Chapter 61: Smile. If You Can
All Might Announces Temporary Retirement!
There was a great shock last Monday when All Might, Japan's number one hero for over three decades, made an appearance on live television to declare his desire for a break.
"I love my work and every person I help," he said, "but I am no longer a young man. I started feeling the toll of decades of backbreaking work a few years ago but pressed on in the name of upholding my duty as the Symbol of Peace. Today, however, I'm sad to say that I cannot push on any further without a break. So I will be taking a vacation of sorts. A few months of rest and recuperation will do me, and all of us, good! Please understand that I am not abandoning you. If some great calamity were to happen, I would be back in a flash. There is also little to worry about in terms of villain activity. There will be a spike, yes, but I have faith in the other heroes of Japan and the world. I know that they can more than handle it—I wouldn't be taking time off otherwise. Think of this as practice for when I actually retire, and please keep hope in your hearts. This will be the last time I speak for some time. Goodbye to all."
Critics of All Might's actions argue that the broadcast was perhaps the worst way to announce a vacation. "He could've just stopped patrolling. It would've been weird, and maybe a little scary, but villains would've been scared, too. They probably would have started to get more bold down the line, but it would've taken some time, at least! Now I have to worry about getting mugged on the way to work!" one woman wrote.
While All Might's announcement is in question, his decision to take a break seems to be understood by all, and even appreciated. "I like that he was honest with us," a man interviewed in the park said. "I grew up watching him, and my parents looked up to him as teenagers. It's… hard to think that he's human, too, you know? But he is. And we don't last forever. So if you see this, All Might, take a break! We know you'll be back for us! Your health is important, too!"
While the overwhelming consensus from civilians is that of caution and understanding, pro heroes are divided. Some see All Might's vacation as a blessing in disguise. Others voice their anger and frustration. Most are worried.
"I always try to look on the bright side, you know," local hero Fat Gum said. "I understand why the big man is taking some time off. I'm not even thirty yet and I'm slow to get up some mornings after rough days. But I couldn't help but think of the worst when I heard. All Might… he's more than a symbol. He's a leader. Sure, he mostly works solo, but to all of us on the ground? He's our sun. Or maybe a mountain. Big and imposing and always there. It's like when you have a bad day and you go to bed. The sun will come up because it always has. It's something you can count on. But now that sun is gone, and we have to fend for ourselves. Sorry, that got kinda dark. We'll pull through—all the heroes I know are tough and strong. We won't let this stop us from keeping civilians safe. But we're worried, too. And…" [continued on A-2]
Troubles in the North Atlantic
Less than twenty-four hours after All Might announced his extended leave, news broke that the president of the Republic of Iceland had been assassinated.
President Jon Olafson was found dead in the Bessastadir at six AM the morning of September 28. Initial reports claim that President Olafson was strangled to death with a rope; however, Thallium, a slow-acting poison, was found in his system. A country-wide search is currently being conducted as the chemical was banned by the Republic of Iceland in 2205.
Suspects have already been arrested, but the cooks, maids, and security officers that were taken into custody have been released due to a lack of evidence. They are currently under close government surveillance. The current, most agreed upon theory is that the assassin snuck into the Bessastadir and laced the president's food with the poison, but resorted to strangulation when the slow-acting Thallium didn't kick in fast enough.
The motive for this murder is a hotly debated topic, and one that has shown no signs of producing a result anytime soon. President Olafson was well-liked by both his military and his people. The Icelandic government is considering the assassination to be an attack from a foreign nation, but experts are clueless as to which. Iceland, while lacking in major resources other than fish, is in a strategic position geographically. Major powers in the North Atlantic like Ireland and Canada have been courting the nation for over a century. If President Olafson's assassination was organized by a foreign power, six independent countries with substantial military might were unable to stop it.
Although only three days have passed, mass protests have already broken out over the lack of results in the investigation. Olafson's replacement, former vice president Gunnar Gustavson, has assured his country and foreign dignitaries that progress is being made.
"This isn't a thing we want to rush. Jon was the first world leader to be assassinated in over fifty years, and we have no motive, hard leads, or understanding of how our security failed. We must move calmly and with careful precision. However, you should rest assured. We will find who's responsible for this and…" [continued on B-2]
"Print news is dead, you know?"
"My phone's dead and I wanna read."
"Sensei has novels!"
"I'm not touching those."
"Why? That's a smart move, actually. No, it's not!"
"Sure. Anyways, everyone won't shut up about All Might and politics, but no one's talking about Izuku. He's what's really interesting."
"Ugh, ever since you got here, it's Izuku this, Izuku that. It's annoying! You have great taste in boys, my dear."
"I know. If only he'd have a taste in girls…"
"Hey, chin up. You'll get him someday! You're an unlovable vampiric psychopath—who I find to be an amazing person."
"... Thanks. I think?"
"You're welcome!"
"… 'Kay. I'm just gonna. Read. Um, does the doctor need you?"
"He—"
All for One chooses that moment to make his presence known, appearing from the shadows to stand over the table his apprentices are seated at. The room temperature instantly drops five degrees, and both of the children stiffen. "Sensei," they say, dipping their heads in matching bows. All for One grins at the sight. Both are much more respectful than Tomura ever was. Perhaps the doctor is right.
"Himiko, you'll be with me for the next few hours. Jin, find something to occupy yourself. Don't get caught or arrested."
"Yes, sir!" Twice salutes and walks off, opening the door to the hall of the complex and shutting it with a slam. All for One waits until his footsteps disappear to speak.
"Your first assignment is today," he says, taking the newspaper from her hands. The article on Iceland is on top, but he's long since memorized it. Either Tomura is making moves or the old whale has gotten sick of playing dead. Either option is interesting in his opinion, but he can't help but feel eager when thinking about the Red Leviathan attempting to reclaim his title as the greatest threat to public safety in the public eye. And the fact that everything is subtle and perfectly executed…
"Do you think you can handle it?" All for One asks, saving that line of thought for later.
"Would you give me something I couldn't handle?" Himiko crosses her arms and leans back in her chair. All for One doesn't reply. "I appreciate your honesty," she says, "but I want to know the details before I make a choice."
All for One chuckles but opts to not tell her that she has no choice. "It's a simple retrieval—dead or alive. Adult male, two meters in height, one hundred and eighty kilos in weight. He's currently being transported to a maximum-security prison for holding until his trial."
"I can't break into a prison," Himiko says, "I'm good, but not that good. And there's no way for me to get someone that big here."
All for One smirks. "He's in transport. It will be tough, yes, but there will be an opportune moment for you to strike. And as for getting him here? You have a Quirk for a reason."
Himiko stares at the table for a moment, slipping one of her knives out of her sleeves and fiddling with the grip. "How does this get me closer to Izuku?"
"It's helping me," All for One says, "and helping me is helping yourself. If you want to figure out a way to get him without me to rely on, you're free to leave. But until I have his Quirk, you cannot have him. Once that day comes, however, he's yours to keep."
Himiko looks skeptical. All for One takes her flat expression in stride and pulls on one of the walls with a telekinetic Quirk. A TV slides out, already on. With a flick of his wrist, the screen changes. A high-definition, close-up shot of the Ninth's fight with the villain appears. The video starts to roll, showing how the boy fights the man and suffers grievous injuries.
"Do you think you could get that on your own? When he has that level of power?"
"... No," Himiko breathes.
"Exactly. Work for me, help me steal his Quirk, and he'll be yours. In the meantime, bring me Muscular. Dead or alive, he is useful to our cause."
Himiko slinks out of the laboratory with a knife, an empty vial, and a few disguises ready to be used. All for One keeps a close eye, tracking her every move as she boards a train out of the district. As of yet, she has no criminal record, and, if she's good enough, it'll stay that way. It's her first real test. Before, he was focused on giving her the bare minimum skills to get by. Killing efficiently, keeping calm under pressure, acting, and judging situations are all key to any successful operation, but it's how one uses those skills that determines the outcome. If Himiko is to replace Tomura, she must use her tools to their fullest potential.
All for One makes his way back to his viewing room, checking up on his Nomu on the way. They're ready, and could cause an awful fright. But the time isn't quite right. With All Might taking a break, heroes and, more importantly, the government are on edge. They're waiting for something to happen. In time, they will grow tired of the stress and start to slip. When they all start to smile again, he will strike.
Plugging himself back into his life supports, All for One grins. The Day itches closer. And his enemies are none the wiser. Oh, what a fool All Might is. Whatever procedure he's getting to prolong his career in hopes of stalling the transfer of the top spot to Midoriya Izuku will be his undoing. The human body can only heal so fast, after all.
[x]
Okay, so. Job interview. Izuku's never had one. Ever. The closest thing he's had was the video he put together before going to work for Ingenium, and he had help for that. Today, though, he has to walk into a hero agency and talk with one of the best pros in the country. By himself.
Izuku fidgets in his seat, adjusting his face mask so it stays tight over his nose. The hood of his jacket is up, and a pair of sunglasses hang from his collar. He looks like a thug, or maybe a mugger. Then again, maybe not. He's dressed in somewhat expensive clothing—his red shoes shine with that fresh-out-of-the-box gloss, and his jacket is custom from the merch deal. Most criminals on the street don't waste money on nice clothes. But he almost has to. Per his mother's orders, he put on his best outfit for the occasion. Considering that it's a pair of slacks and a green button-down, it could be worse. He's so lucky he doesn't own a suit and that the jacket doesn't look out of place. The last thing he wants to do is to tie a tie.
The train slows to a stop, and the doors open. Izuku stands and picks up his costume case, which has been painted a matte black since the U.A costume cases are kinda recognizable. He slips his sunglasses on as he walks through the station, trying not to look shady. Once he gets out onto the street, he walks three blocks and takes a left. The tallest building in the entire city—rounded on one side and square on the other, it juts out like a fist into the sky. Izuku gazes up at the burning E above the front entrance and removes his mask and glasses. He takes his first step into the Flaming Hero Agency. And almost instantly walks out.
The inside is cold, a ridiculous level of cold. Izuku feels goosebumps form under his jacket and shirt. It's hard to properly guess the temperature, but it's definitely under eighteen degrees Celsius. The lobby is also fully packed—not with civilians or business people, but with heroes. They laze about, on their phones or simply chatting. One is passed out on a waiting chair, and another tries to shove pencils up their nose. Izuku awkwardly stands in the door, very much tempted to check the sign above the door to make sure that this is, in fact, the highest-rated hero agency in the country in terms of saves.
"Yo! You with the green hair! Up front, now!" Izuku looks to the back of the room where a desk sits. A woman in a hero costume sits at it, her feet propped up on the wood as she files her fingernails. Her computer screen shines light on her costume, sharing that she's obviously watching a TV show or video online. "Hurry up, I'm busy!"
Izuku hurries over, avoiding the crowd of heroes who don't even bother looking at him. "Uh, hi," he says, "I'm Mid—"
"Name?"
"Midoriya Izuku from UA—"
"Age?"
"Sixteen."
"School?"
"UA High…"
"Reason for visit? Please note that if it's to complain about a poor fan and hero interaction you had with Endeavor, it should be submitted online at our website."
"I'm here for an interview," Izuku says. "I made an appointment for nine-thirty and I'd like to check in."
The hero's eyes suddenly become more focused, and Izuku catches the faint scent of gunpowder coming from her hair. "Oh? What's your hero name?"
"Deku."
"Are you strong, Deku?" she asks. "'Cause we get a lot of kids from UA in here, thinking that they can get in because Number Two is an alumnus. But he doesn't take weaklings, and you'll find his standards are impossibly high."
"I think I'm strong enough," Izuku says.
"Care to elaborate?"
"I care to make it to my appointment on time."
The hero laughs. "Nice. You can head up—top floor. Knock on the door. He's busy, but I don't care. Also, don't be too rude when he's grilling ya. He likes strong people, but delinquents are another thing."
The elevator car is outside the building, and rather than having a regular shaft to hold it, the thing just slides up and down on a set of tracks. It's all glass, too, and watching the ground gradually get smaller and smaller feels weird. Izuku's used to feeling the air when he climbs, and experiencing the near weightlessness Float gives him. The elevator takes both of those away, leaving him with a sinking feeling in his gut that tells him he's going up.
When the elevator dings, the doors take a moment to open. Once they do, not a sound is made. Izuku admires how soundlessly the two parts slide into the wall before stepping out in front of a large, red double door. There are no handles or buttons on it, and the thing looks blastproof. It sticks out against the ash-grey walls, and the fire carved into it looks like it was made by a master artist. Carefully, Izuku walks forward and raps his knuckles on the door. It opens immediately, and Endeavor himself stands over Izuku in full hero gear, glaring.
"You're early," he huffs, his flaming beard rising with his chest.
"The woman at the front desk sent me up," Izuku says, fighting the urge to step back. "Um… thank you for having me?"
Endeavor glares even harder. Izuku holds the man's gaze, looking into his eyes. Despite the heat that rolls off him in waves, Izuku feels cold in Endeavor's presence. Cold, but not afraid. On guard might be the right word. He knows he's not in danger, but he feels compelled to show his strength and respect. It's a completely different feeling from when he was with Hawks, or even when he's with All Might. "Come in."
Izuku walks through the door and finds that Endeavor's office is very plain. There's a filing cabinet, a muted TV tuned to a news station, a desk with some chairs, and a computer. No decorations, no photos, not even a houseplant. The window behind the desk offers a nice view, but it does little to liven up the room. Izuku sits on a chair with his case on his lap, wondering if this is the actual office or just a room to conduct interviews in. Endeavor walks over to the window and looks out at the city below.
"Why do you want to do a work study here?"
Izuku taps on his costume case, trying to suppress any other nervous ticks that might come up. "You're one of the best," he says, "and I want to be one of the best when I'm older. I figured that the best way to learn is by watching someone who knows a lot about heroics and being at the top of the rankings."
Endeavor crosses his arms and continues to stare out the glass. "And you didn't go with All Might?"
"I couldn't have. He's… well, he's on vacation right now, and he doesn't take work study trainees."
"He sparred with you at UA. It's clear he has taken a liking to you. You also set up this interview before he announced his vacation." Endeavor turns and stares at Izuku, but doesn't sit. "So why my agency?"
"Well, I think it's the best fit for me," Izuku says. "All Might… he's amazing, better than everyone else and better than I could ever be. I could learn a lot from him—I already did in that one spar. But he's All Might. I… most of his fights end in a single hit. He's skilled and very smart, but if I went with him, I wouldn't get to see a hero work hard and get creative with their surroundings. But you have a fire Quirk." Izuku's eyes trail to the man's beard, and he starts to wonder if he's ever accidentally burnt food with it.
"It's dangerous. Volatile. You must've worked tirelessly to use it at the level you do, and to take something that could easily kill and use it to carve out a spot among the names of the greatest peacekeepers ever. I want to do the same." Izuku pauses to take a breath. "My Quirk is weird. It has a mind of its own, and it can do some real damage if I ever let it slip. But it's also strong, just like yours. I want to be like you in the sense of taking something dangerous and pushing it to its limit before using it to save."
Endeavor stares at him for a long while, and Izuku wonders if he said the wrong things. Then Endeavor grunts and pulls out a drawer from his desk. "Sign this," he says, sliding a piece of paper and a pen over.
"Did I get the job?"
"No." Endeavor walks over to the filing cabinet and retrieves a folder from the top compartment. He tosses it to Izuku. "You've convinced me to give you a shot, but no matter how wise and carefully worded your reason is, I don't take time-wasters."
"Right." Izuku quickly signs the paper, finding that it's a waiver for injury. Then, Endeavor leads him to the elevator and takes them down ten floors, which is still high up enough for the view of the city to be spectacular. The doors open to reveal a room of lockers. Izuku can hear a shower running somewhere, and the sound of a blowdryer echoes through the room. They walk through, stopping at a set of wooden doors that are marked Arena.
"Get changed and stretch," Endeavor orders, opening the door and taking a step through. "You'll be fighting hard for a while—if you can last long enough."
Izuku quickly suits up, making sure every part of his costume is in good condition. He feels a wave of nervousness kick in when he lays his hand on the door handle, but he suppresses it as best he can with a deep breath. Then, he turns the handle and steps through.
The Arena is just that: high walls, a flat bottom, and a ring of windows above the main floor. It takes up three stories, and everything looks sturdy. The windows are reinforced, and the floor and walls are made of some kind of metal padded with thick foam. Izuku tests the strength of it with a light kick and finds that it's almost as hard as concrete but gives a little under him. He looks up at the windows and finds Endeavor on the other side of one, arms crossed.
"Try not to pay too much attention to him," Izuku hears someone say. He turns around to see an average-height man with massively broad shoulders. His skin is tanned, and a turban wraps around his head. Smiling, he strokes his thick beard. "I know what it's like to have to perform for him. Just try to block him out for now—it'll happen on its own later, but it's best to get the ball rolling early, no?"
"Are you who I'm fighting?" Izuku asks, admiring the man's hero costume. He's wrapped up in a blue parka and snow pants. His hands and feet are bare, and a line of frost travels around his chest. Does he have a snow or ice type Quirk? If he does, it's very weird. Endeavor is known for taking in flame and heat types.
"The first of many, hopefully," the man says. "It depends on how good you are. Shall we get started?"
Izuku doesn't reply. He's too busy ducking under a wave of icy blue flame. Risking a look behind him, he sees that the fire sticks to the wall. However, instead of burning, frost spreads across the stone. "Come, now! Don't get distracted!" Izuku dives out of the way of another blast, rebounding off a wall and going in for a pass on the hero. "You have nice instincts. Let's see if you're quick enough to act on them!"
A column of flame divides the room in half, turning the air around it to ice. It's bright and flashy but not at all a targeted attack and, therefore, a feint. Izuku spirals around another blast, this one smaller but more densely packed with power. Izuku feels a rush of cold spread along his back, but he pushes more power into his body, winding up for a massive punch.
It's foolish to attack the exact front of an opponent. It's why neither he nor the hero is surprised when Izuku zips up to the ceiling, assisted by Blackwhip. Launching himself with his hands, Izuku prepares to kick the spot right behind the man's feet. But in a surprising display of reflexes, the older pro looks straight up. He smiles, bringing his hands together in a blaze of blue and cold. A solid wall of ice forms, jagged and uneven. Izuku twists, bending himself around a few of the larger spikes before tensing. The impact and subsequent rush of wind pulverize the ice. With a poof, Izuku's immediate surroundings go from grey and blue to pure white. Blinded, he activates Float and bursts away.
Exiting the cloud of cold air, Izuku tries to get a read on everything. The fire that hit the walls is still burning, licking at the stone and turning it a shiny white. Whatever the man's power is, it's strong and stubborn. Another blast of flame comes, directed right at his head. Izuku jerks to the side, reflecting a follow-up attack with a flick of wind from his fingers. More white clouds his eyes but less than before. Izuku dives to avoid a slash and kicks an arc of air in the direction it came from. There's a whoosh and even more air clouds.
Realizing he can't keep letting his opponent blind him, Izuku opts to dodge instead of block. He starts to dash around the room, making sharp turns and varying his speed. He looks for an opening, but every time he gets too close, the man makes a wall of ice, and Izuku is forced to look for another angle. As he moves, the flames and frost grow along the walls, floor, and ceiling. He starts to be more careful when he rebounds off of the hard surfaces, not wanting to slip and lose his footing. Eventually, the cold grows to encase the whole room, and he can no longer bounce off the walls. Not that it's a problem for him.
"You're trying to get a feel for me. That's great!" The attacks slow, and Izuku finally gets a completely clear view of the hero again. He's still rooted in the spot where he started attacking and is still smiling. But his cheeks have turned from a light brown to an icy white, and the tips of his fingers and toes are blue with cold. "But messing around when you're uncertain can be disastrous!"
Before Izuku can wonder why, the man raises his arms above his head and pulls. The blue fire roars, spinning around the room and lowering the temperature another twenty degrees. The air starts to sting his lungs and throat, and his eyes water. The fire draws in on the hero, cocooning him and his costume in an impenetrable wall. It explodes outwards after a moment, dousing the room in snow and hail. Izuku feels his costume freeze solid in an inch and a half of ice. He flexes, causing it to crack as he pours heat into his skin. He tries to fly off, but he can't move his body. The ice is supernaturally strong.
"Try not to sit still, now!"
Izuku takes a blast of the fire right to his chest just as the ice starts to fall off. It's so cold that it almost burns. His heartbeat starts to slow, and his fingers go numb. But Izuku grits his teeth and pushes. Lightning cracks, electrifying the air with green bolts. His skin goes from pale white to glowing with orange and red lines. He backs away, wary of another hit. As he does, One for All's heat battles the cold fire. His teeth chatter when the flames lick at his jaw, but he breathes deeply. He's not going to lose. Not like this.
With a grunt of frustration, he pushes up to sixty-five percent. It's enough to visibly make his muscles spasm, and if he so much as twitches, it would tear his muscles to shreds. But the heat raises his body temperature enough to kill the flames and turn the remaining ice into steam. He backs off on the power, holding firm. He looks at the older pro, who gazes back with icy eyes and an arched eyebrow. Steam seeps out of his pores, swirling in the air and mingling with the frigid draft created by the man's last attack.
"What next?" the hero muses. His blue fingers play with his beard which is now powdery white. "Do you continue our little game of cat and mouse? Or are you smart enough to try something else?"
Izuku spits on the floor, not out of disrespect but out of curiosity. The saliva fizzles as it falls, boiling off on the cold hard ground. He's way overheated. He also can't keep doing what he's been doing. Luckily, there's a human-sized air-conditioning unit right in front of him.
Done with the fancy maneuvering, Izuku rushes the man head-on. He meets another wall of ice. It crumbles after two forty percent punches. There's another one behind it, and another after that. He keeps moving forward, occasionally feeling out other parts of the room with Blackwhip. He even tries to send a strand around, but the man fends it off easily, seemingly strong enough to fight on two fronts at once.
The battle devolves from a match of skill to one of brute force. The older hero is good—amazing, even—but he can't dodge forever, and the pressure Izuku's putting on him is too great for him to risk letting his walls down to get away. It's brutal, almost. They're not trying to outplay each other. They're simply throwing everything they have at each other until one breaks—and Izuku's not going to let it be him.
A black-coated fist smashes through the final layer of ice. Izuku grabs the man by the shirt collar, holding him up in the air. Frost works its way down his arm but much slower this time. Blackwhip wraps the man up from his head to his toes, leaving only his face exposed. "I win?"
The hero tests his bindings. "Yes, you are the victor. Good job!"
"Thank you," Izuku says, letting the man down. "Um. What's your name?"
"Frostfire," the man says, straightening his turban. "It's not very original, but I have no need for theatrics or public recognition."
"I understand that."
"Good! Was that your first time fighting against an ice Quirk user?"
"You could hardly call that an ice Quirk." Izuku points to a small flicker of flame still burning on the floor. "It defies the laws of physics, and it's way stronger than any natural ice. I only broke it by tapping into my upper limit of power."
"Yes, it's quite interesting," Frostfire says with a smile. "The fire isn't fire at all, but rather a manifestation of my body's heat. Or lack of it. My normal temperature is twenty degrees below zero. Celsius."
Izuku's eyes widen. "Woah."
The man nods. "Yep. I—and bear with me because this makes no sense from a science perspective—can toss out my body's cold like fire. It still burns, but it grows hotter as it dies. I can pull it back inside of me"—he holds out a hand to demonstrate and the small flame travels to his palm—"but that heat comes with it, too."
"But you look like you have hypothermia," Izuku says, pointing to the man's blue fingertips. "And that ice is still way stronger than naturally possible. At least in the amounts I was hitting, anyway."
"Oh, that's because I'm backwards," Frostfire chuckles. "Feel." He holds out his hand to Izuku, who takes off his glove and touches his fingers.
"They're hot," he says, mystified.
"Yes. I'll have to take an ice bath soon or I'll collapse." Frostfire retrieves his hand and ignites a flame in his palm. "The ice I can make is so strong because it's not exactly ice. I sent a sample of it to a local lab, and they found that the water content is around thirty percent. The rest is nitrogen, with a little bit of carbon."
"… That shouldn't be possible," Izuku says. "I'm not a scientist, but solid nitrogen…"
"Quirks are bullshit, young man," Frostfire laughs. "It's best not to think about it. Now, I'm going to take a nap in a freezer. Remember to not waste time!" He walks off with a pep in his step, waving. Izuku says goodbye and awkwardly stands around. His eyes start to drift off towards the ceiling, and he catches Endeavor's unimpressed eye.
"Oi, we're next!" Izuku faces the door and sees a tallish woman and an average-looking man. Both wear hero gear, complete with masks and, not so strangely considering where they are, fire extinguishers. The woman's hair burns acid green, and the man's eyes glow like hot coals. Izuku isn't surprised when he dodges a pair of lasers and a wave of green fire a half-second later.
The second fight is much shorter but also more intense. Izuku gets in close first thing, using his body as bait as Blackwhip grabs at their ankles. Both of them are mid-range fighters and wisely ward him off with fire and lasers. Izuku is durable, though, and much faster than any normal human. He dances and weaves around their attacks, ending the fight with a single tackle. He would've used an air blast, but they're inside. He doesn't want to cause any unnecessary damage.
The third fight starts right after the second. Two more heroes join just as Izuku drops the two he defeated moments earlier. Frostfire appears to be an outlier in the agency because no one is particularly powerful, at least compared to forty-five percent of One for All. They're smart, though, and have amazing strategic thinking. They keep around two meters apart at all times—close enough to back each other up but far enough apart to make area attacks easily dodgeable. It's frustrating, but Izuku comes out on top. And then, he fights again with three new people added.
Round after round passes, each one getting harder and harder. It's clear that the pros are holding back to an extent, but they definitely aren't taking it easy on him. The more people he has to fight, the more dangerous it becomes to go on the offensive. If he picks one off, he has to take a few hits. If he uses Blackwhip to target all of them, they all rush and hit him with everything. It becomes painfully obvious that Izuku needs to work on doing bigger and bigger attacks while on the move because, by the time there are fifteen pros, he can only dodge.
"That's enough."
Everyone in the room freezes and straightens their backs. All eyes fall on Endeavor, who stands at the door of the area. "Midoriya, stay. The rest of you, resume your normal duties." The pros clear out, some giving him high-fives or nods of respect. Izuku smiles back, dead tired and dripping in sweat. After about a minute, he's alone with Endeavor, who offers nothing but a cold look and two words: "Fight me."
[x]
"And how did that go?"
"I lost. Badly." Izuku rubs the skin of his forearm through his jacket sleeve. He knows it's pink and completely hairless.
"I'm not surprised."
"I'm not either," Izuku agrees. "He's skilled and powerful. But for someone who doesn't have enhanced speed, physical strength, or reflexes, he… his instincts are just amazing." Izuku stretches his arms, working out a few knots. "No matter how hard I tried, he just knew where I'd be, or he figured out what I would try to do. And he's really good at using his Quirk to move."
"You did tell him that he took something simple and dangerous and used it to become one of the best."
"Yeah. I… I'm really glad he decided to take me on."
"Ah, you got the position." All Might, slimmed down and in a heavy trench coat, smiles. "That's wonderful. I'm not close with the man, but I know he's the real deal. Learn a lot from him."
"I will," Izuku says.
"Good," Gran says, rapping Izuku's shin with his cane. He's ditched his hero costume for a simple grey suit without the tie. "What you felt back there was the difference in experience. You're so damn fast that it doesn't show a lot when you get moving, but Endeavor's a monster. He claimed the number two spot at twenty and held on to it, even with hard competition. You've seen his fights; you know how quickly he ends them. I think it's a miracle you lasted more than ten seconds."
"Thanks." Izuku rubs the back of his neck, smiling crookedly. "I hope I can beat him one day…"
"You'll beat everyone at full power," All Might chuckles. They turn a corner and walk through a stone archway with a wrought-iron gate. "I'm surprised that first hero could block a forty-five percent smash."
"I was too," Izuku admits, "but I talked to him after. He's been training for years to be able to make ice that strong. And even then, I could still break it."
"True," All Might agrees, "but just know that you're physically stronger than most heroes, now. You should fight like it."
"Huh?"
"Talk about it later," Gran says, stopping at an intersection of the path. "We're here for a reason."
"Right," All Might nods. "Izuku, are you okay with this?"
"Of course," Izuku says. "You've wanted to take me here forever. And it's my history as well as ours, All—"
"Toshinori from now on, kid." All Might smiles. It's a mixture of joy and melancholy. "I won't be him for a while yet. Best to get used to it before I go under the knife."
"Right, yeah." Izuku stares at the graveyard around him. "Which one…"
"Over here." Gran leads him and All Might around a corner and stops at the first monument. It's short but broad, with a stone gate surrounding a few square meters of grass. Shimura, the top of the pillar reads. Below that are names. Nana is the first, followed by Kotaro, Nao, Hana, Tenko, and—
"They were all murdered," Gran says grimly. "You ought to be careful, Midoriya. He…" The man trails off, closing his eyes.
"Not here," All Might whispers. "Another time. Right now, we must be happy." He forces a smile, gently prodding Izuku to do the same.
"Why?" Izuku can't help but ask. "It's… this is a graveyard."
"Yes," All Might says, still smiling. He holds out a bouquet of flowers. "You'll see, don't worry. Help me lay these out. We can let Gran have his peace."
The main pillar has all the names, but the ashes are buried in the small plot of land the Shimura family has. Izuku puts a few flowers down by each mound of earth. Little Tenko gets four, Hana three, and the adults two. Each mound has a small marker, naming who is buried and giving a few words about them. Izuku tries to smile as he does it, but it's hard. The flowers, bright and pretty, stick out against the cold grey of the graves. It makes his stomach turn. Could his mom…? No!
"Over here, Izuku."
He walks over, mouth dry. Izuku kneels beside All Might, who sits elegantly before the final grave on the right. Most of the flowers rest there, hiding the marker from view. Izuku can guess what the name is.
"Smile," All Might encourages. "It's okay to."
"It still doesn't feel right."
"That's fine. Here." All Might takes one of Izuku's hands. Moving the flowers, he rests it on the gravestone. "What does it say?"
"Smile when you think of me," Izuku reads. "My body's gone. That's all."
"Nana wouldn't have wanted us to be sad," All Might says. "She… she understood grief and the importance of letting yourself cry. Understood it perfectly, maybe. But now that the tears are dry, and the dirt has settled, she would want us to be happy. 'It's a waste of a day if you don't smile,' she liked to say. She was also a big believer in remembering the good. So smile, for her and for yourself. She lives on in you, you know."
"Y-yeah." Izuku's chest warms, and his eyes start to water. "I… okay."
All Might wraps him in a warm hug, and Izuku cries into the man's coat. Strangely, or maybe not so, they're happy tears. They still run down his face and soak into All Might's coat like sad ones, but they feel lighter, like he's being pushed forward by a gentle hand rather than being dragged down by grief.
"Let's go home."
Izuku gets one last look at the graves before he leaves, burning them into his mind. The smell of incense and flowers floats through the air, and the clouds cover the sky. It starts to rain as they walk out, which is a good thing. It lets Izuku put his hood up. Because for as good as he felt, seeing Nana's final resting place, something had to come along and ruin it.
He lays awake in bed that night, dead-eyed. There are four Shimuras, plus Nao's parents, who are buried somewhere else. But there were five names on that pillar. Four, and one that shouldn't exist. It chills his spine, and Izuku starts to feel himself slip. Miles away, the gravestone of his nightmare grows slick with rainwater. The droplets pool inside the crevices and the engraving. The flowers All Might put before it wilt from the pressure of the ensuing downpour.
Shimura Hisashi. Father, fighter, friend.
Chapter 62: Filling the Cracks
There is no Shimura Hisashi. Shimura Hisashi doesn't exist. He never has, and he never will. Yet his ashes are buried with the rest of the Shimura family, right between Nana and Kotaro.
Izuku panics, because of course he does. His father is dead and gone and resting six feet under. Or is he? The Shimuras were all killed by All for One. It means that All for One got to his father, or… well, there are plenty of options his restless mind supplies. Maybe the Hisashi in the graveyard isn't his father. That would be a relief. But a simple internet search shows that the number of Hisashis in Japan is less than a hundred, and most are old enough to be Nana's brother, not her son or nephew like the dates on the grave suggest. There's only one where the date of birth and death line up. So it's likely that his dad is dead and gone, but Izuku doesn't know why.
Was he killed by All for One? Newspaper articles from the time of the Shimura family murder claim that the remains of six different bodies were found, not seven. And the name Hisashi isn't even mentioned in the original articles either as a survivor or a victim. He only appears later, in small bits and pieces on Nana's career published ten years after the fact. Around the time Izuku was born.
It's clear that something is wrong. Looking back, Izuku's sure Hisashi's grave is newer-looking than the others. But if it was put there at a later date, the graves would have had to have been moved. By a Quirk. Again, everything points to Hisashi being in league with All for One. But why? Or how? Or when? Nothing adds up. There are no answers. And if the graves were moved, Izuku wonders, then how did All Might and Gran not notice? Are they brainwashed?
A whole new cloud of worry overtakes his mind, but Izuku downs a glass of water and forces himself to breathe. All Might was in America for a while, and when he got back to Japan, he was always busy. It's not too much of a stretch to say that he forgot what the Shimura grave looked like. He's just being paranoid. He needs to calm down and think everything through again.
Shimura Hisashi was born forty-eight years ago according to the gravestone. Izuku's mom is nearing forty, but she's always talked about his dad like he was a little bit older. The age is just about right for him to have a kid. Maybe more than one, considering he was only with his mom for a short while. But that's only if the date on the stone is correct.
Allegedly, Hisashi died at thirty-two, which checks out with the date of the Shimura family murder. With a quick look at the graveyard's website, Izuku finds a small profile on the man. He worked for Shale Shipping as a brand ambassador and an actuary. He also kept the books for docking in Japan.
Shipping. I don't remember the name, but it started with an 'S'. Shi-something. Or maybe it was Sha?
It checks out. Shale Shipping was launched when Hisashi was five or so, and they specialized in moving delicate and dangerous cargo all around the Yellow, East and South China, and Philippine seas, with occasional stops in Hawaii and New Guinea. According to his bio, Hisashi went to work for the company at twenty-four. He quickly rose through the ranks, becoming a high-ranking official and the brand's Japanese ambassador, tasked with getting companies in the country to use Shale. The fact that Hisashi doesn't have a birth certificate, doesn't have a record of existing in Japan, ever, and doesn't have his Quirk in the registry means the whole thing reeks of criminal involvement. And what villain would need dangerous and delicate cargo hauled long distances and has the power to start a whole company to do so? All for One.
But then he died in the Shimura murder. Which doesn't make sense because his mom talked to his dad when he was little—like five or six. Izuku remembers because it was after they found out he was Quirkless. So if the Hisashi in the graveyard is his father, the stone is fake. Does that mean his father is alive? Did he ever think his father was dead? Not that he can remember, but his mom never talked to the man after that trip to the doctor all those years ago.
Frustrated and confused, Izuku climbs out of bed. His alarm clock shows that it's two AM, but he doesn't feel tired at all. He quietly opens his bedroom door and slinks out into the hallway. Boxes line the walls, full of clothes and other knick-knacks. They're moving soon, to the house Nedzu picked out for them. Everything is being packed up, and the books his mother keeps are stored right by the door. The box mostly contains novels and a few cookbooks, but there's one photo album on top—a book he's seen a handful of times but never felt the need to open. Izuku pushes off the dust and takes a seat on the couch. By the light of his phone, he starts to look through it.
The first few are from right after he was born. His father isn't present, but there's one on the third page that gives him what he's looking for. It's of Izuku, swaddled up in a yellow blanket, being held by a man sitting on a recliner in the living room of an apartment. The man is tall and skinny, with thick, chin-length black hair and blue eyes. Freckles splatter across his cheeks, roughly forming two diamonds. His smile is bright, showing a hint of teeth. Turning the page, Izuku finds another picture of him and his father. This time, Hisashi has some stubble on his jawline. The camera must've been faulty because the hair looks red. Or maybe the hair on his head is dyed.
Squinting, Izuku tries to look for signs of red in the man's hair, but there are none apart from the beard. But his t-shirt catches Izuku's eye. The characters for Shale Shipping are printed across the chest, and a flower is printed below. It's partly obscured by baby-Izuku's head since he's sitting on Hisashi's lap, but the flower looks like it has eight petals.
After quickly flipping through a few more pages to get a better feel for Hisashi's appearance, Izuku closes the photo album. Then, he opens a search engine on his phone. He pulls up Shale Shipping again, this time trying to find pictures. There are none. There's an address of where the headquarters used to be, lists of sales and purchases, and the names of board members, but no pictures of the actual shipping containers, ships, or logo. Suspicious.
Izuku looks up shale shipping website and finds an old article from Korea. He can't read it, but there's a link at the bottom. He clicks it. 404. Biting his lip, he pulls up the Wayback Machine. If Shale was really a company run by All for One who decided to wipe any trace of the logo off the internet, there's a solid chance it won't work. But it does. The homepage lights up Izuku's screen, poorly cropped and clearly dated. But the logo is bright and center: a flower with eight petals, with a pair of swords crossed underneath.
So Shale Shipping was a legit company operating in East Asian waters, and it employed a Shimura Hisashi who died at the same time as the rest of Nana's family. But that's just what's on the surface. Hisashi didn't die that young. The company went under the day after All Might's fight with All for One. It's a weak connection—there could be all sorts of reasons for the events to have happened that way—but it's fishy. And Izuku still hasn't fully processed the fact that he could be related to Nana. Or is he?
All for One loves mind games, the twisted, cruel kind that break men and shatter dreams. It's not too far of a stretch for him to have an employee, loyal to his cause, take the name Shimura through some less than legal means. And since Hisashi is, at the very least, not listed as a Japanese citizen, it wouldn't be hard to fake it. And since Hisashi was (is? Izuku still doesn't know for sure if he's dead or not) a smart man, being a brand ambassador and keeping books for a massive corporation, it wouldn't be hard to have him take the company over.
The last CEO of Shale was an elderly woman named Odrene Shale. She was found dead of a heart attack at seventy-nine in her Singapore apartment, three days before the company filed for bankruptcy. Digging through reports of the incident, Izuku finds that she was remarkably healthy leading up to her death and that she founded the company at thirty after getting a loan from a mysteriously unnamed benefactor.
Everything screams All for One. He made a company that would ship his goods and/or people by helping a young entrepreneur, and set up one of his men in a position of high power to take over when he got sick of the old CEO or they became too hard to control. He gave Hisashi the fake name Shimura because of its significance to All Might, and when Hisashi took the company over, he could change the name.
It's all one big mind game, the kind he'll have to deal with if he's going to take on All for One. And as stressful as everything is, he can't linger on it. He wants to dig up more about his father, to find out if he's still alive, but there are more important things to do like train and find more of All for One's businesses. So he drops it. Or tries to. He looks at his phone for another hour, going down the rabbit hole.
Shale Shipping had a logo change, apparently. It's hard to say since the only evidence is from a shady wiki page that hasn't been touched since 2307. But there are links at the bottom that claim to be sources. They don't work, not even with the Wayback Machine, but they're there. The old logo was just a pair of swords. It's simple, unique, and memorable. So why add the flower? And why eight pedals?
Simply searching the internet for eight-petalled flowers gives him an uncomfortable answer. It's a Yakuza symbol, one used before All Might by a rather powerful gang present in eight of Japan's forty-seven prefectures: the Shie Hassaikai.
It makes sense, really. The Yakuza took control of ports during the chaos following the dawn of Quirks. Even weakened by All Might's presence, and playing second fiddle to All for One's organization, they'd still have power. They'd still be able to sabotage shipyards and docks, and they'd definitely hit any cargo movement on shore that they didn't like. So All for One probably struck a deal with them. The ports Shale used in Japan are all in prefectures the Shie Hassaikai is known to have operated in, which only further supports the idea.
So Izuku's related to a villain and a man who courted the Yakuza. Great. He'd take being related to Nana over that any day, even if it meant that his father was the one who sold out the family. Because that's the second most believable theory. Hisashi is a Shimura and turned traitor for some reason. But there's less evidence for that, and plenty for his main theory. The only piece of the puzzle remaining is why Hisashi is dead. Or why he appears to be dead.
It's four AM by the time he lays back down. Izuku shuts off his alarm and pulls the covers up around him. And then he lays there for twenty minutes because he doesn't feel the least bit tired. Absently, he starts to play with One for All, letting the lighting bubble to the surface. He closes his eyes, blocking out the light. The warmth soothes him, and his eyes start to feel heavy. Moments later, he drifts off to sleep.
He dreams of being a child again, before he was hit with the diagnosis. It's bittersweet. He was happy back then, truly happy. But that day looms over the horizon like a stormcloud, undeniable and dark. For whatever reason, his father is there, looking like he walked right out of the photos in the album. He's nice. Mature and serious, but witty and encouraging. His fire burns warm when he uses it to light the candles on Izuku's fourth birthday cake. The scent of burning pine fills his nostrils, and the flames entice him. Strangely, though, Izuku can't shake the feeling that the fire doesn't fit with Hisashi.
It's like a movie, almost. Izuku watches, fully aware of what's happening, but distantly. He can't control what he sees, but he feels everything. He can feel what he felt in those days, or at least how the Izuku living in his dream feels. The biggest thing is that he never met his father. But yet his subconscious thinks that he was close to the man. He feels love for him, just like he does for his mother. But Izuku knows he doesn't care for Hisashi at all. In fact, he resents him a little for leaving, and for being a villain.
The dream halts when Izuku walks through the doors of the Quirk specialist, hand in hand with his mother and father. Everything freezes like a still frame, the emotions settling to a mixture of worry and fear. Izuku is trapped looking at the doors of the building that ended his dreams. Then, it all turns to dust.
"It's weird that this is happening to you."
"One!" Suddenly, Izuku can turn. He whips around to see the gentle smile of his predecessor.
"It's good to see you," One says. "You've been doing so well."
"Thank you. Um. You know that your brother is alive, right?"
One nods. "I do."
"How… what… why...?" Izuku stops and thinks, a messy knot of emotions settling in his gut. "I'm not sure what to say." He shifts from foot to foot, unsteadily holding the other man's gaze.
"It's okay if you kill my brother."
"That wasn't it," Izuku denies.
"Maybe not, but that's still an important thing to think about, no? You're worried about my attachment to my kin, and what will happen if the worst possible outcome occurs." Izuku's silence is telling. One sighs and runs his hand through his white hair. Up close, he looks frail and weak. His eyes are sunken in, and he's so small. "I understand what my brother has done. He needs to be stopped. You can kill him, should you choose to."
"I—"
"Don't want to kill?" Izuku nods stiffly. "I understand, perhaps the best out of all of us. Two, for as amazing as she is, was a warrior. Three was a villain, temporarily, only stopping his string of break-ins after hearing about All for One's sins. Four was the worst of us for it. He… he hated what my brother did to him and innocent people with all his heart. It showed when he targeted my brother's empire."
"Everyone else was a hero, though," Izuku says, "and so am I. Heroes don't kill."
One smiles sadly. "You would hope so. Seven didn't. She wasn't big on fights like the others. Six and Five were… underground types. You know how grey it can be."
"Yeah."
The silence lets Izuku's mind wander, something that causes his gut to tighten and his focus to slip away. Overhead, the sky cracks.
"You hate him."
"Yes."
"Is that because of your own thoughts or because you've been told to?"
"Of course it's not because I was told to." Izuku chews his lip, trying to figure out a way to put his feelings into words. "He… he's a monster. He hurt every one of you, and you're all like my family. And he's… I've had dreams."
"I know."
"Then you also know that I've felt what you've felt. I've seen him in first-person. I know how… how charming he is, how good he is at manipulation. I've seen his strength and skill. I've seen how… how he hurts people in the worst ways possible. I know what he wants for himself. So I hate him. I hate him because he's awful."
"But you don't want to kill."
"Is that bad?" Izuku asks. "I… it feels wrong. I should want to wipe him off the face of the earth—him and all of his allies. But the thought of ending another person's life… it doesn't sit right with me."
One places a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. I couldn't do it either." Izuku slumps forward and One leans in. They embrace. They can't feel each other, not properly—there's no warmth or texture—and yet it's comforting to be understood.
"Killing is… it's hard. It should always be hard. You hated that boy who stole my name; you wanted to make him hurt. But you didn't want to kill him."
"I should've," Izuku mumbles. "Shigaraki Tomura is an awful person. A child murderer. A kidnapper. A human trafficker. He deserves the worst and yet I can't…" Izuku takes a shaky breath.
"Don't worry about how you should feel. Your emotions aren't wrong. My brother needs to go down, just as that child trafficker did. A permanent solution would be better, I won't lie to you, but I won't force you to do something you can't stomach. None of us will."
"But I have—"
"You have to do what you want to do. It's as simple as that." One pulls away and looks deep into Izuku's eyes. "Follow your heart, not ours. One for All is yours now."
"You still want him gone forever."
"I do," One admits. "And you do as well, even if you don't think you can do it. I… love my brother. Even after all he's done, I just can't help it. It's hardwired into me. But I know that he's a monster. I know my love won't change him. I know that he doesn't love me back. So I will be happy if he dies, but also sad. The world will lose a tyrant, and I will lose the man who was once my friend."
"'Will'," Izuku repeats. "You say that like it's definite. But I could fail."
One smiles. "No. You won't fail. You will take care of my brother, whether or not you find the strength to kill him. Failing that, you will pass One for All on. And failing that, you will inspire someone to take up arms."
"What?"
"'If there's bad, good will rise up against it'." One takes a step back and looks behind him. "That's from an old, stupid movie I watched as a child, but it stuck with me. People don't like being hurt. They don't like being used. They don't like watching others die. Not all are strong enough to stand on their own, but watching someone else rise first often does the trick. I know you have the strength to be the first one up, and, should you fall, the fact that you put up a fight going down will pull others up. Evil never prevails eternally. Good will always come back, no matter what."
The background begins to disappear, breaking away at the edges and turning to dust. Izuku feels his breath catch, and his spirits lift. "Thank you."
One smiles and waves goodbye. "No. Thank you."
Izuku wakes up feeling perfectly refreshed and happy. All of his worries are still there, but they're manageable now. He can do this. He will succeed. Nothing will stop him. One for All will prevail.
And then he falls out of bed and lands flat on his face because that's just his luck. Cursing his stiff limbs, Izuku stands and stretches. It's ten in the morning, and his phone vibrates on his nightstand. Picking it up and accepting the call, he rests it between his shoulder and his cheek.
"Hey, who's there?" he asks, squatting down and kicking a leg out to warm up his legs.
"Aizawa. Did you have another rough night?"
"Not as bad as it could've been," Izuku says, switching legs. "I'll be in a bit. Just gotta eat and get dressed."
"Control your friends while you're at it. They won't stop bugging me."
"Sure. See you soon?"
"Report to the classroom," Aizawa confirms.
"Alright, bye." The line goes dead and Izuku tosses his phone on his bed. It starts to ring again right as it hits the mattress, lighting up with a familiar contact. Half smiling, Izuku pulls his phone to him with Blackwhip and picks up.
"Hey, Nejire."
"Izuku! You're not dead."
"Did you think I was?"
"Nah. It was weird not to see you on the way to class, though."
"Yeah." They started walking across campus together a few weeks ago. They don't need to—in fact, it actually makes them a little late—but it's nice. "I didn't sleep as well as I wanted. I'm alright now, though. We're all sparing today, right?"
"Yeah. Also, you missed the assembly for the Cultural Festival. Aizawa looked kinda grumpy when we realized you weren't there. I'm sure he'll want to bug you about your event."
"Do I have to do one? I mean, I'm kind of a one-man class."
Nejire laughs. "You could probably toss a building around if you wanted. There's no way you'd get away with that excuse."
Izuku smirks. "Plus Ultra, huh?"
"Yep. When's the next train?"
"I'm gonna run, I think."
"Oh, cool! See you in a few?"
"Yeah." Izuku feels his face heat up. "Er… love you."
"I know."
Izuku hangs up right as Nejire starts to laugh. She hasn't seen Star Wars yet, and Mirio hasn't explained it to her, but she knows that it's funny to say I know, and it's enough to make Izuku die a little inside. But even he has to admit that it's amusing, so he smiles as he finishes getting ready.
Forgoing his real uniform for his gym clothes, Izuku heads out to the kitchen to find a plate on the table waiting for him. Reading the note from his mom, he eats. Once he's done, he has a quick glass of water, grabs his backpack, and heads out the door. He makes it to U.A in a half-hour, only slowed by an attempted robbery he stumbles across halfway there. When he reaches the gates, he passes through without incident, but the guard pokes fun at his tardiness. Laughing it off, Izuku hurries to homeroom, stepping in at eleven AM.
"You better be ready to go today."
"Morning, sir," Izuku greets, sliding into a desk in front of Aizawa. The man huffs and takes a drink from his mug. "How are you?"
"Fine," he says, though his tone is clipped. "Progress with Kurogiri is slow but present."
"You don't have to tell me."
"You'd be curious if I didn't." Izuku doesn't reply, so Aizawa pulls out his phone. The board behind him lights up, showing a screen with an aerial photograph of the school. "Cultural Festival. Go."
"I don't have a clue of what to do," Izuku says. "Um, something small, I guess. Maybe a stall? But I don't have anything to sell. A game, maybe?"
"There's a shortage of games," Aizawa says. "No one really wants to work one all day, so most classes are doing shows or something that can be done in shifts."
"I'd take breaks." Aizawa arches an eyebrow. "I would!" Izuku insists. "It's different from training. Can I use my Quirk?"
"Yes."
"A strength-testing booth, then," Izuku decides. "People would pay to play against me, and if they win, they get a prize."
"Fine. Just finalize the idea, and, for the love of everything good, don't hurt anybody."
"I won't," Izuku promises. "Can I head up to Nedzu now?"
"No." Aizawa stands up straight and turns the screen off. He picks up his mug of coffee. "Follow me."
Aizawa leads Izuku out of the building and to the Sports Festival arena. The massive structure and the streets around it feel wrong without a mob of people filling them. Every step echoes back, and the wind cuts through everything like a knife. Aizawa pays it no mind and walks into the competitor's entrance and turns right.
"We're getting a new staff member."
"Really? Who?"
"Your personal trainer," Aizawa says, making sure Izuku knows full well that he doesn't buy the cover-up story one bit.
"He told me that he was looking for other work, but I didn't know that UA accepted his application."
"Sure," Aizawa says, turning right. At the end of the hall is the entrance to the arena. He keeps walking. "He's coming here to lead a fitness course for hero students, as well as to help out with combat training every now and then. But before we finalize his contract, we have to see him in action. He'll be critiquing an exercise today."
"Toshinori is here?"
"Yes."
"Okay. I'm part of the exercise, right?"
"You and your friends," Aizawa confirms. He stops just short of the lawn of the arena. "Nedzu's up in the press box. Yagi's in the stands. Your friends are waiting. I'll be here, watching. Warm up."
Izuku nods. He starts to walk out of the hall, feeling Aizawa's eyes burn into his back as he does. "'I'll be here, watching'," Izuku mutters under his breath. There's no way it's not a double meaning. The man is close to figuring out something, but what? Hopefully it's not One for All, though Aizawa knowing about it wouldn't be a bad thing. Then again, with All for One alive, Aizawa would worry, and he's already got enough on his plate. So Izuku has to make sure his teacher doesn't find out his biggest secret while simultaneously working to get strong enough to fight All for One. It's a mountain, big and nearly impossible. But Izuku knows he can do it.
He smiles confidently and meets his friends in the center of the arena. He waves to Nedzu and All Might. One for All courses through his veins. "I've got this."
[x]
The subject is a large male with a transformation Quirk. The power is strong, simple, and useful, but it is also strenuous and strange. Video footage of the power in use shows that there's no limit to how much the Quirk can do. Muscular Augmentation is hardly a transformative, though. It doesn't change the body's makeup or alter the user's shape. It only lets the user produce more muscle fibers. The fibers are much stronger than those of the average human, however, and so is the original user. Therefore, Muscular Augmentation is an emitter with a slight mutative element.
"Twice, please hand me that scalpel."
The blade gleams in the harsh medical lights of the operating room. It reflects the man's bare flesh and the doctor's careful hand. With relaxed focus, All for One watches the doctor trace the blade down the subject's chest, parting the flesh and revealing the muscle. Blood runs, but slowly and much thicker than normal. It's a side effect of the sedative and the man's Quirk, and the doctor wipes it away with practiced ease. Beside him, Himiko takes the gauze and pockets it, no doubt for later use.
"Heart for sure, Doctor," All for One says, leaning over the body and examining the exposed tissue. "That is the most important part right now since we've already gotten blood and spinal fluid samples. If it's not too much to ask, I'd like for you to harvest some of his liver as well."
"Another day," the doctor says, cutting deeper into the man's chest. The sternum appears, white and red. "Twice, give me the separators." An instrument designed to keep flesh parted is fixed, pulling the muscle and flesh away from the bone. "Sensei, if you wouldn't mind."
"Of course." All for One extends a hand. His fingers elongate and merge into a saw-like blade. It starts to vibrate, and he carefully cuts the man's sternum open. It's brutal, and hardly sterile, but nothing a healing Quirk won't fix. The doctor waits for All for One to pry the bone apart before picking up a smaller scalpel. The doctor cuts a small piece of flesh off of the man's heart, quickly setting it on a tray held by Himiko. All for One heals the man with a simple Quirk transfer and moves to watch the doctor examine the sample under the microscope.
"The cell walls are thicker than average, just like his blood and skin," the doctor says, jotting a note down. "Does he have a mutant in his family tree?"
"One with tough skin, yes," All for One confirms. "I thought that he might have some of the same traits."
"You thought correctly." The doctor adjusts the focus of his microscope and holds out a hand. Twice gives him a small syringe. "He shows signs of being both a mutant and an emitter."
"It's a shame he won't be alive for long," All for One muses. "He proves the Quirk Singularity theory just by existing. I'd love to see how it affected him later in life."
"I as well," the doctor sighs. He pushes a bit of liquid out of the syringe and sets it aside. "But his Quirk is too valuable. His body is, too. Perhaps we should focus on mutants for the bases of future projects?"
"In time. We caused quite a stir. We'll wait to gather more after we make our debut."
"Very well. I suppose it's time?"
All for One smiles. "Yes. Twice, you can hand me that tray."
"Sure!" Jin practically tosses All for One the tray of medical instruments and struts over to the microscope. "What're we doing?"
"A lesson on Quirk biology," the doctor says. "Look in the lens and tell me what you see."
Twice has to bend over the table because he's that much taller than the doctor, but he looks at the slide under the microscope diligently. "I see a lotta circles and dots. They're wiggling."
"Good. I'm going to adjust the lens. You tell me when you can see inside one of the circles."
"Okay." The doctor twists a knob on the microscope until Twice sharply raises a hand. "Stop!"
"What do you see?"
"A bunch of wiggly bits in the circles."
"The circles are cells," the doctor explains, "and the stuff inside of them are the organelles. The biggest one is the nucleus. Can you see small bits of string in the nucleus?"
"Yeah."
"Good. That's the DNA. It's a spiral wound tight and packed into the cell. See if you can clone it."
"I have to be able to touch it, though. The stuff is tiny!"
"That's not an issue," All for One says, stepping in and pulling the slide off of the microscope. "Give me your hand." Twice takes off his gloves and holds his arm up. All for One gently wills the sample from the subject's heart off the glass and onto Twice's bare skin.
"Do I just go for it?"
"You saw how the cells looked under the microscope," All for One coaxes. "We'll teach you more about cells and Quirks later so your clones will be more powerful. Right now, we just want to see if you can clone cells."
Twice shrugs. "Okay. Here I go!" All for One watches as the sample tremors on Twice's hand. It grows, and like a cell undergoing mitosis, it splits. Firmly grasping Twice's wrist, All for One uses a telekinetic Quirk to move the samples onto two fresh slides. The doctor takes both and examines them one by one.
"They're indistinguishable on the surface level," the doctor says, trying to hide his excitement. He eagerly picks up another syringe and squeezes some liquid on the slide. "The cone is much less durable, however."
"That's to be expected," All for One says with a shrug. "It's simply a facet of Twice's Quirk. But the clones will become more resistant the more he learns about the human body."
"This is cool and all," Himiko says, setting her tray of equipment down on the examination table, "but how does it help? You cloned heart cells. Are you going to start giving out organ transplants?"
"Perhaps." All for One grins, tapping his helmet. "It would come in handy. But no. We're thinking bigger. Much, much bigger than just organ transplants."
"Like what?"
"We're going to clone Quirks."
That gets her attention. Himiko takes another look at the subject on the table and at the microscope. "Yeah, okay. That's really cool."
"Good." All for One pats her head and shakes Twice's hand. "Should everything go well, you both will be test subjects. Not the first, but perhaps the first to hold multiple powers without being unthinking monsters."
"What about that boy you banished?" Himiko asks right as All for One prepares to warp out.
"Ah. Tomura." All for One spreads his hands. "He's hungry for power and thirsts for destruction. It's not an awful combination for our goal, but he has some rather… unattractive qualities. He will be back, and when he does return, he'll have to prove himself. If he does, I'll let him become one of my enforcers. If he doesn't, I'll kill him."
"My lord," the doctor says, "are you sure?"
All for One shrugs. "We have plenty of resources. If he's not worth the time or expenses, I won't take him back. He knows too much as well, and I don't like loose ends."
Everyone in the room freezes, uncomfortable with being reminded that All for One can and will dump them if they stop being loyal. But he can't let them think that. It'll breed rebellion. So instead of doubling down, All for One laughs. "You are all fine. Doctor, your work is invaluable and I trust you with my life. Should you decide to retire, I will let you. Himiko, you will continue to work for me, even if I don't need you. Twice, you are perhaps the most important person in this entire operation." And if I have to, I'll steal your Quirk goes unsaid.
"Cool."
"Nice!"
"Thank you, Lord."
"Yes, yes," All for One says, checking his watch. "You are all appreciated. I have things to take care of elsewhere, however, so I will bid you goodbye." He warps away without waiting for a reply. Appearing in his private chambers, All for One sits down in front of a large computer. Pulling up a program of his own creation, he skims through a list of search queries that he has alarms on.
"Oh? What's this?"
Shimura Hisashi has one search, something that hasn't happened in years. Whoever looked for it knows how to hide, or at least has some strong cybersecurity. But they are in Japan. Which means that someone is poking around where they shouldn't be. Oh well. The only person who would know the significance of those two names is already towards the top of his kill list. Midoriya Izuku will get his turn, right after his master.