Wonderful, I just realized that I last updated this more than a month ago. Unfortunately, the balance sheets submission period came at the end of May and things became really crazy at work for a while, after which I simply short-circuited and fell into a dead battery phase. So, yeah.

I want to thank all of you guys so much for your insightful comments, they're really helpful for me as a writer and I'm happy to see you involved in this (amazingly fucked up) plot. Speaking of, I know that the last update left behind a lot of confusion, so in the upcoming chapters I will do my best to explain what the hell is actually going on and why All for One flubbed it the way he did, aside from bad karma, which is something I happen to believe in. I might insert some stuff which is not canon but rather part of this AU. Also, as things are drawing to an end, I'm considering writing a 'five years later' epilogue after the All for One issue is out of the way, to give things some closure. Or maybe some new beginning? Who knows. I might make you choose ;)

A day and a half later Izuku's injuries are completely healed, yet he's still unconscious. Next to the bed, All Might sits slumped forward in his chair, bony forearms resting on his knees, long wisps of blonde hair concealing his face. As far as Tsukauchi knows, he still hasn't called Inko Midoriya.

"What's going on?" the detective asks quietly, a tad cautious. "Do they know… why he's not waking up?"

The pro hero shifts, lifting his head a bit but not meeting his friend's gaze. "The doctors say there's nothing wrong per say, that he's perfectly healed, clean even, he won't need detox treatment anymore. But the healing took a toll on his body and he must rest. That's why he's still sleeping." He pauses, rubbing his hand over his face, as if to chase away the growing, visible fatigue and something else the detective isn't able to put his finger on just yet. "That's what they told me."

"…but?"

"You know they'll bring in a quirk expert tomorrow morning," the blond says. He straightens his back, finally turning his head. Worry is plastered all over his tired features and his shoulders are tense. Better to address the elephant in the room, his friend thinks, but then he says nothing else.

"Well, we do need to get to the bottom of this thing right away," the other states, clearing his throat. "If he indeed absorbed…" No, that's poor phrasing, it's no longer a matter of 'if' and there's also no point in beating around the bush too much. "I mean, you know better than anyone that All for One is a very powerful, very dangerous quirk. We need to determine how this happened exactly and to assess-…"

The Human Lie Detector trails off, unsure. It is a difficult subject, scary even, especially because no one knows better than All Might how destructive All for One can be. They will need to determine how the boy will be affected by this accursed quirk and what security measures will be needed from now on. Tsukauchi would hate it if they'd have to put the kid into one of those closed capsules – but what if his potential inability to control his new powers is deemed a hazard? He doesn't want to tell his friend all that openly, not yet. He probably doesn't even have to.

The blond only shakes his head. "There is something else the quirk expert will have to figure before all that. I heard the doctors whispering something about Izuku's body not being able to contain All for One, precisely because it's such a powerful quirk. It may have healed him for now, but in the same time it might be consuming his vital strength much more than he can take. He might not-…" All Might pauses, choking. "He might not wake up, after all."

Izuku does though, later than evening, sitting up abruptly despite the leather restraints on his wrists, which are ripped clean with the swift motion. At first there's nothing but a bright blur in front of his eyes, but then it's gradually replaced by a white, bare wall. Izuku stares, wide-eyed, he's not in his dark cell anymore but in what looks like a hospital room. Somehow, it looks even worse, there's something unforgiving about the surrounding all-white and the bright light from above hurts his eyes. Turning his head, the boy's eyes fall on All Might's hunched figure nearby and his breath hitches audibly.

The blond moves from his seat, leaning forward and carefully placing his large hand on his son's shoulder.

"Izuku, how do you feel?"

The teen can't answer, can't even shake his head in denial, just stares down in his lap, at the torn straps around his wrists. For someone who just woke up from a long sleep, he's strikingly lucid, much too aware of everything. He remembers all with clarity, as if it just happened. Surely, All Might knows – he killed that man. The fingers of his left hand can still feel the cold, hard metal of the screw. And it's so unfair, All Might doesn't deserve this. It would have been easier, much easier if he had just... He wants to cry, but tears won't come.

What's the point? 'I'm sorry?' 'I didn't want to do it?'

The door opens and an unknown man with a police badge walks in quietly, as if not to disturb. His gaze quickly spots Izuku's free hands, but he doesn't say anything, doesn't react in any way.

"Izuku, please, tell me what's wrong!" All Might moves from the chair to the edge of the bed, an arm draping carefully around the boy's shoulders, despite Izuku's visible flinching. The fingers of his free hand gently stroke the boy's hair, soothing. "Are you sick? How do you feel?"

He must say something. "...I'm fine. I feel okay, I think. Can I have some water?"

The teen allows himself a small reprieve as a glass is carefully brought to his lips and he takes long sips of the cool liquid. Something is wrong, very wrong. The last thought before passing out was that he was dying, tasting his own blood in his mouth – he remembers that quite clearly – and now he's without a single ache and in perfect strength, more than that even, because he freed his wrists with brute force. That man is nowhere to be seen now, but he's not gone, far from it.

"T-The eyeless man… I ki-"

"NO! No, don't say that! You only defended yourself!"

He was foul, evil. I know it. He would have killed me. And it was what Himiko would have wanted me to do.

But even as he leans back intohis father's comforting embrace, the image of the man lying on the tiled cell floor, choking on his own blood lingers behind his eyelids and he can't shake it off. Not with all the logical reasoning in the world. It's too horrible.

"I killed him, Dad," Izuku whispers. It has to be said.

"Technically, you didn't kill him," the unknown man intervenes, in a surprisingly neutral voice. "That villain, All for One, has been using his quirk to extend his life way past normal mortal boundaries. As far as we know, he was alive for almost two hundred years and what he was now... it was something unnatural. He wasn't a living man anymore."

All Might throws a quick glance at his friend, grateful for the half-lie meant to ease Izuku's guilt.

It's not really working though, because Izuku knows it's a lie. Somehow, suddenly he can feel it, if he focuses a bit he can feel the two men's vibes – if not their thoughts – in a manner which is quite frightening. Not just because he's unused to it, but because it's not his own perception - it's that man's – who is inside of him now. At least, neither the pro hero nor the other one are angry about what happened. They are preoccupied with Izuku's state, worried for some reason, but what's certain is that none of them regrets the villain's death. The one with the police badge ('detective Naomasa Tsukauchi' suddenly flashes through the boy's mind) is relieved even.

The teen nods slowly. "Still, I... it was horrible. I mean the way he died-"

"What he did before that was even more horrible," the detective interrupts him. "All for One has done countless crimes during his lifetime and three nights ago, before he got to you, he killed five more people. And he would have killed more on his way out. After that... I don't even want to think about it. Even your father suffered a grave injury the last time he fought him, when he was apprehended."

The man's words seem insensitive, just cold, heartless logic, but he only wants to help, to ease his burden. And clearly, there is truth to it, he and All Might both knew the villain and the horrors he's caused. Still, it doesn't work.

"And so it ends. The only thing I can do is to at least make sure I'm the last person they've hurt."

Himiko could put up with this mess when needed. But then again, she was strong. She could do a lot of stuff Izuku can't.

"We are well aware that it was a tough experience for you, and I'm really sorry. We take full responsibility for what happened. But I want you to know that no one blames you for the outcome, Izuku."

He must tell them. It will probably be bad – at best they'll think he's lost it, but he must. If he doesn't, 'All for One' or whatever the fuck his name is might still win, as absurd as that sounds.

"There is something else." Izuku doesn't look at the detective as he speaks. "I think... I think he is inside of me now. When he died, he got inside of me, I can feel it. He can do stuff," the boy says, holding up his hand, "and he can read your mind, sort of. I'm sorry."

"He's not inside you, Izuku," All Might says softly, continuing to stroke his hair. "What happened is that when he died you absorbed his quirk, All for One. That's why you healed so quickly, among other things."

He can tell his father is telling the truth – just as he can finally figure out that this is the cause of the pro hero's worry – but it doesn't make any more sense than his initial theory. This is a quirk? Granted, Izuku wouldn't know what having a natural quirk feels like, Product X didn't really feel like anything when he wasn't fighting or punching something. But this can't be right, because it feels foreign and besides, a quirk is the ability to do something – one thing – while this...

"Actually, All for One is not just one quirk, but a bundle," Tsukauchi supplies, answering his unspoken question. "He had the ability to take other people's quirks and make them his own. And he took quite a few."

That at least makes some sense. "He did say he wanted to take mine. He wouldn't believe I didn't have one, he said there's no such thing as quirkless, and kept insisting that I fight him. I don't understand why, I thought he just wanted revenge."

With the words, all the pain and the horror come back. Izuku can feel that both All Might and the detective are confused now, what he just told them doesn't seem to add up to their knowledge of All for One, but suddenly he's too tired to think about it. So tired that he can barely keep his eyes open. His limbs are weak, his body unable to sit upright anymore. It's that familiar 'dead battery' phase following the use of Product X.

"I'm sorry, I just need to sleep," he says, or thinks he says, barely feeling his own head reaching the pillow before he's pulled back into slumber.