Chapter 99 - 18-19

Chapter Eighteen: Fallout

"I see. Well, I think that should just about do it for now, Shoji-san. Allow me to re-iterate how helpful your information has been and to thank you once more on behalf of the police force."

Mezo Shoji inclined his head as the man who had introduced himself as detective Naomasa Tsukauchi stood up from the other side of the table and rolled his shoulders to loosen them before continuing.

"I would also like to apologize for taking up so much of your time. You as well, Nezu-san."

"Oh, don't worry about it, Tsukauchi-san." the diminutive U.A. principal waved the apology away from where he sat next to Mezo on a chair with several books stacked on top of it, "Aizawa could not be here due to his injuries so naturally it would fall to me to accompany Shoji-san. Besides," here he turned his beady black eyes to Mezo, "I believe that this will prove to be a valuable experience for him in addition to serving as a starting point for what I am sure will become a good relationship with the police. Such detailed information is always valuable and it really is quite unfortunate that not all Heroes appreciate this simple fact. Why, I could go on about all of the cases that could have been solved so much more quickly if only-"

"*Ahem*" the detective pointedly cleared his throat.

"Ah, right you are, Tsukauchi-san; now is not the time. We simply must talk later, though. I am sure that a man such as yourself would prove to be a stimulating conversational partner for such a topic."

"Ah, er, sure. It might be a while before I have that kind of time though." the detective was clearly taken aback by such an onerous demand, but from what Mezo could tell, this was just how Nezu was. He did not seem to mean anything by it and Tsukauchi seemed to understand that as well.

Mezo sympathized with the detective, quite honestly. He had, after all, been present in this room just as long as Mezo and Nezu had. Others had come and gone, among them had been Todoroki who was being escorted by a cat-faced policeman named Tamakawa. Todoroki had apparently managed to interrogate a couple of Villains during the USJ incident and had been asked to corroborate with Mezo's account. He had only been present for about half an hour before being escorted out again by Tamakawa.

Then there was special officer Kiji. He had been brought in due to his unique Quirk: Stenoport. As Mezo understood it, Stenoport allowed Kiji to project images directly from his own mind or the minds of those he touched onto a mirror, screen, or other such surface. His purpose there was to project Mezo's mental "screenshots" of what had occurred in order to enhance his report. These projections would then be recorded and documented for later use.

As Nezu was quick to point out, such a Quirk was inherently flawed due to the fact that it would project whatever the individual had in mind, meaning that it could be used to lie or distort the truth. From the knowing smile that Tsukauchi had responded with, Mezo had guessed that Nezu was fully aware of what the detective's Quirk was. Tsukauchi had proceeded to explain to Mezo that his Quirk was called Human Lie Detector and that it did precisely what its name implied: the good detective would become immediately aware of any dishonesty emanating from an individual with whom he maintained eye contact.

In this way, Mezo was sat across the table from Tsukauchi and made to recount the events of the day as he remembered them, down to the most minute details. While he did this, Kiji would play back the images that flowed through Mezo's mind and project them onto the monitor that had been provided for this exact purpose. A camera would record everything that appeared on the monitor, with the footage being examined and edited later.

With Nezu there to serve as his chaperone, since Mezo was underage, the odd quartet was rounded out. The process was a slow one, with Mezo making every effort to keep his thoughts clear and directed and to not leave anything out. Once, during a short break, Kiji commented that the nature of Mezo's Quirk made his mental images different from any he had encountered before.

"It's a bit like sitting at a surveillance desk and watching multiple recordings in tandem. The fact that you are able to make sense of such a thing with no effort…you are an extremely gifted young man, Shoji-san."

All told, it was nearly midnight by the time the interview was finally over and Tsukauchi was giving Mezo his final thanks.

Mezo would be lying if he said that he wasn't at least a little relieved. The police had been perfectly kind and courteous the entire time and Tsukauchi in particular had proven to be extremely affable, but Mezo could not help but feel slightly nervous. Perhaps it had been the barren room with the one-way glass, perhaps it had been the way the detective's eyes had bored into his own while he made use of his Quirk, perhaps it had been the profoundly unsettling experience of seeing his thoughts displayed as images on a monitor like some bizarre slideshow, or perhaps it had simply been the fact that he was a teenager being interrogated by the police, albeit voluntarily.

Suffice to say, Mezo was not displeased when Tsukauchi waved him and Nezu out of the station. Due to the lateness of the hour, the police had offered to have an officer drive Mezo home and Nezu back to U.A., which the pair gratefully accepted.

"Shoji-san," once they were in the back of the car and underway, Nezu got Mezo's attention with a subtle poke, "lend me an ear, if you would."

Taking the principle's meaning at once, Mezo transformed one of his arms into a tentaclear and extended it to him.

"Thank you. Forgive the secrecy, but given how events have been playing out lately, I felt that certain precautions were warranted."

"I understand, Sensei." Mezo responded through a tentamouth.

"As you are no doubt aware, there was a security breach at U.A. yesterday…or would that be two days ago now? Regardless, you obviously heard the alarms along with every other soul on campus at the time."

"Yes, Sensei."

"It has been said multiple times this evening, but I feel that it bears repeating that you have demonstrated both maturity and the wherewithal to remain calm and collected in what was an extremely trying situation. What is more, by voluntarily approaching the police, not to mention assisting your classmates and rescuing Thirteen, you have proven that you have a strong desire to do good and assist others. Tsukauchi's Human Lie Detector coupled with Kiji's Stenoport have only served to prove that your account was truthful. Given all of this, I believe that I can confide in you certain information to the end that you may be able to assist not only me, but U.A. as a whole. I will only do this, however, if you agree to it. You are not even a week into your Hero Academia and it would be wrong of me to force such a thing upon you. Please take a moment to consider."

…Every time Mezo thought that his long day had finally drawn to a close, something else popped up.

Still, he would not decline. First-year he may be, but the core tenants of Heroism still applied as far as he was concerned: Use your Quirk to help others and be useful in whatever way you can. Nezu would not make such a request lightly, which meant that he honestly believed that Mezo could be of use to him.

There was only one course of action for him to take.

"I will do what I can for you, Sensei."

"You will not speak of what I am about to tell you without my express consent?"

"I will not." this response was met with a pat on the tentacle from Nezu. Mezo registered that the pads on the principle's paw-like hands were soft and squishy.

"Thank you, Shoji-san. Now, in regards to the security breaches that occurred yesterday and today, you could probably have figured out on your own that they are most likely connected."

Mezo nodded. Todoroki had suggested as much during his brief interview and Aizawa had said something to that effect at USJ as well. The timing was just too coincidental for them not to be related.

"What you most likely do not know and that I have purposefully kept quiet is that we have absolutely no idea who infiltrated U.A. yesterday or how they did it. We know that the front gate was destroyed and that an individual who was not in possession of a U.A. ID of any kind made their way through the grounds and into the building, which was what triggered the alarm that you heard. I dispatched a search team and posted the rest of the available teachers at strategic points around campus. None of them found anything. By the time we had reset the security system to check if the intruder was still present, they had already left. One day later…" here Nezu made a broad gesture with his arms at the world around them in general, "…this happens. I thank our lucky stars that nobody was killed or, as far as I can tell, permanently injured. None of ours anyway. This still leaves the question of how this so-called League of Villains knew when and where to strike, as well as just why they were after All Might."

…Shit.

Mezo had, indeed, not known that. A part of him wished that were still the case. The idea that there were Villains that could infiltrate U.A. successfully was bad enough on its own, but the idea that they could do so without U.A. knowing how they had done it? That was downright terrifying.

"The ability to evade such a number of coordinated Pro Heroes as well as U.A.'s security system…such a person may as well be a ghost." Mezo said the only thing he could think of that did not involve profanity. He was not one to use harsh language, but it had been a very long day and he had just had quite the bomb dropped on him.

"I see that you appreciate the gravity of the situation, Shoji-san." Nezu's tone was grave.

"I…yes, Sensei. What, exactly, do you believe that I can do to help?" Mezo had questions. He had questions about those questions, but he estimated that they were only about ten minutes from his place of residence and they needed to get to the point. Nezu nodded approvingly, seemingly aware of his thought process.

"For now, nothing. You have had a trying day and need an opportunity to rest and reflect. I have cancelled class for tomorrow in order to give you and your classmates time to do just that as well as to allow the staff and myself time to get everything ship-shape at U.A. again. Additionally, you should be aware that, while your identity will remain anonymous, the testimony and images that you have provided to the police will be made public, at least in part, when the story breaks. We cannot keep an event of this scale under wraps indefinitely, so it is better that we get in front of it before the media has the chance to put some sort of sensationalist spin on it."

Mezo had expected as much and had no objections. He was grateful that his identity would be kept private. Perhaps he would tell his classmates, though. Some of the more observant and/or canny ones would likely deduce that it was him anyway judging by the positioning of the images.

Besides, didn't they deserve to know? It was an ordeal that they all went through together, after all.

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"Shoto, you had me worried sick! 'Something came up, I'll be home late?!' That's seriously all you could say?! Dad came home and said something about U.A. being attacked by Villains and some people were injured and-"

Not even fifteen seconds after Shoto Todoroki had stepped through the door he had been tackle-hugged by his older sister, Fuyumi, who was now proceeding to demonstrate how she kept her students in line by giving him an earful.

Seriously, he had sent a text. What was the big deal? Would she rather he had not said anything?

Maybe that wasn't fair. He knew that Fuyumi worried. She had sort of become the mom of the house after…after what had happened.

"Shoto."

Someone's ears must have been burning. Ironic.

"Fu, do you think you could let go? I need to talk to the old man."

She did so, albeit reluctantly.

"Right. I'll…I'll go make some tea." she headed off to the kitchen, leaving Shoto standing in the hall with his father.

"You heard what happened?"

"Yes." Endeavor confirmed, "I would like to hear your account as well, however. It is my understanding that you do not have class tomorrow."

"Yeah." it had not been a question, but Shoto responded anyway.

"Good. Then we can speak now. Come, let us sit." Endeavor led the way into the sitting room without waiting for a response and Shoto, being far too tired to spite him, followed.

Once they had taken their customary positions with Shoto on the couch and Endeavor in his recliner, the Number Two Hero threaded his fingers together and looked at his son expectantly.

So Shoto talked. He didn't go into minute details like he had for the police and he omitted certain things that he didn't feel his father needed to know, but by the time he was finished he felt as though he had given Endeavor an accurate account of what had occurred, at least to the best of his knowledge.

Fuyumi had returned partway through with their tea and had sat herself on the couch next to Shoto. This was not something she usually did, since Endeavor might have seen it as an intrusion (she was, after all, a failure as far as he was concerned), but their father did not object or even change his expression. He just sat and listened.

Shoto had not stopped after the incident had concluded. He had described how he had accompanied his classmates to the infirmary before returning to USJ to assist and how he had ended up being brought in for questioning by the police, albeit briefly.

Shoto was grateful for the tea after he had finished. He did not usually speak at such length and his throat was telling him as much. His eyes widened briefly when he tasted honey and he looked to Fuyumi, who was giving him a sad smile.

"I had a feeling it would be one of…those talks, so I made it the way I do for myself after a day of lecturing. Do you like it?"

"Yeah. Thanks." the clink of Endeavor's cup being set down drew Shoto's attention back to his father.

"This matches the information that I was able to obtain and outright confirms some of my suspicions. You made the correct decision when you kept a couple of grunts conscious for interrogation and from your description your timely return to the main battle allowed your classmates to rescue your teacher. Your assistance with first-aid was also adequate. There is one thing that stands out to me, however. Can you guess what it is?"

The thing was, Shoto could. It had been in the back of his mind ever since they had arrived at the infirmary with Midoriya, but he had been able to ignore it by focusing on other things. Now that Endeavor had shoved it into his face like this though…

"Shoto. I expect a response."

"…I know what you want me to say."

Didn't mean he had to make it easy.

"If you refuse to say what must be said, then I will do it for you: Your initial attack against this 'Nomu' proved to be ineffective overall. You knew that it was a one-time thing and your teacher needed to be removed from the situation, so you acted in accordance with this need. This was the correct course of action." Endeavor unfolded his hands and placed them on the arms of his chair, straightening his back as he did so, "However, after Midoriya demonstrated that fire was effective against this Villain, incapacitating himself in the process, you did nothing to intervene. Everything worked out in the end due to a timely series of arrivals from other classmates as well as All Might himself, but you had no way of knowing that these things would happen."

"Father, don't you think that's enough?" Endeavor ignored Fuyumi's protests.

"Let me ask you, Shoto, in spite of knowing that you had the ability to combat this threat when no one else was in a position to do so, why did you refuse to use your flames? You may as well have condemned your classmate right then and there."

Shoto wanted to argue. He wanted to stand up and yell at his father that he was wrong, that he had done everything that he could possibly have done.

But he hadn't. He had stood and watched the same as everyone else while Nomu had regenerated and gotten back up. He had seen just as plainly as everyone else that Midoriya had nothing left to give.

Unlike everyone else, however, he could have donesomething about it.

"…I-"

"Do not say that you made a vow, Shoto." Endeavor cut him off, anticipating his argument and dashing it before he had the chance to make it, "When it comes to Heroism, results are what matter first and foremost. Everything else is secondary."

Everything.

Oh, he meant everything too.

Everything…and everyone.

"Look at me, Shoto." the conflicted youth found himself unable to disobey.

"Heroes are Heroes because they have the ability to act and choose to do so. Because they give their power a purpose. Power without a purpose is meaningless and worthless. To refuse to use your fire when you have the ability to make due without it is one thing. Asinine, but not condemnable. To refuse to use it when your stubbornness could cost the life of another? That is unacceptable. When your enemy is stronger than you are, you lose the right to pick and choose. You either fight with all you have, or you condemn someone to death. It might be you, it might be an ally, it might be a civilian, or it might even be someone else in the future because the next Villain you face remembers how you held back and recognizes it as a weakness."

Endeavor rose from his chair with a look of genuine disappointment on his face.

"I want you to remember this the next time you find yourself in such a situation, Shoto, because believe me when I say that it will happen again."

With that, Endeavor left the room, having nothing else to say.

It's not that simple…

What else was there to say?

It's not that SIMPLE, damnit!

But…

But…

Shoto could do nothing except rest his head in his hands while Fuyumi comforted him as best she could. Soft words, a gentle touch, a feeling of love that he remembered from so long ago…

…she had no way of knowing that she was only making him feel worse.

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"You did good today."

"Did I?"

"You kicked a bunch of ass and saved your best friend! If that's not a victory then someone needs to explain the definition to me again."

Katsuki Bakugo having none of it.

"I shouldn't have had to save him, Mom! I should've beenthere!"

Mitsuki's response was to smack her son on the head.

"Who do you think you are, huh? Some kind of Super Hero? Not even All Might can save everyone all the time you know?"

"DEKU'S NOT EVERYONE!"

Katsuki's outburst was accompanied by a pair of small, involuntary explosions. Even Mitsuki, who had dealt with him for his entire life, was momentarily stunned.

"You weren't there. You didn't see. It was so close, Mom. If I had gotten there just two seconds later, he would've…I…I don't care about everyone! If it came down to it…if I had to choose, then I'd-" he was cut off as his mother pulled him into a hug.

"Don't finish that sentence, Katsuki. Whatever you do, don't say what you were about to say."

Mitsuki was stroking her son's head like she had used to do all the time when he was younger and speaking in a low, soothing voice.

"I know you'd regret it. Heroes don't say things like that, right? What would Izuku say if he heard you say something like that?"

Katsuki knew what his best friend would say. He could picture it in his head so clearly that if he closed his eyes he could probably fool himself into thinking that Deku was right there in the room. His green eyes would be understanding, but unyielding. His voice would be even, not condescending or angry. His hand would be on Katsuki's shoulder, maybe even both of them. He would tell Katsuki that he knew he didn't mean it. He would say that he knew that his lifelong companion knew better and was just having a bad day. That wasn't the kind of thing that a Hero would say and after all, didn't Katsuki want to be the best Hero? He would say so many things that would be encouraging, pacifying, reminiscent and supportive…

…but he wouldn't say the one thing that Katsuki actually wanted to hear.

"Kacchan, I'd do the same."

He was tired.

He was just so goddamn tired.

"I just…I wish…"

"Shh…shh…" his mother shushed him as she held him, "I know…I know…"

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Izuku Midoriya was lying in bed, paradoxically tired but unable to sleep. He had expected as much after the extended nap that had taken up most of his day.

His mother had, predictably, been beside herself with worry. It hadn't been as bad as he would have thought, which, in hindsight, Izuku supposed that he owed to Kacchan. His friend had mentioned that he had called Inko and explained the situation to her. No doubt that had helped to take some of the edge off.

To her credit, Inko had not pestered her son for details about the incident. She was, first and foremost, concerned with the state of his injuries. Izuku had relayed what Iida had told him on the train ride back before they had parted ways.

"Recovery Girl asked that I inform you when you awoke that you are under strict orders to avoid exerting yourself until she says otherwise. What counts as 'exertion' will depend on you, but at the very least you are to avoid exercising and roughhousing. A good rule of thumb is 'if it hurts, stop doing it.' She estimates it that you will be quite sore tomorrow and most likely the day after as well. Again, it mostly depends on you. Either way she wants to see you before you leave school the next day which…would be Friday at this point, since we have no class tomorrow."

Inko, and Izuku for that matter, had been grateful that his injuries were not worse. Izuku theorized that part of this was due to the fact that he was not consistently injuring the same parts of his body before they had the chance to fully recover, but had not said this to his mother. That would send her train of thought down a path that he would rather it avoided.

He had given her an overview of what had occurred, which honestly did not take him as long as he had thought it would. This was most likely because he had rendered himself unconscious for the latter half of the day.

For a moment, Izuku had been uncertain how his mother would react. She eventually settled on telling him how proud of him she was and that, in her eyes, he was already a Hero for protecting everyone like he had. There had been trademarked Midoriya family tears during this, but she had eventually suggested that Izuku get whatever rest he could.

So it was that Izuku found himself lying wide awake on his bed at three in the morning.

"Geez, if this is what insomnia is like then I pity whoever has it for real. This sucks. Don't you agree, Izuku?"

"Why yes, I do, Other Izuku. You'd better either fall asleep or find something else to do because I think you might be going a little crazy."

"I was beginning to suspect as much, but didn't want to assume the worst."

"Take it from an an unbiased third party then."

"With all due respect, Other Izuku, you are neither unbiased nor a third party."

"Well, your other option is to go see a shrink and I doubt you'll find one at three-oh-two in the morning."

"I dunno, what do you think the odds are that we'd run into a Vigilante with a psychotherapeutic Quirk?"

"What do you think the odds are that there's a Vigilante who knows how to use a psychotherapeutic Quirk?"

"I suppose that's true. With that kind of Quirk they probably wouldn't be a Vigilante."

"Sigmund Fraud: Rogue Therapist."

"Tell me, Villain, how does that make you feel?"

*vmmm vmmm*

Oh, thank god, a distraction!

Izuku picked up his phone and noticed that he had just received a text message from…Uraraka?

Since when does she have my number? Since when do I have HER number?!

He hastily unlocked his phone and opened up his messaging app. He saw that her icon was a shooting star.

Star: Deku-kun? U awake? If ur not, then I'm sorry!

All Might: No, it's alright. Can't sleep. Must be because of that nap. BTW, sorry to ask this, but how did you get my number?

Star: Oh! Bakugo gave it to me on the train b4 I got off. Thought he would've told u. Sorry. I'm having sleep problems too. Keep waking up. Thought u might b too.

All Might: Gotcha. No he didn't tell me. I haven't been able to sleep a wink. Are you doing okay?

Star: That's my line! U got hurt, not me!

All Might: I'm fine. It's like Iida said: I'm just sore.

Star: Oh.

Crap, she sounded depressed. Izuku needed to think of something.

All Might: Mind if I ask you a question?

All Might: Why a star?

Star: ?

All Might: Your avatar. It's a shooting star.

Star: OH! Well, I like stargazing. Always have.

All Might: O rly?

Star: Yup! They're pretty and they just make u feel so peaceful, u know?

All Might: Huh. I've never actually tried it.

Star: ?!

Star: U need to!

Star: Oh, but u can't rly do it around here…

All Might: Too much light pollution, right?

Star: Do u know everything? Jk.

Star: Ur right though. It has to b somewhere less urban.

Star: …

All Might: ?

Star: Do u want maybe to go sometime?

Star: It's Golden Week soon we could maybe…idk…

Oh shit.

OH SHIT.

Was she asking him out on a date?!

Okay, Izuku, deep breaths. Ow. Okay, too deep. Just because she's asking you to spend time with her doesn't mean it's a date. It's just going to be two friends…alone…under the stars…in, like, the most romantic situation imaginable.

…Okay so it sounds a lot like a date. Oh god! I wasn't expecting this! I'm not PREPARED for this! HELP ME, OTHER IZUKU!

Okay, calm down! Just break it down to the essential point: Do you want to go on a date with Uraraka-san?

I…uh…yes?

Are you asking or telling?

Star: Deku-kun? You asleep?

All Might: No, sorry, dropped phone. I would love to go stargazing with you, Uraraka-san.

Who just typed that? Did he just type that? His fingers had felt like they were moving on their own!

Star: Yay! Thankyouthankyouthankyou! We can talk details later. I know exactly where we'll go! It was my favorite spot when I was little! We can take the bullet train to Nagano and then it's only a few miles of hiking! Or maybe there's a bus? There wasn't back then but…I'm rambling.

Wow, she was really excited about this. That…made him feel good, actually. Really good.

All Might: It's fine. I'm looking forward to it too.

They spent the next hour or so texting before her responses stopped and Izuku assumed she had fallen asleep. He managed to get a few hours himself in the end.

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Izuku was woken up the next morning by his phone doing its best to vibrate itself off of his nightstand. A quick glance at his clock told him that it was almost ten, which was far later than he usually woke up. Good thing there was no school.

When he unlocked his phone, Izuku saw that he had been added to a group chat called "Lord Explosion and His Flunkies."

"Kacchan, what did you do?" Izuku opened the chat with a mixture of interest and dread. The chat had existed for about an hour, as it turned out, and there were six participants, himself included. He recognized Kacchan and Uraraka from their avatars, but there was also a pair of glasses, an octopus and a potato.

Grenade: Attention, Bitches! Ur lord has summoned u!

Potato: lol wtf is that chat name?

Grenade: Wanted it 2 b "Lord Explosion and His Bitches" but apparently chat names r censored.

Glasses: I should certainly hope so! I could ever have such an uncouth chat name in my history!

Potato: iida is that you?

Potato: hi

Glasses: Indeed it is. Who might you be?

Potato: wut? can't u tell? iz kirishima

Glasses: Kirishima-san? Why is your avatar a potato?

Potato: lolwut? iz a rock

Grenade: LOL! U dumbass! That's a potato!

Octopus: It does appear to be a potato, Kirishima-san. Also this is Shoji. Hello.

Glasses: Ah! Greetings, Shoji-san! Do I take this to mean that you are the final member of our sextet?

Grenade: Seemed appropriate. He has six arms.

-message deleted-

Octopus: Bakugo-san, why did you delete that?

Grenade: Because we can talk about that at lunch tomorrow. U said that it would happen today, right? Keep it a surprise.

Octopus: …I suppose.

Glasses: To what are you referring?

Grenade: Can't u read? It's a surprise, dumbass.

Potato: ohai shoji. lol, u said sex. wait, surprise? wat surprise?

Potato: also i cant change my avatar someone help me

Potato: plz

Grenade: U can't change it. U r forever Potato Man. Sux 4 u.

Potato: nuuuu

All Might: Oh come on, Kacchan. You know that's not true. He could fix it by leaving and then re-joining ad choosing a different avatar.

Grenade: GDI Deku.

Glasses: Midoriya-san! Good morning! How are you feeling?

Potato: wut he said^

Octopus: Hello, Midoriya-san.

Star: I'm awake! Oh wow, look at all those messages. Brb catching up.

All Might: Thanks everyone! I'm doing better. Just sore.

Grenade: Alright, now that everyone's here ur probably all wondering why I made this.

Grenade: Well it was primarily because all of u would have blown up my phone asking how Deku was otherwise.

Octopus: Won't this still blow up your phone?

Grenade: …

Potato: lol

Star: Lol he thought it was a rock.

Potato: q.q

Grenade: Well this way it blows up all ur phones. Not just mine. Plus it's a good way for me to give orders to my subjects.

Glasses: I beg your pardon?

Star: LOL Potato Man XD

All Might: Just ignore him.

Grenade: SPDSOPOKJCXL:L"K:HNKDFG WHAT?!

Grenade: DEKU! GET OVER HERE AND SAY THAT!

All Might: Nuh-uh. You come over here and I'll say that. I'm under strict orders to avoid strenuous activity.

Grenade: DON'T THINK I WON'T U DAMN NERD!

All Might: Says you "Mr number one in class." Oh wait, according to middle school GPAs that's Yaoyorozu.

Glasses: My word!

Potato: burn. total burn

Octopus: Are they always like this?

Star: I…think so?

Glasses: …My family is looking at me funny.

Grenade: What, did u throw ur phone doing that hand thing u always do?

Glasses: No, they've just never seen me chatting this much on my phone.

Glasses: I've never really had a group of friends like this before.

All Might: OMG YOU TOO?!

Glasses: What?! No, surely you had friends! How could you not?

All Might: Not really it was just me and Kacchan. Anyone else I hung around was more hanging around him than me.

All Might: But what about you, Iida-san?! You're so cool and reliable!

Glasses: That's kind of you to say, but…

Potato: dude. my heart.

Star: I know, it's so adorable but at the same time it's so sad!

Octopus: It wasn't that bad really. I never minded.

All Might: Shoji-san, you too?!

Grenade: Oh come on, that 1 makes sense! They probably all thought he looked weird or something.

Octopus: No, actually. They all thought I was watching them because of my Quirk.

Glasses: How incredibly prejudiced of them.

Potato: word.

Star: Seriously, just because of that? Did any of them even bother asking u?

Octopus: Oh, do not be mistaken, I was.

Octopus: Watching them, that is.

Grenade: Wait, what?

Potato: ^

All Might: ^

Octopus: It was Quirk training. I had to practice keeping an eye on multiple people and conversations at once and school seemed like a good place to do that. My grades suffered a little at first but I got the hang of it eventually.

Glasses: You mean to say that you sacrificed years of potential friendships in order to hone your abilities for the day they would be needed the most?

Octopus: Yes.

Potato: that's commitment right there.

Potato: props

Star: Wow, I feel like I rly underestimated u, Shoji-san!

Grenade: Shit, man. That's intense.

All Might: It's inspirational! I need to add that to my notebook!

Grenade: Deku, that was why u didn't have friends, remember?

Potato: wat notebook?

Star: Deku-kun, what's he talking about?

Glasses: I confess that I am also curious.

Grenade: Christ, here we go…

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

The rest of Izuku's day played out in more or less the same manner. Restricted as he was by his injuries, he spent the day at home and was actually by himself for a large portion of it while his mother was out working. In between contributing to the group chat, which was a lot of fun, he did some homework, watched TV, worked on a couple of sketches and other such things. It was nice, in a way, but he felt strange not doing his usual exercises.

Kacchan ended up coming over and hanging out for a few hours, citing a lack of anything else to do. During that time, he filled Izuku in on what had happened after he had fallen unconscious.

Izuku was relieved to hear that his information seemed to have helped All Might to overcome Nomu and was suitably embarrassed to hear that he had spent a good amount of time using Uraraka's lap as a pillow.

Inko came home while Kacchan was still there and invited him to stay for dinner, which he did. Strangely, he advised them to turn on the evening news right when it started. The reason for this became clear when they got to that night's main story: the invasion of U.A.

The story was presented using a combination of still images that looked to have been taken while the attack was in-progress somehow along with an eyewitness account that had been taken by the police the previous evening. Shigaraki, Kurogiri, Nomu, Eraserhead's valiant struggle, Izuku's last stand (name redacted and face censored) and All Might coming to save the day. It was all there.

"Wait a moment…" Izuku realized partway through the story, which all three of them were watching intently, "these images…are these from Shoji-san? Is this the surprise?"

"Yep. He went to talk to the police and I guess there was someone there with a Quirk that could copy images from his mind. He told me earlier this morning when I was putting the chat together. I didn't actually have his number so I had to text around and get his contact info. Ended up being the Class President that had it, go figure. I was just trying to verify his number but I guess he was bursting at the seams to tell someone. Said he felt obligated or something."

"Izuku, I know you told me most of this yesterday but somehow I didn't realize how…frightening…all of these Villains were." Inko was clearly disturbed by the three heavy-hitters of the League of Villains.

"Pah, they were all talk, Inko-san." Kacchan attempted to reassure her, "Bunch of mooks. Even that big guy was just a glorified punching bag once All Might showed up. Hell, even Deku almost took him out."

Inko appreciated his words, but she still seemed off-put when Kacchan went home and Izuku went to bed. It was still a little early, but he knew he would need to try and catch up on some sleep if he could.

Izuku's phone vibrated and he saw that it was a text message from Uraraka.

Star: Deku-kun, are you still awake?

All Might: Yes, was just about to turn in. Why?

Mere moments after he had sent his response, his phone started vibrating and showing an incoming call from Uraraka. Izuku answered it reflexively, though he was caught off-guard.

"Uraraka-san?"

"Good evening, Deku-kun."

Her voice was so close to his ear that it was as though she was right next to him, whispering into it. Izuku was struck by just how intimate it felt and he realized that this was the first time he had spoken to a girl on the phone.

"Ah, good evening. What did you want to talk about, Uraraka-san?"

"I…nothing. Something. Anything." she sounded scared. Why did she sound scared?

"Is something wrong?"

"…Yes."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No. Yes. I'm trying to find the right words. Just…talk to me. Please?" something was seriously wrong here.

"Well, let's see…did you see the news? Kacchan was over visiting and he told me that Shoji was the one who gave the police a lot of that information."

"Yeah, I saw it. They did a good job with it. Ratings are probably through the roof."

"Kacchan also filled me in on what happened while I was out."

"Did he?"

"Yeah. I guess we ended up being even, huh? I was sleeping on you then I woke up to have you sleeping on me."

"I guess…" this wasn't right. This wasn't the usual Uraraka. Izuku frantically cast around for something else to talk about. Anything.

"Yeah! Um…I guess I also owe you a 'thank you.'"

"Huh?"

"Well, Kacchan told me that you were watching over me the entire time. Not just at USJ but in the infirmary too. He said you hardly moved the whole time. While I'd never ask you to do something like that…it still means a lot that you did, if that makes sense?"

"Oh. Yeah, that's true."

"Well, thank you. He also said though…that you seemed really down. Kind of like you do right now, if I'm being honest. You've got me really, really concerned and I'd like to help you if I can so…please tell me what's wrong, Uraraka-san."

"I will. I want to, but not like this. Not over the phone. Could you…could you maybe come to school early tomorrow? We could talk then. I just…I can't right now. I thought I could, but I can't. Just like last night. I thought maybe if I called you and heard your voice that it would be easier but…it's not. I'm sorry, Deku-kun, I'm probably just confusing you even more. I shouldn't have called."

Izuku was, indeed, very confused right then. There was one point he disagreed with very strongly, however.

"Don't say that."

"What?"

"If you ever need someone to talk to, you should know that I'm there for you. I might not always be able to help and I might not always understand but…don't ever say that you shouldn't have called. Or texted. Or whatever. I mean, hey, I'm still looking forward to going stargazing with you."

For the next few moments, all Izuku heard on the other end was deep, purposeful, rhythmic breathing that might have been more than a little shaky.

"Thank you, Deku-kun. I…just thank you."

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Bright and early."

"Okay. Goodnight, Deku-kun."

"Goodnight, Uraraka-san."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku was up and out the door the next morning before his mother was even completely awake. If he remembered the train schedule correctly, he would arrive at U.A. about an hour early doing things this way. Hopefully that would be long enough for whatever Uraraka needed. If it wasn't, then maybe he would just have to be late for homeroom. He could blame his injuries, claiming that they slowed him down that morning. Let whoever the stand-in was try to blame him for saving his teacher's life.

Wow. Where did that come from? Was he grumpy? This was not the day to be grumpy.

In the end, Izuku decided that he was simply a man on a mission and woe betide anyone who got in his way. His friend needed him.

The fact that said friend was Uraraka was completely irrelevant.

Izuku did, indeed, end up at the U.A. grounds roughly an hour early. He set about finding a good place for his talk with Uraraka when he noticed something that caused his eyes to widen.

There, on a bench underneath a large tree off to one side of the massive courtyard, was a girl who was curled up, hugging her knees to herself with her face buried in them.

How long had she been there? How early had she arrived? How little sleep had she gotten?

Izuku began to suspect that things were even worse than he had previously surmised and walked hurriedly over to Uraraka, dropping his backpack on the ground by the bench and kneeling down to put his hands on her shoulders.

"Uraraka-san?"

She looked up at him and what Izuku saw made him feel like he had suffered a blow to the chest. Her eyes were red and puffy with bags under them. There were tear tracks running down her cheeks and she seemed to be having difficulty focusing on his face.

She looked like hell, in other words.

"Deku…good morning."

"Uraraka-san, I need you to tell me what's wrong and I need you to tell me right now, okay?" Izuku did his very best to keep his voice level. He really did.

But he was beginning to freak out a little.

"When we were at USJ…Bakugo told you that you were resting on my lap, right? Todoroki was there too. He was going back and forth between you and Aizawa-sensei."

"Yeah, he told me about that."

"Well, while you were out…Deku, I swear I haven't told anyone else. You need to believe me, okay? I haven't told anyone else about this!"

She was sitting up properly now and her fists had balled themselves up in the front of Izuku's uniform jacket.

"Uraraka-san, I believe you, but please tell me what's going on!"

"While we were still at USJ," she began after a long, slow breath, "while I was watching you…Deku, you were in so much pain that you were barely breathing. Sometimes I thought you were coming to and sometimes you looked like you were sleeping, but the whole time I could just barely feel your breathing if I focused really hard on it. But one time…one time was worse than the others. It was…" she looked at him and her eyes started to well up despite her efforts to keep a straight face, "Deku, you stopped breathing. You were so still…just so, so still that I thought…" she shuddered and Izuku's jaw went slack as the full impact of her words hit him.

"You started breathing again before I could say or do anything, which is why nobody else knows. It couldn't have been for more than a few seconds but…but nobody else saw. Nobody else knew! Not even Todoroki and he was right there when it happened! So…that's why I did what I did. That's why I refused to leave. I was so, so scared and I didn't want to risk that happening again! I know that it's stupid. Once Recovery Girl had healed you, I knew that you were in the clear but…I don't know. I just couldn't leave." she gave Izuku a trembling smile that damn near broke his heart.

"That's why I kept reaching out to you, you know? I couldn't sleep. I kept having nightmares where you…where you didn't start breathing again, or where I left the infirmary and came back to find that you'd…" the tears started falling then, "I didn't…I couldn't…I don't want-!"

Izuku did the only thing he could think to do.

He pulled Uraraka to him and held on as tightly as his injured ribs would allow, letting her cry her heart out on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry." he said, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

What else could he say? What else could he do?

Nothing presented itself to him, so he resolved to just remain where he was for as long as it took.

Because his friend needed him.

The fact that said friend was Uraraka made it all the more important.

Chapter Nineteen: Title Drop

"Damn it!" a pale fist slammed onto the bar, leaving a dull echo that reverberated through the establishment for an unnaturally long time.

"Damn it!" a stool was kicked over and it rolled several feet before fetching up against an empty booth that still held the remains of a light pre-mission meal.

"Damn it!" a disembodied hand was thrown carelessly into a corner where it was swiftly followed by another, then another and yet another. This occurred a total of eight times before Tomura Shigaraki removed one particular hand from his face and stopped himself mid-throw.

No. Not that one. Not Father.

"Haaah…" the exhalation was half sigh, half growl, but it apparently signaled to Kurogiri that enough of his temper had abated for him to be safely addressed.

"Forgive me, Tomura Shigara-*hurk*!" both of Tomura's hands had found their way around Kurogiri's metallic neck-brace, thumbs poised a fraction of an inch away from the surface.

Kurogiri had sorely misread the situation.

Apparently not for the first time that day, either. Or was that yesterday at that point? They had needed to take the long way back since Kurogiri was injured. Apparently, certain things could screw with his ability to use his Quirk and that was one of them. Turned out that neck brace wasn't just for show.

But that wasn't important right then. No, now that they were back on safe ground, there was something that Tomura needed to address.

"Kurogiri." his voice was clear and level but it had an underlying edge to it which, when combined with the snarl that was tugging at one corner of his mouth, made it abundantly clear that Tomura was far from calm. Indeed, he was so enraged that he had come full-circle and once again bore a semblance of self-control.

"What. The fuck. Was that?" he was trying, he really was.

But he needed an answer and he needed it now.

"All of our cannon fodder is either dead or captured. That's fine; they were a resource and they were used. This was a raid, after all. We never expected to get through it without having to use some consumables on the way. The kids all survived. That's fine too, though I really think someone needs to check their dice with how many crits that must have taken."

"But you know which two things really hit home, Kurogiri? You know which two things really chap my hide? We lost Nomu and All Might doesn't even have a FUCKING SCRATCH ON HIM!" Kurogiri's only response was to remain absolutely still for fear of having his entire body disintegrated from the neck out.

"How could this have happened? Do you have any idea, Kurogiri?" Tomura had adopted a softer, legitimately curious tone, "I mean, we had a plan, right? What's more, it was a good plan if I do say so myself. I spent enough time on it that I was allowed to take twenty, so it damn well betterhave been a good plan, right?" he shook Kurogiri forcefully enough that he nodded involuntarily, "Right. So glad you agree."

"So, we had the manpower. We had the consumables. We had the plan and you know what? We even had a surprise round because of the batshit crazy bonus our newest recruit has to Disguise and Bluff checks. Everything was going wonderfully. In fact, everything was going so well that the GM felt the need to beef up the encounter a little bit by adding Eraserhead for some reason."

Tomura cocked his head and a thoughtful expression crossed his face.

"Honestly, he wouldn't have been my first choice. If I wanted to make things harder for the PC's in a situation like that I'd have gone with someone who was better at crowd control like Midnight. Do you know what that tells me, Kurogiri?" his attention was back on the mist-faced man in front of him who was dressed like a bartender when he wasn't in battle mode, "That tells me that all of our hard work was actually being rewarded for a change. The GM saw that we had a huge advantage, but they respected our prep work so much that they only put forth a token effort to make things more difficult. In short: we had everything going for us."

"So, I'm going to ask you a very simple question: What. The fuck. Happened? We weren't able to use our plan at allbecause by the time All Might showed up you had somehow managed to get yourself captured by a bunch of students and a Rescue Hero who has hardly fought a day in their life." it was getting really, really hard not to yell.

"So, what went wrong? Did you roll a nat one? Were they all over-levelled? Did you take Wisdom and Intelligence as goddamn DUMP STATS?!"

"…I underestimated them." Tomura's fingers twitched.

"Care to elaborate?" even without a visible face, it was clear that Kurogiri would have been sweating.

"I believed the primary threat to be Thirteen, since they were the only one to take immediate offensive action against me, as well as being the one who was coordinating the others. I very nearly defeated them as well, but one of the students intervened, having apparently predicted my actions. I was taken by surprise and in that moment was subjected to a team attack. I could have escaped but Thirteen's Black Hole is apparently capable of sucking up my Warp Gates. Once I realized this fact I had been captured and held hostage by the girl who…" he touched the hole in his neck brace and hissed with pain at the acid burn he had suffered, "…did this to me."

"Yeah." Tomura nodded slowly, remembering that girl in particular, "Pink-skinned acid bitch. I thought I had everyone good and distracted when you made a break for it, but her reaction time was something else. She must have put a feat into opportunity attacks or something."

He shook his head, reminding himself that he was supposed to be furious right now. He could consider the mechanics behind everyone later.

"Back to the main point, actually: All Might. Nomu was next to useless against him." Tomura turned his head to look at a small television that was on one end of the bar, "You said that he was as powerful as All Might and that, with his Quirks, he'd be more than a match for him! You also said that All Might has been getting weaker! He was just fine when I saw him! You were wrong, Sensei!"

"No, I was not." a deep, smooth voice emanated from the television, "We simply got ahead of ourselves a little and suffered some misfortune. We underestimated not only All Might, but U.A. as a whole. As for Nomu, he was never designed to combat All Might single-handedly; he was designed to absorb his attacks and hold him down while you executed the plan. His lack of intelligence and thus, critical thinking skills, left him ill-suited for a battle against someone who was his equal."

"Right, because everybody knows that having the heaviest hitter in the party be a complete moron isn't asking for trouble at all!"

"Tomura. Are you suggesting that I made an error when I created Nomu to fit the necessary specifications for yourplan?"

It was as though an invisible miasma was oozing out of the television, filling the room with a palpable sense of dread. Killing intent that could be felt from voice alone sent a shiver down Tomura's spine and he was reminded that his teacher, while indulgent and supportive, was not one to be trifled with.

"No, Sensei. Forgive me. I have had a trying day." with that, Tomura released Kurogiri, who sighed with relief.

"I understand completely. It is a shame that you were not able to recover Nomu after all of the trouble I went through to make him as strong as All Might, but it cannot be helped."

"Strong, huh…" Tomura suddenly remembered a few other students, but one in particular leapt out at him. Perhaps it had something to do with how he had attempted to kill him with no hesitation?

"Sensei, there was one student there who managed to damage Nomu badly enough that it took a few moments for his regen to catch up."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. The way he threw himself in front of us like that…he kinda reminded me of All Might. Had some serious lung power on him too with how forceful that wave of fire was." now Tomura was getting angry again, "You know, without him getting in our way, Nomu probably could've freed Kurogiri before All Might showed up. We still could've used the plan! We still might've had a chance to kill All Might! But…but that damn brat had to go and-!"

"There is no purpose to be served in lamenting that which has already come to pass, Tomura!" his teacher's voice cut him off mid-rant, "I believe wholeheartedly that this undertaking was not a complete loss. We have learned that instead of quantity, we should be aiming for quality in our troops. All you must do then is find more powerful recruits! Take all the time you need. I will help you if you become lost, but I expect you to handle this on your own. By gaining new experiences, you will grow into the symbol that I know you can be!"

"Yeah." Tomura found himself nodding in agreement, "Yeah, that's right. All Might might've gotten away undamaged, but so did I!" the bruise from Eraserhead's punch notwithstanding, "It'll be fine. It'll be alright. I'll make sure the world recognizes me and the League of Villains for what we are!"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku Midoriya walked down the hall leading towards room 1-A, rolling his shoulders experimentally. Recovery Girl had given him a small dose of healing to help his ribs along, but he was still a bit sore and hadn't quite comfortably regained full range of motion.

In one hand he held two pieces of paper, both signed by Recovery Girl. One was a hall pass for himself so he wouldn't get into trouble for being late and the other was an explanatory note on Uraraka's behalf.

Izuku frowned as his mind returned to the scene on the grounds from earlier that morning. He felt terrible that he had worried Uraraka so much and had been able to do so little for her. They had remained in place for nearly an hour until her breathing had finally evened out, at which point he had led her by the hand to the infirmary. For one thing, he was due there himself anyway and for another, Uraraka looked absolutely terrible. She clearly needed rest and a once-over from Recovery Girl probably wouldn't hurt either.

She had protested, of course, when Recovery Girl told her in no uncertain terms to lie down and have a nap.

"What? No! I'm fine, really! This whole thing has just been me being dumb. I don't want to make a big deal out of it!"

"Young lady, Midoriya has informed me that you have hardly slept in the past two days. You are physically and emotionally exhausted and you will lie there in that bed for no less than two hours before I permit you to leave."

Needless to say, that had settled the matter. One simply did not argue with a nurse of any kind when she spoke to you with that particular tone unless you were looking to be drugged into submission.

Izuku realized offhandedly that this would be the first time that he was ever late to any of his classes. Ordinarily, this would have been a huge deal to him but for some reason he just couldn't bring himself to care.

Huh. That was new.

What else had changed? Izuku had been so focused on chasing his dream that he hadn't really taken the time to ask himself that question. It just hadn't seemed that important. Of course he was going to change; that was the whole point. He was going to become as much like All Might as possible and become a worthy successor to his idol. To that end he needed to be stronger, smarter, faster, tougher, more skilled, more reliable, and a dozen other things besides.

…But what if that wasn't all there was to it? What if he had only scratched the surface of what it really meant to be a Hero?

The "USJ Incident," as it had been dubbed by the media, had not been Izuku's first encounter with Villains, nor had it been the first time he had risked his life against a Villain. That honor went to the Sludge Villain on the day that had changed Izuku's life what seemed like such a long time ago now.

So, what was different? Why did he feel so…detached? He looked back on the Sludge Villain and remembered his fear and the adrenaline pumping through his veins. He remembered the look of desperation on Kacchan's face and how he had been prepared to immolate himself if it meant that he could help his friend. He remembered it all so well that if he closed his eyes he could still smell the burning buildings and taste the dust that had been kicked up by the destroyed street.

So why? Why did that incident stir such feelings within him while this one only inspired a sort of clinical fascination? For crying out loud, he had almost died! He had come closer than he had ever realized before Uraraka had filled in the blanks for him. He had accepted that he was most likely done for when Nomu had begun to regenerate. The last thing he remembered before he had suddenly found himself warning All Might in a brief moment of lucidity had been Nomu approaching him and preparing to end his life.

Was he traumatized? Was this his way of dealing with that sort of thing? Just…removing himself from the equation and rationalizing all of it?

Well, if it was then Izuku could accept it. After all, he felt fine overall and he wasn't the important one here anyway; everyone else was. If he had the ability to just deal with everything and move on, then all that meant was that he could spend more of his time being useful to the ones who mattered.

Except he hadn't done a very good job of that, apparently. The still-damp shoulder of his jacket was a testament to that. He had given his all to protect his classmates and teacher, but in doing so had caused an entirely different type of harm to at least one of them.

And that was unacceptable.

All Might never did things like that. He won and he made everyone feel like everything would be okay afterwards, even when he was hurt or tired. He was a beacon of hope and the Symbol of Peace.

Yes, Izuku still had a lot of work to do and if Wednesday's events were any indication, there was no such thing as fast enough when it came to completing said work.

Plus Ultra. That was the only thing for it. He would just have to push himself harder and-

No.

No, he had tried that once before. Back before he ever received One For All, when he had still been focusing entirely on physical conditioning. It had not ended well.

He had learned that lesson. Why was he regressing now?

…Maybe I'm a bit more messed up right now than I thought?

This train of thought was interrupted by the fact that he had now reached his classroom and was in the process of opening the door. He was surprised to hear Aizawa's voice, having thought that his teacher would at least be out of commission for a little while.

"You all need to understand that an event like this isn't the sort of thing that gets cancelled because a few Villains decided to get uppity. For students like you, this will be the single greatest opportunity you'll get to- hmm?"

Aizawa cut himself off as he noticed Izuku enter the classroom and turned to look at him. One of his arms was in a thick cast supported by a sling while his ginger movements led Izuku to assume that underneath his costume his torso would be heavily bandaged as well. In spite of his obvious discomfort, Class 1-A's homeroom teacher wore the same tired expression as usual. He held out his hand to Izuku expectantly as a few of the more excitable students made various exclamations of relief and welcome.

Izuku dutifully handed him the hall pass and the note, both of which were briefly glanced over, crumpled up and thrown away.

"Alright, Midoriya, you're in the clear. Get to your seat and try not to cause too much of a commotion. I was just in the middle of announcing that the Sports Festival is coming up soon."

Izuku stumbled on the way back to his desk and had it not been for Shoji and Hagakure's timely intervention, he would have fallen flat on his face.

The reason for this was that he had managed to completely forget about the U.A. Sports Festival with everything else that had happened. The Sports Festival was, to put it lightly, an absolutely huge event that would capture the attention of the entire country. Pro Heroes from all over would be in attendance with the purpose of scouting potential Sidekicks or interns for their respective agencies, not to mention the massive amount of publicity that one could get if they did well enough.

In short, it was a really, really big deal and they would only have three shots at it as U.A. students.

No pressure.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"I know you all have things to do, so I'll keep this brief." Tsukauchi stated as he fanned out his papers slightly to allow for easier access, "The one called Shigaraki possesses a Quirk that allows him to disintegrate anything he touches. We've been through the list of every man in their twenties and thirties in the Quirk Registry, but we couldn't turn anything up on him. Nothing on Kurogiri, the Warp Gate user, either."

Toshinori Yagi frowned as he looked over his own copy of Tsukauchi's notes while his colleagues seated around the conference table did the same. It was himself, Nezu, Snipe, Midnight and Blood King, who had apparently given his homeroom students study hall in order to be there.

Tsukauchi had been a valuable friend of Toshinori's for some years thanks in part to the fact that he was aware of All Might's true form and could help cover for him when necessary. He also took care of a large portion of the paperwork generated by All Might's spontaneous acts of Heroism, which was very much appreciated.

"All we really know about them is that neither is registered and they are both using aliases." Tsukauchi continued, "This makes them members of the underworld. Influential ones too, apparently, given that we apprehended no fewer than seventy-two Villains at USJ the other day. If we assume that they were the only two to escape, that brings the League's minimal manpower to seventy-four before the incident."

"Shoot, son," Snipe's voice was partially distorted thanks to the tan gasmask he wore as part of his costume, "you mean that cowpoke was able to rustle up a posse like that without anyone o' us knowin'? I reckon we outta do our darndest to round up some more info 'fore that leader o' theirs tries somethin' like that again! We still got no idea how in tarnation they pulled it off the first time!"

"Their leader, huh…" Toshinori half-mumbled to himself. Nevertheless, it caught Nezu's attention from where he sat next to him.

"What is it, All Might?"

"It's just…this whole incident rubs me the wrong way. I don't just mean the fact that we were infiltrated and that our students were in danger and I don't just mean the obvious level of meticulous planning that went into it either. It's just that when I take all of that and I consider that Shigaraki character…it just doesn't add up."

Toshinori was struggling to find the correct words. Fortunately, his peers were patient with him.

"From the brief exchange we had after I arrived, it would be simple enough to write him off as some deranged lunatic who just so happens to have a personal vendetta against me. The discussion he had with Thirteen and young Shoji, at least thanks to the report that Tsukauchi-kun was kind enough to provide us all with, suggests that there is far more to him than there appears to be. For instance, one of the first things he said to Thirteen was that he had no real interest in killing anyone except for me."

"There's no way you'd be gullible enough to buy that, All Might!" Blood King said incredulously, "His plan just before that was to start killing students because he thought it would get you there more quickly!"

"Now, just a moment." Nezu cut in with his beady eyes slightly wider than normal, "From what we know, did Shigaraki actually engage in violence before Eraserhead's attack?"

"From the testimony I received from Shoji-san, he did not." Tsukauchi replied.

"Furthermore, in his debate with Thirteen and Shoji-san, Shigaraki expressed a degree of disgust with pointless violence as well as sadness that, in his opinion, mankind as a whole does not possess the ability to be better than this." Nezu added.

"Please, consider this," Toshinori took back the reins, grateful for Nezu's assistance, "the only threats he made were pursuant to his stated goal of killing me and the only times he engaged in violence or even threatened to do so were when he was attacked or, in the case of his attempted recovery of Kurogiri, when his ultimatum was rejected and his only other option would be to surrender."

"What I mean to say," here Toshinori pressed his hands onto the table, fingers splayed, "is that, when his actions are viewed through the lens provided to us by his speech and mannerisms, I cannot bring myself to believe that he is a typical Villain."

"Dear god…" Nezu said in a whisper that still carried throughout the conference room, "…it's a game. It's all a game to him. All of this was nothing more than him attempting to complete a specific objective. Even his battle banter with Eraserhead was hardly antagonistic. It was the sort of conversation you might hear between two people having a good-natured competition of some kind!"

"All Might," Midnight was subconsciously playing with one of the short chains dangling from the handcuffs she wore like bracelets, "you know I have a great deal of lu-*ahem*, respect for you, but what you're suggesting…it's the kind of crazy that not even I could find attra-*ahem*, could comprehend. This guy's seriously messed up in the head if he sees the world as nothing more than a game, especially if it's not the fun kind of game."

"Hombre's nuttier 'n a squirrel turd." Snipe agreed.

"While I think we can all agree that the mental state of this Villain, whatever it may be, is undesirable," Tsukauchi opined as he smacked his papers against the table to get everyone's attention, "I believe that there is one particular fact that is being overlooked here: this man managed to convince at least seventy-three other individuals to follow him. Most of them may have just been back-alley thugs, but it still leaves the question of why so many would join him willingly."

After a quick glance around to make sure he had everyone's undivided attention, the detective continued.

"I believe it is possible that, in today's society that has become saturated with Heroes, the small-time Villains who always get kicked around could be drawn in by the bizarre sort of purity and conviction that Shigaraki seems to possess. If he truly views the entire world as a game, then that would imply that he is convinced that there is a way to win it. There is, after all, no point in playing a game if there is absolutely zero chance of some kind of victory, be it large or small, material or immaterial."

Toshinori was not an avid gamer by any means, nor was anyone else in the room, Tsukauchi having only done surface-level research into game theory since it seemed pertinent. There was one thing that all of them could agree on as they left the conference room to go about their daily duties:

This Villain was different.

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Izuku watched Cementoss leave the room as fourth period Modern Literature ended. Various students were starting to file out since it was now officially lunchtime, while some others were sticking around for a few moments to discuss the upcoming Sports Festival.

"Oh man! This has me so freaking pumped you guys!" among these, to no one's surprise, was Kirishima.

"Hell yeah, man!" Sero agreed, "If we manage to show off our stuff here, then that's one huge step towards going Pro!"

This declaration sparked additional replies and soon there was a general ruckus from that corner of the room.

"You know, it's kinda weird." Izuku observed.

"What is?" Iida inquired as he finished putting his things away.

"Well, in spite of everything we just went through, everyone's so excited."

"Surely you do not mean to suggest that you aren't, Midoriya-san? This is our chance to add our names to the ranks of Heroes! Of course everyone is in high spirits!"

"Almost everyone."

"Ah." Iida adjusted his glasses to give himself a moment to think, "Do not worry, Midoriya-san. I am sure that all will be well once she gets some rest."

"Yeah!" Ashido chirped as she and Asui walked past, "I mean, you probably couldn't see it, but your jacket was soaked when you came in. It's no wonder she'd be tired after that!"

"Ribbit. I'm sure part of everyone's good mood is that they got to see you safe and sound, Midoriya. I know I was worried, at least."

"Ah, thank you, Asui-san." he was honestly touched by such a frank declaration.

"Call me 'Tsuyu-chan.'" then again, everything Asui said was frank.

"Th-thank you, Tsuyu-san."

"Ribbit. Close enough."

"Hey! I was worried too! At least until Kiri texted me to let me know that everything was alright." Ashido protested, feigning offense.

"Oh, that reminds me, Ashido-san."

"Hmm?"

"Well, are you doing okay? I heard…that is, in the infirmary…" Izuku was suddenly not sure if it was his place to be asking this when Ashido's smile faltered for a moment before it came back and she gave him a "don't worry about it" wave.

"I'm…better. Yeah, I'm doing a lot better! I appreciate the concern, Midori. For real."

"Ribbit. Don't go being too nice to all the girls now, Midoriya. You need to give the rest of the boys a chance."

"Speak for yourself!" Hagakure chimed in as Izuku felt someone ruffle his hair from behind, "He can be as nice to me as he wants!"

Izuku's face got redder and redder as his thought processes all ground to a halt.

"I, er, um,"

"What, are we all hitting on Midoriya?" Jiro appeared next to a snickering Kaminari, and proceeded to make finger guns at Izuku, "Hey good-lookin', you like smooth jazz?"

"Gah…kek…"

Ashido, with a mercy born of gratitude, did not join in. This did not, however, stop her from doubling over in laughter.

"Hahaha! Yaomomo! Get over here and blow him a kiss or something, this is priceless!"

"I refuse to help you torment the Class Vice-President."

"Yes, quite right!" Iida had recovered from his initial bemusement, "He is clearly unsettled by this! Your little joke is at an end."

"Aww, do I have to? He's so cute!" Hagakure sounded as though she was pouting.

"Oh for fuck's sake." Kacchan to the rescue, apparently, "Oi, Half-n-Half! Get Invisibitch outta here!"

"Why is she suddenly my responsibility?" a confused Todoroki looked up from his bento.

"Yeah, seriously!" Hagakure agreed as she took a few steps towards him to better demonstrate her support.

"Thank…you?" Todoroki seemed even more confused at her sudden vehemence. She then skipped over to him and a piece of rice that had been stuck to his face floated upwards and vanished.

"Yeah! Everyone knows that if anything, I'm responsible for him! Todo would just be lost without me! Of course, I'm invisible so sometimes he might still get lost anyway but that's not important!"

"…Are you real?" Todoroki stared at where her face would be incredulously, "Or are you just something my brain created because somewhere deep down I feel that I deserve to suffer?"

A piece of meat vanished from his bento next.

"Real enough to steal your food."

"I…should I be doing something about this?" Kaminari asked the group at large, apparently torn, "Does this fall under the banner of 'presidential duties?'"

"Well," Iida said thoughtfully, "is either of them breaking any rules?"

"I mean, they would be if Todoroki suddenly decided to freeze her or something." Jiro supplied.

"Yeah, but you don't think he'd actually do that, do you?" Izuku immediately latched on to the change of topic.

"Well," Ashido raised a finger, "he did freeze everybody back in the Battle Trial because they pissed him off."

"Fair point. Hey, Todoroki! No freezing!" Kaminari barked at the flustered boy who was currently discovering that it was difficult to prevent your food being stolen when the culprit had invisible hands.

"I know that!" he made a swiping motion over his rice with his chopsticks but one of his vegetables vanished instead, "Don't you have your own food?!"

"Hmm?" Hagakure responded absentmindedly as her sleeve hovered back and forth to select her next target, "Yeah, of course I do. You want some?"

"If you're going to keep stealing my food, then yes."

"Okie-dokie~ Lemme go get it I'll be right back." with that Hagakure bounced over to her desk, which was right in front of Kacchan's, and retrieved her lunch, humming happily.

"Did…" Ashido seemed to be having difficulty believing her eyes, "…did she just con him into sharing lunches?"

"Ribbit. Looks that way."

Izuku had to admit that if that had been Hagakure's intention, which he was a bit skeptical of, then it had indeed been masterfully done. He was prevented from thinking about it further when a particular girl made her way into the classroom with a yawn.

"Uraraka-san! Are you feeling better?" he asked as he walked over to her.

"I mean…kind of? I'll still probably be going to bed superearly tonight, but I feel like I can make it through the rest of school at least. Lunch will probably help perk me up though!" she did a fist pump in an attempt to display her usual cheer and enthusiasm, but it was obvious to anyone watching that she was still not back to one-hundred percent.

"Well, in that case let's quit screwing around and go to the cafeteria. Shoji said he'd save our table." Kacchan said as he exited the classroom and was swiftly followed by Kirishima, Iida, Uraraka and Izuku.

"Wait, you were waiting for me?" a confused Uraraka asked.

"Duh."

"Well, um, why? You couldn't have known that I'd be back in time for lunch, right?"

"Ugh, fine. If you must know, I figured that Recovery Girl would want you to get some food in your system, plus there's the fact that if you slept for too long during the day you'd wreck your sleep schedule and be right back where you started, so yeah."

"Wow, dude," an impressed Kirishima stated, "I keep forgetting that you're actually, you know, smart."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?! You wanna fight?!"

"There, see, that's more like you."

While the pair of them bickered, Iida informed Uraraka of the upcoming Sports Festival, causing her to react in much the same way as the rest of the class had. Seeing this made Izuku suddenly realize that he had neglected to ask her a very basic question during their talks.

"Uraraka-san, why do you want to be a Hero?"

"Eh?" she seemed taken aback by the sudden question.

"Sorry to spring this on you so suddenly, I just realized that I'd never actually asked you and it seems kind of important, so…"

"Oh, no, it's fine! Let's see…I guess I'd have to say that it all boils down to money."

"You want to be a Hero for the money?" of all the possible answers he could have received, Izuku had decidedly notexpected that one.

"Well, ultimately, yeah." she was clearly embarrassed and started fiddling with her hair, "Sorry. I know it seems really base, especially when you consider how noble you and Iida's motivations are."

"I must disagree!" Iida interjected, gesticulating in his usual wild manner, "How could anyone fault you for seeking a more comfortable lifestyle?! Surely we all desire to maintain a certain standard of living, yes?"

"Y-yeah!" Izuku hurriedly agreed, "It was just a little unexpected, that's all! I didn't mean anything by it."

"No, I know you didn't, Deku-kun. You see…"

"Spit it out, Uraraka." Kacchan commanded.

"Yeah, you can talk to us!" Kirishima added.

"Well, it's just…I'm telling you all this so you can understand, but I'd really appreciate it if you didn't spread it around, alright?" they all agreed immediately and after taking a steadying breath, she continued.

"My family runs a construction company, but business has been bad for a long time now. My mom and dad never made a big deal out of it, but I know they have a hard time making ends meet more often than not. I wouldn't be living in my own apartment right now if it wasn't an absolute necessity, even with U.A. helping out with the costs."

"Construction…say, if you got permission to use your Quirk, couldn't you help cut down costs, Uraraka-san?" Izuku suggested.

"Right?!" she whirled on him immediately, "That's exactly what I said to my dad way back when, but he shot me down. He said…" she gripped her skirt in her hands as a sad smile made its way onto her face, "He said that it was really sweet of me, but that he and my mom would be even happier if I could make my own dreams come true instead of worrying about them. They'd be pleased with just a family vacation to Hawaii or something once I make it big."

"So, I'm gonna be a Hero." Uraraka's expression became determined, "I'll make that money and I'll use it to help my mom and dad have easier lives whether they want it or not!"

Honestly, Izuku felt a little childish.

Unlike me, who just idolizes Heroes and wants to be like them, she's taking practicality into consideration as well. Being a Hero is a job too, after all. Even they have bills to pay and mouths to feed at the end of the day.

Iida was giving Uraraka a standing ovation while Kirishima wiped his eyes while talking about how manly her dedication to her family was. Even Kacchan was looking at her with a newfound respect when a massive tan blur with iconic blonde hair and a booming laugh zoomed around the corner and made them all jump about a foot into the air.

"Ah-HA! Midoriya, my boy! I have found you!"

Was it weird that he still hadn't gotten used to seeing All Might in a suit?

"Gah! Sensei! Did you need me for something?"

"I was wondering…" All Might lifted a neatly-wrapped bento, "…if you wanted to eat lunch with me?"

"Pfft! Just like a schoolgirl!" Uraraka couldn't seem to decide whether to commit herself to laughter or cuteness overload and the middle ground she had settled on looked slightly uncomfortable in Izuku's opinion.

"I- sure! That is-" Izuku looked to his friends for confirmation.

"What are you asking for permission for? Get outta here." Kacchan waved him away and Kirishima gave him the thumbs-up.

"Right. Talk to you guys later!"

With that, Izuku followed All Might to the teacher's lounge.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"I wonder what All Might-sensei wants with Deku-kun?"

Tenya Iida considered Uraraka's question as they took their place in the lunch line, which was rather short by this point by virtue of their later-than-usual arrival.

"Perhaps he wishes to commend him for his actions back at USJ? I was not there at the time, but from my understanding Midoriya-san was instrumental in holding the Villains back long enough for All Might and myself to arrive, as well as in rescuing Aizawa-sensei." Uraraka nodded her agreement, and Tenya remembered something else, "Plus, just like Asui-san mentioned back on the bus, their Quirks have some similar aspects. Given all of this, I would not be surprised if All Might has taken a liking to him."

"Hey, yeah! Plus, Deku-kun really idolizes him, so if that's the case then he'd be over the moon about it!" Uraraka smiled at the thought.

"Dude, that'd be awesome!" Kirishima exclaimed once they had all sat down at their table, thanked Shoji for saving their seats and relayed their theory, "I can only imagine if I'd had that kind of chance with Crimson Riot back in the day…'course I wasn't alive then, but still."

"Crimson Riot, huh? Talk about old-school." Bakugo said between bites, "Is that why you want to be a Hero then, since that seems to be the topic of the day? To be like him?" this caused Kirishima to adopt a thoughtful expression.

"Well, yes and no. I'd say that it's less about trying to follow after him and more about trying to follow after his ideals, you know? Like, what he represented as both a man and a Hero. I think that if I can achieve what Crimson Riot was always striving for, even just a little, then I could hold my head high and know that I'd really become a man among Heroes, just like him. Does that make sense?"

"I believe it makes perfect sense, Kirishima-san." Tenya supplied, "You can absolutely strive to emulate a person without attempting to become a copy of them." Kirishima nodded happily, obviously pleased that he had managed to get his point across.

"Say, what about you, Bakugo?" he asked, "I know that Midoriya wants to be like All Might and Uraraka mentioned that Iida wants to be like someone too…"

"My brother, Ingenium." Tenya filled in.

"Dude, for real? That's way cool. Yeah, so Midoriya wants to be like All Might, Iida wants to be like his big bro and Uraraka wants to make bank and help out her folks. That just leaves you and Shoji and I wanna save him for last since I was already gonna grill him about that news story, you sly bastard!"

Shoji had the grace to look mildly abashed at the good-natured ribbing.

"Well," Bakugo began, "I look up to All Might like Deku does, but not for the same reasons. See, Deku wants to be the kind of Hero who can rescue anyone and that everyone looks up to. As for me, I want to be the kind of Hero who never loses and can defeat any Villain single-handedly! I want to stand at the top as the indisputable Number One Hero so that everyone can know that I'm the best and that if they feel like committing evil acts, I'll be there to blow their faces off."

"Wow, Bakugo-san!" Uraraka commented, "Those are some seriously high ambitions, but at the same time I think it'd be weird for you to say anything else. So…as expected, I guess?"

Tenya nodded in agreement.

"Indeed. What of you, Shoji-san? What fuels your desire for this noble profession?"

Tenya noticed that, by virtue of his ability to have multiple duplicated mouths at once, Shoji was able to eat and communicate simultaneously. Tenya found himself unable to decide whether this counted as speaking with one's mouth full and could therefore be construed as rude, so he let it go for the sake of his own sanity.

That is one skill at which I am becoming disturbingly proficient as of late.

"I suppose that you could compare my motivations most closely to those of Uraraka-san in that I do not seek to emulate any particular Hero, though of course there are a great many that I admire. Nor, however, do I seek material gain, though I do recognize the necessity of money for maintaining my everyday life. I am something of a minimalist, you see."

"So, if there's nothing you want, does that mean you want to become a Hero for no reason?" Kirishima asked, obviously confused. Shoji shook his elongated head.

"I said that I do not desire anything material, not that I do not desire anything at all. Indeed, I do have an overriding desire that drove me to become who I am today: the desire to be useful in whatever way I can. I have always been strong of body and my Quirk is highly useful for Heroic activities, though it is not my intention to boast. Therefore, the course of action that would allow me to be of use to the greatest number of people while not wasting my natural abilities reasonably seemed to be becoming a Hero."

"And here you are, huh?" Bakugo concluded.

"And here I am." Shoji concurred.

"…Does anyone else feel like we're all being super-greedy compared to Shoji?" Kirishima inquired.

"Well, I kind of already felt that way before I heard his story, so…" Uraraka trailed off.

"I admit that hearing of this particular brand of selflessness does put some things into perspective." Tenya agreed.

"Hey, don't knock greed!" Bakugo barked, much to everyone's surprise, "People give greed a bad name because it's usually used in a negative context. Sure, greed may not necessarily be good, but it's not so bad either. Having something you want means that you can work up the motivation to do whatever it takes to get that something. A lot of people think that greed is just for material things like money and power, but everyone wants something they don't have."

Tenya was impressed in spite of himself.

"Bakugo-san, are you a philosopher now?"

"That's not philosophy, it's common fucking sense! Greed wouldn't have existed for this long if it didn't have some kind of use! Same thing for every other emotion that we still have after millions of years of evolution. Sadness, anger, hatred, envy, pride, lust and all of the other classically negative emotions have a time and place where they can be used for something. If anyone ever just took a minute to think about shit, I'm sure they'd all come to the same conclusion."

"You know," Kirishima raised a finger after everyone had taken a solid minute to digest what Bakugo had said, "I've thought this for a while now, but you get weird when Midoriya's not around, don't you?"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING WEIRD YOU SPIKE-HEADED BASTARD?!"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Toshinori reached across the coffee table and set a steaming cup of tea in front of his protégé while the boy digested what he had just told him.

"So you really are starting to lose your powers, All Might?"

Toshinori nodded.

"Yes. When we met, you may recall that I said I could work as a Hero for roughly three hours a day. As of my most recent estimate, I am down to something more like two hours and fifteen minutes. I truly pushed myself to the brink in my fight with Nomu and I believe that it cost me around thirty minutes of transformation time."

"So you mean, even before then…?" Midoriya's expression was so grim that Toshinori nearly regretted extending his invitation.

But even so, there were things that needed to be said and the sooner they were said, the better.

"My boy, my torch's flame began weakening from the very moment I passed it along to you, just as we both knew it would. All this means is that the amount of time until you must take your place as my successor has been lessened somewhat; the fact itself has not changed. I am simply grateful to still have as much time remaining as I do. Had whatever plan those Villains devised been implemented, things could very well have ended up being much worse."

"Considering how close we came and how much everyone went through regardless, it's almost hard to imagine."

Okay, something was well and truly wrong here. The rest could wait for a moment.

"Midoriya, my boy, what is it that troubles you?"

"What do you mean, All Might?"

"Do not play *blarf* coy with me. I know that some*hack*thing is bothering you." Toshinori said through a bout of bloody coughs, "Out with it."

"Is it that obvious?" a nod was his only response.

"Alright. In that case, I have a question that I need to ask you, All Might."

"Ask away, my boy, ask away."

"How do you do it? How do you deal with the parts of being a Hero that nobody talks about? That nobody thinks about? How do you deal with it when a near-death experience has you questioning yourself? How do you deal with it when people are hurting, but it's not on the outside? When they're losing sleep because of the trauma they've endured? What are you supposed to do when your friend is crying into your shoulder because she almost had you die in her arms?"

At that moment Toshinori Yagi wanted nothing more than to hug his student. He very nearly did just that, only managing to stop himself when he was already halfway off of the couch.

He forced himself to sit back down and regard Midoriya with clasped hands and a serious expression. This was not the type of question that could be waved off with a hug or some placating words. This was a very real and very prominent issue that deserved to be addressed properly.

"I…I had heard, of course, but I didn't…" Toshinori found himself struggling to put sentences together, "I had wanted to visit you when you were in the infirmary, my boy. You have my utmost apologies that I did not. I was concerned that the mere minutes I had remaining to me would not allow for a clean getaway when I discovered that most of your class had accompanied you. Before I address your question properly, allow me to apologize. I should have come regardless."

"You don't have to apologize to me, All Might. You needed to conceal your secret identity. I understand that."

"I may have made the correct decision, my boy, but it does not necessarily mean that I made the right one. I still feel as though I failed you somehow as my protégé."

"D-don't be ridiculous!" Midoriya rubbed aggressively at his eyes with his sleeve.

"There, I am afraid we must agree to disagree. Nevertheless, you have, knowingly or not, touched upon the part of being a Hero that many consider to be the most difficult to the point that many have changed careers over it. I am not referring to the near-death experiences, for over time you will grow accustomed to them, though it is always at least a little jarring in hindsight. Lord knows that I've had more than my fair share over the years."

Toshinori took a sip of his tea and steeled himself for what he would say next.

"It may seem callous of me to say this, my boy, but when it all gets to be too much, it is easy to start thinking of civilians, bystanders and even Villains as a statistic. After all, what do you truly know about them other than the fact that it is your job to protect them, that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time and that they are threatening the first two and must be stopped respectively?" here, his voice dropped slightly and he clasped his hands together all the more tightly.

"But those whom you fight alongside time and again? Those who know you, the real you, better than anyone? My boy, the day that you can remain unhurt by that is the day that you will have truly lost the last of your humanity. Most Heroes come to instinctively understand this over time and, in order to prevent the worst from happening, take one of two courses of action. The first is to cut all ties with friends and family and to devote yourself in your entirety to a life of Heroism. Your identity as a Hero becomes your only identity and you give it your all until the day you either retire or die in the line of duty."

"What's the second choice?" Midoriya prompted.

"Ah, the second choice is infinitely more difficult than the first. Where the first choice involves minimizing the possibility of suffering and loss by cutting ties with those who could be viewed as your weaknesses, the second involves embracing them all the tighter. You devote your life as a Hero to not only protecting the public, but those whom you hold most dear as well. You come to love and cherish them more fiercely than ever, for they are your rays of light on the darkest of days. They are the home that you can return to and your reminder, your one, final reminder that you can still be loved as a person even when your hands are stained with the blood of those that you could not save along with that of those whose demise was of your own design."

"You can see the risk involved with the second path, can't you, my boy?"

"Yes." Midoriya nodded, "When you devote your all to those you love, it means that if something were to happen to them in spite of all you'd done…"

"It could destroy you." Toshinori finished for him.

"All Might, which path did you take?" he sounded almost fearful and Toshinori had the strange impression that, somehow, some way, the boy knew.

"I experienced loss, true loss, only once. It was…it was too much. I knew that I wouldn't have the strength to carry on if such a thing were to happen to me again, so I took the first path. My injury only sealed the deal later on. But you know something, my boy?" this time Toshinori did rise from the couch and walk over to Midoriya where he knelt in front of the boy sitting on his stool and placed both hands on his shoulders.

"Not a single day has gone by where I haven't regretted that decision. You can do all the good in the world and be hailed as the Number One Hero, but if there is no one waiting for you at the end of the day, if you have no reason to ever doff the costume for just a moment and truly be yourself, then when the dust settles and you take a moment to truly look at what you have become, you will realize that it all rings hollow. Nothing but fake muscles and insincerity until all that remains is for you to continue perpetuating the same cycle for yourself because, at that point, what else can you do?"

"So, when your friends need to talk, listen. When they need help, be there. And when they need a shoulder to cry on, open your arms and ask questions later. It's okay to feel fear, it's okay to hurt and it's okay to cry, but never doubt for a single moment that it is the people around you that make your life worth living. So do all that you can to preserve both their happiness and your own. If you can do that, then one day you may find your answer…"

Toshinori pulled the now-crying boy to him and wrapped him in his arms.

"…just as I have done."

He felt the arms of his student, his protégé, his successor, his torchbearer wrap around his torso as the boy let out all that which he had been holding in, maybe without knowing it.

To you, my boy, I can only say "thank you." You have saved me in ways that I pray you never have to realize.