Chapter 2: Toshinori Yagi / All Might

How does one teach kids?

You'd think that being All Might, that I would know right? Because I'm the number one hero, I'm supposed to know everything. I'm supposed to be strong in both body and mind and have infinite wisdom. The truth is that I only know how to teach as much as the next guy.

I suppose I could just take inspiration from my own teacher, who I should probably get in touch with soon since it's not everyday that you get accepted to teach at the most prestigious hero school.

Maybe standing and smiling counts as teaching?

Distracted by my dilemma of teaching, I bumped into a small old lady in the supermarket, who gave me a dirty look and scolded me about watching where I was going. If only she knew who I really was. This form was more of a secret disguise nowadays, especially with me out of commission for so long.

The bitter, metallic taste of blood in my mouth was becoming more and more familiar as time went on. I couldn't fully leave my post as a pro hero yet, not without finding a fully capable successor. Which is why I had decided to teach at UA. I'd be able to find someone worthy enough to train and carry on the symbol of peace legacy. And I needed to hurry.

Sometimes, I worried if I would even be able to teach the next term at UA.

Everything will be fine.

At least that's what I hoped for.

"Toshinori?" I looked up at the sound of a familiar woman's voice, hushed, as she stared at me with wide green eyes, tears starting to form and threatening to spill.

"Uh..." was the best I could manage out. She had caught me by utter surprise. My real name was a well kept secret that less than ten people knew. But this woman, oh hell, I could never forget those green eyes. "Inko?" I finally spoke, my voice wavering. I had no doubt in my mind that this was her, but we hadn't spoken in five years. Not since the accident . . .

Before I could react, her arms were around me, hugging tight. I winced, trying not to make my pain noticeable to her, of course she was a bit busy crying into my shirt. Blood filled my mouth and I tried not to let it spill. Finally, I was able to wrap my arms around her. It felt foreign yet familiar. Especially the scent of her hair. The only real difference I could see was her maturity and weight.

After a few moments, or what seemed like forever to me, she pulled away, trying to get rid of the tears staining her cheeks. "Why are you back? I-I thought you had moved when . . ." She cut herself off.

I sighed. I suppose I needed to tell her the truth. I gazed around cautiously to make sure we weren't in earshot of the other shoppers before finally telling her. "I'm teaching at UA this upcoming semester, and I'm looking for student to carry on my legacy. That's why I'm back. But I would appreciate it if you still acted like we swore we would. I can't let my secrets spill for a while. I'll see you later, Inko." I regretfully walked away, my legs feeling like lead. I left the store to avoid any other confrontation with her. Leaving her like I did years ago. . . it's the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I love you, Inko. Please understand that's why I left. I hope you someday realize that. Even now, my chest ached painfully thinking about her.

Right. I should probably explain.

Being the number one hero isn't all fun and games. Sure, I get praised by everyone and they all love me. That's great and all, but it also means villains are constantly after me and anyone I love. To get to me, they would use the people I care about the most to their advantage.

I may be the number one hero, but I'm also the number one on a villain's hit list. The injury I received five years ago has only made this worse, as villains are hearing rumors that I'm becoming weak. Deep down, I know it's not just a rumor. Yet, I have to continue being the symbol of peace for all the citizens so fear and panic doesn't ensue. So, I lie through bloody teeth, smiling to trick the worry and fear deep inside me.

Inko. Sweet Inko. I met her one fateful night, one I'll never forget.

Darkness. All terrible things start in the dead of night, don't they.

There wasn't even a moon that night. Many of the cars had long left the road, which made the night eerily silent. This made that night the perfect timing for an all out, unexpected attack. If our concluded data was correct, the most powerful villains were scheduling a massive attack in downtown Tokyo.

As a young, upcoming and rising pro hero, I was helping out in the task force. I felt strong, confident. Those villains had nothing against us. Or so I thought.

After fighting a couple hundred of weak villains I didn't expect much of this attack. I tapped my foot on the ground, getting a little impatient. Why hadn't they striked yet? Were they waiting for some of us to fall asleep to let our guards down?

Endeavor and I were both separated, stationed a few blocks apart, but I knew he would be at my side if something were to happen and vise versa. You see, Endeavor and I were rivals. Luckily we knew how to tone down our fighting, especially for something this important.

An explosion followed by screaming a few blocks away caught my attention. I jumped up and raced into battle. My first instinct was to save all the innocent citizens. "No need to worry! It's alright now because I am here!" I bellowed my signature phrase as I carried people away from the quickly spreading fires that were nearing my feet. I took as many people as I could possibly carry to safety, my allies taking them farther from the battleground.

I went back to help a woman with bright green eyes, but I was suddenly surrounded by villains. It had been a trap. I was ready to use a Texas Smash and blow them all away like ants, but I couldn't as much as I'd wanted too. The blast would worsen the fires, create more damage to the surrounding properties, and hurt the innocent woman.

"The greatest hero ever, All Might. What an honor it will be to finally end you and your legacy." A menacing voice boasted from the shadows of a tall building behind me. I turned on a dime in the direction of the voice, eyes scanning, only to find the shadow of a man.

"Come out and fight me like a man, villain." I addressed to him, standing tall and smiling. "You will not defeat the great symbol of peace!" I felt good, my hands on my hips. Ah, being young and free was fun. At times. I was quickly taking my surroundings in, sensing how many super villains were around me. Over a dozen? Almost two dozen? In the darkness, it was hard to tell. And I didn't know all of them, which meant some had quirks that I didn't even know. Whatever. As soon as I blast them-

A loud, bloodcurdling, and terrified scream cut my racing thoughts off. It was the scream of a desperate animal in grave danger. The woman. She was struggling, trying to fight off three villains who were holding her. My heart pounded. I had to save her and fast. Think All Might. Think!

"Oh? Is All Might in a pinch? Did I outsmart the heroes? As we speak your comrades are fighting my fake league. A diversion. Even Endeavor's not here to save you now, All Might. If you were taken off the map, he would get exactly what he's wanted for years now. Let's say I'm doing him a favor." The man from earlier spoke, but as he came out of the shadows I realized a few things about him. The first one, he was young, perhaps still a kid. Taken by the darkness that early? I almost felt bad for him. The second was that his white shirt was ripped and covered in blood stains. He didn't seem to be hurt at all, not by the way he was moving, so the blood wasn't his own. He hurt someone. That made me more angry than ever. My smile turned into one of anger if you knew me.

"I shall avenge whoever you hurt, stain man. Justice will be served!" I spoke proudly and activated One for All. I carefully aimed my Texas Smash at the villains surrounding me only, not the woman. Thankfully, she was unscathed when I finished. Time to deal with the stained one.

"Stain huh? I love it. Thanks for the perfect villain name, All Might. Time for you to die like that hero I killed a few minutes ago!" He laughed, his red bandana and mask covered the features of his face so I couldn't tell who the boy underneath the evil was.

He rushed at me, killing intent in his eyes and his blades out.

That's when I realized how fast he was. As fast as me. Possibly even faster if I wasn't young and at the top of my game. I dodged his blades at the last second, getting nicked on the arm. It was barely anything so I wasn't worried.

With One for All activated, I rushed in for a flurry of fast and strong punches, nearly all of them he blocked with his blades or dodged.

A villain to match the great All Might? Who was this guy? I had never heard of him or seen him. He didn't even have a name until just now. And he killed a hero? I had never heard of such as young villain that was going around killing heroes.

Time to use the big guns. I grit my teeth, still smiling as I powered up a larger scale attack, but at the last moment he moved behind the woman he was holding hostage with his buddies. I froze.

"Ah, does All Might not want to hurt the poor lady?" Stain taunted, grinning at me. He used her to protect himself. How cruel, yet smart.

"Leave her out of this! That was a low blow even for a villain, Stain. Come fight me!" I shouted, stepping closer to him, but not too close. The poor lady looked so scared, yet resilience burned in her eyes, something you see in a hero. I admired her for being so brave and cheering me on. I wasn't going to let her down. I swore to myself in that moment.

Stain held his blades up to her neck, ready to kill her. "How about, we make a deal, huh?"

"I said no! Don't you dare hurt her!" One for All was begging to being used on this guy, but I was going to have to use all my control not to hit the woman and hurt her. Now I was worried. Could I do that?

I didn't have time to decide, only to act. I squeezed my eyes and used a smash on Stain, hoping to not hit the woman too badly.

I dared open my eyes to find . . . Stain and his blades were just gone. All the other villains were groaning on the floor, defeated. Best to let the police take care of them. And finally my eyes laid upon the woman. I let out a breath that I didn't realize I had been holding. She was completely uninjured, save for maybe a scratch or two. She struggled to get to her feet.

I race towards her and held out a hand. She grasped mine and I knew, from that first moment of contact, she was something special. "It's alright. I am here." I whispered to her.

"Thank you, All Might. I believed in you the whole time. I knew you wouldn't hurt me." She smiled, eyes practically sparkling.

The woman's name? Inko Midoriya.

I met her and that's when it all began. We eventually got married and even had a son named Izuku.

A secret the world will never know.

In order to protect my loved ones from the evil that lurks in the world, I left them to be a hero, to continue being the symbol of peace. We swore we would act like we didn't know each other if we ever met, but . . . we had broken that promise now. Twice.

At least her son still doesn't know the truth. That All Might is his father.

My son will be safe.

Until I saw him at the UA entrance exam a few months later.