Before we start, I want to address a review I got. The review criticized both All For One's experiments, after I said that he doesn't attack children, and Izuku's trust of these people that kidnapped and tortured him. First, when he cremated Izuku, he was in a rage. When you're angry, you rarely think clearly. While yes, in canon, All for one does seem like the kind of person that could control his temper, but in my story, he lost control and lashed out. Second, I said he doesn't attack children without good reason. The keyword here is good. My definition of what is good is probably different from yours and, in this case, All for one. To him, experimenting on Izuku to learn more about his quirk is a good enough reason. Finally, Izuku trusting his kidnappers is simple. He developed stockholm syndrome, which is defined as feelings of trust or affection felt in many cases of kidnapping or hostage-taking by a victim toward a captor. While my pacing is sometimes off and i might make an error or two, I always make sure that there aren't any major plot holes, even if it's not noticeable at first. Whenever I see a plot hole I forgot to fill, I quickly edit the chapter to fill it in. Thanks for putting up with this long A/N and hope you enjoy this chapter.
It have been about five years since the hero rescued him from the villains. In that time frame, he was diagnosed with both stockholm syndrome, because he didn't see a problem with people experimenting on him, and anti-social personality disorder, or ASPD for short. He diagnosed with ASPD due to not being able to empathize with people's pain, though he was able to sympathize. He actually forgot how pain actually felt after all those experiments he went through. He went to several therapy sessions, but still couldn't empathized with other people. In fact, when his class learned that he still wanted to be a hero, they had their doubts. After all, how could someone that couldn't understand pain help people? Izuku understood their doubts and he was wondering if his lack of empathy would negatively impact his future hero careers. Shaking his head, Izuku continued walking home. Heading into a tunnel, Izuku got halfway through when he heard something behind him. Turning around, he saw a person with a quirk that made their body a sludge-like substance. "An invisiblity cloak? perfect," the sludge person said as he leapt toward Izuku. Quickly wrapping around the fourteen year old, the sludge villain forced his way into Izuku's mouth.
'He's trying to suffocate me and wear me like a skin-suit' thought Izuku as the disgusting sludge entered his mouth. 'Why does it taste so bad?' Izuku thought before remembering that the sludge villain literally came out of the sewer.
'Why isn't he struggling?' wondered the sludge person. 'He should be panicking or something. It's like he's not feeling any distress'. Both Izuku and the sludge villain were pulled out of their thought when the manhole cover flew up into the air.
"Don't worrry, everything is fine now," said the number one hero as he climbed out of the sewers. "I am here!"
'I wonder if he is doing okay since that day' thought Izuku as he remembered the injury All Might got. He felt the force of All Might's punch as the sludge villain was pulled off of him by the air pressure. "Thanks, All Might. He didn't taste that great".
"No need to thank me," said All Might, unsure how to respond to the other part of that statement. "Now I'll finish up here. Why don't you continue on home?"
"Before I do, I was wondering if you could answer a question or two,' requested Izuku as he watched All Might empty two bottles.
"Sorry, but heroes have to combat both villains and time," All Might declined as he proceeded to scoop the sludge villain into the bottles.
"I overheard someone talking about how you got injured when you broke into All for One's base," said Izuku, shocking All Might. He screwed the cap on the bottle he was holding and turned to the young male.
"How do you know about that?" asked All Might. "I asked everyone that took part to keep it a secret. Any record of it was erased".
"Well, I know because I was there," explained Izuku. "I think that the person that was talking thought that I was asleep or something like that".
"You're that kid that we went to rescue?" asked All Might before coughing into his fist. Izuku nodded before asking about the cough.
"You okay?" asked Izuku. "You got blood leaking out". All Might wiped his mouth clean of the blood.
"I have to leave now," said All Might as he placed the bottles into his pockets. 'I don't have much time left. I need to get to a safe place'. He was about to make a mad sprint to a empty alley or something like that, but Izuku stopped him by asking one simple question.
"Why is steam coming off your body?" This question caused All Might to curse as the steam covered his body, blocking Izuku view of him. When Izuku could see him again, he was surprised to see a thin, skeletal man in place of All Might. "All Might?"
"Yeah," said the man as he sat against the wall of the tunnel. "Now that you seen me like this, I want you to promise not to tell anyone, not even anonymously online".
"No problem," said Izuku as he sat across from the shrunken form of the number one hero.
"To answer your question," said All Might as he lifted his shirt, revealing a large purple scar. "Half of my respiratory organs were destroyed, and I lost my whole stomach. I've become emaciated from repeated surgeries and aftereffects".
"How are you able to do anything?" asked a confused Izuku. All Might didn't know the finer detail, so he just shrugged.
"I can only do my job for about 3 hours," explained All Might. "I guess I have time to answer your other question, and while I'm like this, call me Yagi".
"Okay, Yagi," said Izuku, not knowing why All Might chose that name. "My question is simple. I can't feel pain, or rather I can't feel physical pain. Due to this, I can't empathize with other people's pain. Could someone like me still be someone like you?"
Hey, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. I really don't have much to say, so I guess I'll see you next time.
