"E-enrol in UA?!" Izuku cried. "Why?"
"I need you to go in and act as a spy for me. Tell me what it is the teachers get up to, specifically All Might. I have some unfinished business to attend to with that good for nothing 'hero'." All for One explained. "Anything happens in that school; you're going to tell me about it. Simple enough, right?"
All for One wanted him to spy on the heroes? At UA as well? He'd always dreamed of enrolling at UA and becoming a hero, but now he was being asked to enrol at UA specifically to be a hindrance to the heroes. "I-I'm not sure. It doesn't feel right." Izuku said.
"Think of it this way, you'd have had no chance of enrolling the way you are now, quirkless. All Might rejected you, remember. He told you that you couldn't be a hero without a quirk. Whilst that may be true, you now have a chance to prove that man wrong and get into UA, even if it's for a different reason than you initially hoped." All for One replied. "If you do this, then I'll make sure that you benefit greatly from it. You and your mother."
Izuku suddenly felt compelled to agree with him. His mother and him benefitting greatly from him enrolling in UA to spy on the heroes for All for One didn't sound like a bad proposition at all now. But there was one thing that was still bothering him about it. "How exactly am I supposed to 'spy' on them?" he asked.
"Any kind of planned trips, the skills and abilities of your classmates and teachers. Anything that you believe could benefit the League in some way, will in return benefit you and your family." All for One answered. "But first, I must give you a quirk. If anyone from your school asks, you were just a late bloomer. Understood?"
Izuku nodded. He was about to get a quirk, be given a quirk, yet there was a bittersweet feeling in his chest. For years he had longed to obtain a quirk, to be a 'late bloomer' as All for One had put it, and now he was finally getting one. "How will this work? Will it hurt?" he questioned. He wasn't a hundred percent sure what to say anymore, but felt he had to say something.
"No point in lying to you, it'll hurt a great deal, perhaps even kill you if your body is unable to handle the strain and power transference. Should you survive however, you'll be in possession of a fully developed quirk, only needing some training to learn how to control it, but it's power will already be at its limit, unless you find a way to improve it more." All for One explained.
The idea that he might die from gaining this quirk did cause Izuku to start thinking twice about this whole thing, but he realised he'd never be strong if he backed out and didn't follow through with this now. "Okay, I think I'm ready." he said, a determined expression on his face.
All for One smiled widely. "Excellent. Now come over here." he told Izuku, beckoning him closer. Izuku complied, stepping toward All for One until he was only a few feet away. Reaching out and placing a hand on Izuku's head, All for One continued. "Whilst I said this process was painful, it should be relatively quick. I have just the quirk in mind for you as well. Preparing for quirk transference now."
Immediately, Izuku's head began to throb painfully, as if his brain was trying to smash its way out through his skull. He cried out, dropping to his knees. Reaching up, he managed to grab hold of All for One's arm, attempting to pry it off of him, but it didn't budge. His heart began to pound as he started to panic. It felt as if his entire body was shutting down on him, and it terrified him to think about the fact he might actually be dying.
Only about thirty seconds had passed, but to Izuku it felt like an eternity of pure agony. After everything he'd been through: trying to get a quirk; to enroll at UA and become a hero. Now, he was about to die during an attempt to be given a quirk by a man that stood against heroes, but refused to call himself a villain.
Another few seconds passed, and Izuku lost consciousness, eyes rolling back into his head and falling limp, All for One's grip on his skull being the only thing holding him up. Eventually, the quirk transfer was complete, and All for One let go of Izuku's head, the boy collapsing to the ground.
He hadn't determined if Izuku was in fact still alive, but if he was, then All for One's plans could truly be set in motion. He turned to the screen on his left, pressing a small button on it. "Kurogiri, I need you to come and gather up our young friend."
Ten seconds later, and Kurogiri was by Izuku's side, checking his vitals. "Still alive." he said. "He actually managed to survive the procedure."
All for One grinned widely, delighted by the news. "Excellent. Now it's time for phase two. Kurogiri, when he wakes up, let him know that he can return to his home for now, but that I shall be in contact with him soon enough." All for One told the man, before dismissing him.
Kurogiri nodded, scooping Izuku up into his arms before teleporting the both of them back to the inn. He glanced down at the unconscious boy, who looked like he was having a peaceful sleep. Quite frankly, he was stunned that Izuku had managed to survive the transferring of the quirk, as a great many others that could be deemed 'stronger' than Izuku had not.
In terms of sending him back to his normal life at his home and school, Kurogiri wasn't sure if that was a good idea. At that point in time, he had been missing for five days. He couldn't just return to his home and expect everything to be fine. People would have questions to ask, and expect answers the boy might not be prepared to give.
What was All for One's plan for Izuku? It seemed too obvious for it to just be sending him into UA as a spy. There had to be something more to it. Why take a boy, who has dedicated most of his life to becoming a hero, and turn him into a lackey for the League? It just didn't make any sense to the man, but he'd never get any answers from his boss, so he'd be left to try and figure it out by himself.
He arrived at Izuku's room, barely getting the door open and taking him inside. He'd already made his bed when he woke up that morning, so it was just a case of placing him down and leaving him to rest. There was still a possibility of his health taking a bad turn, so Kurogiri knew he'd have to check in on Izuku every thirty minutes or so to make sure he was still alive and functioning.
Returning to the door, Kurogiri took one last look over at Izuku. "I wonder what quirk he has given you." he said, before leaving the room, closing the door behind him and returning to the bar.
All for One still sat in his chair, delighted at how perfectly the day had gone. Granted, young Izuku still had many hurdles to climb, staying alive for the first couple of days after the procedure was at the top of the list. He then had to learn how to control the quirk, which All for One had masterfully chosen for him.
Everything was going exactly as he had planned. Next up was getting Izuku enrolled into UA, and for that he had to return to his home and school, which would no doubt raise some questions from those nosy dogs sown at the police station, especially considering he had been missing for a week, but All for One had a plan in place to make sure that didn't happen.
Once Izuku enrolled at UA, his hope was that the bastard All Might would realise he was greatly mistaken, and attempt to reconcile with the boy, but with that time being many months away, All for One would make sure Izuku felt a severe bitterness and hatred toward the man for rejecting him in the first place, crushing his dreams of ever being a hero.
Izuku would go on to do many great things for years to come, he was sure of it, but for now he still needed to be moulded and shaped into All for One's perfect image. The quirk that he gave him would surely come in handy later on as well, if he ever manages to control it.
All for One was counting on Izuku finally being able to stick up for himself as well, as that would grow his confidence in himself, which would also come to benefit him later. He'd been asked the question by everyone, including the boy himself. 'Why him?'
It was simple, really. Izuku was special, he just didn't realise it. The truth was, whilst lacking in the quirk department, the boy was incredibly intelligent for someone so young, with a great eye for the smaller details that others probably wouldn't pick up on, which is the exact reason All for One chose him for this little spying mission.
There was one other side to his plan, one that might not work, but he was prepared to make it happen if necessary. That would all unfold in due course, so for now he just had to wait. He was beginning to grow impatient, however, having waited a great many years for someone like Izuku to come along.
Patience was a skill he had honed over those years of being forced to wait, so he was well aware that his mind was capable of pushing out the thoughts of hastening the process. 'In due time.' he told himself a few times. "I'll have my reward soon enough." he said allowed, the wide grin returning to his face.
"I-I'm going home?" Izuku asked for the fourth time, just to make absolute sure he wasn't dreaming, even though he'd spent the majority of the last week or so doing exactly that, having just woken up from a two day one just a half hour before.
"Yes, you're to go home and return to school as well. All for One will be in contact with you soon enough." Kurogiri replied, quickly having to dodge out the way of a flying kitchen knife that almost took his head off.
"Ah! I'm so sorry!" Izuku cried out. When he woke up, he'd also discovered his new quirk: Metal Manipulation. He had woken up that morning to see his temporary room in a complete mess, things like cutlery and his chest of drawers with the brass handles were strewn about all over the floor.
His bed frame, which also just happened to be made of metal, had been snapped in many places, bits and pieces of it scattered all over the place. Kurogiri had told him that it was nothing for him to worry about, that he would deal with it, but it just made Izuku feel even worse at putting the man through all that trouble.
He struggled to control his quirk, having no real idea of how it actually worked, apart from the fact that it allowed him to move metallic objects at will, (not exactly at will yet, but soon enough according to Kurogiri) and also bend and shape them as well.
In his shock at hearing the news he was allowed to go home, back to his mother, he ended up losing concentration and sending that knife straight at Kurogiri. "Try to stay focused, Midoriya. Remember that if you lose your concentration, things could end disastrously for those around you." Kurogiri explained. "I would have probably kept you here until I knew that you had better control over your new quirk, but All for One insisted it was better to let you go home and return to school."
Now that Izuku thought about it, the idea of staying until he had more control over his quirk didn't sound like a bad one at all. If he lost his concentration, or perhaps even when he's asleep, it could put his mother in danger when around him.
He was about to agree with Kurogiri, when the man ended up stopping him before he could even say anything. "If you're willing to be a guinea pig for me, I have something that might be able to help you out, but I haven't had much testing done so it will probably be far from perfect." he said, before leaving Izuku for a few minutes through a door across the hall.
He returned holding a small, clear container that had some pills inside, perhaps a dozen or so, if Izuku had to guess. "What are those?" he asked, as Kurogiri walked toward him and handed over the container.
"They are temporary quirk suppression pills." Kurogiri replied. "Before you go to bed every night, take one of these and it should stop you from uncosciously using your quirk whilst you sleep. As I said, however, there's no guarantee that it will work so you will need to be careful of that, perhaps even warn your mother about it as well."
Izuku popped open the container, taking out a pill and inspecting it closer. It was incredibly small, perhaps just over a centimetre in diameter, circular and a bright orange. There was a strange odour coming from it as well. Deciding to just leave them be for now, Izuku returned the pill to the container and placed the container inside his pocket. "Thank you, Kurogiri." he said.
Kurogiri left the boy for a while to get changed back into his repaired and cleaned school uniform. In the meantime, he was rummaging around for some old equipment that he could give to Izuku for specific reasons.
After another moment, he finally found it, just in time for Izuku to come through the door all dressed and ready to leave. "Ah, Midoriya, before I take you home, you should have this. It's been a while since I've given it to someone, but it should still work." Kurogiri said to him, handing over the small bag he'd pulled from his equipment pile.
Izuku took it from him, opening it up and pulling out a small watch. "Thank you." he said with a smile. As he inspected it, Kurogiri thought it best to explain what exactly it was that the watch was capable of.
"It's simple to work, and it acts almost as a tracking beacon. Should you ever find yourself in serious danger that you don't think you can get out of, then press the blue button in the middle, it'll send out a signal to me here, and I'll make sure you're safely transported out of there. The watch also acts as an incoming call receiver, meaning that you can't make calls yourself but someone can call you. The green button is to answer and the red button to hang up. I think that covers everything." he explained, checking to see if he missed anything.
Izuku listened to the man's explanation, before slipping the watch on his wrist. He was grateful for Kurogiri's gifts that he had given him, and would make sure that they'd be taken care of and used properly. "So will this be what All for One will contact me on?" he asked.
"No, he won't. You'll know when he does though as he makes it very obvious whilst still remaining remarkably discreet." Kurogiri replied. "Anyway, time for you to be off, Midoriya. I shall see you again within the next few days, I hope."
"Of course." Izuku said, the man's purple teleportation smoke quickly surrounding him. "Bye."
In a puff of smoke, (no pun intended), Izuku was gone, teleported to a nearby empty alleyway to his house. Kurogiri was curious to know how the boy's return to both his home and his school would be received. He had been missing for a week after all, but it wouldn't surprise the man if no one cared besides his mother, given what All for One had told him about Izuku's childhood and school life up until that point.
In a modern world where power took you to great heights, Izuku was destined for many incredible things, should he manage to completely master his recently acquired quirk. Izuku probably didn't realise just how powerful that quirk actually was, with the ability to control and manipulate even the smallest items, as long as metal was a part of its structure.
He'd have to ask All for One about it's true capabilities when he called later, but for the moment, Kurogiri would have to do research on it himself, with the knowledge that he would be the one to train the boy up into a fighting machine.
As the one who trained both Shigaraki and Dabi when they were both brought into the League years before, Kurogiri knew he was up to the task of helping Izuku hone his skills through various and rigorous training methods over the next few months, whenever All for One decides Izuku should start said training.
For now, however, he'd have to settle with occupying himself with working at the bar for the next few days at least, having spent the majority of the last week caring for a mostly unconscious Izuku that was no longer there.
Strangely, he found himself intrigued by where the boy would end up in the future.