A/N: Fanfiction messed up the upload on this last chapter- it seems a lot of authors have had issues with this, but followers couldn't click the link to view it and casual viewers couldn't see Chapter 15. To those of you who let me know, thank you- hopefully now you all get to read something I loved writing.
To address one running theme that appears to be cropping up in the reviews- can agree, Stain dad is best dad.
Anyway, a non-Izuku chapter this week, and a new foe, as promised. Enjoy!
(***)
In the pale green glow of the room in the basement of the abandoned hospital, the Doctor worked, and dreamed of what might be.
Kyudai Garaki had relished finding the abandoned hospital in Jaku, and the opportunities it had given him to build on his work for the Master. A long time ago, a failed attempt to sedate a villain with some sort of feral beast Quirk had resulted in a rampage through the corridors, staff and patients dead, and the immediate closure of the hospital by a government all too willing to condemn the incident to the past. When he and Kurogiri had stepped through the double doors all those years ago and surveyed the hospital, he had tried not to leap with glee at the sight of what had been left behind. It was perfect for his future works.
When Jaku had been set up, Quirks hadn't just bloomed among the population sedately, they had erupted like wildfire and coursed through the population. New conditions and new medical anomalies became a daily occurrence, and like many hospitals Jaku had been granted the chance to expand its research portfolio. A whole new array of Quirk related conditions meant genetic research was on the cards, and a hasty departure to cover up the rampage within the walls went most of it had been left behind perfectly intact.
It was the perfect little den for a man of Kyudai Garaki's nature, a man of his goals. He had set himself up with a little office above ground, in one corner of the hospital where he could look out over the nearby city and marvel at how oblivious they were to what sat on their doorstep, but it was below ground where he thrived. There he could tamper to his heart's content; dissect, analyse, hypothesise, and improve. To push the boundaries of known science, play god, devil and Frankenstein in a world that would only know the dangers of what he did when it was all too late.
The Master had a legacy to be carried forward, after all, and it wasn't just his missing Quirk.
The red light flickered behind him above the doorframe to the laboratory, an irritation in the otherwise surreal calm of the basement. He enjoyed working down here, in the pale glow that came from the tanks, and one of his most recent projects hung beside him in the tank as he typed on his computer, creating a bizarrely soothing sense of companionship as he worked. The red light that went off on irregular intervals was a nuisance, and to this day he hadn't worked out what powered it, or why it seemed determined to persist. One day, he would get that damn light.
There was a subtle shift in the air behind him, one that he had become used to over years of his company. He was responsible for it, after all. "Kurogiri. Any news from the Yakuza?"
Kurogiri had long since given up questioning how the Doctor knew he arrived, when most of the time nobody could detect his movements at all. He showed no surprise in his response and got straight to business. "They appear to have closed ranks since a few of their number disappeared. I understand that the disappearance of Setsuno's Quirk previously made its way to the attention of their young Boss, and the inner circle, but since our intervention the rank and file appear to be keeping the whole situation quiet."
"Their young Boss?" Now the Doctor was interested. He pushed his chair back slightly to spin and face Kurogiri, the glow of the room reflected in the lenses of his goggles. "My understanding was that their boss was Chousokabe. Older, grey hair, tattoos. Willing to take the money and stay out of the Master's way."
Kurogiri bowed his misty head in acknowledgement. "So I thought. It appears Chousokabe has been incapacitated. The details are not recorded in their records, which I suspect means that there is something unsightly behind the scenes."
"A coup?" Garaki shook his head. "Clearly the instability after Incident Zero bled into even the ancient organisations like the Yakuza. And here I thought after everything they had survived, we wouldn't see any changes among their ranks."
"Indeed." Kurogiri's terrible yellow eyes blinked. "They appear to now follow the command of a new face, Kai Chisaki. They call him... Overhaul."
"Overhaul..." Garaki tasted the name like a fine wine. "Do you have any intelligence on him?"
"Limited. A number of those loyal to the old Boss appear to be scared of his power. Overhaul seems to be some kind of destructive Quirk, from which he has taken him name. It appears he used it to destroy the Quirkless lieutenant after he interrogated him, among others."
"Intriguing..."
"Hmm." Kurogiri's head appeared to tilt as he looked at the Doctor. "Only he and his inner circle, the Expendables, know what the true plan is for the organisation. There's discord in the lower ranks due to their lack of knowledge, but fear to speak out in case the Boss turns his power on them. All I do know about his vision is what I'm told in whispers."
"And that is?"
"He considers Quirks to be... a disease." There was a tinge of amusement in the bass of Kurogiri's voice. "He appears to believe that society would be better if Quirks were eradicated."
Garaki frowned, and scratched his moustache. "An individual with a powerful Quirk and such aspirations... he's aiming to fill the void left by the Master, that's for sure."
"And here I thought you would admire someone like him." The Doctor knew that Kurogiri would have been smirking if he had a normal mouth. "He claims to have been inspired by your theory, after all."
Now the doctor paused. "The Singularity? He believes in it?"
"Even more reason for him to act as he does. If Quirks continue to grow in strength and devastating potential, generation after generation, then he believes that his actions are for the good of all."
Garaki rolled his eyes, humourlessly. "While simultaneously creating a world that allows the Yakuza to walk freely on the streets, knowing that no overpowered Heroes can snuff them out in a blink of an eye. The cynic in me sees the additional bonuses for a group like his, in a world like that."
"Perhaps," Kurogiri said, fiddling with the cuff of his exquisite tailored suit. "Whatever his true motivations, and whether he does it out of charisma or out of fear, he is good at inspiring loyalty in those around him. He is one we may have to watch."
"Keep me updated. I dare say he wouldn't like us if he found out what we did to some of his minions." Garaki looked up to see that Kurogiri wasn't paying attention to him, instead staring intently at the contents of the tank with yellow eyes that gave nothing away. "Something catch your eye, Kurogiri?"
"Hm." Black mist flickered and danced in the pale glow, cutting through the light coming from the tank. "The differences between you both... are stark. Even while he was alive."
"Quirks are a wonderfully unpredictable thing," Garaki replied, pushing his chair back and turning to the tank. "You never quite know what you're going to get."
The thing in the tank could only be described as a thing. To use the word 'he' was something only the Doctor, with his prior knowledge of who the thing had once been, could say. Experiments and manipulation and a torrent of conditioning at the hands of the Doctor had created a creature of nightmare, an abomination that defied the natural order and would make anyone who hadn't been a general for the Master shiver in fear. It was appalling, beige skin as coarse as sandpaper, talons and fierce draconic wings that furled around its body while in the tank as a cocoon, and an exposed brain that seemed to pulse like a heart even as it slumbered in the tank.
The Doctor was proud of it. Even if it wasn't one of the strongest.
Garaki shook his head, saving the designs for a gas mask to fit to the creature and shutting his computer, before standing up with the help of his cane and standing beside Kurogiri to look at the tank. "He took more after his mother's side."
Kurogiri shook his misty head. "I would have still expected some similarities to remain, though. After all, he was your grandson-"
"Kurogiri..." Garaki chided, shaking his head with a bemused look on his face. "Did you forget my Quirk?"
"Your Quirk..." For a being without a face in the normal sense of the word, Kurogiri was remarkably expressive when realisation hit. "Of course... longevity changes everything. May I ask how many generations?"
"... Huh." Garaki found himself speechless for a second, as he was completely unsure. "Great, great, great... great? Three, or four? No, three, definitely three. Of course, when you live to my age, it's easier just to refer to him as a grandson and be done with it."
"I suppose," Kurogiri pondered, "if that is the generational difference between you, then it's no surprise that the Quirks are so drastically different?"
"My Quirk had a bearing, at first." Garaki tapped his cane on the floor. "My wife at the time, she had a wonderful set of wings for her Quirk. Combined with Life Force, and our daughter had dragon wings and a lizard tail, and an ability to shed skin and rejuvenate herself whenever she got injured. Truly a remarkable product."
"And then the passage of time changed it?"
"Time and her own relationships. It seemed the wing transformation was the dominant genetic trait of the Quirk, and her children simply went back to being winged creatures, with no trace of Life Force to assist." Garaki tutted, displeased. "If I had been capable of what we can do now, when my daughter was still alive, and her Quirk would have been far more suitable and she would been at the higher end of my scale. Instead, I have to make do with a diluted descendant, middle of the road. A useful foot-soldier, but... a waste of potential."
"You weren't fond of him then?" Kurogiri asked. "Your... descendant?"
Garaki chuckled. "Dear god, no. Tsubasa was a horrible little boy, the sort of child who would rat others out to their bullies in order to escape themselves. He was going nowhere when we found him. Now, at least, he may serve a purpose."
"His mouth is... distorted," Kurogiri observed. "This one feels pain?"
"Surprisingly. Unlike the others, who went through brief agony before being neutered, he seems to still feel it."
"Despite all the procedures..."
"Indeed. I have to keep him sedated regularly at the moment or he wakes and screams like nothing else. As much as I am proud of my creations, I didn't intend to make a wailing banshee. That just won't do, if I'm to present this as a weapon to a new master." Garaki waved at the computer with his cane. "That's what I was trying to fix when you arrived."
"Oh?"
"His lungs require more oxygen because of his flight capabilities. I am building a mask which assists him to get it, but..." Garaki smiled darkly. "Fortunately, it will also be able to silence him."
"Two birds with one stone."
"Ha! Very good, Kurogiri." Garaki's eyes twinkled with mirth under his goggles, as he turned his back on the tank. "I probably shouldn't make the effort like that for a middle tier creature, and I'd dispose of any other which displayed such flaws, but what can I say?"
He nodded to himself. "He's family."
The man of mist fell into stride alongside Garaki as he walked out of the laboratory and across the hall, heading towards a locked door at the end. "If you're content to describe him as middle tier, then I assume the most recent experiment has been a success? Our latest acquisition?"
Garaki's grin grew wider under the moustache. "Beyond my wildest dreams. You will remember the Super Regeneration Quirk I acquired a little while back?"
"The one that was incompatible with so many of the others we tried? The one that would react to the procedure and kill the creatures by trying to fix them?"
"That's the one." Garaki paused for effect. "It bonded with Shock Absorption."
Kurogiri was normally implacable, but the surprise was obvious in his voice. "You're serious?"
"Deadly." Garaki reached the door and unlocked it with a key. "Behold, Kurogiri. The fruits of our labours."
As he swung the door open, Kurogiri could see inside the dimly-lit room, and see the creature which sat, black knees to its black chest, in a tank of bubbling green liquid. The stark difference from the green-haired thug they had acquired from the Yakuza was all too plain to see, the bulging muscles, the exposed brain, the eyes open and staring wildly at the door but not moving an inch from its position. Everything about it was wrong, and abhorrent, but there was almost a beauty to just how much power exuded from one being.
"Doctor..." Kurogiri's voice became smug. "Now that is a higher-end creature."
"A cut above the rest, wouldn't you agree?" The Doctor smirked, before calling out. "Nomu? Stand."
Without hesitation, the water rippled, and enormous arms pushed down on the side of the tank to pull the creature upright. Obscene rippling muscles tightened and flexed under the black skin as it drew itself to its full height and stopped. The creature turned slightly in the tank, its horrifying beak remaining clamped shut in a grimace as it stared Kurogiri and the Doctor in the phase, standing to attention.
"Obedient in an instant," Kurogiri noted. "He exceeds all expectations."
"On the contrary, he meets all of mine. This is what I have strived for since Machia. What I have dedicated my life to, to giving the Master an army unparalleled. And he will be the first general. He truly is a thing of beauty."
"A present fit for a ruler."
"For the new Master." Garaki's grin grew. "The finest Nomu yet."
"And if he doesn't accept?"
Garaki faltered at the unexpected question. "I'm sorry?"
"What if we miss the chance to convince the new holder of All For One to take up the mantle as it once was?" Kurogiri didn't meet his gaze, staring intently at the black-skinned Nomu. "With all the turmoil in the world, what if someone else finds them first? The Yakuza, the politicians, the Heroes, all outnumber us, could all dedicate more resources. We may not be the only ones looking, and we may not like what we find if we aren't the first to come across the heir."
"..." After a moment of silence, Garaki bowed his head. "You are correct, of course. We are but two men in this wide world, but we know what to look for. That said, perhaps our strategy needs to be bolder. If the Yakuza are going quiet and don't care who took the Quirk of their lieutenant, then we need to be proactive."
"Tell me what I shall do," Kurogiri vowed, "and I will act right away."
"Good. Then perhaps we may have a different angle." Garaki stroked his chin. "The Master died in Musutafu on Incident Zero, and Setsuno lost his Quirk years later in Musutafu. A city where, in a previous life, I once was a Doctor diagnosing the Quirks of children. Was I Tsubasa then, or Ujiko? I can't quite recall."
"If you still have medical credentials," Kurogiri asked, "then perhaps I can acquire you some records?"
"Capital idea. Widen the search to Tokyo, since All Might appears to have followed the Master to Musutafu from Tokyo, but yes. If we are able to source medical records in the city for Quirk diagnosis since Incident Zero, the outliers should be easy to spot."
"It will be done." Kurogiri moved to stand in front of the Doctor, between him and the Nomu which had now settled back down into the foetal position. "Doctor, may I ask-"
"What happens if we are still too late?" Garaki interrupted with a grimace.
"... Yes."
"... I have given thought to this." Garaki sidestepped Kurogiri to continue gazing at the creature. "Society thrived in the days of All For One and All Might because of the balance it created. They were, if you like, the apex predators of heroes and villains. Society has been disrupted since Incident Zero because without its two apex predators, the whole ecosystem is filled with overpopulation and power struggles."
"I see," said Kurogiri. "And so society needs an apex predator to fill the void-"
"All For One is the alpha of Quirks. If the new holder can see it that way, can see its rightful place at the top of the pile, then we can restore some balance and rule the roost again. If they cannot..." A dark look flashed across his face. "Then we level the whole system, and start again from the rubble. Calamity beckons."
"Gigantomachia..." Realisation dawned on Kurogiri. "What is it he always said about the Master? Why he was so loyal to him?"
"A king must inspire fear and dread," Garaki paraphrased. "Machia bowed to the Master because as powerful as Machia was, the Master was stronger and therefore worthy of Machia's fealty. If the successor does not inspire dread, and is not worthy-"
"Then the Calamity lays waste to all." Kurogiri sounded uncertain. "Shall I begin to wake him?"
"No rush. But if Machia can be awake to meet the successor in due course, it may assist."
"Do you think Gigantomachia could beat the new holder of All For One?"
"The Yakuza seem to think that the Quirk is in the hands of a child. Even if the child has unlocked a tenth of the Quirk's potential, they won't stand a chance against the Calamity." Garaki's eyes narrowed, unseen to Kurogiri. "Only one in total control of All For One could hope to beat Machia, and if they are in control of it all, then they're powerful enough to be swayed to our side."
"So we find them and test them, and begin to wake the giant in the meantime?"
"Precisely." Garaki tapped the floor twice with the cane, as if it were the gavel of a judge banging for order. "We find the successor and offer him our vision, offer him the Nomu as loyal soldiers. If they do not accept, then we turn the Nomu loose on all the world, and if he somehow makes it through them..."
"Calamity," Kurogiri finished. "Gigantomachia as the great leveller."
"Precisely." Garaki turned his gaze away from the tranquil Nomu in the tank and onto Kurogiri. "You are right, time is not ours to waste. I will return to the laboratory- there are more subjects to improve."
"And I will investigate the records," Kurogiri said with a bow. "We are close, Doctor. I can feel it. Soon the new holder of All For One will be in our hands."
"Safe travels, old friend." Garaki nodded, as Kurogiri's black mist violently shuddered and folded in on itself, the warper disappearing into thin air as he set out with renewed purpose on the mission.
As the last trace of fog drifted away and left the Doctor alone in the laboratory with the Nomu in the tank, he reached up to mop away the sweat on his brow and let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding in. The project had driven him forward, the desire to perfect his Nomu, but he hadn't taken account of the risk of not finding the successor first. They had to get it right, and had to ensure the legacy would continue.
All For One would not die with the Master.
"Master... We will not fail you again."
(***)
In the bright lights of his office, hidden away from the rest of the world, the Principal of UA High School stared at the list in front of him on the desk, and wondered what the next step would be for the future of his school.
The creature known as Nezu was used to being in the spotlight; after all, being one of the few animals in the world to possess a Quirk meant that people couldn't stop talking whenever they used to see him in public. Being a three foot high albino chimaera with traits of dog, mouse, bear and others meant a lot of staring, even if you weren't wearing a suit and welcoming their children into your school to train as the newest group of future Pro Heroes. Such was the fate of a creature of his nature; doomed never to be accepted by either the animals or the humans, and fated to live an eventful life.
Incident Zero had only compounded the situation. In the wake of the death of All Might, the Symbol of Peace who had trusted Nezu with secrets not known to the rest of the world, the Hero Commission and numerous Pro Heroes had seemed to try everything within their power to take UA for themselves. The bright future of countless youngsters had been threatened by those who feared societal collapse, and who paradoxically helped to achieve the same collapse by becoming tyrants in their own right. This was not the future he wanted for his school, or his students. And so, in the face of great uncertainty and facing something he could not stand by and justify, Nezu stood in the face of the oncoming hordes, and defied the tides of change.
Since he had declared UA to be his own Agency, he had preserved the Rescue Training, the General Education Course, and the Support Course, key tenets of what set UA apart from the rest of the hero academias in Japan. The public reaction had been immense in support of keeping up the traditions of UA, and the donations had rolled in to support this vision of the future; the reaction of the Commission and a number of Pro Heroes had been apoplectic with rage, so much so that Nezu had to retreat from the public eye and hide from the vultures. As much money as had been donated was soon sunk into defending lawsuits and court battles by the Commission trying to force a reversal, but through it all UA stood defiant. UA, Nezu swore, would remain as it always had- a home for Heroes first.
The battles for its future had taken its toll on the school, as much as Nezu had tried to preserve the heart of his school. Admissions had been drastically reduced not only due to the societal uncertainty in a world without All Might, but also due to public campaigns by politicians whose true affiliations Nezu couldn't quite trace (no matter how hard he dug). Funding was sufficient to keep the core classes running, but while the UA of the past would have two Hero classes, and three for General Education and Support, Nezu was faced with one class for each, on a sprawling campus meant for so much more.
Not that Nezu minded too much. Frankly the fact that the school had survived as long as it had was something he could be grateful for every day, and the fact that most of his staff had stuck with the school and their commitment to do right by the next generation made it all the more sweet. On the hardest days, he could take great comfort in the people who made it their mission to prepare the next generation, and in the success stories of the students who overcame their limits to be the best they could be. That was all it was about, after all- to go beyond, Plus Ultra.
Now he just had to come to terms with the name on the sheet in front of him, and what it might mean for the safety of everyone at his school.
The application process to UA had become tighter and tighter each year, and his school's infamy for the low pass rate of its Entrance Exam had translated into a stringent system being put in place. Nezu would receive blind copies of applications, with no school name, student name or birthdate, and would review the remainder; his High Spec Quirk allowed him to divine all the information he needed from their academics, their Quirk descriptions, their references from their teachers and any Pro Hero recommendations, and their answers to the set questions he had incorporated into the application. He would then make his selections of a range and allow his staff to review and make changes where necessary, before they sent out the invitations to the Exam and informed him who would be coming.
In theory, it was a good system. High Spec was an intricate and powerful Quirk, and would allow him to look beyond the obvious to get a good picture of the candidate; he could assess an individual's motivations, project the limitations of their abilities and Quirks to see where they may fall down in the field, and weed out the problems. Combined with a blind review of their applications and Nezu considered it a fair way of treating all applicants equally, regardless where they came from. This was in theory.
In reality, his teachers had affirmed the choices and notified him who would be attending the exam, and now his blood ran cold at the thoughts it provoked to see one of the names that had passed through his net.
Tenko Shimura...
The name dredged up memories that the chimaera had blocked in a dark corner in the back of his sharpened mind, of the world before it lost its Symbol of Peace. Memories of a man in goggles and a moustache, of the pain and misery inflicted on him to bring out his Quirk and the constant brutal pushing to his limits when it manifested. Memories of a tyrant in a black mask ruling the underworld, watching with glee as he was experimented on. Memories of how low the Symbol of Peace had been brought by the tyrant, disappearing to America in a blaze of righteous fury before returning to seek vengeance and take down the villain to end all villains.
And most importantly of all, as Nezu stared at the name on the paper, one more memory bubbled and made him shiver as if he'd seen a ghost. The memory of a black-haired woman with a bright smile, of her casket being lowered into the ground, of the absolute agony on the faces of All Might and Sorahiko Torino. Now, it seemed, the past was not dead.
Closing his eyes, High Spec whirring away as he tried not to let emotions cloud his judgment, Nezu assessed as he always did, and came up with the best solution that he could on such short notice. With a few short clicks on the keyboard a video call was launched, and was instantly connected.
With a beep, the ever-exuberant Present Mic, a UA stalwart teacher and ever-energetic radio DJ picked up, crowing with happiness. Nezu noted that he was in his little studio he had set up to run his nightly music show, and was dressed down without his hair spiked up, without his sunglasses or any of the trinkets from his Hero costume. "GOOOOOOOOD evening Mister Principal, sir! What can I do for my favourite listener on a fiiiiine spring evening?"
"Good evening, Present Mic." Nezu smiled a smile that didn't meet his eyes. "I'm going to change the schedule slightly for the Entrance Exam, if I may. I'd like to bring in an external examiner."
"An external?" Mic frowned, before his eyes went wide. "Wait wait, don't tell me! I can guess! Returning to UA High for a reunion like no other, give it up for Shooooota-"
"I'm not bringing back Eraserhead, no."
"WAAAAAGH?!" Mic threw his head back and groaned at the top of his lungs, nearly deafening Nezu even without his Quirk. "Come on man, when are we getting him back?! You sent him out on a mission two years ago and we don't even hear from the guy with a text these days! You're killing me and Nem-"
"I'm sorry Yamada, truly, but Shota knows the importance of the job and why he can't come back yet." Nezu shook his head sadly. "Believe me when I say that taking Eraserhead out of teaching at UA was not a decision I wanted to take. We all miss him. But his job is crucial-"
"I know, I know, I'm just yanking your chain," Mic said, backing down, but Nezu didn't even need High Spec to sense this wasn't true. "What's the plan though sir? The way I saw it, you don't trust many people outside of our school, so if you have someone you wanna bring in, you must really think the little listeners are safe around them."
"I assure you, they will be. I will let you know the plan when I confirm with them but there are a few students I'd like an impartial judgment on before I let them in."
"Oooookay!" Mic shot him a thumbs up. "I'll let Nem and Ken know we're expecting company, and we'll wait to hear from you Mister Principal!"
"Thank you, Yamada." Nezu allowed himself a small smile. "Enjoy your show tonight."
"Will do! YEEEEEAH-"
Nezu cut the call off before Present Mic's Voice kicked in and broke his computer speakers, and determinedly tapped away at the keyboard to connect the next call. He had no doubt that this was what he needed; he just hoped he could get through.
As he sat back in his chair and closed his eyes, he heard the click of the call connecting, and internally felt a wave of relief that he had been able to get through. "Good evening. I was worried you wouldn't take my call. It's been a long time."
"At least a few years." The recipient on the other end of the call sounded like they were doing their best to keep their tone neutral. "I didn't think I would ever hear from you."
"Interesting. I thought the same of you." Nezu kept his eyes closed. "Two of the last people left alive with the knowledge of the greatest secret known to humanity. I thought you would retreat into your Agency and your investigations, and wouldn't pick up the phone to me."
"And I thought I told you I didn't want to talk about it." The voice wasn't raised, but the anger was palpable. "I thought I told you that I wanted nothing more to do with the past. That after everything, all I want to do is take that secret to the grave."
"You did. So I wouldn't be calling you if I didn't need your help-"
"I failed him, Nezu." The interruption was harsh and blunt. "I could have done so much more, and I failed. I just want to keep to my investigations, to continue to work to stifle the threat of the Yakuza as they grow like weeds through the cracks. I'm getting closer to making a move on the Shie Hassaikai; I don't need to be reminded of the past."
"Unfortunately, the past makes you one of the only people I can talk to about this."
"I don't want to talk, Nezu. All Might died and there's nothing left to-"
"Nana Shimura has a grandchild!" Nezu didn't want to raise his voice- he hated how squeaky he sounded when he shouted- but he had to get that point across before he lost the room.
The shout was met with stony silence for a long moment. "... I'm sorry, what?"
Nezu breathed out to calm himself. "Nana Shimura... the seventh holder. She has a grandchild."
"... Does Sorahiko know?"
"Not yet. And I won't tell him yet. There's something I need your help with and it's only you can help. I wouldn't ask anyone else, I cannot." Nezu took a breath, and opened his eyes. "I need you... Mirai."
There was no mistaking the man on the other end of the video call, with his severe features and precise haircut and the rebellious streaks of blonde in his green hair. He was lanky, thinner than he used to be with slightly sunken cheeks, and his glasses now framed yellow eyes that looked to be more bloodshot than they ever had been, but no other Pro Hero waded into battle in the same white business suit, with nothing but a tie and a set of high-density seals to take on a villain with. Even after all this time, Nezu looked upon the face of one of the few people in the world to know the truth of One For All and All For One, and was glad to see him.
Mirai Sasaki, Sir Nighteye, folded his arms and leaned back in his chair on the call. "How? I didn't know that Nana Shimura had a family-"
"Neither did All Might." Nezu had his attention, and knew it; he didn't want to waste words. "Nana Shimura gave her son Kotaro up for adoption when she feared for his safety. She feared that All For One would come for them."
"And so he had a child-"
"Two of them. He married a woman called Nao Hinata, and together they raised Hana and Tenko Shimura."
"And yet you only say that Nana Shimura has a grandchild..." Nighteye adjusted his glasses. "What happened to the family?"
Nezu nodded. "Incident Zero."
Nighteye twitched ever so slightly at those two words, in a manner only someone as intelligent as Nezu would detect. "Specifics, Nezu-"
"They were never found." Nezu paused, remembering the horrifying report he had read. "They weren't collateral, but Police went to visit afterwards when the neighbours were concerned. All that remained in their home were ashes, and the house had been damaged beyond repair."
"And then..." Nighteye stopped. "A grandchild survived."
"Tenko Shimura survived," Nezu confirmed. "I thought that the whole family had perished, and then he applied to my school to become a Hero."
"After all this time..." Nighteye focused. "What's his Quirk?"
"Decay," Nezu said, pouring himself a tea to calm himself. "He can turn whatever he touches with all five fingers to dust."
Nighteye's frown twitched. "... You suspect the boy destroyed his own family. That he fled after Incident Zero because of what he had done."
"I..." Nezu breathed out. "I don't know. But I cannot rule it out, and so the feeling concerns me more than anything."
"How has he gone undetected until now?" Nighteye asked. "Where has he been living, and what on Earth were his school doing?"
"He's been moving from house to house until recently, when a younger friend of his took him in. That same friend is another student applying to UA, and Tenko Shimura has followed." Nezu took a sip of the tea, and relished the warmth. "The school updated their records, but nothing of note came of any of it. It never got brought to my attention, or to the attention of the Police, just like so many cases of the missing and the dead after Incident Zero. And now, he's been approved to attend our Entrance Exam."
Nighteye took a moment, steepled his bony fingers, and looked Nezu in the eye across the video link. "... What do you want me to do?"
Nezu rubbed his snout and tried not to breathe a sigh of relief that he held Nighteye's interest still. "I have my concerns. The last descendant of a holder of One For All is due to attend my Entrance Exam in two days. Nobody has an explanation as to why his family died in the crossfire on Incident Zero. All we know is that All For One came to Musutafu on that day, that All Might confronted him and gave his life to stop him, and that the Shimura family died, only for Tenko Shimura to resurface later. Tenko Shimura, the boy with a Quirk that allows him to turn anything to dust."
Nezu stirred the tea, and blinked as he looked at Nighteye. "I do not know if Tenko Shimura is good, or not. I do not know if All For One came to Musutafu to hurt the Shimura family, or if he got to Tenko Shimura. I do not know if his family died by his hands, and if they did whether it was an accident. And I do not know if there is anything special about him by virtue of his blood relation to a holder of One For All, the Quirk that seems to have disappeared from the world for good."
"Help me. Come to the UA Entrance Exam as an external assessor. Take on students for their assessment, talk to them, challenge what they do and why they want to be a Hero. And among your group, I'll ask you, please, to look at Tenko Shimura. Look at him in a context where he won't suspect a thing and where we can react safely if you discover anything dangerous." Nezu took a long sip of tea. "I would ask you, Mirai, please, to use your Quirk on him."
Nighteye's shoulders seemed to shoot up, defensively, at the mention of the Quirk that wasn't public knowledge to this day. "I... haven't used it since Incident Zero. I do not know if I will be able to find the answers you look for-"
"All I can ask is that you try, for all our sakes." Nezu leaned forward, careful not to fall out of the oversized chair. "If he is good, and there is hope for all of us, then I want to know. If he has been hurt by the evil of All For One, and there is a chance he could hurt more in future, I want to know. I don't like asking this of you, and the morality of doing it to a child is not something I can face easily, but in a world without All Might or All For One, I will do whatever it takes to keep my students safe. I hope you understand why I have to at least ask."
Nighteye bowed his head for a second, before looking up and fixing his glasses. "... I accept. I can only apologise if my Foresight is not what it once was, but I can try. And where All For One and One For All might be involved, I understand. Whatever it takes."
"Thank you, Mirai." Nezu allowed himself a small smile again, as he leaned forward to tap at the keys. "I will send you some profiles over to have a look at, including his, and some details for the Entrance Exam. I am glad you decided to help; I cannot let something like this lie."
"I agree." Nighteye steepled his fingers and closed his eyes. "Thank you, Nezu. I'll help you be sure about the boy."
As the connection terminated, and his email inbox pinged with a notification of documents received from a secure UA email address, Mirai Sasaki spun away from the computer screen, closed his eyes, and let out the large breath he didn't know he had been holding in. After all this time running, the past had caught up to him.
Sir Nighteye had regretted not using Foresight on All Might since the day that the Symbol of Peace died. All the time he had been a sidekick, he had told himself that Toshinori Yagi was the one man off-limits to the monstrous prophecies of his own Quirk, that his friend and partner should not be analysed and probed like one of the many people he had used it on without their knowledge. And then Incident Zero happened, robbing him and the world of All Might, and to this day he lamented that he could have done more. He could have seen it coming, he could have given All Might the knowledge of what happened, he could have prepared better or tried to find a way to watch All Might fight fate, the only man he knew who could have been capable of overcoming the inimitable truth of his visions.
After that day he had retreated into his shell of analytics and research, vowing never to touch his Quirk again. He ran, ashamed and hurt and crying out in the night from the grief, and he vowed he would never look back or look forward again. And now, only now, Nezu had dropped the gift he didn't know he needed onto his lap. A purpose, a new chapter to the story he already knew.
He didn't know who Tenko Shimura was, what his story was, what had truly happened. He wouldn't know until he met him. But Nighteye knew that he was a shot at redemption, one way or another. If the last Shimura was their last chance at salvaging a legacy for All Might, then he would give it his all.
And if the last Shimura was touched by All For One, if he found that the villain's dreadful evil remained in this world somehow, then Nighteye would not falter as he had done before. He would remove the threat once and for all, and would clean the last dreadful reminder of All For One from the face of the earth. If the boy had to die to free the world of that unspeakable villainy, then Nighteye's hand would do so without hesitation.
"Whatever it takes," Nighteye murmured to himself, turning to face the wall to his left and gaze up at the poster on the wall, adjusting his glasses as he did so.
"All Might... I will not fail you again."
(***)
Kyudai Garaki and Kurogiri. Aged: ?
Principal Nezu. Aged: ?
Mirai Sasaki, Sir Nighteye. Aged: 37.
(***)
A/N: God I had fun writing this. The idea of Nighteye in a world after the death of All Might? This is the stuff I like.
Very interested to hear you guys' thoughts on this. Although the one thing I would say, because I like to keep you all on your toes- I bet you all thought you were getting an Izuku chapter next week, because that's how we've been doing it so far, right? Not this time. We get someone else next chapter, we get the Hero Commission, and the web gets a little more intricate. Maybe not villains, but villainous Quirks...
As an aside, this is amazing how much you guys are showing support. We hit 470 favourites at the time of writing this and 589 followers. The idea that we could be near 500/600 at this point in the story is mind blowing. 236 reviews have been put on this too, including some absolute essays; to those of you who have dissected this and discussed at length over PMs, you really do make my week a whole lot better.
As always, if you liked this, I'd love to hear from you with a review (and I love having a chat in PMs). If you haven't already, favourites and follows go down a storm too. And hey, I've now slowly worked out how AO3 works. Hopefully next week I should be posting Chapter 1 on AO3 at the same time as I post Chapter 16 on here.
Thanks for reading, y'all.
Ya boy, out.
