Beta'd by Greed720 and HardwinPotter

The moment Nezu gave him a run-down of Yaoyorozu's rescue and relayed Midoriya's instructions, Shouta had arranged a staff meeting. Shouta looked each staff member in the eye in turn as he braced himself for the impending revelation. He saw curiosity and concern, some irritation from Sekijiro, but no signs of eagerness or guilt that might implicate a traitor.

"I have information to tell you that, quite frankly, I think you all should have known since the beginning. However, as it was a life-or-death matter for one of our students, Nezu had elected to keep it a secret."

Vlad King grunted. "About damn time you told the rest."

"Told us what?" Cementoss asked.

As Shouta told them everything, from the entrance exam to Midoriya's most recent vision, the expressions around him went from shocked, to dawning comprehension, straight to a mix of unease and grim determination.

"I had him for homeroom a whole year, and you never told me?" Present Mic asked.

"I wanted to, but Nezu saw it as an unnecessary risk," Shouta said sourly.

"This villain, All for One," Ectoplasm said, "He's coming here?"

"To kill All Might," Aizawa confirmed with a nod to Yagi's shrunken appearance.

"And he can steal Quirks."

"He used to have hundreds," Yagi said, "But he's likely weaker since our fight seven years ago."

"And now he's planning to take a Quirk that would make him untouchable," Sekijiro said. "I think we all know how terrifying a Quirk like that would be in the hands of a villain that powerful. No one would ever come close to bringing him down. If Midoriya really sees All for One taking his Quirk..."

The suggestion that they kill Midoriya went unsaid, but their troubled expressions showed it was on most teachers' minds. Present Mic asked, "Can't we just use one of those darts the MLA had on them?"

"All Might destroyed the only one they had," Aizawa said with a glare at the mentioned hero. Yagi looked sheepish as he hid his face. "The MLA destroyed the rest studying them. Without their research, we have no way of making more, and even if we had it, synthesizing the drug would take too long."

"Then what do we do?" Midnight asked. "I for one am not about to let a villain have his way with us."

"All Might can overcome Izuku's precognition. We're going to give him the best shot possible at taking down All for One and hope for the best." With a glare at Sekijiro, Shouta added, "I won't settle for anything less than the safety of every student under our care."

With a tall stack of notes before him, Nezu waited for Endeavor to pick up his phone. The Flame Hero's gruff voice said, "What do you want, Nezu?"

"Nighteye and I uncovered some intel from our raid on the MLA hideout. Some of their correspondence suggests an all-out attack by the League of Villains at the end of the month. They'll have Nomu in cities across Japan, but the bulk of their forces will attack U.A. I have plans drafted for how your sidekicks should handle the Nomu at Hosu, and we'll need you along with the other Top Ten at U.A. itself."

"Why U.A.? Seems like a symbolic gesture more than anything else, unless they're after All Might. Wouldn't he be enough to take on the League?"

"They have someone that even he would struggle against alone. They won't attack him without preparing for what he can do."

A tense silence clung to the phone. Endeavor said, "I take it you don't want the Commission catching wind of this? Otherwise, you'd have them make the arrangements."

"Our plans rely on having the element of surprise. Even if there isn't a mole among the Commission or their heroes, the League of Villains has other ways of keeping tabs on them."

"And you're hoping the Agencies will be more tight-lipped about this?"

"Entire agencies? Hardly. The heroes running them, however, can keep a few secrets."

"Sure, we've done a few sting operations, but you're involving the top ten at minimum. Someone's going to notice if they all disappear on the day of the attack."

"I'm sure they will, but they'll hardly call off the attack, not when they have such a tempting target."

Nezu heard the crackle of flames on the other end. "You're using the kids as bait."

"After a fashion," Nezu said. "Rest assured that they won't be in harm's way, regardless of the outcome of this battle."

Endeavor grunted sourly. "You realize that you don't have the authority to mobilize heroes on this scale. If even one of them backs out, you're leaving the rest of us in a meat grinder."

"If the League wins, there'll hardly be anyone left to berate me for that. Our survival depends upon taking their leadership down during that attack. We won't have a better opportunity than this."

Endeavor paused to consider that for a moment. "Send your plans. I'll make sure it's done properly."

When the call ended, Nezu sighed, flipped the pages of his notes, and dialed the next number.

Considering Yaoyorozu's abduction, Nezu had recalled every student to U.A. Cementoss built a bunker half a mile underground, far enough to remain unscathed by the impending battle, which led to an abandoned sewer system housing another bunker and multiple ways into the city. The other staff coordinated with students to arrange defenses, explosive mines buried at random intervals, a pool of acid in a pitfall trap, and hidden sentry turrets, all under the premise of preparing for next year's hero training. The students grumbled about doing manual labor until Aizawa pointed out that it would give them more utility with their Quirks for hero work.

Izuku oversaw the Support Studies students. Over a hundred of the nation's youngest and brightest engineers labored for hours every day, each given a careful nudge by Izuku towards designs he saw used against All for One. Within weeks, they built tesla cannons, flamethrowers, rail guns, and other portable, destructive equipment. Izuku kept functional and defective gear alike. Every scrap of equipment made would serve its purpose.

He spent most of his time directing Hatsume, whose prolific assembly of new equipment outstripped the rest of the students combined. Izuku worked alongside her, making tiny adjustments as they went along to keep pistons and batteries from spontaneously exploding. For every Arduino board she incorporated into the gear, Izuku had programs written and ready to install. He preempted every obstacle with a stray comment or a tightening of a random bolt. The other students gave him odd looks at first, but the way he kept Hatsume's machinery from exploding had them in silent awe at his coordination.

For their last project, they made a resupply platform. Pneumatized tubes crisscrossed the campus, taking odd swerves around spaces where the impending battle would tear the ground apart. With a burst of pressurized air, a canister filled with air tanks, ammunition, and gear would fly to whichever hidden dispenser Izuku sent it to. Equipment too large to fit in the tubes was instead concealed beneath carefully grown shrubbery, or hidden inside fake statues, water fountains, and hollowed-out trees.

Five days before the attack, all work on the campus ceased. To the casual observer, the campus looked unprepared for the upcoming assault, and the students milling about the buildings gave off a bored and listless air. Preparations went on behind the scenes. Lunch Rush prepared canned and dried provisions for the bunker, the support teachers tinkered with the testing robots, and the other heroes readied their weapons.

As the final hours of his life drew nearer, quite possibly for the last time, Izuku knew he had a few people to find closure with before it was too late.

When Izuku said he would leave campus, Aizawa had protested until Izuku pointed out that he could foresee any threat against him. Reassured that no harm would come of it, Aizawa grudgingly allowed Izuku to return home for a few hours.

Izuku hadn't warned his mother he would be heading home. It looked tidier than he remembered, with a new flower vase on the table, a nicer set of curtains, and a carpet that had the bright, stainless look from a pressure wash.

As Izuku took a seat at the table, Inko left her room. She stared with amazement at him for a second before darting over. "Izuku! You're home! I heard about what happened to your classmate and how U.A. had everyone stay on campus for the month, are you finally allowed to leave?"

"Mom, there's something I need to tell you."

From that first vision at the age of five to the impending fight, his near-death experiences, the nest-egg he left for her, everything tumbled out of him. Inko grew pale as he gave his account, and tears ran down her face.

"I-I'm so sorry, Izuku, I had no idea! Why couldn't you tell me?"

"I tried. My Quirk wouldn't let me." He left his chair and went to give her a hug. Even as she bawled into his shoulder, his Quirk had an iron grip on his emotions, not allowing a single tear out of him.

"I'm sorry," Izuku said. "I knew this would hurt you, but I thought it would be better to tell you myself than have you find out afterwards."

Inko sniffled and wiped her tears away. "Can't you run? You don't have to fight this villain, leave them to the pros."

"He would find me no matter where I went. All Might's the only one with a chance against him, and I need to help him."

"You're going to be okay, right?" Inko's teary, bloodshot eyes met Izuku's. "Tell me you're going to be okay. Just… don't die, Izuku."

"I don't see myself dying," Izuku said truthfully. "I'll be fine, I promise."

While Inko processed everything Izuku had just told her, Izuku made a pot of tea and poured her a cup. While she sipped at it, Izuku said, "There's one more thing I think you should know, but it's not my place to tell. I'll talk to them as soon as I can."

When a knock came at the door, Toshinori flinched, dropped the teaching guide for dummies in his hand, and nearly knocked over his cup of coffee. Buffing up, All Might said, "Come on in!"

Izuku closed the door behind him. All Might surreptitiously slid his book into a desk drawer and asked, "What can I do for you, Midoriya-shounen?"

"You should probably tell my mom about your job before All for One attacks, Yagi-san."

"How do you - right, you saw me lose against him." All Might deflated in a cloud of steam. "Well, this is awkward. Do you know if anyone else saw?"

"I think it'll be on the news."

Toshinori hid a cringe and said, "I see. So, uh, it's not like the two of us are doing much, just getting coffee or lunch once in a while. It's probably better that nothing happens between us, since, you know, a lot of villains want revenge on me, and anyone I'm in contact with could become a target."

"She talks about you."

"S-she does?" Toshinori asked. He felt his cheeks heat up. "Nothing bad, I hope?" he said with a weak chuckle.

"Mostly about how kind and sweet you are, how she's worried about your health, and how it's nice to have someone to get lunch with." As Toshinori relaxed and took a sip of coffee, Izuku added, "She also asked me what I thought of you."

Toshinori choked on his coffee. Clearing his throat and hoping he didn't embarrass himself, Toshinori asked, "And what do you think of me?"

"I said that if you made her happy, that's all that matters to me. That was before I knew Yagi-san was hiding the fact he was All Might from my mother."

Toshinori withered in his chair. "Ah. I see."

In a deadpan voice, Izuku said, "Now I'd be willing to pay for the wedding."

Toshinori spat up another unfortunately timed sip of coffee. "What?"

"You're All Might. Who wouldn't want to have you for a dad?"

Toshinori thought back to all the All Might paraphernalia decorating Izuku's room and shuddered. "Well, like I said, it's dangerous, and I still have hero work to think about. I couldn't be there for someone like I'm supposed to. Not to mention, there's the paparazzi to deal with. I wouldn't want to put anyone through that."

"Look at it this way, Yagi-san," Izuku said. "Either we beat All for One and you can retire, or All for One wins and nothing matters anyways. Either way, you might as well tell her, especially if she'll see for herself on T.V. in a few days."

"I guess you're right. It would be better if we stopped seeing each other. If my other identity goes public, she will never get any peace."

"What you do is up to you." Izuku stood up and went to the door. As All Might sipped at his coffee, Izuku asked, "Have you and my mom had sex yet?"

All Might spat coffee all over his desk and glared at Izuku. "You're doing that on purpose, aren't you?"

"I'm not really sure why my Quirk is having me do this. Maybe it's ticked off at all the times you changed what happened." With a shrug, Izuku said, "I'll talk it over with Hound Dog-san."

Once Izuku shut the door, All Might gloomily regarded his coffee-spattered desk, wiped it up with a handkerchief, and dialed Inko's number.

Mina lingered outside Izuku's room. She had told herself she had to talk to him, but now that she was right in front of his door, she hesitated. Thoughts that she would make everything worse than it already was troubled her, but she shook off her doubts. She had put this off for months longer than she should have, and it was time to step up. Mina straightened her shoulders and knocked.

Izuku opened it immediately, as if he had been waiting at the door. His expressionless gaze told her that his Quirk was still active, as it had been ever since U.A. ordered everyone back on campus.

She knew something had changed during the Yakuza raid. Yaoyorozu had fuzzy recollections of gunshots and Izuku screaming. Izuku hadn't been hurt, yet since that incident, he hadn't once let his Quirk stop. The few times she saw him during the day, he tackled renovations and equipment upgrades with unrelenting haste.

"Come in," Izuku said. Izuku took a seat on his bed. The chair by the desk was turned towards him. Coffee cups littered his desk and spilled out of a garbage can, and his computer screen had a wall of code freshly typed up. Heavy bags sat under Izuku's eyes, and his hair had a glossy appearance from long days without a shower.

Mina sat down and said, "You already know what I'm going to say, don't you?"

"I do," Izuku confirmed, "But I still need you to say it, so my Quirk can pass it back to myself."

"Why are you using your Quirk?" Mina asked. "You worked so hard to be happy without it, and now you're back to using it for everything."

"I thought we were done."

"I think we are," Mina admitted. "But even if we're just classmates, I'm still worried about you. Everyone else is too."

"Then why didn't you ask someone else to talk to me? Koda would have, or Tsuyu."

Out of nervous habit, Mina made a glob of acid and rubbed it between her fingers. The mild acid stung a bit as it seeped down her hand. "I still feel guilty about last year." Mina ran through the words she had labored over for days since she came back to U.A. "I decided I didn't want to be in a relationship because it was too much effort and didn't think about your own feelings. I didn't realize how hard you would take it. I thought about talking to you and apologizing, but by the time I made up my mind, you already seemed happier. I didn't want to ruin that for you."

Izuku remained quiet for a moment, as if taking time to make up his mind despite his Quirk. "I see myself letting go of my Quirk for a moment. I don't know what's going to happen, but you need to know why I haven't released it."

Mina felt her stomach turn as Izuku told her about the impending battle against the League of Villains and their Quirk-stealing mastermind. She stopped him at multiple points, asking him why he couldn't stop All for One some other way, or run away from him. Each decisive argument Izuku made left Mina feeling more and more helpless against the threat looming over them, and more bitter at herself for not trying to help him sooner.

Once he finished his explanation, Izuku took a deep breath and said, "Even now, I can feel him tearing my Quirk out of me. There's this jittery sensation in my chest, and when I lose focus, I can feel my Quirk slipping. Without my Quirk helping me, I don't think I can keep going. I'm scared, Mina. I'm more terrified than I ever was with my Quirk turned off."

"I helped you with that, didn't I?"

"You did." Izuku shrank in on himself. "I think it's the reason I can let go of my Quirk right now, if you still want me to."

"Try it. You can always turn it back on if something goes wrong, right?"

Izuku nodded. "Give me a few seconds."

Mina flinched at the sudden transformation. Izuku's eyes widened, and his pupils dilated to the size of dinner plates. A violent shiver racked his body, and he curled in on himself as strangled sobs escaped him. Mina leapt out of her chair and sat next to him. When she touched him, Izuku latched onto her and buried his face in her shoulder.

"Please, make it stop!"

"You can stop! It's okay, turn your Quirk back on, I'm sorry I made you do this!"

"I can't!" Izuku wailed. "Can't focus, it's too much. Please, just make it end!"

Mina struggled to stand as Izuku held her tight. "I'll get Aizawa-sensei. He can make it stop."

"N-no, don't, I need to see. I can't help them if they don't know. He's too strong, they'd all die. I have to help them."

"Then how can I help you?"

Izuku didn't answer. As he continued sobbing, Mina wrapped him in a tight embrace and muttered in his ear, hoping it would calm him down. Her initial shock warped into dread as Izuku's shudders and sniffles refused to stop. She thought about prying herself away and getting Aizawa, but the thought of leaving him again, wounding him a second time, stopped her.

Mina had already left once and look where that got her. Months of regret, months of pretending that everything was fine. This time, she would stay. Mina felt her resolve harden as she ran fingers through his hair and whispered in his ear. Joy blossomed in her chest as Izuku sighed and leaned more into her.

As the light dwindled out the window, Izuku relaxed in her arms and disentangled himself. "I'm feeling better now." Izuku glanced at the wet stain on Mina's shirt and wiped at his tear-stained face. "Sorry."

"It's fine, I needed to change this shirt anyways. So, you're not using your Quirk?"

"Not right now, no. I can still feel it, but it's easier to deal with. Might be a limitation of whatever Quirk All for One is using." Izuku stood up and stretched the remaining tension out of his shoulders. "I think I needed that. Thanks Mina."

"You're welcome." Mina stared carefully at him. Izuku looked ready to drop from exhaustion, but he had a gentle smile on his face. "Are you going to keep using it?"

"I have to. There's too much work to do before the League attacks." With a chuckle, Izuku added, "I think my Quirk's the only thing keeping me on my feet at this point."

"You should get some sleep. You won't be able to kick ass if you're that tired."

"I'll get some sleep before it happens. Right now, there's a few things left to make."

"And you're going to make them when you can barely keep your eyes open?"

"Once you leave and I activate my Quirk again, yes, I will."

Mina smirked and laid down on his bed. "Then maybe I won't leave. What are you going to do about that?"

Izuku thought for a moment and said, "I could call Aizawa-sensei."

Mina's eyes widened in mock panic. "You wouldn't. We'd both get in trouble."

"That's a sacrifice I'm willing to make."

They both made stern faces at each other, but Izuku broke down laughing first. Mina followed soon after, and for a moment, the sound of laughter filled the room. Wiping tears out of his eyes, Izuku said, "It still feels incredible, laughing like that."

Mina stifled her lingering giggles and said, "You seem like a completely different person now." Her mood darkened, and she said, "I wish you were more like this last year."

Izuku's own mood soured. He glumly sat in the chair and said, "I wish I could've been like this a lot sooner."

For a moment, Mina felt at a loss for words. Izuku looked so cold and alone as he mulled over an entire childhood overrun by his Quirk. Hesitantly, she asked, "Hey Izu-kun, I know the first time wasn't perfect, but if you manage to beat that guy, do you think you'd be down to start fresh?"

Izuku turned away. "Mina, he's too dangerous, there's no way I'd-"

"You only see him taking your Quirk," Mina insisted. "You never saw him kill you. What if he takes your Quirk and leaves you alive?"

"I'd still fight him." Izuku clenched his hands. "I'd have to try. If he could predict everything, no one would be safe from him."

"Then beat him. I know you can, you're the best in class even without your Quirk. With it, who knows how scary you could be? And once you do, would you want to try dating again?"

In a small voice, Izuku asked, "Would you break up with me again?"

Mina's first impulse was to say she wouldn't, but she stopped herself. "I can't promise that. This time, though, I'll at least talk to you about it first. I didn't give you that chance because I didn't want to deal with our problems. Now, though, I want to be better than that."

As the silence grew between them, Mina felt afraid that she had overstepped herself, that she had somehow hurt him again. After a long sigh, Izuku said, "I'll try. But please, don't get your hopes up. You have no idea how strong he is."

Mina grinned and said, "Don't make it sound like you'd rather have him kill you than go out on a date with me. You're coming back alive, got it?"

Izuku looked up, and his resolve hardened. "It's a date, then."

Feeling a window of opportunity, Mina leapt up and kissed him. While he was still dazed, Mina said, "For good luck. Good night, Izuku, and get some sleep!"

Once Mina was gone, Izuku felt his Quirk reactivate. With a renewed sense of purpose, Izuku set aside the half-finished code and brought up a blank image file on his tablet. His hand darted across the screen as it captured the scene burned in his precognitive memory with splashes of brilliant color and ominous shadows. When he finished, Izuku posted it to his Twitter account, his first drawing in over a year, and went back to work on his coding.

The moment Shigaraki saw the latest work of art from Deku's twitter feed, his hands froze over the screen. He bolted into Sensei's room, phone in hand, and said, "Deku knows what you look like."

All for One gave Shigaraki's phone an inquisitive frown. "I'll need to borrow your eyes, Kurogiri."

The misty Nomu examined the phone and described what he saw. "It shows you standing off against All Might on U.A.'s campus. The resemblance is perfect, down to the details on your mask, though you are wearing a different tie. Judging by the lighting, it's set at the time of our attack."

"And this is artwork drawn by Midoriya? How curious."

"Will there be any changes to our plan of attack?"

All for One mused over the picture for a moment. He had hidden his current appearance carefully, and nobody outside of Doctor Garaki, Shigaraki, and Kurogiri had seen him in the last seven years. No Quirk could penetrate his sanctum, he had personally seen to that. As he narrowed down the options, one tantalizing possibility remained. "What color is the tie?"

"Blue, sir."

"Find me that tie. I think I'll wear it tomorrow."

Once Kurogiri warped away and Shigaraki went back to his PC, All for One grinned and said to himself, "An interesting trap, but who am I to decline such an invitation?"

A/N: Happy 1 year anniversary! As of last Monday, this story turned one year old. Woohoo! Hard to believe it's been a year already, but here we are.

Brain still does not want to write. I can trick it just fine with 'oh, look, 500 word drabbles are basically nothing' but 500 words of a 4000 word chapter? Not happening. Ugh. At least I think this turned out well. The every other weekend deal shall continue until either this story ends or I get my chapter backlog back. The former is sadly more likely, but that's largely because the story is drawing near its end.

Was busy today with my little brother's graduation ceremony. The school district, in all its infinite wisdom, decided that father's day made an excellent day for it. The real reason boils down to COVID stuff and venue selection problems that ultimately didn't matter since they held it at the school anyways.

Got sushi afterwards. Tried a role called the Screamer, basically wasabi and freakishly spicy mustard wrapped in a sheet of seaweed. My. God. Most intense culinary experience I have ever had in my life. Starts off slow at first, a building heat that creeps up on you until the mustard hits your sinuses, then FIRE OH LORD MY SINUSES HOT HOT HOT! There's three seconds of hellfire in every inch of your sinuses, then the heat fades away, leaving nothing but a rush of adrenaline in its wake. No lingering burn at all. I think I achieved nirvana in that moment of indescribable heat.

As for my Nuzlocke, got a snorlax and steelix trained up, crushed Claire, and challenged the elite four. Will was a pushover, Koga annoying but unable to do a thing to my steelix. Bruno, however, was a nightmare. Neither snorlax nor steelix want anything to do with those cross chops, and my two theoretical checks, pidgeot and victreebel, weren't strong enough to solidly contend with his pokemon. Lost pidgeot to a rock slide, which I wasn't too torn up about, but I pulled through with liberal use of hyper potions. Had five left when I was done, and boy howdy was I sweating. Karen was a bit tough, but Lance? Lance was a cakewalk. My snorlax knew thunderpunch and ice punch. His dragonites and gyarados knew pain. Helped that a blizzard and two hyper beams whiffed, and that I got a clutch crit on his Charizard. I thought about doing Kanto, but I think I'm done. Might give it another go with the updated version, might switch to a different game. Was a fun experience.

At work, they finally hired a third person for my shift. I should be getting them fully onboarded by the start of September. Yay! I'll finally get my project days back.

Thanks again for reviews, follows, and faves, and thank you for your patience with the slower update schedule. As of now, I'm 81 followers away from hitting 3k, which I'm really excited for. Here's hoping next chapter update will put us there!

Speaking of reviews, let's see what we got…

TheLazyWarrior: "Great chapter. I was almost sure that Izuku's quirk would be erased and then he would receive OfA (seeing as Eri is also out of picture for now.) But this twist is better."

Bardothren: I've been snickering the last few chapters at the people thinking I'd get rid of Izuku's Quirk that easily, but I think they were wise to fear such an anticlimactic turn of events.

TheGreatBubbaJ: "Seems my response got lost in the shuffle. Poor lad never sees anything good nowadays eh."

Bardothren: uh, yeah, that was on me. Forgot to copy/paste your review into that last one. Whoops! Fixed it almost immediately after I posted the chapter, but it does take a bit to update.

Howard blake: "My biggest concern however is that All Might's role is sort of diminished in this story."

Bardothren: that is very much intentional, given how All Might never gave Izuku his Quirk. They don't have any real reason to interact with each other. Although, with the benefit of hindsight, I could see ways I could have brought them together, involving Inko. It simply never came up. Could have added interesting tension and character moments, at the cost of making the story meander more than it already has. If I could do over the story again, I'd probably go for it, but I'm too lazy for the sheer depth of rewriting that would require. Better that I move on to the next shiny new project I've got going.

That's enough about me, enjoy the chapter!