Back at their hideout Shigaraki was currently in a frenzy, decaying any and everything he could get his hands on. "Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck!," stopping to catch his breath, he felt yet another sharp pain in his shoulder and his anger only grew worse at the undeniable fact that he had been outsmarted by a mere child.

"I'll kill him! I swear the next time I see that brat, I'll decay the shit outta him!" he barked at Kurogiri.

"Shigaraki Tomura, you already understand that tonight's failure was not your own doing so the best thing to do would be for you to calm down and think back at what your master told you."

"Oh yeah…" Taking a seat in one of the few chairs left undusted, he thought back to the shape Stain was in when they returned back to his Sensei's base and smiled upon remembering how much satisfaction he got from seeing him. "At the very least, that prick ended up eating shit the whole night."

"What do you think will happen to him anyway? He was pretty fucked up when we brought him back to Sensei."

Leaning back in his seat, Shigaraki grew eager in anticipation at the thought of Stain being permanently out of his hair. "Hopefully, he just kills him so we never have to deal with that shithead ever again."

"As I've told you once before, that man thinks of things like a chess match and Stain ending up in the predicament he's in now may play a role in why he was so eager to bring him aboard."

"Kurogiri, stop speaking in riddles before I kill you. Answer my question," he said, growing annoyed with the man in front of him.

"I've been left in charge of overseeing your growth for the time being, so I'm unable to properly answer your question," Picking up a dirty glass and beginning to clean it he continued, "When we returned from our failed mission, did your master have any sort of anger in his tone or body language?"

Thinking to himself, Shigaraki recalled how unusually calm he had been while being debriefed on what had transpired. "That was pretty odd, now that I think about it…"

"No," he said.

"As you mature you'll understand that sometimes you have to think multiple steps ahead of your enemies and even more so your allies if you want to maintain your position at the top. The master more than likely had a hunch that his eagerness would get him into hot water and used that fact to manipulate the situation to his advantage," Kurogiri finished, hoping some of what he said had gotten through to Shigaraki.

"So...Sensei basically used a guide to cheat his way past a level he felt was standing in his way. I get that part, but why would he go through all that for one NPC?"

"Where did we leave Stain, when we departed from speaking with your master?"

Pondering to himself he came to a conclusion that brought a malicious smile to his face. "We left him at the Nomu factory, where Dr. Garaki works from."

Beginning to laugh, he continued, "You mean to tell me that Shitstain is gonna be turned into a Nomu. That's rich!"

"Why on earth would Sensei even wanna use a worthless thing like him? It'd be pointless plus I hate his guts and would rather see that prick as dust under my feet."

"Contrary to your beliefs, your master has had his eyes on him for quite some time now. You also cannot refute his combat prowess and otherworldly willpower. Dr. Garaki himself believes that he has the potential to become one of if not the greatest Nomu he's ever produced."

Getting up and walking over to his video game system, he sat down and turned it on, seemingly tuning out anything Kurogiri was saying. "Who cares about any of that? Anyone who gets in my way should just disappear and die. Stain is no different from any other piece of shit to me."

"*Sigh* It seems that you still have a long way to go in terms of mental growth, Shigaraki Tomura."

At a currently undisclosed location, Dr. Garaki alongside All For One were ecstatic at the potential specimen that had been presented itself to them.

Waking up from his slumber, Stain could only look at a screen that All For One was plastered on and his assistant standing near him with papers in his hand.

Clasping his hands together, All For One could only marvel at the events he'd witnessed tonight. Stain had gone above and beyond where he'd set his expectations.

"Ah, so it looks like we meet again, Chizome Akaguro. I didn't think we'd be talking again so soon." It didn't take a rocket scientist to understand the jovial tone in his voice had some sinister meaning behind it. "You look like you went through some terrible terrible things tonight."

Strapped down to a table hooked up to numerous other medical equipment had immobilized Stain from moving and from the various amounts of drugs being pumped into him, he had no doubt this was done out of pure kindness.

"My mission *wheeze* was only momentarily *wheeze* interrupted," Coughing up a storm he felt his body wince in pain with every labored breath he took, "You didn't...tell me...that the heroes *wheeze*...would swarm that quickly."

Sitting back in his chair, AFO could only smile at the full display of the man's determination. "Come now, how was I supposed to know that attacking an entire hospital so soon after that unfortunate incident downtown was a bad idea?" Stain could feel the high and mighty attitude coming off of him from across the room.

"It was just a string of bad luck, nobody's fault really," he finished, still grinning at Stain.

"Damn him…" Stain thought.

"From the diagnostic I ran on your body, it seems like you've managed to do permanent damage to it. Your spine and left arm in particular took quite the beating if I do say so myself," Garaki interjected.

"That's not even mentioning the burn damage from that flame hero you received as a parting gift," he chuckled.

Stain remembered a portal opening up behind him and a bright light following him through, but had no clue what happened afterwards. "Tch, so that's what happened…"

Anger rising to the surface, he attempted to break out of his restraints tying him down to the bed, but could only manage to slightly thrash about instead.

"Let me GO! I will kill them ALL!" he shouted.

"I-*cough*," Coughing up yet another storm, Garaki chuckled even louder at the poor state he was in.

"You shouldn't keep trying to move. Your body can't take much more of that." Garaki said.

"Your left leg also has a few severed nerves in it that I'm not sure we could fix either. I have no idea what you went through, but without our help you will not make a full recovery. Which also means that your sacred mission you cherish so much would end tonight."

"N-No! I can't allow that! I won't allow that!" Coughing again, Garaki shook his head and went back to his desk rummaging for something.

Sensing his opportunity at hand, AFO struck while the fear of this truth was beginning to seep into the man's head. "Fear not, we have a plan that would fix you up completely. Scratch that, you'd be better than before and would have no troubles at all in completing these missions you hold so dearly to you."

"Dr. Garaki shall begin to explain it to you now," he finished, grin never leaving his face.

Grabbing the papers from his drawer, he made his way back over to Stain with eagerness written all over his face. "The idea would be for you to allow us the chance to experiment on you and turn you into what we like to call a Nomu."

"In layman's terms, a Nomu is an artificial human whose body has been modified to accommodate multiple quirks. It's not an easy feat to accomplish I assure you and many subjects are destroyed in the process, but the ones that manage to survive the process become beings of unimaginable power."

"Normally, one would lose any semblance of the person they used to be while at the same time becoming nothing more than a mindless brute, but you...you, my friend, may be the sole exception to this rule. Imagine being able to wield multiple quirks while retaining your cognitive functions. No hero besides someone like All Might would be able to stand against you."

Walking closer to Stain, he stopped reading from his notes and met the man eye to eye, "I truly believe that you have the potential to become one of these Nomu without needing to be a corpse. Your willpower is almost otherworldly and that has led me to believe that you have the potential to become one while still being alive," Garaki stated with certainty.

Not saying anything, Stain took in everything the man was saying with much skepticism. "If I take everything at face value, it's a decent enough deal, but this must be a farce of some kind," he thought.

"What's in it for you? If what you say is true then, what would be stopping me from ditching you people once all this madness you speak of is done to me?" he asked genuinely.

"Nothing at all," All For One replied. "As long as you still retain your hatred of modern heroes and accomplish your mission, then that will be enough to satisfy me."

"Now I won't lie to you, I've never experimented on someone while still alive so the process will most likely be extremely painful," Garaki said.

"If you lack the pain threshold and willpower to bear with it, then you'll probably die from shock or something related to it."

Weighing the options in his mind, Stain came to the conclusion that as much as he hated these scumbags, they were seemingly speaking the truth.

"H-how long would it take to turn me into one of these...creatures you speak off?"

"In all honesty, I'm not sure either. Someone like you becoming a Nomu while still being alive is unprecedented. Could be months, could be years depending on how well your body holds up during the procedures."

Unknown to Stain, All For One had used one of his many quirks to spy on the Hero Killer's mission and found another angle to pull the man further to his side. "Let's see here.."

"Garaki, what about that boy you mentioned to me earlier? How dangerous would he be if someone like him and his quirk were left unchecked?"

He could see he'd pushed the correct button as Stain's entire demeanor had changed from slightly relaxed to on edge once again. Garaki could also see why AFO had decided to bring up that child as well. "Once again, you are always on point sir," Garaki mused to himself.

"You mean that little German child? He is probably the most dangerous out of any current hero due to him being a prime example of the Quirk Singularity Theory becoming more than just a chaotic theory that others brush aside."

"The damage he did downtown speaks for itself does it not?" All For One interjected.

"What are you talking about?" Stain asked.

"Quirk Singularity Theory revolves around each new generation of quirk users becoming more powerful than the last. The body itself would not be able to keep up with the rate quirks continue to evolve at and eventually we'd have quirks that nobody can control or deal with. People mocked me when I presented this theory ages ago, but as time continues to move forward, I continue to be proven right on this front," Garaki answered.

"The incident with the boy downtown would be one of the first cases of my theory being proven correct and that terrifies some people at the top of society who want to keep a lid on everything. Because of them, many people continue to die because of quirks that go out of control and while no one died from the boy's quirk, there is no telling when he'd lose control again and hurt others."

"It'd be a tragedy if no one was around to help the people in their time of need," he stated.

Garaki smiled to himself knowing he'd enticed the man's more primal urges when it came to building a better and safer society.

"Of course those scumbags and fakes withheld this information from the public. It's a wonder it took this long for something like this to occur," Stain murmured.

Taking a moment to think things over one last time, he weighed his options and realized what he must do even if he was reluctant in his choice. "Fine, you've made your point."

"I still wish to kill both of you along with that cloud and hand bastard…,but it seems like my options are limited."

"Do not mistake my moment of weakness for stupidity. The moment I think something is sketchy, I won't hesitate to break our deal and kill this man next to me." Not taking his eyes off of the man on his screen, Stain sighed and relaxed a bit more.

"I'll agree to this procedure as long as you make me strong enough to kill those fake heroes like Eraserhead and Endeavor." Saying that last name made his blood boil, but he knew it was a futile effort to continue to get worked up in his condition.

"The boy will still die by my hand, but with all the people that'll surely be guarding him after my failure, I'll need any sort of help I can get to reach him."

"So, it looks like we have a deal, Akagoro-san," AFO clasped his hands once more with the same carefree attitude as earlier which did nothing but annoy Stain, "We can begin the procedure as soon as the good doctor deems you healthy enough to start."

"Whatever," Stain muttered.

Dr. Garaki walked over to a control panel that had been hooked into Stain's medical equipment and turned up his dosage, beginning to put him back to sleep so he could rest. "You need rest and your personality conflicts with that so as you're in my care, I'll be making sure you are as healthy as you can possibly be for a man in your condition before the experiments start."

Feeling his eyelids get heavier and heavier, he could only make out a few more words and a sick grin plastered on Garaki's face.

"You're going to need it if you want to make it out of this alive."

No longer able to stay awake any longer, he drifted back into unconsciousness so the two men in front of him could communicate freely.

"It seems like your skill of the tongue is still dangerous all these years later, sir," Garaki said.

"Well of course, I did need to be at my best when speaking to a man of his calibre. Anything less and he'd have seen right through me even though I'm sure he still has his doubts," All For One replied.

"Garaki, were you being truthful when you spoke of the timeframe of his transformation into my Nomu?" His expression changed into a stoic one that sent chills down the doctor's spine.

"I-I'm afraid so sir. This is unprecedented territory we are exploring and to be thorough I'm sure a few mistakes or errors will occur during his process."

"However, you have my word that I will complete this experiment and turn this man into a weapon worthy to be of use to you."

Chills filled his spine once again when his expression lit up once again with the same psychopathic apathy as before. "Well they do say good things come to those who wait. Time if nothing else is on my side."

"You should be happy that someone like him is out of your hair for now sir," Garaki said, hoping to change the subject. "He would've undoubtedly posed a threat to your plans in the very near future if he'd been left unchecked."

"Actually, Dr. Garaki, you misunderstood my intentions here tonight. Everything that I do is for that boy's sake."

"Do not forget that," he finished with a frown covering his face.

Bowing quickly as he possibly could've, Garaki begged for forgiveness afraid he'd offended his master. "My deepest apologies sir. I overstepped my boundaries thinking that I knew exactly what was going through your head. It will not happen again."

His expression relaxed once again and All For One felt like he'd gotten his point across. "This man will become both a hindrance to the heroes and an ally of destruction to us villains. Tomura will need him in the future while also eliminating him as a future threat."

"It's a win/win situation, don't you think, Garaki?" AFO asked.

"Of course, sir." Garaki replied.

"Well I'll let you start his recovery process and I shall return to you in the coming weeks and months to begin his quirk transferrel process."

"This should be very interesting, Garaki. I hope you take as much as you possibly can out of this," he finished. Ending the call, Garaki raised his head and turned to look at the man AFO had wanted for his collection of Nomus.

Smiling he could imagine the various number of scenarios that could and will play out during his Nomufication process. Although he couldn't work on him yet thanks to his injuries, he could at least prepare everything that he'll need in this twisted affair he's about to take part in.

"You may end up being my greatest creation. Please do not disappoint me."

Back at the hospital, Toshinori continued to offer his apologies to Aizawa and his other colleagues as the attack last night had rendered him unconscious throughout all of it.

"I feel so ashamed that I let those villains get the drop on me."

Touching the side of his stomach where his scar resided did nothing to sooth the rage that was brewing in his heart. "I promise you, I will hunt down every last one of them and make sure they answer for last night's injustice!"

"Jeez calm down Toshinori, you're way too loud," Aizawa replied.

Aizawa had already been attended to by multiple physicians and other than being wrapped like a mummy from his chest on down, he was cleared to continue working although they recommended he take it easy until his knee fully recovered.

"We've been over this already, it was a surprise attack that we didn't expect. It's not only you who's at fault here for what happened," Rubbing his eyes, he recalled the events of last night and shuddered at the many close calls he had, "If we were more diligent in our jobs, none of this mess would've happened."

"Where's Torino anyway? By the time they'd finished patching me up, he was already gone and nobody could give a sensible answer?" Aizawa asked.

"He never was one for the spotlight, so once he was able to see that everyone would be ok, he took off and went back to his residence to rest," Toshinori replied.

"Although he was really upset about Stain continuously escaping him throughout that entire affair. I've got a feeling that he'll lick his wounds and get back into his groove before joining us on another adventure like that."

"He did hate losing after all. He made that known whenever I managed to get the better of him in sparring back in the day."

Sighing, he could only hope that this setback wouldn't keep someone like him down for long. "Well, onto more pressing matters, how's young Zeke? I haven't been able to visit him once today"

Pondering to himself how he should answer his question, Aizawa figured that straight and to the point would be the most effective way to respond to his question.

"The commission has already started the paperwork needed to take him under their wing."

"What!"

"They have no right to do that. It's only been a few weeks since him showing up out of nowhere so what changes now," Toshinori exclaimed.

"Before you start yelling at me, stop and think about the situation he's in."

"You saw the same footage I did, Toshinori. The way he held his own against Stain was incredible even if I have no clue how he managed to pull something like that off. He came out alive and dealt enough of a blow to him that it allowed me to beat him when we fought."

"His prowess in combat is a mystery since he doesn't remember knowing how to do any of the stuff he did last night. It wasn't pretty, but it was effective and they took notice of that."

"Along with his quirk being incredibly useful for when we were fighting Stain, ambushing him multiple times and being able to time his fall with Hawks saving him, it's not hard to see why they would want someone like him," he answered.

"Damn…"

"You already know they are shady and yet we are supposed to allow them to take an impressionable young boy who is scared and has no clue of himself or his identity into their grasp," Toshinori asked.

Wincing under the man's gaze, Aizawa had no answer that would satisfy either of them.

"Unfortunately, yes because that's all we can do in this situation. We messed up last night and Zeke had to fend for himself, which led to this situation we're in now."

Balling his fists, Toshinori could do nothing to quell the anger and humiliation building in his heart. "Is there at least something we can do to make sure the boy is treated properly? I don't trust them to have any of his best interests at heart."

Pulling out his cellphone, he pressed a few buttons before closing it again, "Actually there is and I called him in before you'd arrived knowing that he's the person who knows first hand what the commission is capable of."

"Who are you talking about, Aizawa? Any person tied to them must have some underhanded goal in mind. How do you know we can trust them?"

"Because I'm a hero just like you."

Turning to the left, they noticed Hawks standing in the doorway with a chilled out expression covering his face. "Don't worry, I promise I've only got the kid's best interests at heart."

"All Might."

Both men froze when hearing that name along with the implications behind it. "There's no way he could possibly know, right?" Toshinori thought.

"Sorry sir I don't think we've met. My name is Toshinori Yagi and I am only a janitor who works here," he said. "You must have me mistaken as there is no way on earth I could be the number 1 hero in Japan."

Smirking, Hawks leaned against the door and could only stifle his laughter at the act Toshinori was putting on. "Is this dude serious?…"

"Okay then, Toshinori-kun," putting extra emphasis on his name he decided to drop all pretenses as he didn't have all day to play games with him, "Care to explain to me why I just heard you swear that you'd go after the guys that attacked us last night?"

Seeing the man's face light up with nervousness, Aizawa knew it was time for him to interject.

"Toshinori is quirkless and anything you think you've heard was probably taken out of context. Why were you spying on us anyway, Hawks?"

Shrugging his shoulders the playful aura had returned to his face, "Eh, I just had to make sure you were on the kid's side. If you weren't then this was gonna be a lot harder than I first thought."

"Eraser, I know who this man is and won't tell a soul about it. There is no need to keep this facade up if you wanna help Zeke," Hawks replied. "He's gonna need all the help he can get if we're gonna help him navigate through this mess."

Toshinori by this point was still very confused at the man standing before him. He'd just admitted that he knew he was All Might so casually like it wasn't a big deal and he wanted to know why.

"Young man…" Giving himself time to choose his words carefully "Why are you siding with Zeke when you are employed by the hero commission? I figured of all people, you'd be the most inclined to give them what they want."

Closing his eyes, flashes of days and nights spent alone inside those walls flew through his memories and he already knew that Zeke would face a similar nightmare if nobody intervened.

"Listen, I know you may find this hard to believe, but I already know how horrible those guys can be when they want something bad enough. I would know since they are the same people who raised me as a kid."

"My pops was a scumbag murderer and my mom…" His expression turned into something even Aizawa had trouble reading, "Let's just say there is a lot of baggage between us even if I don't wanna blame her for it."

"Those guys found me after I intervened in an accident that would've injured or killed civilians and they saw the potential in me. Afterwards, I was basically shipped off to them by my mom and the rest is history."

"I wanted to become someone who could use these wings of mine to help protect people and save lives, so I had little complaints about the training I endured." Pausing to collect himself he figured he'd need to show a bit more of himself if he was going to get this man to fully trust him.

"The things I endured in that place isn't for everyone and while I used it to become stronger in pursuit of my goal, Zeke might not feel the same way. If that boy has no desire to become a hero or a tool the commission can use for their own goals, then he has no reason being there."

Both men continued to look each other in the eyes, but the wall Toshinori had built up was slowly crumbling down. "No matter what his answer is, as a hero and a product of the commission, I feel like I'd be failing in my job as a hero if I couldn't protect him from the same things I went through if he doesn't want it."

Aizawa listened in awe at what he was hearing as he'd only called Hawks here so they could give them an update on Zeke and what they were going to do with him. Him coming here to give a speech to sway All Might to his favor was not what Aizawa had in mind, but he'd take it if it helped them out long term.

"If you still don't feel comfortable telling me that's understandable, but just remember I specialize in keeping secrets," Winking at both of them he turned around and faced away from them, "I managed to get us special clearance to go and visit Zeke before any final decision is made. Like I said I see a kindred spirit of sorts in him so I'll do what I can to protect him."

"Wait a moment," Toshinori said.

Turning towards them once again, Hawks was able to see a conflicted expression on both men's faces and he figured it'd be difficult to get the truth out of them. "Look I'm not saying you have to trust me one hundred percent, but at least rely on my dedication to being someone who's meant to protect people. That's all I can ask."

Seeing the man opening his mouth, Aizawa attempted to stop him from making a mistake he'd regret. "Toshinori, think very carefully before you speak. If you get this wrong then it'll come back to haunt you."

"Yes, you are right, Aizawa. Unfortunately I believe someone of his calibre won't let this hunch of his go and it wouldn't sit right with me after having him risk his life to save Zeke last night."

"Keigo-san, I didn't want to deceive you, but I'm a very secretive person and there is a lot I can't show you as of now. What I can do is at least confirm your suspensions." Pumping his body with One For All, power hummed through his viens, "Y-YOU WERE RIGHT ABOUT ME! I AM THE SYMBOL OF PEACE KNOWN AS ALL MIGHT!" Toshinori exclaimed proudly.

The room once again filled itself with silence before Hawks decided to break the tension. "Huh I figured it would've been more dramatic than just a transformation. No biggie, if this is the only thing I have to hide that I know then this'll be a piece of cake."

Toshinori and Aizawa were both stunned at this man acting completely unbothered by his transformation although Aizawa figured there was a small chance this would be his response.

"Well now that the cat's out of the bag Toshinori, you should conserve your strength for actual situations and not show and tell," Aizawa said.

"R-RIGHT." Toshinori began to release his transformation and returned to the skeletal man that was before them earlier. "Keigo san, I hope you understand why I'd implore to keep what you've seen here a secret. If word got out about my weakened state, I'd be in big trouble and so would the people closest to me."

Nodding his head Keigo could only wonder about this condition he had, but that would be a talk for later. "I am curious about what I'm seeing here, but at the very least, I'd rather get the kid situated before getting my questions answered. I got us a straight shot to his room unobscured, but we don't have all day so follow me."

Reading themselves to move, all three men left the room and headed down the hall where Zeke was being kept or held depending on your definition. Opening the door, they saw Zeke covered head to toe in bandages, but was otherwise okay.

"Mr. Aizawa, Mr. Toshinori!" Trying to get out of bed, he received a glare from Aizawa that made him stay put out of fear of a scolding, "I was worried about you guys and nobody would tell me anything. If not for Mr. Takami, I'd still be clueless as to what's happening."

"Settling down, he stared at the ceiling as if he'd been thinking about something extremely important. "He already explained my situation to me along with everything else I might have to deal with."

"Young Zeke, please allow me to apologise for not being able to contact help sooner," Toshinori interjected. "Had I not had my guard down, I would've never been put to sleep and you wouldn't have gotten hurt like that. Heroes are meant to protect you and it was my duty to guard you until they returned. I failed and you received serious injuries and had to fight off a mad man and for that I also apologize," Bowing deeply as he finished his speech.

"It's all right, Mr. Toshinori, you can raise your head," Zeke knew he was lying about being weak and quirkless, but decided to keep it to himself until an opportunity presented itself to confront him about it. "It was a bad situation all around so I don't blame any of you."

"You guys did your best to protect me and for that I'll be forever grateful."

"Although…"

"A lot did happen last night and from what Mr. Takami told me, I'll be sent away to some place where the government trains people from a young age they feel can be useful to society. Personally I have no desire to become a hero to save lives, protect people or anything else like that."

"To be completely honest, I don't want to be a hero or go to this place he told me about at all, but deep down I've got this feeling that if I want to make progress with my memories, I'll have to go here and take the first step forward."

"Whether it's right or wrong, I have to trust what my instincts are telling me and right now they are compelling me to take them up on their offer."

Thinking back to the pain and sadness he felt when he was near that villain on the rooftop, was a major motivator in choosing to accept this offer. "If I can become a hero in training, then maybe I might run into him again. I've still got so many questions and I feel like this man is a huge component to the answers I need," he thought.

Seeing Zeke lost in thought, made Aizawa speak up to double down and make sure this is what he truly wants. "Kid, I'll be frank, I think you're making a horrible mistake and you're way over your head. The reasons you listed are shallow and lack any sort of logical reasoning behind them."

"Becoming a hero takes years of dedication and and you may very easily lose yours with your flimsy reasoning and thought process to this whole situation," he said clearly frustrated with what he had heard coming out of Zeke's mouth.

"I'll be the first to admit that your process in combat and quick thinking saved my neck and helped me when I had to take on Stain by myself. The damage you did to him slowed him down enough to where I was able to outlast and defeat him, but being able to fight isn't the top requirement for being a hero."

"Do you know what that is?" Aizawa asked.

"No." Zeke responded.

"To truly become a hero, one must dedicate themselves to it wholeheartedly knowing that they are constantly risking life or limb for things they want to cherish and protect. If you can't find something like that then you'll never make it long enough to become one."

"Aizawa, there was no need to be so cruel!" Toshinori exclaimed. "You are completely out of li-"

"Shut up and listen to me for a minute," Aizawa growled back.

"Being a hero is the most dangerous job in the modern world and the hero commission isn't exactly known for their... by the book methods when it comes to training. Once he agrees to this nonsense they are proposing, he's effectively signing away his future and any chance he may have to live a somewhat normal life here."

"Don't you think I've already thought about that!" Zeke shouted.

The room froze completely caught off guard by his outburst. "I haven't had long to think about my decision and I haven't even been in Japan long enough to truly understand the weight of the decision I'm about to make, but the one thing I know deep in my heart is that if I don't move forward then I'll never be free."

"Whatever freedom means to me, I'm not entirely sure, but I know that going in this direction puts my heart at ease and fires me up to keep going. I know things will only get harder from here, but I want answers to questions that I'll have to earn the hard way and even then there is no guarantee that I'll find any to begin with."

"I'm not becoming a hero to protect others, I want to become one to save myself from everything that's weighing me down and I won't let you sway me on this," he finished with determination written in his expression.

"He's really something else…" Hawks thought.

Determined to get his point across he had said his peace on the matter and hoped that they would understand his position on the matter. "I've said my peace and I hate to disappoint them, but if they don't understand then there's not much else I can do," Zeke thought.

Aizawa was taking everything in what he'd just heard and attempted to make sense of it. He didn't understand all the details, but from the gist of it, this boy in all his stubbornness is going to ignore his warnings and continue down this path even not knowing what will be waiting for him in the end. "Damn problem child…"

"Fine."

"Fine?" Zeke asked. "So... does this mean you're ok with it?"

"Make no mistake, I don't agree with it and truly believe you'll regret this decision, but if you feel this strongly about it then there isn't much else I can say to dissuade you from going down this road."

Leaning back on the wall, Aizawa continued to look at Zeke with curious eyes wondering whether or not he truly understood the type of hell he was diving into.

"Anything you want to add, Toshinori? Once we leave today, the commission will probably pick him up and take him away so we won't be seeing him again for quite a while," Aizawa asked.

"Young man, while I don't agree with your choice either," Toshinori began.

"Oh great, here we go again. Why can't they just-"

"I will support you one hundred percent."

"Every person has their own journey to take in life and if you feel like this is your best choice to help yourself, then who are we to stop you. I won't lie to you, I do not like the commission's methods, but as Hawks can attest, they develop phenomenal heroes with their training."

"Last evening, you fought back against Stain and helped the heroes here as much as you could before being teleported away. You also prioritized my well being over your own and for that you have my eternal thanks young man." Bowing deeply, he lifted his head once more to finish his point.

"I believe you can become a great hero, young man."

Hearing Toshinori's words pulled at his heartstrings, but he tried to keep a strong front to show that he had no regrets making this choice. "Thank you so much, sir. You don't understand how much that means to me."

Making eye contact with Aizawa, he was still somewhat hurt by the man's words even if there was some truth to what he'd said. "Mr. Aizawa, I promise I'll return as someone worthy of being taught at UA even though I'm a long way from attending." Balling his fist and placing it over his heart he felt determination filling his body. "You have my word,sir," Zeke stated with his weird salute.

"Why did I pose like that? It's like my body moved on its own…" he thought curiously, but pushed it to the back of his mind for later.

Aizawa nodded, but didn't respond verbally which worried him. Zeke hoped that they wouldn't be parting on too bad of terms as he really liked being around him.

Hawks received a notification on his phone and knew their time was up. "Sorry guys, but they want the kid moved out of this hospital ASAP. After last night, they want him in a more secure location than this and would prefer him being somewhere that doesn't endanger everyone around him."

"Plus I still need to inform him of a few little details, I'm not able to disclose to either of you."

"Why can't we be here for this?" Aizawa asked.

"I'm curious as to the answer as well," Toshinori said.

Groaning, "Listen, you already know that these guys don't play by the rules half the time and the things I'm informing him off entails what he's gonna experience while he's there. It's coming from my own personal experience and I don't wanna share with the class," winking at both men, he turned back to Zeke and smiled.

"It's the least I can do for you after last night," he said.

"Wait, before you guys go…" Hesitating before asking to use his quirk was such a pain, but it felt wrong to use it on people without permission, "Do you think it'd be ok to look at your aura's one last time?" He felt his cheeks get hotter and looked away hoping his embarrassment would subside.

"I just want to be able to visualize them again before you guys leave. I won't get a chance to see them again for a while."

"I do not see why not," Toshinori replied. He looked at Aizawa who nodded and put his hands in his pockets signifying he was ok with it. "Any objections, Keigo-san?"

"None at all," he replied.

Seeing as no one had objected to his request, Zeke turned his quirk on and the markings under his eyes had returned along with the colorful auras that surrounded them. "It's always so beautiful," Zeke thought happily to himself. Aizawa and Toshinori's colors remained unchanged while this was really the first time he'd been able to view Keigo's aura in its entirety.

Hawk's aura was still the same sky blue as before, but it felt extremely familiar to him and he felt his eyes start to water like with the villain before. "What is this? It feels like I've known him forever just like with Mr. Aizawa and Mr. Toshinori. This is so weird," he thought.

Thinking deeper, his eyes could no longer hold them back and tears began to fall on his face. "No, this feels worse than that. His aura hurts to keep looking at, I've gotta stop here." Turning his quirk off before he could feel any worse, the three in front of him were worried about what they'd just witnessed.

"Yo, are ya good kid? Is your quirk hurting you?" Hawks asked worriedly. He's seen examples of quirks that hurt their wielder and hoped this wasn't the case.

Wiping his eyes with his sleeve, he looked at him with sadness and confusion in his expression. "I-I'm not sure. There's a lot I don't understand about my quirk and that's another reason why I'm going through with this. Sometimes I feel stronger emotions than normal when my quirk is active and the downside is… whatever that was I guess," Zeke said.

"Alright, we can work out the kinks later, but right now we are out of time for real this time." Turning towards Toshinori and Aizawa, he winked and replied, "Sorry ladies, but you've gotta go before the commission chews my head off for bringing you here. I'll make sure he's well adjusted in his new set up."

Heading towards the door, both heroes were stopped when Zeke rushed off the bed to hug both men. "Thanks again, Mr. Toshinori, Mr. Aizawa. Take care of yourselves ok," he said with his voice shaking.

Both were caught off guard by this, but took it in stride. Aizawa placed his hand on Zeke's head and Toshinori placed his free hand on his shoulder.

"Same to you too, brat. You better uphold that little declaration of yours," Aizawa said.

"I have faith in you as well, young Zeke. You will be fine," Toshinori replied.

Letting them go caused his nerves to drop, but put on another brave face once hearing their responses. Leaving the room and closing the door behind them left Hawks and Zeke completely alone, finally able to have their one on one talk that needed to be had before things could proceed any further.

Sitting in a seat near him, Hawks face turned serious and the tone that he'd set had changed. "Are you sure this is what you want, kid? Once I start spilling secrets, there is no turning back. You'll be trapped with the commission until your training is complete and for better or worse, you won't be able to backtrack."

Placing his head over his heart, his gaze met the man head on with acceptance written in his expression.

"Yes, I'm ready," he said.

With that now out of the way the two of them began to talk and while it'd last hours, that wasn't the most interesting conversation happening right now.

Inside his head the three figures were conversing on the most recent developments and how they'd change things from here on out.

"Well it looks like you were right after all about him, huh," The second figure stated with satisfaction in his tone. "The kid definitely has guts that I lacked growing up in that hellhole back home."

"Ymir, what do you think of all this commotion Zeke is making out there?"

The little girl standing in front of them said nothing, yet continued to smile in an almost creepy manner. She held no ill will towards any of them, but as she was mute, both men already understood where she stood on everything.

"See, even she agrees with me that this is the right choice. What's your problem, man?"

The first figure's demeanor was still stoic and serious as ever. He didn't like the fact that Zeke allowed himself to be swayed by this...commission that he'd heard so much about. "You continue to joke around, but this is no laughing matter. This boy is supposed to be completely free and unbound and yet he's just signed himself away to be put in chains by these people for the next few years," the first figure said in anger.

"We need him to form strong bonds with people to fully develop his power so he can meet with us again and now who knows what'll happen. All he had to do was live a normal life, meet friends and form bonds with them and instead he wants to become a hero and other nonsense like that."

"C'mon don't be like that. Like you said, this child is free to make his own choices and above all else, we must support him in his choices and his future endeavors." Stopping to look at the sky around them, he could only hope things turned out better for him then how their stories ended.

"Don't get me wrong, I see where you're coming from. All three of us went through hell that I wouldn't want anyone to experience if possible. Paradis, Marley and the rest of the world was a daily nightmare with everything that inhabited it.," the second figure continued, "Personally I'm just glad he at least retained your combat experience. Without that he'd have surely been killed since I never was well versed in it even with all the training from back home."

"Yet another reason why I was such a disappointment to them."

"Stop, don't think like that," the first figure stated. "We were both burdened with things far beyond our control and we never had a choice in life. We made the best of what we had even if the choices we made were extremely wrong and horrible for the people around us."

"Ymir is the progenitor of this place and even still his power comes from her. If she felt like we didn't deserve to be here then we wouldn't be where we are currently."

"I'll admit that I disagree with the decision he made, but never have I said I wouldn't lend him my support."

Placing a hand on the second figure's shoulder, he felt him relax and calm himself down before he had another "episode".

"Sorry about that," the second figure said. "You always did have a way with words too."

Neither figure said much else as they couldn't actually do much except for watch and wait to see where his path will lead him.

"Also, how'd it feel to see everyone again?", the second figure asked curiously. "I haven't run into any of my comrades yet, but you've seen so many of yours in such a short time frame. I'm kind of curious as to whether you're ok."

Saying nothing, the first figure turned away from the other two and walked towards the giant glowing tree standing in front of them. Placing his hand on it, he felt numerous emotions run through him and hated how conflicted it made him feel.

"I'm happy that even after all this time, their spirits are alive and well…," the first figure stopped and the other two noticed how his shoulders quietly heaved up and down as if he was holding himself back from crying, "But I'm also sad because it reminds me of how much I miss them and can never truly see them again."

Ymir seeing him like this caused her to step forward and reach out to him, but was stopped by the second figure. "Look Ymir, I understand you want to help him as he is normally the most stable out of us three, but right now I think he just needs some time to himself."

"Seeing his friends again, must've caused some feelings he'd long since forgotten about to resurface and he needs time to sort through what he's feeling right now."

Frowning to herself, Ymir stopped moving and could only watch as the first figure continued to look at the tree knowing he was hurting and she could do nothing about it. Looking at the second figure they both decided to wait it out and converse about how they think things will turn out this go round and prayed that the first figure would return to them once he gathered himself.

If there was one thing all three of them could agree on is that things were changing quickly and there was no going back anymore. Neither knew whether or not this was a good change deep down, but could only move forward and support Zeke as much as possible until the time for them to meet was at hand.

Sorry for the late upload, but writing while working a job and summer classes is extremely hard. Expect longer chapters like this in the future.

PS: Somebody should've told Stain that fighting so many heroes at once was going to end poorly lol.