Needle in the haystack

Nighteye and All Might stood side by side, their eyes never leaving the villain being escorted into the maiden.

"All Might, Nighteye!" Nighteye turned his head as All Might continued watching the police and villain.

"Yes?" Nighteye pushed his glasses up and arched his eyebrow.

The new detective bowed politely to the two heroes. "My name is Tsukauchi Naomasa! I was brought in to help and will be helping handle this case, a pair of new eyes is needed. Thank you for all that you have done."

All Might pivoted his body as the maiden drove away with the villain in tow. "Nice to meet you, Tsukauchi-san. I hope that we will be working closely together in the future for this case."

Tsukauchi only nodded, it had been unbelievable. He was talking to the All Might. The one everyone had stated who would be the pillar of Justice. Straightening up his posture, he bowed once again.

"Yes sir! I will do my best!" He saluted the heroes before making his way to his team.

Nighteye questioned All Might, "Sir, is this a good idea? Letting the police handle this?"

The American hero only continued walking, "We need all the help we can get. All for One is a clever one." He tightened his fists. His knuckles turning white from the pressure as he stared ahead of him. The deceased body behind them being towed into a truck.

"Nighteye, I want all details about how he died." All Might turned back and stared at the stretcher carrying the dead body, a black tarp wrapped around the deceased as paramedics towed it into the truck.

The two walked back to All Might's hero agency, intent to end the long night. As they entered the building, Nighteye began walking to his desk.

"All Might, I will file the paperwork tonight. Don't worry. Tell Miu-san I said hi." and with that, he left the titan hero alone to do his own bidding.

All Might stood in his office. It had been nearly a year of him being his own boss and having his own hero agency. In the end, he relented and accepted the eager Nighteye as his sidekick. He had Miu to thank for that. She had left her job as assistant to Gran Torino and worked for All Might. He was a busy hero and because he had been starting to become the most requested hero of all time, she had gotten bombarded with everything. But as his hero duties piled up higher and higher, she found herself overwhelmed by all the papers and request. She had been thankful that All Might decided he would accept the sidekick. Now she had help with paperwork and someone to trust to watch over her beloved.

Nighteye sat by his desk, his eyes wandering over to the secondary computer screen. He had been thankful for the opportunity to become the uprising Symbol of Peace's sidekick. He wanted to help save people, just like his idol. He had been there for All Might's debut and saw with his own eyes, how All Might saved 100 people from a horrible train wreck. He had already been a fan when All Might was a sidekick to Gran Torino. Watching the rising hero become a pro, he had finally trained and worked hard to be where he was now. Earning the acceptance of his boss.

Throughout their year together, he had come to find out about the origin of his boss's powers. And the enemy that came along with such a powerful quirk. It had been an accident, one he hadn't meant to know yet.

He had stumbled across All Might and the hero, Valkyrie, arguing with each other. The latter proposing that she could handle any type of mission and that she was also a hero. The former stating they All for One might still be after her. He was confused, why had Valkyrie not been allowed hero work? And who was this All for One? He thought back, in all his time working for All Might, she had always been sitting down for desk duty. She barely wore her costume that everyone who had come to the agency only called her Miu-san, never by her hero name. She had argued that she could help, but All Might resisted.

The very next day after their argument, Nighteye had used his quirk while the two of them worked, and saw a vision of what was to come in the future. He was a smart man but had never put two and two together on why All Might had wanted him to research about a certain project and its people. He told the pair about the vision he saw and it's catastrophe.

Miu had been there with All Might as she nudged All Might in the side and sighed. "It's better if he knows. He's got foresight and Nighteye is a remarkable man. He can help us."

All Might relented and finally told Nighteye the truth about what they were searching for.

And here he sat now, staring intensely at the old footage of a burning building 23 years ago. The explosion caught on camera as he saw a hero fighting a villain in the background. How he had gotten this old footage? He had searched every crook and corner on anything that could help him to find All for One for his boss. It had been quite hard, the master villain was like a ghost. Leaving barely-there-footprints in the wake of his villain acquaintances.

It was just last week when he and All Might had gotten a hold of a rogue villain who had been found anguished and nothing but a shell. When they captured him, his eyes were dead. They used all means necessary, even going as so far to bring another hero who's quirk could see what was in his mind, to get him to wake out of his daze. And when he did, he only begged them to kill him and end his misery. The mind wandering hero had spent hours trying to unlock the horrors inside the villains head. The villain had leaked that he worked for All for One but was discarded to the side. His quirk taken away from him, leaving him nothing but a shell of what he used to be.

There were no locations indicating where All for One was at, but the mind wandering hero had said there was a small clip inside the brain dead villain's head, one that replayed constantly on a loop. It had been of a burning building that constantly replayed a loop and it had looked old, maybe 20 years old that looked like bits of old security footage.

Nighteye came upon old news footages of different burning buildings. He watched every single 291 security footages dating back 20 years or more ago. And so far he had found nothing. The tapes were so old and had been cut off that one couldn't have gotten anything from it. Sighing in frustration he pushed his glasses backup on his nose and sat back on his chair. Looking at the time, he supposed he'd continue his work tomorrow and call it a day.

Miu stood in the kitchen of her and Toshinori's apartment. She had been waiting for her lover to arrive home any minute. Her laptop sat on the counter, playing music, as she stirred the curry.

A click sounded as she kept her petite form facing the stove. She melted as strong arms wrapped around her waist and a face snuggled into her head.

"Tadaima." Toshinori breathed in the soft scent of his lover. He gripped her tighter, the days work still on the edge of his mind. Hero work was 24/7 and for every person he couldn't save, he couldn't help but think what if he did.

Miu placed her hands over his and gave them a light squeeze. She knew he was wary. They had spent time together throughout the year, searching and searching for answers. All for One, the mystery murders that had seemed like it was connected to All for One. Anything and everything they tried to tie together, but they couldn't pinpoint if the murders were just from a serial killer or if they were All for One. There wasn't enough to prove that it was All for One leaving murder trails.

Toshinori relaxed in her presence, his titan form shrinking only by a little as he stopped using his quirk. Miu turned around after turning off the stove, the rice cooker clicked indicating the rice was finished cooking. She stared at her wary lover, his eyes tired from all the hero work he had been putting in day and even nights. When she tried to coax him into ignoring the calls in the late night, he only shook his head. He was a hero and would never give up on anybody who needed his help. And for that, Miu had only fallen in love with him more and more everyday. His kindness and righteousness knew no bounds.

Even in his relaxed and non quirk form, he was still a natural titan, albeit just a tad less muscley. It was just mainly him flexing and posturing to keep up his enhanced muscled look. Miu loved him nonetheless, he was still her Toshi. He had explained that his quirk only enhanced his muscled form. It was a quirk passed on to others and he didn't really know how to explain, but he was sure it probably differed from each user. Since he had never had a quirk to begin with, it might've adapted to one he could use, and that would be enhanced stamina, strength, and power.

Miu kissed his lips gingerly as she coaxed him to their kitchen table. "Sit, I'll serve you some food."

Toshinori sat, his eyes staring out the darkened night sky through the window. Miu could be heard in the open kitchen, gathering bowls and utensils for their dinner. He decided to speak up as she neared him with food.

"Nighteye and I came upon another dead body. The villain that was there at the scene was also brain dead. His quirk taken from him." Toshinori reached over and scooped up rice into Miu's bowl and then his.

"Another?" Miu mused in curiosity.

Toshinori nodded silently before opening his mouth to chew on food. "I'm sure it's All for One, he is the only one I know who can take people's quirks. What he's doing with them? I need to find out."

Miu sat and watched her lover eat his dinner. She took small bites, nodding. "Yes. It's strange, really. We keep finding bodies one after another, the police think it's a serial killer, but there's just not enough proof it's All for One."

Toshinori glanced up to the petite woman, "I'm sure it'll lead us somewhere soon."

The corners of her mouth quirked up, "Yes, and you will be there to stop his craziness and save everyone. Symbol of Peace."

The two lovebirds shared a comical look to each other, both happy that their presence was greatly appreciated and finally the two talked about more happier matters. Miu updated Toshinori about how Teo-san was doing and how the dojo was faring. He listened, loving the way she always used her words and how her voice sounded. Every time she talked, she'd use her hands to gesture. He would never get tired of listening to her.

He plastered a smile on his face, "Oh? Takeo's baby brother turns 8 tomorrow? Amazing! They grow up so fast."

"Well, you see!" She giggled before revealing to the busy hero, "They're the cutest things ever! They aspire to be like you!"

He listened, a huge grin on his lips as his beautiful lover lit up talking about the dojo students. Their worries and fears eased away as they chattered during dinner, relishing in the peaceful moment.

This peaceful moment that would last only briefly for a little while longer.

Elsewhere, All for One stood atop a bleeding man. He had finally found the answers he had been looking for, after all these years of searching, he had finally came across a man who feared death. The others were just too stubborn so he had gotten rid of their uselessness and even stole some of their good quirks. Behind him, stood Kurogiri as he checked off his list of the people they had been searching for.

"Tell me again, what you know." All for One grinned evilly at the injured man.

"P-Please… have m-mercy." the man coughed, his eyes wide in fear.

"Tell me." All for One repeated again.

"T-Their daughter h-has the k-key. I s-swear. The f-files are locked a-away in an air tight g-government b-building s-safe. It w-was made so that n-no quirk c-could g-get t-through. F-Find the k-key and-" the man was cut off as All for One kicked him.

"Blah blah, WHICH government building?" He hissed impatiently.

Throughout his time searching, he created several experiments, trying to make the perfect doll. He stole quirks and placed them within others, trying to see if he could build the perfect weapon. But something was missing, every product he made came out as a failure. His experiments were too braindead to do anything and wouldn't take any commands. He was missing a detail. This idea, he had gotten when he stumbled upon an old acquaintance who had known of a group that were researching quirks and doing the same forbidden thing he was doing currently. He couldn't perfect it no matter how hard he tried. But now, now he could finally get the answers he was searching for.

"K-Kyoto…" the man sputtered out blood, he was shaking in fear. He didn't want to die. He still wanted to research more about life and it's meaning.

"And the daughter?" All for One spoke up, he had an idea of who the man was talking about. It was probably that pesky woman and man's child.

"K-Kobay-yashi." He stuttered, a sting of guilt plagued his heart as he ratted out his deceased friend's child's name.

All for One grinned as he kicked the man again. "I've already tried searching for the key from her long ago! There was nothing!" He was angry, where the fuck was the damn key?

"T-The s-safe can't be o-opened by q-quirks because it's b-bypassed b-by b-blood…."

All for One bent down, closer to hear what he was saying. "You mean, the key is her blood?"

The injured man nodded feverently, still trying to save his own skin. "Y-Yes! K-Kobayashi Ryo and H-Haru were the head s-scientist in the e-experimentation of c-combing q-quirks to m-make a w-weapon. What t-they found a-and achieved was s-something the g-government h-hid from p-public. T-The facility w-was d-destroyed and everyone signed an oath not to say a-anything. T-The f-files are s-still inside t-that safe. T-That safe was remarkably m-made, preventing anyone but the b-blood of a Kobayashi descendant t-to open i-it."

All for One thought back to his memories. He had been foolish, killing off the man who refused his offers by throwing his car into oncoming traffic. And then the woman by burning the building she resided in. He grit his teeth in anger as he used his bare hands to smash the face of the injured man in, his bones crunching underneath his palms. If only he had found out earlier that those two were the head scientist in that project.

"So, all we need is the girl to get those files?" Kurogiri asked from behind his master.

All for One grinned, happy he could finally proceed with his power and experimentation. "Yes, all we need to do now is find her again."