Even on a Sunday, the paperwork never ends for Jakku General Hospital.
"Good morning," the hospital's founder, Doctor Kyudai Garaki tells the front desk person as he walks through the entrance.
The man smiles back and waves. "Good morning Doctor. Getting a jumpstart on the week?"
"Nothing so elaborate," the Doctor explains. "Just getting ready for the school year ahead. Those Hero School release forms are always a pain."
The front desk person nods. "Sounds fun. Talk to you later."
Turning down a corridor, the man wanders into the long term care wing, and up to one door just as a nurse exits.
"Oh, Doctor Garaki! Checking in on our coma patients today?" she asks, her whiskers twitching in curiosity.
The Doctor nods. "Yes, especially the policewoman. Any changes?"
"I'm afraid not," the nurse explains. "Having had that villain removed from her, I had expected a few weeks to recover. But, it's been a year. I'm afraid at this point, the chance of recovery is slim."
Ujiko, known as Garaki, nods, hiding the smile he wants to put on. "And the family knows that?"
"Of course. It's the Hero Commission insisting on maintaining her, despite her condition," she says with disdain.
The Doctor rolls his eyes. "They don't want to admit that their policies are at fault. Typical government bureaucrats. And what about the patient in room 1138?"
"Starting to show signs of recovery. It seems the graft has taken root, finally," the nurse informs him.
Now smiling for real, the Doctor emphatically says, "Most excellent news. That child will make much better use of it than the previous owner."
"Such a tragedy. Water Hose were good heroes," she says. "Thank goodness Endeavor arrived in time to capture the villain."
Garaki puts a hand on her shoulder. "That they were. And the monster who killed them has been put in his place. I may dislike the death penalty, but Imasuji is an exception even for me. And now, a future hero will use that quirk he had for the cause of good."
"The one good part of this tragedy," the nurse says. "I wouldn't have complained had Endeavor killed the man."
The Doctor scoffs. "And spoil that perfect record? 23 years since his debut, and not a single fatality."
"I know, it's just… that wasn't a person anymore. That villain, he was just a bloodthirsty monster." The nurse shudders as she describes him.
Garaki takes on a serious tone. "The moment we dehumanize others is when we have failed as a society. Remember your oath to protect life. Even the most depraved of villains is still a human being, deserving of respect."
"Of course, doctor," she says.
Looking over the list on the whiteboard, he then asks, "The patient in room 1977 should be ready for release now, yes?"
"Yes Doctor," the nurse tells him. "He's been ready since yesterday, but the primary doctor felt one more night of observation was needed."
Turning, the Doctor says, "As you were. I have a few more stops this morning."
Walking away, Ujiko chuckles to himself.
Passing by the front desk to the visiting doctor office area, empty of people as ever, the Doctor walks up to the slots and pulls out the stack in the box labelled "Tsubasa."
"Twenty-Seven years and nobody has been the wiser," he tells himself, flipping through the sheets.
This entire suite of offices were his domain. Nine identities, all of them just aliases of Daruma Ujiko, itself an alias. Of his true name, well, the Doctor kept that a closely held secret. Even his wives never knew it, and most never even suspected.
Looking at the nametags on the doors, he considered the experiments over the years. Long ago he'd realized how mistaken quirk marriages were, that the epigenetic expression of quirks was far too complex to leave up to random chance.
It took years to create the necessary blanks for quirk experimentation, more years to create a method of transplant and installation, studying the Master's own quirk to the needed clues. So many avenues of research, so many dead ends.
But when the right approach finally was revealed to him, it was as if the power of the gods now resided in the Master's hands, with Ujiko his High Priest.
And then, the Master was lost, cast down by that blonde haired devil. But no matter, Ujiko would continue the work, and fulfill the vision cast before him.
A noise from within one of the offices draws his attention. Glancing at the nametag on the door, the Doctor nods. "Ah yes, it is about that time, isn't it."
Walking up to the door, Ujiko puts on his Tsubasa mental mask, and walks in to face the boy within.
"Yo, Grandpa! What's up?" the round faced boy says as he perches on the edge of the balcony overlooking Jakku below.
With a long suffering sigh, the Doctor looks up from his paperwork and points out, "Hiyato, how many times have I told you…"
"I know, I know. Use the door," the boy says, hopping down. "You wanted to see me?"
The Doctor nods, pulling an envelope out from the stack of papers he is carrying. "Bring these to your school guidance counselor tomorrow after the opening ceremony."
"This for that new school of yours?" Hiyato asks, not even bothering to look inside.
With a groan the man stands up. "Quite right. Since you're here, come with me. I'd like you to meet someone."
Curious, the winged boy hops along behind his grandfather.
"Hiyato, meet Neito Monoma. Monoma, this is my grandson, Hiyato Tsubasa. He will be joining you at school starting tomorrow," the Doctor informs the boy, presenting the blonde haired teenager waiting in the other room. "He, too, will be attending the new hero school next year as well, so I would like for you both to get along."
"Yo," Hiyato says, waving a hand lazily.
Neito looks the boy up and down before lazily drawing out, "Why hello. So, you intend to be a hero then, I take it?"
"I guess," the fat kid says. "Grandpa kind of insists. Plus I've got such a cool quirk. I can fly."
Neito looks at the wings, then turns and tries to look at his own back before shrugging. "That's fine. Anything you can tell me about the school?"
With a laugh, Hiyato starts. "Well, it's for rich kids, or the kids of heroes. Lots of hopefuls in it. Nobody as good as me, of course."
"Oh? Think you'll be number one?" the blonde kid asks.
The winged kid shakes his head, flexing his wings slightly before grunting out, "Nah. There's a kid at my old school who is a lot tougher than anyone else. Which reminds me, transferring in last year? Why?"
"I lived in America for the past few years. Horrible country, would not recommend it. So, when the opportunity to move back to Japan came up, I took it," Neito says.
The winged boy considers it, then shrugs. "Okay. Well, welcome back I guess. Wanna grab a bite to eat? You don't look like you've eaten much lately."
Neito looks at the doctor, who nods.
"You've been cleared to leave already, it's just paperwork," the Doctor explains. "Head down to the cafeteria."
Watching the pair exit, the doctor smiles to himself as a figure made out of mist forms behind him.
"It seems the artificial memories have settled in nicely, Kurogiri," the Doctor explains. "My grandson could not detect any aberrant behavior. Most excellent."
"A pity he is but a pale copy of the Master," the mist man complains.
The Doctor smiles a bit. "A merger of the Master and his rival, harnessing the embers of One for All, has resulted in a version of All for One. A weaker one, yes, but it proves my theory. When we locate the child currently holding the original, creating a new, ideal vessel for the Master's quirk will be trivial."
"Then, does this mean you are abandoning the Shimura boy?" Kurogiri asks, eyes narrow.
With a laugh, Garaki explains, "Certainly not. I have not spent this much time just to gamble on a single solution. Develop every angle, test every idea, and you are most likely to find the correct answer. And, if we happen to have more than one of the Master's quirks in the end, all the better for us."
"And how will this… artificial boy enter society? He will need records, documentation. Giran is expensive, especially for the records we need." The man crosses his arms, clearly unamused at the prospect of creating a whole life for him.
Walking over to the file cabinet, the Doctor pulls out a folder. "Check it out yourself. All the documentation we need, fully legal and legitimate."
Taking the folder, Kurogiri reads aloud. "Parents divorced. Mother moved to America, taking their son with them… how does this help us? His father would surely..."
"His father works in my Yokohama clinic. I have been reprogramming him for months in preparation," Garaki's smile makes even the animated corpse of a dead teenager shivver.
"And the actual Neito Monoma?"
The Doctor pulls out a television remote, and turns it on.
A paused US cable news feed comes up on the screen. With a click of a button, it starts. "The preliminary reports tell us that the cargo drone crashed into a residential neighborhood. Fortunately, the damage was minimal, with only one house affected. It is unknown if, at this time, the family, a single mother with her son, was at home during the time of the accident."
"You know, Kurogiri, the security on drones is abysmal," Garaki says with a smile. "And with his father already responding to our Neito, we are all set."
Kurogiri considers this a few moments. "So, because the father is unaware that our creation is not his son, he never files the death certificate here in Japan. So, our Monoma becomes the real Monoma?"
"Just so," the Doctor agrees.
Kurogiri considers a moment before asking, "And you are certain that the holder of One for All will apply to the school? What if they have no desire to be a hero?"
"He will reveal himself in some other way. With that much power at his disposal, it is impossible to hide forever. I am honestly surprised he hasn't appeared in the news," the Doctor points out. "But he will slip up at some point, and when he does, we can swoop up and capture him."
The mist man hangs there, silently observing as the Doctor trundles over to a filing cabinet and opens it. "Which reminds me, the next batch of children to potentially approach. I told each and every one of them that they should give up on their hopes of being a hero. I'd like for you to observe them for the next few weeks. Let's see which of them took my words to heart, and gave up. Those who did not would be the easiest to recruit."
Kurogiri takes the list and looks it over. "So many… didn't their parents suspect anything?"
"The absolute authority of a doctor holds sway over many people," Ujiko says, more to himself than anything.
Left to himself as the living mist departs, the Doctor pulls out another file. "While you, young one, are special. I have a plan for you. But it's not quite time yet. No, you need your dreams crushed first, Izuku Midoriya. After you fail to enter hero school, when that damnable light in your eyes is finally snuffed out, that is the right time to approach. And I have just the quirk for you. A perfect guarantee it will match up. After all, it's your own quirk."
A/N: A heads up for everyone. A few people have tried to message me with questions or comments, and the PM inbox for me here on FFN is completely broken, so I can't read or respond to them. Sorry about that. As soon as I can read them, I will respond.