Izumi breezed into the gym as school let out. All Might was already there, although he appeared nervous. "Young Midoriya," he greeted as she approached. "I didn't know whether you'd show up or not."

"I'm here." Was her curt reply as she tossed her bag onto a chair and shed her uniform, her hero costume already on underneath it. "Don't waste my time, hm?"

Toshinori raised an eyebrow, ignoring the unsubtle jab. "Were you... wearing your costume all day?"

Green eyes pierced his soul. "Maybe." The blond man sighed, but cracked his knuckles instead of responding.

"Alright. Since this is our first training session, we'll just spar so I can get a better feel for your strengths and weaknesses. Did you bring your staff like I requested?" Instead of a verbal response, Izumi pushed a button on what appeared to be a black pill-like cylinder, which quickly expanded into her trusty staff. "Good. Obviously, I won't be going at full power. Begin whenever you're ready."

Izumi bit back a growl at the statement. She wouldn't be able to beat him at full power, she knew that logically. Still, having him go easy on her... sucked. "M'kay," she replied instead, and began her approach. She closed the distance slowly at first, but as she came within ten feet, she quickly leapt into action.

All Might tracked her with his eyes. She went left first, then right, then made a feint before planting the tip of her staff into the ground and spinning around with a kick. He caught it, but the girl adapted quickly, bringing around her other leg in a wider kick towards his head. All Might leaned back to avoid it, but the girl swirled her staff, dropping her body weight towards the ground, the opposing end hitting the inside of Yagi's leg before the opposing tip dug into the ground, stopping the girl from hitting her head. The sudden weight and attack forced Toshinori to drop the girl, and she bounced back after finishing the sequence.

"Well done, Young Midoriya!" The man praised, quickly revising his opinion of the girl. Regardless of whether he was going easy or not, being able to adapt so quickly and also land a successful hit on him was incredible. He tried to keep the events of the day before out of his mind, the scars- the scars... He blinked, and then breathed in. "My turn."

All Might launched from his starting point, flying past the girl, and then bounced off of the far wall at an angle. He was planning on going towards the side, but a sudden weight on his leg messed up his trajectory. Midoriya was using her Quirk... but it wasn't strong enough to forcefully move nearly 600 pounds of pure muscle while in motion. Still, it adjusted his angle enough that the hero was forced to instead bounce off of the floor, taking her new approach from the ceiling.

Izumi bounced back from the initial hit, landing in a handstand and bouncing again as All Might came in for another blow, but was finally caught in the air by the man's third grab. Before the pressure could get too intense, she found herself with her feet back on the ground again, although her world was still spinning somewhat.

"Well done, Young Midoriya!" All Might praised.

"Stop doing that," Izumi demanded. "We're not here for social hour. If you're here to teach me, then teach me. Don't tell me I'm good when I know I'm not."

All Might looked at the girl, concern written upon his face. "But you are good. Not many people can claim to have landed a blow on me, nor dodged not one, but two of my attacks," he pointed out.

Izumi rolled her eyes. "You're holding back. It doesn't matter." Her tone was still frosty. All Might frowned.

"Hm. Tell you what - I'll fight you at full capacity... but with my Quirk deactivated."

Green eyes narrowed. "I assume that's the form I met you on the beach in, hm?" All Might nodded. "Fine. After I win, you can go harder on me."

All Might gave a chuckle. "Alright." He slid into the gym's ring as he deactivated One For All, Izumi kicking off her shoes and following soon after. "Your go, Young Mido-"

"Go." Izumi cut the man off and they began to circle. "So, you're dying, right? That's what the whole thing with your activated and deactivated Quirk is, right?"

All Might frowned. "Yep. All For One and I fought six years ago, and he beat me. Instead of killing me, though, he simply injured me slightly. I assume you know about this?"

"Yeah," The green-haired girl replied. "That was the night I... escaped."

"I... see," Toshinori intoned. "It's not as bad as it could've been. One of my lungs was ruptured and unsalvageable, but I'm otherwise fine. However, despite all the training and effort I've put in over the past few years, I'm still barely above the level I was at then. If I hadn't been injured, I could've been much stronger now. I have to constantly fight against my missing lung and aging, and I fear that I'm nearing the end of my growth."

Izumi tested a swing with her staff, which the blond easily dodged.

The man grinned. "I assume you know about my Quirk, One For All?" Izumi's foot slipped for a moment, but she was back to circling as fast as it happened.

"I don't know what I don't know," Izumi replied, a non-answer. At hearing her opponent's huff, though, she rolled her eyes and continued. "I know that it was originally called Power Stack. It allows you to store up energy. It wasn't originally intended to be powerful, but when combined with the Quirk to pass Quirks on, it has morphed into what it is today."

All Might's eyebrows rose. "So you know just about everything. That makes this easier."

Izumi's eyes narrowed as her senses heightened. While the Number One Hero didn't seem like the type of man who would attack a relatively innocent teenage girl, Hisashi Midoriya also hadn't seemed like the type of man who would torture his daughter in an attempt to steal her Quirk. "Makes what easier?" She questioned.

"I want to pass One For All on to you."

Izumi stalled in her movement, halfway through a step, nearly falling over. Whatever she had expected... "What?"

All Might careened forward, throwing a punch which only the teen's instincts allowed her to dodge. "I want to make you the next bearer of One For All."

The girl grit her teeth and swung her staff at her opponent, but his semi-muscular frame allowed him to catch the weapon and tear it out of the hero student's grip, and it was subsequently thrown out of the arena. "I don't understand. Why me? I'm the daughter of your mortal enemy. An ex-vigilante. Some... teen with mental issues. Surely I'm not the best fit for it."

"That's what other people told me, too," Toshinori grinned as he sent a jab at the girl, who tried to fall into pace as she deflected it. "I don't care, though. One For All doesn't care about statistics, I can't find a successor from a bunch of numbers on a piece of paper. All I wanted to look for was someone with the spirit of a true hero. Someone who went out and helped people because why wouldn't they?" The girl sucked in a breath of air as the words hit true. "You help people. I don't judge progeny by parent - I would never dare to call someone a villain just because their parent was a villain."

Izumi felt the tears beginning to leak from her eyes, but did her best to ignore them. "Still, I could- I'm not- I- There's so many better people out there that could get this! Some- I don't know, some hero who already has some brilliant Quirk that could be combined better with it, someone tested-"

All Might chuckled. "Perhaps. But I don't want them, Young Midoriya. Someone who grew up with a strong, flashy Quirk - someone who's always been told they can be a hero, they get used to it. Accustomed, even. They start to lose respect for their own power, because they've never been without it. But, for someone who has never been told that they can be a hero, for someone who believes that they themselves can not be a hero, and yet still try to help others anyways... They know what it feels like to be on the bottom of society. And they know that nobody should ever be there."

The teen growled and threw a punch. "You don't know me. How do you know I don't help people for my own reasons? Maybe I want popularity-"

"-Then you would be more public-"

"-Or appreciation-"

"-Then you would stick around longer than to comfort them-"

"-Or maybe I just feel good for saving people,"

"Why would you feel good about saving people unless you thought it was the right thing to do?"

Izumi was silent. Finally, she sent an annoyed glare at All Might, as well as a spinning kick which he blocked with both arms, gritting his teeth. "If you try hard enough, anyone can find a justification for anything. If you're trying to see me as a perfect little hero, you'll try and fit any narrative in-"

"Except I'm not the one who's fitting narratives in, Young Midoriya." The girl froze. "You made up those arguments because you don't see yourself as worthy." Toshinori feinted to the left, but finally swept the girl's legs out from under her, sending her to the mat. "I'm not giving you One For All because you're the perfect hero already. There was something you told me on Dagobah Beach... Something that I think applies here. It was something like... 'They don't understand that they're not expected to come to a Hero School already prepared to be a full-fledged hero,' if I remember correctly."

Izumi panted from her place on the mat, out of breath from the fight. "Don't use my own words against me."

"Why not?" All Might challenged. "If you truly believe in those words that you said, there's no reason why they shouldn't apply to you here."

The green-haired teen pulled herself up into a sitting position. "Just because they apply to others doesn't mean they apply to me," she huffed, looking towards the wall.

"Young Midoriya." She turned her head towards her teacher to see him hold out a hand to her, ready to pick her up off of the ground. "I don't care what other people have told you. I don't care what you've told yourself. You can become a hero, Izumi. You can become a hero."

Tears began to stream openly down the girl's face. She grit her teeth and shook her head, trying to keep in her urge to scream. "I... won't steal your Quirk from you..." She finally whispered. She pushed herself up off the ground, the same way she always had, refusing the man's hand. She slipped out of the arena, retrieving her staff and collapsing it in a smooth motion.

"I don't need you to say yes now, Young Midoriya," All Might called out to her from his place in the ring. "But I believe you are the one fit to be the next holder of One For All. And unless you tell me 'no', I will not stop trying. You can become a hero. And, if I'm being honest, I think you already are one."

Izumi left the gym without replying, but the Number One Hero, with his enhanced senses, could hear her sobs far after the door closed.

The young holder of All For One wasn't going to let some damn hero tell her that she could be a hero eight years too late. She would face her problems the same way she always had...

Alone.

"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice," Tsukauchi spoke hurriedly as he sank into a chair. "This is a matter of great importance."

Sir Nighteye looked at his old acquaintance with something akin to boredom. "Isn't everything?" His tone seemed to imply the exact opposite.

"Yagi is-" Naomasa checked the office to make sure there weren't any eavesdroppers.

"This office is secure," Sir Nighteye waved off his concern.

The detective cleared his throat and nodded. "Sorry. It's just- well, you know. Yagi is thinking of passing on One For All."

The hero's face didn't change. "Usually, I'd see this as being a good thing. But, considering you're coming to me in a panic..." In was an indication to get to the point, which Naomasa did eagerly.

"He has a girl in mind." Sir Nighteye's eyes narrowed. He had been intending to present Mirio as a worthy successor, although the boy was powerful in his own right with or without One For All regardless. "... she's All For One's daughter."

Mirai's yellow eyes widened in shock. "His daughter? Are you sure?"

"Positive. She has his Quirk, too. And..." The detective's voice trailed off, becoming slightly regretful at the words he was about to say. "... I have recorded evidence of her engaging in vigilantism."

Sir Nighteye blinked. "... You're thinking of getting her arrested so that he can't pass on the Quirk to her." It wasn't a question. There was a small amount of hatred concealed within the statement, too.

"The alternative is having One For All going to All For One's daughter, Sasaki!" Tsukauchi hissed. "She's unstable at best! At worst, she's in leagues with her father and we'll be all but handing it over to him!"

Both men were silent for a few moments after the outburst. "Unstable, she may be, but... I can tell you for sure that she is not working with her father."

Naomasa stilled. "For sure?"

"Indeed." Mirai leaned forward, his glasses catching the light. "When Yagi lost, that night... She's the one who called for help. I met her, briefly... She was a small slip of a thing... But there's no doubt in my mind that if she hadn't been there, Yagi would be significantly weaker now, or perhaps even dead. Rather than just a collapsed lung, he could've potentially lost his stomach, a kidney, anything, really."

Tsukauchi tried to moisten his dry lips. "Still... She's no doubt heavily scarred and traumatized. One For All would be better off in someone else's hands, such as Young Mirio..."

"Yes..." Sasaki made a face that signified he was very displeased with the topic. "It's horrible. We're supposed to be doing the right thing, Naomasa. To imprison a young girl just because Yagi wants to pass on One For All to her... It would go against everything we're supposed to stand for. And, don't forget, we could drive her towards the very thing we're trying to prevent. If we lock her up for helping people, who's to say that she wouldn't reach out to her father and join him? Bad things happen when you try to resist fate."

The detective glared. "You and your fate, Sasaki. You let the future control your present until it's too late to change anything."

"I think it's time for you to leave, Naomasa." Sir Nighteye stood up, his gaze steely. "I can show you to the door."

"No thanks," Detective Tsukauchi spat, pushing back his chair as he got to his feet. "I'd rather show myself out rather than be led by a cowardly fanboy."