All Might. Yagi Toshinori. Huh.
"All Mi-" Izuku cut himself off at the encouraging look from the hero. "Y-Yagi-san?" When he got a nod of approval, Izuku continued. "I don't mean to be rude, I appreciate everything you've done for me. But why did you offer to let me stay with you? Doesn't this put you more at risk? The League tracked me down already. What if by staying here I lead them straight to you?" Izuku didn't think that he would be able to deal with another person being in danger because of him. All Might had kept his identity a secret this long for a reason. Izuku refused to be the reason that secret got out.
The hero's expression turned thoughtful, a finger tapping against his chin. "When I was about your age, someone very close to me died. I hadn't known her as long as I would have liked, but she was important to me. Someone I looked up to. I can't say that I know exactly what you are going through right now, Midoriya, because I don't. But I do know what it's like to have your time with someone you care about cut short because of circumstances outside of your control." He had to pause then, the sound of wet coughing filling the silence. When he wiped his hand across his it came away red. Bile rose in Izuku's throat at the color.
"As for the League… Nezu is right that they probably won't strike again soon. They don't know my identity, and they won't find it out just by you being here. So don't worry about that, young Nonsense Prince. I am in no more danger by you being here than I usually am. Your safety is what's important here. And you are safest with me."
"But-"
"No!" All Might interrupted, frowning as he leaned forward, examining Izuku closely. "If you aren't comfortable staying with me, you can tell me. If that's the case we can talk to Nezu about making other arrangements. But do not be worried about me not wanting you here."
"No, no!" Izuku said his words blending together as he shook his head. "That's not it at all! I want to stay here, I just don't want you to feel obligated, or put in more danger." I can't lose you too.
"Then it's settled."
Izuku felt anything but settled, but he didn't argue. Instead he asked, "You said we had a lot of things to discuss?"
"That I did, my boy." Izuku's eyes narrowed at the return of the nervous tone All Might had taken on in Nezu's office. " My name being the most important. Can't have you staying with someone without knowing their name. It's about time you knew anyway." All Might gestured around him. "This house was another. I'll give you the tour tomorrow." He stood. "Everything else can be handled tomorrow. Recovery Girl said you needed rest, and you are still healing so I'll go ahead and show you to your room. Find you some clothes to change into."
Izuku knew that it was only the stress that made him feel so bold. Any other day he would probably have accepted the cues from his idol and allowed the change of subject, but something stopped him. "Yagi- san?"
The hero froze at the doorway, turning back to look at Izuku slowly, the low light from the hallway highlighting the sunken in look of his eyes. "Yes, Midoriya?"
"The woman you knew. The woman who died. Who was she?" Hazarding a guess, Izuku glanced over at the photo on the bookshelf. All Might's eyes followed, and he swallowed hard.
"That was the other thing I wanted to mention." All Might wouldn't meet Izuku's eyes, looking down at his hands instead. "There are a lot of things I should tell you. Things I should probably have told you a long time ago. But I… I haven't talked about any of this in a long time, and I'm not ready to have to talk about it again. So I wanted to ask you to be patient with me. And to know that if you feel that I'm keeping things from you… It's not because I don't trust you. It's a lot to ask, but give me a little more time." The pain in All Might's eyes told Izuku that whatever happened to the woman in the photograph...Whatever secrets the hero was keeping about his past… It wasn't going to be a pleasant story. Izuku nodded his agreement, and the way all the tension seemed to release from All Might as he sagged in relief made guilt twist violently in his stomach. He could wait for All Might to be ready to talk about it. Izuku had other things to focus on anyway.
A night of restless sleep and nightmares washed the numbness away leaving only Izuku's anger in its place. It burned under his skin, an inferno searing in his chest, refusing to stay locked away as it had the night before. To be fair, Izuku didn't put much effort into keeping it at bay. Numbness had been his shield the night before, like one of All Might's put upon smiles. If he couldn't use that to keep himself together, then the anger would have to suffice. Until he took out the League at the very least.
For a moment Izuku lay in the guest room bed looking at the room All Might had given him and tried to pretend that he was just there for a visit. Tried to pretend that his idol and mentor had chosen to confide in him, not because the situation demanded it, but because it was a part of his life he wanted to share with him. Then he forced himself out of bed and sat at the small wooden desk set up under the window. He had left his hero analysis notebook in his backpack at the apartment, but he could still remember what he had hastily scrawled in it during class. He needed to figure out a solution for One for All. Izuku hadn't been able to do anything for his mother because he hadn't been there, but if he was being honest with himself what difference would he have really been able to make? Thirteen had struggled against the warp villain and he didn't have anywhere near the same level of control over One for All as Kacchan had over his own quirk. And then there was Shigaraki. Tsuyu pulled him out of the way. Aizawa neutralize his quirk. All Might distracted him. Snipe shot him. Izuku had almost died four times over with help.
How would he have been able to protect his mother while fighting both of them alone? All Might would have been able to handle it, but even with All Might's quirk Izuku was a long way from being anywhere near the hero he was. How could he save anyone when he can't even use One for All without destroying his body in the process? Breaking his own bones was a fine solution when there was nothing at stake, but that method would only get him so far. Who knows how long it would be before Recovery Girl decided she had had enough of healing his self inflicted injuries.
After rooting around the desk drawers from a minute Izuku found paper and a pen carefully rewrote his notes from the day before. The main problem he needed to deal with was his lack of control over One for All. He could talk to All Might about it again, but asking him right after what happened would probably lead to extra attention Izuku couldn't deal with right now. The teachers at Yuuei were sure to be watching him closely to see how he reacted. Asking All Might more questions about his quirk might lead those in the know to suspect him of wanting to go after the League himself, and while Izuku wasn't stupid or arrogant enough to believe himself capable of that at the moment their extra attention might get in the way of his training. Best to avoid that route unless absolutely necessary. So he would continue on with the egg in the microwave visualisation and hope that something clicked.
His other problem came from the fact that he was practically defenseless without a quirk. Izuku had gotten through his one-on-one fight with Kacchan mostly by relying on the fact that they had known each other for years, and Kacchan's movements were almost as familiar to himself as his own. He wasn't the only person Izuku would have to face essentially quirkless while he figured out One for All though, and while he had a lot of experience being in fights he had hardly any winning them and no formal training outside of what Yuuei offered in the hero course. Having access to power like One for All meant nothing if he didn't know what to do with it. So he needed to learn how to how to fight. Not only to tide him over until he had better control over his quirk, but so that when he did he would know what to do with it. Asking All Might was out for the same reason he couldn't ask about One for All. None of his teachers would believe that he had been planning to ask before the League's attack. Unlike All Might's quirk though, this was something Izuku could learn from another source. And he knew just the place to go. All he needed to do now was figure out how to get there without getting caught.
All Might was waiting for Izuku in the kitchen when he finally convinced himself to go downstairs. "Midoriya, my boy." The hero greeted when he saw Izuku standing in the doorway. "I hope that you slept well, all things considered."
"Better than I had expected," he said, which wasn't saying much considering he hadn't expected to get any sleep at all.
""Help yourself to anything you want to eat, and then we have some things to take care of that unfortunately can't be put off." It was strange to see the All Might outside of school and hero work. Meeting his idol in person, training with him, seeing him in class. Before One for All and Yuuei, All Might had seemed like a character out of a story. Too kind, too amazing, too alive to be anything other than fiction. Something for Izuku to project his hopes and dreams on, distant enough that the real world couldn't touch it. Spending so much time with All Might had shaken that view. While he looked up to All Might and respected him more than anyone else, Izuku knew now what he was like as a person. Knew the sacrifices the hero had made to inspire others. He wasn't a figure off in the distance anymore, and Izuku was grateful that he had been given the opportunity to know the person behind the All Might persona.
That being said it was still incredibly jarring to see the hero he had obsessed over since he was five years old sitting at the same kitchen table as him, dressed in pajamas based on his own costume and drinking coffee from a plain white mug with a picture he was pretty sure was supposed to be a chibi version of Aizawa-sensei. For a moment, Izuku considered going back to bed and trying this morning again, but it wasn't worth the effort.
"Thank you, Al-Yagi-san." That might take a little while to get over too.
"Tsukauchi came by this morning, dropped some of your clothes off." All Might smeared jelly across a piece of toast. "Recovery Girl also wants to check in with you again." Midoriya grimaced at the thought, and All Might laughed as took a bite. "She wants to make sure everything is still okay with your arm as well. And then…" He trailed off, the light expression turning more serious. He placed the toast back on the his plate and gripped his mug tightly. "I've been listed as your temporary guardian since you're staying here, Midoriya, and I got a phone call this morning. I know it hasn't been long, but because of you're staying here with no real legal ties to me they are insisting that your mother's will be read today to make sure she didn't have plans for you in the event that something happen. The lawyers in charge of the reading asked if we could meet them today."
Izuku pushed his coffee away, the taste suddenly too bitter.
"I told them I would check with you first before I agreed." All Might continued, regret clear in his voice as he twisted his own mug back and forth by its handle. "You don't have to go today, if you don't want to."
"What about school?" It felt dumb to ask. There were much bigger things going on than school, but it had been the distraction that Izuku needed after had hoped that it would be that again. Besides, his mother had been so proud of him for getting into Yuuei. He couldn't let her down by falling behind.
"Principal Nezu has cancelled classes for the day for all students. He'll be making an announcement later about his plan to increase security. But Midoriya you don't have to go to classes this week, you do know that, right?" All Might looked like he wanted to reach across the table to where Izuku was sitting but stopped himself at the last moment, picking up his toast again instead. "None of you teachers will mark you down for missing given the circumstances."
Izuku shook his head. "I want to go. I need to go. To class and to talk to the lawyers. I might as well get it over with. I'll have to talk to them eventually."
"You are being very brave about all of this, Midoriya. I'll be there with you every step of the way." Izuku returned All Might's smile, but he didn't correct him. He wasn't being brave. It didn't count as bravery if you had no other options left to you.
They left All Might's house not long after they finished eating. First stop- Recovery Girl. While they didn't stay at the elderly healer's office long, it was far longer than Izuku would have liked. After she finished fussing over him and making him promise he wouldn't push himself for the next few days as he finished healing from USJ and the stress of what had happened, they headed downtown to the lawyer's office. Izuku knew he had never been to these offices before, but there was something about the small, old, brick building that seemed familiar to him. The lawyer in charge of his mother's affairs, a tall woman named Watanabe waited for them in the entryway.
"Midoriya-san," she greeted with a small bow. "Thank you for meeting me today." She turned to All Might with a bow as well. "And Yagi-san. I'm sorry to call you in today. I know this must be a difficult time and that you must still be processing, but because you are a minor it's important that we settle the matter of your guardianship as soon as possible. If you would please follow me, I have the document ready for us in the conference room."
She led them down the hallway to a large room with an equally long table. Izuku and All Might sat on one side as Watanabe moved to the other where folders had been spread out across the table's surface. The room seemed a little much considering it was just the three of them, and Izuku shifted in his seat as a folder was slid across the table towards him. What if something in his mother's will made it so that he couldn't stay with All Might? Would he have to live with a stranger? His mother didn't have very many close friends, definitely not anyone he felt she would trust enough to look after him, but he couldn't be sure.
All Might put a reassuring hand on Izuku's shoulder. "Take a deep breath, Midoriya. It will be okay." The hero couldn't guarantee that, but his words were reassuring all the same. At his hesitant smile some of the anxiety building in Izuku's throat relaxed. All Might may not be able to punch his way out of this situation, but Izuku knew if he wasn't okay with the outcome All Might would do everything he could to make Izuku happy.
"I'll get straight to the point," Watanabe said, shuffling the papers in front of her. "The reason it was so important to speak to you today considering your guardianship is that your mother didn't appoint one specifically for these circumstances. In fact, she left only one condition in the case she were to die before you were of age." She said the words so casually, but they still made Izuku struggle to catch his breath for a moment.
"And what was the condition?" All Might asked. He hadn't paid much attention to it before, but looking at All Might now Izuku realized that he had gotten dressed up for this meeting. His yellow suit, an exact copy of the one he wore when teaching at Yuuei, fit his normal form much better, and while Izuku would have thought the color would only highlight the hero's illness he somehow managed to look healthier than Izuku had seen him before.
"The only condition Midoriya Inko set was that the guardian be chosen by Midoriya Izuku." Watanabe waited for that to sink in for a moment before continuing. "Now given Midoriya is still a minor but over the age of thirteen, it is allowable for him to choose who he lives with as long as that person is deemed fit to be his guardian. I'm assuming that you would like Yagi-san here to be made your guardian?"
Izuku looked at All Might, trying to gage his reaction. When it came down to it, Izuku would prefer to stay with All Might. He was familiar, Izuku wouldn't have to keep secrets from him, he didn't have to be as worried about All Might getting dragged into fights against villains since he would be involved whether Izuku was there or not. Izuku wouldn't think about the panic that started to creep back in at the thought of All Might not wanting him to stay, because despite his own words the night before Izuku couldn't imagine him wanting to do something as permanent and long lasting as becoming his guardian. He didn't know whether his fears settled or grew when All Might replied, "I would consider it an honor if you'd like me too, Midoriya kid."
Of course he did. "If you're sure that's okay?" Izuku said instead.
"What do we need to do to start this process?" All Might asked Watanabe.
"I have the papers right here." She handed them over with a small smile. "After you sign those, we'll have a representative come by your house in the next month or so to check in, make sure everything is still working out. After that we'll need to speak to some character witnesses, and it can all be official. Until then, Midoriya can continue to live with you."
"Was that all you needed to talk to me about?" Izuku asked, because Watanabe seemed to have a lot of papers for something so easily solved.
"The rest of it can be handled at a later date. Your mother's will is very straight-forward. Everything, she left to you. She requested not to have a funeral service either." Watanabe consulted a piece of paper. "As she put it she would rather people celebrate her life and think happily about their time together than have a day dedicated to being sad." Izuku wasn't surprised by that news at least. He had heard his mother say something along those lines before. "The only other thing is this." She pulled a sealed envelope from a folder and passed it across the table as well. Izuku's name was written clearly in his mother's short and cramped handwriting on the front, and although it the envelope was sealed Izuku could tell that it was several pages long at least.
"She left that here with her will along with explicit instructions that if she died before you turned eighteen that it should be given to you. The day you turned eighteen, if she hadn't died, the letter was to be destroyed. As you can see, no one in my office has looked at the letter, including myself. I have no idea what it says, but she was very insistent that it be given to you."
Izuku looked down at the letter, ran a finger over his name. His mother's last words to him saved on a few thin pieces of paper. He forced his grip to loosen so he didn't damage it. "Was that all?"
Watanabe nodded. "I can call you again in a few days to discuss some of the other details. Things like the apartment. That kind of stuff. Until then, you're free to go. And I am very sorry for you loss, Midoriya."
Izuku mumbled his thanks absent mindedly and followed All Might out of the office and back onto the street. All Might asked if he was fine heading back home and he easily gave his consent. The sooner they got back to All Might's house the better, Izuku thought, the letter heavy in his hand. He needed to start his training, and for that he needed to be able to disappear for a little while.
Sneaking out was easier than Izuku had expected given the circumstances. When they got back he headed back to his room with the excuse of being tired and All Might let him go with a look and concern and no questions. Izuku felt bad for lying to him, but he needed to do this without having to argue and justify his actions. After waiting for half an hour for All Might to come and check on him, Izuku slipped out the window and down into the back yard. The next part would be more difficult.
Being obsessed with pro heroes and trying to catalogue everything he could about their quirks meant that he spent a long time chasing after their fights. Sometimes he happened to be in the right place at the right time-or wrong place depending on the perspective- but those incidences weren't common enough for Izuku to gain the information that he wanted. Signing up for notifications of pro hero activities helped a bit, but he still mostly arrived after the villains had been stopped. That was when he started keeping track of where villain attacks happened and what times of the day they were most common. Six months later he had a pretty good idea of where he needed to be to increase the likelihood of witnessing a fight. All he had to do then was hanging around and wait to see what unfolded. It was one of those days that Izuku met Takahashi Issei.
When quirks became more common and events like the Yuuei Sports Festival replaced the Olympics in popularity, unauthorized quirk fights were made illegal. Takahashi was one of the many people who used that fact to make a profit, charging people money to bet on these illegal fights. Izuku knew none of this when he saved his life a year previous. He had been wondering a region of the city that had a reputation for not being the safest in hopes of seeing a pro hero in action when a car rounded the corner. Someone with the quirk to shoot what looked like arrows made from their own energy had fired at Takahashi. Izuku had managed to pull him out of the way just in time. Takahashi had tracked him down after that, tried to pay him back for saving his life, but Izuku had refused. He didn't need a reward for saving someone's life, but now that he needed Takahashi's help he hoped the man remember that he promised him a favor.
"Midoriya Izuku. What a surprise." Takahashi said, standing in front of the tiny restaurant he also owned, his hands stuck in his pocket. The smug look on his face made Izuku altogether uncomfortable, but he walked up to him slowly.
"Takahashi-san."
"I'm assuming you've come to collect?" At the grim determination on Izuku's face, Takahashi laughed, slinging an arm around his shoulder. Where All Might would put a hand on his shoulder in comfort, Takahashi's movement was all about control. It didn't matter that Izuku was here because Takahashi felt like he owed the younger man for saving his life. Izuku had come to him for help, and all the cards were in his hand. "Let's take a walk to somewhere a little more private, eh Izuku?" Izuku had never told Takahashi his name and Takahashi had never asked, but that didn't stop him from greeted him familiarly a week after he had saved his life.
Takahashi led him through the restaurant, greeting people loudly as they went. Izuku could feel their eyes follow him as he walked behind him, but none of them said a word to him as they let him pass. When they were alone in the backroom, Takahashi leaned against the wall and turned to Izuku. "Now what is it I can help you with? Surely those heroes at Yuuei can deal with whatever problems you've gotten yourself into. Unless you're planning on taking a more...unorthodox approach to dealing with whoever murdered your mother?"
Izuku's nails dug painfully into the palm of his hands. It didn't surprise him that Takahashi knew that he had been accepted to Yuuei, and he was sure the news about his mother's death had been broadcasted all over even though he had so far been successful in avoiding it. "I'm not here about that," Izuku answered, his tone sounding harsh even to him. Takahashi's eyes widened. "I need you to teach me how to fight. I'm too far behind, and Yuuei's training isn't enough to get me caught up."
The look on Takahashi's face was nothing short of ecstatic. "Now isn't that something." Pushing himself away from the wall, he stalked towards Izuku, the grin on his face almost feral. "It isn't going to be pleasant." The fact that he seemed happy about that didn't slip past Izuku.
"I know." Izuku needed to do this. He didn't have another option.
"Then let's get started, shall we?" He moved too quickly for Izuku to react. Pain exploded in his head for a moment, and then everything went black.