James paused in his scratching as Melissa stood up, her paper in hand, and marched up to the teacher's desk. This had been the norm for the past year, where she would receive a test and hand it in five minutes later, her speed only limited by how fast she could write. And then the teacher would smile proudly at her, the other students would seethe, and when given the option to leave early, Melissa would shake her head and sit back down next to James, before opening up a giant book of sudokus and complete a puzzle that only had four or five filled numbers to begin with.

He turned back to his paper. It was algebra, maybe seventh- or eighth-grade material; given this class was between ten to twelve years old, it was a couple of years ahead of what most children were expected to be studying, as befitting a school for advanced children. So far, the Other Half had been incredibly helpful as they had been in all things, acting as a tutor for myriad subjects. However, they had also warned him that their knowledge was depleting, and from then on he'd be on his own.

And that thought scared him. He was comfortably ahead of the pack for now; he'd had nothing to do in the Compound, so he'd spent a lot of time learning from the voice in his head. The Other Half was an adult, of that James was fairly certain, even if they remembered little about themselves. Thus, James knew some college-level biology (though perhaps his pre-Quirk knowledge might be outdated) and high school-level mathematics. But everyone would catch up in a few years, and once that was the case, he wouldn't be able to rely on the Other Half.

Of course, he might be able to rely on Melissa, if she were willing…

He understood now what Cath meant as her being a 'real' genius. She intuitively understood concepts that others needed complicated explanations for, and was able to apply that knowledge without practice. She had an excellent memory and was able to connect that new information to concepts she'd learned before. Over the Christmas break, she'd gotten bored, and made herself fluent in Greek. That was on top of the English, Japanese, Italian, and Classical Latin that she already knew. She could compute square and occasionally cube roots in her head, often faster than James could punch it into a calculator.

It was terrifying. Melissa claimed that David was even smarter, and her mother had completed multiple simultaneous doctorates as well. James couldn't imagine what the world might look like to a family that viewed it in fast-forward like the Shields undoubtedly did. James saw her stare at a nearly-blank sudoku puzzle, and rapidly begin filling it out from the top-left corner to the bottom-right.

James finished his own test ten minutes later, and submitted it. Melissa beamed at him as they quietly retrieved their backpacks and left the class. As the door shut softly behind them, James turned to Melissa, and asked something that had been on his mind for a long time.

"Am I stupid?" he said.

Melissa tilted her head, her blonde hair falling off her shoulder. "No! You're studying at this school, aren't you? And you were the third to submit their test. Why would you be?"

"I mean…" James looked down at his feet. "Am I too stupid for you? Am I too slow to be good company?"

Melissa frowned prettily. "Of course not," she said gently. "I mean, sure, you don't appreciate my math puns enough, but despite what you think, I'm not like some AI that can think thousands of times faster than humans can."

James shrugged awkwardly, already feeling embarrassed that he'd asked. He was mature enough by now that he could recognize his own insecurities. It wasn't impossible that his Other Half's insecurities had bled over, too — after all, many other aspects of their personality had, including a time where he had been longing for root beer when root beer never existed in the Compound. And the Other Half had a habit of making self-deprecating jokes, which wasn't all that reassuring in this context.

"I still have higher grades than you in PE," James decided to say, and Melissa huffed. It brought a smile to his face.

"I'm sorry I can't kick a ball farther than you," she said.

It wasn't as if she was bad at that, either. Simply living in proximity to Cathleen was enough to turn you into a paragon of American athletic spirit. James absolutely hated the runs she forced him to go on, though he could admit that having abs and minimal acne was more than worth it.

"What brought this on?" Melissa finally said.

James shrugged again. "You're just, really smart. It's not really something that I could achieve, no matter how hard I try."

"I… I guess so," she said, rubbing her arm. "But you have your Quirk, right?"

"I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," James said quickly, and Melissa smiled and shook her head. "But I feel like you could be a superhero if you wanted. You could make all sorts of cool gadgets and beat people up."

Melissa laughed. "James, I could do so much more good if I designed mass-producible inventions instead of one-off super suits."

"Yeah, but beating people up with technology and capitalism is cooler."

"I thought we both agreed that you were going to beat people up," said Melissa. "And you can wear my support items, if you ask nicely."

"Like your dad and All Might?"

"Exactly!"

Then they grinned at each other, and James felt his insecurities get washed away. For now, anyway. A year ago Melissa would've likely just told him that yes, he was stupid, but now they were friends. Best friends. Thick as thieves, as David would say. And James wouldn't trade her for any other friend in the world.

"What do you wanna do?" Melissa said, kicking her legs as she walked. "I'm bored."

"Are you calling me boring?"

"What if I am?" she challenged.

Then James shrugged because there wasn't really an answer to that. He was bored too. "I dunno. Maybe we can go to the library and you can hack the Pentagon again."

"No," she said firmly. "They almost caught me last time."

"Please? I want to see the new eighth-generation jet fighter designs they have."

"Why? They're boring. Just triangles," said Melissa. "Ugly, soulless triangles. Maybe I should invent a graviton sensor or something that can detect radar stealth vehicles so designers have to actually put effort into their next project."

"If I asked, would you build me a fighter jet?"

Melissa looked at him out the corner of her eye. "Are you going to ask for a triangle?"

"No," said James.

"We'll see."

James beamed at her until she rolled her eyes. She would probably design something too, at least the airframe, because she was always designing things in her spare time. Some were more feasible than others, but it was the design process that interested her the most rather than the building process. Not to mention the building process was far more expensive than the designing bit.

"There you are!" They both turned back and saw Mrs. Quinlan, the math teacher, who looked a little out of breath. "Melissa, James — you're both requested in the front office. Your parents are here."

James shared a glance with Melissa, seeing the same worry he felt reflected in her eyes. Both of their parents were important people, and despite the precautions taken to ensure their safety, it would never be perfect.

"They are?" Melissa said. "Why?"

"I don't know the details," she said, wringing her hands. "But you should go. I know that you both understand the material, so no homework for either of you."

Melissa and James half-walked, half-ran towards the front of the school where David's limousine dropped them off every morning. A few of the teachers or office people seemed to be interested in speaking to David — he was a very rich man, after all, and he had his fair share of admirers — completely oblivious to his clipped words and growing stress. When Melissa and James appeared in the doorway, he quickly pushed between the leeches and crouched down in front of Melissa, embracing her, and then James too, which he accepted still a little awkwardly.

"Good, you're here," he said. "I'll explain in the car."

Cath was standing outside, away from the crowd, but her features softened when she saw the two of them. "Hey, both," she said, perhaps a little tightly. "How was school?"

"It was okay," said Melissa. "James wanted me to hack into the Pentagon again."

David raised an eyebrow at James, who shrunk back. "And did you tell him no?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Don't give into peer pressure," said David. "Your child is a bad influence, Cathleen."

Cath cracked a smile. "James, as an employee of the military, I am legally obligated to tell you not to hack into the Pentagon, either on your own or through a proxy."

"What, are you going to arrest me?" said James.

"Sometimes I really want to."

They stepped into the limousine, which rolled out of the gates and into the midday traffic. James looked down at the backpacks sitting next to his and Melissa's usual spots. He curiously opened the one beside him, and saw changes of clothes, some snacks, and toiletries.

"What's going on?" Melissa asked nervously.

James idly reflected at this very moment that maybe he should've asked these two adults the secret questions, in case they were kidnappers. Well, too late for that now, they were trapped inside the car between four adults. He might be able to grab Mel and teleport out of the car if necessary… he grabbed Melissa's hand, and she looked down, surprised, before turning a little red. Cath grinned like a Cheshire Cat at the sight, and James relaxed as he realized that maybe they weren't imposters after all.

"We're flying back to I-Island. Neither of you are in trouble," David said, distractedly looking out the window. "James, you've never met him, but… a family friend of ours has landed himself in a bit of a pickle. He's being flown in to be treated by our best medical experts."

"Is it All Might?" James asked hesitantly, and David looked surprised for a moment.

"Yes. How did you know?"

"I guessed," James said. It wasn't even technically wrong, because the Other Half's hints about the future weren't always perfect. Just that at some point, All Might would be grievously wounded by his worst enemy… the enemy that James would one day have to oppose, if only for his own survival. James shivered a little, and when Melissa noticed, she leaned into him.

"What's wrong with him?" Melissa said.

"He's been injured, pretty badly." Melissa gasped at that. "It sounds impossible, but… Toshi told me that this villain had been gunning for him ever since he debuted. If not for Toshi, he'd be a warlord ruling all of Japan."

"S-Class?" Cath said, her voice low.

"Almost certainly," David agreed.

There weren't that many S-Class threats around the world. In part due to bureaucracy — every one of them received an automatic kill order through a UN ethics council, and the UN struggled to get things done on the best of days — and in part because nobody had a strict definition for that kind of threat. It was commonly agreed to be a threat that could result in a large loss of life and infrastructure, on par with natural disasters. If Cath ever went villain, she would be an S-Class threat. If All Might went villain, given he had enough power to change weather through punching the air, he would be an S-Class threat. There had been many more in the past from the early days of Quirks, back when Quirks weren't streamlined with the user's physical and mental well-being in mind.

James was one of the few left who would eventually be counted among their ranks, assuming nobody killed him before then.

"And he couldn't have asked for my help?" Cath said, sounding even a little hurt. "I still haven't repaid my debt."

"You know him," David said, trying to lighten the mood, but it fell flat. "He's not usually the kind to be interested in vengeance, but…"

"Oh," said Cath.

"What's he like?" James asked. Everyone turned to him. "What? I'm the only one here who hasn't met him, apparently."

"That's true," said David, scratching his cheek.

"Uncle Might's the best!" Melissa tore her hand from James' so she could gesticulate wildly. "He goes up to bad guys and punches them really hard and somehow everything works out well! Also, he spoils me even when Daddy tells him not to."

"You should really stop taking advantage of him."

"I'm teaching him a valuable life lesson about emotional manipulation."

David scoffed, and Cath smirked.

"To answer your question, James, he's a fairly humble man underneath that persona of his," said David. "No need to be intimidated."

"Wasn't gonna be."

"Sure, sure," Melissa scoffed. "Everyone's terrified of him. They're all kind of silly, really."

"You grew up with him, my clever owl," said David.

"So, is he in a state to sign my posters or will I have to wait?" said James, and Cath laughed.

David, though, tensed. "You may have to wait."

James frowned as the mood plummeted again. Thankfully, they had reached the airport by then, and the bodyguards formed a perimeter as they were ushered to the private jet. James stared — it was the first time he'd seen an aircraft that didn't belong to the military. He wasn't sure what he was expecting; delta wings, maybe? But these looked exactly the same as pre-Quirk aircraft. Those in use by the military at least had the excuse of being timeless classics, like the C-130s and B-52s, but he'd expected the commercial sector to have advanced some, at least in designs if not in function, especially one belonging to an I-Island bigwig. Nonetheless, it was spacious inside, and when the engines started up, it clearly wasn't a regular turbofan judging by the relative quietness of it. James found himself sinking into a leather-upholstered recliner, and sighed in bliss.

"What's I-Island like, then?" he asked Melissa, who spun her own recliner to face him.

"Big," she said finally. "And very clean. But not very… natural, I guess. We have plenty of gardens and rivers, but they all feel sort of artificial, you know? Nothing like all those national parks we've visited."

"That's a shame," he said. "Are we going to be there long, do you think?"

"No," said David, from the front of the cabin. "I'd rather not spend more than a week there, unless something critical comes up. I-Island has some frustrating migration laws that we'd be subject to otherwise."

A silence fell. James examined the others; all of them were tense, even Melissa. He had the Other Half to let him know that All Might wasn't in danger of death, but these people didn't know that. To them, the invincible hero had been grievously wounded, something none of them had ever expected. None of them seemed up for a conversation, so he pressed two buttons on his armrest that raised his feet and lowered his torso, and he went for a nap.

"Now," said the nurse, "are you comfortable?"

Toshinori gave her a weak grin. The brunette was nearly as tall as he was, with some sort of Quirk that gave her elongated canines; she was surprisingly forceful, and surprisingly cute. Or maybe that was just the anesthetics talking. He wouldn't mind her holding him a bit longer… maybe he could pretend everything hurt more than it did…

On second thought, he didn't even need to pretend. Everything hurt. This was the second-worst pain of his life, only topped by the moment his Master subjected herself to that same devil that he had not less than forty-eight hours ago. With that, any budding, possibly intoxicated feelings he had for the nurse disappeared. He clenched his sheets, and hated how weak his grip felt. He could already tell that he wasn't going to be the same hero that he was before.

"Cheer up," the nurse said, softly, placing a hand on his arm — the non-broken one, that is. "I just got news that Mr. Shield will be here in a few minutes. Don't focus on the past. Focus on the future, okay?"

He didn't know if this was special treatment because he was All Might, or if this woman simply had a heart of gold under that steely exterior. He nodded, and grinned his trademarked All Might grin. It wouldn't do for the Number One Hero to cry. There was a time and place for tears, and that could wait.

And maybe he should ask her to dinner after all? It wasn't as if he'd be doing anything strenuous in the near future.

"Thank you," he said, and coughed as his 'I Am Here' voice hurt his throat. "This may be inappropriate of me to ask, but—"

"Toshinori!"

Toshinori flinched as the door was thrown open. The nurse, one Miss Evers, according to her name tag, merely planted her hands on her hips, and stepped between him and David. David fumed, his nostrils flaring, but the nurse glared him into silence. Damn. Any woman that could shut David up when he was nervous was a formidable woman indeed. And now Dave had just cockblocked him.

"I understand your distress," she said, her words clipped, "but his chances of recovery won't be any better with your enthusiasm. Understand?"

"Right," said David, his teeth clenched.

"Then I'll leave you all to it," she said, and stepped out of the room. Three people followed David; one was Melissa, all grown up, another was Cathleen Bate, and the last was a boy he didn't know. Nurse Evers closed the door behind her with a pneumatic hiss, and for a moment there was silence.

"What the fuck," David whispered, clenching the rails on his bed hard enough that his knuckles whitened. "What — who the fuck could do this to you?"

Toshinori forced a grin. "You should've seen the other guy," he said.

"It's not funny," David snapped.

"I thought it was kinda funny," said Cathleen, though her smile was tight. "How are you feeling, boss?"

"How do you think?" Toshinori said drily. "I feel like that one time I caught that bioengineered flu. Remember that, the Dave? I think that was in our third year of college."

"No reminiscing," said David. "It makes me feel like you're on your deathbed, and I don't like it. You haven't answered my question, by the way." Then he froze. "Was it the one who killed your mentor?"

Toshinori sighed and lay his head back down on the pillow. "Yes," he admitted. "I killed him. I think. I don't know if anyone could survive missing half their brain matter, but I wouldn't put anything past that monster."

He glanced at little Melissa, who was pale, and he regretted having this conversation in front of her. On the other hand, the young boy did not seem phased at all, staring at him blankly.

"I don't think I've met you before," said Toshinori, and held out his left hand. "I'm All Might."

"James Stark," he said, and shook it with a surprising amount of strength, or maybe Toshinori was weaker than he thought he was.

"He's my kid," Cath said, her smile loosening a bit, and Toshinori raised his eyebrows. "Not like that."

"I didn't know. You should've told me."

"I would have, if you ever stopped being a workaholic and answered my calls every once in a while."

Toshinori coughed. "Yes, I suppose I should have. I apologize. Well, if nothing else, I'm sure I will be able to call you from now on, with how much free time I'll have…"

"What do you mean?" said David. "Are you…"

"It hurts just to drag myself into my…" Toshinori hesitated, looking at the kid.

"He's my son," Cathleen said, a little defensively. "He's privy to my secrets, and he has secrets of his own. You can trust him."

"Right," said Toshinori. "I was about to say that it hurts just to stay in my muscle form. I don't know if this will be an ongoing thing or if it'll pass."

"What's the damage?" said David.

"I'm missing a kidney, a stomach, and a lung," Toshinori said, and chuckled at David's expression. "Like I said, you should've seen the other guy."

"How — what are you going to do?" said David, running a hand through his hair. "And please don't say—"

"I'm going back," said Toshinori, and David planted his face in his hands. "I cannot let the world think I am defeated. I've worked tirelessly the past nearly twenty years to drag Japan back into the light, and I cannot risk it falling apart. I need to be seen by the public."

"That's —" David slammed his fist into a wall, and Melissa flinched. "You're being stupid. Again."

"Yeah," said James, and Toshinori looked at him. "You're really perpetuating the muscle-for-brains stereotype, aren't you?"

Toshinori stared, then looked at Cathleen. "Did you teach this kid to be this sassy?"

"All him, I'm afraid," Cathleen said.

"I'm possibly the least educated person in this room — well, maybe more than you, given what you just said," said James, and Toshinori cringed, "but even I can tell that if it hurts to be in your All Might form, then it means you're putting unreasonable stresses on your body while you're active. If you don't get this fixed, or at least make sure it doesn't get worse, then your body is going to start failing." James leaned forward, then, a dangerous glint in his eye. "Or would you rather accidentally fumble a falling civilian in front of the public and the press?"

"He's right," said David. "I've let you have your self-destructive tendencies for a long time, because the alternative was that you weren't on the streets keeping it safe, but I'm drawing the line here. You will recover before returning to work, and I find James' argument very convincing."

"I think so too," Melissa said, quietly, and Toshinori's heart broke a little at the sheer love her voice held for him. "I want you to be safe."

"I know and cherish the thought, little owl," Toshinori said. "But—"

"You have a habit of ignoring expert opinion, don't you?" said David scathingly, and Toshinori flinched.

"I don't do all this for myself, Dave!"

"Do I not matter to you?" David said, his voice steadily rising. "Does Melissa not matter to you? You're one of the few people she has left that she can trust, after her mother died!"

"Low blow," Toshinori muttered.

"Do you sincerely believe that you'll do more good working yourself to death in the next few years than acting as a Symbol of Peace for longer?" said David. "Or maybe you changed. Maybe you're only in it for the glory, now."

"When have I ever been in it for the glory?" Toshinori said, offended. "What could possibly make you think that?"

"Because you clearly want to go out in a blaze of glory, that's why!" David waved his arms. "You know what your behavior is called among psychologists? It's called a fucking martyr complex, Toshi!"

Toshinori flinched, but David wasn't done.

"Any other law enforcement officer — hell, any other hero — would be sent on medical leave after an injury like this," he said, gesturing at Toshinori's everything. "Do you think you're so special that you get to walk it off like it's nothing? Are you so far above the people you're supposed to protect, now?"

"You're making up arguments on my behalf," Toshinori said.

"I don't care. I'm just throwing hurtful words at you to see what sticks," David snarled. "Because right now, you seem intent on leaving us just like your Master left you."

Toshinori's left hand shot toward David's fragile neck, until Cathleen grabbed his wrist. Even injured, he continued to push forward, and veins began to pop on Cathleen's forehead as she attempted to subdue him, but his fingers continued to inch forward.

"You — know — nothing," Toshinori snarled.

"Uncle Might?" Melissa said, terrified, and he slumped, his rage fading away like dust on the wind.

"I'm sorry you saw that, Melissa," he whispered.

"…I'm sorry. That was too far," said David.

"It was. But you weren't wrong, either," Toshinori sighed. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Before we stop talking about it," said James, his voice shaking only a little, "can you not clone your organs and implant them? Or does your Quirk react strangely with implants?"

"…I don't know," said Toshinori. "It would still take months."

"Months that you will rest for," David said firmly.

"You could tag along with Cath on one of her missions when you recover," said James. "Pretend you were taking out a doomsday cult or something, if you're worried about people finding out you were injured."

"That's clever," Cathleen said. "My sister works in Psyops. I'm sure I can have her help us, and she's the most trustworthy person I know."

Toshinori sighed. "I… I'll think about it, I promise. Could we move on? Please."

"Sure," David said, but nobody could think of what to say, and it just descended into an awkward silence. Cathleen flexed her wrists subconsciously, and Toshinori was struck with guilt for acting so emotionally. It had been a low blow, true, but would he have bothered to listen otherwise? He was known for being stubborn at the best of times — one of his best and worst traits, depending on the situation. Just then, it was clearly one of his worst.

"So," he said finally. "I heard you all flew in from California, is that right? What were you doing there?"

"Did you seriously ignore my email?" Melissa said, and Toshinori scratched his cheek awkwardly.

"I hit my head pretty hard," he said. It wasn't even a lie, either. From the way David rolled his eyes at him, it clearly didn't fool the elder Shield.

"I'm going to school now!" Melissa said, smiling for the first time during this conversation, and he felt his spirits rise. "It's a rich person's school in San Francisco. Everything's really easy, but Mrs. Quinlan — she's the math teacher — is really nice and I like her. We've also been camping a lot, and we went ice-skating around Christmas, and James and Cath took me to an arcade and Daddy's really good at racing games and I think James cheated on Dance Dance Revolution."

"You're just a sore loser," said James.

"James can fly," Cathleen explained.

"But I didn't." James then shuffled through his backpack. "I also brought some bananas."

"Oh? Thank you, young man," said Toshinori, and James placed a bunch of bananas on the bedside table. Then he broke one off and began peeling it. "Oh, you're going to eat them. Okay." David palmed his face and Cathleen laughed like a hyena.

"James has a weird sense of humor," said Melissa. "We think he got dropped on his head as a baby."

"No, we don't," David said.

"Young Melissa, that's hardly a kind thing to say —"

Cathleen leaned close. "They're crushing on each other and in denial about it," she whispered, and stood back up with a smirk on her face.

"Oh! Oh my… goodness!" Toshinori laughed. "Ah, I wish I too could be young again. Say, Dave, you said you're living in San Francisco? Do they still have that old gyro place we always used to go to for lunch?"

"They do," said David, a wistful smile on his face. "I was surprised too. Tell you what — if you promise me you'll get yourself fixed up to the point you can eat without a straw, then I'll treat you to lunch."

"Tempting, tempting," said Toshinori.

"You going to treat me too?" said Cathleen. "I stopped you from dying, you know."

Toshinori cringed. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," said David. "We can all go together. But only if you recover, Toshi."

"Free food?" said James, perking up. "I hope you get well soon, Mr. All Might."

"I will endeavor to do so," Toshinori said drily.

"Hey, just so you know…" James stepped close to Toshinori. "Give me your ear for a moment."

"What is it, young man?"

"David is your best friend for over half your life," said James. "I would hope that if there was anything in regards to your Quirk that he should know, then you would tell him. And Melissa too, probably. They're two of the people who care most about you — not All Might, but you — and they would hate you and themselves if you didn't let them help." He gave Toshinori a strange look. "After all, I'd imagine you would one day want to pass on your own Mentor's lessons and wisdom to the next generation, but you'd need to survive long enough first."

Toshinori stared at the boy, who couldn't be more than Melissa's age, step back and look around in boredom as if nothing he said was of consequence. There was no way he could know. Did he? Was Toshinori looking too much into it?

"You guys gotta work together, right?" said James, looking at Cathleen, then David, then Melissa. "Like the Three Musketeers. What was that catchphrase, again?"

"What's that?" said Melissa.

"I keep telling you that science textbooks don't count as leisurely reading."

"Tous por un, un por tous," said David, and Toshinori's blood froze in his veins. James winked at him, and then turned away, looking for a trash can to dispose of his banana peel. That was impossible. There was no way he could know, unless Cathleen was lying about his Quirk.

"I… I find myself exhausted," said Toshinori, and James returned to Cathleen's side as if he hadn't said anything. "I might need to rest."

"That's understandable," said David, gently. "We'll be here for a few days. Melissa would love to catch up with you, I'm sure, as would I."

"A-about that," Toshinori stuttered. "Do you think you could stay a moment longer? Just the three of us." He glanced at Cathleen, who nodded, and James, who gave a small, thin-lipped smile that sent shivers down his spine. "I'll talk to you later as well, Cathleen."

"Rest well," Cathleen said, and stepped out with James. Toshinori slumped further into his bed, and David looked at him with concern.

"What's the matter?"

"Am I allowed to ask what James' Quirk is?" said Toshinori, and David frowned.

"I'm sure we could trust you, of all people, but…" David peered out the door, checking for any eavesdroppers, before closing it and approaching close. "His Quirk is called Enchantment. Every day he gets a charge which he pushes into objects. The more charged it gets, the more effects it produces. He's been charging his shoes for three years, and now they let him fly and teleport."

"Holy shit," said Toshinori.

"Mhm. It's why Cathleen adopted him in the first place, rather than anyone else."

"But… what else can he do?" said Toshinori. "Is it just teleportation?"

"Just teleportation, he says," David huffed. "Flight and teleportation are clearly related to his shoes, given they're movement-related powers. He also says he used to fix computers until they ran smoother, but didn't do more than that. He also recently started charging a helmet that Melissa made him, and our hope is that he'll be able to enhance his perception or intelligence after enough charges."

"That's broken," said Toshinori, and David laughed. Still though, it made sense. If enchanted footwear helped someone move faster, then enchanted headwear should let someone think quicker. Was that how he'd unveiled Toshinori's biggest secret? He didn't seem malicious about it — David was his best friend, after all, and he was basically telling him to be honest with his friends. If in a very intimidating way. Could he trust the kid? There were always people with Quirks that made them age slowly or appear younger than they were, but the Army wouldn't have let a potential infiltrator get so close to Cathleen, right?

"Why do you ask?" said David.

"Maybe he's seeing results from his helmet already." David's eyebrows hiked up, and Toshinori swiftly changed the conversation. "Look, I think I may have hinted this to you before, but there's something I have to tell you. About my Quirk. No, I'd like Melissa here as well. I don't want to hide things from her."

David pursed his lips, and pulled out a pair of stools for his and his daughter, and they both sat. A part of him wished to keep them in darkness, but he'd already gotten chewed out for having a martyr complex. They were all right — they deserved better from him. Besides, if he faltered here, then he and James might end up having a second conversation that Toshinori wasn't sure he'd enjoy. He took a deep breath.

"In the beginning of the Age of Quirks, there were two brothers…"