Seeing Kacchan and that flesh villain were really the only interesting events that happened that day. Otherwise, Uraraka and I weren't called in for any incidents, so we primarily worked on finalizing the office.

Midoriya Hero Agency. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?

My feelings were initially mixed about the name change considering Kacchan's aggressive reaction to my return, but I also had trouble saying no to Uraraka's adorable enthusiasm when I proposed the name change.

Ultimately, I ended up bending to my assistant's will.

Oh, and speaking of Kacchan, I'm scheduled to talk to him right after work.

And by "right after work", I mean whenever he loses patience with me and stops by my office.

"DEKU!" I heard his shout from outside the building.

"Kacchan!" I responded. "Keep it down! There's others who live over there and it's almost late!"

"Who cares? You're taking too long," he continued to shout.

"I'll be out there soon! Just wait!"

He started mumbling to himself, probably something about how I was taking too long and that he was sick of waiting.

I went to my office and grabbed my phone and wallet. Uraraka passed by me.

"You going to talk to Bakugo?"

"Mhm," I responded. "Pray that I don't die."

"Okay."

Before I was able to get to the door, to my surprise, Uraraka grabbed my shoulder.

"Hey, before you go..." She seemed hesitant before she continued on. "I'm... not the only one who missed you at UA."

I stopped dead in my tracks.

Wait... you don't mean...

"Kacchan?"

"Yeah."

"N... No way!"

"He's not mad at you, Deku. He seriously wants to talk to you."

"Are you crazy?! Look at him outside shouting and tell me he's not mad! He probably just wants to kick my ass since I beat him in the Sports Festival or something!"

She giggled. "Well... forget what I said about him not being mad. But I promise, he just wants to talk."

I looked down. "Uraraka, I trust you, but... but Kacchan? How can you be so sure?"

"We became better friends after you left. He told me as such and you were essentially a loss we both had to live with."

A lump in my throat appeared as a pang of shame pierced through my chest. "A-Ah..."

"I'm not trying to make you feel bad. My point is-"

"HEEEEEEEEY!"

"GET DOWN HEEEERE!"

"WE'LL BE OUT IN A MINUTE, EXPLOSION BOY!" Uraraka shouted in response.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!"

"Anyways," she continued, "My point is that you'll be fine."

"Okay. Thanks, Uraraka."

She smiled at me with her twinkling brown eyes. "See you tomorrow, Deku."

"Goodbye!"

Kacchan's office was deeply unsettling to me. At least my office was a tad decorated with posters and personal objects adorned here and there. But for Kacchan, it was dark and intimidating.

A few lounge chairs for visitors (which we were now sitting in and facing each other in) were really the only things giving a comfy feeling in his office.

Otherwise, it was like being in the office of an evil overlord.

We sat down awkwardly and did not say anything for about thirty seconds.

...

Agh... I'm so nervous! I wish I could summon some of that strength I had before I went to see that villain.

...

"I guess I'll start since you're too much of a wimp to talk yourself," he said."What did round-face say to before you left?"

I paused. Round-face? "How were you two ever friends?"

"I don't really know either," he responded. "Maybe you would've known if you had stuck around."

My fist clenched. "Why did you ask for me to come here? To guilt-trip me about leaving?"

Kacchan took a deep breath; an unusual move for someone like him. "I'm sorry."

"Huh?"

I think this is the first time I've ever heard him apologize.

"I didn't take you here to yell at you. Sorry if I made you upset."

I'm... thrown off. To say the least about this... "new Kacchan."

"You're... fine. It's fine. But why'd you call me here?"

"Why did you leave UA?"

I stood up and grimaced in anger. "Isn't it obvious?! All Might died!"

"No, it isn't," he said. "That's true, but you had friends, a community, a mom, and a whole country you left behind. Was that really it?"

I kept silent, trying to deliberate what to say.

I am still not exactly at liberty to speak on most of this…

"Yes. It was."

"I'm not buying it," he said. "All Might was our role model and all, but even I stayed. It's UA High, with or without All Might."

"Are you kidding?!"

"No. All Might is All Might just like UA is UA. Both of them are amazing by themselves, though having them together was the best thing ever while it lasted."

My ears started to well up and my teeth were clenched. "Do you even care that All Might's dead? What's the appeal in UA without All Might?!"

"Yes, I do! But All Might literally WENT to UA! How could you leave it so easily?"

...

"All Might was a loss for EVERYONE! For Uraraka, for me, for you! I know he was your mentor or whatever, but he was an idol for me too! Why have you still not moved on?"

...

I wiped my eyes. "I... just can't. There's so much I never got to learn from him."

Kacchan rolled his eyes and crossed his arms in his chair. "Like I said, me too. Are you sure there's not something else going on? Like with One for All or whatever?"

"WHAAAAT?!" Leaping out of my seat, my heart rate accelerated ten times faster than it had previously.

"Oh, you must've forgotten," he said. "Don't you remember? I know about that."

That's right...

I immediately mellowed out and sat back down. "Did you tell anybody else about it?"

"Do you think I'm an idiot?! Of course I didn't!"

I'd normally want to ask again to be sure, but judging on how he was offended by my question, I doubt he did.

"O-Okay, geez, thanks."

"Anyways, did I hit the nail on the head or not? Start yapping, nerd."

Years Prior...

My eyes were practically empty after crying for multiple days in a row. I had come to visit All Might nearly every spare hour I had.

Clad in my hero costume, bringing notebooks to write down what he told me, I was not about to let him slip out from under me.

He has been able to make it through the past few days, but things weren't looking up for him.

Strict security measures at the hospital including 24-hour surveillance and guarding were put in place to avoid him being attacked again.

"Young Midoriya... I need to tell you about something."

"Y-Yes, All Might?" I readied my journal.

"Put that thing up," he said, struggling and coughing as he said so. "This isn't... hero advice."

All Might was attacked by Shigaraki. He was able to avoid it last time, but not this time. Multiple of his major organs were decayed and he required extensive amounts of life support.

Just talking was difficult for him. It was excruciating to watch.

"He's... not... he's not done," he said to me. "I couldn't..." His talking was interrupted by a furious fit of coughing.

"Y-You mean Shigaraki?"

"Yes..." he tried to catch a breather and continued talking. "H-He's still... set on you. And I couldnt... catch the traitor."

W... What?!

I hadn't heard any news about the traitor since I left for summer and worked with Endeavor and Todoroki. When I went back, All Might said it was all under control.

But he's still here?!

"A-All Might?! What are we gonna do?"

"You..." He coughed more after his statement. "You're the only one... I know of. They haven't..." He kept coughing to the point that he was having trouble speaking.

I ran to the bed and looked over him, tears starting to stream down my face. "W... Why? Do they... do they know about One for All?"

Despite his furious shaking, he shrugged his shoulders, signifying "I don't know."

"Then what am I going to do? If they know, then I'll be targeted as long as I stay!"

"We don't know... if-"

"All Might, look what happened to you! I know I have the quirk now... but..."

I remembered back to the USJ incident, which resulted in Thirteen getting injured and Aizawa's quirk being limited as a result of his injuries.

I reminisced about Kacchan being kidnapped at the training camp and the heroes hurt when we made the rescue attempt to go get him.

I thought about how All Might retired after his fight with All for One.

No...

No. I can't.

But... it's the only way...

"All Might, I can't take chances. As long as I stay here, I will bring trouble to UA."

"No... Midoriya..."

"I'm not letting anyone else die to protect this quirk. If anything, I'm supposed to die to protect them."

All Might reached over and grabbed my arm, still shaking slightly. "You... you can't."

"All Might, it's the opposite. I can't stay."

"Don't... leave. Young Uraraka... Young Iida... Young Bakugo... all of... UA. They need you... to take my place."

There's... there's no way... I couldn't do that if I tried!

"All Might, you're not going to die. You'll be fine. But as long as I'm here... trouble will come to UA."

"I... don't have very long, Young Midoriya."

"W-What?!" I looked back as my heart fell and broke into pieces. "B-But... we'll... we'll bump up security! We'll find the traitor and bring them down! We'll-"

"We've already tried..." he said. "The time has come... for you to tell them that you are still..." He coughed very violently, and I saw blood on the mouthpiece of his ventilator.

"A-All Might!"

"I... I'm fine. You should go now."

"N-No! I'm not leaving yet!"

"P-Please... show them... that you are here..."

"All Might, I'm not leaving!"

"Excuse me, are you 'Deku'?"

I turned around to see the nurse. "Is that you?"

"Yes," I said, wiping my eyes and putting on a fake smile. "That's me."

"Visiting hours are over. Please come follow me."

"M... M-Ma'am!" I ran up to her. "A-All Might... he's coughing up blood!"

She looked like she was about to say something, but looked behind me and stopped.

"We will do our best to take care of him. But for now it's time to go."

I looked down and wiped my eyes again. The tears were starting to come a lot faster.

"O-Okay..."

In Present Times...

"YOU BASTARD!"

My sorrowful reminiscence was interrupted by Kacchan's yell, which switched my mind from depression to fear instantaneously.

"W-What? Why?"

"You denied All Might's dying wish?!"

"Kacchan! I-"

"Even he told you to stay! Why the hell-"

"I KNOW!" I stood up and started clenching my fists so hard that One for All started crackling energy outside of my gloves. "I didn't want anyone else to die because of me! You could've been next!"

"You idiot..." he seethed. "We have quirks to defend ourselves with. All Might didn't."

"They maximized security, went on an internal investigation, AND had All Might supervised almost 24/7, and he was still killed by the League of Villains."

"They tried to kidnap me and they couldn't get the job done!"

"Yes they did!"

"No, they didn't! We-"

"YES. THEY. DID."

"Then how come I got away completely fine?"

"Because they weren't trying to kill you. They were trying to recruit you; remember? If they wanted you dead, they would have had you dead."

Kacchan looked down angrily. "... Are you underestimating me?!"

"No, Kacchan. But you need to address reality. I didn't want to leave you all. But I needed to. I'm not even out of the dark yet until the League of Villains is taken down completely."

He took a few deep breaths and then stood up and looked at me with a death glare.

"I don't agree with you... but thank you for telling me all of this."

W-Wait... what is he doing? Why isn't he yelling at me?

"This threat is still present, huh?"

I nodded my head.

Kacchan stuck out his hand. "Uh... what are you doing?"

"Shake it. I'm going to help you get rid of the threat so you don't have to leave again."