A/N- Real talk, I put that "westaboo" line from last chapter in as a placeholder until I thought of something better to say, but then later on I got curious and googled "westaboo" and the first image came up for me was fanart of All Might. So I decided to leave it in just because.

Anyways, yeah, epilogue chapter. See the A/N at the bottom for my final thoughts.

Monochromatic Ideals

Epilogue

"At the very least he didn't blow the new dorms up. That's a plus, right?"

The harsh glare Sen received from the shorter teen next to him made him quiet almost immediately, and he had to shy away from the pair of green eyes as the two walked down towards the school's faculty room: one of the only rooms that hadn't been destroyed from Kyomu's rampage.

"I'm sorry," Sen apologized, and then went on to rub the back of his neck in an awkward manner. "I just... he... it's all weird, you know?" His hand lowered from his neck and he looked back to Midoriya. "We didn't even get to talk," he said. "I was... you said all that stuff about him, and when I asked him about it and he confirmed it I... I was too upset to talk. And then he just left before I could actually say what I wanted to say."

And oh, how there was so much he wanted to say. There was so much everybody in Class 1-A wanted to say to Kyomu. Not all of it was friendly, of course, but nevertheless everybody had their piece, had something they wanted to get off their chests. Sen especially had enough words for his friend, his first and best friend in the whole class, to fill up entire books. About how he was frustrated at him for having made such stupid choices, how he'd hid so much from them, about how he wanted to reassure Kyomu and tell him everything would be alright now that he had confessed and that they could maybe work to salvage what was left of his life even if he did end up going to prison for a time...

But then he left. They tried to stop him, but he was too fast. And he died.

That was yesterday. UA classes were regulated to online courses for now until the damages to the school were repaired, though training excursions to the simulation cities close by would still be lead by the teachers who had thankfully been healed by Recovery Girl. At the very least those in the hero course had been able to move into their dorms, but the general mood of the move-in was a lot more somber than what had been anticipated due the events of the day prior.

"Could we have even stopped him if he stuck around and fought up?" Sen mumbled to Midoriya in a morose tone. "He beat All Might with that new crazy power of his. He beat Bakugo in, like, a second flat. I don't even know how many heroes and cops he landed in the hospital. He beat everyone. What could we have actually done?"

"Probably not much," Midoriya admitted. "We still had to try though, right? We're... oh."

He looked ahead, and as the both of them stopped Sen traced Midoriya's line of sight to what was in front of him. He grew rigid when he saw Bakugo, who was exiting the faculty room the two of them were heading towards. The blonde teen closed the door behind them, and right as he turned to leave he spotted the other two teens and froze up just as they had. After a few tense seconds all three relaxed and then did their best to try and avoid each others' eyes.

"You two get called here?" Bakugo asked, eyes affixed up at the ceiling.

"Y-yes. All Might wanted to discuss some things with us," Midoriya answered. "K... Bakugo. You know it's not your fault he got away, right?" He waited for a response, but when all Bakugo did was scrunch his features up, Midoriya continued. "After Koda got punched, we all... for a split second we all froze up before we moved in, but you're the only one that acted instantly. It's because you acted instantly that you were the only one that managed to reach him in time before he escaped. I know you didn't manage to do much to stop him, but... even if you failed, you did more than the rest of us." He looked down to the floor. "You were the only one that managed to reach him."

"... And I still couldn't do anything," Bakugo muttered in response. "It was just like with his goddamn brother at USJ. He took me down like I was nothing." Frustration made its way onto Bakugo's face, and his balled fist lashed out and smacked into the wall next to him, startling the other two students. "After all those talks we had, after all the training we all did together, all his big talk about wanting to be our equals when the whole time he was better than us and he knew it-"

"He beat All Might, Bakugo. And a bunch of other heroes," Sen interrupted. "Even if the whole class got to him we would have lost. Don't blame yourself. Kyomu was just... he was a really amazin' guy."

This managed to calm down Bakugo somewhat, though his brows were still creased in anger. He regarded Sen for a moment before he finally scoffed and walked past the two of them. "He wouldn't've gotten killed if he was so amazing. He wouldn't've turned out to be a villain if he was amazing," he muttered as he walked past them.

Sen frowned as their classmate walked away, and Midoriya's demeanor turned more somber as his shoulders lowered. Recent events hadn't made things easy for anybody, and emotions all around were tense, but Sen had noticed that Bakugo was taking it a bit harder than most of the rest of the class. Strange, really, since he felt like he should have been taking it the worst seeing as he was the closest one to Kyomu, which was why it was such a surprise to see someone like Bakugo be so heavily affected. Even more of the reserved students like Tokoyami and Todoroki had been acting more solemn than usual, never mind everyone else.

He supposed it went to show how popular Kyomu was, even if nobody ever realized it.

The two watched Bakugo walk off, and then turned to the faculty room's door, approached it, and went through it. The sight on the other side was about what they expected: All Might, sitting on a couch and looking so down that his muscles looked depressed. He was facing a wall-mounted TV displaying a news channels, but once the pair of students walked in he reached for a remote and turned the TV off. He turned towards the two students and, with a subdued sigh, pointed to the couch across from him. Midoriya chose to take a seat while Sen remained by the door.

"I, uh, can't really stay that long," Sen said when he caught All Might raising an eyebrow at him. "We... that is, the class, planned a, y'know, a wake for Kyomu," he explained, "and I promised to help set it up. So yeah."

He didn't know exactly what he was supposed to do, but the whole wake thing had been more or less a group consensus and he, feeling the most remorseful out of anybody, had volunteered to help prepare things.

Knowing himself it'd probably end with him buying a load of snacks using his meager funds.

"Oh, I see. That's fine, young Eikyo," All Might assured with a wave of his hand. "I know you're exhausted after all this and having to have given your statement to the police along with the rest of your class. I just wanted to say, um..." He stopped himself, and coughed into his hand. "Shinka, he... told me he was sorry that he wasn't able to end things properly with you, and wanted me to let you know. I think he knew he was pushing himself too far and-"

"Yeah, heart attack, I know." He could still barely believe that was what had killed him in the end. A stress-induced heart attack. What he could easily believe was that Kyomu knew his body was going to fail him and, like an idiot, still charged ahead to do whatever he wanted. It was such a him thing that it was almost expected.

But, All Might's statement about Kyomu's apology was new information, so Sen decided to press the matter. "He said that, huh?" he asked.

The hero nodded. "I'm sure had the circumstances been more favorable, he would have had much more things to say to you. To your class. To all of us about his feelings and thoughts. But his body was too damaged, and he was too desperate to reach his goal."

"And we... admittedly didn't try very hard to talk to him when we had the chance," Sen added with a sad lilt to his voice. "At least I didn't."

"... That as well," All Might agreed. "Nevertheless, he truly did value as a friend, young Eikyo. The best one he had in the whole world, right next to his own brother, I suspect. I don't know how much comfort that will bring you, if any, but, well... there you have it."

It really didn't, now that Sen thought on it. All it did was reaffirm the fact that he had just lost his best friend. On the other hand, it was hard not to notice the bittersweet feeling that, even after everything he had said to him, Kyomu still considered him a friend. That everything that they shared together wasn't an act to keep up appearances and draw away from the fact he was a murderer.

Even if he was a villain in the end, Kyomu was still his best friend. And Sen just didn't know what to do with that. With the knowledge his best friend was a villain and murder. That his friend was dead. That, to the very end, he'd been thinking of Sen.

"..." He looked down, and then slowly turned towards the door leading out of the faculty room. "Thanks, All Might," he mumbled, and then reached for the door. "I'm gonna meet up with the others and help with the wake. Don't take too much time, huh, Midoriya? We can't start things until everybody's there."

Midoriya nodded. "I know, Eikyo. I won't take too long."

"'Kay. Seeya."

The door couldn't have closed behind him fast enough, and he had to hope that the two inside didn't hear him slump against the door as he breathed out loud and held a shaking hand to his head. Telling himself that everybody else would be at the wake provided him some small comfort. Knowing he had a whole class of friends to confide in about the same matter helped immensely. Knowing that they would be able to support each other through all of this was about the only reason he hadn't broken down yet.

He'd get through this. They all would; he was confident in that. But it didn't make this hurt any less.

"Guess it's goodbye, Kyomu," Sen thought as he finally peeled himself off the door and made his way down the same direction Bakugo had went. "For what it's worth, thanks. For everything."

The second the door had closed behind Sen, there was a loud poof! followed by a gust of white smoke from All Might, and seconds later the white smoke dissipated to reveal the thinned, skinny form of All Might who was coughing hard enough into his hand that spurts of blood was flying out from his mouth.

Naturally, Midoriya panicked.

"A-All Might!?" he stuttered, and reached a hand out to his mentor. "Are you okay!?"

"F-fine, young Midoriya," he assured. Blood was still dribbling out from his mouth, but he managed to give his student a thumbs-up and a smile with blood-stained teeth. "That said," he continued, "my... health has declined for the worst." He pursed his lips, and then interlocked his fingers as he grew serious. "I'm afraid that I may have to start considering retirement, young Midoriya."

"Retirement?" Midoriya repeated. The word rang through his head a number of times, and when the full gravity of its meaning beat down on him, he sat back on the sofa and gave All Might a wide-eyed stare. "Why? What's wrong? It's not because of Shinka, is it?"

"Partly," he admitted. "That fight I had with him took much more than I thought it would. Too much." He paused, and then raised his right hand up and stared at it in a forlorn manner. "The truth is, due to me having to have kept up appearances yesterday when I arrested him after he defeated All For One, I ran through my time limit during our fight," he said. "I was forced to push myself beyond my limit, and the remaining embers of One For All suffered because of that. He... also aggravated some of my previous wounds in what I suspect was a moment of desperation. I can only maintain the form of the number one hero for around five minutes a day at this point." He lowered his hand and heaved out a sigh. "That's just not enough time to juggle teaching duties along with heroic duties, so I'm thinking of hanging up my cape so I can devote myself to teaching the heroes of tomorrow full-time."

To be sure, it was a shock for Midoriya. Ever since he learned the truth of All Might he'd known of his ever-shrinking time limit as a hero, and while he knew his retirement was inevitable, he didn't expect it to come this soon, or that he would be so stunned by it. Part of him- a large part at that- blamed Kyomu, who had forced all this stress on All Might. Who put all this grief on him and his classmates, and who had murdered behind their backs.

But then he remembered that his former friend died, and that, in his final moments, he'd had enough good to not kill any of the heroes that he'd fought on his way to All For One. It didn't make up for anything he did, not at all, and it wasn't even all that comforting, but at the very least it went to show there was something good inside of Kyomu. That the way he acted when he studied to be a hero alongside Midoriya and the rest of the class wasn't fake for the most part.

It was such a frustrating conundrum, and Midoriya made it evident by curling his fists that sat in his lap. All Might took note of this and cleared his throat to gain his attention.

"It still weighs heavy, huh?" he noted. "About young Shinka."

Shakily, Midoriya nodded. "I keep thinking back to everything he said to us. How he became a villain, how the police and heroes arrested his innocent brother. I can't forgive Shinka for all the lives he took, but... but I just wonder. Could we have helped him, if we found out sooner?" he asked. "If we saw it early enough... I know he killed even before he came to UA. I know we would have had to imprison him. But we still could have helped him if we'd only seen it, couldn't we have?"

"Maybe," All Might said. "I still remember when I first met him in that orphanage. He wasn't what I thought he would be." He leaned back on the couch and looked at the ceiling, and a look of nostalgia glazed over his face. "I knew of his past due to UA's background check, and I had personally worked with his mother on a couple of occasions, though I never made mention of it. Despite that, I still expected some excited teenager who would be bouncing on their feet when All Might himself came to visit. Kind of like how you would react, really." He smiled a little when Midoriya silently fumed at him from the other couch. "He wasn't like that at all," he continued. "He was quiet, and rather aloof, but he tried to hide it with dry humor. All in all, he wasn't much different from the one you knew." He stopped himself and took a deep breath. "I remember telling him I thought he would make a great hero," he admitted. "I saw so much potential, not just in his Quirk, but in his mental fortitude and desire to be a hero despite his circumstances. Somebody strong enough to not only turn their fate around but to do it for the sake of others was... truly inspiring."

"But he just wanted to kill villains," Midoriya said. "He said so himself. He wasn't virtuous at all."

"I wouldn't go that far," All Might disagreed, much to Midoriya's surprise. "His goal of wanting to kill villain was completely wrong," he clarified, "don't get me wrong. And he should never have taken a hero's life to protect himself. That's inexcusable. That said, he... legitimately did want to help people, young Midoriya, just in his own way. He wanted to permanently dispose of villains to eliminate any risk of them ever hurting anybody else. He was a young man who was frustrated at the hero society's shortcomings, and had completely lost faith in it all." He leaned back forwards and stared Midoriya in the eyes. "I can't help but feel us heroes failed to save him. Failing to save people out of our reach is one thing... but failing to save somebody who was right besides you all that time? I just don't know. But no matter how twisted his intentions, he really did want to save people. If there's anything I can't fault him for, it's that." His head turned towards the room's window. "Part of me blames All For One," he said with a slightly bitter tone. "That man's machinations dragged the Shinka brothers into their despair. But the other part of me is just saying that I'm making excuses; that I'm trying to pin the blame on him like I did everything else."

"I understand. I feel the same way," Midoriya said with a nod, and he couldn't help but feel lighter when All Might gave him a grateful smile. "It's still hard to believe that All For One is actually gone, though."

"Don't I know it," All Might agreed. "I always figured it would be either you or me that would end him and send him away forever. I never dreamed that young Shinka would have the potential, never mind the drive to pull it off. Just goes to show how much we underestimated him, huh?" They both shared a laugh, but the mood turned back somber as All Might switched from looking at the window to the shut-off TV. "The fallout from this incident will be significant," he stated. "I've already told the police everything. The Shinkas' circumstances, All For One's doings, everything. After they conclude their investigation, it will all be brought to life. Including how they imprisoned an innocent child for a crime he didn't commit.

"I went back and looked at the case files from when their parents died, courtesy of my friend in the police," he explained. "It's... quite obvious, looking back, that it was Shinka Kyomu's Quirk Void that obliterated their home. So much that it's almost baffling the police made this mistake and never caught it. And because of this mistake, this all happened. And the public will latch onto it, young Midoriya. It's how they are: any good done by heroes and police are shadowed by the bad. They just have an easier time remembering things like this. It'll be a black mark on hero society, to be sure. And young Shinka's actions won't help matters. A young hero-in-training killing all those villains and defeating all those heroes, including me? The media will have a circus." He leaned his head back and sighed. "It seems in the end he may get that change he wanted after all," he muttered.

"What do you think will happen?" Midoriya wondered.

All Might waved a hand. "It's hard to say, but I wouldn't be too concerned about it if I were you," he said. "The police and heroes will be scrutinized and be pressured to be more thorough in their villain investigations, likely. Some laws down the line may be passed that help in that regard. The possibility of the public demanding harsher treatment for villains is... a possibility, but a doubtful one. We're already putting as many as we can in Tartarus. Considering what happened with Stain, though, I don't know." He gestured to Midoriya. "But as I said, that's not something you have to worry about. The only thing you have to worry about, young Midoriya, is continuing your hero studies. Mastering One For All. Becoming the number one hero." He flashed him another smile, and thankfully, this one was white. "That's still your dream, is it not?"

"That's right," Midoriya said with a nod. "To be the number one hero who saves people with a nod. As long as villains are out there, a hero's work is never done. And Shigaraki and his League are still at large."

The short teen lifted off of the couch and walked towards the window, and only stopped when he got a good view of the city beyond. All Might followed his student's lead, and walked until he came to a halt right besides Midoriya. Both quietly stared at the city beyond and the citizens inside that they vowed to protect until Midoriya broke the silence.

"Even after everything, I'll still miss him," Midoriya whispered. "He was a good person. Just... lost, I think."

"I know, young Midoriya." In a show of affection, he extended one of his bony arms and draped it over Midoriya's shoulders. "I know."

"But I'll get better," Midoriya said. "I'll never let anything like this happen again. If I can reach somebody, I'll save them, no matter who they are and no matter what the villain. Even if that villain is the worst villain in the world. Even if who I'm trying to save is a villain. Even if that villain is a friend." He reached out to the window with his scarred hand and clenched it into a fist. "I'll become the next symbol and save everybody I can. For the sake of peace. For Kyomu."

All Might patted his shoulders. "For Kyomu."

The End

A/N- You know, it was around chapter twenty of writing this story did I realize something, and that something I realized may have explained why I started to seriously slow down while I was writing this story:

I don't think I like My Hero Academia.

Don't get me wrong, it's a great show/manga, but it's a matter of personal preference here. It doesn't jive with me: that's the truth. And back when I first started this it was back when I really did like it and got caught up with the hype, got an idea, and put it on paper. Virtual paper, but you get the gist. And I think that's how a lot of people on this site start out. They like something, they get an idea, they make something with it. Problem was the hype fell off me partway through and it made making this story a slog.

But I still wanted to finish it, because this is a genuine hobby and I gotta have some integrity in that fact. And it's not like I didn't have fun doing it. For the most part, at least.

What I'm trying to say is, if you're gonna write stories with 100k+ words, make sure you're actually invested in it.

That all aside, uh... yeah, story's done. I could go full sequel, but I'm not gonna do that because I feel this is a great place to end it. And, 'cause, y'know, I don't wanna write My Hero anymore. I just don't. And I don't really have anything else to say, so thanks to everybody who followed the story, aaaand hope you enjoyed it.

Seeya.