Izuku has no idea how much time has passed – how much he's slept this time – because it was all a black hole of nothing, but in the end it seems that the doctors' predictions were wrong. The newly acquired quirk didn't kill him, even if it drains him constantly and does make him need more rest than he should. Apparently, All for One needs a bigger, stronger body if it is to allow someone to function at full capacity, so they think that he should eat more and even go to the prison gym.

He's not considering either, though. For now, the teen is grateful that they didn't lock him into a closed capsule – the previous routine was resumed, even if he is well aware that the guards watch him more carefully now. Their tension is almost palpable and for good reason.

"Do you know who I am?" asks the man sitting across the metal table, voice neutral and face completely expressionless save for a vague glint in his golden eyes, hidden behind thin-rimmed glasses, as he takes Izuku's wrist between long, thin fingers and feels his pulse. His entire appearance – from the non-descript grey suit to his facial features - is strikingly bland, like he's supposed to be able to lose himself in the crowd.

The teen is presently back in the windowless, off-white interrogation room, body slumped forward on the table and head resting sideways on his forearm. Strange enough, he doesn't need to look directly at the man to read his every gesture, not that there's much to read anyway.

"You're the quirk expert."

"Very good. I'd say your quirk is stabilizing."

They kept him in the dark on purpose then, when bringing him to this meeting. Still, Izuku found out, without even actively making an effort to read their thoughts. He wouldn't even know how to do that exactly, All for One didn't exactly come with a user's manual. This man however is quite unreadable, one can't reach inside of him and his face doesn't say anything either.

"And how do you feel? Any physical discomfort?"

"I'm tired a lot and... I don't feel like eating more than one meal a day. Sometimes I get bouts of nausea and I try to vomit, but I can't."

The words slip numbly out of his mouth - the acute, violent feelings experienced upon waking up have gradually dwindled into a state very much akin to the familiar, G.A.F.-induced calm. Only this time it doesn't feel good, it doesn't feel reassuring in any way, and deep down Izuku is scared of what this means. If his feelings are going to sleep, maybe soon enough his conscience will too, if it hasn't already. And then he will be a monster, just like All for One was. Something purely evil.

In front of him, the man shifts almost inconspicuously in his chair.

"I see. I believe that at this point you're also more or less consciously rejecting your quirk, but if you're trying to throw it up it's not going to work."

His tone of voice is emotionless, almost disinterested, although this can't possibly be the case. Izuku has no idea what the expert's quirk is – perhaps a mental impenetrability of sorts – and the fact that he can't read the other's thoughts is finally beginning to pull him from his apathy, it's slightly unsettling. He was probably chosen on purpose.

"Can you get it out of me?" the boy asks mindlessly. Sadly, he can already guess the answer, since no one seemed to take this possibility into account. But it's not impossible, so maybe-

The other's head tilts slightly, intrigued, as if he wonders if he's being tempted with the forbidden fruit. It lasts but one second though, the expression quickly replaced by the cool, professional attitude.

"No, we don't have that sort of ability," he says. "If we had, maybe this place wouldn't be necessary – we could just remove the villains' quirks and send them to a regular security prison. Also, I believe that the ethics of such a thing would be highly questionable, but like I said, it's not the case."

"But this is different, I wasn't born with this quirk. It's not mine!"

The expert sighs. "It wasn't All for One's either, he stole all these quirks from other people. But that was something only he could do and we have reasons to believe that in some cases this resulted in the death of his victims." He pauses, pensive. "But I don't really know, he was difficult to study."

To study?

So, he is a test subject and the expert must find the whole situation very interesting. All for One probably refused to answer his questions, he did not allow himself to be studied, but now with Izuku he finally has this opportunity. It's not a very encouraging thought, but maybe he can get something out of it in return? Wait, what? When did he become so pragmatic, so calculated?!

"What did he want?" Izuku asks, this time making an effort to lift his head and look the man in the eyes. "All for One, I mean. Do you know why he was doing all this?"

I don't care what he wanted. And I don't want his fucking quirk either! Maybe this guy thinks I should be grateful for getting it or something?!

Golden eyes blink briefly, but otherwise there's no reaction.

"I have no idea," the other admits, with surprising confidence. "We know that he obsessively sought to accumulate more and more power through the collection of quirks, we know that he developed the ability to heal severe wounds and that he artificially prolonged his own life way beyond natural limits. But what his ultimate purpose was, I do not know. Still," the expert leans forward on his elbows, closer, "Detective Tsukauchi told me that you believe All for One might have transferred more than his quirk to you upon his death, like... a part of himself. Can you tell me why you think that?"

The teen looks away, hands descending to grip and twist into the rough fabric of his jumpsuit at his midsection. Nausea is slowly creeping on him, but he resists the urge to curl up in his seat. Like the expert said, he can't throw up All for One, as much as he'd want to, so there's no choice but to try and breathe through the unpleasant sensation. Slowly, with hesitant words, he describes his first encounter with Shigaraki and implicitly his unseen master, then the other times he's felt the villain's presence, all the way to their actual encounter. It's painfully easy, because if nothing else, those sensations are still incredibly vivid in his memory, he doubts that he'll ever be free of that sheer terror and when he's done, he's terribly exhausted once more.

The man in front of him, after having listened carefully, relaxes his shoulders with a light snort. There is still no emotion on his face, not one single trace of human… anything. But maybe he doesn't really get it. How could one comprehend what they have not felt?

Unexpectedly though, the other sighs. "I know what you must be thinking, Mr. Midoriya – that my approach to the issue at hand is much too pragmatic and that I'm insensitive to what you've been through. I can assure you that it's not the case! However, precisely because of the depth of your trauma, I must insist on the necessity of keeping a clear head when it comes to analyzing the how-s and the why-s if you are to avoid falling into the same trap as I suspect he did. While it's undeniable that All for One is a very powerful combo of quirks and we do not know all there is about it, it is still ultimately just a quirk. There is nothing mystical about it whatsoever, as it wasn't about All for One as a person either. Do you understand?"

"Yeah."

Well, there is logic to that. Everyone… okay, nearly everyone has quirks. Izuku too has studied them in great detail before, he was fascinated with them, he desperately wanted to have a quirk too, something cool, something powerful, something he could be a hero with. All for One must have had a similar interest, albeit for entirely different reasons, and unlike Izuku, he could get what he wanted too.

"Since pro heroes are so appreciated and glamourized," the other says, with the tiniest hint of disdain, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms, "It's inevitable that in turn villains also get their share of… I wouldn't say 'popularity', but at any rate the worst of them are considered interesting, fascinating even, and some actively pursue this status by making bold statements as to their goals, regardless of how evil or utopic or… whatever."

He pauses, examining his neatly manicured fingers. "But it's all bullshit, they all just want power and influence, material advantages, nothing out of the ordinary. All for One himself was nothing more than the leader of a criminal organization which made money from selling various drugs and - more recently - quirk inducers. A lot of money. But even the pursuit of power for the sake of power is quite mundane, if you think of it."

It didn't feel that way though… It felt like something much more… primal, essential even.

"…okay." All that may be true, but there's still something which remains largely unexplained. "But then why did I feel like, uh… like there was a-… a connection between us? I know he felt it too, he said as much, and that's why he was so hellbent!"

"The irony..." the expert observes, bringing the tips of his fingers together. "Well, I think I can put your mind at ease about this. See, when I talked to him, All for One did not hide his efforts to know all there is to know about quirks – 'I know far more than you could ever hope to discover with your inferior skills' he said. Indeed, his studies into the nature of quirks seem to have been extensive and he carefully analyzed the quirk of each person he came into contact with, no doubt to see if there was something he could take and use. The only thing it never occurred to him to study – and for good reason, if you consider his objective – were quirkless people."

Izuku blinks, struggling to focus. "But... he told me there's no such thing as quirkless. Surely he knew...?" He's never met other quirkless people, but he remembers the doctor telling his mother that, although a rare occurrence, this phenomenon is not as exceptional as they'd thought.

"Of course he knew, that was a hoax meant to call on what he thought to be a bluff," the expert says, discreetly pointing at the tattoo on the side of the boy's neck. Oddly enough, the tattoos are the only marks left on his body, but he's glad – he has every intention to keep them. "Because, as hard to believe as it might be, there was something he was ignorant of and in his ignorance he was deceived."

It does sound hard to believe – All for One knew everything. It was in his power to. It felt that way.

"Like I said, my deduction was that he never bothered to study quirkless people," the other goes on, unfazed by the disbelieving look he's getting. "And it makes sense too, there was nothing he could take from them and all he was interested in was taking. Furthermore, the widespread opinion of the medical community is that - while once being the norm for the majority of the population – quirkless-ness is nowadays no more than the unfortunate product of some recessive gene, a harmless anomaly that will be completely eliminated in time. What interest could he possibly have in something like that? He was looking forward, towards superior evolution. Now, we know from the subsequent interrogation of Tomura Shigaraki that his mentor had officially appointed him as his successor - which means that he was aware, in spite of the great power his quirks granted him, that he would eventually die. It was only a matter of time, his body was constantly degrading."

So that's why the villain's flesh felt putrid, the skin so easily breakable. Maybe detective Tsukauchi was right – he was a walking corpse, immense power stored in an already decomposing body. Not human anymore. Unnatural. Still...

"People with very powerful quirks function instinctively to a greater extent than others and so, even if he had decided upon this young man, Shigaraki, for whatever logical reasons he might have had, my guess is that he was still, on a subconscious level, looking for the right successor."

Now that thought is positively sickening.

"Are you saying... that I was his right successor?" Izuku whispers, color draining completely from his already pale face. Was this - in some really fucked up way - meant to be?! "But I thought you said there's nothing mystical about it!"

Or maybe this is a test, this man is testing him somehow?!

Fortunately, the other seems to pick up on his discomfort and shakes his head quickly. "No, no, it's nothing as dramatic as that! What I meant to say is… Eh, as anticlimactic as it may sound, it was simply a matter of compatibility."

It's not anticlimactic, it's a joke. A bad, cruel joke.

"Listen, I was told that you used an artificial quirk-inducing substance called Product X, is that right? Ah! To think that it was All for One himself who developed this product, but he never got to see the effects it had on you! If he had, maybe he would have made the connection and this situation would have been avoided. Or not, who knows?"

The teen takes a deep breath – he must make an effort to think logically. Maybe if he does, he'll manage to keep himself above the surface and not sink into the murk of dark thoughts threatening to swallow him.

"Shigaraki did tell me that it works better on people with less powerful quirks, and it did work great for me. But that was just… a drug? Does that apply to…uh, natural quirks as well?"

"Exactly! Despite being just a harmless anomaly, quirkless people are the perfect vessel waiting to be filled, if you want, because there's no other strain of that sort on their system and the absorbed quirk can make full use of their physical resources."

A barely restrained smirk makes the expert's mouth twitch – now it's obvious how pleased he is with this situation. All for One mocked him, arrogantly throwing his own ignorance in his face, only to be fucked like this, finding his end at the hands of a lame quirkless boy with a screw, precisely because he didn't know as much as he thought he did.

Izuku too feels like laughing hysterically, but for different reasons. "This is bullshit…" he mutters with a snort, burying his face in his hands.

"You know, your father too was born quirkless and got that fantastic quirk of his through a simple DNA transfer from his predecessor. In fact, that quirk has been passed between several people in the course of time in the same way, but of course every time the giver willingly intended to pass the gift to their successor. All for One knew that, and planned to do the same with that Shigaraki fellow, but unfortunately for him it seems that his quirk got associated with a history of violence and in the end it was taken, rather than given."

"Okay. I get it."

Normally, he should keep his mouth shut, remain quiet, but considering how bad things already are…fuck it.

"You know what, I think this is a little unfair," the boy points, scowling above the tips of his fingers. "You're all happy that All for One was thwarted, I get it, it's so fucking great! But if he was so evil and if he was a walking corpse anyway, why the hell did you wait for me to deal with him, and at the expense of-… Just what the fuck am I supposed to do with this now?! I don't want this fucking quirk! I don't think it's interesting, or exciting, or whatever the fuck you think it is! And how do I even know that it won't end up controlling me?!"

His hands fly to his mouth as he curls up defensively in his seat, shaking his head. He's in enough trouble already and this rude outburst will more than likely not be appreciated. FUCK! Why couldn't he stay silent?! Fuck!

The other stands from his seat, perfectly composed, and walks up to his chair, laying an unexpectedly gentle hand on the teen's shoulder. "I know you are scared, but don't worry, I will help you," he says, before leaning in to whisper in Izuku's ear. "But as for the last question, ask yourself if it really was Product X controlling you when you kicked Endeavor through that shop window or you did it because you could and you wanted to."