A/n: here's the second chapter. This has a good chunk of exposition, but not as much as some later will.
just a note though, Chiron's teaching outfit is based off of the craft essence "Mentor and I" from Fate/Grand Order. It's wholesome.
"I'm glad you could make time in your schedule to meet me," Chiron said as he glanced up from reading a newspaper, adjusting his glasses. The large hero, wearing sunglasses and a baseball hat, nodded as sat down in front of him— the chair comically small for him.
"I hope you don't mind, but I ordered something for you to drink while we talk," the centaur said with a smile.
"Ah, my thanks," All Might said, his grin never leaving his face. "If I may ask, what of your horse body? Certainly, you can't sit normally in a cafe booth."
Chiron laughed. "You're right, though horses do sit like dogs tend to. Nonetheless, you're right. It's an… Ability of mine. Part of my Quirk, one could say."
"Oh?" The hero blinked from behind his sunglasses. "So you're a mutation type of sorts?"
"Mm, you could say that, but not exactly," he told him with a smile, folding the paper and setting it down as the barista walked over. The black-haired man set down a cup of tea for each of them before walking off.
"This tea should agree with your stomach," He said, already taking a sip of his own. "Mister H and his father have been making medicinal teas and teas for those with certain health needs for a while."
"Oh, so you know the owner?" All Might asked, Chiron ignoring how pale the hero got when he mentioned his stomach.
"I do," He told him, setting his cup down. "Though I admit, the last time I was here was about fifteen years ago."
All Might did a spit take, coughing and sputtering. "Fifteen years?" he asked as Chiron wiped his face with a hum.
"Is that so surprising?" he asked with a smile before laughing at the sputtered attempts the hero made to explain himself. "I'm joking, Mister Hero," he told him, "You're right, fifteen years ago I would have been in my late teens and as you can tell, I'm not from Japan at all. I would have been in my birth nation, finishing up schooling… if I was a normal man."
He sat up straighter, looking past All Might. "Mister H, can you please give us privacy for a moment?"
"You got it, hooves," the barista said, moving from behind the counter and walking to the front door. He flipped the open sign and pulled the blinds, walking back to the counter before vanishing into the kitchen.
Chiron waited until the black-haired man vanished before he turned to All Might. "You don't need to waste energy in that form anymore," he told All Might, who flinched, smile straining.
"Whatever do you mean?" he asked, sweat dripping down his brow.
Chiron leaned forwards, fingers lacing together. "Mister All Might, I'm going to tell you a story, I hope that in the meantime you make yourself comfortable."
He reached up, taking his glasses off and folding them before setting them aside.
"Once, a long time ago there was a woman who was one of the Oceanids of Greece," he began, "The daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. She was a beautiful woman, so beautiful that Kronos, the Titan of Time and father of many of the gods, chased her. He chased her down and raped her in the form of a stallion, resulting in their child being half human and half equine. When she saw what her child was, she was disgusted and abandoned him. She implored the gods to transform her into anything other than anthropomorphic as she could not bear the shame of having such a monstrous child. The gods granted her wish and transformed her into a linden tree. Effectively orphaned, this child was later found by the god Apollo, who decided to take him in as his son. Apollo taught to him the art of music, lyre, archery, medicine, and prophecy. Apollo's twin sister, Artemis, later approved of his decision and taught him more about archery and hunting." The brown-haired hero stopped, making sure that the large man was listening before he continued.
"A great healer, astrologer, and respected oracle, this child, now a man, was said to be the first among his kind and highly revered as a teacher and tutor. Among his pupils were many other heroes. Those by the names of Asclepius, Achilles, Jason, Perseus, and Heracles. But not all was well in the end. The man was pierced with an arrow belonging to Heracles that had been treated with the venom of the Hydra. The hero Hercules had been visiting the man's home on Pelion while the child Achilles is there. While he was examining Hercules' weapons, one of the arrows dipped in Lernaean hydra venom fell on to the man's left foot and poisoned him. Ironically, the man, the master of the healing arts, could not heal himself and after nine days with a weeping Achilles looking on, he passed into the stars," he finished, leaning back with his hands folded on the table. "And that is the last of the legend of Chiron."
There was silence before All Might spoke, the large man having taken his sunglasses and hat off. "Quite the old tale, isn't it?" he asked and Chiron laughed.
"Indeed," he agreed, "From before the Judaic Lord's son's death, in fact, well over two thousand years old." His gaze hardened. "What if I told you it wasn't a tale, Mister All Might? What then? Or if I told you that the man called Chiron is alive now?"
The blonde hero tilted his head. "I can't say I'd believe you. Myths and stories like such aren't real, and no man could live that long."
'And there he's taken the bait.'
"Not even All for One?" he asked and the entire atmosphere of the shop changed. The large hero's hands gripped the table, the old wood cracking under the pressure as Chiron leaned forwards again.
"How do you know that name?" All Might growled and the centaur just smiled.
"I am old, Mister All Might. Aside from the years I lived before I died, I have lived at least a hundred more," he told him before he held his hand out. "Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Chiron, son of Philyra and Kronos, half brother of Zeus."
The blonde held his gaze before sighing, a large cloud of steam engulfing the two and when it cleared the true form of All Might sat there. He grasped the outstretched hand.
"Yagi, Toshinori. I am All Might, you already guessed my secret," He said, eyes wary. "Suppose I believe your story, Chiron. What then? You'd have been dead since you gave your immortality up."
"Indeed," He said as he dropped his hand. "I would be if there hadn't been an external factor. Tell me, what do you know of the Mages?"
All Might, or Yagi, rather, only frowned. "Heroes are granted minimal information on them, while it's more than the common man, heroes and Mages tend to not get along because of the more occult actions they take. We know enough to confidently say that Magecraft and Quirks aren't the same, though, and there are laws set that mages can't be heroes..." he trailed off, tapping his fingers on the cracked table. "But from what I hear, as of late, the mages have gone quiet. The church overseers have silenced."
"The mages are reclusive," he agreed, "But many mages and their abilities are written off as quirks to those who don't look closer. Even with the Greater Grail taken to the Reverse side of the world after the war in 2004, smaller wars still exist. The government and hero embassy know better to get in the way of the mages and if there's a problem in the mage society, the mages will deal with it. That's just how it is now." Chiron shook his head, sighing a bit.
"I was part of the Grail War in 2004, over a hundred years ago. I won't go into the details, as it would take too long, but I made a deal with the Greater Grail. In exchange for the immortality that I had lost, I would act as an arbiter for a 'greater evil' that would arise in the future. I believe that this 'Greater Evil' has something to do with the villain All for One."
Yagi swallowed, eyes narrowing as Chiron continued. "You can feel it too, can't you, Mister Yagi? He's not entirely gone."
There was silence before Yagi sighed. "I had feared so… what do you plan on doing? That villain is a right monster, you know. If he's the Greater Evil you talked about, won't that be even harder?"
"Well, the hard part is making him come back out, after all," He said with a hum, "That's why I want to work with you. I know that you'll inevitably fight him again if he reappears in your lifetime."
Yagi sighed again, leaning back before he ran a hand through his hair. "This upcoming school year, I'm going to be a teacher at the hero high school, U.A. High. Somehow, you remind me of my old teacher and I'm inclined to trust you… I'll talk to the principal of the school. You said you're a doctor too, right? All the better. If we're going to be working together when the time comes, I'd like it if you could also watch out for the person I've chosen as my successor. If I end up kicking the bucket before he appears again, he'll need guidance."
Chiron smiled. "U.A. High? A coincidence then, I was planning on sending an application over to Principal Nezu."
"Then I'll make sure you get in," the blonde chuckled before Mister H stuck his head out.
"Uh, I hate to intrude, but I gotta reopen, you two done?" he asked, startling the skeletal symbol of peace. Chiron nodded.
"Apologies, Mister H," he said, "Go ahead."
"Was he listening the entire time?" Yagi hissed, mortified but Chiron only shrugged.
"Most likely he wasn't, but it's not like Mister H would tell anyone, he's kept my secret for years after all."
"Is he also a legend from myth?"
"Who knows, he could be. This world of full of strange people."
Toshinori's pretty relaxed about this, no? Honestly, he's seen weirder shit, so he's only a bit surprised. Unlike others. Nezu had no surprises, he connected the dots real fast, though.
Bonus small cameo of Hanekoma Sanae from The World Ends With You