Connecting the Dots

Spider-Man, Captain Britain, and all associated characters, are property of Marvel. My Hero Academia and all related characters are property of Kohei Horikoshi

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"Stop sweating the details!" Keigo grinned at his intern from his couch, "You're doing just fine!"

Fumikage Tokoyami nodded, though his shoulders slumped. His shirt bulged a bit, and the bird-headed teen pressed his hands against his stomach, no doubt forcibly keeping Dark Shadow from popping up and speaking their minds as it had in the past (Keigo was fascinated that a being of living shadow was capable of spitting so forcefully). "Yes, Sir," Fumikage said, a touch sullen, "I understand. I've…learned much during my time here."

Keigo resisted the urge to frown. He…wasn't doing right by Fumikage. At all. In truth, he only sent him a draft to see if the kid had any Yokai heritage (he didn't) and, more importantly, learn more details about the attack at the USJ. It wasn't kind, but it had to be done. Hell, he would have done it even if the Hero Public Safety Commission hadn't ordered him to investigate the incident.

U.A. was supposed to be safe. That some nutjobs were able to bypass its defense mechanisms, even with the ability to teleport, was bad. That those same nutjobs were able to bring dozens of thugs, and some sort of genetically engineered monstrosity along with them…The more out-there Yokai had been crowing about 'dark times' since he could crawl, and he was beginning to think they were actually onto something.

Not that any of them could be assed to actually tell him what was going on.

Keigo left thoughts of his obstinate kin behind, focusing on Fumikage. The kid was looking down at his feet, beak twisted into a heavy frown. Guilt stabbed at Keigo's heart once more—when things settled down, he'd make it up to him. Recommend him to a Pro that would actually teach him, at least. Maybe Edgeshot or Gang Orca…ah, he'd deal with it later. He could at least give the kid some advice.

He plastered a grin on his face, resting his chin in his hand. "You really ought to relax, you know?"

"Like you?" Dark Shadow's muffled voice derisively spat. Fumikage thumped his stomach, harshly whispering at his other half.

Keigo just chuckled, "No—good god, no!" He shook his head, "Why would you—you're not me. How I relax isn't how you relax. I mean," he shrugged, leaning back against his seat and staring up at the ceiling, "sure, you can try to do what I do, but it probably won't do anything. You've got to find your own rhythm." Dark Shadow grumbled something unintelligible, but Fumikage grew pensive. Keigo suspected that he already had some way to relax, but it never hurt to remind people. Folks could go a long time without giving themselves a chance to unwind. Which was fair; life could really knock you down sometimes.

But going too long without a break, without any levity…he'd seen it a lot in his life, and he always hated it. From the lowliest Kappa, to the most prodigious CEO, everyone needed peace of mind.

Keigo looked up at the clock, arching a brow, "Man, is it that late? Time for you to go—child-labor laws and all that."

Fumikage smiled civilly at his lame attempt at humor. He bowed, "Thank you for your time." Keigo smiled at the polite gesture—and laughed when Dark Shadow burst out from under Fumikage's shirt and blew a raspberry. Fumikage grabbed the bird-like being in a stranglehold, hastily apologizing as he made his exit.

Keigo waited until the door clicked closed before wiping the smile off his face, rising from his couch and walking over to his desk. He turned on his computer while opening the hidden drawer at its base, pulling out his notes on Gran Tornio's career. Which…wasn't much. There was a clear timeline, but it had a lot of holes in it. A great deal of his case history was redacted—which made sense. He dealt a lot with the Yakuza, and they had their fingers everywhere. No doubt some people high in the government wanted to keep choice names and places out of official records. But even still, to have so much of his history blacked out seemed excessive.

Anima's file was even lighter. Disregarding the fact that she'd died years ago—however it happened, because the information was, of course, redacted—it was as if someone (Gran Torino most likely, or perhaps even Anima herself) had personally gone through her old records and removed anything they could get away with.

But there was one thing that stuck out, that both older Heroes shared despite their desire to scrub away their pasts. They both accepted an apprentice; Anima until her death, and Gran Torino almost right after. There were, again, no names or anything identifiable, but Keigo had a sinking suspicion who that was.

Unfortunately, he couldn't access any information online. Even before Nezu overhauled U.A.'s servers, the school had kept a very close watch over its records. But, given how old the records Keigo wanted were, there were still physical copies that he could find gathering dust in a nigh-forgotten building. And even if those were blacked out, well, he wasn't the most adept at magic, but he had a few talismans that could help his investigative efforts.

Of course, he could always go to the Hero Public Safety Commission and ask them for access to the files. But…he didn't think that was the best course of action. For one, who knew how long it would take to wade through the red tape. For another…it was no secret that the Yakuza and the Japanese government had ties. If whatever Gran Torino, Anima, and their 'mystery student' were wrapped in linked back to the Yakuza, he didn't want anyone getting tipped off because of old debts or other such nonsense. No, best to do this as off the books as possible.

But first, he needed to figure out which old building those files were gathering dust in.

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Nezu hummed as Takami Keigo turned off his computer, his (legally dubious) connection dying with it.

He leaned back in his seat, eyes narrowing as he drummed his fingers atop his desk. Stubborn guy—he'd been stonewalled at every turn but didn't let it stop him. Made him a great Hero, but a rather irritating fly in the current ointment. Him and the other guy, who was doing a much better job at being anonymous in his investigations (though Nezu was fairly certain he knew who that person was as well).

Unfortunately, there wasn't all that much he could do about it all. He couldn't exactly delete or destroy the files—that'd just land him in hot water with the government. And though Toshinori's past was, to be frank, innocuous and a little bland, it was the people connected to his past that were more important. More damning. All for One was careful to keep himself outside of official records, but one could fill in the negative space to figure out who he was. What he could do.

Their best option to dealing with the threat was taking All for One out as quickly and as quietly as possible. Spider-Man's assistance and advice had proven invaluable on that front, and Nezu had already narrowed down All for One's base of operations to the eastern coast of mainland Japan. But if Takami, at least, kept on digging as he was, All for One would no doubt discover his investigation, and either speed-up whatever his plans were, or dig deeper underground. Either way, they were screwed, and outside of some actually, unequivocably illegal courses of action, there just wasn't anything Nezu could really do.

…Or was there?

Nezu hummed, tilting his head left-and-right. Keigo and his parallel accomplice wouldn't stop on their own—they'd already sunk their teeth on the mysteries of Toshinori's life. But they could, perhaps, be led. Question was, would it be direct, or indirect.

He pulled out his personal phone; he had some calls to make.

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Keigo shivered, double-checking the talismans inside his coat. Well, wings transformed into a coat. Normally, he could just fold them up, so they didn't bump into anything. But they were, in a word, distinctive. Without them, though, he was just your average guy. In an oddly thick coat at the tail end of spring…Well, he wouldn't be around for too long anyway.

As he double-checked his coat, though, he did take a moment to leaf through the other talismans he had on him. Nothing crazy, or permanent, but enough to disrupt any security footage and get rid of any physical evidence of his being in the building. One of which—something a handful of kappa had developed back when cameras became reliable—he placed on his neck, which would effectively erase his presence on digital media. People would still see him, and if he bumped into anything, the camera would still catch that, but his father taught him how to weave through a crowd while under the talisman's effects.

He frowned as he entered the bland office building—this whole situation was screwy. Happening upon Gran Torino training a kid that took cues from All Might wasn't all that odd—maybe the man was feeling nostalgic. But then he and Ao, his Yokai cousin, have a conversation behind a magic barrier, and that same cousin refused to tell him what about.

…That was the crux of it, really. That Ao wouldn't trust him with whatever was going on. He'd struggled for years to get to where he is, paving the way for his Yokai kin to reenter the world. He'd ignored the jeers and taunts of the more openly bigoted fools within the HPSC, held his tongue when some of the cleverer ones tried to pry Yokai secrets out of him. He'd thought he'd proven a productive and worthy member of Japan's magical community.

But he supposed he was just human enough to be kept at arm's length.

He reached the building's stairwell, shaking his head clear of his turbulent thoughts. He just needed to find out what had Ao so spooked, and to do that, he needed a clearer picture of what Gran Torino and his 'mystery student' got up to around Anima's death—that was the thread that would unravel this whole mess (which would them, undoubtably, lead towards that Nomu thing).

He entered the stairwell, slapping a talisman on the rising steps as he headed down. A simple charm his mother taught him as a child—it emitted a very subtle psychic suggestion to turn around and leave. Dozens of charms were layered together in forests and caves to protect Yokai villages from wandering humans. This single one would last maybe an hour, but he'd be long gone by then.

The storage room was only three levels down. But he ran into a problem as he rounded the corner to the room—namely, the door was open.

Keigo narrowed his eyes; someone in the very room he wanted to be in, right when he wanted to be in it? He reached into his 'coat', running his fingers along his transformed feathers; best case scenario, it was a janitor. Worst case, someone was getting rid of something important. Deciding discretion was the better part of valor, Keigo crept forward, peeking into the room.

Only to pause as he saw Endeavor, hunched over a filing cabinet. There were a couple other files around the Hero, and Keigo could see that they were all files on heroes that appeared at least a decade ago.

So, Endeavor was also skulking around a government building looking through old hero records…Sure, why not?

He debated his next course of action. Whatever Endeavor was doing, it most likely wasn't an official assignment. Though, for the life of him, Keigo couldn't figure out why the Pro would be here. But…Endeavor didn't do anything unless he considered it important. Who knows, maybe they could help each other out (and if Keigo got the chance to finally work with a childhood hero, that was neither here nor there).

Thus, Keigo fully opened the door.

At first Endeavor didn't look up. "I asked not to be disturbed," was all he said. When Keigo cleared his throat, the man huffed, looking up "I said—who are you?" Endeavor stepped away from the cabinet, beard sparking. But the flames died before Keigo could even think of answering, the older man arching a brow, saying, "Wait…you're Hawks. What are you doing here?"

Keigo cocked his head to the side, gesturing to his empty back, "How'd you tell?"

"I make it a point to memorize the other Top Heroes," Endeavor said dismissively. "Though I'll admit the lack of wings threw me off a bit."

Keigo grunted at the unasked question. He didn't really expect to meet any coworkers like this, but he wasn't ashamed of his non-human heritage. Thus, he opened up his 'coat', pointing to the talisman, "Old Tengu technique."

Endeavor's eyes widened, "Tengu? So, the rumors are true?" Keigo nodded, lips spread into a bland smile. His technical superior narrowed his eyes, "…Answer my question."

Keigo shrugged, pointing to the loose files, "I'm here for a similar reason as you, I think."

Endeavor's expression didn't change. "…You're here on official business, then?"

"Nope!" Keigo replied with an easy smirk. "Are you?"

"Yes." Keigo blinked. "I've requested that I be allowed access to old physical records in order to vet the staff at U.A."

Keigo's smile sharpened, "That include the former staff?" Endeavor said nothing in reply. "Well, whatever," Keigo stepped further into the room, "I'm looking for something a little different, so if you don't mind."

But Endeavor didn't move—actually, he stepped forward. "And just what are you looking for?"

"Old internships—or apprenticeships, or whatever you older folk used to call them."

"Why?"

Keigo hummed, crossing his arms, "…You just worry about taking care of U.A." Endeavor's ever-present frown deepened. "The only reason I'm here unofficially is because I might end up finding nothing of note." Which was a lie; Keigo fully expected to find something horrifying. But no one needed to know that just yet. Endeavor growled, but did step back, returning to his previous task. Keigo thanked him, beginning his own search. He found the filing cabinets reserved for U.A. and started the slow process of going backwards through each year.

It took some time (and a few paper cuts), but he did find what he wanted. And, as suspected, student All Might's file was almost entirely blacked out—even his damn name! Keigo bit back a frustrated groan; this was worse than he thought. Why go through all this trouble? What about All Might was so dangerous to know?

…Maybe he was directly related to the Yakuza? Keigo mulled over the though; it made some sense. Either he was born under a clan or caught in the wrong place at the wrong time—no, it was most likely the former. If he saw something really damning, he'd have died or never returned to Japan.

If he was born under a clan, maybe he betrayed Yakuza secrets to the Hero Public Safety Commission. He might have joined U.A. under his clan's direction, only to have a change of heart. Anima and Gran Torino dealt a lot with the Yakuza, so he would have been paired up with them to both provide protection and share information.

But then Anima died. Yet, not Gran Torino, or All Might.

It was a conundrum—but one that would be solved by a little magic.

A low growl from behind interrupted Keigo's thoughts. He turned around, spying Endeavor glaring at All Might's official Pro-Hero file—whose real name, and the majority of his information, was blacked out, which obviously frustrated Endeavor, and amplified a great deal of Keigo's suspicions.

"I can help with that," Keigo said. Endeavor looked over his shoulder with a cocked brow. Keigo just reached into his pocket, pulling out a couple talismans. Endeavor's mood, if at all possible, dropped further, lips curling in distaste. Keigo just grinned, "I'm looking into All Might's life too." Now, Endeavor's expression changed, a bit of shock leaking into his features. Keigo grinned a bit, before sobering, "There's a lot about the man's past that, I'm pretty sure, links to the present."

Endeavor stared hard as Keigo. "I…agree," he eventually said, as though he was trying to gargle rocks. Keigo just nodded, placing his own file next to Endeavor's and raising his talismans. Only for Endeavor to say, "Wait." Keigo arched a brow as Endeavor leafed through the files, removing a couple sheets of blacked out paper—ones that referred to personal and family history, Keigo noticed. Well, everyone was entitled to a little privacy, he supposed.

Yet, before Keigo could slap the talismans down, his phone buzzed, as did Endeavor's. Now, the two of them both receiving texts at the same time might have been explicable; however, they were quite a few feet underground, and Keigo had turned off his phone before he even left his home.

He and Endeavor exchanged glances, simultaneously pulling out their phones. Further proving that someone was having fun with them, the message was split between their phones. In full, it read, 'Look at you two, so eager to scurry out secrets! But you don't need to hang around some dusty old room. Clean up your mess and come up to room one-hundred fifty-two.' Endeavor scowled at the command, after which another message came, 'Come now, Endeavor! You'll get wrinkles if you keep frowning like that!' Endeavor looked like he wanted to melt his phone into slag. 'Now, please," came one final message, their phones turning off on their own.

Endeavor cracked his neck, beard and eyebrows bursting into flames, "Did you notice anyone following you?"

"Nope," Keigo replied, quickly putting away the files before Endeavor could acciendentally (or not) destroy them. "But they could've been waiting here for us."

Endeavor growled, "Perhaps," and led them out. They travelled in silence, until finally coming to the mentioned room. Endeavor opened it, revealing an, honestly, perplexing group of people.

In the center of the room sat Nezu, black eyes gleaming as he calmly sipped on a teacup. Gran Tornio stood to his left, leaning against a cane, eyes all-but narrowed into slits. To the right sat a police detective that Keigo was fairly certain he'd seen before, prominently working alongside Pro-Heroes. Finally, leaning against a wall was a tall, somewhat sickly blonde that Keigo didn't recognize. Endeavor might have had an idea, though, given how hard he was peering at the man.

Nezu set his tea aside, grinning widely as his tail flicked back-and-forth. "You two are remarkably stubborn."

"And you are annoying," Endeavor spat.

"I prefer to call it loveable."

"What's going on?" Keigo asked, cutting off Endeavor's retort. "Clearly you all are protecting All Might. Why?"

Gran Torino huffed, "It's not so much that…"

Endeavor grunted, his flames dying down, "Others then?"

The tall blonde finally spoke, pushing off the wall, "Everyone—and that's only a slight exaggeration."

Endeavor ignored the answer, once again peering at the man. "…I know you," he said, but didn't sound entirely sure.

The man grinned, "I'd hope so." It happened so fast even Keigo needed a minute to process what happened. The man took a short breath, and in an instant, his body expanded. He was no a longer scraggly reed, but a healthy, muscular Hero. All Might. All Might revealed his signature smile, cracking his knuckles, "You've been right behind me for so long, after all." There was a quick burst of steam, and All Might returned to his thin form.

Keigo stared at the now-infamous Pro-Hero, sure that Endeavor had a similarly dumbstruck expression. The police detective's snickers brought them back to reality, "I'm telling you, Yagi, everyone gets that look."

"He's right brat!" Gran Torino chortled

All Might—Yagi—rolled his eyes, "Yes, yes, laugh it up, you two."

"What's going on?" Endeavor's growl cut through the merriment.

Yagi grunted, crossing his arms, "...I didn't always look like this, you know. My Quirk always bulked me up, but," he lifted his shirt up, and Keigo's sucked in a breath at the sight of a mass of thick, black scars running up-and-down his torso, "it wasn't until this thing that I became…this."

Endeavor gasped, "That time five years ago, when you disappeared for a few months. That's when you got this injury, isn't it?"

Nezu chuckled, "Very good, Endeavor! Glad to see your obsession has some positives!" Endeavor's facial hair started sparking once more.

Keigo decided to move forward. "This person's still alive, aren't they?" He waited until all eyes were on him, "They were behind the attack on the USJ?" At the nods sent his way Keigo crossed his arms, "Okay…I can understand why no one would want to publicize the fact that someone was capable of severely injuring the Top Hero." He pinched the bridge of his nose, "But what does it have to do with the fact that everything related to you two," he gestured to Yagi and Gran Torino, "and Anima is redacted?"

"Or the appearance of Spider-Man?"

Keigo huffed, "One thing at a time, Endeavor."

"The reason for all the secrecy," Yagi said, "is two-fold. For one, the monster," Keigo stiffened at the vitriol in his voice, "that did this to me was thought dead. The second, the reason why so much of our history is hidden behind black ink" Yagi took a deep breath, "…is because if word of his abilities got out, chaos would soon spread throughout all of Japan, at least."

Endeavor hummed lowly, "What can this…monster…do then?"

Yagi made to speak, but just started shaking, fists clenched, face pinched in rage. Gran Torino picked up the slack. "All for One—both the Quirk's name and what the monster calls himself—can steal Quirks."

"…What?" came Keigo and Endeavor's incredulous responses.

"Not just steal them," the detective—Naomasa, Keigo finally recalled—spoke up, "but redistribute them. Combine them."

Keigo gasped, "Nomu…"

"Indeed," Nezu nodded, lips twisted into a frown, "You know how the investigation into the creature hit a wall? It was its genetic structure that caused so much confusion. I took a look at it myself, but genetic monstrosities lie outside my purview, to say nothing of the fact that U.A.'s defenses have been taking up the majority of my time."

"Granting Spider-Man access to the data gathered on Nomu was the primary reason he came here," Yagi said, having gained control of himself once more.

"Really?" Endeavor scoffed.

"Yes, really," Nezu replied, seconds before Yagi could. "I was a bit skeptical myself, I'll admit, but Spider-Man discovered things about Nomu that even I would have missed."

Endeavor took a deep breath, the resulting, molten hot exhale forcing Keigo back a step. He said, "You illegally—"

"Extra-legally," Nezu chimed.

"Illegally," Endeavor growled, "brought an American Vigilante into the country…for consultation? Because, what, you grew impatient? Didn't trust our own country's minds to figure this out?"

"I did not." Keigo, and even Endeavor, gasped at the lightning-quick affirmation. "Not when it comes to this."

Endeavor's facial hair burst into flames once more. "You arrogant, irreverent, incompetent bastar—guh!" Keigo didn't even have time to blink; Yagi had bulked up, dashing forward and stopping just short of slamming Endeavor into a wall.

"Listen up, Todoroki," Yagi said, voice as cool as ice, "All for One is not your standard, run-of-the-mill Villain. He has lived for decades, maybe even centuries, working from the shadows, sowing chaos and disorder wherever he could, however he could. In the prime of my life, I barely managed to beat him, and am only standing here thanks to a long string of miracles. Now, injured as I am, our only—only—hope is that we find and kill him before he has a chance to fully recover."

Endeavor sneered, "And that gives you the right to take the law into your own hands?"

"Yes." Endeavor's eyes widened, before he set his face into a wild sneer, flames growing hotter.

"Endeavor," Keigo cut in, moving up beside Yagi, "Todoroki, listen." The man's flames didn't lessen, but he did shift his enraged glare to him. Keigo took a deep breath, "There's things out there are bigger than you can possibly imagine. Things that require swift actions without anyone else being the wiser."

Gran Torino hummed from behind them, "Sounds like you're speaking from experience."

Keigo looked over his shoulder with a wry grin, "You wouldn't believe the kind of things Ao drags me into." At times Keigo himself couldn't believe it, and he'd been mired in weird shit since he could crawl.

All Might hummed, stepping back from Todoroki, shrinking down. "Besides, there's no telling who within the government is aware of All for One's survival. Officially, he was cremated as an unknown man crushed in an industrial accident. I left him as little more than a mangled corpse, there's no way he could have faked his death on his own."

Todoroki's flames finally died down, though his face was still twisted into a fierce grimace. "…This isn't just some bizarre series of coincidences connected by paranoia?"

Yagi sent him a flat look, "I know you don't like me, but do you really think so little of me?"

"Oh, you don't want to know what I think of you."

"If it makes you feel any better," Detective Naomasa spoke up, "once this is all said and done, we plan on revealing our deception to the public." Gran Torino and Nezu grumbled at that but didn't contradict the statement. Todoroki didn't look too pleased either but didn't follow up on it.

Instead, he asked, "Since you all so clearly have everything in hand, why bring me and Takami into this?"

"Well, again," Nezu said, "you're both really stubborn, and trying to maneuver around you while focusing on bigger things would be more trouble than it's worth. Although—"

"Can it," Gran Torino cut him off, "we're not wasting a favor that big on something so petty."

Nezu let out an indignant huff, before focusing back on Keigo and Todoroki. "Also, honestly, you are two of the better Pro-Heroes out there right now." Keigo accepted the compliment, and even Todoroki looked a little pleased. "With your resources and skills, we can get this done a lot faster."

Keigo hummed, focusing on Todoroki—he was in, but the question was how the older Hero would respond.

The Flame Hero was silent for a long while, eyes intense, yet unfocused. Finally, he huffed, throwing his hands into the air, "Fine, fine! I've already been drawn too far into this insanity." He levelled a glare at Yagi, "But I will accept nothing less than full cooperation. The minute any of you make any sort of progress, you inform me."

"Of course," Yagi replied, a small smile on his face, though he seemed to age decades.

Todoroki sighed deeply, crossing his arms. "…Who else knows about this?"

Yagi replied, "Gran's got a few old friends in power that we can trust.

Recovery Girl back in U.A. Spider-Man, obviously," he ignored Todoroki's irritated grunt, "and Captain Britain."

Keigo blinked, "Captain Britain? Is that why the United Kingdom keeps on offering assistance?"

"Yes," Yagi smiled; a much more genuine one that Keigo had ever seen before, "he's been trying his best, but he can only offer so much support."

"Why not just illegally enter Japan?" Todoroki said with a roll of his eyes, "You and your friends clearly don't care about international law."

"We're reckless, Todoroki, not masochists," Yagi said with a laugh. Todoroki did not share his mirth.

In fact, his mood seemed to darken, "And what about your family? Are you keeping them in the dark as well?"

Yagi blushed, rubbing the back of his neck, "God, Nezu told me but I didn't think you seriously…" he shifted his gaze to Keigo, before refocusing on Todoroki, "Izuku isn't my son."

"You are sleeping with his mother," Gran Torino muttered, too low for Todoroki to hear, but Keigo's (slightly) enhanced hearing was able to pick up. He held back a smirk; well, that's one mystery solved.

Todoroki rolled his eyes (not entirely convinced, Keigo could tell), "Whatever. Does he know this insanity? Or are you leaving him in the dark like the rest of us?"

"He knows," Yagi said, shoulders sagging, "god help me, he knows." Something in Todoroki softened at the display, before his signature stoic rage returned. Yagi composed himself as well, gesturing to two empty chairs. "Please, sit down. Let us fully explain this mess we're all wrapped up in."

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A/N: These things always end up being longer than I think they'll be. Be sure to leave a review. Later.