Three years. For three years Midoriya Izuku had planned and worked and made sure that everything would go exactly how he wanted it to.

Now, three years after All Might had said those fateful words on that rooftop, the deflated Symbol of Peace was tied to a chair in a dark room, completely at Izuku's, no Deku's, mercy. At the mercy of the useless, Quirkless nobody he had shattered.

The camera right in front of them was streaming what was happening to every screen in Japan. Everybody would know what went down tonight.

Deku grinned as he turned to face the camera. "You know they say you should never meet your heroes. I guess for me it was truer than most.

"Exactly three years ago today I met All Might after he saved me from a villain. I asked him if someone who was Quirkless could be a hero. He said no, to think realistically, and then left me on the roof of a high rise. Earlier that day someone told me if I wanted to be a hero so badly I should take a swan dive off the roof and pray for a Quirk in my next life. I almost did just that.

"I was already cracked from the hell I went through just because of an extra toe joint, and what he said was like a hammer to a broken mirror. I. Was. Shattered.

"Every life I have taken since then is on him. Everything I've done is on your precious Symbol of Peace." He spat the words like a curse. "And now? Karma is finally collecting its debt."

Deku pulled out his gun and cocked it, moving to stand behind All Might. He smiled, just as bright and happy as he pretended to be in middle school, but this time it was real.

He pulled the trigger

o~0~o~0~o

Yagi Toshinori, otherwise known as All Might, knew he was going to die tonight. He had been captured by the child he had broken all those years ago. Deku was only seventeen, and his hands were dripping with blood.

And it was all Toshinori's fault.

As Deku pulled out his gun and walked behind him, Toshinori looked at the camera's lens, which reflected his blood stained, gaunt face back at him.

The gun clicked as it was cocked, and Toshinori smiled for the last time, trying to be brave one last time.

A gunshot echoed in the dark space, and Toshinori tensed. A long moment passed and Toshinori didn't die. His eyes went wide, and he started shaking as he felt something wet and warm drip down his neck.

He slowly turned his head, and froze. Laying on the floor in a steadily growing pool of his own blood, was Deku. The gun lay beside him, his hand still partially wrapped around it.

Deku, no, Midoriya Izuku, had shot himself on live television.

The ropes suddenly fell away from Toshinori and he stumbled to his feet, desperately rushing to Midoriya's side even though he knew it was far too late. The bullet had gone right into his brain. He was dead.

Toshinori couldn't stop the wailing scream that burst out of his throat as he leaned over the body of the boy he had murdered. When he had told Midoriya that he couldn't be a hero, all he had meant to do was keep the boy from getting killed because of a foolish dream. And now, he had murdered him as surely as if he had let him die that day.

It was made even worse because Midoriya was smiling, his blank green eyes staring into nothing. Toshinori didn't know it, but Izuku had been waiting for three years to finally die, to be at peace and escape his living hell.

o~0~o~0~o

In the bar of the LoV, the members were silent as they stared at the screen. Shigaraki slowly removed the hand from his face, leaving his shock, and yes, grief, bare for all the League to see.

"Holy shit," he muttered. "You actually did something worse than killing him. You fucking broke him."

Toga started sobbing. Twice gently pulled her into a hug and let her cry on his shoulder.

Spinner and Magne were silent, too shocked to say anything, but their eyes were misty.

Tears slowly dripped down Mustard's face as he realized his friend was gone forever.

Kurogiri didn't show any outward reaction, but inside he was crying. Izuku had been like his son.

Mr. Compress stood, pulled off his hat, and bowed to the TV. "A swan song worthy of a king. You've done well my friend." His voice was thick with grief.

o~0~o~0~o

In her apartment, Midoriya Inko broke down in tears, wailing her grief to the world. Her baby, who she had raised and loved more than life itself was dead. How could she have not seen his pain all those years? How could she have not noticed how broken he was until he became a villain, and then killed himself on national TV?

She couldn't help but blame herself. Maybe if she had believed in him more he would still be alive. The TV had gone black, and in white there were two words.

I'm Sorry

o~0~o~0~o

In the common room of the 2A dorms Bakugou Katsuki stared at the TV. He was silent for a good thirty seconds before he collapsed to his knees, grabbed his hair in a white knuckled grip and wordlessly screamed.

It was all his fault, he knew it was.

"Bakugou?! Bakugou!" Kirishima's voice sounded distant and hazy. Bakugou was vaguely aware that his classmates were all staring at him, fear and worry filling their eyes. They had never seen the explosive blond look so vulnerable.

His classmates were trying to comfort him despite not knowing why he was upset. They said that All Might was still alive, thinking he had missed where the shot had landed. Bakugou cried harder, feeling like he was drowning as everything faded into the background. They didn't understand. They would never understand.

"It's my fault!" Bakugou cried, feeling so, so weak. He had told De-Izuku he couldn't be a hero, had pushed him so far that he took the only path left. Izuku had always been so bright, so cheerful and happy, and Katsuki had broken him.

The TV screen was black now, with a single word that seemed to be aimed directly at him.

Congratulations

o~0~o~0~o

The police found All Might on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, carrying the cold body of Deku. The boy was cremated and his Inko cried and cried and cried.

That night, as she lay in bed, her heart finally gave out under the years of stress and overwhelming grief, and she joined her son in death. Bakugou Mitsuki found her body the next day when she went to check on her.

She was buried right next to Izuku's grave. In the end it was probably better this way. Inko could have never been truly happy after what had happened.

People turned on All Might, blaming him for the deaths Deku had caused, and for lying to them for so long.

In the destabilization following the incident the rest of the League of Villains surged to the forefront, taking over Japan in a matter of a few days, All For One being declared the king.

As the centuries-old villain sat in his new office overlooking Musutafu, he looked at a picture of Izuku, his son, smiling as he sat beside Toga eating ice cream. How had he never seen how much pain he was in?

Sitting framed on the wall so it would never get damaged was a note.

To everyone in the League.

If you're reading this I'm dead.

It wasn't your fault. In fact you all are the reason I stayed alive for so long. In the end… it was just too much. Everything hurt and I couldn't stand it any longer. My death will make more of an impact than my life ever did.

I just want you to know that I love you, and you made these last three years the happiest of my life. I hope in the wake of my death and the reveal of what All Might did you will take over and rule so that no one ever feels like I did again.

I hope you make a better world.

~ Izuku