought me coffee.” He replied, drinking his latte while Rokuro drank his dark coffee, the caffeine boosting Overclock when needed.

“Pop must love your new attitude.” He snorted but the man wasn’t so happy anymore. “… You haven’t told her you’re back just yet, haven’t you?”

“Should I be worried that you know where she is–”

“I know where everyone is!” Rokuro interjected. “Your Mother. Your Father. Your Aunt and cousin that you don’t know you have. Where Pop, and Knuckle Duster are is a walk in the park for me to know!”

“I have a cousin–”

“Focus!” Rokuro slammed his fist on the table, making the woman behind the counter worry. “Koichi. I am the eyes, ears, and nose of a very freaky bastard. You better stay low for a bit and take care of Pop or the same guy that ordered me to ‘remove’ her the first time around will tell me to finish the job. If he sniffs your Slide & Glide, he’ll use hostages this time around to make sure he gets his hand on you.”

“So, you’re trying to protect me?” He asked and Rokuro paused, the fear of his Boss listening dreading over him. “You… I know that you were trying to emulate Master… and me as well. I didn’t forget about you telling me that you confessed that you’re using my face.”

“Excuse you. This–” Rokuro pointed at himself. “Is a thousand times more charming than your face!” He scoffed, drinking some of his coffee as he reflected on all of it in a fraction over an Overclocked second. “You’re damned lucky that I came to the rooftop and tried to make you drop the act and failed.” He looked into the dark liquid, its bitterness still on his tongue along with the memories. “For as much as I hate the fact that you have bigger guts than me… You’re a nice guy.”

“Stop calling me that.” Koichi protested, making the speedster pause. “I can’t stop but cringe at how many people use that in America.”

…?

Oh! “Ha, the «Nice Guy» trademark fucked you over, didn’t it?” Koichi cringed at the English words. “The double meaning for that must have made some ruckus too.”

“I never thought that I’d need to know what a white knight is either.” The guy was just as bitter, but for different reasons. “At least at the beginning I sucked at English, so I didn’t even know what garbage they were throwing at me.”

Rokuro chuckled, placing his coffee on the table as he sat back. “Culture shock does that to you. But that’s what you wanted, so lay in it, Mister Hero.”

“What about you? It’s barely been a year, and you seem saner than before, Mister Crazy Man.” Rokuro curled an eyebrow at the ‘burn’ as the other stood defeated. “I’m not much of a conversation guy either. It’s hard enough to adapt back to Japan.”

Rokuro decided that it was not worth going on for another half an hour and 800 or so words on paper and decided to finally return to his main topic. “… Listen. Just go and talk with Pop and try to keep low for a while. No news. No climbing up the Popularity Ranks. Nothing that will make you stand out and remind my Boss that you exist, and I’ll try to cover you from the other end. He will not leave you alone if he decides to put you higher on his priority list.” He tried his best to make it clear to not fuck around and find out and, by the look in Koichi’s eyes, he seems to get it.

“I… Don’t know what your situation is.” Koichi sighed, looking guiltily at the coffee. “To be honest, you’re perhaps the most overpowered dude and I know that whatever you’re stuck into is related to Trigger and other freaky stuff.” He looked back up, locking eyes for a moment. “Just try to survive like you did until now, okay?” He stretched out his hand and the man looked at it with trepidation.

“You’re just a lost cause,” Rokuro complained but still accepted the handshake before getting up. “Try to live a good life, Koichi Haimawari. Sure, as hell some people cannot afford it.” He turned to leave–

“Your name?” Koichi spoke up, confusing him for a second.

“What?”

“What’s your name?” He reiterated. “I think you said it when we fought at the hospital but everything's so blurry about it. Throwing myself around the city and stuff…” He laughed awkwardly and that got a chuckle out of Rokuro.

“Rokuro. Rokuro Nomura… But friends called me Six.” The ones in the Lab did at least.

“Well, Six.” Of course, he’d go to that in one go. “I’m happy to know you’re alive.” He smiled and Rokuro wondered if he thought of this guy as a sworn enemy.

“Alright dude, whatever.” He waved off before leaving the Hero to enjoy his coffee. Getting out in the sun as the dark memories of the Boss and Doc threw him back into the test tube to regrow 90% of his body despite his best attempts to kill himself by the end of the Naruhata Lockdown.

Looking back down at his hand, he flexed his fingers knowing that this was his actual flesh and skin, and not some grafted tissue from the Bombers onto his bones. Whatever mental disposition he was born with has been warped so many times by the experiments, the stress, and the environment around him that he isn’t even sure if he has it anymore now that he thinks of Rokuro Nomura as his ‘real’ identity.

Maybe he was cured. Maybe he found what his true self was always supposed to be… Or maybe it was just his mind clinging onto it for the last bit of sanity after he went through so much, only to be a necromancer back to life.

“What the hell am I thinking? I’m supposed to be a Joker kind of guy.” He laughed before putting on his cap and calling for his Quirks. Overclock made the world slow around him while Explosive Strength made his muscles tense to their limits. Picking a direction, he started running to find the Mini-Boss before he could tell his pops what he saw today.

Ironically, he ended up running past Ingenium, the man paused in time as he was running after some Villains on the streets. With how much his body was augmented from Transfiguration, he gave the man a leg up by tripping the Villain up before going on with his day.

“What a Villain am I, huh?” Rokuro mused in retrospect as he had to function as the eyes and ears of the most dangerous man alive, yet he was trying to protect these people who didn't even know him. “Whatever. I’ve already made up my mind.” He said to himself as he slowed down to human levels of processing to look over the location of every Hero in the area. “If I were a kid obsessed with great Quirks, which Heroes would I go after to see their work? Which hero would I track by foot and electric scooter?”

Mirko and Hawks are nearby but good luck trying to catch up with them. The Lion Hero is not too friendly to question. Combust might be interesting, same with–

The 10-Second Hero is active!

The woman doesn’t even bother with Tokyo with All Might around, so she must be present for some event or a meet-and-greet with the fans. There’s no way the Kid isn’t heading to meet the Hero with the Quirk that even Boss is thirsting over!

Izuku looked in suspicion as the Ranked 21st Hero was holding a charity event to fund orphanages and hospitals at Oumaga Gym, one of the best gyms in Japan, where one of the biggest Heroes in the country trained their Quirks to their maximum.

What got Izuku's main attention, however, was the banner saying that it was a joint effort between the female Hero and Hisui Pharmaceuticals. “Well, that’s interesting…” He muttered, walking along the building as the gym was closed but the private training grounds were opened with rows of seats akin to a small stadium.

After paying for a ticket and walking through the security, he finally got to the main area where more than one Hero was present. The whole thing was more akin to a carnival, with Heroes like Scanner, Lord Hydra, Combust, Electro, and Chainsaw Guy present. Either sparring or brandishing their Quirks with more practical skills.

Chainsaw Guy in particular was cutting through a 5-metre-tall log, trying to chisel through the wood life-sized statues of all Heroes present using his chainsaw arms and the one coming out of his head. He stopped from time to time to make some edgy pose with his tongue out through his jagged teeth. The man was second in the Ranks for the “Heroes that look like Villains” despite how goofy he looked in person.

Going back to his work, Izuku takes notice of the stature that didn’t match any of the present Heroes. A tall and imposing figure dressed in a suit with their arms stretched out behind all the heroes in front. It wasn’t giving off the look that he was hugging them or something like that, but that he was presenting them… much like how this event does. “Really, Dad?” Izuku huffed a small smile growing on his face as he realised that the representation of his father had its head cleanly cut from above the lips, the only feature present being the large smile that the boy had known for all his life. It was an odd piece of art to leave the man faceless or decapitated but Izuku wasn’t much of an artist to comment on it.

He quickly passed by Scanner who was giving some tips on various types of Quirks as the know-it-all expert. The man had a Power that Izuku would die to have, but it had nothing on the exterior to show that it would be worth noting down. Maybe the eyes were glowing yellow but that’s it.

Getting to the ‘arena,’ he was met with what was a Soccer field with the gates replaced with two tents in their place. Soon enough, the music that was playing in the background changed, growing loud enough to cover the crowd and get Izuku to notice.

Soon enough, a person came out of each tent.

Blue, knight-like armour with shoulder guards that looked like the heads of eyeless dragons. The bulky man raised his hands, cheering up the crowd while three metallic snakes revealed the man’s Quirk for the unknowing. Lord Hydra looked like he stole a set of armour from that Berserk Manga and changed it to blue. Still, Izuku couldn’t help but get hyped by his appearance as the Hydra Quirk towered over everyone in its glory.

On the other end, a woman that looked like a mix between a Jester and a Knight –a bit more on the latter part–, doing a series of majestic bows as her head was hidden by the helmet. She took out her broadsword from her hip, showing it to everyone as she integrated into her sword dance. She finished it by swinging the blade over her shoulder and facing the other Hero. “No matter how many times this fowl beast grows its heads, I’ll decapitate them all!!” She announced, raising her free hand to point at Lord Hydra. “I, the 10-Second Hero: Twenty-one, wear this blade!” She swung the blade off her shoulder, grabbing it with both her hands before taking a final fighting stance.

To the side, Scanner pulled out a revolver with what could be assumed to be fake rounds, the *Bang* ringing before the two Heroes ran at each other.

Lord Hydra was the first to get aggressive, the 3 heads turning into 5, then into 7 as they sprung towards Twenty-one with their maws open, ready to take a bite.

All the woman did was laugh, charging at them as they tried to gang up before the clock ticked and multiple riverbed *Booms* were heard. Flashes of light came from between the snakes as her swings did more than some cutting, the paradoxical weight of her sword blasting away every single one of them as the metal tore itself. Some of the pieces headed towards Izuku and the crowd but they disappeared into the ether without the ‘link’ to the main body.

As multiple snakes started to rush her, the booms and ticking grew more intense, the woman flashing like a start as the heads exploded, using their destroyed bodies to climb over them before she was above the man.

“The WORLD is Mine!” She roared the cryptical catchphrase as she disappeared again, seemingly teleporting behind Lord Hydra as the snakes were cut just as they materialised from behind his back. The broadsword quickly went around the man’s neck threatening to slice his throat as the woman would pull the blade into it if he used his Hydras to push her away.

“I give!” He shouted and the sword was moved away, making the male Hero fall to his knees in what Izuku could only assume was a choreographed ‘defeated pose’ for people to take pictures.

Izuku still thought the whole display was so cool, taking pictures with his phone as the woman posed for the cameras.

“You look familiar…” A person spoke before the teen realised that the brothers and Heroes, Electro and Combust were looking at him. “You look like Shigara…” Electro stopped his thoughtless comments as he realised that Izuku had his whole attention. “Sorry for the rambles, kid. You just look a bit familiar.” The man laughed off his intent, but Izuku stared at him in scrutiny, making the man seem even more uncomfortable.

Izuku flipped the switch on his expression, pretending that he had just now realised who the man was. “You’re Electro?!” He exclaimed, the man calming down as the more fanboy side of the teen was let out. “You and your brother are in the top Thirty Heroes! Can I get an autograph?” He asked, paging through the notebook to a blank page. The notes on them are being written on an older volume so he can redo it on this one later.

“Anything for a fan!” Combust continued, picking up the notebook as the two were all fine and dandy now.

Shigara- something … Whoever this person is, it’s enough to make the Heroes worry. Izuku’s palms ached thinking about it, something on the back of his mind telling him that it might be important for his notes. “I wanted to get an autograph from Twenty-one but…” He looked back at the field, the woman waving goodbye as she headed to her tent. “She is really cool!” He added as he thought of her Quirk and how it worked.

The two men looked at each other, Electro taking the notebook and signing it on another page as the brother checked his phone. “We’re supposed to have an autograph session in a bit anyway. You could just place yourself in line for when her tent opens up for fans.” Combust explained but Izuku felt a bit greedy, not wanting to wait and to see the Hero in private.

“But Rokuro told me I can meet her before,” Izuku said, getting the two men’s attention as he tried to give the most innocent look ever.

“If you know Nomura-San…” Electro trailed off like before, sharing a glance with his brother as he returned the notebook. There was an unspoken discussion between them with Combust giving a shrug and glancing at the tent in question.

“If you’re buddies with the crew…. I guess I could have you see her for a bit.” Combust replied to a note shared between the brothers before Electro left, leaving the other to usher Izuku in the opposite direction.

He felt rather smug using Rokuro’s name to pull some ropes. If he said that his Dad owed the Hisui Company, they would have asked for a dome ID and when he gave it, they would have taken their sweet time to check it.

Izuku paged through his notebook to the page with the 10-Second Hero: Twenty-one. He didn’t draw her yet but if he gets a picture with her, he’d have so much detail to go with for a person that doesn’t sit in one place.

That smugness, however, stopped when he was allowed to enter the tent and saw a second person with the Hero. “Boss, this kid says that he’s with Nomura,” Combust said as none other than Hisashi Midoriya, The man’s head moved upwards from his laptop as the white curls moved out of the way to reveal the faded green eyes.

The father and son stared at each other for what felt like an eternity before the man finally spoke. “… You don’t say,” Dad said in the flattest tone and Izuku tried to ignore the looks from Combust and Twenty-One, the latter resting in a chair beside Dad. “And what did this boy provide for identification?” He patiently asked, closing the laptop without breaking eye contact.

Combust stiffened out, placing a hand on Izuku’s shoulder. “We assumed that–”

“We.” Dad hummed. “So, your brother was fooled by this child as well.” The Hero’s grip grows tighter, making Dad frown. “Let go of the boy, it's your fault for being so gullible.”

The hand was quickly moved away, making Combust clear his throat. “So, what am I supposed to do with him, Sir?”

“Well, since he managed to dupe you and your brother… I’d say that you leave my son sitting here with me.” He smirked, making Izuku get even more embarrassed as the Igniting Hero stuttered in shock.

“So, he is related!” Combust protested and Izuku chuckled.

“You were mumbling how I look similar to that Shigara- someone , how couldn’t I jump on that if my Dad’s company was slapped over the marketing material? At least when I mutter, people don’t understand anything.”

The Hero gaped in shock. “You little devil!”

“He’s my kid, what do you expect?” Dad chuckled. “Go and do your job, Combust. Maybe don’t bring a second child claiming that their parent is the President of Japan.” He taunted before the man left, side-glaring at Izuku as the tent closed on itself, giving back the shade.

Izuku turned to his Dad and the Hero who was resting on the seat beside him, both having amused looks on their faces. “Hi…?”

“What did I tell you about trying to fool people, Son?” Dad asked resting his chin in his palm, his ventilator acting up a bit because of it.

“Do not try it if I risk getting caught…” He replied, making the woman burst into laughter.

“Are you teaching your son to be a menace?!” The Hero asked, making the man sigh and Izuku shift uncomfortably. “Don’t answer that. I know you are!” The ticking sound of her Quirk activating echoed, the *Boom* coming from right in front of Izuku as the woman appeared out of thin air, leaning a bit forward to inspect Izuku. “You two aren’t alike at first glance…” She suddenly grabbed Izuku’s chin, making him look into her fiery red eyes. “But those curls and these eyes are the same!” She smirked, the close quarters making him heat up as he let out an awkward laugh.

This was the 10-Second Hero: Twenty-one. Very few people saw the woman’s face because of personal motivation but were forced to look at her slim face, red eyes, and golden-blonde hair, licked back as the upward curls made it look rather spiky.

“Dio, stop teasing my son,” Dad complained, and the woman let go, making Izuku want to bury his head in the ground from how red his face must have been from the encounter.

“He’s adorable!” She added, only making it worse. There was something mumbled between the adults, but Izuku couldn’t make it up for some reason. Twenty-one was just looking cocky as Dad rolled his eyes. “So, these are the notes your kid always takes?” She mused and Izuku realised that his notebook was nowhere in his hands but in the woman’s. Slowly paging through it with a smile. “Aww, you even draw Heroes in it!” She added, cooing over them.

“I tried to teach him whatever is most relevant in this world… some of that advice doesn’t seem to stick–” Izuku flinched at that. “–but he’s alive, happy, and uninjured. I consider it a win so far.” Dad replied as the woman seemed to find her section on the notebook, the man giving her a pen out of the pocket before she signed it up and closed it, resting it on her lap.

For as much as Izuku didn’t want to give his opinion on her Hero costume, Now that her ‘knight’ section of it was taken off from her arms and legs and the helmet was off… Erm… The costume was rather revealing, with her dress only going down to half of the thigh and the decolletage of it was revealing her cleavage a bit… a bit more…

He tried to raise his gaze only to be met with the woman winking at him.

“W-Where’s the rest of your armour?” He asked, trying to not embarrass himself even further as he looked around and saw a crate of sorts with the metallic pieces and the sword on top. Right, that wouldn’t be the most comfortable thing to wear while resting.

“You can try and lift Pluck.” Twenty-one said and Izuku gave her a confused look. She rolled her eyes, and the ticking of her Quirk was heard again, ‘teleporting’ in front of him with the sword already taken. “Here!” She said, stabbing it into the ground so hard that the dirt ploughed to the side. “I didn’t bring the real thing to the event, so if you can take it off the ground, you can keep it!”

Izuku paused, looking at her in shock before his eyes returned to the replica of her blade. The English name of the sword engraved on the base of its blade is ‘PLuck’. The ‘P’ is written in a different style than the ‘Luck’ part.

“I swear Dio, if you keep going with JoJo references, someone will try to sue you for something!” Dad laughed. “But I guess the sword is different enough not to warrant it.”

The woman smiled again, showing her white teeth… and her overgrown canines…?

“Vestigial mutation?” Izuku muttered, granting the woman’s attention as he looked at her teeth, which looked like fangs. “Your Quirk is Time Stop, right? I didn’t think you’d have mutations with it in the set.”

The woman’s smile faded, and Dad started to give his poker face. “Izuku, what did I tell you about commenting on people’s appearances?” This time, Dad was scolding Izuku as the woman closed her mouth shut, turning around as she walked to the seat. He took his notebook back onto her lap as she looked uncomfortable… but that wasn’t by shame it seemed. She’s hiding something– “Izuku!” Dad raised his voice, the man’s annoyance turning into anger as the boy was forced to lower his gaze. “Apologise. Now!”

“I am sorry…” Izuku replied, hating that his curiosity was getting the best of him. He glanced back at his Dad, obviously wanting him to say it louder but the woman stretched a hand to stop him.

“It’s all right. Don’t scold the boy for something you normally do.” Twenty-one sighed, her mood spoiling from the cheery version from before. “I would prefer not to share other details about myself. I keep to myself most of the time with the press, but I can tell you more about my Time Stop.” She offered, lit up the notebook, and stretched it for Izuku to return it.

The teen walked closer, taking back what he owed, and opened it to her page, noting that she signed it as Dio ♡ instead of the Hero Name: Twenty-one. Izuku wasn’t even sure if this was her real name or some nickname of sorts, with only Dad referring to her as such….

“Well… could you first tell me if you somehow manage to stop time or if you’re just accelerating yourself to that speed?” He started and the woman returned some of her happiness.

“It seems like you know the mechanism already.” Twenty-one mused. “Yeah, my Quirk works on the On/Off Mechanism. I flip the switch and suddenly, I feel myself burning like a star and the world suddenly halts. Whenever I turn it on, its sound effects are made with how the air cracks around me. There’s that ticking that happens when I accelerate in steps, I guess, but I never manage to stop it until I go through all of them.”

Izuku’s eyes brightened at the details, picking up the clues as he started to write the notes down. “Wait, so then the ticking is related to how fast you’re getting! It’s like it goes through the gear shifts of a car in moments to reach max speed!”

Twenty-one clapped for him. “Bravo, now how about the *Boom* that’s heard right after?”

“If I go by the car analogy…” Izuku paused, his lips perking up. “Then it would be if the Quirk remained out of gas and pressed the brakes automatically!” A car needs a lot of energy to decelerate, so the Boom must be the Quirk trying to bring the woman back to her normal speed. “And you’re called the 10-second hero because everything only lasts 10 seconds, right?”

“Eleven now. ~” Twenty-one smirked. “My Quirk always gives all or nothing, so using it always acts like a form of training for its rigid requirements.” She paused and Izuku tried his best to extrapolate everything down.

“Okay, but what about how you act in the time stop? You seem to just be breaking through stuff whenever you’re accelerated by it!”

“That’s a bit complicated…” She took the phone to look at the time. “Your father should be able to answer it but wherever we can just delay the autographs for a bit–”

Twenty-one was suddenly cut off as an explosion was heard from the outside. They didn’t even have enough time to react before the sound of something breaking was heard and a figure tore through the tent, rolling as the ground broke and they fell like an asteroid.

“Fuuuck! That hurts even for me!” A familiar voice complained as Twenty-one took her sword out of the ground and threatened to cut the intruder in two. “Wha– Hey hey! It’s me!” The man said, revealing his face and golden-orange as he left his fetal position. “It’s me! Rock! Rokuro!” He begged, the woman staring at him for half a second before plunging the sword into the ground right between his neck and shoulder.

“What the hell made you go that fast?!” Dad shouted, pulling out of the tent to look outside and see the corner of the Oumaga gym’s rooftop being destroyed.

“BOSS?!” Rokuro shouted, looking at Izuku of all people before trying to get back up. “I… was just tryin’ to get to the event on time? Heh…?” The man laughed but Dad looked like he was ready to take out the sword and decapitate the man. “I’m not too late, right?”

Dad gave the most irritated look Izuku had ever seen, taking the queue to hide behind Twenty-one and pretending like the woman didn’t look at him funny.

“You’re not even supposed to be here!! I sent you to deal with intel all month, so I don’t have to meet with that aloof blonde! What the hell did you smoke to think that it would even be a good idea to crash-land during an event I prepared to announce that I open a Hero Agency in Japan?!?”

“You’re what?” Izuku blurted out, the female Hero moving away for cover as the father and son stared at each other.

“I– Oh, damn it!” Dad groaned, face palming as his hand slid down his face. “The Laws are different here than are in the US. Rokuro can work as a proxy for the Security Agency. I have to guard my company there. But if I want to expand, I need to conform to Japan's Hero laws. I was supposed to announce that Dragon’s Hoard Hero Agency will open in Japan with all the Heroes present here as its employees!!” he explained, looking more exasperated as he glanced outside at the scared people and trail from Rokuro’s crash. “Open a Hero Agency close to my Japanese Headquarters and research facilities and have no one complain as the Heroes still do their job while they are first responders to any security alarms!”

Izuku paused to process what was said before he realised that Combust and Electro, Lord Hydra and Scanner, and Twenty-one are all High-Ranking Heroes that have operation centres close to each other. “… You just bought off a few of the best self-reliant Heroes for yourself.” He realised as the woman hummed.

“I haven’t decided if I want to join yet.” Twenty-one replied. “He was still trying to haggle with me before you showed up.”

“Less talk about the morality of me using late-stage capitalism as a tool for everything, and more calming down people from Rokuro being a moron!!” Dad complained as the woman smirked, walking to grab her helmet before leaving the tent. As it turns out, Twenty-one’s helmet had a speaker integrated inside, telling the people to calm down as Scanner tapped into the speaker systems of Oumaga Gym, doing the same thing.

Rokuro also rushed outside, trying to comfort people as he seemed to trip over himself, probably using most of his speed to pull the stunt that brought him here in the first place.

Izuku was left with his Dad in the shadows, watching everything slowly calming down as the boy’s palms still ached. “… When did you intend to tell me about the Hero Agency?” He asked and Dad looked down at him.

“… I don’t know.” He sighed. “When was it open? When did you get One For All? Not at all?” He shook his head, going to the still intact seats, gesturing for Izuku to sit beside him. After a few moments of shuffling and getting comfortable, Dad spoke again. “Izuku, you’re a good child, but what I’m doing is rarely because of the goodness of my heart. I do good things only because it’s convenient for me. You have a sense of morality that I simply do not have.”

“What does that have to do with you opening a Hero Agency?”

“Because I didn’t open it to help people,” Dad replied. “I have it because I like to have good and trained security to protect what I own. Those people work as Heroes, not necessarily because they are martyrs that want to help people, but because it’s a well-paid profession that allows them to retire early.” He placed a hand on Izuku’s shoulder. “I don’t say that they won’t help someone in need if they don’t get paid, but they are more concerned about their paycheck, something that I can provide.”

“So, you just assume that I wouldn’t have thought that they are good Heroes because they work for money?” Izuku asked and the man froze. “Dad, I know that I’m a teen and stuff, but I realise that Heroes don’t work for free, or that they act more like celebrities than actual saviours. That’s something that you taught me from a young age!” He said, poking the man in the chest.

“I…” He looked away. “Sometimes I forget that you’re that much like me. Always looking for information and dissecting everything for your interest too. I guess that seeing you always interested in Heroes makes me forget that.”

“How would you forget that your son is like you?” Izuku asked, giggling at the idea, but Dad had a bitter smile.

“Maybe I’m just getting too old.” He moved his hand away, looking outside as Izuku’s eyes followed his. “I left you for 5 years straight, Son. I think I’m still afraid that you’d look at me the same way Inko does. A stranger under the rooftop that I paid for…”

Izuku wanted to protest but realised that it wouldn’t help his father. He knew his parents hadn’t seen each other eye to eye since Dad returned. He just hoped that things would blow away and turn better as time passed.

Instead, Dad just decided not to come home after the third day, sleeping at a Hotel by Izuku’s guess while Mom pretended like the man didn’t exist anymore. “… Will you two ever get back together?” He asked, hoping that his guess would be wrong.

Dad just shook his head. “Sometimes people just stop loving each other, Izuku. Inko and I weren't doing better even before I had to leave.” He looked up, gazing at the top of the tent. “Neither can you force them to love you again, that would just make things worse.” He added, making Izuku wonder what was that about but deciding that it was best not to ask this time.

For now, Izuku just looked at the 10-Second Hero’s sword. His palms ached as he wanted to try his luck and pull it out of the ground from where Rokuro landed. “If I take that out, I can have Rokuro carry it over home, right?” he asked, looking at Dad who had an equally mischievous smile.

“It would be funny to see him try to get that on a train home.” 

That was all that Izuku needed to hear before getting up and heading to the sword reaching up to his chest, smiling as he looked at the base. “This is no Excalibur.” He snickered, grabbing the sword out the hilt and pulling it on an angle with the blade. The thing was very heavy, but if he was smart…

Hanging with all his weight, the teen turned the sword out of the ground, sidestepping the problem of strength and weight and using it as a lever to uproot it.

He accidentally fell onto his ass but that didn’t matter as Dad laughed, picking it up with one hand and using the other to help him get up. “Not bad, Izuku.” He added, throwing it over his shoulder like it was nothing. “Let’s go eat something. I can deal with Dio playing hard to get later.” He said before the two of them left the tent and the man shamelessly pushed the sword into Rokuro’s hands, the man looked winded from whatever he’s been doing all day. “You’re going to pay for that from your salary!” Dad threatened, pointing at the rooftop as Izuku still didn’t understand how that would happen for a guy stuck to the ground.

With that, the father and son left, not caring what the Heroes would do for the next hour or so.

Inko was in the kitchen with Yagi-San, drinking her tea as she had to consider the concerns the man was bringing about her son. “So, you’re saying that Hisashi might be a bad influence on Izuku.” She summarised and the man solemnly nodded.

“To be honest about the subject, Midoriya-San, I tried to get in contact with the man and meet face to face for a month straight and I had no success. He just prefers to talk over the phone.” He sighed, slowly sipping his tea as he looked at the cup. “To be entirely honest, I tried to even be a bit unorthodox and try to cross paths with him but no luck with that either. By this point, I’m half tempted to believe he has someone that teleports him every time.”

Inko nodded, the notion of her husband throwing money at a problem until it’s gone wasn’t that alien to her. “He’s always been an indifferent person. Being away from Izuku might have been a good thing in the end.” There were phone calls, but how much could the two have talked over the phone for Hisashi to make her son think like him?

“I am certain that you did well to raise Young Midoriya on your own.” Yagi smiled, making her smile too. “Considering that Hisashi Midoriya is so… distrustful. It makes me believe that he also got his good heart from his other parent.”

She laughed at that. “No, that’s entirely Izuku’s thing. I’d never have the courage to even try and become a Hero.”

“Perhaps, but I guess that’s more about courage. A good person always had a kind heart!” He continued, making Inko wonder if he was trying to make her feel better about her husband… or maybe flatter her.

“Well, I already tried to give you as much detail about Hisashi.” He said, regaining her composure. “What you got about his company is more than I know and when it comes to the man himself. All I can tell you is that he’s usually more indifferent to the present and always thinking ahead.”

“Almost like the present will leave the next second,” Yagi mumbled and Inko thought about it for a second. “I am sorry, I was just thinking out loud.”

“No! No, it’s all right… That describes him rather well. He plans long-term so when something happens, he just gets happy as he writes up his check mark on it. I guess that’s what happens when he is more absorbed in his work than anything else.” She lamely said, thinking about how he came back like nothing ever happened. “He… just left for five years and returned like nothing happened.” And she was so bitter about it. “Hisashi just unlocked the door, said hi, and moved on like she didn’t leave us for half a decade!”

Suddenly she found her hand held by someone. “And I can only assume that you tried your best to get over it, Midoriya-San,” Yagi said, trying to reassure Inko as she felt her eyes tear up. “I am not familiar with these kinds of problems in my line of work, but I am a… secretary for All Might to help people.”

Inko wiped her tears with her free hand. “Thank you, Yagi-San.”

“You can call me Toshinori if you want to.” He said Inko needed a double take, seeing the sheepish look on his face. “I promised young Midoriya that I will help him become a Hero. I cannot be so short-sighted and ignore that some of his problems might come from other places.” He explained, warming her heart for the concern towards her son.

“Y-You can call me Inko too.” She said a bit more sheepishly. “I don’t see why we need to be so formal if we need to talk about Izuku’s progress so much.”

The man –Toshinori– nodded and their hands parted ways, finishing their tea while Inko’s heart was filled with a sense of guilt and relief.

What for?

She doesn’t seem to know it yet.

Chapter Text

 The Doctor was in the deeper areas of the Main Lab, his Master right beside him as they stared at what should have been a heavily tinted glass that was. As of 5 minutes, shining so hard that the men needed welding masks.

“The yield seems more promising than before,” Sensei mumbled, holding a tablet with a barely visible screen. It’s not like it mattered since the man was hooked to it using Radio Waves like it was a Bluetooth extension. “Go further!” He shouted as the man on the other side of the glass didn’t seem so pleased.

“Boss, I’m literally dyin’ here!” Six protested but the luminosity was still rising as the Doctor had to look away. “How much longer?”

“T-Minus 45 seconds!” He explained as the silence went on the Doctor was given the tablet and started to look over the vitals and specs of the Regeneration given to Six this time around. Sensei’s choice of salvaging Experiment Number 6 was perhaps the greatest.

Regeneration was brought to their experiments via Number 2, but the girl met her untimely end as her durability wasn’t enough to aid her rather slow Quirk. Number 6, however, was flexible enough to adapt and survive.

Default-, Greater-, Mega-, Super-, and now Hyper-Regeneration. This was perhaps the perfect form of the Quirk as Self-Detonation and Bombify resulted in the best cycle of destruction and self-repair needed for the final stage of this masterpiece.

Without staring at the living star that was Six, the three-quarters of a minute went without notice as Sensei entered the testing room with the Doctor right behind, grimacing at the overheated air as he waited in the doorframe. “Good work, Nomura, we’ll be able to tweak this Quirk to create a new version of it.”

“Yeah yeah… I am your wad of clay… puppet… whatever…” He panted as the shining yellow of Equip and Storage put back on their clothes. Sensei’s Freezing Quirk and Propagate forcefully cool him down and avoid flash freeze. “So, what now?”

“Now…” Sensei’s grip tightened as he extracted the adapted Regeneration. “Now we prepare for War Six. All Might, The Heroes, everyone will be forced to listen to me when I am done preparing.”

Six scoffed but didn’t say anything else as he got back up, staggering on his feet as he got to the Doctor and passed by him. “I’m taking my week off. Have Kuro do the dirty jobs as I recover.” He said, fumes still coming off him, the sound of bone cracking was heard as he was readjusting his body.

“Do you ever wonder if we broke him too much?” The Doctor asked while Sensei went to the closest Nomu tank.

“We stitched out Six since he was a child, my Friend. I would dare say that this version of him is more ‘whole’ than he ever was.” The man hummed as he touched the glass, the Nomu inside starting to twitch. “Tell me, Doctor. Could we unload the Quirks from the Upper-Grade Shock Absorbent Nomu and place them into Him?”

“… I guess we never made great use of His martial prowess.” Garaki chuckled as he tapped the console, the Code Name ‘Hood’ appearing on top of it. “Let me guess, Rough Body?”

“Hm… Not Quite.” Sensei reached for the console, tapping the touch screen as a list of Quirks was displayed.

Estimated Quirk Limit for ‘Hood’ (6):

• Heavy Payload
• Hyper Regeneration
• Physical Peak
• Radio Waves
• Sharp Response
• Shock Absorption

“Cutting it a bit tight, but he should be able to handle it if Hyper Regeneration should be stabilising everything.”

“Is there any rush?” Kyudai asked, smiling under his moustache as the ‘Pawn’ never had such a fitting set-up before.

“Take your time, Friend.” All for One patted him on the back before leaving the Doctor to his work. “All Might is bleeding like a moron and training Izuku Midoriya as his successor.” His laugh echoed through the Laboratory, some of the experiments twitching as their subconscious still recognised the voice of their master. “Even if the boy doesn’t get One for All, we still get the necessary information on All Might and his limits. We’re one dead Mirio Togata away from making sure that the Blonde Fool won’t be having any other successor!”

And with that, the Symbol of Evil was gone, leaving the Doctor to do what he knew best.

Now where is Jhonny to warp his necessary bodies to start testing out the procedure?

Izuku was in one of the Gyms in UA, slowly circling Nejire-Chan as she paradoxically stood there. Menacingly.

“If you’re not going to attack, it’s still a loss on your part.” She said and Izuku begrudgingly ran at her. The girl didn’t even have a fighting stance as he tried to throw a straight punch, but she suddenly leaned forward, dodging his punch as he was suddenly hit in the stomach himself.

Izuku fell to his knees, clutching at his stomach as the girl hit him in the solar plexus. “How are you so accurate with your punches?” And kicks. And jabs. And swiping him off his feet the moment he loses his balance for even a second.

“Did you think that it would be easy because I’m a girl?” She asked while stretching out a hand to help him. For how bad it sounded, Izuku learned that there wasn’t any hard feeling behind any of her questions.

“No. I thought you’d suck at hand-to-hand because your Quirk can act like a mid-range barrier.” He explained, finally getting back up thanks to her as he was still hurting. “I study the Quirks of Heroes. Find a counter and they are just as hopeless as a Quirkless person.”

“Isn’t that too big of an assumption?”

“No?” Izuku gave her an odd look. “Endeavour, Hawks, Best Jeanist, Edgeshot, Crust, you name them, and their fighting Skill starts and ends with their Quirks.”

“What about All Might?”

“He’s a Dumb Brute that uses speed and raw power. Outside of the use of air pressure in his punches’ aftereffects, he’s nothing without… his…” Izuku turned around and saw a figure that shouldn’t have been there.

Male. Tall and lanky, 200-ish centimetres. Glasses. Dark green hair with yellow streaks. Grey-ish White dress suit. “To think that All Might would encourage a trash talker to become his… a Hero.” Crap. Why is All Might’s sidekick here?! Without any prompting, the man was suddenly in front of Izuku, towering over him as he reminded the boy when his own Dad would pull the same thing. “I keep pleading to him to aid Mirio, but it seems that my requests have fallen on deaf ears.”

The man suddenly reached for Izuku, but he had more than enough experience with Quirks to duck away, seeing the man pause and process the move. “Touch-activation. Huh?” Izuku muttered, the man taking a more reserved pose as Nejire moved to the side too, a curious look in her eyes. “How did you get in here? You aren’t a UA alumnus to have a quick entry. Yagi and Torino didn’t say anything about a guest either…” He looked at the door where a blonde guy stood there, an amused smile as he held his arms crossed.

Potential person for ‘Mirio’. Nighteye’s change of subject might mean that he also knows about OFA and its secret. The simplest conclusion is that Izuku wasn’t the only candidate for a ‘Successor’.

The Ex-Sidekick sighed. “At least you’re cautious…” He reached into his suit and pulled out… stamp seals. The man moved one in his free hand, and something told Izuku that there might be something dangerous about them. “Izuku Midoriya, correct? I was called by the virtue of Principal Nedzu. For as much as I want to discuss with All Might and his albeit questionable choices. I am here via a request.”

“You don’t say…” Izuku looked at the camera that tilted to record right in the middle of the two people. “So what? He thinks that I’m not worthy of All Might’s ‘sponsorship’?” He questioned but the man kept silent.

So, was it the opposite? A test maybe?

Unfortunately, the boy didn’t have enough time to think things through as Nighteye pressed the back of the stamp, and then the sigil side flashed red for a second. “Shit!” The man suddenly threw the thing and Izuku jumped out of the way, the spring-matted floor broke as the object shredded through it.

“I had a hard time thinking about criteria, but if you manage to touch, steal, or break my glasses, you get a pass from me and Nedzu about your capabilities under pressure.” Sir Nighteye said, opening his other hand to reveal 4 more of those seals.

Izuku stared dumbfounded as he realised that the Rat had a whole other agenda from All Might. “You do realise that Nedzu is using you, r-right?”

The man shrugged. “It’s a win-win for me.” Why is he taking a pitcher position? “You have 3 minutes. The test starts… now!” FUCK!

All Izuku’s hair started to rise as he ducked under the throw, only having a moment to look back as he realised that there was a giant crater inside the wall of the gym.

He was suddenly moving away from the man, needing a moment to think as the man was tossing a seal in the air and catching it back down. Sir Nighteye was opting to sit in the middle as the unconventional test had begun. Okay… Might as well do something out of it than have Nedzu be pissed at him.

“Touch related Quirk. Small objects create unreasonable destruction… Density Manipulation? Energy Release?” Or a support item. Izuku eyed the crater in the wall, the seal still wedged in concrete as it gave him an idea. He started to slowly walk towards the hole in the wall, seeing the man ready for another throw which made Izuku smirk. “Defending something?” Izuku taunted. “If it was your Quirk’s effect, you’d have deactivated them remotely and that would have been it.”

“Oh! He’s clever!” The ‘Mirio’ guy said as Nejire was now next to him. “Be careful, Sir, Nejire still hasn't figured out his Quirk!”

The Hero had a neutral face, not answering the teen’s warnings, but still took a lower position. His eyes trained on Izuku.

Too bad that Izuku was already next to the hole in the wall and far enough to react to the man throwing something at him. The seal was positioned just the right way for Izuku to press the back of the seal as the wall started to crack, allowing him to pull it out.

He let out an ‘oomph’ as the thing was deceptively heavy. Pressing the back of it again, it went extremely light. “Can’t be a Hero without a Quirk my ass. His ex-sidekick has miniature cannonballs in his inner pockets…”

“Two minutes left, Midoriya!” Nejire said and Izuku stared at the Hero again. How is he supposed to take on someone who’s a glorified veteran when it comes to tactical prowess?

…

Well… If thinking as a Hero doesn’t work…

Izuku ran towards Nighteye, prompting the man to tense up, preparing to throw another seal the boy smiled. Seeing Izuku go under two of them, the lower posture meant a ‘lowball’ which Izuku jumped over, rolling in front as he got to the first crater and picking up the first seal. “Nejire!” Izuku shouted as Nighteye prepared the 4th seal as the girl perked up. “Don’t move!” He instructed as he pressed the back of the seal Nighteye realised what was going on. “Heroes always prioritise rescue!” He smirked, throwing the absurdly dense object at his training buddy as the ‘victim’.

“You damned brat!” Sir Nighteye cursed, trying to get in the way of the attack but Izuku didn’t care, preparing the second seal. “Girl, move!” Nejire stood like a statue as Izuku’s gamble worked. Imminent doom flew at her as the ‘Mirio’ jumped in front and tanked the hit for her.

The green-haired boy laughed as he threw the second seal at his original target, the Hero not having enough time to dodge as he made eye contact with the projectile right before it domed him in the head, sending him to the floor as the glasses flew off his head. “You Heroes always have that innocence in you.” Izuku mocked, casually walking closer as he was in front of the toppled Nighteye. His eyes unfocused without the glasses but he most definitely heard the crunch of Izuku stepping on them, breaking the frame and cracking the lens. “It’s so easy to manipulate it…” We walked closer, kneeling in front of the man as he grabbed the Super Dense Seal from the man’s hand. “… Especially when you have a Selfless Successor in the room to take the hit.” He whispered, his smile growing wider as the Hero looked at him like Izuku was a ghost.

Izuku got up, stepping over Sir Nighteye as he headed to the exit. Glancing at the blonde boy before giving his goodbyes to Nejire-Chan and leaving. Once in the hallway, he was met with Nedzu. “Not quite what I expected.” He commented and Izuku shrugged.

“It was easier than baiting him into using all the seals and throwing one at the end.”

“So, you did think about it!” Nedzu remarked. “Is there a reason why you had chosen the more violent version?”

“Because the other would have gotten me hurt?” Izuku replied like it wasn’t obvious. “You sent him because he had a vendetta from Mirio not being ‘sponsored’ by All Might.” He threw the seal in the air and caught it on the way back. “I lack training and experience. He would have knocked the lights out of me if he was serious, so I needed him to lose focus.”

Nedzu didn’t seem satisfied with the answer by the way his tail moved. “So, you’d use a Villain’s friend as collateral if it means catching them in the end?” Izuku stopped playing with the stamp, staring down at the Principal of UA as he realised where he was hinting at. “Midoriya. You have a good heart but your… pragmatic way to deal with things might be efficient but not necessarily right .” He walked past Izuku, leaving the boy with an odd sensation in his chest.

He… never thought of the “right thing” before; He only ran after what he wanted as Dad taught him.

Izuku looked down at the seal, contemplating his choices before turning around to the gym. “Hey… Mirio, right? Sorry for pulling that dirty move on you and Nighteye–”

Himiko listened to Midoriya’s story as they agreed to meet. “So, you stole a sponsorship and the principal wanted to teach you about side casualties?”

“Pretty much.” He sighed, passing a Cherry smoothie to Himiko as he still looked sad. “I don’t know how to act ‘normal’ or ‘nice’. I’ve always been the odd one since I had my obsession with Quirks and trinkets.” He took out the said seal in the story only to prove his point. “How does it even increase its mass? The creation and deletion of energy has something to say to it if it’s not made with a Quirk.”

“Well, it’s not like I know what normal is either.” She replied and Midoriya suddenly looked up at her.

“Your ‘normal’ is different from mine.” He cryptically said, making Himiko tilt her head in confusion. “Quirks removed the ‘baseline’ normal. I’m Quirkless, yet I’m far from normal… Or at least I think that people before Quirks weren’t like this.” He started to flex his hands, making Himiko wonder what was with that habit before he continued. “Whatever. You need supplements in the form of blood and extra calories to function.”

Himiko opened her mouth to comment but decided to sip on her smoothie instead.

“Am I wrong?” Midoriya asked, annoying her how observant he was as he raised an eyebrow.

“It doesn’t matter.” Himiko tried to not look at him.

“It does enough to upset you.” He persisted, making her purse her lips on the straw.

She regretted going out in the city with him, her mind still flashing to Saito every time she looked at him. “It just doesn’t make sense.” She muttered and the boy seemed to have heard it. “All the time I was with my family, they said that I’ll never be accepted because I’m not ‘normal’.”

“And they were proven wrong.” He said with confidence, making her more upset.

“But it still doesn’t make sense!” She complained, making Midoriya look worried. Concerned? “I thought that I needed to drink with the people around me. I’ll have to ask them for it, but I’m just given blood from someone that I never met.”

“You do realise that the blood Rokuro-San brought you is lab-grown, right?” Himiko’s face fell at that. “What? It’s been 70 years since we grew blood for transfusions.”

It took all Himiko’s will not to scream at that moment. “I thought it would have been something special!” She whined, shaking her drink out of frustration. “ Oh, you can try and drink my blood if you want! But they would never get back to it. Ever! Anan mentioned it the day I met you at UA, but I just feel bad to ask her again when she’s taking care of me. I went from thinking that people won’t accept me the way I am to… to– I don’t know what to think anymore!” She complained, looking at Midoriya expecting to just look appalled but…

“I guess I kind of know how it feels.” He looked down at his drink, a different kind of sadness on his face. “When people hear that I’m Quirkless, they disregard me like I have nothing to give to the world. When I was little, my once childhood friend started to call me Deku as in ‘Dekunobu’. Some hopeless marionettes to be tugged by its strings.” He sighed, adjusting his grip on the container. “I know it’s a bit shitty, but Dad taught me to “hold myself to higher regard” and stuff. I just look like a smartass, but I at least get the respect I wanted despite having nothing special about me.”

Himiko looked at him for a long moment, wondering how similar the two of them were. “I don’t think you’re a smartass.” She blurted out. “I mean, sure, you sometimes act overconfident, but you never seem to be wrong about what you say. People are just mad that you are right about them.” Himiko tried to ignore that she was also offended by Midoriya snooping about her Quirk at first but knowing him better, he’s not a bad person in the slightest.

“I…” Midoriya looked at her. A slight blush on his face. “T-Thanks Himiko –Toga! Thank you, Toga-Chan!” He said, getting flustered and making Himiko giggle.

“But I think that’s something that makes you so quirky, Izuku-Kun.” She said, waiting to see if he responded to his given name.

He seemed to be hesitant at first, but he seemed to slowly smile. “Well, you are someone interesting too, Himiko-chan.” His face was getting so red, that he almost looked like a tomato. “Erm… How about we go already?” He tried to deflect, grabbing Himiko by her hand as he dragged her along, making her laugh as she took note of the sensation of holding Izuku’s hand.

She could feel a tingle of sorts while following him, making her feel a bit fuzzy as she tried to keep up with him. For as odd as Izuku was, he was still a nice person and Himiko found herself attracted to him.

As they were mixing with the crowd and almost dropping their half-drunk slushies, neither was aware that an explosive blonde was looking at them from a distance.

Rokuro stepped into the empty Bar, the owner nodding to him as he closed the door behind him. “You look like you need a drink.” Sakiro Tabikura –Kurogiri– said as a swirl of fog manifested itself on the island.

Rokuro took a seat at the bar stools, the warper brandishing a bottle of tequila as he was mixing up a cocktail for him. “Shitty fucking experiments…” Six mumbled while Kuro pushed the glass. “Why do I always have to act as the lab rat?” He raised the glass to his lips, pulling his hand back as he let the chocolate-brown drink pour down his mouth, stinging his tongue like hell. “They have enough corpses for that!”

“Maybe because the corpses aren’t so responsive to Regeneration,” Kuro said, his fog dissipating from his body being only the two of them. “At least your lightning style will be perfected with this.”

Rokuro stood silent, looking at the last drops of liquid in his glass as he started to swirl it. “… How’s Tenko? He graduated from UA in February, right?”

“He got hired by Hatsume-Tech in early March and now it’s the…” Kurogiri paused, taking out his phone from under the counter as the fog finally dispersed, allowing Rokuro to see his pale-white skin, puffy hair the same dark-purple colour as his fog, and shining yellow eyes as he stared in surprise. “4th of July already?”

“Hm?” Rokuro lazily looked at the warper, the alcohol numbing him as the ache from his Quirks was growing distant. “What? You have a date or somethin’?”

“No, but Izuku’s birthday is soon enough.” Kuro sighed, his fog trickling from under his collar in annoyance. “Things started to rush past me recently. You blink and the entire month is already gone!” He explained, filling up Rokuro’s glass which the speedster was grateful for.

“Well, the Mini-Boss has been training at UA for the entire time. He also got a gym buddy from the second year from what it seems.” Nejire Hadu? Hado? It wasn’t that important to Rokuro how many times he met with the kid to help him with the notebook drawings. Her Quirk, Wave Motion, was the only important thing. It’s a B-Grade Quirk for now, let’s see if it gets to an ‘A’ by the time she gets to graduate. “So, where’s Tenko now? I kind of want to talk to him about–” His words were interrupted by an explosion past the Bar’s kitchen and presumably into the house itself.

“Is that a good enough answer?” Kuro said, his tone amused despite looking deadpan.

Rokuro sighed, getting off his stool and circling about. He got the second glass of tequila before waltzing through the place. Boss bought off the entire building for Kuro and Tenko, so there were no complaints about the explosions during the day or disturbances during the evenings and nights.

Getting past the kitchen that’s been more used for the residents than any clients, Rokuro found himself in the living room of the Sakiro-Shimura household. The place was mostly chill, The Quirk that helps Kuro warp around has a side effect of seeing every minute detail, so the man tends to clean around 24/7; An endless task considering his “adopted brother” and housemate.

Once the faint smell of smoke hit Rokuro’s nose, he knew that the goddamn 19-year-old mad scientist was up to no good. He went deeper into the house until he got to a sliding door that didn’t fit with any of the house's aesthetics. “Are you alive inside?” He shouted but got nothing before sliding the door open, seeing the smoke hang in the air as the window was now wide open, a fan pointing at it to try and vent out the polluted air. “Is there battery acid in the air or am I just that drunk already?” Rokuro was suppressing his liver so the drinks could poison him, but it shouldn’t be that bad.

“Huh?” A figure with leather gloves, protective glasses, and a respirator mask turned around from the workbench, leaning over a bit as the plastic of the headgear seemed to be covered in soot. “Six? What’s with you here?”

“Burning my lungs, it seems.” He complained as the person raised his glasses and pulled the mask under the chin, revealing a mostly intact Tenko with his hair turned grey from whatever explosion happened.

“Err… Sorry.” He said, looking back at his ruined project, then finally remembering what he was doing. Pulling a chair close and pushing it to roll towards Rokuro. “My latest project is kind of a mess. Compressium doesn’t love it when you try to use it as a conductor and shock absorbent at the same time.”

“Wait– Compressium? Whose organs did you sell to get some of–” He started to cough out his lungs before raising his shirt to cover his mouth from inhaling all those particles. “–Some of that!”

“I know a guy that knows a guy that can make some if I bring him materials.”

“And is that guy part of the Yakuza perhaps?”

“You know Chisaki?!”

“Of course, I know Kai Chisaki! He’s a weapons manufacturer!” For as much as Boss wants that Quirk, there’s just too much of a skill ceiling for anyone to learn the Quirk as an adult. You must grow up with Overhaul to get a good grasp on it. “Doc also sold him some of our old equipment, so he has a debt to pay with some commissions.” The stuff is decades old but it's still a century ahead of what current medicine can do.

“Oh.” That was hella anticlimactic but whatever. “So can Sensei get me more of it for cheaper?”

“Depends on what you’re baking here.” He replied and Tenko perked up as Rokuro pushed himself closer to the workbench, finding the drawer with respirators while at it he put one on.

“Okay, as a side note. This isn’t exactly compressium.” He said before pointing at the mess of molten metal which caused Rokuro to give a “no shit” look. “Right… I had it a bit more, uh , malleable? The idea is that the original structure of the compressium is just too sturdy so it either folds over itself, takes the hit, or breaks. I try to make something that stretches the limits between the door break part so all that potential energy from a hit is tanked and absorbed.”

“A Shock Absorbent Plating?” Rokuro asked and Tenko nodded eagerly. That… sounded eerily close to the Quirk Sensei loads into Hood. “How close are you to figuring it out?”

“If I had the right materials, maybe a week or two?” He picked up a screwdriver and tried to lift the molten section, revealing the underneath that seemed to be mostly alright if not for the upper section being shattered. “My best guess is that it doesn’t have a place to store the kinetic energy turned heat. I hit it with a sledgehammer, started to grow and shine a bit, but then it exploded!” Tenko was getting annoyed, starting to scratch his neck with the leather glove. “I think I can sandwich it. Genuine compressuim on top, my absorbent alloy in the middle, then the circuitry and isolation beneath. The problem is how do I release all that energy out? I cannot assemble a power plant beneath it either.”

“You can’t or do you not have the money?” Rokuro asked, prompting his friend to look back at him with an unreadable look.

“How much and when do you want it ready?”

“Dude. I don’t eat or drink; all I need is rest and my Quirks let me bounce back up the next day.” He placed a hand on Tenko’s shoulder. “Do I seem like I have anything to spend my Hitman and Intel Gatherer salary on?”

“One weapon of mass destruction by next week!”

“Slap a deadly laser as the output while at it.” He laughed, getting off his chair before his eyes landed on a storage display. “Right. I came here for something. Is the Thirteen’s new Hero costume?”

“Yep.” Tenko got onto the now vacant chair putting his glasses back on despite them being ruined. “She told me that you roasted the hell out of her, so I’m finally allowed to make it practical.”

“Huh. Neat… Do you still have that crush on her?” Rokuro asked and Tenko almost fell off his chair.

“I-I never had a crush on her!”

“Says the guy that almost dropped to the floor at its mention.” Rokuro jabbed, making the guy grip the table as the glove disintegrated, and cracks started to appear at his touch. “I’m more interested in the kid she’s taking care of. Himiko has a Quirk that vibes like mine a little.” He most certainly knows the feeling of wanting to be someone else to the point of identity theft.

“So what? You want to adopt her or something?” Tenko said, pulling his hand away from his Quirk.

“Pff! Maybe if I wasn’t such a mess myself!” Rokuro replied, smiling under his respirator. “But I do want to help her a little. Quirk or not, I’m the King of The Identity Crisis!” It wasn’t a joke but it’s not like he wanted to talk about it now.

Tenko finally seemed to get back to his feet, grimacing at his Quirk misfire more than at his failed experiment as they both looked at the mock-up of a space helmet, the black glass reflecting a distorted image of themselves.

Transfiguration and Disguise. Decay and Black Hole.

Sometimes similar Quirks find each other.

Chapter Text

Toshinori stood in one of the many rooms for the students' recreation. This one had more things in common with a broom closet but that wasn’t the important thing now.

“– And this is where my agreement with Nedzu went.” Sir Nighteye, Mirai Sasaki, said as he placed his cup down. Torino grunted from the end of the coffee table as the Hero and his Ex-Sidekick stood in front of each other. “Izuku Midoriya is… Hmm…” He pressed his glasses closer to his eyes, the light reflecting oddly and hiding them. “He’s perceptive. I can give him that.”

“To think the zygote got a feel for your Quirk’s trigger so fast,” Torino said and Toshinori thought of what Inko mentioned about the boy’s hobby. “It even gave me the creeps when he found my Jet is related to my breathing.”

“It’s mostly innocent.” Toshinori tried to deflect. “Young Midoriya always had a fascination with Heroes and their Quirks. It’s his way to look up to them.”

Torino sighed. “I guess it’s at least useful. Too many newbies get taken out by some one-shot ability they didn’t see coming.”

Toshinori nodded eagerly. “Exactly! The boy also seems to be half-decent at reading a person’s body language. It would be an invaluable skill in a Hero’s arsenal.”

“Or a Villain’s,” Mirai mumbled, making the Number One Hero give him the side-eye. “… Anyway. Are you certain that Midoriya is the one? You didn’t even meet with Mirio to give him a chance.”

“You mean a smiling blonde that dropped his pants on international TV once every year?” Torino asked and the other Hero gave a flabbergasted look. “Yeah… Toshi doesn’t need to see Togata to know it’s a carbon copy of All Might’s public image.”

“One that doesn’t seem to work that well anymore,” Toshinori admitted, knowing that since the injury, the mental image of All Might being nigh-omnipresent all over the country was starting to fade. “Young Midoriya doesn’t even regard All Might as something special after he learned of One For All.”

“That seems rather ungrateful for someone who’s meant to inherit that Power,” Mirai argued, and the older man shook his head.

“I’ll have to give it to Midoriya. I was a natural with One For All.” Much to Nana’s saltiness that he never broke a bone in training. “And my fighting style isn’t that special. I am mostly using grapple tactics since I have more than enough speed, strength, and durability to deal with anything.” Despite that, the Hero still gave a small smile. “But he was still impressed by my handling of air pressure.” Something that Toshinori is proud of developing in the United States.

Mirai didn’t seem satisfied but it’s not like this situation was in his control. “Very well, might as well try to build him up into something passable.” He declared, giving a steeled look like he was about to go to war as Toshinori slowly blinked back.

“And when did I agree on that?” Toshinori asked, making the mood turn awkward as they stared at each other.

“… Do you?”

“No.”

“Okay… Where’s Midoriya to ask him personally?” He said without the slightest bit of shame.

“Mirai, the boy already has me and Torino as mentors, a third one is overkill–”

The speaker in the corner of the room crackled to life. “I already intended to Tutor him, so deal with it.” Nedzu’s voice came over, reminding everyone that he has ears in every room.

“The more the merrier,” Mirai added, getting up. “Nedzu, could you arrange a meeting with Izuku Midoriya? I can most definitely bring him in with information on how to run a proper investigation.”

“Okay, let’s jump the horse,” Toshinori spoke louder than normal, glancing around to see if there was some hidden camera. “I was the one that found the kid. At least give me the time to settle a foundation for him. All that investigative training and talk about his Hero persona can come up later.”

Mirai kept quiet as he leaned back onto the couch and, from the lack of quips from the speaker, Nedzu seemed to be satisfied with this path too.

“Then I guess one question remains,” Torino grunted. “When is the brat going to get One For All? It’s not like we have a time goal with Takoba Beach dealt with by a cleaning crew paid by Midoriya. The boy is already cut from all that Gym Training too.”

Toshinori shrugged. “Somewhere in between the written and practical exam, probably.”

“So, a month to learn how to use OFA?” Nedzu asked the speakers again. “All Might, are you certain that is enough?”

It was already hard enough to guess what the Rodent usually means face to face. The disembodied voice was making things only worse. “Is there a problem with that?” He asked, looking at the ceiling like he was expecting an answer from God.

“Sure. You might have mastered the Quirk in one swing of the fist, but Izuku Midoriya is more on the thinking side, more technical.” He enunciated that for a reason. “Not to mention how much it would take for his body to adapt to the accumulated power from your development with it. The best would be to have him already prepared and trained at the earliest convenience.”

How does Nedzu know about the strain on the body– “He’s right, you know.” Torino said. “Over a hundred years from the creation of One For All, yet there was no talk about any previous user getting it right in the first try.”

“Having Midoriya already polished before the first Sports Festival would also make him shine brighter than anyone,” Mirai added, and the idea pushed forward as the Number One Hero had to decide.

He activated One For All in his chest, trying to get a feel for how much the Quirk can operate while he still has it. “… Very well. Young Midoriya has his birthday soon. I might as well use it as a means of gratitude for his given efforts.” He explained and the rest seemed to be satisfied.

Gran Torino went ahead to talk with Recovery Girl as Toshinori and Mirai were left alone.

“Is there no way of changing your mind in the coming week?” His Ex-Sidekick and former friend asked again.

“How many times did you get me to change my mind, Mirai?” He asked back and the man opened his mouth to reply, but after no idea seemed to come, he closed it back again. “Mirio might be a good kid. But I cannot choose someone just because they can turn themselves impermeable to any attacks.”

“Y-You k-knew?” Mirai stuttered with Toshinori laughing a little.

“A bit of Young Midoriya rubbed on me too,” Toshinori said with a smile on his bony face. “I will admit that I find the boy’s rambles about Quirks odd as well. Always talking like he’d use them better if they were his as he gave theories on how they could work and what they could do.”

“This… sounds oddly similar to another person you once talked about,” Mirai said and Toshinori stopped in his tracks.

“It’s not the same.” He said sternly, making sure that there was no doubt ever again.

Mirai seemed to be put off by it. “If you say so… You are choosing him as a successor, so it’s your responsibility in the end.” He muttered. Of course, the man was still dissatisfied, but at least meeting the boy seemed to be swaying him in the right direction.

Young Midoriya. Despite being a teenager, there is something that makes people turn around and look at him.

How can someone so unassuming have such an effect on people?

Nedzu watched from his cameras as the three men split into different directions. “Has my plan come to fruition?” Hisashi Midoriya said over the phone. The man himself prompted Nedzu to listen to the three men and butt into their conversation.

“May I know how you found out they will meet?” The mammal with questionable origins asked, looking at the faceless icon on his private phone. “And should I even bother to ask how you got this number?” Tenko wouldn’t share it even if it was the last thing he’d do.

“Does it matter in the end?” Midoriya-San asked. “If Sasaki is dulled down from pursuing Togata as the next successor, we both have my Izuku with a rather useful Quirk. It’s beneficiary for us, especially if Izuku doesn’t necessarily seek the spotlight All Might is so used to being under.”

Nedzu weighed his thoughts for a second before speaking. “This is the very reason why I was always asked to investigate Hisui Pharmaceuticals, Midoriya-San. You are not someone people should trust –even when you hold your hand over the heart and do what’s best for the people.”

There was a pause. Then a long sigh. “Nedzu. The path to hell is paved with good intentions. Even the people who researched you had the intention of helping. Does that excuse the suffering you went through in the name of research? … Well, that depends on who you ask.”

“And here I thought you had something nice to say,” Nedzu said flatly, sensing that the man was amused at the disregard of human rights for a non-human.

The laughter coming over the phone was unsettling, setting Nedzu’s fur to rise. “Maybe you should have stopped when you took my first bribe? Hm?” Midoriya-San prodded. “But no no no. You had to pretend like you were on some “hot trail” to find something incriminating about me; giving off the idea that every time you were getting another investigation you were one step closer to finding out what malicious thing I was doing!” He raised his voice, but his respirator made him gasp for air the next second. “And here we are. The Commission’s Lap Dog and the man who got his leg bitten by it!” All for One Midoriya scowled. “I hope that this time around we will have a better relationship, Mister Principal. You do not want to see what I would do when my son’s livelihood is on the line.”

With that, the call was closed and Nedzu was left in an uncomfortable silence.

The very same nature that Midoriya has is the very reason why Nedzu thought he was doing something dirty. That similarity to HIM was the biggest red flag of all.

A Week Later

Ever since morning, Anan knew that Himiko was anxious. The way that she stared into nothing, the lack of usual chatter that the girl slowly grew up to have, and the lack of eating in the morning. “How are you feeling?” The woman asked as they waited for the gate to be opened.

“H-Huh?” Himiko blinked twice in her mind just now returning to the present. “Ah. I’m fine.” She mumbled, the beeping and the click of the lock prompting them to enter. “It’s just…” She paused and Anan hummed the next moment, making Himiko continue. “Nobody else knew about my Quirk before. Yet here’s Izuku who just guessed it at a glance!” She said with a flabbergasted face. The fact that she’s so worried about her thoughts made the Hero sad but was glad to nudge her to say them out loud. “It’s just so weird!”

“The nice kind of weird?” The woman said with a smile, making Himiko pause as she started to blush a little.

“I-I guess…” She mumbled as they walked up the stairs to the first floor, a third person standing right in front of the Midoriya apartment.

The bell was run before a pair of crimson eyes on a grumpy face looked straight at them. He didn’t seem so impressed before Himiko got right next to Anan, his eyes widening before the door opened.

“Katsuki! What brings you here?” Inko Midoriya’s voice was heard, making the boy look back at the woman in the door frame.

“Hi, Auntie. I wanted to drop by for the nerd’s–Izuku’s birthday.” He said, more polite than Anan expected from that look as he was ushered inside. “You have two more people waiting’.” He added as Inko-San popped her head out into the hallway, taking notice of the two girls as they walked closer.

“Ah, you two came for Izuku as well?”

“Himiko wanted to wish him Happy Birthday,” Anan said, elbowing the girl a little as she puffed her cheeks.

“Can we go already?” Himiko asked before snapping all of a sudden. “A-And hello, Midoriya-San.” She said and the woman nodded.

They were quickly greeted before the voice from earlier was heard. “–How in the world does your room look even worse?!” Was heard before they passed.

“Come on, Katsuki, I just cleaned!” Izuku-Kun’s voice was heard before the Hero peeked into the room, presumably the boy’s bedroom.

What the hero saw gave her flashbacks to Nedzu’s office on a Monday when he came back with cold cases from all across Japan to solve.

There were files, pages, photos, graphs, two laptops, and even a whiteboard filled with even more documents, all held steady by magnets of all colours and strings tied between them like the kid was doing an ongoing investigation on the biggest crime of the year…

Or maybe just a Tuesday for Nedzu.

“Is this a USB hub hooked to your laptop? Why do you have six–” He dilated the prism-like device, revealing the other side. “–twelve hard drives? Wait. Why is that file stamped ‘CLASSIFIED’ in big bold red letters? What the fuck are you having on these?!”

Izuku-Kun quickly snatched that file, holding it close to his chest before he looked at his bed and saw four others with the same stamp. “How about you let me be crazy in my personal time aaannnddd….” The boy stared right at them, with Himiko giving a meek wave as he let out the most nerdy-awkward laugh heard by a man. “Heh… Hi, Kurose-San… Hi, Himiko…”

“Are you done being crazy?” Himiko quipped and quietly surprised Anan.

“Erm…” He looked at his hands filled with files before dropping them back on his bed. “Yeah… I can deal with this later.”

After going over that odd experience, the entire group entered the living room with Inko-San and ‘Katsuki’ at the tail of it. “The hell–”

“Language,” Hisashi Midoriya sighed from the kitchen table

“Uncle Hisashi? Since when are you back?!” The blonde kid asked while everyone kind of found a place to sit.

“Forgive me if I am wrong but I don’t recall you being someone that I need to inform about my whereabouts and the time I spend with my family.” He said, not even raising his eyes from the phone as he drank his coffee. Anan took a seat at the table, as the man seemingly readied the table for guests already as Himiko and Izuku just went onto the couch. “How is work, Kurose-San?” He added, completely ignoring the boy who sat in the seat between them.

“Not that busy, actually.” She said, drinking her coffee and noting that it was the same as last time when she came over. “Summer doesn’t have that many incidents. It’s the rainy season that makes the soil unstable.”

“Bless the architectural design for resisting earthquakes too.” He hummed as she found herself nodding along. “If only the Heroes were more competent to deal against Criminals.”

Anan watched as the boy mulled over what to say, glancing back at the couch as he seemed to contemplate whether to go there or not. “Hey, Nerd, I got you the new Ultimate Smash Heroes for your birthday.” That made Izuku-Kun perk from his chat with Himiko. “Do you still have that console?”

“Did they add Start & Stripe and Blood Lord to the game?”

“I know Star is,” Katsuki replied and instantly went toward the duo.

Anan watched as the boy jumped over the couch and onto the free side of Izuku before looking back at Hisashi Midoriya. “So, what’s up with the stuff that your son has in his room.”

“Classified documents from Nedzu. Most are Cold Cases that were dropped due to lack of evidence.”

What? “And Nedzu thinks that he can solve them?”

“Oh, goodness no.” He said, finally looking up from his phone. “Izuku is interested in the irregularities because of the possible Quirk being involved in all of them. But he’s working only in hypotheticals for now, so I let him borrow my work laptops for it while at it.”

That sounded oddly cryptical. “And what Quirk is he looking for?”

Midoriya-Sama smirked. “One that if the world would think it's real, Heroes and Villains wouldn’t be able to exist as they are now. Destroying the status quo.” That sent a shiver down her spine as the man’s smile grew into an unsettling one. “It’s only a matter of time until he understands that on his own.” Anan looked at the man’s face, unable to understand what emotions were going through his head as his smile bore like a feral animal before returning to normal.

A Quirk that would change the status quo? This sounds worse than what Nedzu could do with his Highspecs if he were to ever go rogue.

Izuku was struggling to win against Katsuki in Ultimate Smash Heroes. They selected the Regional Heroes just because of the sheer number of characters in the list with Heroes and Villains from all over the world. Some of them were even marked as ‘reskins’ because of how similar the Quirks and body types were.

“Will you stop spamming explosions?” Himiko asked as Katsuki was using Mister Blaster. The guy sucked in speed but, of course, the explosive boy could use the power set to bunker into a dome of explosions as it hopped closer to Izuku with Hydro, trying to make the arena slippery while using his shield of water to defend himself from the overheating debuff.

“Whine all you want; I’m not letting you win just because it’s your birthday!” He smirked, stunning Izuku’s character before pulling a combo throwing Izuku off the arena. “Hah! Loser!”

“–Can I try?” Dad suddenly spoke up as the kids realised, he was leaning on the couch behind them.

“Katsuki just demolished me,” Izuku said in defeat as he passed on the controller, seeing his Dad smirk all of a sudden as he had a funny feeling.

“Don’t think that I’ll go easy on you, old man!” Katsuki snarked as he chose All Might without hesitation.

“Ohhh nooo. What will I do?” Dad replied theatrically before looking at the controller. “Now, how did I do that again?”

“Doing what? Did you forget the controls? I can open the menu if you’re that–” Katsuki stopped as the screen turned red, a dark figure appearing on the screen before being revealed with bold text to the left.

“APOLLYON!! THE BOTTOMLESS PIT THAT CONSUMES IT ALL!!!”

“–The fuck?!” Katsuki cursed and Izuku gazed in surprise. “The Hidden Boss of the campaign?!”

“Virtually impossible to be played since it cycles through the moves of every other character in the game at random,” Dad explained as the very window on top of the menu got selected with Apollyon on it. The made-up Villain is dressed in an all-black suit and shirt, while wearing gloves and a matte mask, only letting the black curly hair rise on top. “Well, anyone except me and two other people. Compute from America still curses me for the sheer disrespect I dished on him.”

Izuku decided to not ask how his Dad knew the Number 4 Hero of the USA as Katsuki grumbled to himself. “Whatever. It has the same HP as All Might but he’s way too clunky to be used for real.” The countdown has begun and the bar of characters that Apollyon had appeared below.

“Katsuki, this character cannot be properly played by AI.” Dad said as he started to ‘dismiss’ characters, cycling through them until he stopped on a string of them that Izuku recognised to be pretty strong.

“Why do I have a feeling Hisashi-San is going to wipe the floor with Bakugo?”

“Shut up, hair buns!” Katsuki barked. “I am going to wipe the floor with–”

“BEGIN!!”

And just like that, Dad started to throw long-range attacks. One after the other they suddenly mixed into the air, creating a huge explosion in the middle of the arena while the man crouched and used the shields of the Hero Crust last second before a bright explosion that shook the screen.

Katsuki tried to block the last moment but that didn’t help as he was hit with a lot of debuffs. Overheat, Burning, Popped Eardrums, radiation– “Radiation?!” Izuku asked out loud, looking up at his dad who had a smug smile on his face.

“Apollyon unlocks the international package for the fight. It just happens that there is a Hero in the game that throws some rocks that hold depleted uranium to be charged up by some other Quirks.” He said before choosing a Hero Izuku could not remember but had a move to remove all the passive effects on themselves. “Sluggish, hurt, and off balance. Not to mention the ticked radiation eating at the HP. I think that if you clash them and some energy Hero the right way, it just ends in a draw from the explosion killing both players.” He looked at Katsuki who was still flabbergasted by the fact there’s a type of damage that nobody ever mentioned to exist. “Make your move, Boy.” Dad mocked and Katsuki snapped back to the game with a growl.

Izuku just glanced at Himiko who honestly seemed alien to video games but enjoyed her commentary when he was getting his butt kicked. “Is there something your Dad isn’t good at?” She asked, leaning a bit on Izuku as the grown adult behind them was low-key laughing maniacally at beating a 14-year-old.

Izuku shrugged. “Not being morally ambiguous all the time?”

“I swear I’m paying all my taxes–” Dad paused himself as he realised that wasn’t what Izuku said. “… Moving on…” He grumbled, returning to the game. “It’s not my fault the tax rates are so high here…” He grumbled under his breath.

Himiko and Izuku stared at each other before they started to stifle laughs at the moment. Hisashi Midoriya is forever haunted by the National Tax Agency of Japan.

[...]

After some time, Himiko also gave a try to the game against Izuku as the day quickly passed through. Lunch was ready, then Kurose-San went home and left Himiko to hang around, and then Dad left for some work and Mom to buy some groceries.

“So, you have a girlfriend now?” Katsuki asked as Izuku side-glanced to see if Himiko was still in the bathroom.

“She’s not my girlfriend.” He replied but the blonde scoffed.

“Yeah, sure. And she wasn’t glued to you all the time today.” Katsuki said as they stood at the kitchen table. “I saw you two in the city as well. You lovebirds.”

“And you accuse me of stalking.”

“Hey! I happened to see you two around! You are the creepy one going out of his way to look for people!” The explosive boy let out some sparks from his palm as Izuku rolled his eyes. The itch inside his palms flared up again.

“Whatever,” Izuku grumbled, crossing his arms and leaning over the table to hide his hand bulging into fists. “You’ll never admit that you’re in the wrong anyway.”

“Because I’m not? You are the one dreaming that you’ll become a UA student. At least choose a school that doesn’t base their exams on combative Quirks.” That level of overconfidence made Izuku wish he could do as the Villain he was reading about and tear that Quirk out of the boy’s body. “Every year there are complaints on the News about UA using giant Robots for the entrance exam, yet you think you can take one because you have some book smarts, you Nerd.”

“Says the guy that hides during lunch to study more.” Izuku shot back. “What? Did you think that I wouldn’t notice you going on your own in some random classroom?”

“And that’s why you’re the stalker!”

“For what? Being honest with myself instead of hiding behind my Ego?” Izuku raised his voice. “You always act like you’re better than me! How about you stop comparing yourself to me and show off how great you are that way!”

“Why would I compare myself to a useless Deku–” Katsuki stopped as a hand the size of his tenure trapezius appeared out of nowhere.

“Katsuki. Bakugo.” Dad said as his grip on the boy’s shoulder tightened. “What did I say about using that word to describe my son.”

“U-Uncle–” Katsuki tried to get up but Dad shoved him back into his chair.

“No ‘Uncle’ you maggot! ” The man scowled and gripped tighter as Izuku could see the muscles flex and Katsuki grimace in pain, the teen’s eyes flashing with the same kind of fear from the sludge Villain incident. “I only tolerate your presence because of Izuku.” He hissed in Katsuki's ear as Izuku himself had a hard time processing what he hadn’t seen in years. “There is no Uncle Hisashi, because I don’t care about you, your C-Grade Quirk, or because of your shitty fashion designer job your parents have.” He let go of Katsuki's shoulder, almost slamming him onto the table before turning around. “Leave my house before I kick you out myself. Katsuki.” There was a moment of hesitation as the teen looked at Izuku. “Now!” Dad shouted, making Izuku flinch as the toxic glare of his father made the explosive boy move off his feet.

Dad just watched as Katsuki dashed out of the house, the same unforgiving look in his eyes that Izuku hadn’t seen since he was nine.

When the door was finally heard closing, the man’s mood returned to normal. “To think that Katsuki would still be hung up on something from a decade ago.” He shook his head as Izuku was shifting in his seat uncomfortably.

“I haven’t seen you mad in a while,” Izuku said, the sensations in his palms continuing.

Dad looked at him for a second, trying to decipher what Izuku meant by it. “Well… I rarely get that mad.” He replied as Himiko appeared from the hallway… looking completely unbothered.

“Oh? You already got back, Hisashi-Sama?” Himiko asked, looking around for a bit. “That Bakugo boy left too?”

What?

“His parents called him home,” Dad replied while Izuku paused to process what happened. Himiko is meant to have a greater hearing due to her feline mutations. She doesn’t seem to be faking it; So how did she miss Izuku and Katsuki arguing, and Dad kicking Katsuki out? “So how are you two getting along? I did hear that you started to hang out more.”

“Izuku-Kun helps me with studies and stuff,” Himiko said as she took the closest seat to Izuku; Dad took the one vacant by Katsuki. “I went through everything he’s learning but he’s just better somehow!” She said, jealousy in her tone as she got Dad to chuckle.

“I tried to raise Izuku to be very methodical in his studies. Those notebooks he carries around aren’t for nothing.” He boasted, adjusting his breather a little. “Speaking of which, how are things going with that little research of yours?”

“It’s going…” Izuku said vaguely as he didn’t want Himiko to know of All For One and One For All. “The Villain seemed to be some crime lord but…” He paused, seeing a curious look in Dad’s eyes.

“Go on.” He encouraged me and Izuku nodded faintly.

“He doesn’t do anything himself. It’s like he waits there, waiting for someone to do something big before popping in and giving in a hand. It’s either information, money, weapons, or power in general.” Quirks especially. “The problem is that outside being a sponsor for just about any Villain that makes it big, nobody knows what he wanted in the end. He had his vendetta against some Heroes–” The One For All holders “–But trying to guess what he’s up to is just that! Guesswork.”

“He sounds like he does it for the hell of it,” Himiko replied, yawning a little. “So, who is this big Villain anyway? It’s not like I heard of someone like that in the news.”

Izuku shook his head. “It’s not someone who you report on. He sounds like a conspiracy theory unless you’re a Hero or Law Organ looking into it, so it would just look bad searching for a bogeyman.”

“Let me prepare something for you two while you talk,” Dad said, quickly getting up to rummage through the kitchen.

“Then why are you looking into him?” Himiko asked as her eyes were all on him.

“His Quirk is… freaky.” He didn’t have any other way of defining a power that steals your genes from your body. “It’s all over the place. He’s assumed to be immortal but he can do a ton of other things. Super strength, flight, laser eyes, teleportation. You think of a Quirk and it’s assumed to be part of his arsenal.”

“That just sounds like a bunch of people wearing the same trench coat as this so-called Villain,” Himiko replied, resting her head on her hands as she blinked slowly. “It would explain more that it’s some sort of organisation than one man, right?”

“It is indeed more probable,” Dad said as he– When did he start making pancakes?! “If it’s a shadow organisation, then it explains the Quirk variety and the seemingly unrelated crimes and sale of illegal products.” He slid a large plate in between them as there was a considerable tower of the sweet goods– Seriously, they were talking for 10 minutes tops. How? “By what the world knows, this alleged group could be doing things on both the legal and illegal front of business. Completely blindsight the Heroes from their true intentions.”

“That makes more sense, doesn’t it?” Himiko approved as she looked at Dad for an okay; The man nodded and she more than happily took some, rolling them before biting into them with a titter from the taste.

“So, Izuku, isn’t this a more reasonable outcome for this case?” Dad prodded and Izuku caught on that was his way to take Himiko out of the discussion.

“I guess…” He mumbled, taking some of the baked goods for himself to eat.

Unfortunately, Himiko suddenly straightened up. “Wait–” She paused, coughing as a bit of the food was trying to kill her. Dad gave her a glass of water. “If this group is real and you have documents on it, then what happened to them?” She asked and Izuku was trying to find a good explanation.

“Uhm… All Might stopped the ring leader from what I know.”

“But that would work if only one of them was doing the crime. As for your theory; Shouldn’t they still be around if only one of those knows how many are out there?”

Izuku paused, looking at his Dad who seemed to be in the same impasse. “Hm. You’re more perceptive than I assumed.” He said before turning around to clean the dishes, leaving the green-haired teen on his own.

Himiko looked at him with an expectant look but he didn’t have any clue what to say. “I guess that’s why I need to look into it more…?” He gave a shot in the dark but after a moment of silence, Himiko seemed to accept it.

“Fine. I’ll just have to wait for you to get done with it to tell me.” He said, returning to the food the next moment.

“Wait. You want to hear more?” He asked and she tilted her head at him, still chewing on the pancake.

“Yeah?” She replied with her mouth full. “I like hearing about the stuff you like.”

“… Oh…” That’s all that came out of Izuku’s mouth before he heard his dad laugh.

“Oh, teenagers.” He let out a sigh, smiling at Izuku. “They grow up so fast, that you turn around and… well… ” Dad suddenly looked at Himiko who seemed to freeze before her face reddened, confusing Izuku as the man started laughing. “I’ll go pick up my laptops to do some work if you don’t mind.”

And with that, the man left, and both teenagers were left perplexed at his comments.

It was late at night on the gazebo on Takoba Beach when Sorahiko waited with Toshinori and Sasaki for the arrival of Izuku Midoriya. The calm breeze of the sea felt rather pleasant for his old body.

“So, this was supposed to be Izuku Midoriya’s first training grounds?” Sasaki asked, leaning over the wooden railing to look along the shore as the waves crashed onto the beach.

“Before Hisashi Midoriya butted in,” Toshinori said with a long sigh. It seems that the man was still hung onto that fact. “I wanted to teach the boy about doing good for the people while also strengthening his body. Sure, the place was a mess a couple of months back, but I had this whole idea of him learning how to deal with different kinds of hardships.” He leaned on one of the pillars holding the roof, looking at the entrance to the beach just as a figure got onto the sand, looking around as the Hero waved at them. “I didn’t even get to take a picture of him to show the before and after!”

“That would have been… Quite nice to show his development, actually.” Sasaki hummed. “Maybe I should have done something similar with Mirio.”

“Hey, at least your student has the Sports Festival to know how much he developed. I need to come up with something new for Young Midoriya!” Toshinori complained but it was light-hearted. The two men watched as Midoriya quickly sprinted onto the wooden bridge. “Maybe with One For All in his possession, I’ll be able to have a similar bond as I had with my Master. Their father-son relationship feels… ‘Artificial’ doesn’t seem the right word, but it seems like there’s some unseen power guiding how he is developing.” He explained before the discussion was cut short by the boy finally getting to the endpoint.

“Hello, Yagi-San! I came as soon as I… Erm…” Midoriya stopped as he saw Sasaki. “Am I in trouble?”

Toshinori let out a wet laugh. “No. No, My boy. Mirai is only here because I wanted to catch up with him. Nothing more.”

“Right…” That sounded exactly like a child who doesn’t trust what an adult says. “Um, I’m sorry for taking hostages during our spar.” Midoriya rubbed the back of his head. “I really didn’t want to get close to someone with a Quirk I don’t know.”

“Not something a Hero should do–” Sasaki said in a scolding tone. “–but at least apologising to your unfortunate targets lessened the offence.”

Midoriya gave a half-hearted nod. “So, why are we here?” He asked, looking up at All Might who smiled back at the boy.

“Well, Young Midoriya…” Toshinori held his hands onto his hips before transforming into All Might with his trademark laugh. “We are here because we are proud of your progress in training your body and learning how to fight! I may have only been around during your muscle training while at UA, but Gran Torino was more than pleased to see how you are faring; Especially when you found a sparring partner that was already enrolled into UA.”

Midoriya let out an awkward chuckle. “Yeah… Hado-Senpai helped me a lot. But she still kicks my butt.”

Sorahiko swiped his cane at the boy’s ankles. “Don’t admit that you’re getting beat up, boy. It makes me look bad for teaching you!” And because he looks like a loser admitting he gets beaten by a girl but that’s another problem. “Just stand proud that you got so far.”

“Y-Yes, Sir!” Midoriya said, straightening up like a soldier and Torino grunted in approval. The kid was still rough around the corners, but it was easier to teach him how to fight compared to Toshi.

“And because of that, I decided that it’s time for you to take the next step in your training!” Toshi clapped his hand, the thunderous sound creating a woosh that seemed to take the boy by surprise. “So, Izuku Midoriya, I think it is time to step up to the occasion and take what you worked so hard for!!”

“Wait, I’m really getting One For All?!” Midoriya said, getting all excited as All Might raised his hand to pluck one of those blonde hairs of his. “It felt like an eternity waiting for it but it’s finally happening!” He cheered, completely unaware of the next part as Sorahiko smiled like a madman.

“Yes, yes, My Boy. I am very proud of you…” Toshi said, stretching out his hand with the biggest smile he could muster. “Now! EAT THIS!!”

That confused Sasaki just as much as Midoriya who was looking at the strand of hair, then at the Number 1 Hero.

“W-What?” He said with the most confused face ever.

“DNA assimilation! I do not know the fine mechanics behind it but once it is consumed it will grant you One For All by tomorrow morning!” The man explained, not breaking his smile as the boy was looking at Sorahiko.

“Boy. I’m retired, in my 80s, and my bedtime was two and a half hours ago.” The retired Hero said, stomping his cane into the ground. “The only reason I came tonight is to see your sorry ass chew down on that piece of hair as I watched Toshinori four decades ago!”

Did he sound sadistic? Maybe. Did he want to see the kid’s face as he struggles to do it? Absolutely!

“For the record, I only came here to discuss further training–”

“Shut it, Sasaki. You can talk about that tomorrow morning!” Sorahiko shut the man up as the boy gulped in despair as he took the hair out of All Might’s hand, looking back and forth as Toshinori was definitely enjoying the moment more than the old man.

Izuku Midoriya opened up his mouth and stuck out his tongue, the following grimaces and whines bringing back Sorahiko’s younger days while Toshi seemed to enjoy inflicting this bit of suffering that probably haunted him throughout his dreams.

“At least if you bought some bread to put it into.” The hair finally went down the windpipe as he got it down the stomach with nothing more than his own saliva.

“And now you go to sleep and by tomorrow morning, the power of One For All will flow under your skin!” Toshinori announced for one last time as Midoriya probably cursed him in a million ways under his breath.

When Izuku went to sleep, he expected a couple of things. All Might tripping and breaking his neck for that surprise being one, Waking up the next day feeling the Quirk and telling Dad about it being second, using it was the third thing.

But nope. Something had to come up from the left field as he woke up standing in an endless black void, a floor of mist underneath him that felt like a cloud and glass at the same time. “I swear, if I somehow got intoxicated from swallowing that hair, I’ll spike All Might’s tea with Katsuki’s nitroglycerin sweat!” And why the hell was he naked?! Sure, the fog was covering everything minus his head and hands but still!

“Hello? Is someone there?” He shouted but no one answered.

With literally nothing around him, Izuku gave a 360-look before deciding to move. As it turns out, that was a horrible mistake as the ‘sky’ started to light up a million colours as it looked like the hyper jump in one of those old Star Wars movies.

Everything felt stuck in place and moving at the speed of light as Izuku felt like he was losing his balance. The world started to warp around him as the fog quickly disappeared and found himself on a concrete floor. “Please don’t be naked. Please don’t be naked.” He whispered under his breath as a prayer before looking down on himself. “Oh.” His pyjamas were now on him. “At least that’s one good thing.”

With that, Izuku slowly got up as he was bare feet on the cold stone. Behind himself was a precipice into the void Izuku was just in –minus the fog that seemed to mark the ground– and in front of him were several thrones creating a semicircle with one of them right in front of him but furthest from the centre which seemed to be Izuku’s position. “Two, four, six, eight.” He counted them up as he realised that there was some sort of aura around them.

Getting to the closest one on the right, it had a golden aura but as he reached to see what was up with it, it started creaking like crazy, almost like it was one step from breaking. The way it looked pristine, yet it was one step from breaking reminded Izuku of a certain Hero.

The next one had a pink aura as the padding seemed to be softer than the first, almost feeling like a cloud. Are they supposed to represent the users? Was this Shimura's seat?

The third was looking rather decent but its wood varnish was darker than the rest... and there was a crack in one of the arm-rests. Almost like it broke and was put back together, but still had a purple aura of sorts.

“It has to be each user, right?” All Might, Sky High, 'En'. “Next should be...”

Lariant. His chair had a bronze aura while the markings on the wood looked like a rope was rubbed onto the surface. He read about Black Whip on the internet and the files Nedzu gave him.

The Fourth user that not even Nedzu could get much about them. His chair seemed to be decent... Until he saw the two lines cutting through the wood of the backrest, which would definitely break if he were to lean on it. He didn't really get the connection between the user and the colours, but this one was green.

For the next two, they looked all beaten as they gave a red and blue aura. Most of them were just scratches but the one meant for the Second User looked more beaten up, but both were covered in dust, almost to tell for how long they have been here.

And lastly, the one for All for One's brother was just exhuming a pure white as the chair itself was intact but covered in dust like the last two he checked. They came from the birth of Quirks, he guessed it as the reason.

“Eight chairs. Eight users.” He mused, realising that there must be a connection between this place and One For All. “All Might didn’t mention any dreamscape.” Whatever, he’s stuck in here so what’s it left to do other than– “Is that a Vault Door?”

Doors usually mean two things: Exits or Entrances. With how it looked, it was probably the latter but he honestly didn’t care which one it was since it would either be his way out of here or closer to whatever One For All was hiding.

He quickly turned around to head to it– “You are not supposed to be here.” An androgynous voice came out of nowhere as the fog started to appear again, piling up on that intact chair for the First before it started to morph into a mass of darkness. “What are you? You are not Him .”

“Uh… Izuku Midoriya? Got One For All tonight from All Might?” Izuku tried to introduce himself, ignoring how every hair on his body rose as the appearance of the aberration slowly changed shape and size. A pair of lights present where the eyes should be as they are changing colours like a rainbow. It also had an aura like the chairs but this one looked different as sparks like electricity bounced around its form.

“Something prohibits Us from implanting properly,” It said, growing so big that Izuku almost confused it with All Might before deflating. “We are not usually this united. If you are not Him , then why are we like this?” It asked again as Izuku’s gears started to slowly turn.

“Eight seats but only one is used…” Izuku had a gut feeling like Himiko’s Quirk and this time, he was more than willing to say this one seriously. “You are One For All, right? You’re supposed to be snippets of the accumulated energy over the years, right? If I get to activate the Quirk, then you should get back to normal, right?”

“No.” It said, looking at Izuku with a judging look. “You are not Him but you are similar. You thirst for Our power until you dry us out. We must go back.”

Izuku stared at the dark figure, filtering the odd speech as he got to the point. “No.” he felt the ache in his hand come back, burning more than ever as an odd sensation was bubbling inside his chest.

“This is not negotiable. You will bring me back to the Eighth!” It raised a hand, pointing straight at Izuku’s chest. “I will not let you use me, even in my unstable state.”

“Well–” Izuku slapped the hand away, the figure staring at him in shock. “–I. do. not. Care!” He hissed, staring at it defyingly. “You are MY Power now! MY QUIRK!” Izuku felt a dark aura coming out of nowhere, dining the one that One For All had as red lights came out of his palms. “If you think that I’ll let you go so easily, then think again, because not even All for One himself would be able to take you out of my hands!”

“Insolent child. We do not exist to be used like that.” It said the world warped around Izuku as he realised, he was pushed away. “You are not like Him . You are worse .”

The ground started to break beneath Izuku’s feet, but he still leapt onto the figure, slamming his palm onto its face as his mind could only think of one thing.

You Are Mine!

Izuku suddenly jolted from his sleep screaming as he was in a cold sweat.

He looked around, realising that he was back in his bed where he went to sleep before he got to turn on the lights. The moment he saw the bedroom around himself, everything seemed to be normal, outside of the piles of cardboard boxes holding all the files Nedzu let him borrow.

“My hands hurt…” He quietly acknowledged as he raised them to see rainbow sparks dancing in his palms, a hole in the middle of each as he was bleeding from them. “W-What?” He gasped, going to the bathroom in an instant as he opened the faucet and started to wash them.

After a couple of minutes, the bleeding stopped and he was left wondering what in the world just happened.

Suddenly, a knock was heard from the door. “Izuku, are you alright? I heard you scream.”

“Y-Yeah, Mom!” He quickly said. “Just a bad dream!” He replied, trying to sound calmer before he realised that his mother had gone back to bed. Normally, Izuku would have liked his mother to pretend she cared for more than a minute but it was not his concern right now.

One For All mutated his hands somehow and with how sparks keep jumping around, that hole in his hand seems to be an exit port of sorts for the Quirk to leave without a problem.

“So much for the Theory of OFA causing Quirk awakenings.” Izuku groaned, realising that if he wants to use the Quirk, then he needs to be damned sure that it doesn’t escape his grasp!

Now… How do you activate a Quirk that doesn’t want to be used?

Chapter Text

Izuku was gone from the house way before his Mom would even wake up. He also made sure to drain his battery overnight to make sure Nedzu would have nothing to track if All Might were to ask for any favours.

[Where are you going?] The Figure –One For All?– asked, its presence looming over Izuku’s shoulder but every time he looked back, there was nothing present.

“It’s none of your business.” He replied, rhythmically tapping his leg on the floor as he realised that the hours on the train were growing extremely long without his main source of entertainment. He couldn’t even watch videos or read the news because, again, he had no phone. ‘Can you hear me like this?’ He asked inside his thoughts, not knowing how a possessed Quirk by a hive mind would even operate, to begin with. Could OFA read his mind or does it need consent to gleam at his thoughts?

[I already told you I will not lend you my power.] It replied but it wasn’t the answer he was looking for.

‘Well, too bad. You’re my Quirk so you’re my property, not some living being with rights!’ He argued, feeling the annoyance of the being. ‘Yeah, you heard me! Semi-sentient Quirks are already a thing. You are just using my brain like hardware so you better pay up somehow for letting you exist as you are right now.’

[You… You are worse than Him .] It accused, its voice growing an edge to it. [ He was looking at Quirks as accessories. You are just looking at Us like a Slave.]

‘Aww, I’m worse than Big Bro All for One?’ Izuku hummed, his lips perking up as no one paid him any mind on the train. ‘Thank you! I’ve been meaning to use him as a role model the second I heard about his Quirk!’ His thoughts were so cheery that he could feel the ghost recoil at them. ‘Also, do you think I can wipe you out from the Quirk or overwrite my personality over yours? I don’t know how One For All and All For One work, but since you’re already acting like a background program , I could just imprint a copy of me on the Quirk and Hijack someone else’s body. Virtual immortality right there!’

[Oh, so you’re just a crazy brat.] The voice changed, the pitch lowering from androgynous to masculine. [You think that would work? If that was an option, We would have had you walk to All Might already.] It explained but Izuku was more worried about the change in tone. [So how about you stop messing around and you get Us back? You can’t hit the streets and run from All Might with his Quirk forever.]

Izuku could feel the emotions coming from the Quirk. Annoyance and irritation were the top two as they flowed inside his mind. His anxiety rose and he had a guess they could sense what he was feeling back.

He tried to calm himself down, knowing fully well that as long as he had his grip on the Quirk, It wouldn’t be able to jump hosts… Probably… Hopefully.

Right now, his biggest concern for ‘getting caught’ is that Nedzu would call All Might before calling Hisashi Midoriya. His Dad could just do an asspull and get Izuku out of the country without a second thought.

Izuku wasn’t blind to his father’s wealth and influence. The man’s pharmaceutical empire was a monopoly in all but name and it was allowed to operate in the United States and Europe by the sheer fact that everyone was just mediocre compared to the Hisui Pharma Products. Legality aside, his Dad has multiple aliases and citizenships under his belt, so it would be as simple as buying a new Identity for Izuku. The man probably already has one ready considering the money he has to spend and the ‘favours’ held against people in power.

Now that he thinks about it, shouldn’t Dad have known of All for One by now– “ The Train will Reach Kamino in 10 minutes! ” –The announcement came from the speakers and Izuku sighed. He can worry about hypotheticals later.

Izuku got out of his seat, making sure to push his hands as deep as he could inside the pockets of his hoodie to make no physical contact with anyone. Do not leave any traces. 

Do not touch anything that others do.

Do not touch anyone if One For All can jump hosts if it can without consent.

Izuku kept his mental grip on the Quirk for hours, he felt tired but wouldn’t let go until he got to Tenko to either get some help or make something to quarantine himself from the rest of the world. If he can teach him how to suppress a rogue quirk too, then he’s going to hit the jackpot.

[… So, you’re just going to ignore Us like that…] It said, the voice returning to the cryptic one as Izuku’s anxiety was toning down. Good, it should have said more than that if It could hear his internal monologue. The fact that it got back to the ‘default tone’ also gave him some relief. Whatever state the Quirk is in right now wasn’t desirable for It and Izuku was more than happy to keep It like this rather than risk getting ‘stable’ or stronger or split up into the predecessors who possessed it before.

Imagine if Izuku was stuck with eight different voices inside his head. He’d be going to find out if All for One is still alive or not just to get rid of them.

“Hm…” A figure hummed from his chair in his office, looking down at his tablet as the ‘drones’ he used to monitor the boy trailed behind him. “He keeps trying to look behind his shoulder all the time… This is new…” He rambled, knowing fully well that Izuku Midoriya was at Takoba Beach last night and let his phone drain its battery over the night. Not to mention the call that he had with Tenko last night, the boy whom they had sponsored since he was little would report back on that.

“Keep following him, Miss Kuin.” He instructed as the woman left the train. The ‘drones’ buzzed after herself and Izuku as it was obvious that the Mist-ery bar was his final location. “Also, is the body I supplied good enough? I did use Sixes’ Transfiguration along with a Mental Quirk akin to Hyperphantasia to ensure it reflects how you would imagine yourself.”

“It’s doing its job.~” She replied as one of the ‘drones’ was also focusing on her. She winked at the camera as her eyes reminded him of Rokuro’s. His orange pair with her golden ones.

“Doing its job is not enough when I sink so many Quirks to make a suitable body for you.” He replied, his tone monotone as he watched her trail the boy.

“Sorry Boss.~” Kuin hummed. She was getting too joyous for his liking.

“Focus on the mission.” He ordered as she huffed at his annoyance.

“Yeah yeah. I am not losing a kid who can’t even see me follow– Ack! ” She grunted, reaching for her eye before correcting for the back of the neck. “How– Where–” She gasped, the pain making the drones shake as the lack of video feed on Izuku made him want to throw the damned tablet.

“Please don’t tell me you lost him.” He should have gotten Rokuro for the job.

“H-He couldn’t have gotten too far.” She argued while getting out of the train station, a swarm of bees coming out from the sleeves of her jacket as they took to the sky. Each one adds a new point of view as the tablet quickly becomes unusable as the grid of videos is too much for the eye to track. “Shit. How did he break my drone?!”

“He’s a paranoid teenager fearing that the smartest non-human in the world is gunning for him. Guess.” His voice dripped with sarcasm as Kuin was running in the streets, her bees incapable of straying too far without the control on them turning rudimentary. “And on the day that Six took his paid leave.” Good luck getting that man to raise a finger if it isn’t in his work hours. Why did he give the speedster human rights? The Shape-Shifter was the greatest tool in his arsenal, UA hasn’t shown any good Quirks either, since Eraser Head was halving the students who would come out of his best piggy bank.

The man reached for his phone and with a press of a button and two taps on the touchscreen, the number he needed was already called. “Did something happen, Sensei?”

“One For All might have been passed earlier than expected.” He replied, looking down at the tablet as his second-best espionage agent lost a teenager without stealth training. It would be comical if Izuku Midoriya was one security camera from Nedzu’s and All Might’s sight. “Forget about Hood and prepare Shokku as per the original plan.” He ordered as the Doctor was heard scrambling on the other side of the phone.

“That boy was a menace since he was little–” He complained as the hissing of one of the test tubes was heard, presumably the bath of cocktails being drained for their glorified punching bag to be released. “–We didn’t use it when Six was about to be destroyed in Naruhata, but we are using it now?! I don’t know if I should commend his sly nature or ability to cause me to go bald after what happened to Tsubasa.”

“Today, Dear Friend, " the man added, as Kuin was still running like a headless chicken after his son. He could teleport there with Kurogiri and use all his Sensory Powers to track the boy, but that would only incriminate Izuku even harder.

Where should they drop Shokku? It’s still early in the day, so they can exploit the fact that All Might still had steam for movement. They needed a place with a low number of distinctive Heroes. Physical Peak, Shock Absorption, and Super Regeneration are meant to counter blunt force trauma only… Low crime and little heroes in the area…

Bingo! “Order Kurogiri to drop him in Mitsuzawa Park!”

“W-What?!” The Doctor asked, baffled. “But limiting All Might's movement would be better in urban areas.”

“It’s as far away from Both our base and Tenko’s place.” He got up, putting on his suit jacket as another idea struck him. “We can use his response time to measure how slow he is compared to his prime. If he doesn’t break the sound barrier, then we’re settled!”

“That’s a lot of “what ifs” in this plan, Master. Not to mention that All Might must fly right over Kamino to get there.”

“That is why I will take a proactive approach.” Fierce Gains and Spring-like Limbs are not compatible but a handful of Strength Boosters should do, in coordination with Air Cannon and Heavy Payload. If only he had his hands on Slide & Glide, that Quirk would have been amazing for mobility and firepower with Payload, but one must make do with what they have. “Also, prepare some Low-Grades with Radio Waves for me to puppet.” Air Walk gives him a decent footing anywhere but would Levitate be better? If only Pop☆Step’s Leap was in his hands, he could have abused the anti-fall damage it provides.

There have been too many Quirks escaping him with All Might in the picture. It would be just right to go after them after being done with the blonde oaf.

Toshinori Yagi was feeling a bit down from the moment he woke up in the morning.

With his bad health plus the transfer of One For All, he decided to go do a medical check-up at Chiyo. He hadn’t gotten confirmation from Midoriya-Kun about the success, but getting over here was most certainly more taxing than yesterday. Not to mention that the message from the boy suddenly falling ill might be a sign that One For All was adapting to the young and tender body.

“I still can’t believe you’ve passed it already!” The woman said as she drew out blood from his arm. “Not to mention that you got Sorahiko and Nighteye onboard that ship.” The needle slid out and she instantly went to place the vial into its slot, the blood was meant to do a general reading of the AP levels that his body can output overall; Instead of the usual tests checking if his power levels dropped since last time.

“Well, it’s not like anyone seemed to have a problem with the boy,” Toshinori replied, bandaging the spot where the injection was taken from. “Gran wasn't as interested in the selection process as much as he was in training the boy, which he did amazingly so far by his accounts. Mirai was more or less convinced by Nedzu and not even he could turn a blind eye to the rodent’s expertise. And Nedzu…” He… wasn’t so sure what Nedzu saw in the boy, but if he were to ask now, the dog-bear-mice thing would pull out some graphs and show the “estimated potential” of Midoriya and how he is following the predictions or something alike.

… Or it could be that Hisashi Midoriya bribed him …

God, please be the graph option.

“Yeah. Sorahiko came to me on multiple occasions to talk about him.” The woman sighed as she brought the usual equipment. She handed him a vest with a bunch of wires and a small computer to the side, prompting him to put it on and lay back in the bed before she told him so. “But he did have some comments.” She plugged a pair of wires into the side of the vest, then into a computer she had just for this. “He kept going on about the boy seeming apathetic. Like he knows what’s right or wrong, but he needs to make the active decision of which he should choose.”

“That’s better said than his usual tirades.” That got him a smack over his knee by the woman’s cane. “Ouch!”

“You still need to respect your elderly!” She scoffed at him, tapping on her keyboard. “Now try to control your breathing and power up slowly.” The instructions came and he had to comply despite the ache in his leg.

He called upon One For All, the power having a lag compared to yesterday like how a gas car would rev its engine before start. Soon, the power started to flush through his body; slower than used to. “How is it?”

“I’m supposed to ask that.” She faked hitting him again, genuinely making him flinch as a beep came from a spike of energy. “At least your Quirk is in sync with your reflexes once it gets going.” Lovely… “Keep raising your power.”

“On it.” He grunted as the floodgates slowly opened. After so long of having the Quirk whither with him, it was odd to feel it weaker than himself. He got up to half of what he could pull yesterday and he felt it struggle. It was a bit scary feeling the strain on the Quirk more than on his body. The car analogy was becoming even more acute as Toshinori realised that if he were to have six gear speeds, then he already lost half of them, leaving him with the starting, the second, and the third already giving up from how much he was pressing on the accelerator. “Is that visible there?”

“By the fact that your Quirk is seemingly dying?” That bluntness made him worry even more. “It’s like when you’re forcing yourself to go to maximum output again. Just this time it isn’t the body that’s breaking but…”

“But One For All itself,” Toshinori concluded. “What would happen if I were to keep going at my normal pace?”

“The stress on your body will probably damage the Quirk Factor. I can’t say with certainty but it’s likely that if you go over your time limit, the Quirk would just unravel itself.” Chiyo explained as the numbers kept rolling on the screen, his buff form threatening to tear the vest despite how elastic it was. “I don’t think you’re going to have any time for Heroics and classes if you become a Teacher at UA.”

“That is something to worry about next year.” He dismissed, lowering his powers gradually for the device to read where the limit of the Quirk was. “But if Young Midoriya gets the hang of OFA half as fast as I did, then he would be more than capable by the entrance exam. Not to mention the possible debut at the Sports Festival.” He was thinking a bit too ahead of time but the prospect of looking after him the same that Nana did over Toshinori was getting him a bit excited.

The machine seemed to give a stable reading and the Veteran hero was trying to get a feel for his current limits.

“Who has a spy on me?!” Izuku mumbled, getting into a shop and buying a hoodie and cap before throwing them on top. [They are gone.]

‘Yeah, they’d like to think so.’ He glanced around and saw the woman looking everywhere. It wasn’t obvious but her eyes weren’t on the people but above them like something was in the air.

Izuku fought the urge to look up, knowing damn well it would attract the attention of those insects. ‘I slammed my fist into one and hurt like hell. They are sturdy–artificial maybe.’

[We can’t sense anything.]

’That’s because Danger Sense works on active threats. She’s doing reconnaissance work, not actively hunting me.’

[You know what my Quirk can do?] The phantom shifted again into a person before fading back into the blend.

‘Half guesswork, half cross-referencing similar powers.’ Izuku walked past the pursuer. It was a gamble but the fact she was focussing on her drones for sight instead of her own eyes is an obvious flaw of the User. ‘Not an Underground Hero that I know. Nor is it a Rescue Hero, I’d have taken notice of someone with a bee theme. Then it’s a Possible Vigilante or worse, A Villain.’

[You’re not half bad.] The form changed into a shorter one.

‘I liked your Hero Activity, Gaen.’ And with that, OFA seemed to have locked onto that person. ‘I just kept reading your Reports as an Underground Hero. You might not have invented the category but you just as easily could have written the Art of War: Undercover Cop Edition.’ Izuku could see the faintest of glints in the man’s eyes before they turned into an amorphous shadow again. He was smiling beneath that high collar.

[You know us.]

‘Lariat. Gaen. Sky High. You were all rather big figures before you got your unfortunate accidents.’ Appealing to them might help him for now. “Maybe not the best but pretty damn close.”

[What about the rest of us?] They asked, two faces flashing in and out of existence. Second and Third Users, presumably.

‘All for One’s brother. Two members of the first Meta-Enabled Task Force of Japan. Hikage Shinomori was the most secluded, and then the rest were mentioned.’ Nedzu’s intel was just as meticulous as he had hoped for. It also came more or less with the metaphorical wrap and ribbon on top because Nedzu was just as curious when finding out about OFA. ‘However, none of you managed to finish the task you guys set in mind.’

[Toshinori did it.] That was definitely Shimura. [All for One is gone. The world can finally enjoy peace.] The figure collapsed back into the outline of a person. Izuku wondered if it would be easier to overpower AfO’s brother alone than have the whole bundle of Professionals as a package.

“Pace by compliance,” Izuku mumbled, raising his chin a little as he turned a corner, glancing the way he came from and not seeing the pursuer. He saw no reason for somebody to tap his phone to listen to Izuku’s talk with Tenko and the fact that they didn’t just grab him early in the morning in Musutafu means they were just observing, possibly waiting to see if he truly had One For All before doing something. ‘Compliance that led to this kind of pursuit.’ He jabbed at the Quirks.

[You’re too young to understand.] They said, and Izuku just tried to suppress them again, but this time, they seemed to listen.

Too young to understand or raised well enough to realise All for One feeds on the Hero System.

He expected young Midoriya to jump to the occasion of training with One For All but when the Hero couldn’t get through, he went to the Midoriya apartment only to get word from his mother that the boy was gone early in the morning. Something that wasn’t part of the usual training since Toshinori was also looking for him.

“Why didn’t you tell me he was doing something odd if you were stalking him?!” He asked over the earpiece.

“Because the recipient of the call isn’t someone you should get involved with.” Toshinori wanted to curse Nedzu for keeping him in the dark.

“And pay-tell, who is a fourteen-year-old call me that it has to be on an anonymous list?”

“Let’s just say that I’m accommodating for something Grand Torino told me.” Cryptic as always. “Trust me. You’re better off without meeting this person.”

Toshinori had to stop for a moment just to deal with this nonsense. “Nedzu-San. I am more  than happy that Young Midoriya can learn from you as well, you are perhaps the most brilliant person in Japan, but I don’t think I need to justify why I’m worried why I would want to see where my successor is and all you give me is a shrug and an address!” He complained, looking below as a sense of unease got over him. Toshinori looked across the streets from the top of the building he landed on, trying to listen for any public disturbance using his super-hearing only to realise how calm things were.

Not the city itself—it was bustling below, but the air was oddly still… stagnant. It reminded him of the calm before a storm. “All Might. The person that I’m trying to have you avoid is related to Shim–” The call suddenly cut as static took over, making Toshinori’s ear ring as he took out the earpiece.

“Damn it!” The only weakness of One For All is that the senses take a moment to adjust when you can sense things a thousand times better than a normal human.

“Difficulties on the call?” A new voice appeared out of nowhere. Toshinori didn’t even have time to turn as a red flash came and then an invisible force hit him like a truck, sending him flying with debris from the ledge.

He tried to kick at the speed of sound, using the very air as a stepping stone but was met with a patch of darkness and an inflated arm sticking out of it. The same thing repeated, flash, then force but at least this time he could see the said arm deflating as the attack released.

The next thing the Number 1 Hero knew was how he was barre rolling towards a stadium. He could barely readjust mid-air with air-pressure kicks and punches to land in the middle, feet first as the momentum made him skit over the grass and they sunk into the dirt from the movement.

“You’ve left quite a trail!” The voice came back again and dread came over All Might as he stared at the shadowy figure.

“No…” He shouldn’t be alive. “I killed you.” His voice wasn’t even angry or confused. Toshinori said it was a fact because it was supposed to be one. This shouldn’t be happening.

“Sadly, yes.” The enigma chuckled, the figure’s form sinking into All Might’s mind once more. “But I lived!” He said, stretching out his arms as the shadows on the suit dispersed, revealing the familiar frame of a man with a new head accessory. “Haaah… It’s much more presentable when it’s dark… and I’m not in a park.” All for One said, the actual All for One given the holes in his palms that ruined so many people. He dropped his hands back down and did some odd hand wave before clouds darkened the skies and light dimmed everywhere. “Tks! I should have done this first and then thundered at the ‘but I lived’ part. It’s obvious I’m out of practice!” He clasped his hands together, looking back at All Might–or he presumed All for One was looking at him through that odd pharaoh mask of his. “So, I’ve heard that you’ve given your Quirk to a Ninth user!” The Villain added, almost in a gossipy tone as the Hero was just left speechless.

“I… I caved in your chest. I grabbed you by the forearms and tore your arms by the shoulders. I held you by the FUCKING THROAT AND UNITED STATES OF SMASHED YOUR BRAINS INTO THE GROUD!!!” All Might’s voice boomed over the empty stadium, thankfully no one was here to listen and All for One jammed any device either way. “You were gone for half a decade!”

“Well, even I can’t walk off those injuries.” That gossipy tone was killing a small part of All Might. “Thankfully, I had pretty good intensive care.~” All vital organs were destroyed and a brain turned into fertilizer and the embodiment of evil got over it with intensive care.

All Might didn’t even know what to do. “Are you even human at this point?”

That question seemed to take All for One by surprise. “… I don’t even know myself.” The Villain mused as he started to circle around All Might, a portal of that black fog appeared and another figure emerged. “This is… I’m not telling you his name since it will ruin the surprise–but he is here to fight you in my stead!”

All Might took the tonality as the queue to inspect the new opponent at the ‘grace’ of All for One’s theatricals. The person who was… huge would be doing justice. The unnamed opponent was a head taller than All for One but hunched over so it wasn’t making much of a difference. Their skin was a sickly blackish-purple with red tears from muscle growth. It was like someone with a Muscle Related Quirk started to take steroids, Quirk boosters, and Trigger at the same time. And knowing All for One’s record, that might actually be the case. What made All Might unsettled however was the empty stare that the person had and the open-beaked mouth with teeth. He wasn’t the kind of person to judge people by their side mutations but this just gave the feeling of a mindless dog, panting as it waited for its owner to call him.

All Might didn’t need much to put the two together. All for One came back but waited for One For All to be passed; he most certainly knew of the power drop the user gets after the transfer and if he knew about All Might’s decreasing Hero schedule, the Villain knew how weak the Hero was compared to his prime. This ‘Challenger’ was probably set up with some Quirks to counter One For All once and for all.

Naturally. All Might took a deep breath and bolted for All for fucking One!

He arched his fist to his back, aiming for the black pharaoh mask but the moment he went for the hit All for One took a step back and a mass of darkness came between them. The challenger. “Oh, just so it’s less awkward, this is a Nomu, a bioweapon. One of my projects that I planned for in the last… hm… has it been 15 years yet? Maybe.” The thing grabbed All Might by the arm with both hands, squeezing it like it was a bully on the playground. He raised his other arm, charging one more attack, and the thing, the Nomu, actually let All Might hit him in the chest. The muscles seemed to inflate at the contact, taking in the hit as it finally let go of him. “Nomu: Target Lock. In case of losing the target just walk forward until finding another person and repeat the process.”

At that, those unfocused eyes fixed onto the Hero, and the irises turned into pinpricks as it closed its mouth and leapt at the Hero, first trying to slap All Might the same way a bear would claw at an animal. When All Might blocked it, Nomu clenched his other hand into a fist, hitting the Hero square in his chest the same way he did before. The problem was that there was no wind-up, it just hit the same way without the slightest effort from All Might’s perspective.

“Just so it’s clear for a brute like you.” All for One shouted, already mid-air as the black smog returned. “If you leave before defeating it, it WILL leave to find another target.” The Villain warned. “You take your time and expend more power. You hurry and you risk death for an easy takedown later.” The fog swallowed the Villain Whole, only the skull imitation on the mask being visible as he said his last words. “Either way, I’ll have plenty of time to chat with Izuku Midoriya.”

“All for One, wait–” All Might shouted but he knew it was too late. If the Villain wasn’t caught in theatricals, there was no chance to stop his plans. “–DAMN YOU!!” He shouted, blocking the attack of the Nomu before throwing a punch into its jaw. All Might would almost swear he heard the crunch of a bone breaking before realising the figure was solid. The Nomu kept onwards with its animalistic Punches and slams, all unnaturally fast and heavy for something with no technique.

At that moment Toshinori wished he had listened to Izuku a bit more about his Quirk rambling, hoping he’d figure out what this thing was using before it would chip away at the Hero’s remaining strength.

The moment Nedzu lost the connection with All Might, his computer already kicked into motion to reconnect the link. He could see the connection pick up again on a public IP in Mitsuzawa Park before it fell too. When the connection cut for real, he quickly tried to connect to some local Hero agency but it didn’t go through either.

Nedzu’s tail turned stiff as he realised that something must have happened and tried calling Tenko just in case… Annnd Nothing’s going through… When in doubt, go on social media and– oh look, there is a tweet by some teen about a giant storm cloud while talking with their boyfriend on the other side of Yokohama. He tried to look up some details, refreshing while people were always using the internet as a medium to complain, and picked up that the ones at the edge of it mentioned there was no rain but the clouds were giving lightning and sounding thunder. Many guessed it was the work of some stray Quirk or a Villain somewhere.

Nedzu decided that it was a little too convenient that a rainless storm that jams communications would appear the moment All Might came looking for his successor and he went to register it as an ongoing crisis for the contactable Heroes to deal with it.

He also started writing a kidnapping report on Izuku Midoriya. Just in case he needed it by the end of the day.

“That’s not ominous in the slightest…” Izuku said, looking at the cloudy, darkened sky. He wasn’t far away from Tenko’s apartment and the Bar. He wanted to just rush in there, hoping nobody would see him now that the bees seemed to have lost him.

Then why? Why is it that the moment he wants to step forward, there’s a sound in the back of his mind that screams at him not to? It was almost like something would strike him down when he went forward… So, he took the scenic round. He started to circle the blocks, letting this sensation guide him a little and help him understand it until he concluded: Death.

If he heads to Tenko’s place, he will die and so will anyone who would be all around him.

And only to add to the issue, he was suddenly in front of the pursuer earlier. “You really are a pain, kiddo.” She said, smiling at him but there was no warmth. “You know, I keep waiting for you to just step forward into the main streets but nope.~” She sighed, as the bells in the back of his mind matched the sound of buzzing bees. “I had the whole thing set up to snatch you. You get in the middle and I jack up every single person with enough Insta-Trigger to make everyone go crazy.” The Quirk, Danger Sense, was warning him as his life depended on it. “People go crazy, I snatch you, and I could have gotten away with it like a kid didn’t fool me.” She sighed as the bees started to swarm under her clothes, some sliding into the sleeves and Izuku could feel his skin crawling at the thought of so many bugs moving over him. “But no. You had to be an eerily smart kid and make the big boss come pick you up himself.”

Wait. What? “Wait. What?” Izuku didn’t even have time to think before a huge hand pressed on his shoulder.

“Hello, young man.” A voice boomed over him and the next thing he knew; he was pressed against the wall. An invisible force pressing him against a building. “I trust you that you deployed the other Trigger as instructed. Correct?” The figure asked and the pursuer nodded. “Good. Now make sure that no Hero Biz is taking place in my sight. I want to have this young lad by my side.” He waved her off and she was gone.

Finally, The person faced Izuku who was stapled to the wall with some sort of psychic Quirk. It’s not telekinesis or he would have felt even weirder. “It seems like you knew where I was going.” Izuku pointed out, taking in the appearance of the one who stalked him all day.

The first thing that he took notice of was the mask – mostly because he was listed up to eye level but whatever. What was important was that the man had a Darth Vader-esque mask minus the helmet. The upper half was designed like a skull, stopping right beneath the lip where a… respirator (?) seemed to cover his mouth and jaw. Looking at the sides of his neck, Izuku could recognise something oddly familiar. Small ventilators and air filters that hummed just like the one father had on top of his Adam’s apple. In all honesty, he wouldn’t have even figured out that it was a respirator if he hadn’t poked at his father’s as he ate without it.

“Tell me, boy, do you know who I am?” The man asked and Izuku reaaally didn’t want to say All for One.

[It’s All for One, you can tell from the way Danger Sense goes… Off?]

‘That Quirk stopped working the moment this guy showed up!’ Izuku thought, giving an awkward laugh as the man tilted his head.

“Who are you talking to?” Nobody! “I can glimpse at your thoughts, kid.”

“O-Okay! One: Rude! And Two: I’m pretty sure you would like me to be on amicable terms for now!” Guys, some help over here? You were all meant to be used to kill him!

[The only reason you were even able to use Danger Sense is because it's passive.] OFA droned and this was not the place with their arch-enemy in front of them.

‘Guys, how about you stop bullying me and we can deal with me being an annoying teen afterwards?!’ Izuku pleaded and the Villain who can use both Psychokinesis and Telepathy just seemed annoyed.

“… It’s the Quirks, Isn’t it?” The man sighed before people started to scream from the streets. “Fine. I guess I’ll have to teach you not to ignore your elders.” He muttered something else after that but Izuku was too busy to be tossed into the streets to hear it.

Izuku’s first instinct was to run but that was cut short as he saw dozens of people using Quirks at civilians while everyone screamed in either fear or demented rage. “Trigger…” Another trademark method of All for One is to cause chaos.

“You’re quite educated on the subject.” The man said before Danger Sense triggered again before being pushed back to the ground. “The Quirk is called Air Cannon. You can figure out everything from there.” He raised his arms and Danger Sense triggered, ringing alarm bells for Izuku to get out of the way and barely rolled out of the way of the invisible attack, the concrete itself breaking.

“Okay OFA, it’s no longer funny! You either give me something useful or you’ll have to deal with being All for One’s Quirk because I’m more than happy to trade you for something more cooperative from the Merchant of Quirks.”

[If we do that, you WILL return us back to All Might.]

“Yes, sure!” Izuku said, not intending to get that far but there were more concerning matters at the moment.

He watched as All for One raised his hand before his body tensed, the man’s head tilted upwards just as Izuku felt something come out of his back. A wave of darkness came over Izuku just as he remembered what he knew of Lariat’s Quirk: Black Whip.

The Villain switched to a fire Quirk, creating flaming discs which he threw at the tendrils of darkness while Izuku’s body was encased in the middle of it. It was like the Power was trying to pull out of him and crush him at the same time. “If you kill me in the process, say goodbye to getting back to All Might!”

“Izuku-Kun, stop letting the Quirks control you.” All for One shouted, starting to fly using a fire jet like Quirk, dodging just in time the snaking tendrils on the ground that tried to grab him. “They are yours to control, not the other way around!”

[Don’t listen to him. He’s a Monster!] ‘Says the eldritch abomination living inside of me!’ [We’re meant to protect.] ‘I don’t feel very protected.’ [We won’t hurt you, stop being stubborn!] ‘Fuck you! My main personality trait is being stubborn!’

“And stop listening to them!” All for One started using the flaming disks as defence with one hand while the other started making five crescent, white, and shining, energy blades which he threw at the incoming tentacles; something must not have been of his liking because he closed then opened his fist and the blades turned magenta before throwing them again and the moment it cleaved through Black whip, the Quirk was having a hard time reforming. “So, stop gawking at me and do as I say!” The Villain ordered and Izuku tried to suppress his embarrassment.

[W-wait, what are you doing?!]

‘Shut up.’ Listening to All for One wasn’t a good idea but it was better than being dragged around by One For All. ‘You’re a Quirk. A strand of DNA with some residue information from the previous users. You’re nothing to me and you’ll never mean nothing more than a means to an end!’ He verbally abused the OFA while trying to hype himself up. “All Might chose wrong. I couldn't care less about your brand of Heroics! It just happens that some of my interests aligned with All Might’s to think he could mould me into his little successor!”

The next thing that Izuku knew was that All for One closed the gap in an instant, slamming Izuku back to the ground as the man just caught on fire. Black Whip tried to slam him away but the flames seemed to melt and push the Quirk away. “It almost sounds like we’re on the same team,” The Villain said and Izuku could swear the man was smiling beneath the mask. “I’ll help you suppress it just a little.” Izuku did not like how the man’s fingers turned black as tipped claws grew and pierced through the teen’s clothes. “Get Ready, Izuku-Kun.”

All for One instructed and Izuku suddenly felt a sense of clarity he didn’t realise he missed before. He reached for it and suddenly he felt Danger Sense trigger again. [Are you really that stupid to–] Not relevant.

Izuku felt something click and All for One reached for his forehead, gripping it as a rush of energy came through. [You– We’ll not be able to– S-stop–] It pleaded but he didn’t care. If he’ll stop, then what? Give it back to All Might? Not touching anyone in fear the Quirk will run away?

“You called me worse than Him, didn’t you?” [W-We were trying t-to–] “To what? Antagonise me? Bully me because I’m not your golden boy like All Might?” Izuku gritted his teeth as he felt that clarity deepen and deepen…until Izuku found himself in a different kind of Darkness.

Izuku found himself in the room from his dream… if you can call it that, with a missing room and an endless void where the fourth wall was supposed to be. “Great, I’m hallucinating the Demon Lord holding my hand.” Or lucid dreaming? It didn’t really matter but whatever.

[It’s your fault.] One For All growled from its main throne, the one meant for All for One’s brother. [You doomed us all.] He added before the thud of something hitting metal was heard.

Looking past the thrones, he saw the metal door denting, something or someone bashing it as they tried to get inside. “Sorry.~” Izuku didn’t mean it but something just made him mock the Quirk. “Also, you’re different.” He mused, realising that the entity now gleaned just like the ‘sky’ last time he dreamt of this place. Almost on instinct, Izuku looked up and instead of the LSD sky, a large sun stood there; something in the middle of the irradiating heat of the ‘star’ actually stung his eyes.

He looked away only to take notice of the number of thrones. Seven, All Might’s was missing. [I will not let him get it!]

“So that’s the thing up there.” The energy stockpile Quirk must have tuned with All Might. That’s why he was so powerful compared to the previous users, he guessed. “You know, something was on the back of my mind since you first woke up. You were calling me similar to All for One. I haven’t even started badmouthing you back then but you were on the fence about me.”

[You two feel the same.] One For All said, leaning back into the chair as the light forming the Quirk seemed to be draining into the seat, glowing a bright white before it turned into a rainbow gradient. The next step was for the throne to spit out all those colours, sending small flares at the rest, including the one flying in the sky.

All the thrones started to form a figure in each, every single one of them having a different appearance, posture, and colour. From left to right, it was Lariat, Gaen, Sky High, OFA, Second and Third User, and then Shinomori.

Looking back at OFA, the person sitting there was a frail and lanky man. Its ghostly form was still white except for the irises that shone an emerald green… that looked familiar… [You might not want to take us to All Might, but I don’t think you want to keep by All for One’s side when he tries to force it out of you as he did with them.] First got up and so did most of the Vestiges.

All except Lariat and Shinomori.

“I like him,” Lariat said, his skin a dark shade of grey while his Clothes seemed to be made out of Black whip.

“He is… untempered,” Shinomori added, getting up but taking Izuku’s side. “But that can be changed.” He added and the teen took a closer look while the fifth user took his other side. The man was barefoot but what was odder was how translucent his body was. There was also a halo of sorts around his head; odd lines were coming out of him like in those videos showing radiation passing through liquid.

[Traitor.] Second and Third said at the same time. The Second raised his odd custom weapon while the others on OFA’s side tensed up in sync…

… Something was not right. “These are the Quirks I used.” He realised. “The moment that I told you there might be a Villain on my ass, you turned on Danger Sense. The same happened when I was pleading with you.” Suddenly a metal bar flew off the vault door, flying just between OFA’s and Second’s seats. “You jump from host to host. You grow stronger with each user but you also take bits and pieces of them when you leave.” It was infectious. “You’re a parasite.”

[So, you prefer someone who takes a bite out of you instead of accepting me?]

“I died holding you,” Shinomori added. “This boy is not wrong. You are what he claims to be. There is no reason for us to be here and even if we jump off to some other person, this boy is the only one to be able to hold us–” The man didn’t have time to answer as the Second user shot the Fourth, the disc flying and decapitating them in an instant.

Izuku could only bite down a scream as the head rolled down at his feet, the non-existent body fizzling out as the halo seemed to collapse inwards. It was like a star collapsing into a black hole but instead of darkness, there stood a small light humming in an odd tune.

[Then goodbye.] The Second said and Lariat summoned his Black Whip from his hands, letting it around Izuku and himself, creating a cage of sorts as the tips of some extended outwards like spears.

“Y’all remind me of Destro’s gang, you know that?!” Lariat shouted as Sky High started floating, edging towards the void where she could probably fly out of reach but the man used his Quirk to create a cage of sorts, glueing it to the walls. “Kid, grab Hikage’s Quirk!” The Ex-Hero ordered but that was when the door finally caved in.

“Okay, that’s clever!” All for One cackled. “Hiding behind the very same door I locked you behind? I must say, the level of poetry is quite something for someone who only read comics while growing up.” The Villain added stepping inside, just in Izuku’s view and–

…

Really? HE is the DEMON LORD? “It seems like I’m late to the party. I’d ask if there’s any food but let’s be honest,” The man’s arms suddenly set on fire, burning the suit the teen had seen almost every day for a good while now as the limbs were covered in spikes and the fingers changed in the black tips from before. “You are all on My menu!” The glint in those eyes was of a crazed animal. Unfortunately, he also saw the same eyes on OFA, just as often as he saw the said suit and every single freaking time Izuku looked in the mirror!

…

Actually, can Izuku even say he’s surprised at this point?

“UNITED STATES OF SMASH!!!” All Might shouted as he hit the Nomu in the chest, his entire torso exploding as the shockwave passed through the air and destroyed part of the stadium behind. Bus just as the last two times, the creature’s spine started to regrow in front of the Hero’s eyes as the ribs connected back up and grew another sternum. “For the love of–” He didn’t even have time to finish that sentence when the thing jumped back at him. Its skin wasn’t even grown back up yet.

Shock Absorption. And Some healing, repair, regeneration nonsense. Maybe something to make it as strong as it is on top of that. Three Quirks. “If you attack, at least throw a punch right!” He complained as he added the fourth one to the list, freaky sudden movements. The punches were half-assed, the slaps and backhands were moving way too fast without any wind-up, and every single time it jumped it was almost too fast for All Might to see.

He kept his guard up against the rush of punches but a seed of fear was starting to crawl up in his head. This was sloppy, if this ‘Bioweapon’ was made to deal with him, then it was doing wonders. All Might even thought of focusing everything on speed and not on raw strength but what good would that do? Even if he gets a handle on the upper limit of the Shock Absorption, then what? Send it flying to somewhere else where it will terrorise people as All for One explained. He wanted to call the Bastard a liar but out of everything, he wouldn’t just say an outright lie.

All Might kept track of the punches thrown at him and the moment the hand of the Nomu opened to grab onto his wrist, the Hero already had a haymaker punch ready for it.

The hit connected with the monster’s chin and seemed stunned for a second. Just enough time to grab its head and pull it down for a knee to the face. “Just drop tired already, you must have some stamina limit, right?” Dealing with these many lethal wounds and pain must be taking a toll on it, right? Right?! It surely cannot hold more than 5 Quirks.

Considering how the bone and teeth came out of the beak, and the eyes didn’t seem any less focused than before, All Might finally made up his mind.

“I’m sorry you ended up like this.” All Might said in a mournful tone as he prepared another strike. This time it would hopefully be the last. Nomu saw the arching fist and wrapped its arms by All Might’s waist. He felt the grip tighten, the pain in his injury spike. “United States of–” He threw the punch straight at the exposed brain, the desperation of the Nomu telling him this was his weak spot. “–SMASH!!!” All Might hit the brain with all the power left in him for that day, he felt the hit connect and could feel the Shock absorption give out… Until he realised that even for a brain, there was no resistance…

It didn’t even occur to him that the brain stem would pop off like he was picking mushrooms before it flew out of the open cranium. It indeed hit the floor with the power of his Ultimate Hit, but due to the low angle from it, it bounced off and flew off through the missing part of the stadium All Might be destroyed with the other attack. “It-it just flew without resistance…” That can’t be a feature, right? Who the fuck would design a Bio-engineered soldier with in mind that its brains would fly like a football ball?!

Before All Might could ponder what kind of sick mind would even think of helping All for One, to begin with, he noticed that the body of the Nomu started to emit a blinding light.

BOOM!!!

“Haaa-chuuu!” Kyudai Garaki suddenly sneezed as he watched the screen for the Triangulation and spit out the numbers on how far away Shokku should be from them only for the Doctor’s computer to punch them in in a triangulation calculator. “I guess it lost in the end.” Well, it wasn’t much of a tragedy. If his creation took in a hit or two from All Might at full force, things should be fine.

He pressed a button and sent the retrieval message to Kurogiri who also had his own feed to the estimated coordinates for Shokku. After the Nomu seemed to be done jumping around the place, Garaki heard the whop of Kurogiri’s portal. The man turned around, expecting to see his creation battered but instead was met with the Fog Man himself. “Where is my baby?” He asked, suddenly more apprehensive of the situation.

“…Do you have one of the spare vats ready?” The warper asked and Kyudai raised an eyebrow before pointing to the empty vat to the side. It belonged to Hood but he was in the side lab at the moment for upgrades. The Doctor waited for a portal to open on top for the huge frame of the Nomu to get through but instead, a tiny cloud was created and dropped what was quickly identified as Shokku’s brain. “I think All Might got some help in the end,” Kurogiri added but the Doctor just started to giggle.

“To think that this would work!” Kyudai let out a belly laugh as he leaned back into the chair. He could hear the warper’s bafflement to the side.

“Wait, this was intended?!”

“Kind of? Hahaha!” He got out of his chair and to the command panel of the vat, trickling down Trigger through a built-in pipe as it blended in with the suspension fluid. The substance quickly hit the brain and the regeneration accelerated, the skull growing around the base of the stem and extending over to create eye sockets and start rebuilding the spine. “Since I can stick more heteromorphic Quirks into a body, Sensei and I were just throwing old stuff into them at the beginning if it would be useful. This is like a first or second gen Quirk. He didn’t even remember where he got it from just that the previous user couldn’t get a concussion because of it so we started to dope the body with Trigger to see how much we could buff it. The next thing we were doing was sensei taking potshots at it and getting a headshot.”

“You were shooting at a reanimated corpse for fun?!”

“Of course not, it was for science!” Kyudai deflected. “Anyway. The entire brain case just exploded but we realised that the brain was alright. Sensei kept fixing the skull and tried to see how much abuse can take but he described it as hitting a car tyre. Stuff just kept bouncing off. He actually had to put his back into it and rip it off since it was also slimy and slippery.” Seeing the disgust on someone who lacks a face was quite priceless. “So yeah, we kind of implemented it as it was since it allows the brain to expand when we do modifications. With Shock Absorption, the brainstem is the only weak point I can think of when it comes to hand-to-hand combat. Of course, you can still burn it or freeze it but we didn’t send it to fight Endeavour now, did we?”

“I should have just taken my day off with Rokuro.”

“Speaking of which, I wonder what that lad is doing?” Probably meet with that Hero Thirteen and that Himiko child, who knows?

Rokuro watched in as the fucking street got swarmed by what were definitely Instant Villains.

“I thought that this city was calm.” Kai Chisaki said, looking through the window of the cafe he stood with Tenko, showing the blueprints of his shock-absorbant material while a chunk of it was on the side, a meat hammer to the side to show off the prototype. The fact that they were not kicked out because of hammering that odd sponge just shows how good that thing was.

“I guess the Part-Time Hero: Rock should do his Job…” He groaned, taking his fingerless gloves and the cap before taking OverClock for a Rev.

(x2) Six headed to the door and left while Chisaki gave his bored look and Tenko a thumbs up. He sends them finger guns before heading out. Looking around, he got the general idea. Most of the people targeted are Heteromorph so it wasn’t the hardest thing to dodge.

(x3) With everyone’s movements cut by a third, Six started to reinforce his body as he started to trip Insta-Villains and karate chop them behind the neck to knock them out. His jog turned into a sprint as he was looking for the source. No gas anywhere so it must be someone injecting them but who?

And that’s when Six saw them. The bees. “Oh shit!” He perked up, looking into his reflection in one of the shop windows to check his face before he started to run in that direction. He also picked up a glass and a plate from the abandoned tables in the front of the cafe and started to catch them mid-air. Who would have thought that a Villain attack would make people leave? Huh?

He was about to pass a corner before he noticed a brown-haired girl with pink highlights and wearing a black and yellow colour theme. The thigh-high striped socks were most definitely a tell of who she was.

“BEE!” He shouted, basically leaping in front of her before he saw her get scared and trip in slow motion. “Oh– The speed.” Six was quick to step in, dialling down Overclock as the girl suddenly fell into his arms.

“W-what–” She looked around, her eyes landing on his chest before jolting up to his face.

“Hero Rock to the save!” He smirked, letting his scar be visible. “I am here to take you somewhere safe.~” He teased, seeing the woman turn red from embarrassment before elbowing him in the chest.

“Roku, you asshole!” She complained but he took the hit with gusto. Laughing as he increased the bone density and rose strength and durability of his muscles and ligaments. Going x3 again for a moment, he jumped to the tallest rooftop he could see. “Just put me down… already…?” She took in her new surroundings, then looked at him again as he let her gracefully step down. “You… You’ve been enhanced.”

“Kinda?” Six said, looking down at the remaining Insta-Villains with its new recon location. “Glad to see you. I like the new host.” Hm… 7 out of 15 he dealt with. The rest were getting away from the rest. There are also people recording so he should be actually doing the Hero gig if he wants to keep his cover.

“T-this is actually m-me now…” Bee said and Six almost snapped his neck to look at her if it wasn’t for his Quirk. “You know. Take DNA from the previous host, and let Garaki do the work. Boss mashes some Quirks together to interpret my memories from the tech bee body into a Biological one… A-and throw your Transfiguration in so it reflects how I feel on the inside to be on the outside…” She said awkwardly, like genuine human expressions kind of awkward.

“So you’re like me now?”

“Bio-engineered to hell and back to be human?” A soft smile appeared on her face. “Then yeah, we’re the same.”

Six moved closer, brushing her hair away. “So this means I can finally look into both your eyes.” He added, realising that she looked like O’Clock’s daughter with Pop☆Step’s eyes.

Of course, Six fucked around and found out as the girl instantly hit him in the shin. He was about to fall if it wasn’t for Overclock’s quick thinking and letting him balance himself back. “How about you stop trying to woo me! Baka!” The tsundere said and Six wondered what Quirks she had to hit that hard before she noticed that her boots had retractable spikes. “And I’m going by Kuin Hachisuka so you better call me Kuin.” She also mumbled something about Six and Pop and Koichi but he was honestly more concerned with fixing the bone she just broke.

“Yeah yeah, I’ll behave.” He clicked his tongue as the pain still ran through the nerves. “Roku and Kuin, the perfect duo. Anything else?” He threw that in just to be a tease but she didn’t seem as ‘bothered’ this time.

“Since now I’m a different entity from the hive, I don’t feel pain like before when they die and I have like a portable hive to keep the actual Queen Bee and the drones.” That’s neat. “And Boss is bullying a teenager down the street.”

“Boss is doin’ what?” He looked over the ledge and saw live how Izuku Midoriya summoned a Quirk, then started attacking All for One. “Actually. No, nopeee. I’m not getting into that mess!” He declared before looking for the Insta-Villains so he could do anything else than THAT.

“Oh and Roku?”

“Yeah, what is it?” He said mindlessly.

“I missed seeing your stupid face.” That took him by surprise but by the time he looked back at her, Kun just ran past him and jumped over the ledge. “I need to pick up my hive, byee~” She shouted and Six had to suppress the urge to run and grab her, knowing damn well she wouldn’t just mindlessly jump like that.

The moment she landed and gave him a thumbs up, a weight off his shoulders was lifted. “You heard her Rokuro, she’s just like you. An over-engineered mess that can survive anything…” He felt a bit of reassurance and bitterness at that. He was no longer alone. Which was great. But now someone else has to share the burden of being All for One’s toy…

He looked back at the duo below just as Boss grabbed Izuku Midoriya and went from rough to a fatherly embrace the moment the kid was knocked out. Maybe his son would be more pleasant to work with.

Chapter Text

The clouds cleared as Endeavour rode his helicopter to where Nedzu marked All Might’s last location. He thought it was stupid to go where All Might probably cleared the area of Villains but the damned rat-bear-dog thing started to say some ominous stuff about his wife and decided that maybe it wasn’t the best time to butt heads with the Quirked animal.

What he did not expect was half of the Mitsuzawa Football Stadium to be gone and a crater dead in the middle of it–is that a person in the middle of it?!

Enji did not even wait for the helicopter to land, he straight up picked up a normal and a large pair of handcuffs and jumped, using jets of fire to slow his downfall as he tried to figure out if the one knocked out was a friend or foe. “Of course, he’d send me to clean after All Might.” He grumbled as he landed with only minor stumbles and brunt grass as he approached the lying person… with a rather familiar colour scheme.

He didn’t dare to speak as he approached, seeing the blonde hair of the man and the destroyed red and blue costume. “What did you call me for, Nedzu…” Enji slid down the crater from the explosion, just holding himself back from getting into a sprint to the downed man.

Tzzk “How is it?” Nedzu’s voice came over his earpiece.

“What’s the meaning of this?!” He said in a shouted whisper, reaching to get a pulse. Present but faint. “It’s not him. It cannot be him!”

“It’s all Might, Todoroki-San.” Nedzu cut through the dissolution Enji tried to keep, trying to not acknowledge who the skeletal figure was as the glory of a man he envied was snuffed out.

“What Villain did this?” And where is it if All Might stands here defeated?

“Is All Might alive?” Nedzu pushed.

“Barely!” Enji spat back as the helicopter landed not far from them. “Now tell me what kind of sick Villain can turn a brick house like All Might into a bag of bones!”

“… He’s been ill for 5 years. This is just what people don’t see.” That sent a shiver down Enji’s spine. “I guess that whoever did this to him back then came back now.”

Enji inspected All Might, actual fucking All Might who’s just skin and bones and, according to Nedzu, ain’t a new development. “The place smells like… burning flesh. There are light burns on him but,” Enji noticed the red on the fabric before realising that the blood was drained by the scorched ground. “He’s bleeding from the side! Get a First Aid Kit over here!”

He shouted at his sidekicks, only now realising how lightheaded he felt.

“His old wound opened,” Nedzu added. “I’ll get Recovery Girl to the nearest hospital as humanly possible.” With that, the call was cut and Enji was left alone.

“Yo, boss. Who’s that?” Onima asked, getting to his side with the Kit as the other two were getting a tourniquet.

Endeavour had to shake himself as the Sidekick seemed to have the same slow realisation he had. Onima‘s face turned pale as the Hero grabbed him by his free arm. “You will not tell a single soul about this or I will burn you all alive with my bare hands.” He wasn’t serious about the threat but they knew how much the Flame Hero wanted to get the point out. “He’s bleeding. Cut his costume and bandage him.” The young man gave a nod as his face turned grim.

Enji could only glance back at the defeated Number 1 Hero as he did the same outline with Burnin and Kido. Making sure they had their lips sealed before they heard Onima making a gagged sound. “This is… I honestly can’t tell if it’s purple because of being his or the place has poor blood flow…” He explained and when Enji saw what it was about, he almost dropped his jaw. Almost.

It took two people to move All Might and bandage him around the torso, making Enji wonder how deep it was going for the man to look like that and if it took more than the Hero let on… even more than the Hero let on; if this was his true appearance without his Quirk’s doing… 

Enji felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He read the incoming message and realised it was from Nedzu. An Address. A Photo. And a Name. ‘Izuku Midoriya. That’s the one the Villain is after now.’

Izuku had to duck the moment All for One started to turn into Doomsday from his father’s old comics, go figure! “Oooooh. This makes so much sense right now!” He said mostly to himself as he grabbed Danger sense off the ground, noting the sound of bells when moving but couldn’t figure out what kind of bell it was. Odd.

The teen just took the moment of chaos as an opportunity and ran into a corner so he wouldn’t be in the line of fire of the Second user as they were hanging in on the most notorious Villain.

It was actually hard for Izuku not to fanboy over All for One as he was attacked from all directions. Lariat was using Black Whip from the floor and the newly formed ceiling to grab the Villain by the arms and legs, and try to choke him while at it. Gaen was acting more like a squid, coming close only to send jets of smog in the man’s face while Sky High was trying to use the little space available to kick and push All for One from having a solid footing or from grabbing the rest. Second was using his weapon to send those disks again, even trying to do trick shots off the Villain to hit Izuku, but the man was too fast and was parrying without much of a sweat. Third was honestly the only damage dealer in the team but he needed decent openings from the joint effort of Gaen and Sky High to land a safe hit.

Meanwhile, All for One was mostly unaffected, trying to get a hold of someone and Gaen was the unlucky one. It wasn’t even a fight as he pulled the Underground hero in his grasp and crushed his skull in his other hand and a wet crunch was heard from what should have been a skull breaking like a nut and brains spilling out like paste.

That’s when something piqued Izuku’s curiosity.

The Hero dispelled his form, but All for One had something in his hand, not much different from what Danger Sense looked like. He let it slide into his palm, and a red glow escaped through his fingers. The next moment, he opened his palm, and the object was gone, disappearing like a magic trick.

That was the moment when it clicked! “Do I have All For One?” He thought back to how he woke up in the morning. How he bled in the morning as the same light beamed into his palm.

Izuku looked at his palms, flexing them as he felt something that wasn’t there before. It was stiff but oddly, it was the kind of stiff he felt when standing in front of the computer for too long and needed to stretch a little… A muscle he hadn’t stretched before…

Not knowing what to do exactly, Izuku started to flex his free hand. Closing his fist then opening his hand wide and stretching his fingers to their limit. ‘It’s there. I can feel it…’ He glanced back up just in time to see Sky High being tossed by All for One at the wall beside Izuku. Her Quirk neutralises her momentum, making the teen realise that it technically deleted her potential energy to keep her floating and not touch anything.

Unfortunately for her, All for One decided to stop limiting himself to his DC Cosplay as the man’s fingers turned pitch black, stretching out like spears and impaling the Hero once in her chest and twice in her stomach. It was harrowing to hear her scream in agony but it quickly stopped as red lines spread through her body seemingly destabilising her form. Two of the spear-like tendrils (fingers?) went for the head right after and extracted another of those ‘lights. “Two down, Brother.~” All for One said, smirking as he looked at the First User, the ring leader in Izuku’s opinion despite staying in a corner just like Izuku. “Or three down? It seems like you’re also eager to eliminate pawns when they are not useful.~” The man said in a teasing tone to get under his sibling’s skin. Izuku was a single child but he saw stuff like this when stumbling upon some of his classmates with a brother and sister around.

“We’re nothing like you!” First spat out and something seemed to tick off the Villain.

“We?” All for One asked, his joking demeanour gone. “Why would you call yourself ‘We’?” That’s when Lariat seemed to have realised the same thing as Izuku. “Yoichi?… Are you even Yoichi?” That question was apprehensive, making Izuku sweatdrop as the restraints made out of Black Whip seemed to not affect the man anymore. “Brother?” All for One stepped towards the First, Second, and Third trying to guard him while Lariat tried to still pull the Villain back but was met with a backhand and then finger gunning at him as two speared-tentacle impaled in his head and killed him on the spot.

Izuku most definitely didn’t act like a goblin and subtly went to pick up Black Whip off the floor as the Symbol of Evil was menacingly walking towards his long-dead brother.

“Yoichi!” The man’s voice thundered as the Second pointed his support gear at All for One and fired… only for the high-speed disk to bounce off and crack into the concrete wall, getting stuck into it. Yeah, no. There’s no hope for the Original Trio now that All for One was here. “Don’t look away brother–I SAID LOOK AT ME!!!” All for One raised his hands. With one he did a pushing motion, pressing the Second and Third against a wall each; Then he pulled with the other and the First user was dragged from the corner and right in front of the Man. “You always complain that I look through people, that I don’t see them as human! Then tell me, do you try to defy me again by not looking at me? By trying to throw a tantrum until the BITTER END?!?!”

He grabbed the First User by the throat and threw him across the room, straight into his own thrown as the rest were either gone with the Vestiges or about to be as the same tendrils came out of All for One’s back and straight into the Second and Third, picking their powers as their seats were gone as well. “Or is it that you don’t recognise me?” He asked in a hurt tone and Izuku saw the man’s mournful face. “Tell me. What is my name? You tell me that and I’m dropping you in the best suitable host for you to live one more day. I’ll let you rebuild and have another go at me.” All for One pleaded. Actually pleaded as the phantom sitting on a throne looked back in distress.

The silence was deafening.

Izuku didn’t know how long the pause lasted but All for One started to laugh, it was low and bitter. “Of course. You’re not Yoichi or at least not enough of him to deem Him.” He sighed. “You’re the part of Yoichi that lived after I gave him that damned power. That’s when you were born when One For All was manifested when I awoke it by strapping the Quirk equivalent of a car battery to my brother’s genes!” The man pinched his nose, taking out one last breath. “Well, this ruins half of my retirement plan. I was a fool that I could even reconcile with him by the end of it.” He raised his hand, the fingers already turned into those spiky tendrils. “Any last words before I end your worthless existence?”

The first user –no, One For All itself– said. “You forgot one of Us.”

Both Izuku and All for One looked up at the same time as the fiery throne was gone but something blazing like a comet was coming down at them. “SMASH!”

All Might’s Vestige struck the Villain but the man was fast enough to doge, leaving the Hero to strike the floor as the ground they were standing on was cracking and breaking apart. “I shouldn’t have left the corner.” He muttered, being acutely aware of how close to the edge he was as he fell on all four to keep from falling. “All Might can collapse half a city and you’re unleashing it in something the size of a studio apartment?!” He shouted as the Villain and Hero were at it again.

“You’re the one who decided to rat us over to All for One!”

“I was just trying to intimidate you so you’d obey me!”

“You wanted to KILL US!”

“I was just–” Izuku paused, something bubbling inside him as he saw All for One get on the defensive, walls shattering from shockwaves as dread came over him. “–Actually, fuck you! Even if you were a real person or a ghost or something else that could have been put in a body and come back to life, I’d have still killed you!”

He shouted and could see that look in One For All’s eyes. It was different yet oh so similar to the one he had all his life. “You’re just as We expected you to be in the end.” Being pushed into a pattern, into a box people can label and forget about it.

Just this once, Izuku decided to fall into expectations as he gripped onto Danger Sende with his left and Black Whip with his right. “Good on you, I guess.” He said, a sound like static drowning his hearing as he raised his right hand, wisps of darkness appearing and stretching out. “How about you get a fistful of your opinion of me!” He shouted making a gesture between using a whip and throwing a ball as the tendrils of darkness flew the same way All for One used them. One For All screamed when he was literally whipped, making All Might’s Vestige look at them just in time for All for One to put the Hero in a neck lock, the same red light coming out of the spikes now coming out of the man’s bare hand as it webbed across the fiery form.

“Not so funny when there’s more than one of us now, huh?” All for One taunted as a second pair of mantis arms appeared and wrapped around not-All Might’s stomach. “I gutted you once, I’ll do it again!” And with that not-All Might shouted in agony, his screams echoed somewhere else that neither of them could see; Light coming out of his abdomen almost blinding Izuku if it wasn’t for Danger Sense synching up and telling him to close his eyes.

Izuku got into a sprint. His second Quirk told him where it wasn’t safe to step on as he got to One For All. Black Whip was sticky in a way, gripping onto the man even with Izuku’s crappy first-time use. One of the tendrils wrapping around the Vestige's neck and the end reaching Izuku’s hand by instinct he rammed into the man, sending him to the ground with the teen on top. “Is this what you wanted?!” He sat in the man’s face, the frail body of a frail-minded man. “A Villain! A Monster!” One For All, this ‘Yoichi’, tried to speak but he wouldn’t let him–he was literally strangling whatever was left of his life away. “Someone pin the blame on you because you didn’t have the guts to face reality!” The sickly man struggled against the body of a boy to train relentlessly for 6 months for this power. “All for One gave you a chance to stand on your own feet and you were fucking dumb enough to whine, to give it away on the first occasion you could!” Izuku looked into the same pair of eyes as his own. One that was supposed to be from someone like him, to understand him but was too complacent with his existence to change the world, only to pass his flimsy dreams over to the next and to the next and so on until it got to the teen.

Izuku looked Yoichi in the eyes as it happened. A nephew killed his uncle because he was too much of a coward to do things himself and not fuck up 6 or so generations with his idiotic view of Villains and Heroes. One For All’s body dimmed, fading into wisps while all that was left was a pearl of sorts, shining in the colours of a rainbow as it rolled to the side.

Izuku… Izuku had killed. It might not have been human. It might not have even been a person. But he killed something and with that, so did the legacy that came behind it.

And he never felt so powerful ever in his life.

“That was quite something.” All for One mused; All Might’s vestige wounded behind him, clutching at its stomach that was bleeding light. “Impressive even.” He stretched out a hand and Izuku looked at it, then at the man. He was smiling as Izuku took it. “You know. Even as I heard you were a candidate for One For All, I never really thought my own blood would be the one ending this cursed legacy.”

“And I never thought I’d think you’d get your hands dirty like this,” Izuku said to All for One, or more well known to him as Hisashi Midoriya. “I don’t know if I should be upset.”

Dad raised an eyebrow. The whole menacing aura of All for One was gone in an instant. “About what?”

“I Dunno. Everything?” He shrugged while Dad picked up the OFA pearl stone. “Hiding you’re a Villain? That you’re the guy who has multiple Quirks? The fact you never gave me one?” That made his father pause his inspection, throwing the Quirk in his pocket.

“The last time I gave a relative a Quirk before they manifested their own, I accidentally started a game of cat and mouse that lasted 15 decades.” He looked down at Izuku, a bitter smile on his face. “Unfortunately, that didn’t stop me when you were a kid. Even more unfortunately, your version of my Quirk is extremely petty. No matter what Quirk I was trying to slip into your body, it refused to let them exist and your body was turning them into recessive genes.”

Izuku blinked. “Wait. So, you tried but my body was just rejecting them?”

“More or less.” Dad shrugged. “As for me not telling you I’m a Villain. I already raised you with zero morality attached, that’s on you for not figuring out I’m committing more than just Tax Fraud!” He pointed out and Izuku tried not to cringe at how he wasn’t even surprised when his own father broke in, Quirks blazing.

“S-Shut up!” Izuku whined and Dad suddenly ruffled his hair. “I still don’t agree with what you’re doing.” He saw the writing on the wall from Nedzu’s notes, and Izuku knew that the Hero system created the ecosystem for All for One to thrive in. “You better not think I’ll become a Villain like you?”

“If we exclude you just strangled a man to death?” Dad chuckled, still playing with Izuku’s hair for some reason. “I didn’t raise you to be a Hero or a Villain. I just… When raising you, I always thought it was good to let you know how things really are. No nonsense about “Heroes Good, Villains Bad” or the other way around. I raised you to see the cracks, to see the issues with the system, to see that it's not sustainable by the end of the day.” Dad sighed. “But that’s too early yet. You’ll meet corruption if you still want to be a Hero and you’ll see what I’m droning on about yourself.”

“So, you still let me become a Hero?” Izuku asked, only just now realising they went from fighting for their lives to some father-son talk.

“Only because I know you know better than them, Izuku…” The man finally stopped playing with his hair. “Hm. It started already.”

“What started?” Izuku asked as his father pulled away. “Daad! Stop teasing me already!”

“Sorry, Izuku. It just comes with being a father!” The man chuckled as he pulled out the pearl stone of OFA again. “You’ll see, but first we need to get out of here and this is our ticket.~” He looked at the pearl, smiling. “It took over a century but I finally got the most esoteric Quirk of all! Well, one of the two.” He let the pearl slide in his hand as he walked towards the gutted All Might. “The ability to enhance any biological and Quirk process in the human body. I struck gold and silver at the same time, and I accidentally let them slip between my fingers. Tks tsk tsk. How young and foolish I was.~”

“You two planned this from the start…”  All Might’s Vestige Spoke. Odd, he thought the link would be broken by now with no OFA alive.

Dad paused in his tracks. “You… Shit! You’re actually here?!”

“That Nomu thing. You rigged it to blow up if it was defeated…” Oh fuck… All Might staggered back to his feet and Izuku hid behind his father, the man instinctively trying to protect his son. “I don’t even know if I’m alive out there but I know you two are in this place, in the heart of One For All…” He looked around, even as a blazing figure, it was clear the man was devastated. “There’s nothing left of what my Master left… You played me from the start…”

“It’s not our fault you’re as easy as a fiddle.” All for One said, clawed fingers coming back and Izuku took a step back to not get in the way. “I would gloat about my plans now that I’ve virtually won but I don’t know how much of this will translate into the real you.” He launched his tendrils again, spearing through All Might’s shoulder, light spilling out again. “Don’t take it personally. I am prepared for anything reality or fiction can throw at me, boy.” All Might looked to the man, almost like realising how young and inexperienced he was compared to him. Even Izuku felt it, realising that his father probably lived 2 or 3 lifetimes; if he could call it that.

“In the end, we were just kids playing in your front yard, weren’t we?” All Might asked, trying to steady himself on his feet as he raised his head high. “The longer it went, the less it felt like a vendetta against you and more like kids throwing stuff at your door, isn’t it?”

“… All but you. Toshinori Yagi.” Dad said in a calmer tone. “Every single one of the Users was like flies to be swatted but your Mentor in her hubris accidentally gave me a heads up about you.”

“W-What?” All Might asked, tensing up before starting to cough, droplets of light coming out of his mouth.

“Her last word was that I will fall to you without a doubt because you’re even more unhinged than me. And you know what?” All for One paused, letting All Might think. “The moment you came back from America and you started to dismantle my criminal organisation like there was no tomorrow, those words rang into my mind like a gong and I pulled out all my operations with only mild damages. You were hopeless to find me after that until you got your little sidekick with his future sight.” He pointed out and Izuku could see the spheres of fire making All Might’s eyes bulge in shock. “The very reason I went into hiding and started to overengineer Quirks to the point I can come back to life is that your so-called Master thought that mocking me to my face with how powerful you are.”

“Talk about friendly fire. He was doomed from the start…” Izuku muttered, well aware both men heard him.

“I see.” All Might said. His voice was like the sickly Yagi. “There’s no way to win against you.” Dad was confused but Izuku knew that tone, it was the same petty one that the teen was using when he couldn’t win. “So, if I can’t–” The cracks of lights expanded over the man’s body and Izuku started to eye the ledge of the shattered room. He took a step closer to it but Danger Sense knew better. He looked at the door All for One came through but after one step, the same tingle hit his skull, telling him it was not a good idea. “–then I’ll make sure neither will you!” All Might launched himself at All for One, the Villain barely managed to get his guard up only for the sound of broken bone to be heard.

“I knew it was too good to be good.” All for One growled. “I gave you closure of your Master’s last words and that’s how you repay me?”

“Your truth is always filled with venom, All for One. We only fought a handful of times but I know how to look past your manipulation.” All Might explained and Izuku started to wrap Black Whip around his arms like bandages; no more piggy bagging on the Villain’s actions, it seems. “All that I heard from that little speech of yours was that Nana’s last words were that she had faith in me and you chickened out the moment you realised you could not defeat me like the rest!” All Might started to punch faster and faster and All for One suddenly sprung the same tendrils from the back and speared the ground, trying to keep himself in one place as the hits suddenly sounded like a machine gun. 

All for One attempted to deploy a shield Quirk, but All Might just shattered it in seconds. “You stubborn gorilla!” the man yelled back, his body transforming again into that Doomsday form, yet Izuku Noticed the blood dripping at the villain's feet.

The calm from before was gone as a sense of dread came over him. “No…” Not again. “Nonoo…” How did it just fly over his head it was him who did that it was– “DON’T YOU TOUCH MY FATHER!” Izuku saw red! Izuku saw his father, the man who raised him, the man who couldn’t raise him anymore because of All Might of all people took his father away.

Izuku felt the Black Whip bandages just form his forearms and past both of his father’s sides, latching onto the Hero in front as the teen stretched them out. Letting them wrap around All Might’s waist and drop low to the ground so his father wasn’t boxed in. The Quirk gave him a sense of touch in a way, he could feel the wound All for One left when gutting the Hero earlier and Izuku knew that was the place to pull his Quirk through.

“So, this is how it feels to have actually competent support!” Dad laughed and the teen had to stop from going manic at the praise as his father uppercuts All Might. The two of them started inching in opposite directions so Izuku could try to create a noose around the Hero’s stomach and strangle it while Dad kept his focus. All Might started to flinch at the pressure in his abdomen but Father was relentless, keeping up with the thundering hits while Izuku started to use Black Whip on All Might the same way Lariat was doing on his dad before.

Is this what could have been? Izuku and His Dad, side by side against any enemy?

Izuku still felt a sense of pride, even if he knew Dad and he wouldn’t have seen eye to eye because of the whole All for One thing. “Is it working?!” He shouted over the sounds of logic-defying punches.

“No clue but keep–” Dad’s fist was caught by All Might. “–going…” He threw another one but it was caught as well. “Hm. It seems I’m disarmed.” Dad hummed before the mantis arms emerged again, wrapping around All Might’s back this time but they stopped before they cut anything. “Tks. I knew that Scissors and Mantis Arms combo has horrible range but still!” He complained, seemingly more upset with the Quirks not working than both of them being royally fucked.

“You want to bleed me out of power? Fine.” All Might said before throwing Dad in Izuku’s direction. Izuku thought he might be slammed with the full force of a monsterfied All for One before he stopped millimetres from him. He instantly recognised Sky High’s Float. “I’ll give you what you want!” At that moment the wounds bleeding lights shone ever brighter.

“All Might, don’t be a fucking idiot! We are still inside your successor’s body! You will kill the child if you–”

“Then for once in your life, you’ll be the one to protect something!” Izuku was filled with dread at the man’s words, the booming laughter only made him realise how much he fucked up. “As for you, Young Midoriya.” the hero looked in his direction, a smile as bright as his flaming body contrasting with the void of those sunken eyesockes. “I might be a fool but I still have faith in you. Whatever way your… gene donor raised you; it’s not too late to change. I know of your potential. Torino-San know it. Even Nedzu knows that it’s not too late.” That would have been far more reassuring if the man wasn’t glowing like a melting reactor!

Izuku could almost hear Dad’s gears turning as he looked at the Vault door. “Izuku.”

“Y-Yes?” He was startled at Dad’s voice emerging from all the tension. “Please tell me you have a plan.”

“I want you to jump off the ledge.” Izuku paled. “If that door leads to All for One and this room is inside One For All, then that empty void should throw you back into real space.” He explained just as All Might pounced at him. The punch still broking through the deployed red shields.

All Might arched his fist back ignoring the beam of purple light that pierced through his already opened abdomen “UNITED–” The vestige of All Might started to break, its shape blurring.

“Izuku! Now!” 

“But Danger Sense–”

“–STATES OF–”

“I don’t care! Listen to me and jump!” 

“What if I die?!”

“–SMASH!!!”

“Then I’ll revive you the same way I was! Now listen to me and JUMP!” Dad ordered and Izuku felt compelled to move. Only by the time he was at the ledge, did he realise that Dad used mind control to make him move; Danger Sense telling him not to do it.

He was already in free fall when he managed to twist himself mid-air to look up just in time to see the floating room explode, as an expanding, golden fireball was catching up with him. “So, this is how I die, huh?” Strapped with a nuke while his father died with him. “And I didn’t even get Dad to write his will yet.” He laughed bitterly at the joke they both had. He really should have seen it coming that his father was a Villain, but it didn’t… matter…

Wait. Why is the explosion turning red?

“Oh.” Danger Sense started screaming bloody murder as the golden light became infected by a flash of corrupting red lightning. Its golden-yellow hue turned white, then scattered into a kaleidoscope of colours, just like One For All. “OH SHIT!” Izuku started to wrap his whole body with  Black Whip as he saw one of the bolts going straight at him. He was about to apply a second layer of the Quirk when he was paralyzed from the hit; The shimmering energy zapped into Izuku’s chest.

Hurting was putting it easily. He convulsed in agony as his muscles twitched from the energy forced into his body.  His teeth clenched in reflex as he tried to power through it all. It almost seemed to burrow in his chest. For a second, he could see himself in a dark place, in his room, then in the training gym at UA.

The last thing he saw before passing out was another vault door with multiple locks, a rainbow light, and an insidious red coming from the seams.

 All for One snapped to reality, realising that he was holding Izuku as both of their veins were glowing that golden light All Might’s vestige had in the Void. “I knew I should have killed him before coming here…” He grunted, gritting his teeth as he activated a paralytic Quirk on Izuku.

One for All burnt the effect instantly. Dandy. He activated Vampirism and let the energy from Izuku spill into him. All for One used Transfiguration to disable his twitching muscles and turn off his pain receptors before he used Demon Wings and Thermal Release as a radiator.

No use. All that energy wanted to be released and if it wasn’t going inside All for One, then it was going to rush back into Izuku and kill him!

He activated Flash Freeze inside him, making his blood vessels into a coolant system. He tore his suit apart with Fabrikenisis and used Transfiguration to peel his skin off for better heat dispersal.  He started to grow Rivet Stab out of his back, the tendrils reaching to the sky like a fungal infection as he rummaged for the least energy-efficient Quirks.

It never occurred to him that he wouldn’t be able to absorb so much energy but there’s an everything for anything when you live that long. “I don’t know how much my Quirks can handle at this point.” He mumbled before the stupidest idea ever came to mind.

There’s nothing more inefficient than early generation Quirks and if Izuku’s Quirk awakening theory was solid. “Fuck it, I’m doing it!” All For One, One For All, Life Force, Rivet Stab, Spear-like Bones, Fa Jin, Gear Shift, Destro’s Dark Will, Multiplier, Forcible Quirk Control, and… and Izuku’s Quirk. He let those Quirks out into the ‘flames’ of Energy Stockpile. If they burn, they burn. If not, then he’s set for life.

All for One could only watch as his and Izuku’s golden veins started to turn red, their own energies cascading as the man held firmly onto the teen’s wrist. “You can do it, Son. You can claim it as your own!” He said, unsure if the boy would hear him as the red light crept up Izuku’s neck and probably into his brain. All for One placed his free hand on his forehead, ignoring the pain as he used Mind Link to check on Izuku’s vitals. The moment he felt the boy have a seizure; he used his telepathy to use his own brain for processing as the kid turned like a Christmas tree. Synapses firing and nerve pathways make space for the infrastructure of the boy’s own power. If he wasn’t paralysed from taking the bulk of the energy and trying to purge it all out, All for One would have called for Kyudai to crack open one of the test tubes for Izuku so he could undergo the process there.

It was simply too late as the man could only take so much of his own Son’s pain away. “I already lost Yoichi. Don’t make me mourn you for a century as well.” He desperately pleaded. 

As he searched for more Quirks to absorb the overflowing power faster, Hisashi Shigaraki fell to the ground, a heatstroke finally knocking him out as his Quirks still tried to take in all the power All Might cursed his child to bear.

The last thing to happen was Corrupted Beam and Weather Control triggering as the Rivet Stabs still hung over the buildings with enough range to send a pulse of energy to the sky.

Six started to sweat as he recognised the Quirk combo, “Corrupted Lightning.” His Boss should only be able to use it two or three times a day, how was it running at the same capacity as Weather Control? Thankfully, it was acting just as normal lighting. Path of the least resistance and so on; instead of targeting people as it would do.

But that was when it started to rain and Six wasn’t having it. “Kuin!” He reached for his partner using Radio Waves. “Boss is pulling some bullshit esoteric combination. The rain is acidic!” As in actually corrosive!

Six hoped he could avoid any proximity to that family drama but whatever it was happening to drop a world-ending event, it had to stop Now!

He ran to the eye of the storm and saw something out of a horror movie. Boss was on the ground, his body butchered as he was bleeding his toxic blood from his skinless arms; only the hands had skin because he was holding Izuku. The very concrete of the place was hissing from the wave of heat as the wings seemed to be burning themselves. He watched Rivet Stab anchored on the walls, so he pulled a military knife and cut off them like vines, hoping it would stop the rain when the stupid antenna went down. Only Boss would be crazy enough to leave an actual doomsday Quirk active while knocked out.

He looked at Izuku. The kid was out of it but it almost seemed like a menacing red aura emanated from him. Six tried to reach for the boy but felt some static building up before he was zapped. “The fuck were you two doing over here…?” Six could only be left to wonder as he felt the fever on the boy. “Shit.” He hoped the fever was from the ambient heat but it was unlikely.

“Doc?” He called on his phone using Radio Waves.

“Oh, Six. Are you by Master’s side by any chance?”

“He and the kid are dying. I need them vatted.” He explained and could hear the man freak out on the other end.

“I’ll have Kurogiri bring you all here,” Doc explained before cutting the call. Kurogiri’s portal opened just as Kuin showed up holding what was a very thick briefcase —probably her hive.

“Oh my…” Kurogiri went grey at the look of their master.“We get the big guy. Kuin, get Izuku.” Six instructed, examining All for One’s hand to check if he was using his base Quirk but, thankfully, they were both out of it. Six ignored the smell of burning flesh and grabbed the Super Villain by one arm while Kuro did the other, dragging the most dangerous man alive through the portal as Kuin did the same with Izuku.

“What happened?” Doc asked, paling at their look. “Did he not get One For All from his son?!”

“Don’t know. Don’t care.” Six barked as they brought All for One to his chair and the glass lowered. Kuin did the same with Izuku and they watched as those freakish tubes were forcefully slid into the two’s throats, for Boss a second one came through the hole in the base of his neck, as needles on mechanical tendrils came in and started injecting them with a cocktail of drugs and Quirk Boosters.

Their vitals appeared on the screen along with an incubator vat labelled ‘Subject Nine’ on the tab. Doc closed that in an instant and left only Izuku and Boss on the large screen. “Midoriya-Kun’s Energy signature is erratic. It looks like whatever Master did to him was… Oh, that’s interesting.”

“What’s interesting?” Six asked but didn’t get a response, as the man clicked something and a new tab opened. One look at the vats and both of them had a device lowered on their heads. The liquid made it easier to move the two, as their wounds were already healing.

Now that they were hooked up to it, two mock-ups of brains showed up. “Fascinating! It’s not just in the prefrontal cortex but the whole brain being rewired! To think I’ll get such valuable data!”

“Doc, stop messing around and tell us what’s going on or I’ll sic Kuin’s bees on your sorry ass!” Six threatened, reaching for the man’s shoulder to peer him off the console but he actually slipped his grasp. The doctor went to grab a spare tank to the side and switched the one to the side of Izuku’s capsule.

“Izuku-Kun is undergoing a Forced Quirk Awakening! One For All has similar effects to Trigger. I can use the ‘high’ from the Quirk with one of my formulas to finish the process before he dies!” Doc explained and Six was left gaping.

“You mean he’ll die anyway?!”

“Eh, I’ll give it a 70/30 chance. He is having a seizure from the brain reconstructing itself to house multiple Quirks.” The ancient bastard went back to his computer and even more needled on tennis came out to stab into Izuku’s body. “Of course, this is a refined version of the Insta Villain Trigger and Hyper Regeneration. If he lives, it's okay but even if he dies, the cocktail would just bring him back to life!” The mad chuckle made Six fear for the kid’s life, but not ever Overclock could let him move that fast. “To quote Master after his first Death, it’s like I’d be injecting the very waters of the Lazarus Pits into him!” The command was already set and Izuku was pumped up with the drugs.

All that Six could do was watch as the kid’s heart failed for a second before starting again. “No, Izuku, live!” He pleaded, holding his hand on the smart glass as it was locked out of his control.

The kid started to turn white as a sheet before turning cyan like a mid-grade Nomu. When the skin turned black, the holes in Izuku’s hands started glowing and Six could feel something grab onto his very soul. For a moment the kid opened his eyes, flashing red and the moment they landed on him, it was like Six was hit in the gut.

“Why do I always question Sensei?! Hahah?!!” Doc said, trying to hold himself on the console, grasping at his head as well as Kurogiri and Kuin seemed to have dropped unconscious to the ground. “I never understood why he had faith in the boy so much. I would have discarded him long ago for being a liability but here. We. are!”

Six could feel himself bleeding from the noise, the sensation of whatever monstrosity Izuku had making his brain mush. Before he fell to the ground as well, leaving the Doctor the last one standing.

“Of course, this is the high of both One For All and Trigger.” Kyudai Garaki looked back at the screen, seeing all the data being backed up while his Master could do nothing in his unconscious state. “Maybe in a hundred years, he’ll be able to pull this kind of stunt on the daily but now he needs to learn what his limits are.” He barely managed to sit down, looking at his creations not being able to handle them because of having more than one Quirk each. “If Master got One For All for ourselves, then maybe we’ll be able to live long enough to see the world you want to shape.” He chuckled, injecting his master with pufferfish toxin to keep him asleep for a little longer. Detoxification will need to be taken care of before he wakes up.

Rolling the chair to Izuku’s tube, the skin was lightening up already. The concoction wasn’t made to last like in the Nomu. “I think I can start working on creating Number Ten after this is all done.” 

As the high was going away, the man decided to call a hospital in Kamino so Izuku could be interned ‘after a villain attack’ and Hisashi had a building collapse over him after the lightning hit it. Seems a reasonable alibi to him.

[█████ Vault]

 He… didn’t know when he woke up. All he knew was that he was lying down on something that didn’t feel hard or soft, warm or cold. He could only see a tall figure leaning over by the waist as it stared down at them.

“Hey, you. You're finally awake.” Suddenly, The figure smiled with a mischievous grin on his face. “You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there.”

“Fuck you.” He groaned, bringing a hand to his face at the antics he knew but honestly shouldn’t at the same time… His own body was just as not cold not warm as the ground. He slid a hand higher and brushed his fingers in between his long hair but it didn’t feel right nor wrong. It simply didn’t feel real in a way. “Where are we?”

“Better Question. What are we?” The Other person asked, moving away as the one lying down moved to a sitting position.

“What are you on about?” He asked The Other, being in a void with no end to it seemed like– “Why are you like that?”  

“Oh, so you noticed finally!” The Other said, spinning on his heel as the figure of the person didn’t look solid. It was wobbly and fuzzy like you’d be looking in a warped mirror in a dark room filled with smoke and you’re semi-transparent for some reason. “Check this out.” The Other said under the breath before taking a deep breath.

What followed was… it was both creepy and amazing at the same time. The Other stretched his arms as two red lights beamed from the palms, the light digging in as it seeped in what he assumed was the nerves, lighting up The Other like a Christmas tree, getting to the shoulders then flushing down the spine, then the torso and legs. It then started to rise from the neck and to the head where the brain was just shining like a beacon. He could barely watch before the light did something and the smudge of a person started to become less so. The crimson light washing the body gave The Other the strength to become whole.

“Voila!” The Other said, smiling before adjusting his coat over the suit. “Quite impressive. I say so myself.”

“Congrats. You can turn into a blur and come back.” He snarked, catching The Other by surprise by looking at his face.

It didn’t register why the puzzled look was so unnerving to him. “So, you can’t change out of the blur form?” The Other asked.

“I’m not–” He looked at his arm that was still holding his hair realising it didn’t look quite right before jolting to awareness. “Nonono…” He grabbed his hand and didn’t feel different from the ground he was sitting on; it even looked the same smudginess and oddness that The Other looked like a moment prior. He started to pat down his own body, trying to feel something but it just felt as bland and unnoticeable as everything else.

He looked at The Other, his green eyes having a red glow as it was phasing between the colours but the important part was that he looked REAL.

“… What are we?” He asked himself the same question now. Realisation slowly crept in, and he couldn’t recall anything about himself.

[Meta Readings: ERROR_MULTIPLE_DNA_TRACES]

[Danger: Multiple integratory Quirks Detected similar to All for One.]

[Danger: Host's Quirk is heavily damaged; Damage resembles radiation poisoning.]

[Danger: Readings indicate the undergoing of a Quirk Singularity.]

[Danger: Additional integratory Quirks are assimilating into the host.]

[Danger: Traces of the Lazarus Compound are still detected in the Host's bloodstream.]

Kyudai Garaki looked at the processed data and the warnings coming from it. "Sigh... I'm sorry, little Izuku. But the same thing that was supposed to bring your Quirk to life also poisoned it." He mulled over the data. It was still amazing, but he'd have preferred a deviation of All For One to study, as well as One For All.

Well, it matters not. By having All For One as an incidental donor, Izuku still had all the chances to reach its full potential... If only Kyudai knew if that potential would be pro or against his research.

Looking at the boy in the vat, he squinted a little to see under that seaweed of a hair. It almost looked like the boy's roots were bleaching out.

Chapter Text

Enji could not help but despair at the scene before him as he walked the streets.

First came the blanket of clouds that cut off all communication, then he picked up All Might and got him to the hospital, only for the sky to be covered again. This time, purple lightning rained down, turning steel and concrete into dust wherever it landed. Short to say, it grounded Enji to the streets, but that wasn’t the worst thing.

No. The rain was the thing that fucked up the city, as the people scared of the storm would try to get outside so they would avoid being vaporised. Unfortunately for them, the rain was God-damned corrosive!

It wasn’t enough to leave lasting injuries, but it still stung like bleach, leaving marks on people that healing Quirks seem to have a hit-or-miss chance of making go away… Well, people with some in their eyes would probably have some issues from reading the report…

“What kind of monster would do this?” Enji’s question was left on deaf ears as the police car that picked him up at the given location stopped, prompting the man to get out as he kept his flames extinguished and his coat on to avoid any attention. Endeavour can’t do much on rescue and first responding, but at least he can deal with missing cases.

Izuku Midoriya is the first, given by Nedzu himself.

After a short talk with the officers running the car to check the nearby establishments, Enji looked around and saw the first clue in the explosion of the pavement. No burns from energy Quirks, so it was a solid projectile; he couldn’t tell the pattern exactly because of the rain missing from the scene, but the scattered debris gave him a direction, coming from an alley. “… Multiple attackers?” There were two more types of holes, odd slices and piercing into the ground. The cars were avoiding the holes from the piercing, so Enji could reasonably get close to the nearest ones. “All of them have the same kind of dust as the lighting.” Similar after-effects must be related.

Five so far. One created the jamming Storm. One created the corrosive one. Two had other corrosive Quirks. And one had a kinetic Quirk.

He looked at the buildings. Outside of the odd pattern left by the rain and some rust, it looked like something started pulling things from the looks of it. The front of the buildings looked… Enji could not put a word on it, but there were chunks of the preface that were torn off; it looked like they were pulled away like an exaggeration of what would happen when you pull the tape off a paper, and some of it comes off.

Looking at the chunks scattered, it seems like what tore them off didn’t leave any trace. “It acted like glue but no residue.”

Going into the alley, Enji was met with a very familiar smell and pattern. “Heat Quirk, then something cooled the place in an instant.” It happened to Enji plenty of times. Forcefully cooling something makes the concrete crack. He had plenty of complaints in his earlier years about the teams cleaning after him, wanting to make way for civilians, only to cause some degradation to the area.

Enji looked up and saw some branches lifted to the sky, trying to prompt themselves on the buildings’ walls. There were also some pieces on the ground. He crouched and grabbed one. They looked like charcoal, but at a touch, they were surprisingly slick. It was probably a Quirk byproduct since something so glassy should have a gloss. He started to put some away, and the man was left at a standstill.

There was no timeline. What happened first? The heat thing? The Fight outside? Both at the same time?

Enji looked around, noticing that the police had parked the car in front of a cafe down the street with a camera pointed at the tables outside. Maybe the angle was enough to see what happened here. Let’s hope the jamming and the rain didn’t destroy too much of the working infrastructure as he went to it.

“Sure, why not! Put the germaphobe in touch with people!” A man complained as the Hero approached, noticing two lines created as a person wearing a black surgical mask grabbed people by the wrist, seemingly healing them as the marks from the rain were gone, and people thanked the man for ‘making the ache go away’. “I should charge a hundred Yen for each person fixed, but it would take longer to collect the money than fixing them.” Enji raised an eyebrow. Providing Quirk services for money was illegal, but he decided not to interfere for once. The masked man was complaining and giving some disgruntled grunts, but he was helping people like at an assembly line. “What–I told you people, if you go in the eye issue line for faster healing, then I’m not healing you! Fuck back off to the back of the lane!”

Enji stopped and looked around the corner again. There was a guy who looked like he wanted to argue like an entitled prick, but Endeavour decided that was the best moment to show off his beard of flame and fiery mask, making the one wanting to pick a fight pale and run away.

He turned away right after, making sure that the good Samaritan would keep doing his thing and not berate him for the Heroes not doing enough. Enji already heard that the Quirk laws would not be as enforced in Kamino shortly so people could just use their powers to at least fix superficial stuff. Construction companies with Quirk-licensed employees are already bugging the city so they could be contracted to fix whatever was in a given sector, damages already estimated at tens of trillions of Yen.

The officers exited the cafe, and Enji returned to the backseat as they played the obtained recorded footage. As anticipated, there was some static in the audio, but it cleared up just as the sky did as things played out. Although the video quality was downright horrendous, during that half an hour when the apocalypse decided to hit Kamino, phones started to get buggy, so people couldn’t post online about the latest Villain attack for Enji to check them and try to see if they matched reality.

Getting past the static section, Enji saw how a child matching Midoriya’s description was thrown out of the alley. The boy rolled out of the way, the debris barely missing him as he got up, and a man in a suit stepped out. The Hero expected at least one more person to show up, but no. The Midoriya Kid started to spill some black tendrils out of his body and send them to the well-suited man… who started to use multiple Quirks…

Enji recognised the flash of a fire blast to bounce off the attack before the suited man started to fly, manifesting blades of light and arches of lightning before changing colour and starting to do a number on the teen’s wave of darkness.

The Hero could only watch, perplexed as the Villain finally got a grip on the boy and started dragging him back into the alley, the sky turning black once more as they finally saw why there were no people in the area. People were running around using their Quirks as a man blitzed on the screen for a couple of moments, taking down two of them before staring down the alley and running in.

Not long after, the storm was gone, and the Hero and two cops were left speechless.

“Do we know anything about that man?” Enji broke the silence, trying to get a grip on the situation. 

“T-The Villain? No. But we do have the name of the guy who appeared at the end. Rock, the Part-Time Hero.” Officer One explained, and Enji stopped himself from rolling his eyes at that title. “He works at a private security firm during the night and helps around the area whenever he’s around. The Cafe owner and a black-haired guy told us that he usually jokes around with the people after he apprehends low-grade Villains and thugs. The Community loves him! ”

So this ‘Rock’ was a local star. Crime is low in the area, so he can technically ‘afford’ to be more laid back. “He is good in urban environments,” Enji grunted. The man is quick on his feet and thinks just as fast, from the looks of it. The takedowns were also done to maximise efficiency.

Looking at the Hero Network App, he found the man with the most generic photo ever. A Baseball cap, sunglasses, and pointing finger guns to the sky to show off his fingerless gloves. It was annoying how he held his hand in front of his face, making it even harder to identify him. He was also offline; checking the tracking on his phone for emergencies was blank, making Enji frown as the Phone Location was locked to be on if you had the Network All unblocked.

Checking Rock’s profile didn’t help. The man was a ghost, only having a handful of self-registered reports, and they were all at nearby Hero agencies; everything else was noted as an assist to the police despite him being the one written down as the apprehender of the Villains. Heroes are usually throwing themselves at a Villain so they can call dibs on who did the takedown, but this guy was making a third or quarter of what a Hero of this calibre should earn with these stats.

Enji hated to admit it, but he felt humbled to see such a performance not being rewarded. Sure, the reports are still sparse because of low crime rates in the area, but if they were all as quick as the two on the video, this would make Enji look like an amateur.

Enji Todoroki sighed as he blankly looked through the windshield. He has a Villain with a multi-faceted Quirk on the loose, a teen possibly being kidnapped, and a Hero MIA.

This means he isn’t going to sleep in his bed at night.

Nedzu felt a sense of deja vu when looking over Yagi-san’s body. “This is… horrendous.”

“That’s all you have to say to this nightmare?” Sir Nighteye asked. If you ignored his eyebags, that face was as mute as always. “What are his Quirk readings?”

“He is too hurt to get any concrete data.” Nedzu deflected, not wanting to think about it until the man was awake.

“Nedzu.” Nighteye almost sounded threatening, but that gaze burned holes in the Mammal’s fur was the pressing part. “How. Low.”

Nedzu’s tail coiled up around the Principal's own feet. Nighteye wasn’t close to a threat to the rat-bear-dog animal, but that kind of desperation was irradiating from the man. “… 1,500 AP…” Nedzu explained, and could see the man tense up. “The Plus Alpha Energy is a Tenth of his prime.” The score is criticised for not representing the actual potential of the Quirk since it’s how the person is using it, but if yours boils down to hitting harder, it is plenty accurate for their case.

“And the boy he passed on his power to is missing.” Nighteye sighed, sitting down in one of the chairs to the side of the hospital bed. “He ran away with his power.”

“He most certainly did not!” Nedzu raised his voice, making the man look back in surprise. “I know you and Grand Torino have your doubts because of his personality, but I assure you, Izuku Midoriya is just as much of a victim as All Might!”

“That boy used hostages in a training exercise against me!”

“You were the one pushing him into a corner!” Nedzu snapped back as he felt his fur rise, his tail coiling around. “Your idea of Heroism is too laser-focused on All Might, Sasaki-san.” The Hero seemed surprised at Nedzu’s use of his actual name. “I quite frankly could not give a crap if Izuku Midoriya has an ounce of All Might Branded Heroism! He is cunning and clever, and I am more than welcome to someone young, yet receptive.” Izuku Midoriya was Nedzu’s golden Goose. “You want someone who can follow All Might’s lead. I say we let Midoriya-kun loose and see just where his path leads us!” And what Nedzu can build in the aftermath of the boy.

Nighteye stared through Nedzu, and the mammal could see the gears turning. “You don’t want a Hero, don’t you?” The man said in a low tone. “You want a pariah.”

“What I want is not relevant–”

“–It is if you have a hidden agenda.” Nighteye cut on. “You acted all upset that I dared to wish for someone who is more like All Might, yet you have plans to turn him into a Mini you or worse,” The lanky man got up, his judgeful look towered over Nedzu, beaconing over him. “You would love to have a Mini All for One, just like how that old man kept mumbling when he was done training the boy.” If the situation weren’t so dire, it would have been quite a caricature. Sr Nighteye sat like a lamppost while the rat-bear-dog thing kept staring up in defiance.

Nedzu genuinely wondered if he would need to get rid of Nighteye for good, as the sound of a wet cough was heard. “Mi- cough -doriya!” All Might gargled, and Nedzu rushed to the phone in the room to call the nurse just as the Hero rushed to keep the man down. “Where–” All Might was coughing like hell, thrashing around like he did the last time he was a step from death.

“All Might! Calm down!” Nighteye pleaded. “Your wound is still open! It’s a miracle you’re even alive!”

“He has him!” The Number One Hero choked on his own words, trying to reach for the oxygen mask on his face to rip it off.

“Who?!” Nighteye asked, still trying to push the skeletal man back into the bed with great difficulty.  “Who has Midoriya?”

“His- cough -father!”

Nedzu stopped in his motion, keeping from calling the doctors and nurses. “Midoriya wasn’t going to his father but to a friend.” Good luck knowing where the hell Hisashi Midoriya is with his disappearing acts, but it surprised even Nedzu that the kid did not go to his father to show off his shiny new Quirk.

“Hisashi is–” All Might went into a nasty coughing fit, making Nedzu eye the button on the wall. “–All for One!” Oh…

Nedzu would have given a sad smile if his facial features allowed him. “Yagi-san, I kept trying to pin that man as being All for One before and after the Villain died.” The mammal was the last person to honestly stop looking for the Symbol of Evil.

“All for One admitted it!” The man argued, those sunken eyes were shadowed by the decades the man put into his work. “They are the same, and he has Young Midoriya!” If it were that simple…

“I already have Endeavour searching for the boy,” Nedzu replied, hopelessly getting to him. Even if All for One and Hisashi Midoriya were the same person, they would not have any other evidence than a terrorist’s statement. All for One’s words were just lies better left to deaf ears. “He’s trying to trace his steps. You try to recover from your wound being opened and the rest.”

“No. He won’t be any good. I need to do it–” That’s when Nighteye really slammed the man back into his bed.

“You are no good!” The man shouted back, surprising his once-mentor. “You lost already! You lost half your organs 5 years ago, and you are about to lose the rest if you don’t stay down!” The usually composed man lost it, his face cracking as the stress finally got the best of him. “If All for One is back, then that means he walked off your previous battle with him and did the same this time as well, you idiot!!!” Sir Nighteye seemed to have caught himself this time around, realising what he was doing before pulling away. “I-I didn’t mean to…” He staggered, stepping back in shame.

Before anyone could speak, the door opened, and through came two people the size of Nedzu. “Where is that stupid brat!?” Recovery Girl shouted while Gran Torino followed. The woman stopped in her tracks at the sight of All Might already awake, the vitals on the screen to the side of the bed giving away he was heated up from all that trashing to get out of the bed. “You…” The small woman was filled with anger, anger coming out of desperation, but still boiling-hot anger. “You idiot! I saved your life a hundred times since you got injured, and this is what you do?! Toshinori, just how many times can you just face death and still think you’re indestructible?! I just told you that you are on borrowed time this damned morning, and you’re still going as if you were a god-damned TEEN!!” And just like a teen, the blonde stood quietly as he was shouted at for something he was guilty of.

The berating kept on, and Nedzu decided to step away. Gran Torino, Recovery Girl, and Sir Nighteye were the ones who had a history with All Might, not Nedzu. The mammal with questionable origins looked at the Elderly Jet Hero and received a grunt he knew meant “talk later”. 

So he left. 

The texts from Tenko were not of much use; the young man was trying to strike a deal with someone who could reliably produce material for some Support Gear and Endeavour.

Well, Endeavour actually found something.

[=]

Endeavour: Took hours, but I managed to backtrack Midoriya’s movements through the city. He was followed. 

Endeavour uploaded train_station.mp4

Endeavour uploaded clothes_shop.mp4

Endeavour uploaded plaza_camera.mp4

Endeavour: Bees swarmed the cameras in public areas. People also reported being stung by bees, and this just seems like the Insta Villains all over again. The kid must have realised he was followed, changed clothes, and started hiding like an expert. The kind of expert that makes my hair go grey.

Endeavour uploaded villain_cafe.mp4

Endeavour: Best shot I got of the kid and the attacker. Meta Replication Quirk, maybe? He uses flight and energy Quirks at the same time. There is a Villain thought to be an urban legend, ‘All for One’, that could use stolen Quirks. Sounds crazy, but it might just be real. I’ll ask for clearance on some classified documents. I think it might be a mutated Copy Quirk that allows dual-use; that or the monster under every bad kid’s bed is real and the bogeyman can and WILL come to steal your Quirk.

Endeavour uploaded a link to The Part-Time Hero: Rock profile

Endeavour: I can’t find shit on this guy’s personal life, but he jumped in to save the kid before the storm started again. He and Midoriya may’ve been held hostage. The black tendrils the teen had were insanely strong, but the Quirk Registry is not up to date; it says the kid is Quirkless for some reason.

Endeavour uploaded rescue_operations.docx

Endeavour: Outliers for whom we could use for finding them. I’ve been eyeing your teachers since you were the one who called me for help. Search Team: The Wild Pussycats, Hound Dog, Ectoplasm, Shishido, and Ingenium. Attack team: Eraser Head, Snipe, Majestic, Hawks, and X-Less. There’s more in the document, but I want people who either can smell or see dangers from a mile away or keep their distance in case of either Quirk copy or theft possibilities. I am not sure if this whole hypothesis is true, but you'd better be checking if All Might’s Quirk is in one piece; we’re done for if we need to deal with an All Might-level threat.

[=]

Nedzu sighed and went to the elevator to get into the underground parking lot where his driver parked. He wondered whether or not to just tell Endeavour to come to the Midoriya apartment, where Izuku-kun already had all the classified files Nedzu had on All for One. Most of them were written by Nedzu himself anyway.

Oh, and he must get in contact with both parents. Mrs Midoriya is probably home, but maybe Nedzu can burn some one-hundred-dollar bills over a pentagram to summon Hisashi Midoriya.

“The fuck is this?!” Enji was gobsmacked at the boxes of files that covered a third of the bedroom floor. The walls weren’t spared either. Red yarn weaved across, connecting everything like the biggest murder board to ever exist.

“That would be the tracing of All for One Izuku Midoriya did,” Nedzu said, looking down the hallway where Aizawa and Present Mic talked with Inko Midoriya in civilian clothes about her son’s disappearance. The woman was white as a sheet of paper and crying her eyes out. “Shouldn’t you be conveying your findings to her? That’s how we usually do procedures.”

“Sure. Tell her that Endeavour himself is checking why her son was kidnapped.” Enji whispered. “She’d have 5 seconds exactly of calm before she realises that if you and I are running the case, then it’s nearly impossible to find her son.”

“Fair enough.” Principal Nedzu stepped into the room properly, seemingly taking it all in as those beady eyes followed the yarn. “Oh, some are connected to his father.”

“What?” Enji snapped in that direction only to see a paper noted as ‘Dad’, and then 5 Post-it notes around it. The top one said, “If Nedzu didn’t find anything, I’m not bothering”, and Enji didn’t know if he should feel concerned or relieved. “What does the Father do?”

“Owner of Hisui Dragon Pharmaceuticals.” Nedzu casually dropped that information like that place wasn’t the biggest medicine supplier in the world.

Wait a second. “One: Why is the arguably richest man alive living in such a small apartment? Two: You realise you’re done for if he really wanted revenge, right?” Even Enji knew that was a Monopoly, which is already making it illegal. The fact that people can’t do anything about it and dismantle it only shows that man and his company were done for.

“So he kept telling me.” Nedzu hummed, stepping up on a chair to pick up a Post-it and read it. “Oh? This is interesting.” Nedzu looked where the yarn led to, and the two Heroes looked at it and saw a code B4-F8-P3. “Box four, file eight, Page three.” Nedzu got off the chair, and Enji helped look for the box. After going through the motions, they found some new pages in a file containing police reports of Insta Villains. “Some Villain attacked some of the trucks supposed to bring some medicine.”

“They were transporting the raw chemicals,” Enji added, reading the police reports and skimming through the boy’s notes. “Attack led to the rise of reports of illegally manufactured Quirk boosters… That kind of stuff would be more than enough to sell for a year or two, but reports dropped two months in… If they had quality materials, then why was everything watered down and low grade?” They got to page 3, and they saw a table trying to eyeball how much would need to be missing, and less than a tenth seemed to be used by the kid’s calculator math. “The kid thinks that the Villains hit his Father’s trucks and stole the stuff to create Insta Villains. We didn’t consider it because it was on the other end of Japan.” Enji looked up the last reports about those incidents, and they mentioned the new security firm protecting the trucks from attacks. The more he read, the more he realised that the said security guard was Rock.

“After All Might dealt with the nameless, scarred man running the operation, all of the Insta Villain attacks stopped, and then the security team showed up.”

“Midoriya-san must have realised his chemicals were involved and took some initiative.” Enji summarised as he thought back to that night. Was that Coward of the Culler still in the United States? “Either way, if All for One was involved, it seems to be a pain in the man’s back. There are easier ways to smuggle drugs if they were in the cahoots.”

“Yes, but I was also keeping a close eye on his business in Japan. He is usually making Quirk boosters in Europe and the United States, and his notoriety has always made Dragon Pharma always be heavily regulated.”

“So it would just be easier to lose on the trucks than to fudge the books?” Enji asked, and Nedzu confirmed. “Still, this is circumstantial at most. You didn’t find anything wrong, and that would still contain the missed deliveries that probably made holes in his profit. Not to mention that it’s unlikely someone like Midoriya would bend the knee to a Villain.”

“Unless you believe All Might’s hospital bed shouts, and the two are the same person.” Wait, what?!

“NEDZU?!” Enji shouted, making the damned rat wave him off.

“Oh, come on. It’s not like Midoriya-san would fake out his son being kidnapped so he can’t… have us track the kidnapping back to… himself…” They both looked down at the files that were doing just that with the trucks if Hisashi Midoriya was a Villain. “Mm. That’s… Well, no. If that was the case, then Izuku-kun must have known that his father was still a Villain. There is no reason to go through all this investigation and have Izuku go that extra mile to find a possible link.” Nedzu argued, and Enji had to agree. Everything felt scummy, but they looked at the investigation overall, trying to pick up any clues while the spouse was distracted. If Midoriya were really a Villain, then he would have had to hide his information from his family to get such a reaction to the Wife’s son going missing.

“Why was the kid so obsessed with All for One?” Enji asked as he picked up one of the pages from a thumbtack, it looked to also be about Trigger and a series of roided-up Villains, like 3 years ago.

“To be entirely honest, that Quirk he’d shown was quite the news. He was Quirkless yesterday.” Nedzu kept dropping bombshells as he threw a file titled OFA in the trash–probably a file filled with mistakes. “I assumed that Midoriya was drawn in by the concept of taking Quirks. Since he was such a brilliant boy, I thought I’d give these to him as brain teasers.”

“Classified documents as brain teasers?”

“He did manage to identify an Emitter Quirk from two photos of someone else!”

Enji raised an eyebrow but decided to focus on the matter at hand. Looking at a semi-circle of post-it notes, he saw that each one of them referred to a Quirk and some aspect. “Speed. Agility. Strength. Durability. Healing. Immunity. Memory. Information retention. They all lead to this one: Perfect Body?”

“It must be a Quirk combination Midoriya figured out. There’s a couple that doesn’t lead to   actually tracing All for One but his powers themselves.” Nedzu drew his attention to another series with Hero names, their Quirks, and what they can do. “All victims of the man. He’s tracking what All for One is capable of… or better said, what he isn’t.”

“I know I had my existential crisis to know there’s a Quirk thief on my ride here, but I think I’ll start having a second one if I keep seeing combinations that can snuff me out like a candle.” He saw something about a thermal conductivity Quirk, and that would make Enji bake himself if it were used on him. “How long did it take to make this? A year? Two?”

“Six months.” Just how many things was this brat doing?! Isn’t he like Shoto’s age?!? 

“Well, Izuku-kun already made some extra connections I didn't make. Might as well take a look at them while we get the confirmation that Hisashi Midoriya is also missing.” Nedzu suggested, and Enji looked around, realising that even the boxes had post-it notes.

“Just how much is your work and how much is the boy’s?” This can’t all be made by a child, right? Right?

“I believe that Young Midoriya picked up from where I’ve left off,” Nedzu said with a dangerous amount of pride. “Sure. He isn’t as fast a thinker as I am, but High Specs is quite the Quirk. I have to give all the credit to the father for raising the boy to be such an information sponge.”

“The same man who might or might not be All for One and conveniently disappeared with the boy?” Enji saw a box labelled ‘Possibly Stolen Quirks’ and wondered if they should just pack all of this as evidence already. “Why are you so sure Hisashi Midoriya isn’t All for One?”

Nedzu came to his side and picked up the thickest file; it seemed like the boy was tracking heroes that went MIA or had to retire due to Quirk-affecting injuries. “Quite simple. Izuku Midoriya isn’t subscribed to any ideology. Heroics and Villainy wouldn’t fit his thought process. Since he lived most of his life being Quirkless, it’s hard to see him developing into a Destro-like libertarian. And he isn’t interested in Quirk Singularity beyond a mechanical process to think of him as a Purist to even get close to the Singularity Doomsday Quirks or be appalled by any kind of Power to empathise with any Creature Rejection Clan ideals.”

“That sounds even more dangerous,” Enji mumbled. “People who run with an ideal are easy to track; they are not the first nor the last to be going on those paths, so it’s easy to predict what they are doing. I tried to track this boy for half a day, and I felt like going mad; I can’t confirm this, but I’m pretty sure they brushed by whoever pursued him from the train station just to get away.” He looked at Nedzu. The man didn’t know how to read the facial expressions of an animal, but the stillness usually shows they are considering something.

“… Then I’ll have to make sure the boy keeps a high level of morality.” The mammal finally spoke. “I’ll admit that I’ve seen the boy being amoral, but I am trying my best to be on the best track.”

“I don’t know if I should be worried or relieved that you’re teaching the boy about morality.” Wow, just how many people has the kid written about? Enji hasn’t heard about Mr Tool Man since he was a teen himself. “On one hand. You are fighting for all sentient rights and pushing for more reasonable Quirk regulations, but on the other–”

“–I’m not human, so I can’t be certain what goes inside your species’ head?” Nedzu interjected, and Enji grunted in agreement.

“I keep trying to convince my son to stop being stubborn and use his Quirk properly. I am part of the reason he is walking this earth, but I still can’t get over his stubbornness!” Enji scoffed, annoyance bubbling up at the thought of Shoto refusing to use his flames. “Kids don’t know better. They let their emotions get to them before any logic.”

“You do realise that the public would eat you up for such comments with your hot temper, right?”

“That’s different,” Enji argued.

“You're human.” Nedzu shrugged. “You should be teaching me about emotions by your own logic.” Enji Todoroki kept quiet, going through old ass Heroes and wondering if the Kid was onto something with all these brain injuries and damage to the limbs that people used to manifest their Quirks.

When Madam Midoriya’s cries were audible from two closed doors, the two Heroes looked at each other and started taking photos so they could reconstruct this crazy investigation at a Hero agency. “Was the boy just as… vocal as her?”

“Oh, goodness no. Izuku would grit his teeth and hold it in, even with tears in his eyes. Gran Torino keeps trying to break the boy, but nothing.”

Enji shuddered at the name. Torino was a retired Veteran Hero that UA kept bringing back once every three years to show off what a real hero looked like. The Flame Hero remembered meeting the Man in his second Year. Nobody liked him, but Enji would have to admit he trained Shoto with the kind of mentality he saw in Gran Torino during that Month-long visit to UA. “Wait. This kid is too young to be in the UA. Why the hell is he training with Torino!?”

“Might as well hit the iron while it’s hot!” Nedzu replied cryptically and started to pack up the files into the boxes.

Enji was dreading what the rat-bear-dog thing was planning, but wouldn’t just threaten the principal of UA. Enji Todoroki just made a mental note to ensure Shoto would train harder in case Midoriya became a problem in the future.

And that would most definitely not fuck up Shoto even more.

Shota felt the urge to leave. When he arrived at the Midoriya household, he was braced to be dissected under a microscope the same way Izuku Midoriya does, and then be yelled at for a lack of results regarding the missing kid.

Instead, he got a sobbing woman talking about her child like he was made of porcelain. That made Shota wonder if this was all a prank. “P-Please make s-sure my Izuku is home s-safe. I-I don’t know if he can handle h-himself against some V-Villains.” Inko Midoriya was talking about her son, wiping the stream of tears that made the man question whether or not it was part of her Quirk.

Also, Helpless Izuku Midoriya? Really? That Izuku Midoriya made Shota sweat bullets when sharing an elevator with him. That brat?

“I am assuring you that the best people are tracking your son right now. We’ll keep you informed if something comes up!” Hizashi reassured the woman, and Shota was genuinely looking for hidden cameras. There’s no fucking way this woman is talking about the same child. Does the boy turn into a cryptid the moment he steps out of the house or something?

He felt Hizashi kick him in the knee, prompting him to speak. “Principal Nedzu is the best investigator one could ever ask for and–” Should he mention Endeavour? “–we have managed to track his steps up to Kamino. Do you know why he would go there?” Better not to bring up the flame Hero in the discussion just yet.

“The only thing I can think of is one of the friends Izuku had when he was little. Tenko Shimura.” Mrs Midoriya explained, and Shota eyed the third box of tissues. “The boy was a couple of years older but had to move when he got to high school. Izuku doesn’t talk much about him, but I know they kept in contact when Tenko got into UA.” Ah… that Tenko Shimura.

“Oh, I know the kid!” Hizashi perked up. “I taught him English! Great student if you ignore his cursing in English from playing online.” He tried to laugh it off, but the woman found no relief. “I assure you, he’s a good kid.”

“I-If you say so.” Her tears seemed to go back to human levels. “His guardian was… I can’t remember his name properly, Sakiro, but he was a young man as well. I remember them acting up like more distantly aged brothers than a parental figure.”

“You can say that again.” Shota snorted under his capture scarf, a faint smile on his face. “Tenko was a good student in my classes, but had a habit of doing things in his own fashion. Sakiro Tabikura was avoiding parent-teacher talks like the plague. Tenko’s homeroom teacher could only get in contact over the phone.” Shota tried to find their address, but Nedzu said that ‘the Shimura was off limits’ for some reason.

He is still not sure if it was because Nedzu liked the kid the same way he does Izuku, but that rat was waving things off when it came to Shimura, letting the kid be a ghost outside of school.

Inko Midoriya mumbled something, and Shota frowned. “I’m sorry. What was that?”

“N-Nothing.” The woman stuttered, but Shota looked at her for a moment longer. It was something about trouble, he’s sure of it.

“Let’s move back to Izuku. Did you notice something out of the ordinary with him?” Hizashi got them back on track.

“Well, he did start training to get into UA.” They knew that. Nobody missed Nedzu’s pet project.

“Anything else?” The Voice Hero prodded with a friendly smile.

“He started to talk more with Hisashi, my Husband.” Again, a dead end since half of the calls were still on UA ground, and Nedzu tapped everyone’s phone that wasn’t staff or a student. “Hisashi is always secretive because of his business, and I am not as interested in Quirks as he and Izuku are.” Again, something they knew with the man breaking into UA with Rock to demand where his son is… huh…

“When was the last time you talked with your husband?” Shota asked, and the blank look he got wasn’t helping.

“Um. Two weeks ago? He was supposed to come to Izuku’s birthday, but couldn’t in time.” And they hit a dead end again.

“Anything else? Something Quirk Related from your son?” Shota saw the recording Endeavour procured. The kid had no idea how to use those tendrils and didn’t hint at having one from what Shota saw.

“Nothing that is out of the ordinary. Izuku likes to write about Heroes in his notebooks.” How nice of her to give Shota a flashback to that. He was honestly tempted to go find whatever photos Midoriya had of him using his Quirk and burn them. “I know he wants to help, but I also know he has a gentle heart. I encourage his dreams to become a Hero, but I am worried what he would do without a Quirk…”

Welp. This settled it for Shota. Inko Midoriya has no clue her son is a Menace. She is completely oblivious that her son probably has some blackmail material on Heroes in those notebooks. And that he has been training for something that not even Shota knows because Nedzu keeps quiet about the boy’s training outside of who’s present. “–You are aware your son’s training is happening on UA grounds, right?” He asked, and he got another blank stare.

“H-He is?” Inko Midoriya stammered, and that was the moment Shota got up and left to check with Nedzu.

He could hear the woman ask for more details, and Hizashi filled her in on everything that had happened in the last 6 months or so. “That woman has no clue what hell spawn she raised,” Shota groaned, looking at the mess around them before his eyes landed on Endeavour reading a Notebook, and Nedzu trying to jump at the man to grab it. “What’s that?”

“Evidence,” Endeavour replied, closing it with a snap while still keeping it out of the Principal’s reach.

“He found out Midoriya writes about popular Pro Heroes,” Nedzu explained, and Shota instantly turned against his Boss.

“He has information on me as well. Make sure we confiscate anything on underground Heroes.” He said, going to Endeavour’s side as they paged through the notebook. “It’s tidier than the one he keeps around.”

“It must be a finished version. This was on the top shelf. The bottom ones are messier.” They finally got back to the Endeavour page, and they were met with a decent sketch of the Hero, then a photo of the man in plain clothes. “People don’t usually recognise me without my flames.”

“Yeah, it’s because it hurts looking at you, and you mess up any photo by being the brightest thing present.” They looked through it, and Shota saw something about ‘flame recoil’. He could see the epiphany on Endeavour’s face when they read about using concentrated jets of fire to hover and even maintain flight. “Do you think it’s achievable?”

“Annoyingly so,” Endeavour grunted. “He has a bibliography at the end of the notebook. He’s cross-referencing my Quirk with every other flame user in the media. I don’t know if I should be mad that I haven’t thought about it or that a kid thought about it before me!” They kept reading before the man stiffened, and Shota smiled behind the capture weapon.

Endeavour’s obsession with the Number One Spot is odd and highly questionable. While All Might has the top spot via Popularity Scores, Endeavour still has the best performance scores when it comes to cases. All Might cleans thugs off the streets while the Flame Hero saves people by capturing serial killers, the people who distribute drugs, boosters, and illegal support gear.

Endeavour is actually the better hero in all meaningful categories bar popularity, and he keeps being better by comparison with All Might working less and less due to age and his injury. 

The media portrays Endeavour’s attempt to “get on All Might’s level” to climb a mountain, but with All Might’s decreasing health, that ‘mountain’  will soon erode, and Endeavour will be left as the new peak while the Symbol of Peace will slowly fall into obscurity.

Hopefully, Endeavour stops looking where All Might was in his prime and does something with himself before his legacy becomes that he’s the replacement for the Symbol of Peace.

“The kid has a lot of expectations of you.” Shota hummed. This was more considerate than he expected from Midoriya. He could see why All Might and Nedzu have so much faith in the boy if that’s what’s left unsaid.

“He is… right to my Quirk details…” Endeavour closed the notebook and placed it in a box filled with them. “I call dibs on an internship with him when he gets into UA.”

Wait what? “You? Taking someone who doesn’t have a decade of experience under their belt for an internship.”

“I don’t know about lacking experience.” Endeavour crouched and picked up the box. “I see a decade-long of it right here.” He smiled and walked off.

Shota shared a look at Nedzu, who shook its head and picked up a file from the trash. “We’ll relocate everything to UA and see what we can do from there. Hopefully, something will come out of it by tomorrow morning.” And with that, the Heroes started to pack all the evidence.

Izuku didn’t know what to feel in any matter of his life.

First, he turned out to be All for One’s son. Second, his childhood hero went kamikaze on him to get rid of his father. Third, he suddenly realised that the reason he was fatherless for 5 years was that his childhood Hero attempted to kill his father, who was the aforementioned supervillain.

So what now? Depending on how things turn out when he wakes up, he either has to bullshit his way into becoming a Villain, fleeing the country, or trying to convince All Might it isn’t what it looks like while also preparing to kill the Hero for daring to take away his father for him for five whole years.

… Wait. If he isn’t awake, then why can he formulate his thoughts so well?

Izuku opened his eyes and tried to breathe. Neither of them worked that well, as he wore a pair of goggles and was submerged in a murky liquid and could swear he had a tube shoved down his throat.

First instinct, pull these things off him. Bad idea. He has no clue if this is bad for his eyes, and if he’s submerged in this thing, then it’s probably sealed.

Second instinct, trash around. Good enough. He started to move and realised someone must have taken his clothes off him. Checking his waist, he had a pair of swimming shorts on but nothing else. There was a belt of sorts holding him suspended in the liquid; he unbuckled it and tried to push himself out of there.

Okay, so the place was tight. It felt like a hospital bed angled at 45 degrees or so. Izuku managed to push his feet into the padding and pressed his hands forward, realising it was glass on top of him. After pressing with all his force, a red light started flashing, and a muffled sound came through the liquid.

Not long after, there was a current, and I could see some drains on the bottom, draining all the liquid as the level lowered. Soon, it was down below his neck, and Izuku started pulling the damned tube out of his mouth, taking a breath of his own free will as his nose was assaulted by the smell. It was like he was submerged in cough syrup, and now he’ll probably smell like one for weeks! There was a quick hiss, probably pressure evening out, before the glass started to slide upwards.

You’d think that waking up submerged in a mysterious liquid, not knowing how and why you’re there, would make you weak on your legs, but Izuku felt a surge of strength and was only mildly disoriented as he held onto the edge of the damned chamber.

“Where…” He tried to regain his breath. “The hell am I?” Izuku asked, but nobody answered. He looked around and saw the woman who was stalking him in Kamino, deep asleep in a chair with her arms crossed. Beside her was a table and what seemed to be a taser gun.

Izuku could hear his wet footsteps as the liquid was dripping off him. He quietly sighed and tried to circle her just so the pungent smell wouldn’t wake her up.

After picking it up, Izuku quickly chose violence and shot the woman with an electric shock at maximum power. She seemed to wake up for a moment, but Izuku shot her in the neck and chin with the wires, the electrical current wiring her mouth shut before she looked at him in agony and passed out for real.

“… I don’t even know if I should feel guilty or not.” He mumbled to himself, his emotions dull, probably from shock. Izuku looked around and just then noticed a pair of fresh clothes on the other end of the table. One look at them, and he realised they were his size. “Uhm…” Shit, there’s even a towel to dry himself… “Wait. My Father is All for One, then isn’t she on his payroll?” He looked back at her and grimaced.

Nope. Not his problem right now! Izuku’s safety first, everyone’s lives second.

Izuku dried his hair for like 3 minutes, reminding him he needed a haircut before doing the rest of his body and dressing up. Finding even a pair of shoes with a pair of socks added to his guilt. “What else is here?” A huge computer at the other end of the room. It looked like those huge security room set-ups, so Izuku had some hopes he could find a way out through them.

Clearance Needed: Use the following security measures to log in.

And suddenly, Izuku didn’t feel bad anymore as he saw that they accepted fingerprints. He dragged the woman out of her chair, not bothering to check for a pulse as long as her body was warm to register her print. Nedzu would chew him out for lack of sympathy, but she shouldn’t have kidnapped him.

Good News: The print automatically logged this “Queen Bee” into the computer without choosing a profile. Bad News: She didn’t have much clearance as the screens unlocked, but closed multiple open tabs. Leaving only a Security Program running. “At least the cameras are working.” Izuku let the woman fall to the floor. It made the teen genuinely reevaluate his moral standings when he got out of there. UA would offer counselling –if they were not hunting him down for being All for One’s kin– or maybe he should read those books Dad had on human psychology. 

Looking at the screens… led to nothing, multiple entrances and exits, but they don’t have any cameras to show how to get there. He tried to open some extra cameras in a list on the bottom right screen, but he had no clearance for them. He tried to find anything resembling a floor plan, but it was useless. “Useless!” He complained before looking around. There was a second chamber/test tube to the side of Izuku’s, but it was already open. Going to it and giving it a whiff at last told him he wasn’t the only person stored here until recently.

He returned to this “Queen Bee” and checked her pockets, finding a key chain and a keycard. Izuku helped himself by taking them, leaving the woman on the floor, and heading to the door.

“Come on, Izuku, you played plenty of stealth missions with Tenko. This isn’t much different!” He tried to hype himself before swiping the keycard and getting out.

Hallway, okay. Izuku saw a door on one end and ran in that direction, taser gun in his hands and trigger-happy. One swipe of the keycard and the door opened– “What the…?” –To a large room filled with enormous test tubes. Each one of them has a figure inside twice the size of his father. “Talk about a Villain layer.” He mused, taking note of the purple LEDs, and Izuku just assumed they were for vibes.

Looking inside the glass tubes, Izuku realised the figures inside the liquid were visible, their bodies twitching at times. Looking up at the closest, it was completely naked but had no… erm… ‘assets. The angle from which Izuku was looking was way too steep, but he could at least note the black skin and silver-coloured accessories to their biology.

Human Experimentation. Wonderful. Izuku didn’t know which was worse: that he came out of an albeit fancier tube, or that these things seemed to be put on display.

“SO YOU NOT ONLY DARE TO EXPERIMENT ON MY SON, BUT YOU ALSO TRY TO KILL ME SO YOU BUY MORE TIME FOR IT?!?” Izuku instantly recognised that thunderous tone, flinching on instinct from the malice. How long was it? 7 years since Dad worked from home and was shouting at people over the phone like this? “YOU– YOU UTTER MAGGOT!!!” Someone screeched in fear before a heavy thud was heard; something was thrown at the fool who made Dad lose his cool. “NO, MAGGOTS AT LEAST HAVE THE COURTESY TO HIDE IN FEAR WHEN THEY FEEL IN DANGER!! YOU, IDIOT, ARE TRYING TO SELL ME THE BENEFITS OF EXPERIMENTING ON MY CHILD!!!” * Whip-Crack* That was 100% the sound of a whip accompanied by the wails of a man, and Izuku was instantly less worried about his safety if his father was whipping people over it. Sorry, not sorry, Queen whatever.

Izuku snuck past the test tubes, trying not to freak out when catching that their brains were exposed, and peeked down a hallway to another, larger console set-up similar to the one in the other room. “Sir, your son would have died otherwise! That or have lived an agonising life!” The moustached man pleaded, and Izuku could swear it was his family doctor. “You saw the readings! Why are you trying to deny what I’ve done against our interests?!”

“Because it’s not about our interests, Doctor!” Dad growled at the man as he had those black tendrils pointed at the rotund man. “I could have had Izuku in this lab the day you failed to relay to me that he wouldn’t manifest a Quirk, but that would be meddling in my son’s development! What kind of father would strap their child to an operating table and pump them full of drugs until their body obeys their whims?!”

“W-We did that with Toya Todoroki?” That prompted the man to be whipped again.

“That was Endeavour’s son!” Dad retracted the tendrils, turning back into his fingers. “And last time I checked, he set up an orphanage on fire and fucked off as thanks for keeping him alive! Not only do I have to deal with my Son finding out that I am a Villain, but that YOU thought it was a good idea to patchwork his Quirk using All For One and One For All! Not to mention that I need to deal with the potential trauma that comes with All Might wanting to kill us both, so he would get rid of any resemblance to an All for One Legacy!” Dad turned around and picked up a hospital trolley, probably what was used to throw at the man before Izuku showed up. “I don’t know what I should be more upset about, me potentially ruining my Son’s life if I don’t get All Might silenced or that I hoped to pull an Omni Man Speech, but ended up in the same position as him with the Immortal.” Izuku had no idea what that was a reference to, but he was getting the gist of it.

“Well, isn’t this convenient?” Izuku chuckled and could see Dad snapping his neck in his direction.

“Son?”

Izuku stepped out, waving the gun while looking around. “So… is this where to keep all the bleeding-edge tech that keeps your Monopoly running?” He looked back at his father, seeing the tension on his face for once. “Don’t worry. I need All Might in an insane asylum at the very least.” He stopped in front of a tank with an odd, flower-like growth around its head. “Do you have a name for them?”

“That’s Hood.” The Doctor replied, making Dad glare at him. Izuku looked up at Hood. Something felt… different about him. “These are my creations. He is the first to volunteer for augmentations, so he is a bit restless.” Ah, so that was it.

Izuku approached the tank and placed a hand on the glass. He didn’t know what had gotten over him, but he was feeling an attraction to it. “Izuku…” Dad raised his voice, but the teen was a bit distracted as the liquid inside was illuminated red by… by Izuku’s Quirk.

“Is this how it feels?” Izuku smiled as the buzz of static was back, red sparks dancing around his body before they arched around his arm, then passed through the glass and arched upwards at the experiment. “I think I can feel them. The ones inside Hood and the rest.”

“W-What?!” The Doctor seemed shocked. “Then you kept more of your birth, Quirk, than I thought!” He laughed, and Dad smacked him.

“All that I’m hearing is that you jacked him up with multiple Quirks for nothing!” If looks can kill, that glare would have burned a hole through the chubby man by now. “Izuku, I am more than happy you have my Quirk, but please don’t mess with Hood. The Doctor butchered his brain more than enough; let’s not rip away Quirks he might need to live.” 

Izuku tried his best not to. “What does it have?”

“Not telling you until you step away from the tank.” Dad scolded him, but Izuku was so… so… it was so pretty now that he could feel it. Those muscle spasms aren’t so scary anymore; he could feel something triggering them. Better fast-twitch muscles, it was like when someone jerks in their sleep, and now that he’s paying attention to the brain, he could feel how they used something to make it stronger, and he could almost see the ‘dream’ this Hood had. Izuku blinked and could almost see information appear behind his eyelids. A Quirk was running, beaming information into their minds. “Izuku!” Dad shouted, and he was instantly pulled away, his hand ripping away from the glass as he was flown to his father.

“Haha…” Izuku smiled despite the deadpan look his father was giving him. “Is this what you feel every day?” He couldn’t help but grin. It wasn’t just taking a Quirk; Izuku could feel it like it was already his, that he would need to swipe it and could feel it under his own skin forever.

He didn’t care much when Dad started to frown. “His pupils are dilated. He’s high, why is he high?!” Dad looked back at the stubby, and that’s definitely their family doctor.

“Don’t pin that on me. The Lazarus compound should have run out by now.” The Doctor said, approaching the still-floating Izuku and pulling a small flashlight from his hand. Izuku grimaced at the light, but he couldn’t pull his arms up to cover his face. “His irises shine red. The brain releases Dopamine, Serotonin, and Anandamide in response to the Quirk being used. I’ll need a blood test to check for Endorphins and Oxytocin.”

“That’s what happens with Himiko!” Izuku giggled, realising he really was running high. “Do I make an odd face, too?” He asked, and Dad stared at Izuku for a moment before snapping his fingers. “Air Wall. Reflect.” And with that, a round, glass-like surface was formed between them and started glowing before it stabilised, allowing Izuku to see himself in a mirror. “Eh, it’s not that bad. Himiko looks like she’s ready to unhinge her jaw, but I think that’s because of the secondary cat mutations; we don’t have a snout to have teeth at a better angle for a bite.” Izuku went on, and the mirror was gone.

“Are you certain there is none of that compound in his blood?” Dad asked, and the Doctor had already slid a needle down Izuku’s arm, drawing blood and going back to that huge console covered in medical equipment.

“I’ll see if there’s any unforeseen effects from All For One and One For All,” The man scoffed as he started to do some blood work. “I’ll check for whatever is going on in his body. I’d go check on Kuin if Izuku has her very-much-lethal taster.” He added, and Father slowly turned back to Izuku, his eyes locked onto the gun.

Oops!

Chapter Text

[Jaku Underground Lab, Conference Room]

The room stayed quiet as ‘All for One’ sat down and looked over the table. Dust clung to everything, though Six cleared it away in an instant so everyone could sit.

All for One sat at the head, Kyudai on his right. Izuku, Six, and Kuin filled the seats to his left.

“I think it’s time for a recap and proper introductions.” He adjusted his oxygen mask. “I am All for One, the Father of Quirks and former King of Vigilantes. These days, I go by Hisashi Midoriya, but the very first name I ever used was Zen Shigaraki. No one should know that. I once played the role of a Yakuza grunt over a century ago while I prepared to dismantle the clan and take their Quirks.”

Six scoffed. “We’re really doing kindergarten introductions?”

“Yes. And you can stay quiet until your turn, so my son knows who he’s dealing with.” Hisashi shot him a look, then turned to Kyudai.

“My name is Kyudai Garaki. Midoriya knows me as Doctor Tsubasa. I’m two decades younger than my Master and the author of the Quirk Singularity Theory, whose support helped me prove.”

“Riiight,” Izuku muttered. He glanced between Six and Kuin. “Research. Totally not super-soldier stuff.”

Kyudai chuckled. “I’m glad you take an interest in my work stabilising Quirks. Perhaps you’ll get to help with some of my research–”

A weak Air Cannon flicked from Hisashi’s fingertip and knocked Kyudai’s moustache sideways as his chair rolled back a few inches.

“Six.”

“Sure thing.” Six leaned back. “Part-time Villain, part-time Hero, full-time funniest and fastest. Fourth thinker of the group.” He caught Izuku staring at him like a snack. “And no, my Overclock is not on the menu.”

“Aww…” Izuku started to complain, but his stomach growled. Right. He hadn’t eaten. Hisashi took out his phone and ordered food, then messaged Kurogiri.

“That leaves you, Miss Bee,” Izuku said.

Kuin forced a smile. “And I’m not on the menu either, no matter how tasty I appear. This body isn’t actually mine. I inhabit it like a neural implant. My name is Kuin Hachisuka, not Bee. It’s been a while since I used a body, so my Quirk setup may shift depending on whatever these two madmen hand me.”

Hisashi continued. “There are five more members in my inner circle who aren’t here today. You’ll learn about them if you ever need to. As for the Nomu, they volunteered for experimentation, and most were criminals. They fit the ‘super soldier’ title far better than our reconnaissance duo.”

Izuku nodded. “That’s fair.”

He and Hisashi met each other’s eyes for a long moment. Something about the other felt strangely familiar, as if each was seeing a reflection of himself. It felt silly, after all, who would Izuku resemble if not his own parents, but something about him felt… interconnected somehow.

Hisashi shook it off. “Now then. Izuku is safe and mostly stable, but I still need a plan that doesn’t collapse under its own complexity.”

“How about going with the truth?” Six said. “Power Stock blew itself up. Sucks, but we still have the other Quirks that were packed into One For All— Gear Shift, Fa-Jin, Danger Sense, Black Whip, Smokescreen, and Float. The Hero Network already reported Izuku using Black Whip when he fought All for One, so that proves he had access. And since One For All and All for One are more similar than people thought, we can say the kid had an awakening during a life-or-death moment.”

He shrugged. “Honestly, the Heroes are halfway to writing our excuse for us. They marked me missing. We can say All for One tried to steal One For All, the Quirk surged out of control, and the kid and I ran while the Big Bad was recovering.”

Hisashi nodded. “Good. I’ll rig an explosion at one of our cheaper hideouts to obscure the timeline— If I can discredit All Might along the way, even better. If it looks like the attempted Quirk theft happened recently, whatever he saw in that dreamworld becomes pointless rambling.”

“So we blow up a hideout, throw these two out of the flames, and that’s our plan?” Kuin asked. “After everything that’s happened, that’s almost disappointingly simple.”

“I need the alibi,” Hisashi said. He placed a hand on Izuku’s head. “I’ll give you those Quirks as evidence. Don’t expect many gifts. I have my limits.”

“One a year is fine.” Izuku smiled. “I’d give you one too, but I don’t think you need help remembering how old you are.”

Hisashi transferred the Quirks, then lifted his phone with telekinesis.

“Miss Lucy? Sorry for the short notice. I need the most aggravating Quirk a police officer could run into. Yes, Black and White. Yes, I’ll pay whatever you like. See you at fifteen.”

When the food arrived, the table was filled with bags. Kurogiri left to retrieve Miss Lucy Meru.

“Eat,” Hisashi said. “You two are going to be escaping a burning building later.”

He headed deeper into the lab to prepare Memory Overwrite. It would fool the True Man Detective for a few hours at least.

[Kamino Police Station, Secure Interview Room]

Toshinori leaned forward in his wheelchair, watching Hisashi Midoriya through the one-way mirror. “This is going nowhere,” he muttered.

“What did you think would happen?” Mirai asked, fixing his glasses. “Her Quirk forces us to reveal why we ask any question. Interrogation relies on hidden motives. She strips that away. She’s perfect for protecting a client.”

Toshinori winced. He really should have listened to Nedzu.

Inside the room, Midoriya spoke again. “I did have contact with All for One.”

Both heroes straightened. “You… you did?” Naomasa asked. “Can you explain how you’re connected to a Terrorist?”

“He called me an hour before I arrived. On my private phone.” Midoriya’s jaw tightened. “He told me to speak with my son. Said he preferred the easy way over the painful one. He seemed interested in Izuku’s Quirk.”

Lucy’s power forced him to talk in circles, avoiding anything he wasn’t allowed to say.

“So I told Izuku no Quirk is worth dying for unless he has a way to come back from death, which I doubt. I talk hypotheticals with him all the time. I just wanted him alive.”

“And what did your son say? One For All, " Naomasa froze, slapped a hand over his own mouth, and stumbled backwards. “I mean One For–  No, I– Yes–  I just ” He bolted for the door. “I’m not equipped for this–  I need air!” He burst into the observation room less than a minute later. “I cannot handle a Quirk that forces me to spill every fact in my head! I’m supposed to be the True Man! Detectives keep things close to their chests! I can’t withhold anything!”

Mirai sighed. “Investigation depends on secrets. Unless you’re asking questions purely out of curiosity, she forces out your real motives. This is a dead end, All Might. And Midoriya has heroes on payroll. We won’t pry anything loose.”

Toshinori’s voice dropped. “It’s him. I know it’s him. Hisashi Midoriya and All for One are the same person.”

“If we treat every strange Quirk phenomenon like proof, then you’re basing your case on a hunch,” Mirai replied. “We play along. If he slips up, we charge him for cooperating with the Villain.”

Naomasa rubbed his face. “I can’t interrogate Midoriya… but I’ll help smooth things over for you, Toshinori.”

Toshinori looked back through the mirror.

Midoriya looked up and met his eyes.

For a moment, Hisashi’s green irises flickered red. A tiny, knowing smirk pulled at his lips.

Toshinori forced himself to remain still. That was All for One—no room for doubt.

But One For All felt strange and brittle inside his chest, not at full strength. Not the time. Not when he could barely rely on his Quirk.

Even so, beneath all the weakness, he still felt anchored by it… steady enough to keep going.

[‘Spare’ Kamino Warehouse, Second Floor]

“Are you sure this is going to work?” Izuku asked. He was strapped to a chair, hands tied behind the backrest. His mind felt foggy, like something was blocking him from remembering anything after he woke up.

He remembered a lab, no, not a lab. One of the rooms in this place. The collar around his neck. He could still feel the phantom pressure of it trying to choke him whenever he tried to escape.

“Kid. Kid! You’re zoning out,” Rokuro warned, snapping him back. “You keep passing out whenever you try to remember things. Just focus on the present.”

“A debuffer…?” Izuku murmured. Quirks that inflicted negative effects. Two of them, judging by how one clouded his memories and the other suppressed his power. He couldn’t see the device on his neck, but Rokuro didn’t have anything similar on him. And whatever was coiled around the hero reacted to his will, so maybe it was tied to the same ability.

Or two Quirks controlled by one person.

The thought struck something loose. Memories surged in, One For All’s shifting echo, the villain with the bee Quirk, the storm rolling over the sky before… before…

There had been a figure. Overwhelming, yet familiar. Like recognising an old friend who had changed beyond recognition.

The memory grew fuzzy again, but Izuku steadied his breathing. Rokuro’s warning still echoed in his mind, and the idea that he somehow knew All For One before ever meeting him was far too much to unpack now.

“Right… sorry,” he muttered, turning to the pro hero. “So… are you sure this will work?” He repeated himself, suddenly unsure what parts of his Quirk he could rely on. The stockpiled power was unreachable, though he had new pieces of his arsenal that he barely understood.

“That’s the best plan we’ve got, considering what you told me,” Rokuro replied with a shrug while struggling with his ropes.

Izuku sighed. So this was how it went? Meeting All For One and getting kidnapped without even a dramatic showdown. He always imagined getting blasted by some top-tier Quirk, something worthy of All Might’s worst day. But no, Izuku Midoriya apparently wasn’t that cool.

Instead, he rotated his ankles and wrists, loosened his shoulders and neck—small movements, but enough. The Third user’s Quirk, Fa Jin, built kinetic energy through motion, and even the smallest movements counted.

Breathing counted too. Running would have been ideal, but tied to a chair, he had to settle for tiny stretches.

Danger Sense buzzed sharply. Izuku froze. Rokuro did too, instinctively moving into position. His reflexes were some of the best in Japan.

The door opened. Izuku looked up and saw the girl from the mall, the one who had tailed him. She wore a mask now, though her smile still showed in the crinkle of her eyes.

“Miss me?” she cooed.

“Not as much as you missed me in that mall,” Izuku replied with a grin. “All it took was a cap and a little bumping through the crowd. If your Quirk wasn’t useful, you’d have been fired for how badly you messed up. Not that it matters, skills like yours are pretty replaceable these days.”

The message was clear. He wasn’t afraid of her or her boss. It was a massive bluff, but he was counting on One For All’s resistance to being stolen, and on All Might and Nedzu intervening if anything huge happened.

And yes, leaving his drained phone at home had been a terrible decision. A friendly stalker was better than being abducted by villains.

“You really know how to piss people off,” the bee girl scoffed, stepping closer. Izuku’s smile widened. Just two more steps. “Tell me, kid, do you actually feel in control? Because you’re trying very hard to act like it.” She rocked on her toes, buzzing with pent-up energy.

“Well, you seem very invested in me. Are you really that desperate for attention, or do I just have that effect on you?” he teased. Rokuro smirked in the corner of his vision, trying not to laugh.

Another step. Her smile faded.

One more.

“Yes, the attention of a prepubescent child is exactly what I want,” she answered, dripping sarcasm.

Izuku’s grin sharpened. “I’d say I’m not judging, but the courts definitely—”

BAM.

His cheek snapped sideways, burning from the slap.

He almost felt guilty for provoking her, but the feeling vanished as Rokuro exploded upright with a burst of speed that shattered his chair.

“What the—?” The bee girl stumbled back, startled, but it was too late.

Blackwhip + Fa Jin + Gearshift.

Tendrils burst from Izuku’s body, snapping the collar around his neck. The force tore apart the ropes and splintered the chair. Blackwhip wrapped around the bee girl, pinning her, while Izuku formed a pair of simple energy claws. He aimed for pain, anything to stop her from calling for help.

Rokuro closed the distance in a blur and struck the back of her head. She crumpled instantly, collapsing like a dropped sack of groceries.

Izuku stared. A strange sense of déjà vu washed over him. He was sure something like this had happened before. But there was no time to think about it. Rokuro grabbed his arm and bolted as an alarm blared.

“Tch. Her bees must’ve done it,” the part-time hero muttered.

Izuku activated Float, letting himself drift weightlessly so Rokuro could drag him like a balloon.

He shifted into second, then third gear. The world slowed. If this was how Rokuro felt using Overclock, it made sense that he lived in constant stress. Izuku forced himself to focus. He needed an exit. Danger Sense guided him.

“Right! Go right!” he shouted. Rokuro followed instantly.

The building shuddered. Dust and small debris drifted down from the ceiling.

“Oh no,” Rokuro muttered. Then, “Oh shit. Oh shit! Shit! Shit!”

Izuku didn’t ask. Instead, he tapped a speed boost onto Rokuro, discovering Gearshift worked on others, too.

They reached a stairwell, and Rokuro vaulted upward. Light spills in from windows. Without hesitation, he threw himself through one, shattering the glass. Izuku boosted him again, stacking second gear with a triple speed multiplier.

Izuku looked back. The entire building erupted. Steel and concrete chunks flew through the air alongside dark spheres, glittering powder like stars, and spires ripping through the street.

He was not fighting that.

He unleashed Smokescreen, drowning an entire city block in thick haze. “RUN! RUN! RUN!” he shouted as civilians panicked beneath falling debris and choking smoke.

Nedzu could yell at him later. Meat shields are deployed and screaming.

They kept sprinting away from the collapsing villain base. A sudden wind swept across the city, pulling smoke off the ground. Izuku’s stomach twisted as the sky darkened again. All For One was controlling the weather.

“Halt.”

The voice boomed across the city. Rokuro stumbled as Gearshift cut out, and both of them tumbled down the street. A car nearly hit them, swerving at the last moment.

“First, you ruin my century-long experiment, and now you try to run with my Quirk?”

Izuku froze. That wasn’t human. The voice vibrated inside his skull.

He looked back and instantly regretted it. The creature behind them barely resembled anything human. Its arms looked like braided tentacles fused with eyes, teeth, scales, and metal scraps. The shifting surface shimmered. Izuku tore his gaze away and sprinted with everything he had, pushing into fourth gear.

Six wasn’t far behind. Danger Sense screamed in every direction, pulling him through narrow safe paths. Rokuro somehow matched the pattern, slipping through blasts and projectiles through instinct alone.

Lasers, plasma bursts, and energy shots exploded around them. Crimson drills the size of adults erupted from the ground, shrinking the safe zones he frantically followed.

Rokuro tried to grab him to keep them together. Instead, Izuku used physics.

Force equals mass times acceleration. If Float removed the mass, and Fa Jin unleashed stored energy at once…

All that force went into acceleration. Combined with the momentum that was already multiplied fivefold, Izuku shot forward like a missile and escaped the immediate kill zone.

Only when Danger Sense quieted did he dare glance back. Rokuro had leapt onto the starfish-like monster with too many limbs, bracing for something insane.

“What possessed him t—”

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. BOOM.

A familiar ticking sound split the air. A temporal tear followed. A figure appeared, wielding a broadsword nearly as tall as she was, and cleaved through one of the monster’s tendrils. She hurled a halberd toward Rokuro, who caught it midair.

The Ten-Second Hero, Twenty-One, had arrived with a Time Stop.

[Kamino Streets, Rock’s Distress Beacon Location]

“Took you guys long enough to find us,” Rock called out as he grabbed the halberd and drove it straight into one of the creature’s eyes.

“What even is this?” Dio asked as she activated Time Stop. She started counting.

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. BOOM.

First second. Weightlessness washed over her as the world dimmed, light hitting her eyes more weakly. She leapt toward the central node, the point where all the tendrils bundled together.

Second second. She swung her sword upward. Metal met flesh, bone, and cartilage. Neither she nor Pluck slowed down, cutting through the creature like it was made of soft clay.

Third, fourth, and fifth seconds. Pluck kept carving cleanly through the mass. Dio turned around to check for organs, all of them suspended in the air, frozen mid-spill.

Sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth seconds. She cut every organ she could see. Worry crept in. She was finding multiple nerve clusters acting as brains. Killing this thing might be harder than she thought.

Tenth and eleventh seconds. Retreat. She launched herself backwards toward Izuku. Time snapped back with a BOOM, making the boy jump.

“That Quirk is overpowered…” Izuku muttered as blood finally erupted from the wounds Dio carved, and several tendrils went limp where she severed their nerves and ligaments.

“Thanks, but—”

“Not yours,” Izuku cut in, pointing at the creature. “That one.”

Dio glanced back, breath catching. Flesh was bubbling around the deep cuts, and new tendrils sprouted, packed with eyes and teeth. “It’s growing from the wounds?

“Cell division. It looks like a weaponised cancer with a Quirk attached.”

Dio shot him an odd look. He wasn’t supposed to know anything about his father’s old projects until today. “What do you suggest?” she asked, mostly to see how much he actually knew.

“Uh…” Izuku flinched. “The cellular growth can’t be perfect. It might collapse if the genetic damage stacks too fast.”

“So flood the city with damaged tissue?”

“You could try burning it— Cauterise the wounds with fire, acid, or electrical burns.” A newly grown tendril lashed out at Rock and Chainsaw Dude, who finally appeared. Blood sprayed across the pavement, sizzling on contact. Izuku winced. “Okay, maybe not acid. If that stuff is corrosive, it probably has resistance built in.”

“Noted.” Dio typed quickly into the Hero Network App, sharing what they knew and tagging heroes with fire or electrical quirks. Endeavour confirmed he was en route. Electro and Combust replied a moment later, already closing in.

“What do you mean All For One showed up?!” All Might shouted, loud enough that Zen finally stopped pretending to relax.

Time to save his son.

Izuku definitely needed saving. That creature was one of the failed attempts to cheat death. Project Propagate, the first precursor to Regeneration Quirks. That particular test subject had five years of All For One’s memories injected into it. None of Hisashi remained.

Good news: the experiment worked, and it believed it was All For One.

Bad news: it was also schizophrenic.

Hisashi couldn’t tell whether the corruption happened while transferring memories from his ruined brain, or if his mind had always been that chaotic and unstable.

Either way, Lucy managed to get him out of the hot waters, and he has a helicopter to catch!

Walking through the police station, he passed by the cops while using Unseen; it was a nifty power that made people around him more likely to ignore him. Add a bit of confidence to feel like you’re meant to be there, and Hisashi can break into someone’s house, their bedroom, pass by the owners getting frisky, then steal their lamp from their nightstand and be none the wiser to it.

“The fact that he can just unlock any door using Psychokinetic and Telekinetic Quirks also helps.” Hisashi chuckled as he did just that to open the door to the rooftop, where a robot-manned helicopter had just landed.

“Midoriya!” A familiar voice called from behind as he was halfway across the roof. Hisash looked back and saw Toshinori Yagi, glaring at him as he owed him money.  “I am certain you haven’t gotten approval to land.”

“Better to ask for forgiveness than permission!” Hisashi rolled his eyes as he had to shout over the loud helicopter rotors. “You got anything else to tell me? Just send the bill for illegal helicopter parking to my lawyer and I’ll pay it later!” He’d have used any of his transportation Quirks if he didn’t need to keep face.

Instead of responding, All Might decided to power walk to Hisashi–

Then passed him as he got into the Helicopter before him. “You’re going to save your son, don’t you? I’m coming!”

“…” Hisashi wanted to be mad, but this kind of power move was something to be respected. He can’t kill All Might without proving he has a hidden agenda, and All Might can just enter his buff form and strike at Hisashi if he does something too All for One-ish.

All the man could do was sigh as he got up, pulled a briefcase from beneath one of the seats, then signalled for the robot to start flying.

Thankfully, he can at least bullshit what ‘Fire Breath’ is capable of doing since nobody can prove he hasn’t trained the Quirk in his spare time.

[‘Spare’ Kamino Warehouse, Ground Floor, 5 minutes prior]

Things were fuzzy again.

“All for One” sat alone in an office chair in one of his hideouts. He couldn’t remember why he’d switched warehouses, only that the last one had become an eyesore, even for a blind man, especially with Nomu storage right beside his desk.

That was when he noticed his vision. It was clearer than it had any right to be, far too clear. He had a full 360-degree view of the room. “Since when… how do I have extra eyes?” He checked his Quirk inventory and saw Propagate active. “What the hell?” He turned it off.

It switched itself back on.

He turned it off again.

It flipped on again.

He instantly frowned, speechless.

He checked for Forcible Quirk Activation, thinking he had left it on by mistake, but instead, he found a loadout that made him question everything.

Assertive Will. Corruption Wave. Crimson Spires. Dark Ball. Dazzle. Laser Eyes. Lycan. Propagate. Solar Cortex. Toxic Blood.

“Was I blackout drunk or something?” he muttered as he sensed another Quirk inside him. No, not one. A cluster. He couldn’t focus on it long enough to identify it.

And where were his hundreds of other Quirks?

A migraine slammed into him. He didn’t have Pain Blocker available, not until he took his meds, and those were gone too.

He gritted his teeth and tried to recall what had happened. Kuin messed up tracking the Ninth User, so he deployed Shokku and went after the kid himself. He remembered trying to steal the Quirk and, for once, actually gaining access. Then the Vestiges attacked. He pushed the user off a cliff… maybe. Everything blurred after an apparition of All Might blew himself up and… and then what?

He tried to think harder, but nothing surfaced. “A concussion, maybe?” Getting hit by All Might again could not have been good for him.

He finally checked the cameras on the computer. They showed Kuin slapping the Ninth User, who was somehow captured and tied up. No, wait. That idiot was sprouting tendrils and choking her out like he was auditioning for a Slenderman remake. Next frame, Six blurred into view behind her, moving so fast he might as well have teleported, and knocked her out instantly.

“You damned traitor!” All for One shouted, just as Lycan activated on its own.

His clothes tore as raw, animal anger surged through him. He tried to suppress it, but the pain gnawing at him made it impossible. “Kill. I’ll kill him. I’ll kill him and hang his body from the orphanage I picked him from!” he roared as Propagate went completely rogue. New limbs, mouths, eyes, ears, and noses sprouted across his skin. His body swelled as organs multiplied and his bones twisted into new shapes.

This wasn’t the Propagate he remembered. It was hundreds of times stronger. Not that he was complaining. He released Dazzle, scattering a dust that burned through anything it touched like thermite. Dozens of arms grew and melted together into thick tentacles, while Crimson Spires formed drill-like protrusions that punched through the ceiling. Dark Balls shot upward and exploded, blasting debris aside.

Eyes and mouths opened all over his tendrils, biting and searching through the dust and rubble as the warehouse collapsed. What rose from the wreckage looked like a giant, starfish-shaped monster.

Two dozen eyes focused on Six while new spires formed a barrier around them. The Ninth User was busy fighting something behind him, but Six was already smashing the Crimson Spires apart with his bare hands, each strike cracking them like brittle metal.

All for One wanted to curse him out, but realised too late that he hadn’t grown any proper lungs or vocal cords. By the time he managed it, he heard something no JoJo fan ever wanted to hear: a rapid tick tick tick, followed by a vine boom. Deep cuts appeared all over his swollen flesh.

“Deeeiiiioooouuuu!” he howled, the sound warped by Lycan’s influence on his vocal cords.

Six spun and raised his weapon, ready to gouge out eyes, just as another Time Stop triggered. More cuts appeared, and All for One desperately sprouted new tendrils from the wounds, trying to grab either Dio or that traitor.

He forced new eyes to grow and focused heat into them, firing laser vision in every direction, but Dio blinked in and out with microbursts of Time Stop while Six moved through the slowed world far too fast to target.

“Flashfire Fist,” someone yelled. Oh, for the love of— not him too. “Hell’s Curtain!”

Endeavour’s fire blanketed him like a burning tidal wave. Blood sizzled on contact. Wounds sealed and skin burned away as a blanket of flame swallowed his body.

He started to panic as he activated the Lycan Quirk in full force, as hair follicles started to manifest and rough fur like Quills came out, offering a layer of insulation against the flames before realising some tendrils were still in agonising pain.

Eyes grew on neighbouring tentacles as he saw the culprits. Combust and Electro, those traitors! They were having a field day since they must have been allowed to use lethal force against him. Both had rather violent Quirks, so they could never get in the top 20s or above.

Combust’s hands and forearms were literally made of flames as he sprayed them at All for One’s body; his Quirk was literally making things easier to burn and overheat. Electro was also having plenty of fun as electricity arches came out of him and hit the places that were burned so badly by Endeavour, they couldn’t grow fur; electricity seeped into the Villain’s body, putting him in even more agony without Pain Blocker.

“Hey!” One of the eyes looking at the men was cut open with the sound of a chainsaw as another vermin showed up. “Rock said no peeking!” Chainsaw Guy™ called out before more of his eyes were taken down by Rokuro and Dio.

All for One took a deep breath as the main node inflated a little. He released the breath before focusing back on the full body and trying to block out the pain.

A new layer of skin started to grow under the old one with fire-resistant fur. The four tentacles began to stiffen as the proper bones within them started to form and develop into legs. The node connecting all these tentacles turned into a torso, while the fifth tentacle was ossifying the skin into an armour, keeping its thin and long shape while making it highly mobile. A wolf-like head sprouted out from where it should have been in the first place as he opened his mouth to howl, which ended up in a snarl. Eyes started growing everywhere on the body, while three pairs of them found their place in the vacant eye sockets. He snapped his tail like a whip, then glass and eardrums shattered at the same time.

“One. For. All.” The snout and size distorted his voice. He stood nine meters tall, twice as long with the tail, which itself sprouted a snout and three eyes.

He could now withstand Endeavour and Electro’s attacks. Combust and the others harried his legs, Dio carving open gashes for follow-up strikes.

He searched for the Ninth User.

Gone.

He couldn’t even track him. He hadn’t gotten a scent before fully shifting.

Rage boiled over. He fired Laser Eyes wildly, but the heroes hugged blind spots. That was when his body began to shake violently as Dazzle dust and Dark Balls ignited simultaneously.

He would kill at least three heroes before retreating. Without Kurogiri, escape would be slow—

“SMASH!”

All Might appeared out of nowhere, slamming him face-first into his own Quirk effects. Dazzle burned far worse than Combust’s flames. Dark Balls detonated against his ribs.

“You—”

All for One never finished speaking. An uppercut shattered his jaw and sent teeth and tongues flying.

He fired lasers blindly while growing additional brains, desperately trying to survive.

Wait.

When did his brain damage get fixed?

That realisation made him stop fighting.

He finally focused on the Quirk cluster he couldn’t access.

[Took you long enough.] A voice laughed inside his head. [You can believe you’re me, but that won’t change who the original is.]

The voice explained. Radio Waves connected everything. Silver Tongue relayed a real voice. Forced Quirk Activation, Dominion, and Assertive Will were wired together, remotely controlled.

That was why Propagate never shut off. Why did he keep growing stronger? He had been running himself into the ground without realising it.

“Why?” Why break the one rule they always followed?

The laughter stopped.

[I needed a stunt. Proof that I wasn’t All for One. So I could live peacefully with this identity.]

“Th-That’s it?!” Fake All for One snarled. “I’m just a toy?” His disgust could only increase. “I only wish you could be there when it’s your turn.”

[There won’t be a next time.] The real one sounded almost sad. [Izuku, my son… I suppose parents exist to sacrifice themselves.]

“What nonsense are you spouting? Children? We’re immortal!”

[Happy little accidents.] The voice chuckled. [Unfortunately for you, Killer Queen already touched this body.]

A mental click echoed.

Every cell is prepared to explode.

“Are you sure this is going to work?” Izuku asked for the second time that day.

“Pretty sure,” his dad replied with a smile beneath an oxygen mask that made him look like a dragon’s maw. He tapped Izuku’s shoulder twice, applying two distinct effects. “Just try not to think about our chats, okay? This is the fourth time you’ve broken through Memory Overwrite. If you’d done it while escaping, you might’ve stopped to ask Fake Me to reapply it.”

“It’s not my fault you didn’t change clothes,” Izuku muttered. “I went ‘Oh no, it’s All for One,’ then ‘wait, that’s Dad,’ then ‘no, Dad’s All for One.’”

His father laughed. “Reinforcement copied from Yoroi Musha and psychic reinforcement I found elsewhere. Stack Black Whip on top, and you should be fine.” He gave another shrug before placing his large hand on Izuku’s forehead. “But I’m serious. Stop thinking about what happened until after you’re questioned. Your personal account is what would make or break this stunt.”

“Yes, I know.” Izuku sighed as he tried to look at his father past the man’s arm. “But when we get home, you promise we'll talk for real. Right? I don’t mind you giving and taking Quirks, I’d do it too in your place, but being a Villain and Human experimentation needs to be addressed, okay?”

“Alright.” Dad sighed as the veil of Memory Overwrite was applied once more.

Izuku found himself on the rooftop above All for One and All Might’s fight, and despite being bitter about it, he had a pretty good idea how to stop the supervillain. “You want One For All so badly?” Izuku charged up ‘Power Stock’ before throwing himself off the roof. “THEN HERE IT IS!” He shouted with all his power as he pulled back and could feel the ‘surge of power’ ready to be released.

All for One tried running away, but All Might was pinning him down despite the size difference.

“UNITED! STATES! OF! SMASH!” Izuku shouted as he made contact with the giant wolf’s head and transferred ‘Power Stock’ in the most violent way possible, hoping it would overwhelm “All for One’s” Defences.

The moment the transfer was complete, a click was heard, and every cell in All for One’s body lit up, instantly exploding with such a force it didn’t leave ashes behind.

The explosion was so great that Izuku was thrown right through the window of the building. He threw himself off and instantly blacked out.

If we had stood awake, he would have seen that a news crew from Shoowaysha Publishing appeared before the police with a woman with lavender hair, pale-blue skin, and green irises and black sclera showing up to get the latest scoop. “Hello, people of Japan. I am your beloved Chitose Kizuki with the newest and most worrisome fight of the decade, as both All  Might and Endeavour are present after the fight that needed to evacuate several city blocks. As you know, our crew comes with a set of first responders supplied and sponsored by Detnerat to make sure everyone is alright. Even Heroes need hel,p and I can’t bear asking questions without every man landing a hand!” She did a small bow, trying to show the bare minimum of respect while shamelessly sponsoring his associate. “But that’s enough talking from, let’s go and check who saw the fight. On our way here, we heard that there was a starfish of flesh and a werewolf the size of a building, and I can see that something big has passed through.”

In that exact moment, a man in a burnt suit pushed himself from under several tons of rubble, shaking himself as the first responder started asking if he needed help, only to shoo them off like those pieces of concrete.

[Next Chapter: Aftermath and Cossroads]

[Quick notes on the Quirks]

Gearshift Speeds:

• Reverse: Sowing/Halting. (x0~0.9e)
• Neutral: Normal Speed. (x1)
• Gear 1: Double Speed. (x2)
• Gear 2: Triple Speed. (x3)
• Gear 3: Quadruple Speed. (x4)
• Gear 4: Quintuple Speed. (x5)

The faster you go, the quicker you get out of breath after the effect ends. The effect can be applied to other people and objects.

Fa Jin: Any kind of movement causes kinetic energy to be accumulated. Even breathing, the micromovements of muscles, and one’s beating heart cause passive accumulation, but intensive movement accumulates it the fastest way. The amount of kinetic energy released can be controlled, allowing for a “critical damage” effect to be applied in real life.

Danger Sense: The ability to detect any immediate and passive threat incoming to the user. As an extra sense, it can substitute sight to some extent by relying on its effects since everything can be a threat if you literally can’t see it coming.

Black Whip: The most useful and versatile Quirk, only limited by the semi-solid state of the tendrils. (Other means are required to fully harness its potential.)

Smokescreen: Limited use. Good for hiding or dramatic entrances. (Useless)

Float: Newton's Second Law of Motion states that the net force (F) acting on an object is equal to the object's mass (m) multiplied by its acceleration (a). By making the mass (m) negligible for brief moments of ‘Float’, all the force can be poured into acceleration, only for the mass to return on impact.

Mighty: It allows the user to transform into their best physical (technically Quirkles) state. (All Might’s Quirk that he never discovered because of awakening after obtaining One For All and assuming it came with the package.) Lost along Power Stock; fragments of those genes now live inside Hisashi and Izuku.

Chapter Text

[Endeavour Agency, Endeavour's Office]

Nedzu watched the security footage of Izuku being interviewed after the battle with the alleged All for One.

Despite All Might’s insistence that Hisashi Midoriya was All for One, he had to admit that the being the Heroes fought didn’t match the man’s usual methods. Combined with the fact that the so-called “creature,” classified as a Nomu, was clearly some kind of bioweapon, it was safer to approach this as another offshoot rather than the original.

[So you’re saying that All for One mocked you, dragged you into an alley, and tried to steal your Quirk?] Naomasa asked.

Izuku nodded.

Nedzu glanced at the transcript, watching the detective’s annotations update whenever his Quirk activated.

[More or less.] Truth.

Izuku’s gaze drifted to the camera in the corner. He frowned slightly, then muttered something under his breath.

“Oh my, I feel watched back.” Nedzu chuckled. He could read lips well enough to catch Izuku mouthing “Nedzu.”

[What was that?] Naomasa asked, picking up on the mumbling.

[Nothing.] Lie. A white lie, but still a lie. [Sooo… are we done here?]

[Just a couple more questions.] Naomasa reassured him.

Nedzu had already skimmed what remained of the interview. He was far more interested in the emotion behind Izuku’s answers.

[There really isn’t anything else you can tell us about the one trailing you?]

[Nope. Nothing besides the fact that she had brown, curly hair and was about half a head taller than me.] Truth. Reasonable. He’d been trying to escape her, not study her.

[And these metal insects, how did they look exactly?]

[Like normal bees. Maybe slightly brighter yellow, but they almost blended in with whatever they landed on. They only turned silver when I crushed them.] Truth.

Camouflage. That alone hinted at intent. Instant Villains had been prototypes. Nomu was the refined result.

In retrospect, the way the “giant werewolf” manifested followed the same pattern as Instant Villains.

[And you don’t remember much after the theft attempt?] Naomasa asked bluntly, since Izuku had already been informed about Toshinori’s Quirk.

[He tried multiple times, I think? I’m not sure how many. I couldn’t tell where one attempt ended and the next began. He mostly just grunted and sighed while pinning me down.] Truth.

Naomasa shifted, noticing the inconsistency with All Might’s dream. Nedzu shifted for a different reason. That answer felt rehearsed.

[And after that?]

[He got mad and knocked me out. The next thing I remember is Rokuro waking me up and telling me not to think about the past because it makes me pass out. Apparently, I woke up three more times before that and still couldn’t replay the memories, even though there wasn’t much there.] Truth.

Nedzu wasn’t sure what to make of it. The beginning was stiff, but the latter half sounded genuine. A Quirk that prevented recalling the past was terrifying in a hostage scenario. Planning would be impossible. Rokuro only noticed because Overclock enhanced his perception.

Was this truly a Quirk All for One possessed, or a composite effect? They still didn’t know his limits, assuming he even had any.

[And how did you reach the top of the building?]

[Float and Black Whip. I anchored myself to the exterior.] Truth.

[And how did you decide to pass… Power Stock, of all Quirks, to All for One?]

Midoriya paused. He looked at Naomasa, then back at the camera.

Was he really that confident in Nedzu’s surveillance habits? Or was this just a stalker recognising another?

[I… I knew that Quirk killed him once before. I also knew that using it improperly causes massive physical strain. Add what I’d read from Nedzu’s notes about Quirk recoil and transfer instability, and…] Truth.

[And?]

[And I was hoping to nuke All for One out of existence.] Truth.

Nedzu remained silent alongside the paused footage. Izuku Midoriya was making leaps of logic that shouldn’t have worked. And yet, they had.

“What am I going to do with you?” Nedzu murmured as he closed the recording and turned back to the conspiracy board he and Endeavour had confiscated.

“Told you. I’m calling dibs,” Endeavour huffed, flipping through another stack of notes. These were far messier than Midoriya’s usual handwriting. “Shoto needs a different model. Maybe seeing Midoriya as a threat will finally get him to stop half-assing things with half a Quirk.”

“Our goals align, so I’ll allow it for now,” Nedzu hummed, noticing Endeavour’s notes were actually on Flame Quirks. “Stealing some knowledge?”

“I call it advanced payment for when I teach him detective work and Quirk theory,” Endeavour deflected. “Besides, Midoriya wrote about my sidekicks, too. I’d be stupid not to read this after seeing the ideas he’s got.”

“Aren’t you worried this will make Midoriya the next Number One?” Nedzu asked. “What if your son ends up living in his shadow, the same way you did with All Might?”

“Easy.” Endeavour set the notes down, revealing they were actually about Heteromorphic Quirks. “This screams two things: shut-in and boredom. Even if Midoriya became Number One, he’d last maybe a month before realising he hates fame and going underground.”

“So Midoriya likes scrutinising others but hates being scrutinised himself,” Nedzu concluded.

“It’s obvious in his writing. He’s factual about Quirks, but the moment he writes about people, the bias shows. Look here, a whole chapter on this ‘Kacchan’ and her Explosion Quirk. Complete tsundere, above-average power, great hero potential, terrible mouth.”

“Katsuki Bakugo is a boy,” Nedzu corrected gently. “But I see your point.”

“Oh.” Endeavour paused. “Is Midoriya gay?”

Nedzu blinked. “He’s interested in women.” He immediately grabbed the Bakugo file and flipped through it. “…How did you reach that conclusion?”

Endeavour snorted as he stood, holding pages about himself, All Might, and other top heroes. “Look at the bias. He acknowledges Bakugo’s flaws while still hyping his potential. Excuse my language, but this is premium-grade dick riding. A whole chapter that boils down to ‘I can fix him.’”

And with that, Nedzu learned something new about human psychology.

[Midoriya Apartment, Izuku’s Bedroom]

Izuku Midoriya dropped onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling and contemplating his life choices now that he was sober and free of Memory Overwrite’s effects. “I honestly don’t know if I should be impressed or disappointed.”

“Ouch,” Hisashi Midoriya replied, also known as All for One and Izuku’s father. “But fair.”

“So am I supposed to be a Villain now?” Izuku asked, closing his eyes and letting his new sense spread outward. His “Quirk Radar,” as they had started calling it, was an aspect of his Quirk, essentially a hybrid of the power he was meant to receive, fragments of Bestowal and Power Stock, and apparently something left behind by All Might and the Lazarus Compound he’d been injected with.

“Do you want to be one?” Dad asked casually. “I never tried to stop you from becoming a Hero. I just passed down knowledge to help you prepare for the future.”

“Yes, and judging by the amount of notes— stolen notes by Nedzu, by the way— please give them back if you planted microphones in my room, of me constantly critiquing heroes, that’s just a fortunate side effect.”

“First, no microphones were added,” Dad reassured him. “He just taps into your phone and computer camera and microphone,” Dad reassured. “Which are protected now that I’m here.”

“Oh.” That was good to know. “Still, back to you not caring whether I become a Hero.”

“I never discouraged your dream. I just widened your horizons so you’d know better than blindly admiring them as the herd does.”

Izuku wanted to argue, but he couldn’t. If he went back in time and talked to his four-year-old self, he wouldn’t change a thing about Dad’s parenting or the lessons he’d been taught. “Why are you even a Villain?”

“Convenience, really.” His father leaned back in the chair. Izuku opened his eyes and realised they were both staring at the ceiling. “I was the King of Vigilantes when I was young, someone who rallied behind an incompetent, discriminatory system. Then Professional Heroes appeared as a profession, a specially selected and curated militia marketed as tomorrow’s saviours. Most people didn’t buy into the propaganda, but enough did to create another task force, then another, and another, until it became easier to let heroes operate as private entities licensed and contracted by the government. Today’s Heroes, basically.”

“Okay, so you became a Villain by definition,” Izuku said. “How did that turn into being a crime lord and doing human experiments?”

“Would you believe me if I said convenience again?” Dad spun the chair to face him. “Human experimentation is recent, but being a crime lord has its merits. It really started when I met Destro. Before that, I devoured a Yakuza family from the inside and expanded from there. I was already a wanted man, so when legitimate money wasn’t an option, I laundered it instead. Things snowballed as people came to me to grant or remove Quirks, while I also sold drugs, weapons, and what eventually became Trigger.”

He continued without pause. “Along the way, I met Kyudai, after the backlash over his Quirk Singularity Theory. He had questions. I wanted answers. We created fake identities through the syndicate we built. Research and medicine followed, funded by Quirks I collected and the legitimate wealth I accumulated. Hisashi Midoriya owns Hisui Pharmaceuticals, but Akira Akatani owns the largest construction company in Japan, among many others.”

“We were two insane researchers with the tools and money to back our curiosity. Hell, we discovered a new neurotransmitter that became the foundation for all Triger worldwide. But do you know what happened?”

“People didn’t want to know what’s inside a Quirk,” Izuku sighed, sitting up. “It’s taboo because it brushes up against eugenics, not to mention the risk of your weapon of mass destruction deciding it disagrees with you and tearing you apart.”

“And that’s where we are now. We use a carrot-and-stick approach for test subjects. They sign their lives away for science, or for the chance to be more than they were. Jesus, Hood got the stick one too many times…”

“Who’s that?”

“Hood? The Nomu you nearly destroyed.”

“No, not him. Jesus.”

His father stared blankly. “You know,” Hisashi clarified, “the guy from the Bible who sacrificed himself for humanity’s sins. Calendar guy?”

“Oh. Him.” 

His father looked even more bewildered.

“…I keep forgetting Abrahamic religions fell out of practice after Quirks,” he muttered. “Anyway, we avoid using unconsenting individuals when possible because minds change. You signed up. I’m actively brainwashing you to make sure you don’t double-cross me. Memory Overwrite was a rushed patch job. I can beam twenty-four hours of information into someone’s head and condition them to treat my words like gospel.”

“You can’t expect me to believe everyone consented.”

“I can’t prove the ones already modified are consenting, because I’ve hardwired obedience into them. At best, I can call you when someone new expresses interest. I already have more bodies than I need.”

“Convenient,” Izuku said dryly. “Ever consider breeding Nomu instead?”

“Pardon?”

“You know, eggs and sperm, home-grown Nomu.” Izuku rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Your pharmaceutical company runs fertility banks. Add those to the gene pool, strip Quirks, and you’d have super soldiers trained from birth. No consent issues if they’re born into it.”

“First, the Men of Gold project is theoretical,” Dad snapped. “Second, are you still high?”

Izuku broke into a grin. “What else would I be disappointed about if not your performance?”

Understanding clicked. His father stood and ruffled his hair. “You little devil. You were baiting me.”

“I was just pointing it out,” Izuku laughed, failing to push him away. “Please don’t actually do that. I was fishing for your reaction.”

“I figured,” Dad said, settling back into the chair. “I’m glad this didn’t drive a wedge between us.”

“Can’t promise that forever,” Izuku added. “You still owe me a birthday present. All Might gave me One For All. That’s six quirks. Power Stock doesn’t count, I lost it immediately.”

His father straightened, hands clasped like a boardroom meeting. “You want Quirks.”

“At least this year,” Izuku smiled innocently. “Unless you want to admit All Might gave me a better present than you. Which was nothing.”

All for One’s eye twitched. “Name them. I’ll see what I can do.”

“Overclock.”

“No. Too overpowered,” the man said, a smirk tugging at his lips. “I said I’d see what I can do, not that you can demand Quirks like a silver-spooned brat.”

“So, marginally better than what I already have, huh?”

What would go well with Gear Shift? Izuku thought before a Quirk came to mind. “Slide & Glide.”

“I’ll add a clause. I’m not leaving the continent for it.”

“He’s in Tokyo,” Izuku replied. His father went still for a moment, then nodded.

“I’ll get you a copy. I can’t guarantee the same strength, but it’ll be decent.” Great.

Moving on to Fa Jin. The Quirk itself was excellent, but simple; it amplified the kinetic energy output of his attacks. Accumulation wasn’t an issue, since he planned to go on runs anyway. Just moving around would be enough to store power for a so-called critical strike.

The only other accumulation Quirk that stored kinetic energy was… “Fat Gum’s Fat Absorption.”

All for One’s eyes glistened. “Critical Strike, plus Piercing and Explosion.”

Fat Gum burned stored fat and converted it into kinetic energy, which could then be released as a piercing attack or an explosion from the body. Critical Strike would be like punching concrete into gravel. Piercing would punch clean through steel plating. The explosion was an area-of-effect blast that could shove enemies away.

If Izuku concentrated the explosions into his palms, he could release kinetic blasts similar to Katsuki’s. He’d only need something to deal with the recoil, since Fa Jin didn’t absorb impact, and he had no intention of getting fat just to exploit Fat Absorption’s secondary traits.

“You haven’t even stolen a Quirk yet, and you’re already thinking of combinations like me,” the man said. Izuku felt the praise from his father, from the greatest plotter in Japan, and indirectly from Nedzu.

Danger Sense was the perfect alarm for incoming attacks, so Izuku wanted something to help him read opponents alongside it. “Search. Ragdoll’s Quirk.”

“Son, I’ve been eyeing that Quirk for five years,” his father replied. “I might take it for myself, but I won’t promise a copy for you.”

“Then Scanner!”

“Also no.”

“Wh-what? Why!?” Izuku protested, then winced when he realised how loud he’d gotten. “You soundproofed the room, right?”

Dad nodded. “It’s a crutch. You need to develop your own observation skills before I give you anything that spells the answer out for you.”

Izuku decided to shelve Danger Sense for now. “Anything that makes Black Whip something other than rope?”

A laptop suddenly appeared in Dad’s lap. He typed for a moment, then turned it toward Izuku. His eyes widened.

One tab displayed the Quirk Registry logo and a profile. The other showed the same name, complete with a photograph.

“Shikkui Makabe. Quirk: Stiffening,” his father explained. “Ketsubutsu Academy student. No Hero license yet. I can get his Quirk by tomorrow morning.”

Izuku’s gaze drifted down to the listed address.

The government’s insistence on Quirk data privacy suddenly felt like a joke.  “Can I get a copy instead?”

“It won’t be as strong as the original,” Dad warned. “You’ll need to put in effort and time.”

Izuku kept staring at the registry entry, confirmed and verified.

He sighed. Six months of training, Power Stock had effectively become endurance training. The idea of spending months or years training Quirks he might not keep didn’t appeal to him.

But…

He remembered Nedzu in the hallway after the fight with Nighteye. Convenience and what’s right aren’t the same thing. “Copy,” Izuku said. “I’m certain.”

His father studied him for an uncomfortable moment. “Very well.”

The laptop vanished as suddenly as it had appeared.

Next was Smokescreen. Filling an entire city block with smoke was useless. Skip.

Then Float, which already synergises with Slide & Glide. That left three Quirk slots from this “gift.”

Izuku preferred consistency. “Something that improves Fa Jin?”

“Impact Recoil,” Dad answered immediately. “It reflects physical blows away from the user, usually back at the attacker. Since you already store kinetic energy internally, you could absorb the hit and return it with your own force.”

He continued calmly. “It also cheats Newton’s Third Law. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, but the Quirk reflects that recoil. You’d be hitting them with double what they put in.”

Izuku was speechless. “That one’s good.”

He cleared his throat, forcing his jaw shut at the sheer insult to reality that Impact Recoil represented.

That left two Quirks. “Are you willing to trade Smokescreen for something else?”

Hisashi Midoriya slipped through the All for One façade, a smirk forming. “Trying to bargain with me?”

Do you feel enough pity for it to work? “I mean, one of your Nomu might find it more useful than I would.”

Dad smiled, giving Izuku hope. “Not even if you paid me.” Then he crushed it instantly. “I don’t need a Quirk that blinds an entire area while leaving the user most affected in the center. I already have invisibility and cloaking Quirks.”

That’s exactly why I wanted to trade it, Izuku thought.

Left with a useless Quirk and two choices, he sighed. “I’d like a healing or regeneration ability.”

“Cell Activation or Super Regeneration,” his father said. “The former improves health and quality of life for both the user and other targets. The latter repairs injuries and extends lifespan by reducing senescence.”

“And you just have those lying around?” Izuku asked, once again struck by how absurd his father’s Quirk arsenal was. “That sounds better than Recovery Girl’s.”

“I’ve been using Cell Activation to slowly repair my brain,” Dad said, tapping his temple. “I could live without the mask and just carry an oxygen tank when things get dicey. What’s left is brain damage from long-term oxygen deprivation.”

I want both… Izuku thought as he tried to rack his brains for anything else he wanted.

Float + Gear Shift + Slide & Glide.

Impact Recoil + Fa Jin + Fat Absorption.

Black Whip + Stiffening.

Danger Sense. Smokescreen.

Danger Sense was good on its own, and Smokescreen was useless to him.

He had mobility and a means to deal with people in hand-to-hand and mid-range.

That was when Izuku realised he needed something that would let him acquire Quirks on his own.

“I’ll take Cell Activation and Super Regeneration.”

“Want fries with that?” Dad joked. “What made you pick those two instead of asking to browse the catalog, per se?”

“I’ll use Cell Activation to be a back-alley doctor,” Izuku said with a smile. His father mirrored it, both of them suddenly looking like predators. “The weaker or less interesting ones get to live, while the stronger ones might ‘die from injuries’ that were just too severe for me to heal.”

“That’s a good one,” Dad praised. “You’ll need to operate in a neutral zone, somewhere heroes and lawless types both pass through. I can put you in contact with an information broker to help set that up.”

He chuckled, leaning back in his chair and staring up at the ceiling. “So, what about your hero dream?”

“I don’t see why I can’t do both,” Izuku shrugged.

Dad tilted his head, studying him from where he lounged. “What?”

“You wouldn’t wait for a coworker to die just so you could swoop in like a vulture and steal their Quirk, right?”

“W–What? No!” Though now that he’d said it out loud… no. He couldn’t act like a healer. Black Whip and Fa Jin could be passed off as techniques or enhancements, but Quirks like Slide & Glide and Cell Activation had no business belonging to a former One For All user.

Unless…

“Izuku, you’re zoning out,” Dad called, snapping him out of the spiral.

“No–well, maybe. I’ll figure it out when it happens,” Izuku stammered.

His father laughed as he stood. “That’s everything from me tonight. I’ll get your Quirks by morning, along with the broker’s number. Oh, and some new phones and laptops that Nedzu can’t tap into.”

With that, he turned to leave.

“Wait! One more thing,” Izuku said, stopping him. “When I threw myself at the fake you… I still passed on some Quirks, thinking it was Power Stock. What were those?”

“Oh, those?” Hisashi Midoriya grinned from ear to ear. “They were all the Quirks I tried to give you when you were four, back when your body refused to activate them. Plus a kamikaze Quirk called Burst. I couldn’t let you keep Quirks you hadn’t earned, now could I?”

And with that, he left.

Izuku lay there, mortified, realising he’d just annihilated three or four perfectly good Quirks by accident.

[Takoba Beach, the Gazebo]

Toshinori watched the interview between Midoriya and Naomasa again, but he still couldn’t bring himself to believe it without speaking to the boy face-to-face. He wanted to ask Young Midoriya whether his father was truly All for One, but that question felt like a slippery slope with no safe answer.

“–And I think I can take and give Quirks like All for One now?”

That single sentence shattered Toshinori’s worldview, making the moonless night feel even darker.

Izuku Midoriya demonstrated the power of the Fifth Holder. A rope of energy spread from his arm, wrapping around the gazebo’s pillars, scraping against the wood like a wire saw as it bit into the surface. He clenched his fist, and the tendrils recoiled instantly, vanishing into the ether. A clean hole remained in the centre of his palm.

“I think something happened, and One For All fused with my genes,” Izuku said. “Maybe when I pulled Power Stock out, it reset itself. Now I’m the new first user.”

“That is… a possibility,” Toshinori said, nodding, though it felt like his world was quietly collapsing.

Is this really how One For All ends? With another All for One?

He was certain this wasn’t the One For All he knew. There was no sense of connection, no shared presence. It felt the same way it had between him and Nana. There was no warmth, no feeling of being part of something greater.

When he looked at Young Midoriya, Toshinori felt a creeping unease. The boy seemed like the antithesis of what One For All stood for, a singular existence that could not help but crave more.

“I’ve been thinking,” Izuku said, breaking the silence. “Do you want to try Nana’s Float for a couple of days?”

…

What?

“Can we do that?” Toshinori asked, before realising how pointless the question was. Of course, they could, if Izuku truly could give and take Quirks.

“I want to get a better flight Quirk later and pass Float on to Tenko, since it was his grandmother’s,” Izuku explained, rubbing the back of his neck. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t have a moment with it. Just… don’t get caught by Tenko, okay?”

For a moment, Toshinori could only stare. Then he laughed, his muscles bursting forth.

“Ha ha ha hah! Young Midoriya, you’ve shown me exactly why you will never become All for One!” He laughed again, loud and proud. “I must confess my sin. I did wonder if you would be corrupted by his influence, if you might degrade to his level. I see now how wrong I was. I am grateful that you intend to return Nana’s Quirk to her family!”

He let out another booming laugh, only to notice a few nearby houses switching on their lights. He immediately cringed and deflated back to normal.

“But truly,” Toshinori said, more softly, “I am proud of you. Even if the power I gave you changed, I do not regret it for a moment.”

“Don’t think of me as a saint, All Might,” Izuku said, laughing awkwardly. “I did say after I get a better one. I still need to find it, either donated…”

“Or taken by force,” Toshinori finished, realising things were still far from simple. “Have you spoken with Nedzu? He might know retired heroes willing to pass on their Quirks, as I did.”

“Passing on their legacy to me?” Izuku’s eyes widened. He practically vibrated as Black Whip manifested, tendrils coiling from beneath his shirt like snakes. One wrapped around his wrist, another hovered near his palm, ready to strike. “All Might, I don’t say this often, but you’re a genius!”

“Thank you?” Toshinori wasn’t sure whether that was praise or an accidental insult.

Izuku pulled out his phone and immediately flinched as the screen lit up far too brightly against the dark beach. After checking the time, his excitement faded. “It’s too late to call or visit. Tomorrow, then.”

“One step at a time, my boy,” Toshinori said warmly. “We’ll figure this out together, now that this power is in good hands.”

He patted Izuku’s shoulder. The tendrils shivered at the contact. A little unsettling, but something he could get used to.

“Don’t forget the Quirk,” Izuku added.

Red sparks appeared around him, turning into crackling crimson lightning before condensing into a mist. The energy wrapped around Toshinori like a cloak, seeping into his skin, then deeper, altering every cell as the Quirk settled inside him.

He felt strangely lightheaded, almost euphoric, like the time he’d eaten those weed brownies in the United States.

“All for One’s victims always complained about headaches,” Toshinori said. “This feels… completely different.”

“…Yeah. Let’s go with that for now,” Izuku replied cryptically, yawning. “I’m heading home. The early bird gets to talk to the Rat King.”

“And you can show off those interesting Quirks to your friends,” Toshinori added encouragingly.

Izuku made a strange face in response. Unsure which social cue he’d missed, Toshinori simply waved him off and waited until the boy disappeared into the night.

The euphoric feeling slowly faded, replaced by a mild headache, like a hangover.

So that’s what he was hiding, Toshinori realised. Being given a Quirk feels like a drug.

Still, once the haze cleared, he felt lighter. On a whim, he began running along the beach. He was faster than usual, his strides longer, his feet barely touching the sand.

He looked up at the sky and jumped.

Gravity seemed to forget him. He rose higher and higher until he finally turned midair to look back down.

“No wonder she loved being up here,” he murmured.

The view was breathtaking. No buildings blocked the horizon, just open land and distant lights. Toshinori hadn’t realised how claustrophobic the ground could feel until now.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

The voice was faint, carried on the wind. Toshinori turned, but no one was there.

“Nana?” he asked.

Only the wind answered.

[Tokyo, Naruhata Ward]

Koichi was cleaning his rented apartment before heading out for night patrol. Fewer heroes, fewer civilians on the streets. It made things easier.

He’d even started dressing the way he used to as a vigilante, hoping any photos taken would look outdated to anyone trying to track him down.

“And it actually worked.”

The voice came from behind him.

Koichi spun around instantly, Quirk flaring as he aimed in the speaker’s direction. A man stood there atop a wooden chair shaped like a throne, carved with intricate patterns and padded with velvet. Somehow, Koichi hadn’t heard a thing. Worse, he couldn’t see the man’s face clearly.

“You know what I thought when I saw those posts about you?” the man continued, irritated. “I figured someone dug up old pictures of the Crawler, and he was trending again. I scrolled right past them like an idiot.” He scoffed. “Do you know how stupid I felt when someone had to tell me you were actually here?”

“What do you want?” Koichi asked, genuinely afraid.

“First, beat your ass. Second, beat Six for not telling me you were here, assuming that checks out. Third, steal your Quirk.” The man sighed. “I’m not even in the mood to act mysterious because of you.”

Koichi fired a repulsion blast.

The man simply tilted his head, dodging it with perfect timing.

“Alright,” he said calmly. “Time to break some bones.”

He raised one hand, pointing his index finger toward the ceiling. Koichi was ripped off the ground instantly, suspended in midair. The man lifted his other hand, casually blocking the reflexive repulsion blast Koichi released without thinking.

“Quirks like yours are always annoying,” the man said conversationally. “They trigger on instinct, almost subconsciously. I either drug the user or block the output.”

He kept talking.

Then pain exploded through Koichi’s arm.

A wet crack echoed through the room.

Koichi screamed, but no sound came out.

“What kind of trauma did you go through to get this upgrade?” the man mused. “I had to dip into my personal stash and grab a telekinesis Quirk just for this. Those rings you summon would’ve pierced my psychokinesis otherwise.” He gestured slightly. “That was just your radius, by the way. I’m breaking your ulna too.”

Agony tore through Koichi again. He nearly blacked out, held conscious only by adrenaline.

He tried to raise his other arm. It wouldn’t move. He tried angling his palm instead. Locked.

The man stepped closer and grabbed Koichi by the wrist of his already broken arm.

That’s when Koichi realised it.

The force blocking him wasn’t telekinesis.

It was repulsion.

“Yours manipulates electromagnetic fields,” the man said casually.

Did I think that out loud?

“No,” the man replied immediately. “I’m just sick of this nonsense and skimmed your thoughts.”

Oh shit.

“You’d think so,” the man continued, unimpressed, “but your face is incredibly easy to read. I’d normally ramble about your Quirk, but I’m saving that lecture for my son. No need to waste it on a stranger.”

Pressure built at Koichi’s wrist as the man slowly pulled.

Koichi stared in horror as blood began to drip from his hand, even though the injury wasn’t there.

“Also,” the man added, “since I can’t get a proper grip on you thanks to those reflexes…” He slammed a piece of paper onto the desk. “Here’s Pop☆Step’s address. So you understand I can hurt you where it actually matters.”

Koichi hit the floor hard.

“Captain Celebrity isn’t much of a threat either,” the man went on. “So let’s keep this between us.”

The last thing Koichi saw was the man collecting the blood into small vials, then igniting his palm to burn away the remaining drops.

Alone, shaking, and terrified, Koichi staggered out of the apartment toward the nearest hospital.

He needed to find Rokuro.

If that was the big boss Rokuro kept talking about, then the man was going to get beaten for both of them.

[U.A. High, Nezu’s Office]

“So,” Nezu said after hearing Izuku Midoriya’s explanation, “what you’re saying is that you’re now a miniature All for One, and you want me to help you acquire Quirks?”

“And get my notes back, please,” Izuku added. Endeavour still has them, since the files were tied to All for One himself.

“Let’s focus on the Quirk dilemma first,” Nezu said, steering the conversation back. “You do understand what this means for you, and for society at large, correct?”

“What?” Izuku tilted his head. “That in a world where no one is created equal, an equalizer like me would be both hated and loved?”

Nezu blinked. “That’s… actually a very poetic way to put it. And yes, you’re correct.” He clasped his paws together. “You would be the enemy of the strong, the friend of the weak, and something the average person would instinctively fear. You’d be swarmed by people who want you to be their messiah, or who want you dead for not fitting the version of the world they’re comfortable with.”

Izuku’s smile dimmed slightly. “Which means I’m better off letting people think I only have one Quirk.”

“You might be able to use kindred secondary Quirks to enhance a singular one,” Nezu allowed, “but yes. Your public image would need to be designed around a single ability.”

He paused, choosing his next words carefully.

“I’ll be honest with you, Midoriya. My instincts are telling me to fear for my life right now due to your proximity.” Nezu met Izuku’s eyes. “I’m afraid you could reach across this desk and steal High Specs. If we’re going to work together, we need limits.”

“So… you do want to help me?” Izuku asked.

“I want to make sure you stay on the right path,” Nezu corrected gently. “If I refused to work with you outright, you’d take it personally. So I’ll be the brave animal and accept that, as one of the ‘strong’ I mentioned, I am now a potential target. You could strip me of my sapience and turn me back into a mindless creature.”

“I did think about it,” Izuku admitted. His smile returned, unsettling Nezu for a brief moment before he reminded himself that humans showed their teeth for socially acceptable reasons. “But then what would I do? Become Japan’s number one enemy like All for One? Try to intimidate you into compliance? Leave the country and start over with a new identity?”

He listed the possibilities casually, and Nezu could imagine him doing any of them.

“I already talked with my father about finding volunteers,” Izuku continued. “I’m getting more Quirks whether you like it or not. As for your honesty… I think I appreciate it. You once said that what’s convenient isn’t always what’s right, and I realized something.”

He looked thoughtful, almost self-critical.

“I don’t have good morals. When I become a Hero, it won’t be because I already know what’s right. It’ll be because I want to understand why the selfless option matters.”

That was, honestly, a relief for Nezu. He let out a breath he didn’t realise he’d been holding. “As for limits,” he said, “I think we’ll be meeting online from now on. I’m sorry, but that’s what I need to sleep at night.”

“Understandable.” Izuku nodded. “However, I do have one request.”

“And that is?”

“If I manage to get a way to copy High Specs, would you let me do it?”

Nezu’s thoughts stalled. Creating the genes for a Quirk wasn’t especially difficult, but expressing them correctly and forming a Quirk factor body part still bordered on impossible, especially the Plus Alpha brainwave, which didn’t properly overlap with the others.

“…Fine,” Nezu said at last. “As long as it’s not too invasive.”

“Great. Now, moving on to you helping me acquire Quirks. What’s the broker fee?”

“How about a small favor for each—”

“You’re not pulling an All for One on me,” Izuku cut in.

Nezu’s tail wagged in delight. It had been a while since someone called him out that cleanly.

“Something measurable,” Izuku continued. “I can guarantee I’ll become a Hero. If you want me as boots on the ground for missions you direct, I’ll take that kind of favor.”

“Restricting my demands to a single field,” Nezu mused. “Very good for someone who just hit puberty.” He smiled. “How about more… covert missions? The kind where someone’s too dangerous to simply restrain.”

“Are you asking if I’m okay with murder,” Izuku asked flatly, “or if I’m fine with people trying to kill me on a regular basis?”

Midoriya rolled his eyes. “Most villains are desperate civilians committing petty crimes just to survive, with no real combat experience. The next group are adrenaline junkies playing cat and mouse with the police. Only then do you get organized crime, and even they rarely train their Quirks to the same standard hero schools do.”

“Ah,” Nezu said, raising a paw, “but you’re forgetting the most important demographic.”

Midoriya raised an eyebrow. “Who? Extremists? I lump them in with organized crime.”

“I’ll give you a hint,” Nezu said. “You technically know two people like this.”

The boy pondered, then shook his head.

“People who, despite having the ability to create a brighter world,” Nezu continued, “choose darkness because it’s more convenient.”

Izuku stiffened.

“Me and…” he began.

“All for One,” Nezu finished softly. “Yes. And many others.” He sighed, mimicking human behaviour. “Don’t take it personally, Midoriya, but fate does have a sense of irony. You developing the power to take Quirks raises the question of whether history might repeat itself.”

For a brief moment, the image of Izuku reaching across the desk and stealing High Specs surfaced in Nezu’s mind. He pushed it away.

“But that’s why we’re here,” Nezu said. “As you said, you’ll become a Hero to understand why choosing the right path matters.”

“And what if I don’t like what I find?” Izuku asked. It almost sounded like a threat, but that was likely Nezu’s nerves. He’d review the recording later.

“Then,” Nezu replied calmly, “we’ll see what we can do about it.”

They spent some time afterwards discussing training methods for Izuku’s new Quirk and what ability he might present publicly as his own.

As expected, Izuku found a solution quickly.

“What if we say I have a Copy Quirk with extremely weird requirements and call it a day?”

And just like that, their definition of “limits” grew significantly looser.

[U.A. High, Gym Alpha]

Izuku was running with Nejire again, as he had countless times before.

He’d been losing to her for six straight months, but today was different.

“I’m winning this time,” Izuku declared, panting as they finished the five-kilometre run.

“Sure you are,” Nejire teased, sticking her tongue out. He’d grown over the summer until they were nearly the same height, and he didn’t seem to be slowing down.

Her training had long since hit diminishing returns, but she still had to maintain it. Izuku, on the other hand, was still in the early stages of his development, with plenty of endurance left to build upon.

This time, though, he was ready to cheat.

Gear Shift: Second Gear

On the final lap, Izuku’s speed tripled as he shot ahead. He almost laughed as he glanced sideways into Nejire’s lane—

Only to see her barely two steps behind.

“Cheater!” she shouted, before leaping past him. A silvery-gold glow flared beneath her heel, launching her forward like a compressed spring.

Izuku’s hands ached with envy as he watched his own ideas used against him, but the pride outweighed it. They worked.

Nejire crossed the finish line first.

For once, she wasn’t smiling.

With her arms crossed, she looked more like a disappointed teacher than a classmate.

“Since when did you have a Quirk?”

“Yesterday,” Izuku said. Technically two days ago, but Haunted For All was mid anyway. “Want to guess what it does?”

Nejire studied him. “Height isn’t part of it. That’s puberty. It activated on the last lap, when you suddenly accelerated. Speed Quirks usually have rhythm changes, but yours didn’t. Your steps sounded the same, just shorter, like you were barely touching the ground…”

Izuku began sweating.

“Velocity, not agility,” she concluded confidently.

He gave her a slow clap.

“Congratulations, Nejire-senpai. You’ve discovered one of my trump cards.” He grinned. “Want to see what else I can do~?”

After nearly twenty minutes of waiting, Tamaki Amajiki and Mirio Togata finally decided to check on Nejire, who was supposed to be doing her after-school training.

“Please, please be nothing,” Tamaki muttered as they headed toward Gym Beta, where she usually did her endurance work.

“Come on, Tamaki, you’re worried over nothing,” Mirio said easily. “She’s probably just busy with that Midoriya guy.”

“The Midoriya who used her as a hostage, and you took the hit for her?” Tamaki grimaced at the memory.

“The same Midoriya she trusted with her heart, even knowing she might get hurt,” Mirio replied with a smile, always finding sunlight in bleak situations. “Plus, I used my Quirk to catch it, and he apologised afterwards with that cool anti-hero exit.”

“There’s no such thing as an anti-hero, Mirio,” Tamaki complained, hunching his shoulders further. “There are Heroes and Villains. The fact that Villains aren’t always bad people doesn’t change the definition.”

They reached Gym Beta, but Tamaki stopped short of the door.

“You do it,” the raven-haired student pleaded.

Mirio shook his head. “You’re the one who wanted to check on them. Take initiative, my friend.”

Of course, my attempt at being a decent person would bite me in the ass, Tamaki thought as he stared at the door.

“Come on, I can do this.” No, I can’t. I really can’t.

It took nearly a full minute for Tamaki to steel himself before reaching for the handle, bracing himself to face the monster known as Midoriya. He pushed the door open—

—and froze.

The gym was empty.

“All that buildup, and they’re not even here!” Mirio laughed, while Tamaki seriously considered crawling into the nearest hole. “So… where could they be?” The blond glanced down the hallway toward the lockers and Gym Alpha. “Alpha’s the combat gym, right? Random walls, towers, and terrain you wouldn’t normally get. Designed for positional training.”

As if on cue, a low rumble shook the floor.

Mirio’s grin widened instantly.

Tamaki cringed, berating himself for not realising it sooner.

Taking pity on him, Mirio took the lead and headed for Gym Alpha, dragging Tamaki along in his wake.

As if answering him, the watchtower exploded.

Debris scattered outward as Nejire burst free, flying through the air while scanning the battlefield, clearly searching for Midoriya. She spotted Mirio and Tamaki and tried to wave—

—and a mass of darkness slingshotted itself straight at her.

Both students froze.

The projectile was easily three times her size. Nejire reacted instantly, pouring Wave Motion into the impact. Most of it shattered under the force, but not all of it. What remained punched through the barrier and wrapped around her.

What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck—

Inside the shell was a figure clad in rippling darkness. Five rope-like tendrils unfurled from its back: one trailing like a tail, two sprouting from the shoulder blades like torn, skeletal wings.

Forget monsters. This was fallen-angel territory.

Nejire tried to raise her hand and blast him away, but the creature caught her wrist, shoved her aside with a tendril, and manoeuvred behind her—to put her in a headlock.

In a blink, two tendrils coiled around her wrists and shot toward each other, merging into a single loop. Her hands were forced together in front of her as they began to fall—or would have, if not for the remaining three tendrils forming a tripod and slowly retracting.

The figure gently lowered Nejire to the ground.

Then… swiped a hand over her eyes.

Mirio and Tamaki locked eyes for half a second before sprinting forward.

They skidded to a stop as Midoriya snapped his tendrils like whips, blocking their approach. Nejire lay there, brows faintly furrowed, completely still.

Tamaki saw red.

“I swear, if you did something to her, I’ll pay it back in double, you—”

“Blep!”

Nejire stuck her tongue out to the side and raised her arms like a bargain-bin zombie.

“Tamaki, avenge meee~” she groaned dramatically as she sat up. “I didn’t get my post-training sweets, so I got killed by Midoriya and low blood sugarrr~”

Midoriya immediately made a strangled noise.

“This—this is what you came up with?” he wheezed, clearly choking on laughter. “You’re a terrible actress! No wonder you keep losing the school beauty pageant!”

“Hey!” Nejire popped to her feet and began halfheartedly smacking him. “I—pfft!—am trying very hard, you know! Don’t make fun of—snort!—my passion!”

Both she and Mirio started laughing, like this was the funniest thing they’d ever witnessed.

As the rippling darkness peeled away, it revealed a young teen. His face still held a bit of baby fat, but his jawline was sharpening. He looked almost painfully innocent—if not for his build and the fact that he stood eye-to-eye with Tamaki.

“I’m sorry, Senpai, I’m sorry!” Midoriya pleaded between laughs, listing sideways until a pair of tendrils propped him back upright. “I’m trying to be all cryptic and mysterious, and that’s what you give me?”

“Truly a memorable performance,” Mirio said, raising a hand for a fist bump.

Midoriya paused, then shrugged and returned it. “No hard feelings about last time?”

“If we ignore the part where I got hit,” Mirio replied with a grin. “So that’s your legendary Quirk? Why didn’t you use it more often?”

Nejire and Midoriya exchanged a look, then smiled in sync.

“Let’s just say I didn’t have much experience with it until recently.”

What does that even mean? Tamaki wondered. That knowing smile… Did Nejire help him train it?

Then—

Oh.

Oh no.

Nope. Absolutely not. That did NOT happen.

His face heated instantly.

“Hey?” Midoriya called out. “Are you okay? Why are you so red?”

His voice sounded genuinely concerned.

Tamaki’s paranoid brain, however, swore it saw a mischievous glint in Midoriya’s eyes.

[Midoriya Apartment, the Kitchen]

Inko had had enough.

She’d had enough of Hisashi being an uncaring, absent partner. Enough of people looking at her like she was stupid. And she was absolutely fed up with her own family being so secretive that Heroes she’d never even heard of had shown up to collect evidence from her son’s room.

She wanted answers. So when Hisashi finally came back again, she was ready.

“We need to talk,” she demanded as her husband calmly made himself a cup of coffee.

“About what?” he asked absently, focused on his routine.

“About you coming and leaving whenever you please. About Izuku being apparently kidnapped and returned within twenty-four hours. And about how utterly unimpressed you are by all of it,” she said, ticking the points off. “Among other things.”

“Well,” Hisashi replied mildly, “I own this apartment, just like I own the house down the street from the Bakugos that you moved into when it became obvious I wouldn’t be back for a while—smart move, by the way. Izuku never liked how big that house was. And I’m here because this seventy-nine-year-old coffee maker is the only one that brews it the way I like.”

“I still don’t know how you even found that relic,” Inko snapped, then corrected herself. “Just answer the questions. The kidnapping. And you being so jaded.”

“For the kidnapping, talk to Yagi,” Hisashi said calmly. “Since you two started texting.”
Inko’s heart sank.

“And don’t expect a single yen from me if you’re thinking about divorce. I already have countermeasures in place.”

He set his mug down and crossed his arms, looking down at her.

“As for being jaded… what are you talking about? I’m a very lively person.”

“No,” Inko shot back. “You keep acting normal right before saying something macabre and expecting people to laugh.”

Hisashi blinked, genuinely baffled. “You mean my dark humor? Inko, last time I joked like that, everyone but you laughed.”

“THAT’S BECAUSE I KNOW YOU’RE NOT JOKING!” she shouted.

He didn’t flinch. Not even a little. Like her reaction was exactly what he’d expected.

She took a breath to calm herself, but his composure only made her blood pressure spike.

“You’ve been out of Izuku’s life for a third of it,” she continued, voice shaking. “But I picked up on your ‘jokes.’ They’re always harmless on the surface, except to the person you’re talking to. You’re not joking, you’re tempting them. Challenging them to do whatever insane thing you just implied.”

“And you think that because…?” he asked evenly.

“Because I see you do it!” Inko raised her voice again. “You do it to me, to the Bakugos, to Izuku’s teachers—almost everyone except a handful of people with real influence. They get the friendly version. Everyone else gets threats wrapped in jokes!”

For the first time, Hisashi froze.

Inko’s heart leapt—only for his lips to curl upward.

A snort escaped him.

Then a giggle.

Then full, unrestrained laughter.

“Ha! Hahaha!” He clapped his hands together—not slow or mocking, but genuine applause. “It took you this long to realize I’ve been threatening anyone who gets close to Izuku? Really?”

He laughed harder.

“Katsuki figured it out when he was five. That was nine years ago!”

Inko’s heart cracked at the sheer apathy. She knew it was intentional. She’d just hoped—stupidly—that he’d feel even a shred of shame.

“What else should I call this if not a comedy?” Hisashi said cheerfully, lifting his mug and sipping his coffee, black as his expression. “I haven’t laughed this hard since Nana Shimura.”

He glanced at her over the rim.

“So what did you expect? That I’d feel guilty when you called me out? That I’d fold because one person complained about my methods?”

“I expected you to have a sense of shame!” she hissed, realising there was no going back. “But you? You just toy with people!”

“Proudly so, I might add.” He smirked, pointing at her with the hand holding his mug. “I’d say you play checkers while I play chess—but you’re all pawns to me, Inko. Pawns, while I have queens, rooks, bishops, and knights working under me. The king.”

He leaned forward, laughter bubbling up again.

“I don’t need much to put everyone in check—check on their lives. And you really thought that I essentially designed Izuku’s entire childhood to my specifications wasn’t worth discussing until he was already a teenager? When he’s already stuck with the ideas I put in his head? Come on!”

He kept laughing.

And laughing.

Inko really had had enough.

She reached out and, for the first time, used her Quirk on a living being.

Hisashi’s voice cut off abruptly as her Quirk locked onto something. He gagged, choking, while Inko realised she had grabbed something inside his throat.

Then she felt resistance.

Her hand moved on instinct, tracking him as he tried to pull away, and she clenched harder, hard enough that blood began to seep from his mouth.

Am I… strong enough to kill him? she wondered.

Suddenly, Hisashi rolled backwards behind the couch, breaking her line of sight. Her grip slipped.

“Cough. cough!” He laughed hoarsely. “Fascinating! I knew your Quirk had something special, but I couldn’t tell what it was until now.”

Inko rushed forward—

But there was no one behind the couch.

“It sacrifices area of effect for strength,” his voice came from behind her.

Before she could react, Hisashi grabbed her wrists and spun her around. She reached out for something to grab, but the sudden motion left her dizzy, the room blurring as she lost balance.

She landed on the futon with him looming over her, grinning wide, his teeth stained with his own blood.

“If only you had this kind of spirit when you were younger,” he said pleasantly. “I like a woman with fire. But you didn’t even have it in you to tell Izuku you believed in him.”

The room kept spinning even as she tried to sit up.

“And what else was I supposed to say?” she shouted. “That I’m sorry I brought you into this world with such a handicap?!”

Then she caught movement from the corner of her eye.

“I-Izuku?” she gasped. “You’re home early.”

Her son, her baby, looked at her with disappointment.

He raised his phone, showing her the screen. “Actually, I’m later than usual. Guess it’s trash-talk o’clock.” He sighed. “Also, not that it should matter, but I manifested a Quirk yesterday.” He swung his arm. A tendril slid out from beneath his sleeve, its tip curling around an apple in the fruit bowl. When he pulled it back, the apple landed neatly in his hand. “So I’m not as disabled as you thought.”

Then he turned to Hisashi, scrutinising him even harder than he had her. “Stop gaslighting her.” He took a bite of the apple and walked out.

Inko was mortified.

“Did I forget to tell you he’s aware of what I’m doing?” he said lightly. “He shows no remorse or pity to anyone but his poor mother—”

“I said stop gaslighting heeer!” Izuku shouted from down the hallway.

“—It’s not gaslighting if it’s the truth!” Hisashi shouted back, like they were arguing about whose turn it was to wash the dishes. “Anyway. Where was I? Right. Nice murder attempt, but you’re not getting anything from me. The divorce papers are in that file. You can fuck All Might all you want if you’re into bony men or gym bros.”

“What the fuck!?” Izuku yelled from his room before literally manifesting back to where he’d been standing moments ago. “Divorce? Mom’s fucking Yagi?!”

He turned to Inko, clearly expecting an explanation. She just stood there, a knot lodged in her throat.

“I… didn’t…” Inko stammered. “We were just texting… and stuff…” She fidgeted, her eyes drifting to the file as she realised this was her way out. “I—I genuinely didn’t cheat, but…” She exhaled shakily. “I would’ve asked for a divorce anyway, Izuku. Even if things did evolve with Toshinori, there isn’t much left to fix between your father and me. Mostly because there hasn’t been much there for a long time.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Izuku asked.

Hisashi’s smile finally turned bitter.

“Because you weren’t planned, Izuku,” he said flatly. “Inko and I had a fling. Despite my supposedly being infertile, I didn’t pull out, and a couple of months later, I woke up to her telling me she was pregnant. With you.”

Izuku’s eyes widened.

“Oh… oh no…” he muttered. “That’s what Kacchan meant when he was bullying me!”

“Katsuki is bullying you?” Inko asked sharply, only to receive a flat look from her son.

“Well, he tries,” Izuku shrugged. “But every time he remembers Dad’s insane and that I’m not much better, he backs off.” A small smile crept onto his face. “It’s a love-hate relationship. He hates me, and I love annoying him with Quirks.”

“Izuku, at that point, you’re asking for it,” Hisashi complained, which only made Izuku’s grin widen.

“Oh, imagine how much he’ll froth at the mouth when he finds out I don’t just have a Quirk,” Izuku said smugly. “I have several.”

Then his gaze dropped to the file on the table.

“Is… is this real?” he asked more quietly. “This isn’t just a way to scare Mom into giving up her Quirk, right?”

“Izuku,” Hisashi said, suddenly serious, “as far as I’m concerned, I’m done with this pointless marriage-for-appearances. You’re fourteen. The ‘motherly education’ phase is over. So I’ll ask you directly.” He met Izuku’s eyes.“Do you want to live with me, or with your mother?”

Izuku looked at Hisashi.

Then, at Inko, who stood one signature away from erasing Hisashi from her life. She had savings, her accounting job, side work—she’d manage. Especially without him.

Izuku Midoriya found himself at yet another crossroad.

After a long moment, he opened his mouth to answer.

Inko was already on the verge of tears.

And Hisashi, disturbingly, looked like he was having the best evening of his life.

Current Quirk Hoards:

• Hisashi-Zen Midoriya (31): All For One, Rivet Stab, Shock Absorption, Sring-Like Limbs, Transfiguration, Energy Saver, Regeneration, Fierece Gains, Pain Blocker, Superhuman, Brawn Boost, Endurance, Explosive Strength, Heavy Payload, Kinetic Booster, Power, Power Nap, Air Cannon, Bloodlet, Cell Activation, Corruption Beam, Fire Breath, Freezing, Impact Recoil, Inductive Kickback, Leap (generic, Not from Pop Step), Radio Waves, Repulsor, Slide & Glide, Unseen, Hunt
• Izuku Midoriya (13): Regeneration (Standard, not Super or Hyper yet), Black Whip, Cell Activation, Fa-Jin, Fat Absorption, Float, Gearshift, Impact Recoil, Partition, Slide & Glide, Smokescreen, Stiffening, Danger Sense