"I am here… for a press conference!"

The crowd, despite being full of supposedly professional reporters, cheered. How pitiful. Had Japanese society come to rely on All Might so much that his absence for a mere few months had struck an existential dread into their hearts? Were other heroes so ineffective that they collapsed in relief when All Might came back? Though, she could admit, All Might had a presence to him, like a weighted blanket, telling her that everything was going to be okay.

"Thank you for coming today," All Might said in his trademark grin, and wearing a frankly tacky suit that nobody pointed out was tacky because it was All Might. "It's good to be home! I must admit I enjoyed America — the portions of meals are actually filling, for one! — but I did miss the heated toilet seats." The crowd laughed politely. "Now, how are we all today? Good, good. I suppose you've all missed me, or at least the clicks that my name and photograph generates. Let's begin the session. Yes, the gentleman at the front?"

"First, allow me to welcome you back on behalf of the room," he simpered, and All Might nodded graciously. "As for my question — what exactly were you doing in the United States and why did you not give advance notice?"

That was two questions, but All Might ignored that. "I went to the United States after I was contacted by an old colleague, Star and Stripe. Though she and all the other American heroes do excellent work, as you know the various states have been fractured due to the efforts of the Confederacy. I was asked to lend a hand in dealing with planned terrorist attacks on major population centers on the West Coast, and I was happy to give it. The lack of advanced notice was to prevent these organizations from being alerted of my presence. You, in the blue striped shirt?"

"What is your response to allegations that you care more for the lives of foreigners than Japanese?" they asked stiffly, and more than a few people reacted indignantly on the superhero's behalf. Still, All Might kept wearing his grin.

"If you want to reduce the people I've saved to cold, hard numbers, then my activity in Japan vastly outweighs my activities overseas," he said. "That being said, one of the targeted cities was my home for some time. I know some of the people there, and they were good people like in Japan. We may be separated by geography and language, but not in love. Our humanity is universal, and it was my honor to have served them." He pointed. "Next?"

"What of the allegations that you are romantically connected with Star and Stripe?"

The young reporter could see All Night's grin stiffen a little at that. "We are not involved. We are colleagues and she was entirely professional during my stay there. Next."

"Mr. All Might, are these terrorist organizations you mentioned secessionist states within the current United States borders? If this were indeed the case, would it not mean that you were conscripted for a foreign war?"

The crowd murmured a little at that, and the young reporter's eyes widened a little. America still had their centuries-long civil war going on, hadn't they? Sure, it might've slowed down in the past two centuries simply because neither side really wanted to lose more of their people and thus was mostly border skirmishes and terrorist attacks, but it was still going. And with how much larger America was compared to Japan, it wasn't just the two cleanly divided nations, but dozens of communes pockmarking both sides of the war.

"I did not take part in attacks against the Confederate States," All Might said, his grin briefly turning into a terrifying scowl. "I did, however, partake in a number of raids on Quirk communes." The murmurs started again, but All Might didn't stop. "I would not call any of these organizations nation-states by any stretch of the imagination. They are cults with power-hungry people in charge, profiting off the suffering of their often unwilling followers. It was my pleasure to have put an end to some of them, and I would similarly bring justice to anyone, anywhere, who felt to use other people like that."

The young reporter quickly raised her hand, and All Might's cerulean eyes settled on her. "You, miss, with the red jacket."

She took a deep breath. "Kizuki Chitose, from Shooweysha Publishing. We in Japan are very fortunate to have outlawed Quirk marriages and communes. In that light, what is your opinion on the current state of Quirk laws? Could we not afford to liberalize the expression of our inborn traits?"

Like the previous question, the crowd began to murmur. All Might stared at her for a moment, and she had to fight not to sit down or fidget. Eventually, he leaned forward, closer to the microphone.

"I would like to say that I support the current Quirk laws," he said. "They are not perfect, and I believe they can be further improved upon as we as a society go forward. However, every Quirk is different and thus every Quirk requires a different approach to contain it. I remember once, when I was at UA training to be a hero, I came across an otherwise harmless glue Quirk that I had an allergic reaction to. It didn't hurt me, but I did itch for a very long time. Without the Quirk laws standardizing everyone across the board, similar incidents, and more serious ones, can and will occur."

Then he smiled, a bit more genuinely. "Also, while this anecdote is not relevant to the Quirk laws themselves, during my stay in America I met a child who was raised in a Quirk commune. He had quite the Quirk, and was being raised as a human weapon against the United States. He gave it up completely and decided to become a doctor." All Might chuckled. "I asked him if he didn't want to be a hero, and he said that for once in his life he wanted to be praised for his hard work and dedication, not for his Quirk. I found his words inspiring, because if I hadn't had my own Quirk, then would I have been as determined to save lives and change the world for the better? We can all do good for the world, and while Quirks can certainly be helpful, it's not the end-all, be-all of our existence. Thank you for an insightful question, Miss Kizuki. You sir, with the yellow armband."

Chitose sat down, suddenly exhausted. Just having All Might's eyes on her like industrial lights felt like carrying a mountain on her back. It was a nice feeling being praised for her question, though. That was what journalistic integrity looked like, you stupid tabloid hack! Who cared about All Might and Star and Stripe! All Might was best shipped with Ms. Joke anyway!

She stared at her notepad, clicking her pen repeatedly but failing to write anything on it. She was a believer in Quirk liberalization. She didn't hold the same optimism that All Might held in those Quirk laws. She knew firsthand that certain Quirks, either through function or appearance, were discriminated against. Because it gave people animal features, or because they were 'villainous', or because… because it turned their skin blue. Quirk laws didn't differentiate between perfectly 'normal' people using their Quirks for fun and mutants whose Quirks caused them distress. That was why she investigated, interviewed, and spread the words of people who had suffered. And that had been the core of the Meta Liberation movement; to free disenfranchised people from fear of persecution and harassment for something beyond their control. Right?

But did other people still feel the same way? Or did they simply see the Meta Liberation movement as a way to chafe against the Quirk laws, so they could feel meaningful even if they had never worked hard for anything in their lives? As if Skeptic had ever been discriminated against for his Quirk! Chitose had never liked him, the arrogant prick, but she had thought he was at least a true believer. And he probably was. But did he believe because he wanted to liberate the oppressed, or because free reign to use his Quirk would let him climb the ladder much faster?

Perhaps… a rearrangement of priorities in order.

Speaking of priorities, she needed to take notes! Chitose jerked her head up, panicking. She must have missed three questions while she was deep in thought! Oh, God, her editor was going to kill her…

"Nobu! Look at that, All Mighty's back!"

Yu's grandmother smacked Yu's grandfather, pointing to the tiny little television in the corner of their room. No matter how much she tried, she never did succeed in correcting their pronunciation. Sometimes, Yu wondered if her grandparents only said that to try and annoy her, but it seemed a good portion of the old people she'd met spoke All Night's name that way.

"I'm not blind yet," Grandpa Nobu grumbled. "Where was he off to?"

"He was in America, you dolt, weren't you listening?" Grandma Miyuki said. "Oh, I'm glad he's back."

"I am too," Grandpa admitted.

Yu chewed her rice slowly. Grandpa didn't like heroes that much. A lot of old people seemed not to, though he did find Edgeshot hilarious. But All Might was the exception, he always had been. One of the biggest reasons that All Might was always in the top spot in the popularity rankings was because of all the support from the older generations.

"I was afraid we'd be going back to the way it was before," Grandma said, and Yu blinked at her.

"What do you mean?" Yu set down her chopsticks. "I don't think you've ever told me."

Grandma and Grandpa shared a glance. "You're young," said Grandma. "I don't want to frighten you."

"Grandma, I'm sixteen."

"Bah, she's a grown woman now. She can listen to a few tales," Grandpa grumbled, and Yu smiled sweetly at him. He'd never make it obvious, but she had him wrapped around her finger, and he knew it. However, the smile died when she saw Grandma's expression, still clearly uncomfortable with it.

"I don't want to make you lose hope, sweetheart," Grandma said softly.

"What do you mean?"

"She means that heroes are fighting a losing war." Yu stared at Grandpa as he set down his chopsticks too. "Did you notice, when he was gone? Everyone was on edge. Keeping their heads down as they go to school or work. The morning news has more reports on violent crimes. All Mighty wasn't gone that long, and look what happened."

"I…" Truthfully, Yu hadn't noticed. But now that she had it pointed out to her, she remembered a couple of days a few months ago when her school had prevented students from leaving at the usual time because suspicious persons were lingering around the school. They'd had to wait for enough parents to come to the school to pick up their children that said individual had left.

"All Mighty cleaned up Japan," said Grandpa. "He's a symbol. His reputation alone is a deterrent to crime. We know that he can't be everywhere at once, and I don't even think he set foot on Hokkaido except for a few weeks a decade ago, when he was chasing some sort of yakuza group. But even then, scum in Hokkaido are less inclined to go outside."

"But that wasn't always the case, Yu-chan," Grandma said gently. "We didn't grow up with an All Mighty. Thugs and lowlifes were everywhere, thinking they were owed the world because they had a nice little Quirk. There were plenty of good people, especially once you got out of the big cities, but it was very easy for bad people to live easy, back then."

"Your uncle was killed by a villain," Grandpa said bluntly, and Yu's throat constricted. "This was a few years after All Mighty started doing his work. We had hope for the first time, hero agencies were popping up in Sapporo and Asahikawa and Hakodate and all. Your uncle got a bit drunk on his optimism and refused to pay protection money. He got turned into an example."

"I'm sorry," Yu said quietly.

"Don't be. You weren't the one who killed him. Besides, we got our revenge, if not justice," said Grandpa, and Yu swallowed at the dark satisfaction in his eyes.

"Your grandfather was a thug," Grandma said, and Grandpa rolled his eyes. "One with a heart of gold, sure, but doesn't change the fact he dropped out of high school for instigating fights. But it wasn't all him. Back then, you were expected to be able to protect yourself… because you didn't always have someone to help you."

"Oh."

"The problem is that All Mighty ain't immortal, unless he's hiding something from us," said Grandpa. "And we just got a taste of what Japan would look like with him gone. The other heroes do good, sure, but they can't keep up to All Mighty. Not their fault, just the truth."

"He'll have to retire eventually," Grandma agreed. "Although I hope he stays around long enough to raise a new generation of capable heroes ready to fill his boots. Like you, Yu-chan!"

Yu gave a stiff smile. "I guess. Yeah."

And to think Yu had once upon a time thought she had problems. Parents were junkies, thrown out to be cared for by grandparents who loved her but only barely scraped by, having to get a part-time job to support herself and her grandparents and her admittedly somewhat selfish desire to become a hero and rake in the millions through sponsorships. But she had never experienced true suffering, had she? She'd never seen her own child killed because he wanted to stand up for himself. She never had to pursue justice with her own hands because the legal system was nonexistent. She didn't have to learn to protect herself out of necessity rather than desire.

"I recognize that look, Yu-chan. You're blaming yourself again, aren't you?" Grandma reached over and squeezed her hand. "Heed this, and heed this well: I am very, very happy for you that you grew up safe." Grandma's smile was so earnest that Yu felt like her heart was being constructed. "You may not have had the best of lives, and we haven't been able to provide for you as well as we wished—"

"Don't say that," Yu choked.

"—But we are delighted at the capable young woman you have become," Grandma said. "You are a strong girl, a kind girl, and we are so proud of your heroic heart and the desire to help people."

"We love you," Grandpa said. "Very much."

Yu wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "Thanks, Grandpa, Grandma." She forced a smile on her face. "I guess I'll have to be the next All Mighty for you, huh?"

Grandma only laughed. "Don't you mean All Might?"

Yu gasped. "Grandma! I'm trying to be sentimental here!"

"Now you know how we feel when you correct us every time," Grandpa said, a shit-eating grin stretching his cheeks. "We're old. We've earned the right to mess up people's names. Leave us in peace.

Yu couldn't decide whether she should laugh or cry. So she did both.

On the other side of the country, someone was not having nearly as good a time.

Kamiji Moe cringed as the building shook again. Generally, having the gymnasium underground was better than having it on the higher floors, because the foundations were sturdier. However, that all went out the window when one's boss was angry enough to destroy the foundations anyway.

"Can we go home yet?" she asked miserably.

Hinata, or Ember as she was better known, sighed from behind her computer. "We're only two hours in," she said, her usual cheer absent.

Over the past four months, everyone in the Endeavor Agency had been working overtime. Moe was pretty sure she clocked in thirty-five hours of patrol last week, and just as many hours doing administrative work. She still had it better off than the investigative branch, whose investigations and planned raids had fallen to the wayside with the sudden rise in crime, and had to try and catch up, if those criminals were even still in the area.

But after All Might returned two days ago and proceeded to patrol for twenty-four hours straight, bagging one hundred and fifty-five muggings, seventy-two cases of domestic abuse, broke up twenty-eight fights, nineteen carjackings, seventeen burglaries, four internationally wanted villains, and a goddamn Quirk trafficker, there was nothing to do. Patrols reported zero crime. All of a sudden, it was peaceful. And Moe had already finished her paperwork, because it was either doing overtime to finish them or waste valuable patrol time. She tapped her sharpened nails against her desk, and winced again when another localized earthquake struck the office.

It was not a secret that their boss had a bit of a chip on his shoulder when it came to All Might. After all, in terms of cases solved, Endeavor was higher than even All Might. True, All Might did disappear every so often, like he first did in his university days or he did just then, but All Might was the kind of person to work three straight days without a break. And Endeavor surpassed even that.

So why did he fail to keep the crime rates down when All Might disappeared? Why did he work day and night to make his presence known and take down the criminals who thought they could get away with it, and barely make a dent on the rising crime? And why was it that his extended efforts over four months wasn't even close to effective as All Might returning and being active for twenty-four hours?

Moe would not claim to be in the same league as Endeavor or All Might, or even the one below them. But she supposed she could understand. For all his flaws, Mr. Todoroki did not lack in guts and grit, and he'd worked incredibly hard to reach where he was now. To have All Might completely overshadow him must feel frustrating. Like his contributions didn't matter. It was like that stupid bunny-eared chick at her shitty public heroics school that thrashed her with contemptuous ease in every metric of success, except academics because she clearly had muscles for brains. Moe wondered how she was doing now. Probably arguing with cops about excessive force.

After the biggest earthquake yet, there was blessed silence. All the sidekicks and staff worriedly watched the ceiling, in case any more ceiling panels decided to fall. None did, thankfully, though there were a few that were teetering on the edge. The elevator dinged, and everyone stiffened, before pretending to be busy.

The doors parted, and Endeavor stepped forth. His expression was like a bear, if that bear had just eaten two bricks of cocaine and had had a persistent itch in a place they couldn't reach for the past two days. He glared at the sidekicks, who all shrunk under his gaze.

"Crime rates are the lowest this year," he spat, as if that was somehow a curse. "Think Tank analyses suggest that the 'All Might Effect' will be in place for at least another week." The man clenched his fists and ground his teeth, and Moe genuinely feared for her life. "…Thank you for your diligence over the past months. Group A, Group B, you are dismissed for the day. You will be paid for the full shift. Go home and rest."

Moe's eyes widened, and she looked at Hinata, who was also clearly surprised. As soon as the boss was out of earshot, the sidekicks cheered.

"I can finally see my dog again," Hinata said, tears bubbling around her eyes.

Moe fell back in her chair. It felt like she had been carrying a mountain on her shoulders, and that burden had been lifted. She was going to go home and sleep until tomorrow evening.

Inko Midoriya worried. This was, on its own, not an uncommon occurrence. The problem was that Izuku was out late. It was nine in the evening already!

Izuku didn't have the best school life, she knew that much. As unkind as it might be to say, she knew that he wasn't out later with friends, unless Katsuki had deigned to invite the Quirkless boy to his home. So, why was he out so late? She glanced at her mobile phone again. Every thirty minutes, without fail, Izuku had texted her back, saying he was okay and that he was still in line. But what if he wasn't?! What if he'd been kidnapped and his kidnapper was making him send these messages?

Inko began to hyperventilate. What if he was out doing drugs to try and fit in with the other kids? Aldera Middle School wasn't the most prestigious of schools, but surely it wasn't so bad that their kids became drug dealers…? No, no, it most certainly was that bad wherever Izuku was involved. The poor boy was so naive, he would crumble to peer pressure so easily…

Or what if he was with — and Inko shuddered — a girl? Some no-good harlot looking to take advantage of her nine-year-old baby Izuku and his naïveté, dragging him along to clubs and motorcycle meetups and drug deals and steal away his innocence under Inko's very nose, and one day Izuku would return home with tattoos and growing a wispy mustache and speaking in slang, oh the horror—!

"Kaa-san, I'm home!"

Inko ran to the front door and dragged Izuku inside, and he didn't resist. Closing the door, locking, and holding it before that hypothetical scarlet woman could follow him in, Inko looked over her son, checking for any secret tattoos or lipstick on his neck or the scent of gasoline. There was none. Just her baby, dressed in his All Might t-shirt and a pair of plain black shorts and his All Might sneakers. In one hand he held a paper bag fit to burst, while in the other hand he held a rolled-up poster.

"Why are you so late? I was worried," Inko said, feeling the tears stinging at her eyes. "Did you do any drugs? Meet any gangsters? Talk to a scarlet woman?"

"No?" Izuku said, and Inko was glad to see that he didn't look like he recognized any of those concepts. "But look! I went to the first store, but they'd run out of almost everything, I only managed to get the bottle opener and beer coaster, so I ran to a different store but they only had the scarf, and the third store only had the keychains and wallets, and I had to find a fourth store to get the anniversary poster and hoodie and commemorative t-shirt! I got one in your size too, Kaa-san!"

Inko sighed as Izuku rolled out his All Might + Star and Stripe Friendship Pledge Limited Edition Poster and began reciting his most recent adventures in America for the twentieth time just today and the hidden Easter eggs in the poster like David Shield, his first sidekick, mowing the lawn in the background. While she also appreciated the sentiment, there was no way she would be seen in public wearing that t-shirt. It didn't help that he'd gotten five sizes too large, either, probably because he didn't actually know what her size was and picked the biggest one just in case.

Sometimes, she wished he'd picked a different hobby.

Halfway across the world, Melissa Shield woke up at six in the morning, snuck downstairs to the basement, and began to do some stretches.

This would be the one hundred and forty-sixth day that she'd gotten up to exercise before even her father woke up. This was the one hundred and forty-seventh day since the revelation that had upended her world. One of the bodyguards, Ellie, followed her downstairs to supervise. Initially, she'd been there to teach her how to work out, but now Melissa knew the routine like the back of her hand.

Her father didn't like it. It reminded him of what was at stake — namely, his daughter — if she continued on this new path. He wanted her safe, and she couldn't fault that, but he also knew he couldn't stop her if she set her mind to it. This was just another challenge to overcome, and overcome it she would.

Despite that, there was trepidation. The first few days, she came to realize that for once in her life, she was really out of her depth. She would freely admit that she was naturally gifted with academics, and every obstacle presented before her until now were all challenges in the sense that they might make her scratch her head on occasion. Like a crossword puzzle. There were no real stakes to them, because it was only a matter of time until Melissa crushed this temporary setback and continued on her path.

Athletics was a completely different beast, and this might have very well been the first time in her life that she'd had to work to achieve a goal. Here she was, barely able to run a mile until a good month into her training, and somehow Auntie Cath and all her Army friends were able to run an entire day without stopping. She had never appreciated how hard these people had worked to get to where they were now. Even James had worked for everything he had so far, and it made her feel sick inside when she remembered all the times she teased him about not meeting a goal or not scoring perfectly on a test.

But she would do better. Uncle Might and Auntie Cath and Daddy all agreed that if you made a mistake, it didn't do to wallow in it, but to improve. And so she would.

Because one day, she was going to be a hero.