"Yeah, mum. I'm now at the grocers to do some quick groceries for the class." I say into my phone, talking with my mum.
"Alright, I'll leave you be then. Be careful!" She says to me and I chuckle. She always says that, 'be careful'. But I rarely listen to her. I do have a habit of breaking my bones on several occasions after all.
"I will, bye mum!" I answer. This time, I'm going to do my best to listen, though. I'm not going to break my arm in the grocery store. My mum says bye one last time before we both hang up and I enter the store. Normally, we have a grocery day on which two of us come down here to do all the groceries. But we suddenly ran out of coffee and all of our cleaning products were accidentally exploded. You can guess by whom, I suppose.
I quickly grab what I need and go to the register to pay for everything. UA has made sure I have enough money to pay for everything. I hum to myself as I grab all the products in one arm and my phone in the other. I wonder if there were any hero fights already today?
"Have you heard? They say those league of villains guys were spotted in the area." I hear someone mutter to their friend a bit further behind me. I roll my eyes. Rumours. Everyone is so obsessed with the league, they claim to see them everywhere. I won't immediately assume they're wrong, no. I'm not that cocky. But I also won't suddenly rush back to the dorms, scared because the league may be in the area.
I silently read the news headlines as I wait for my turn at the register. Apparently, the number two German hero had a fight with someone with a gun quirk, Kenny the Ripper vs Levi. Interesting, a gun quirk. I wonder how that works though. Where do the bullets come from? Once I have paid for everything, I thank the person at the register and take everything. I put my phone away as I walk out of the grocer's and start to head back to UA.
"I wonder what we're going to eat tonight." I murmur to myself as I walk up the mountain UA is located on. There's a lot of forest around here so I'm enjoying the view as I walk. I could be using One For All and be back in the dorms within ten minutes or less. But I don't mind taking a stroll.
"I hope it's beef stew." I giggle to myself, I love beef stew. I guess soba or a simple rice bow with vegetables would also be enjoyable. Probably cold soba though, knowing Todoroki. Or maybe Aoyama is going to make one of those French meals? That would be cool too. They're so different from the usual Japanese dinners, but also very good. Aoyama really needs to lend me his cook book one day. Maybe I could cook my mum some French dinner then.
"But I do need to finish my homework first though." It's not that much anymore, I worked ahead yesterday. But if I finish it today, I can have all of tomorrow to do nothing and enjoy my Sunday. Maybe if I ask Iida and Uraraka we can go to the mall or som-
I yelp in pain as something sharp suddenly plunges into my side. I drop the groceries on accident and look down.
"What?" I ask in confusion as I see a needle, attached to a tube and my blood running through the tube. Suddenly, it hits me. Toga. I quickly look up to see the blonde villain grinning at me from the bushes, her eyes glinting evilly.
"Suck, suck, suck." She mutters as she brings her mask to her face. My eyes widen and I immediately pull the needle out. What is she doing here? Is she alone? I need to warn the teachers! I turn to start running back to UA but freeze again as I see Shigaraki standing in the middle of the road.
"Now!" I hear from behind me. I'm too late to turn around and two heavy bodies slam into me.
"Doctor, now!" I hear another voice yell and a second later, there's a warp gate underneath us. Next thing I know, I'm falling through and my groceries is the last thing I see before emerging on the other side.
"Where is Midoriya? He should have been back two hours ago." Momo questions worriedly, looking around at everyone in the living area. Most of the class is making homework or playing videogames.
"I don't know, hasn't anyone gotten a text from him?" Sero offers. Everyone looks around, no one nods. Everyone denies.
"Maybe we should ask the teachers to go check on him." Uraraka proposes.
"I'm going to look." Todoroki stands up and heads for the door.
"Wait! Todoroki, shouldn't we alert the teachers?" Iida is in front of his friend within the second, karate chopping the air to block the boy's path.
"You do that while I go ahead and search for him." Todoroki says, walking around Iida's barricade.
"Hold up, I'm coming with you." Kirishima jumps up and jogs after Todoroki.
"Let me come too!" Uraraka says, also following.
"I'll go alert the teachers." Momo says and also walks out.
"Hold on, I'm coming with you, Kirishima, Todoroki and Uraraka. I need to make sure you three don't get into any trouble. As class president, it is my duty to look after all of you." Iida quickly catches up and off they go.
By the time they're almost in the city at the bottom of the hill UA is situated at, they come across a lone white plastic bag.
"What's this doing here?" Uraraka asks curiously before opening the bag a little to peek inside.
"Coffee and cleaning products?" Kirishima looks at the contents.
"Didn't we send Midoriya down for exactly those things?" Uraraka points out. An uncomfortable silence comes down over the four students.
"Everyone." Todoroki points at something on the ground and the other three follow his finger.
"Deku's phone." Uraraka goes to pick it up and freezes when she sees the blood.
"Blood." Iida exclaims, already getting a very uncomfortable feeling in his stomach.
"There you problem children are." Aizawa's voice suddenly says from behind them. All four students turn towards their teacher and Present Mic. Their faces are contorted in worry or anger.
"Aizawa-sensei, I believe Midoriya has been attacked." Iida reports, pointing at the grocery bag, the phone and the blood. The two teachers immediately approach to look at the indicated things.
"Iida, run back to UA immediately and inform Nezu, we have a missing student." Present Mic orders the tall boy as Aizawa bends down to look at the blood and the phone.
"God damn it." Aizawa mutters as he feels the blood has already dried up a long time ago. God knows who has him or what they are doing to him right now.
I hug my knees tighter to myself, looking at the villains leaning over me.
"So," Dabi begins, "tell me again why we had to bring this brat here?" The burned villain looks at Shigaraki. The leader scratches his neck. I nervously swallow as everyone waits for his reaction.
"Doctor's orders. He'll be here to collect the brat any minute now." Shigaraki says, a smirk forming under the hand on his face.
"The Doctor? What does he want with Izu?" Toga asks while poking me in the arm. I flinch away from her touch. I glare at the girl. She simply smiles back. I tug at the shackles around my wrists and ankles. If only I could break them, then I'd be out of here in no time.
"Why didn't the Doctor just transport him to his base in the first place? At least, that's what I would have done." Twice. "Totally understandable what the Doctor did, I would do it too! Screw being logical!" He then contradicts.
"The Doctor had to be sure no heroes could follow the brat to his base. He can't be discovered." Shigaraki helpfully informs. I frown, who is this Doctor? A new member? I hope not.
Suddenly, there is a spluttering and gurgling sound and everyone looks above me.
"Ah, speak of the devil." Compress says and next thing I know, the black liquid encases me and I disappear once more.
"Where is Midoriya?" Ojiro asks as the four students return, uneasy looks on their faces.
"We found his groceries and his phone." Todoroki says, holding the items up for everyone to see. The tension in the room rises as everyone realizes Midoriya isn't with them but his stuff is.
"We also found some blood." Kirishima continues. "But Midoriya himself was nowhere to be seen." He adds. Silence reigns over the room, the tension rising even more. The silence is only interrupted by the sound of an explosion and an angry voice.
"HAH?!" the angry voice exclaims.
"Everyone! You need to come see this!" Mineta suddenly barges into the conversation. "The TV is doing weird things!" He yells, totally panicked and pointing at the TV that is glitching and making painful noises.
The nomu throws me into the chair, holding me down. I struggle with all my might, even putting some Full Cowling behind my struggling. But the nomu is obviously much stronger. The nomu closes five tight shackles around my wrists, ankles and torso.
"Let me go!" I scream, pulling at the thick metal bounds. They don't budge. They were clearly prepared for me. What is going on? Why am I here? Why do they want me? Who is this Doctor? Who is controlling the nomu? I thought all nomu had been found?
"Good afternoon, Midoriya Izuku. You've grown a lot." A voice interrupts my struggling. I whip my head in the direction of the voice.
"Who are you?" I ask angrily, frantically looking around to see who it is. A short man walks up and into the light. I immediately recognize him. I'll never forget his face. He's the man who ruined my dreams. The man who told me I would never get a quirk.
"Why, don't you remember me? I was hoping you would." The man snickers. I frown, of course I remember him. "But that's not why you're here. I want you to meet someone." He says and steps aside so someone else can approach. It's a tall man in a black suit. I can hear the sound of a respiratory mask. It's a familiar sound. It can't be.
"Not possible. You're in prison!" I yell at the villain mastermind. "How are you here?" I question.
"Oh, so eager." The man snickers and walks up to the chair, he walks up behind me and then places his hands on my shoulders.
"Good afternoon, Izuku. I'm glad you know who I am. Spares me the trouble of introducing myself." He squeezes my shoulders and I wriggle under his grip. I don't want him to touch me. I've seen what those hands can do. They almost killed All Might.
"What do you want from me? Why am I here? How did you escape?" The questions fire out of my mouth.
"Curious, are we?" The man lets his hands slide from my shoulder and I relax a bit again, his touch made me very nervous. "I'll give you a hint. I was never personally there. Twice cloned me right before they arrested me. And since then, they haven't hurt me too much and so they never discovered it was a mere clone instead of the real me." The villain is smiling, I can hear it in his voice.
The villain leaves time for me to answer, but I can't find my voice. My mouth is open, ready to speak. But nothing comes out of my mouth. Not a sound.
"Lost your voice, boy?" The villain teases, still standing behind me. "Doesn't matter. You don't need to talk much. You are merely here right now for one reason, to listen." The villain walks from behind me to my left and I turn my head to look at him.
"Izuku Midoriya, do you remember you father?" The villain suddenly asks. What? Why would he ask me that?
"I do." I answer, frowning. What is he getting at. I haven't seen my father in years. He's working abroad. "What do you want from him? Is he here?" I look around but can't see anyone else beside the Doctor, All For One and me.
"He surely is here, Izuku. In fact, I know him very well." The villain leans on the back of the chair and lowers himself a bit towards me. "You want to know an alias of mine, Izuku? It's one I haven't used in ten years." The villain teases. My eyes widen. Ten years, that's when I last saw my father. I slowly look up at the villain, a bad feeling in my stomach.
"I went under the name of Hizashi for a long time." The villain confirms my fears. "Hizashi Midoriya." He then reveals. I stare at him with wide eyes. There's no way. No, it can't be. "And you know what I did in those years? I married a wonderful woman and got an even more wonderful son. And now, after ten years, we're once again reunited." He leans a bit closer, fear creeps up my spine. "You know, I chose your name myself, Izuku." The villain adds tauntingly.
"You're lying." I mutter. The villain merely laughs. "You're lying!" I repeat. "There's no way you-." My voice breaks. Tears are in my eyes, threatening to spill.
"I can prove it to you." The villain fishes a photo out of his pocket and shows it to me. "This is you isn't it? With your mum." He chuckles. "And with me, right before I left." He then says. "I can see you're still not convinced." He then goes with his hand into his pocket again and stuffs the photo away. "When you were born, Izuku. The navel string was wrapped around your neck. The doctors were only just in time to cut it and take it away before you suffocated. That's why you're so sensitive around your neck." The villain recalls.
"There's no way." I repeat, tears streaming down my face. "I can't- you're not my father." I deny.
"For your first birthday, we didn't invite anyone over. It was right in the middle of a storm. So it was just the three of us. Your mother told you that story, didn't she?" He continues.
"No, I don't believe you." I keep denying.
"When you were five years old, the year I decided to leave, you had a friend. His name was Bakugo Katsuki." The villain continues anyway. "He was your best friend, you looked up to him. "But that friend bullied you. He manifested his quirk and you hadn't." The villain lays his hand on my shoulder again and pulls at the hem of my shirt. "You came home one day, crying your eyes out. I remember it well, it was one of the rare days I was still with you. You whole left side was burned from the explosions. But no one bothered to care for them." He puts his hand over my bare left collarbone. "There was one particularly nasty burn here. And if it weren't for a healing quirk I have, you would have been scarred for life." He rubs over the spot.
"No." I deny once again. "I- I don't-" I shake my head, the tears still falling. I can't accept this. My father. All For One. The biggest villain there is. It can't be.
"But you do remember it, right?" All For One looks down at me and I can only stare at my lap. I know he's right. I do remember it. He is speaking the truth. Everything he said up until now was the truth. Reality crashes down on me and I lower my head in shame.
"Ah, so you do remember." He chuckles. "You see now, Izuku. You are my son. My only son. My heir." He walks up behind me again. "That's why you're here, my boy." He massages my shoulders, I flinch under the touch. I want to run away, I want to hide away. This can't be happening. This can't be true. It's a nightmare.
"L- let go." I weakly protest. "I'm- I'm not your- your son." I clench my fists tightly. No, I won't accept it. He is no father of mine.
"But you are, Izuku. And I'm going to train you. To mould you. To shape you." He squeezes one hard time in my shoulders before letting go. "So that one day, you can be All For One. And so that you can rule over the world as my heir." He pats my head, flattening my wild green curls. I pull away from his touch.
"I w-won't. You're not my father!" I yell in protest.
"We'll see." Is all the villain says, slowly walking away. Leaving me alone in the chair, crying. The Doctor is already gone too. But when I think All For One is gone, he is standing by the wall, right in front of me. "I hope the camera didn't fall out half-way through. Would be a shame to leave your classmates and teachers hanging." He says and then he grabs an almost invisible camera from a stand.
This can't be happening. No, it isn't true.
Everyone is at the TV in an instant. It's still glitching and making an awful lot of noise.
"What's wrong with it?" Jirou asks, holding her hands over her ears. But just as quickly as it started, it stops. The TV now shows the image of a lonely chair in a dark room. There isn't a single sound.
Then, a figure walks past the camera, but the TV can only show the person's torso. So they're unrecognizable.
"You can bring him here, Doctor. We're ready." A deep voice says. Aizawa's eyes widen, Present Mic also recognizes the voice.
"Call All Might." Aizawa orders Hagakure. The student immediately obeys.
Then, a nomu appears in view, it's one no one has seen before.
"Weren't all the nomus in custody?" Mina asks. No one answers, everyone is looking at the person in the arms of the nomu.
"Deku." Uraraka mutters. Midoriya is struggling, green electricity arching around his body as he kicks and wriggles. But the nomu is stronger and slams the boy in the chair. Midoriya desperately tries to stand up, get away, anything really. But the nomu is stronger and shackles his wrists, ankles and torso to the chair.
"Let me go!" he screams, pulling at the thick metal bounds. They don't budge. They were clearly prepared for him. What is going on? Why is Midoriya there, Why are they filming him? Who was that man just now?
"Good afternoon, Midoriya Izuku. You've grown a lot." A voice speaks up and walks into view on the left side of the TV. Midoriya's head whips to look at the short, stout man.
"Who are you?" The student asks. All Might chooses that exact moment to come stumbling into the dorm. When he sees the TV, he frowns and walks up to Aizawa and Mic.
"What's going on? Midoriya?" He asks, but everyone hushes him.
"Don't you remember me? I was hoping you would." The man snickers. Bakugo makes a grunting noise, seemingly recognizing the man. "But that's not why you're here. I want you to meet someone." He says and steps aside so someone else can approach. It's a tall man in a black suit. Everyone can hear the sound of a respiratory mask. It's a familiar sound. It can't be. All Might tenses up and widens his eyes.
"It can't be." He mutters.
"Not possible. You're in prison!" Midoriya yells at the villain mastermind the moment he sees him. "How are you here?" He looks a bit afraid, but they can only see it because they know him so well. The students notice it's the person they also saw earlier, walking in front of the camera.
"Oh, so eager." The man snickers and walks up to the chair, he walks up behind Midoriya and then places his hands on the boy's shoulders. Midoriya immediately tenses and tries to look, but the villain is in his blind spot.
"Good afternoon, Izuku. I'm glad you know who I am. Spares me the trouble of introducing myself." He squeezes the tense shoulders and Midoriya wriggles under his grip. What is that villain going to do? He isn't going to kill Midoriya, is he?
"What do you want from me? Why am I here? How did you escape?" The questions fire out of the boy's mouth.
"Curious, are we?" The man lets his hands slide from the shoulders and Midoriya visibly relaxes a bit again. "I'll give you a hint. I was never personally there. Twice cloned me right before they arrested me. And since then, they didn't hurt me too much and so they never discovered it was a mere clone instead of the real me." The villain is smiling, you can hear it in his voice.
There's a pause where the villain doesn't talk, waiting for Midoriya to speak up. The boy is clearly trying to come up with something to say, but no sound comes out.
"Lost your voice, boy?" The villain teases, still standing behind the student. "Doesn't matter. You don't need to talk much. You are merely here right now for one reason, to listen." The villain walks to the right side of the chair, Midoriya's left. The student's eyes never leave the villain's body as he moves, carefully analysing what All For One does.
"Izuku Midoriya, do you remember you father?" The villain suddenly asks.
"Why would he ask Midoriya that?" Kaminari points out. No one answers.
"I do." Midoriya answers, frowning. The student has suddenly found his voice again as he frowns at the villain. "What do you want from him? Is he here?" The green curls move around as Midoriya searches the room, clearly expecting someone else to come in with his father or something.
"He surely is here, Izuku. In fact, I know him very well." The villain leans on the back of the chair and lowers himself a bit. "You want to know an alias of mine, Izuku? It's one I haven't used in ten years." The villain teases. Midoriya's eyes suddenly widen as he seems to make a connection. Bakugo also tenses up, but no one says anything about it.
"I went under the name of Hizashi for a long time." A small explosion sounds from the explosive student's palms, a scowl clear on his face. "Hizashi Midoriya." He then reveals. Another explosion, bigger this time. The rest of the room stays quiet. The students and teachers can only stare at the screen in disbelief. Midoriya, the same last name as Izuku. "And you know what I did in those years? I married a wonderful woman and got an even more wonderful son. And now, after ten years, we're once again reunited." All For One leans even closer and fear is clear on Midoriya's face. "You know, I chose your name myself, Izuku." The villain adds tauntingly.
"It can't be." All Might exclaims.
"All For One is-" Satou stops himself half-way through his sentence. But everyone knows what the last part is supposed to be. '-Midoriya's dad'.
"You're lying." Midoriya denies. The villain merely laughs. "You're lying!" He repeats. "There's no way you-." The student's voice breaks. His eyes are glistening, tears threatening to spill out.
"I can prove it to you." The villain fishes a piece of paper out of his pocket and shows it to the student. "This is you isn't it? With your mum." He chuckles. "And with me, right before I left." He then says. "I can see you're still not convinced." He then goes with his hand into his pocket again and stuffs the paper away. "When you were born, Izuku. The navel string was wrapped around your neck. The doctors were only just in time to cut it and take it away before you suffocated. That's why you're so sensitive around your neck." The villain recalls. Everyone can only stare at the screen in disbelief. They can see on Midoriya's face that he's speaking the truth.
"There's no way." But still the overemotional boy denies. "I can't- you're not my father." His voice is filled with desperation.
"For your first birthday, we didn't invite anyone over. It was right in the middle of a storm. So it was just the three of us. Your mother told you that story, didn't she?" He continues.
"No, I don't believe you." Midoriya shakes his head, tears falling in his lap.
"When you were five years old, the year I decided to leave, you had a friend. His name was Bakugo Katsuki." The villain continues anyway.
"Bakugo?" Sero asks, looking in the direction of the furious blonde.
"He was your best friend, you looked up to him. But that friend bullied you. He manifested his quirk and you hadn't." The villain lays his hand on the boy's shoulder again and pulls at the hem of the dirty white shirt. "You came home one day, crying your eyes out. I remember it well, it was one of the rare days I was still with you. You whole left side was burned from the explosions. But no one bothered to care for them." He puts his hand over the bare left collarbone. "There was one particularly nasty burn here. And if it weren't for a healing quirk I have, you would have been scarred for life." He rubs over the spot. Todoroki visibly flinches when he mentions a burn scar.
"Did you do that, Bakugo?" Tsuyu asks, but the glaring blonde doesn't react. Instead, he just continues glaring at the screen.
"No." Midoriya denies once again. "I- I don't-" he shakes my head already less vigorously, the tears still falling.
"But you do remember it, right?" All For One looks down at the green haired boy but the boy is staring at his lap. His head is bowed slightly so the camera cannot see his eyes. But everyone can see the boy's fists tighten and the shoulders shake. All For One is speaking the truth. Everything he said up until now was the truth. Reality crashes down on everyone as Midoriya bows his head even further in shame.
"Ah, so you do remember." All For One chuckles. "You see now, Izuku. You are my son. My only son. My heir." He walks up behind the student. "That's why you're here, my boy." He massages the stiff, shaking shoulders. The green haired boy visible flinches.
"Oh no." Present Mic mutters. Everyone now realizes why Midoriya is there
"L- let go." The broken boy weakly protest. "I'm- I'm not your- your son." The fists tremble from the tension.
"But you are, Izuku. And I'm going to train you. To mould you. To shape you." He squeezes one last time in Midoriya's shoulders before letting go. "So that one day, you can be All For One. And so that you can rule over the world as my heir." He pats the boy's head, his hand disappearing almost completely in the wild green curls. Midoriya pulls his head away, seemingly regaining some of his fighting spirit.
"I w-won't. You're not my father!" He yells in protest, finally looking up again. His eyes are red, from all the crying. All For One doesn't seem to be fazed by the words.
"We'll see." Is all the villain says, slowly walking to the side. Leaving the student alone in the chair, crying. The Doctor is already out of sight too. The villain disappears out of sight shortly before appearing in front of the camera. "I hope the camera didn't fall out half-way through. Would be a shame to leave your classmates and teachers hanging." He says and then he grabs for the camera that has been providing everyone in the 1-A dorm a clear view of the situation and points it at Midoriya.
"No." the boy mutter as he seems to realize what the villain has done.
"I wonder what they're thinking now?" The villain taunts, walking back towards the student. Midoriya is still crying. "They're probably disgusted. Revolted. Horrified by the idea that the son of the biggest villain was ever in their class." All For One kneels in front of the student, the camera pointed straight at his face. "They're probably angry at you for making them belief you were one of them. For ever making them believe you were a hero." A broken sob sounds from the boy's lips. "But you are my son. You are destined to be a villain. The biggest of them all. Their ultimate rival." All For One reaches for the freckled face with one hand and softly strokes the tears away.
"No! It's not true, Midoriya!" Kirishima uselessly screams at the TV.
"No, Midoriya, don't believe him!" Uraraka calls out.
"Midoriya, don't give in." Iida encourages. But he doesn't hear them.
"Please, stop." Midoriya begs, not even trying to pull away from the villain's touch.
"Do you want me to send you back to the heroes?" All For One asks. Midoriya opens his eyes, hope reflecting in them. "They'll probably arrest you, though. You're a villain, that's what they do with villains." All For One lies.
"No, that's not true!" Mina protests.
"Your classmates won't want you back in their class. They won't want you to stay in their school. You'll be all alone again." The villain's hands are still stroking Midoriya's cheek, wiping the tears away. "Bakugo will probably burn you again. Explode his strongest attack right in your face. He'll want to kill you. And you know that he will, he's been screaming it at everyone and everything." The camera shakes a bit as All For One moves a bit closer so he can stroke the boy's green curls.
"N-no, he- he would- wouldn't. He's changed- he's-" Midoriya closes his eyes again, shaking the hand out of his hair.
"Do you really believe that? That that bully can change? And your new friends, your new classmates, they'll probably attack you too. They'll fight you. They'll hurt you. And you will be locked away and questioned of course. 'Where is your father? Were you a spy?' They'll never trust you again." All For One sounds sympathetic but everyone knows he's lying.
"It's not true! We don't think that!" Uraraka is also in tears. Their classmate, their friend is being emotionally manipulated and hurt.
"They- they won't. I don't-" Midoriya weakly protests but the words won't come out. "Why are you doing this?" He instead says. The teachers realize that he is starting to believe the villain.
"Do you still want to go back?" All For One then asks. He's ignoring Midoriya's question. Midoriya looks up and there is a moment of hope in his eyes.
"Yes, come back, Midoriya." All Might suddenly speaks up.
"Midoriya, come back." His classmates beg. But they can see the hope disappear from his eyes. They can see his shoulders slump. They can see him bow his head in shame. And the room becomes silent again to hear his answer.
"I- I don't." He sobs again. "I'm sorry." He then says, but not to All For One. He says it to his classmates. He's still crying. His body is shaking every time he sobs. He looks so defeated.
"No! Don't believe him, Midoriya!" Todoroki yells.
"Wise decision, my boy." All For One says and then stands up. "Doctor, you can show my son to his new room. We'll start training tomorrow." The villain says and then the video ends. The TV goes back to static, the loud noise comes back. But then the TV goes back to normal, showing a random program.
"Midoriya." Iida mutters, pain gripping at his heart.
"Sensei, we have to rescue him." Uraraka is at her teacher's side, begging him.
"It's not that easy I'm afraid, Uraraka. We have no idea of where he is." Aizawa answers and then looks down at the girl with a sad expression. "And you can't save a person that doesn't want to be saved."
I sit on the bench in the mall, lost deep in thought. It's been about a week since All For One revealed his true relation to me. I still can't believe it. He made sure that if I wandered outside, no one could recognize me at first glance. He had me dye my hair snow white. He makes me wear a simple face mask all the time. One you see people in big cities more often. Especially here in Asia. So it isn't really suspicious.
All For One also has a quirk homed in on me. Wherever I go, he knows where I am. It's like a tracker, but only he can follow the signal. I watch through my now white curls as a group of teenagers walks past. I don't know them. They're UA students though, but they're from general studies, I've never really spoken to them.
I chose this place to sit on for a reason. It's a mall a lot of UA students come to since it's the closest and quite big. And, secretly, I'm hoping I can at least catch a glimpse of my former friends. But I know that I can't talk to them. They probably hate me, so I'll just act like I'm someone else. And if I do bump into them, they'll probably want to take me back. But I don't want to go back.
"Yeah, they still haven't found the kid. And the school isn't giving any more information. I wonder what's really going on? I mean, a student doesn't just disappear." I hear a lady say behind me. I sigh, I'm not in the mood to listen to this.
"Yeah, right? Maybe the kid just ran away? Or maybe someone killed him and they're trying to find the body?" Another lady replies. I look over my shoulder to see two middle-aged women siting on the bench behind me. They're with their backs towards me so they don't notice me looking. I sigh and lean forward, burying my hands in my hair. Why did this happen? Where did I ever go wrong?
"Dying your hair doesn't really help to hide you if people can still recognize you by the scars on your arm." A familiar voice says from in front of me and I let out an even deeper sigh.
"What? Are you going to make me wear gloves?" I ask irritatedly as I look into Shigaraki's eyes. The villain scowls and shrugs. I quickly look away from the villain, I don't know why I snapped at him.
"Whatever. I'll just ask sensei to give you some stupid gloves." He says, looking around. "I'm not planning on going glove shopping with you." He then says and holds up a little bag. "I have what we need. Let's go." He looks around again.
"Alright." I say, slowly standing up and stretching my back. Shigaraki is now flat out staring at something. I lift an eyebrow and curiously follow his gaze. That's when I see it. Iida, Uraraka, Todoroki and Tsuyu. They're standing by a map while Iida is intently staring at it. I chuckle as I see Uraraka eagerly pulling at Iida's arm to make him hurry. Tsuyu comments something and Todoroki is emotionlessly staring off into crowd.
"Seems like some of your former classmates decided to come here too today." Shigaraki scoffs and types something in his phone. He's telling sensei that we're ready to come back. I don't really mind him, I watch my friends with a little smile. Suddenly, Todoroki is looking in this direction. And that's a problem because Shigaraki isn't exactly hiding his distinct blue/grey hair. And we're clearly visible.
"Sensei send us the coordinates for the warp." Shigaraki says, putting his phone back in his pocket and looking up. Todoroki's eyes widen as he recognizes Shigaraki. His gaze then switches to mine and we lock eyes. For a moment, we stare right at each other. He recognizes me, I'm almost sure. He is suddenly talking urgently to the others and pointing in our direction. Everyone now turns towards us. They seem a bit angry. Guess All For one really was right. They hate me now.
"Yeah, let's go already. I don't think we'll be getting out of this mall otherwise." I say, walking at a rapid pace. Shigaraki keeps up and steers us straight toward the closest toilets. By the time we can walk inside the toilet room, I can hear people calling out my name.
"Midoriya! Stop!"
I look over my shoulder, all four are running towards me but the crowd is keeping them from using their quirks to catch up with me. Iida is the closest though. He can almost grab me already. I step inside the toilet room and slam the door in his face. I take a step more inside the toilet. I hear the sound of a person colliding with the door. And then I step through the portal.
"Midoriya!"
"Iida, are you okay? Your nose is bleeding." Uraraka asks when she catches up with the tall boy. Iida is angrily staring at an empty toilet space.
"He was right there. I could almost grab his arm." Iida reprimands himself. "He was right there." He mutters, holding his nose with one hand to keep the blood from falling on the ground.
"He looked so different." Tsuyu points out. "His hair was white." She pulls at a strand of her own hair, once almost the same colour as Midoriya's natural colour.
"And he was with Shigaraki of all people." Todoroki furiously says, offering Iida a little block of ice to soothe the pain in his nose and face. Iida gratefully accepts it.
"We need to tell Aizawa-sensei." Iida says and he briskly starts marching back towards the school. The other three follow him without hesitation.
"Good job with getting away from them, Izuku." All For One compliments me. I feel awful, what kind of a friend runs away from his friends? But, am I really still their friend?
"Izuku, your friends, they came by yesterday." Mum says one we're alone. All For One allows her to come by every once in a while. It's been three days since I saw her now. "They wanted to see if I knew anything. It doesn't really seem like they hate you, honey." She says softly. We may be alone in the room, but with All For One, you never know. I don't really say anything so my mum continues.
"They looked very desperate for any kind of clue. I could only tell them what I know, that you're not in any kind of danger." She sighs. "Izuku, darling, I'm really worried about you. You're not really going to become a villain, are you?" She lays her hand on top of mine. I turn my hand so I can squeeze her hand in reassurance.
"I don't know what else to do, mum. It's not like I can just leave anymore now. All For One has a tracking quirk, he always knows where I am. And if he knows where I am, he can always bring me right back. Besides, I don't think I can ever look my friends in the eye again." I rub circles on the back of my mum's hand.
"I know, Izuku. I'm so sorry." She has tears in her eyes. It makes me spontaneously get tears in my eyes too.
"It's not your fault, mum." I say to her, taking her in a big embrace. "Can you do me a favour, mum?" I then ask and that distracts my mum from the pain in her heart.
"Ah, Ms. Midoriya. Good to see you. What brings you here?" All Might questions as the small woman appears in the door opening of the classroom.
"Ah, hello All Might. Good to see you too. May I come in?" She asks carefully. Behind her, Nezu disappears into the hall again, his job here is done.
"Of course, I was just explaining the next exercise, but we can spare some time." All Might gestures for the small woman to come forward. Ms. Midoriya smiles politely and bows to greet the class.
"You must all be wondering what I'm doing here, no?" She starts with a smile on her face. "I came to ask all of you for help." She then clarifies. Immediately, the whole class is interested. "You see, my son, he-" she pauses. "All For One allows me to see him every once in a while to cheer him up. And yesterday, when I was alone with him, I told him of three of your classmates coming to my home." She glances towards Iida, Uraraka and Todoroki.
"When I told him how much you all miss him, he didn't believe me at first, but I think he now realizes that he was tricked." She fumbles with the hem of her shirt, clearly nervous. "And I asked him if he wanted to come back. He didn't speak the words out loud, but from his expression and answer, I understood that he wants nothing more than to get away from there." She glances down at the floor before looking up again.
"So that's why I'm asking for all of your help." She looks around at the silent teenagers. "All For One allows Izuku to freely go anywhere he wants, but on the other hand All For One has a tracking quirk activated on Izuku. He knows where he is at any given moment. He told me that thanks to that quirk, All For One would warp him right back the moment he went somewhere he shouldn't be. And he also has to have an escort with him." She explains.
"But he also told me this afterwards. He knows exactly how to deactivate the quirk. And the only one that can help him is the one he called Kaminari. And I don't like the idea at all, but he told me that he speculated that if Kaminari were to send his full power through him, the quirk would go away." The mother looks at the class to see them all turning towards a blonde boy with a black streak in it.
"Isn't that dangerous?" Kaminari asks, looking at the woman standing in front of the class.
"Yes, he also told me there would be a high chance he would die from it. That's why he also told me not to tell all of you. But I want to bring my son back so I'm asking for your help!" She then bows. "Please help me save my son. He's not happy there. I haven't even seen him smile when I'm around him. And it hurts me to see him like that." She then straightens up again, tears threatening to spill from her eyes again. "And Hizash- no, All For one. All For One may be his father. But he's not a good one. Please, help me save my son." She then bows one last time. The classroom is silent for a second before there is the sound of a chair scraping against the floor.
"Alright, class." Kaminari is the one standing up. "Let's go save our buddy!" He screams, holding his fist in the air. And everyone also rises to their feet.
"Yeah!" They scream. And Ms. Midoriya still has tears in her eyes as she smiles and thanks them.