First, One for All was a nuisance because it gave his enemies so much power.

Then, he hated One for All because it shattered his bones.

After an important breakthrough, he began to enjoy the quirk because of the power and opportunities it brought.

Now, he was back to hating it again.

The root of the current problem Izuku was facing was in the first quirks he received, specifically mind reading.

He enjoyed having the quirk for its utility, not for the experience. He hated hearing everyone's thoughts, he had no desire to know everyone's fantasies or opinions. It was more private information than he could ever want. Not only that, but it was overwhelming, he was constantly bombarded with completely useless and irrelevant commentary like what his drug dealers are having for dinner.

Mix that with a perfect memory, and you get a brain filled with an alarming amount of pointless information.

When he had read in All for One's notes that One for All mutates and boosts your original quirk he hadn't thought much of it. He didn't even have an original quirk, so he thought there was a good chance he wouldn't be impacted at all, and even if he were he assumed it would be irrelevant in the long run.

It was in fact very relevant.

It started with little things.

Izuku sat in his office going over reports with Dabi and working on delegating new recruits. No one ever talks about the menial parts of being a criminal mastermind.

"Do you think we need more people assigned to keeping an eye on possibly corrupt heroes? They've been pretty straight and narrow recently, maybe things are changing for the better?"

Dabi grunted as he looked over the files of recruits who didn't have a specific job yet. "I don't think they're better, just scared of slipping up, so we need to keep them scared."

"Maybe you're right. But I'd like to think we got rid of the worst of them, which would logically mean the remaining heroes are better."

-It's a good change but temporary, nothing ever stays good-

"Don't be glum like that. Hey Dabi, what do you think of this guy?" He slid a file over to his flammable friend. "The guy can see through walls, and it looks like he did time for stealing and giving it to those in need, seems right up your alley."

"Hm, put him in the maybe pile. I'll talk with him, see if he's ok with getting his hands dirty. I don't have the patience to work with some holier than thou robin-hood guy."

-God, I'm so bored, being in charge of things sucks sometimes-

Izuku almost laughed until images started to slip through alongside his thoughts, but they didn't match up with his thoughts.

Endeavor throwing a badly injured Touya into the streets.

-I think that new sandwich shop opened up nearby, maybe we can make the interns go grab some-

Swinging Stain's sword down and slicing off his father's head

-Ugh, I want to complain, but bossman is already doing me a favor by letting me have first pick at the newbies-

Tears running down his face as he takes food from a garbage can for the first time as tries to survive on the streets

-Fuck, I really want a sandwich now-

There was no logic to it other than the knowledge that these were important moments in his life. Why was he thinking about traumatic life events and sandwiches at the same time? "You doing alright?"

Dabi looked up "Huh? Yeah? What's up?"

It wasn't really his business if Dabi was reminiscing while working, it was just weird. "Um, nevermind, guess it was nothing."

He didn't think much of it until it happened again a few days later.

Kurogiri came to him with a report on a Chinese crime syndicate that was threatening their operations in the region.

"How do you want to deal with this?"

There was no one within earshot, so he could be far more casual and affectionate than he would be with subordinates around.

He leaned into the man's semi-solid shoulder and looked at the report.

"Hm, well, ever since we've backed off on harming civilians or heroes some of our more aggressive members have been getting restless. How about we just send a group of them over to wreck as much of them as possible?"

He swore he could hear Kurogiri sigh internally -Sometimes I wonder how he has gotten this far-

Izuku raised an eyebrow, "what's wrong with that? It solves two problems, the people who want to kill for fun get to without us breaking our ceasefire with the heroes and we give this syndicate something to keep them busy."

"Hmm, I suppose that is true" -And in the process you will unite every criminal in China who has nationalist ideals-

"Then how about this, we send this group, but once they unify and get a big group against us, I show up with reinforcements and show off to hopefully keep others in line. I even learned a new trick."

He pointed his hand at Kurogiri like it was a gun and a stream of water came out of it, entering a portal that led to a random location in the sky above their base.

"Ah, I see you have gained access to Kota's quirk."

-Now we just have to hope that the armies of hardened criminals have a crippling fear of water guns-

Out of everyone he interacted with, Kurogiri was the most comfortable with and aware that Izuku heard everything he thought and would generally use that to silently tease him.

But then his thoughts seemed to become oddly disorganized.

-I'm not completely against Izuku making a show of power, but I'll have to make a team to back him up if it goes badly-

Images of Izuku holding Kurogiri and calling him dad for the first time.

-We'd want a team suited for stealth so as not to undermine your strength, because an obvious assist would accomplish the opposite of your goal-

Kurogiri watching Shigaraki fall to the ground and feeling free for the first time. Knowing his decisions from this point on were actually his choices, not because of brainwashing.

Izuku looked up at him with a smile.

"What's got you so nostalgic?"

Kurogiri looked genuinely confused, "I'm not sure what you mean, I had only been thinking about the upcoming mission?"

"No? You were clearly also reminiscing about some memories of us? Like the night All for One and Shigaraki died."

"I'm unsure why you would see that, for it was not on my mind until you just brought it up."

"That's really weird, but I guess it's whatever."

But these odd instances became both confusing and annoying when they started happening constantly.

He would hear two things at once from whoever he was around, first he would hear their thoughts like usual, but now there was an additional train of thought that seemed unrelated to whatever was going on.

"It doesn't make any sense! Why am I seeing random memories all the time?!"

Kurogiri looked up from his book, "they don't seem to be completely random. Unrelated, yes. But random? No."

"Well? Bless me with your wisdom oh misty one."

He set the book down and turned to face the villainous teenager. "I know this is frustrating for you, but there is no need to get snippy with me. I simply meant that you always see important memories that are greatly impactful, rather than the memory of what someone had for breakfast. Also, from what you've said, it never shows you the same memory twice for someone."

Izuku sighed and sat down with his head in his hands "I'm just really scared. I don't know why this is happening and it just keeps getting more intense and more frequent."

"Well, let's think through this logically. Have you ever had anything similar happen before where you read memories as well as thoughts."

"Um, I guess that time I used trigger. That felt totally different though, but that might just be because I was high out of my mind. That still doesn't explain this problem, I haven't done anything that would… boost my quirk. Oh fuck I'm an idiot. One for All boosts quirks."

"Hm, I didn't realize that. It's a good thing that at least one person read All for One's incomprehensible notes."

"Ughhh, this is the worst, that means I can't just get rid of this either. It's gonna be like being on drugs all the time, but without any of the parts that feel good."

Kurogiri gave him a gentle smile "I have faith that you will be able to adjust to this new facet of your quirk, just as you did when you first received your ability to read minds. I remember how difficult it was on you when you first gained this quirk, so don't be so hard on yourself just because it is a struggle now."
He groaned and buried his face in his semi-corporeal father figure. "I hate when you make good points, it makes it harder to complain and whine about things."

Kurogiri laughed and gently pat his head "My apologies, I wouldn't want to get in the way of your complaining."

"Hey, I have a serious question for you."

Large yellow eyes looked down at him, "Oh? What is it?"

"Well, I think some of the memories I saw aren't things you remember. Like, you remembered them at some point, but then without forgetting them you can't remember anymore." He paused, "I'm not explaining this well at all. What I mean is that I saw a bunch of your memories from before you got turned into the fantastic smokey guy you are now and I don't know if you want to know or not."

He was silent for a long time. "I see. I can't say I've never been curious about who I was before the League had their way with me. But I am happy with who I am now, regardless of how I got here."

"Yeah, I can respect that."

He sat in thought for a moment, "Do you think I would get along with my previous self?"

Izuku couldn't help himself from laughing. "You would probably kill each other. You were a hero in training before the All for One got you. I think your personality is pretty similar, but your situation is super different."

"That is not what I was expecting at all, but I suppose that's just how it is."

He smiled wide when he felt a few minds enter his range and quickly get closer.

First there was Eri

-I'm gonna go find daddy and give him hugs and tell him about my day and show him the pictures I drew and maybe we can have ice cream!-

Then Kota

-She gets so excited about everything. I guess the park was fine, but it's not that great.-

And finally, Shiozaki, who had taken them to a secluded park for the day.

-Children are a blessing from God himself, even if they are frequently gross and very loud-

As their memories flooded his mind, he tried to stay confident that he could conquer this hurtle, like he has everything else. He can't fight this, so he'll treat it like any other changes he's faced and embrace it. He let himself absorb the memories of his family's entire lives until nothing was a secret from him.

Before they could even get out a hello, Kouta and Eri were wrapped in a strong hug from Izuku as he held them close.

Obviously he knew exactly what the children had gone through, but living through it like that was completely different. The fact that Eri could smile at all was even more amazing to him after seeing just how badly things were for her. He watched Kota grieve his dead parents while everyone praised their sacrifice. Watched that anger towards heroes grow as everything they did seemed pointless and selfish to him.

Eri looked up at him. "Are you ok daddy, why are you crying?"

He wiped away the tears he didn't realize he had, "I'll be alright, I just love you two a lot."

Kota made a gagging sound and pushed him away. "You're gross.'

For possibly the first time in Dabi's life, he felt truly happy.

He leaned back into Hawks' arms and couldn't keep himself from smiling.

He had friends, a stable home, a loving boyfriend, and a job that he greatly enjoyed.

Things had been more quiet lately with his boss trying to master a plethora of new quirks, which meant he had more free time to spend with his feathered lover. He had only arrived a few days earlier, so it was still unclear if Hawks was there permanently or not, but he would absolutely make the best of it either way.

He felt the man behind him stir and slowly wake up. "Five more minutes, I don't wanna get up yet."

Dabi just laughed, "What are you talking about? We can lay here as long as you want."

But before either could drift back to sleep they were fully woken up by the pleasant sound of a scream quickly approaching from above. It took them both a moment to realize exactly what they were shouting.

"FUUUUUCCCCKKKKK" And with that, Izuku, in all of his naked glory, fell from the ceiling and phased directly through a very alarmed Hawks before continuing his descent further into the base.

"What the actual fuck just happened?!"

Dabi was bent over laughing, not even trying to compose himself.

"That's fucking hilarious. The boss has been taking on the quirks of the people who held the quirk before, or some nonsense like that. And that's the third time this week he's fallen through the floors trying to get Le Million's to work."

He seemed to stop and think for a long moment. "Why's he doing that?"

"Oh, I think it's just a tricky quirk or something like that."

Hawks shook his head, "No, I mean why is he doing so much to get stronger? He was given two powerful quirks and then stole the most powerful one there is, why is he spending all his time trying to get more?"

Dabi gave him a look like his question didn't make sense. Why wouldn't someone want more power?

Hawks tried to explain his reasoning, "Like, isn't it redundant at this point? He was already a beast using his mind stuff to predict his enemies, and now he's got All Might strength on top of that, who's he worried is gonna beat him? It just seems like he's strong enough that seeking more power is a waste of time."

"Ohhhh, I see where you're going with this. But you're looking at it all wrong. You're thinking of him as this nearly all powerful villain leader, which he is, but that's not how he sees himself. To Izuku, he'll always be the quirkless kid who went from having nothing to having access to real legitimate power.

"I see it all the time when we recruit homeless people, even if they have all that they need, they'll horde everything they can get their hands on because they know what it's like to have none of it. So while our new recruits horde food and blankets, Izuku hordes quirks, even if it becomes pointless and kind of stupid."

Hawks scratched his head "I guess that makes sense. What would you even call an addiction to gaining quirks? Quirkihollic?"

Dabi just laughed, "Yeah, something like that."

They heard angry stomping traveling up the stairs near their room and they felt it was safe to assume that it was the sound of Izuku making his way back up after phasing through all the floors.

Then, all of a sudden, a still naked Midoriya kicked their door open. "Dabi! The heroes are really testing my patience, so I'm going to go play some mind games with them, you in?"

He jumped out of bed with a vicious smile, "Hell yeah, when do we get started?"

"All we need is a handful of villains and a bunch of hostages." He paused for a moment. "Oh, and pants! We should probably wear pants. Sometimes I forget the little stuff when I get focused on an idea. Be ready to leave in a few minutes, there's no time like the present!"

He crouched down, green lightning covered his body, then he launched himself upwards and phased through the ceiling.

Hawks watched all of this in disbelief. "So, he's like completely insane, right? That's not just me?"

His flaming boyfriend gave him a big smile as he looked for pants, "The kid had two different passive mental quirks shoved into his head that then got supercharged, of course he's insane. Wouldn't have the crazy bastard any other way."

"That's fair I guess. It just sort of weirds me out that he's both genuinely kind and a mass murderer at the same time. Like, he's just so friendly and nice, it's like having the world's largest criminal organization run by the kid who brings cookies to share with the class."

"That's just his charm I suppose. HA, I found pants!" He gave hawks a quick kiss, "I'll see you when I get back from terrorizing society."

A couple hours later the top members of the League of villains stood in a busy mall. It didn't take much more than their reputations to subdue a very large crowd and have each of them fitted with a bomb collar.

What the hostages didn't know was that they were actually copies of bombs, courtesy Twice, and would turn to harmless goo if they started to explode.

With over one hundred hostages secured and Toga live streaming them, they started.

Aizawa had been anxious all day. A group of rooky heroes had gone and taken out one of the League's smaller hideouts.

They had gone months without any violent attacks from the League of Villains. No civilian or hero casualties, any violence was directed at other villains in a bid for power.

There were a lot of heroes who were very against the new policy of not going after the League, but he personally loved it. He didn't give a shit about catching villains, he cared about keeping people safe.

He wasn't an idiot, he knew that this artificial peace wouldn't last forever. But he would be glad for every day that villains were exclusively attacking each other instead of innocents.

But now that some idiot heroes had broken the ceasefire, what would Midoriya do in response?

His question was answered by a notification on his phone sent out to all heroes.

He quickly opened the link to the live video that was quickly spreading around the country.

Standing in his well known villain costume was Midoriya himself with nearly all of his most trusted allies.

He immediately recognized Dabi, Kurogiri, Twice, Gun Fist, and Toga (or at least he assumed it was her recording based on her laugh). Though there were a few more he didn't know in the background.

Shouta felt that his previous concern was justified when he saw the countless hostages sitting on the ground with bombs on their necks. None of them appeared to be injured, so that was a slight relief.

His chest tightened when one of the hostages made a run for it while no one was looking.

He barely made it a few steps before a tendril of pure darkness shot out of Midoriya's arm and wrapped around the fleeing middle aged man.

He was dragged back to the large group of hostages without fanfare and the black rope retracted back into the green haired villain.

There was something unnerving about how little he was bothered or concerned about an attempted escape. He presented himself as a man who had nothing to fear, and all Aizawa could do is hope that he was being overconfident.

He heard a clap and he drew his attention back to Midoriya who was smiling at the camera. "Hello everyone, I'm sure you all recognize me, and if you don't, I really suggest checking the news more often. Anyways, as you can all see here, we've taken a bunch of lovely hostages." He turned and gestured to the people cowering on the floor behind him "Honestly, you guys have been great, some of the best hostages I've ever had. But, we're going to be doing this differently than your usual hostage situation."

He gave a friendly smile that could chill people to the bone. "You see, if you do absolutely nothing, we'll all leave after a couple of hours and no one gets hurt."

He then heard Toga speak up from behind the camera, "Can I grab some cute dresses while we wait?"

"Oh, absolutely, that sounds like a great plan, but that's not the point. So, here's the deal. If you do nothing, no one dies. But! If a hero shows up then we do something else, we'll offer whoever shows up a deal, one of us will turn themselves in but some hostages die.

"So, it's up to you heroes. What's more important, catching villains or saving lives?"

He took a deep breath. This could have been a lot worse. As long as everyone just sits tight for a few hours it will be fine. The heroes will feel a bit humiliated, but no one dies and that's the whole point of fighting villains in the first place.

The green haired villain started speaking again. "Now, I know this might seem strange and out of nowhere for a lot of you, so I'll give you all some context. You see, for a while now I've had a deal set up with the heroes that they decided not to tell the public about. Essentially, as long as we didn't attack civilians or heroes then no heroes would come after us. But then this morning I found out that about thirty of my men were arrested in the middle of them eating breakfast, which is certainly not in the category of harming innocents."

Their group had started wandering through the mall while the villains he didn't recognize stayed with the hostages to prevent any escapes.

Dabi started trying on different hats as he continued talking.

"So, I've decided to give you heroes a second chance at the cease fire. Because in all actuality, this is the exact same scenario. You can choose between letting us go about our business, or you can capture us at the cost of human life. It's your choice to make."

Toga laughed as Dabi tried on a fedora, "Yeah, just like it's Dabi's choice to look like an idiot."

At this point they seemed content with the amount of villainous monologuing they had done and just went through high end clothing stores trying things on just wasting time while they waited to see what the heroes would do.

Dabi turned to the man made of mist. "Hey Kurogiri, how many hostages do you think you're worth?"

"Hmm? Well, I'd think I'm worth at least ten."

"Ten?! You're selling yourself short there misty. You gotta have more self worth, you are an S class villain and the heroes would be lucky to get you for anything less than twenty hostages."

"I'm unsure if I am worth that many lives, but I appreciate the compliment."

"It's all about self confidence, also, you should really try on these rings, I think they would give you more definition."

The camera shook slightly as Toga nodded, "He's right Giri, rings would be a great look on you. It would add to your fancy-villain look, while also making your hands look more like hands instead of smoke mittens."

The older villain sighed, "Toga, I can never tell if you intend to compliment or insult me."

Midoriya suddenly appeared in a flash of green lightning. "Guys! You'll never believe this, but a hero just showed up."

Twice came over, in a disastrous outfit that included a suit jacket, sweat pants, and a plaid shirt, "Holy shit, are you serious!? I knew they would show up eventually!"

Aizawa had to agree with Twice's sentiment. They were clearly just trying to prove a point and would likely leave without doing more than some minor shoplifting, but he wasn't surprised that someone was stupid enough to try it.

The group ran back to the hostages, clearly not expecting someone to actually take the bait so quickly.

He could hear Dabi mumbling just barely picked up by the camera "I swear, sometimes it feels like the heroes are better villains than we are."

As soon as they reached the main area, Aizawa immediately recognized the hero and grew even more concerned.

He had only graduated a few years prior but was already making waves as a hero with a very utilitarian look on heroics.

He had absolutely no issue with killing villains on the spot, he even had argued for it since it meant there was no chance for escaping prison and the taxpayers wouldn't bear the cost of long term imprisonment.

He had a quirk that let him create massive whips of pure plasma, and based his hero name off of that trait. Unfortunately, his deadly quirk and belief in acceptable losses made Aizawa come to the uncommon conclusion that he was too logical.

"I am the hero Solar Flare and you will release these hostages!"

Midoriya looked confused. "No? Did you not see what we posted? I thought we were pretty clear that you should only come here if you didn't want the hostages released?"

"Oh, I heard your message, and I refuse to listen to a villain."

"Well here's how I see it, if we fight here, right in front of these people, they'll probably all die terrible deaths in the process. So let's make a deal, same as before. We kill an agreed upon amount of hostages to kill and I come willingly. Fewer people will die and there will be no property damage. Plus, there's no way you'll actually win a fight against all of us."

The hero seemed to think. "I see your point. In the long run you are likely to kill numerous people, so it is best to stop you here. What is your number."

Midoriya gave a vicious grin as the hostages behind him began to panic. "Thirty seems reasonable."

The cold and calculating hero considered this for a moment. "Well, seeing as your personal kill count is in the hundreds from just the past few years, thirty lives seems to be a reasonable cost to prevent further deaths."

"I'm glad you agree." He gestured to the hostages behind him. "Now, please be so kind as to pick the thirty people."

This finally gave the hero pause. "What?"

"Did you expect us to pick for you? If we're going to kill thirty innocents, you might as well choose which ones."

Midoriya began to fake whisper to the hero "Just so you know, the guy with the mustache and the black shirt beats his kids and the lady in the white dress doesn't pay her taxes. Oh, and that old guy over there was a terrible bully as a teenager, so maybe pick them first."

His voice sounded pained as he responded, "Why are you making me choose?"

"Because I'm hearing all of your thoughts, AND YOU'RE STILL THINKING OF THEM AS NUMBERS! That is the gift and curse of my quirk. No one is just a 'person'. That child isn't 'just a kid', she loves music and is trying to learn the piano, but her small hands have made her want to give up because it's hard to reach all the keys. That man who I just told you beats his kids also donates to charity, and that little girl is the child of a villain and wants to follow in their footsteps. Because no one is simple, and no one knows better than me that you should never take a life without understanding that."

"Then why would you put bombs on their necks?"

He sighed and shook his head. "Because the bombs are fakes." He gestured to Twice, and in an instant all of the explosives turned to sludge. "Here's the thing about having a quirk like mine. I know exactly what kind of person you are. And I know you won't change. You'll never understand that you're wrong."

In an instant Izuku's arm shifted into a cobra and shot forward, biting into his throat.

"Plus, I wanted an excuse to test out my new quirk, 'snake limbs."

The hero raised his hands to strike back as the venom entered his veins, but was slapped across the face hard enough that his neck snapped.

He turned back to the camera. "I think the point we've been trying to make today is pretty clear, but I'll spell it out for you just in case. Your precious heroes consider you 'acceptable losses'. Because heroes aren't paid by how many people they save. They are paid by how many villains they catch. If this was a normal hostage situation, he probably would have been successful, but at the cost of your lives. So, I think you, the people of Japan, need to think long and hard about whether or not you trust heroes to save you."

At that, a portal opened up and all of the villains left. All of the hostages had gone free, and the only death was the hero who tried to interfere.

The video cut out and Aizawa collapsed into his chair. He didn't care how many quirks that boy got his hands on, his most dangerous weapon would always be his words.

He put them in a situation where the heroes would be in the wrong no matter what they did. If they went after them now after that speech then the heroes would be criticised harshly for any inevitable civilian casualties. But at the same time, if they did nothing, they would be called cowards for it and accused of being afraid to face the League of Villains.

What the world didn't know was that Midoriya collapsed the moment he stepped through the portal.

He had thought he was ready, but absorbing the memories of so many people was too much.

So while he kept up a facade for the camera, he fell into a panic attack as soon as he didn't need to pretend. He could never let people see his weaknesses. Never let anyone outside of his closest friends know that he wasn't unbeatable, that he was still just a scared kid sometimes.

But they didn't know. So, even though he was hyperventilating from overstimulation while Kurogiri talked him down, no one would have guessed it, and that was what mattered.

Weeks passed and things remained quiet. The heroes had learned their lesson and left him alone. Well, not entirely. They were focusing on information gathering and investigative work, and that's what they told the public to appease them. But, that didn't really impact any of his plans, it just meant he needed to be ready for when they decided to act on their knowledge.

Regardless, this meant he was able to get back to training his many tricky quirks instead of fighting heroes.

And in order to increase the percentage of One for All that he could safely use, he needed to build more muscle mass to handle it.

Which led to where he was now, doing pushups while Eri sat on his back giving moral support and giggling a lot.

She called out to Kurogiri who was making dinner, "Giri! Look! I'm helping!"

He laughed softly, "Yes, I can see that."

She started poking him in the neck to get Izuku's attention while he was resting for a moment.

"Yes Eri?"

"Why does your neck have those funky bumps on it now?"

"Oh, those are gills. That's one of the quirks I got recently."

She seemed to think for a moment, "Like the quirks you took from the man wearing the number shirt?"

"Yep, I got a whole bunch of quirks from him, and one gives me gills."

"That's not as cool as the other ones"

He smiled at her age appropriate antics. "Well, then what is my best quirk?"

There was no hesitation when she responded, "The water one"

-Kota's quirk is the best-

He did his best to hold back laughter as Kurogiri spoke up. "Is it by chance the best quirk because it's a copy of Kota's quirk?"

She blushed and shook her head. "No! Boys are gross and dumb!"

"Of course Eri, what a foolish question for me to ask."

Izuku smiled, "I think that's a pretty common opinion for eight year old girls, but you might not think they are gross later."

"No, I'm eight and three quarters, and boys will always be dumb."

He felt Dabi getting closer to where they were talking, "I can't argue with that logic, Dabi's a boy and he's pretty dumb"

Dabi walked into the room with a cup of tea, "Wow, I came here for a good time and I'm feeling so attacked right now."

Eri smiled up at him "Hi Dabi! We were talking about the new quirks"

"Yeah, I saw the new gills. Based on my expert abilities of basic addiction, you've got two more right?"

Izuku scratched the back of his neck, "Well, sort of. But I'm not going for one of them."

This clearly shocked Dabi, "You? Not going after a quirk? Who are you and what have you done with the real Izuku?"

"Haha very funny. The quirk is a mutation that basically shoots fire from my pores 24/7. So, while it's helpful in a fight, it's not worth giving up hugs with Eri."

"Man, it's so weird to go from seeing you scare new recruits to seeing you be all cute and domestic with Eri. But I totally get not wanting to be on fire all the time,I've tried it and it's totally not worth it."

"Right? A lot of these quirks aren't all that exciting, like, Gills and Floating aren't exactly top tier, but I suppose the past holders of One for All were looking for good people rather than good quirks."

Eri took this opportunity to tackle Izuku as he was standing up, "Well I'm super strong and I'm great."

"Yes you are, but you're also 8, so no bone shattering quirks for you."

"I'm nearly 9!"

Kurogiri walked over, still wearing his apron, "Well, dinner is ready, so you can either keep bickering or you can eat."

That was all that was needed to make everyone be quiet and do as Kurogiri asked.

After going to sleep that night, Izuku sat in a darkness that was becoming familiar when he heard a voice from behind him.

"I see you've finally come for me too. I was wondering what was taking you so long."

He turned and saw a man in an odd coat that covered most of his face with jet black hair and glowing red eyes.

"You're the second user, Yuu Tanabe, right?"

"Hm, that's true. But what I wonder, is that if you already knew about me, then why didn't you come for my quirk first? Surely it was the most tempting given your fighting style?"

Izuku did not speak as the quirk remnant walked closer to him.

"Because I cannot think of a reason you would acquire every single non-detrimental quirk before taking the ability to warp the minds of others. So tell me, why would a master deceiver such as yourself shy away from the quirk that lets you manipulate the senses of everyone who is close enough?"

He wanted to scream and shout and pretend to be everything he wasn't. But it's harder to lie when you are inside your own mind. And within this space the truth could not be hidden.

The hard truth that underneath all of the bravado and stolen power, he was just a seventeen year old who kept watching loved ones die and felt so completely out of his depth but refused to let it show.

"You can't hide from your own mind Midoriya! I can feel how bad you want my quirk, but it scares you. You've already felt yourself slipping, and you're not sure if your mind can handle a quirk like mine. You're constantly bombarded by more information than most people learn over their entire lives, and you're terrified that adding the strain of another mental quirk will break you."

"S-stop it." How long had it been since he'd last stuttered? He'd buried that long ago, because showing his flaws around villains was a death sentence.

The ghostly hero gave him a grin "well I think you can do it."

"What?"

"I think if anyone can handle my quirk, you can. The thing no one talks about with illusions is how easy they are to make. How easy it is to ignore reality when you can cover it with the slightest thought. But I think you have the willpower to stay anchored to what's real and not lose yourself. You just have to stay focused on the truth, and remember that even if the quirk can feel like it bends reality, it can only bend perception."

Now this was very confusing. Was he being supportive? Why was he encouraging him? Every other holder fought him tooth and nail to keep him from their quirk, but this guy was giving helpful advice and complimenting him?

He felt the quirk flow into him without any resistance or fight on behalf of the original owner.

Izuku looked up in confusion, "Why?"

"That bastard's fancy book of secrets didn't really say much on me, did it? Just my name and quirk, right? I was pretty good at staying mysterious"

He nodded and stood up straighter, trying to regain the air of confidence he usually held so easily.

"Well, here's the first thing you need to understand, being a 'hero' during the first generation of quirks wasn't a thing. The closest thing we had were vigilantes like myself. Heroics today is like entertainment, fighting villains with quirks has become a spectacle, but it used to be nasty business.

"Prisons couldn't hold quirked criminals and quirk suppressing cuffs wouldn't exist for over fifty years, so if you wanted to stop a 'villain', then you had to kill them. Plus, the government really didn't like the idea of quirked people at first, so you had to be ready to fight them too unless you wanted to become a science experiment."

He sighed and looked at Izuku.

"What I'm trying to say is I get your perspective a hell of a lot more than the others do. The feeling of blood on your hands because you couldn't find a better option. A lot of good people do bad things because sometimes there isn't a good choice. People like us do what needs to be done, the only reason us vigilantes weren't called villains in the history books is because we won the fight and were deemed heroes."

Izuku was quiet for a moment as he absorbed everything he had just said. "I spoke to the first user, Shigaraki Hinata, and he saw things very different from you even though you're from the same time."

The ghost waved off the comment. "He was an idealist. He wanted to see the world become a better place and most importantly wanted to stop his brother. But he wasn't the one fighting the battles, he wasn't protesting in the streets as the police shot at anyone who looked quirked." He gestured to his glowing eyes "And I definitely fit the bill for that.

"I haven't been in your head for too long, but I can guess what your plan is. I look forward to seeing how it plays out."

Izuku laughed a little and nodded "Me too."

Yuu drifted back into the nothingness and allowed himself to adjust to the feeling of the new quirk. He was glad it was an emitter quirk, because that meant the pain from getting the new quirk was manageable as his eyes began to glow as well.

He suddenly felt a presence that he had not called forth, but instead had arrived on its own accord.

"You've taken all the quirks you wanted and tossed aside what you didn't, and in far less time than I could have ever predicted. Your greed and tenacity will never cease to impress me."

Izuku let himself shift back into his villainous persona, though he wasn't sure that is all that different from his true self anymore.

"Sensei, it's good to see you again. But how can you say I've taken everything I wanted when your quirk is still in your possession?"

He was met with joyous laughter from the deceased super villain. "Was taking my life and my empire not satisfactory for you? Must you take even more from me? You truly must be my successor. You are my legacy."

"No. I am my own legacy. When the history books are written you will be a footnote in my story, not the other way around. While you were bound by your fear of One for All and a need for secrecy, I won't hide like you did. I'll face the world head on, and there's nothing you or they can do to stop me."

The visage of the dead villain grinned viciously.

"Excellent. I couldn't have asked for someone better."

His body erupted in pain as his body mutated at the cellular level in order to accommodate one of the most powerful quirks to ever exist. The ability to rip out part of a person's DNA and incorporate into oneself is not a simple task. So even if his body didn't look any different, it had to rip itself apart and piece it back together in order to accomplish such a feat.

Izuku woke up to small hands shaking him.

"Daddy! Daddy wake up!"

Those words made him wake up fast. He quickly looked around the room for anything that might have scared Eri so badly or that he needed to protect her from.

He held her close and wrapped his arms around her protectively. "Eri, what's wrong?!"

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "You were yellin' in your sleep… I got scared you were hurt…"

He gently per her hair as he realized what happened. "I'm ok, I'm sorry I scared you."

She looked at him skeptical and he could clearly hear that she didn't believe he was actually ok.

"I promise I'm ok, but if you wanna stay here for the rest of the night to make sure then that's alright."

She gave him a big smile and crawled into bed with him. "Don't worry dad, I'll keep you super duper safe."

He doubted that Eri would ever know that she had saved him just as much as he saved her. She kept him human, and when it would have been easy to lose himself, she's there to remind him what's really important.

Hello, sorry for the long wait. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I was worried it would feel like an info dump, but I hope it still came out ok. Next chapter will focus on class A and B, so let me know if there's anyone you'd like to see more of.

Here's a list of all the quirks that came with One for All in case it was unclear.

-Some Random Dude: Power Stockpile

-All for One: All for One

-Shigaraki Hinata:Quirk transfer, (mixed with Power Stockpile to make One for All):

-Yuu Tanabe: Hallucinate, Allows user to alter the perceptions of everyone in a certain radius (also effects user)

-Third User: Snake Limbs, Can turn limbs into snakes

-Fourth User: Flame Body: Mutation that causes user's body to be constantly on fire, also allows them to create additional bursts of flame (Note that Izuku didn't take this one)

-Daigoro Banjo: Blackwhip: create black tendrils from user's arms

-Sixth user: Gills: Mutation that gives user gills

-Nana Shimura: Float: Lets user float.

-All Might: N/A

-Togata Mirio: Permeation

-Kota: Water creation/manipulation

-Midoriya Izuku: Passive Mind Reading and Perfect Memory

-altered by One for All to create Passive Memory reading as well