Chapter 69: The Tide of Darkness
Rewinding back, to right before the Billboard Chart…
Somewhere deep in the woods, at a small old mansion, the League of Villains scavenged.
Dead bodies of the "Creature Rejection Clan," an ancient and outdated villain group dedicated to hunting down people with mutant Quirks, were splayed about the place. This had been their base, their last remnant. And now they were gone for good.
Spinner, particularly disgusted by this lot, spat on one of the corpses, bloody with wounds from Toga's knife. Shigaraki kicked another. Blood was splattered on the peeling walls.
Twice knelt down and inspected a safe. Inside were just a few old contracts and not much else. "Not much money in religion these days, huh?" he said with a sigh.
Compress walked along the upstairs balcony. "Not much money in anything, really. We're all just scraping by. It was frustratingly out of fashion for us to ransack this place, but what else could be done?"
Toga was trying to get a blood sample, and her syringe broke. She jumped up and squeaked. "Aww, man…"
"My prosthetic is in dire need of repair as well…" Compress mumbled. "And we haven't heard from Giran in a while. I need to request a new one."
"Where are we gonna get the cash for that?" Shigaraki rasped.
"You're the leader," said Spinner, an edge in his voice. "You should be the one coming up with the solution. We can't keep living in places like this!" He spread his arms out.
"If we had continued to cooperate with the yakuza, we might be dining on fine sushi right now," said Compress.
"Is that a joke?" asked Shigaraki. "Not funny. We got their damn bullets still, anyway." He gestured to the box in his cloak. "What other use were those guys? We were cooperating just fine until they got themselves demolished by the heroes."
Toga and Twice were rummaging through another box. "It's just junk," Twice muttered. "Yeah," Toga echoed.
"We are the League of Villains!" Compress intoned. "The group that terrorized the nation, and now we live in squalor? This is a disgrace to all those who idolized us!"
Dabi entered the building, and looked around. "You're all just kicking back? Am I the only one trying to actually recruit people off the street?"
"We're not kicking back!" Spinner protested. Meanwhile, behind him, Toga was putting a necklace on. "This is pretty!" she commented.
"Oooh, cute…" said Twice's sane side, and then… "FOR A SPINSTER, MAYBE! TOSS IT!"
Dabi gave them an incredulous, dry look. "...Yeah. Anyway, no luck again today."
"Maybe because you roast everyone you find," Spinner muttered.
"It's not my fault they're all good-for-nothing gutter trash."
"Maybe you're just bad at judging others!" Toga suggested, looking up from her necklace.
"...You, of all people, don't get to say that. Some of the guys I killed today had run into Kaminari, though."
Compress and Spinner froze. They looked over at Shigaraki, who was lounging on the couch, still.
Their leader's face didn't change. "So he's still alive, huh? And not caught yet, wow. I'm honestly surprised."
Secretly, the League didn't really know how to feel about Shigaraki kicking out Kaminari. Sure, the boy had tried to betray them for the yakuza…supposedly. But the boy had also been incredibly useful, a skilled undercover agent who knew All For One well, and with a powerful Quirk to boot. In Spinner's mind, if Shigaraki was going to get rid of him, then surely killing him would have been the way to go, but now the boy was free…and free to make himself a problematic enemy if he chose to be.
"He can't go back to the heroes," Shigaraki continued. "Still, I suppose I could have squeezed some more info out of him before he left. It sucks that we didn't know Kurogiri had failed until after that. If Kurogiri hadn't gotten captured, we might know the location of Gigantomachia and maybe even the doctors by now. But we don't."
"You must miss your babysitter a lot, Tomura-kun," Toga teased.
"I miss how useful he was for getting us from place to place, and I miss what he would have brought us. Gigantomachia is huge and practically indestructible."
"What's so important about those doctors, though?" Twice asked with a frown.
"They were Master's personal doctors. Two of them, supposedly, though I only ever really heard from one. They were the ones who developed and managed the Nomu, and they're really cautious. The only way to get in touch with them was the computer at the hideout, which was destroyed right before Kamino."
"So we've got no doctors, no warper, no traitor kid, no giant, and even our broker has gone AWOL," said Spinner with a sigh. "Tell me, Shigaraki, what the HELL ARE WE GOING TO DO NOW?"
"Calm down, Spinner…" Compress urged.
"No, this is stupid. I'm only here because of Stain. Stain inspired me to take action and fix this society. Before him, I had nothing!"
"...So you're an empty cosplayer?" Dabi commented.
"Yeah, basically! The point is, I joined up here to accomplish something, and it doesn't really seem like we're on our way to accomplishing anything!"
Shigaraki blinked. "Like I said…"
BOOOOOOOM!
The sound of a HUGE rumble interrupted the argument, and all six of them looked up in alarm.
They ran outside…and looked up.
Standing on the road in front of the mansion, taller than all the pine trees around him, was a massive man. Though his flesh was normally colored, it seemed to be sculpted from spiky rocks, and his jaw was blocky, with sharp teeth in an underbite. His eyes were sunken into his face, but the strangest thing about him was the radio that he had hanging around his neck.
He took another step forward, and another rumble was sent up through the Earth, violent enough to make Toga squeal and nearly lose her footing. He thrust a massive finger down at Shigaraki. "You," he growled. "Are you the successor of All For One?"
"So, uhh…" Dabi commented. "What the hell is going on?"
Tomura grinned. "This is the power Kurogiri was sent to find. I thought he'd gotten captured before he found you and passed on the message, but I suppose not. You've come after all, Gigantomachia."
Compress started in alarm. "THIS is Gigantomachia? And…he's on our side, right?!"
"I am on All For One's side," said Gigantomachia. "I am devoted to him. However…the master did choose you as his successor." He looked pointedly at Shigaraki, with surprising acuity. "Prove to me that you are worthy."
And that was how, for days after, the League got the absolute shit beaten out of them. They fought and fought and fought, deep in those woods, but Gigantomachia refused to back down, and the whole time, he complained.
"WHY?" he wailed, as he easily backhanded Compress away, knocking him into a tree.
"WHY ARE THEY SO WEAK?!" he cried, as he stomped his foot into the Earth hard enough to make Twice and Toga trip and fall over.
"MASTER, THIS IS THE GUY YOU CHOSE?" he asked the sky as he swatted away Shigaraki, not even breaking a sweat.
The League skidded to a halt on the other side of the destroyed clearing, bruised and gasping and out of breath.
"I'm sorry, but this is impossible," said Spinner. "He has no weak spots, barely ever sleeps, and doesn't even seem to notice that we're here! How are we supposed to prove anything?"
Gigantomachia had left his radio on the ground nearby, and suddenly it sputtered to life.
"...Krzzssh…You seem to be at a loss…Tomura Shigaraki."
Tomura stood. "The doctor. At last."
"Are your pals all there? How have they been doing?"
"Awful, thank you!" said Dabi, preparing to shoot blue fire at Giga. "Is this guy supposed to be some generous gift? It's hard to see it that way!"
"Hahaha, well Dabi, you might be right. But Gigantomachia was All For One's most loyal servant. When All Might began to rise up, AFO sensed his doom was potentially near, and hid Gigantomachia away for the future. Now, he's yours, if you can earn him!"
"He's crazy," Shigaraki commented. "We don't want this guy."
Silence from the radio. And then: "Kurogiri has been coddling you for too long. Open your eyes, boy. Yamishiwa, I have an idea."
Then, a voice that none of them had ever heard, not even Shigaraki, responded. "Understood. Locking onto Giga's location…"
"Is that the other doctor?" Compress asked. "Wha-MMMPH!"
His voice was interrupted, by black goo erupting from his mouth. And then, it was happening to the rest of them, too.
The teleporting Quirk that had been used at Kamino, to get them out of the first hideout. It was happening again, swallowing them up.
…They reappeared in a dark, long hall. Strange sci-fi beeps and whistles filled the quiet air. Thick, tangled cables crisscrossed the floor.
On either side of the hall, long lines of blue tubes glowed. Nomu hung ethereally inside, their brains hooked up to cables, floating.
"These Nomu look different from the ones we've seen before," said Dabi, looking from left to right.
Up ahead, at the end of the room, a voice said: "Sharp eyes you've got there, Dabi! These Nomu are indeed a step up! One might call them High-Ends! Super Nomu that are nearly perfect!"
They all looked up to the source of the voice. A series of bright screens were set up along the narrow far wall, and in front of them, a swivel chair was backlit, like a silhouette.
The chair turned around, revealing a diminutive bald man in a lab coat, with a mustache and shining white goggles. It was hard to make out much more than that. "Impressive, aren't they?" he asked. "They're my finest work so far!"
"Doctor Ujiko," Shigaraki rasped. "I've been looking for you for a reason. I need your help to reproduce these yakuza bullets we acquired."
"You've let your hair grow out, Shigaraki! How are your father and the others doing?"
Shigaraki lifted a hand up to the hands that covered his neck. "...Fine."
"This is the doctor that did most of the talking, I presume?" Compress had taken his mask off, and narrowed his eyes to look forward, putting a hand over his forehead and squinting. "It's hard to make anything out…"
"Stay back," said another, younger voice.
They all halted.
Stepping out of the shadows was a thin, scrawny man, similarly silhouetted, and dressed in a lab coat. He walked right up to the first doctor's swivel chair. "Sorry, but I wouldn't recommend you coming any closer," he said. "When you need to meet us face-to-face, we'll let you know. And if you break this rule…" The second doctor lifted his hands up, and black goo seemed to dance in his palms. "I'll send you right back to Giga."
"You," said Shigaraki. "You're the one who possesses the other teleportation Quirk. The one that complement's Kurogiri's."
"Indeed, yes. I have not been responsible for every one of its uses that you've seen, as All For One himself has a copy of the Quirk. But yes, that is me. This here is Ujiko for the uninitiated, and I myself am his assistant, Yamishiwa."
"Why can't we get a closer look!" Twice complained. "You geezers are the ones who summoned us!"
Dabi sighed. "...Why are we here?"
"To offer you an ultimatum," said Ujiko, still sitting in his chair. "You may not trust it so much coming from Gigantomachia, after all. All you see around you…these Nomus, mine and Yamishiwa's intelligence, even the giant's loyalty…belonged to All For One. And in theory, Shigaraki, it belongs to you too. But…these things, they were all granted to All For One first. That is who we are loyal to. We've got nothing against you, but you must prove yourself. Right now, you're just some kid paling around with the dregs of society."
"You two are men of intelligence," Shigaraki muttered. "I see. The big meat grinder wants me to prove my strength, but you want to hear my ideals. Fine. Before I met you and Master, I don't remember much. I think that's your doing, but whenever I get a vague idea of what might have happened before then…of what might have come about to turn my family into…these…" He gestured to the disembodied hands. "I get such a feeling of rage and uneasiness that it makes me want to scream. It's boiling over, eating away at me. All the time. Even if I rise up and become the dark ruler of the underworld like Master did…that weight will never go away. So I'm going to destroy it. All of it. The overworld, the underworld…everything."
Ujiko began to laugh. "HA! And you said all that with a straight face, too! Well, color me surprised! It's a childishly villainous pipe dream, but…you have conviction enough, I'll grant! Very well, you can have my limited assistance for now. What do you think, Yamishiwa?"
The taller man's eyes narrowed, and Tomura watched them closely. It was hard to tell in the gloom, but…they looked…purple.
"I know who you are," he said, suddenly. "You're…you're the warping brat's father. His biological father."
"Oh, so you know Doko," said Yamishiwa. "Yes, he's my offspring, I suppose. I conceived him with a woman who was then used to create your Kurogiri, as a matter of fact. It's quite funny how these things come together."
Spinner shuddered. The older guy in the chair seems a bit goofy, a bit off his rocker, but THIS guy…he's a sociopath. The thought chilled Spinner to his core.
"Master's plan with the kid failed," Shigaraki said plainly. "He's still with the damn heroes. Are you planning on doing something about that?"
Yamishiwa made a show of stretching casually, and to those of the League that had seen Doko before, it reminded them so much of him in that moment that their hearts skipped a beat. "...Not at the moment, no. All For One told me to stay hidden."
It was Tomura's turn to narrow his eyes. "But if I were to order you to make yourself known, instead…"
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves!" Ujiko interrupted, laughing. "Tomura, it really sounds like you believe in these plans of yours. But tell me, how do you account for your allies?"
"Yeah, Tomura-kun," Toga purred. "When you say you want to destroy it all, does that include the things and people that I love?"
"My allies are exceptions," said Shigaraki. "You guys should get what you want in life."
"Well, there you have it," Yamishiwa said, crossing his arms. "He passed the test, Ujiko."
"Woo-hoo!" The doctor did a complete spin in his chair.
"Wait, you were testing me?"
"Of course! We were always planning on lending you at least a little help, to start with. I cannot say as much for Gigantomachia, unfortunately. And much of the research we have here is…well, it's very crucial. So, it's as simple as this. Make Gigantomachia submit to you…"
"...And all our advantages will be yours," Yamishiwa finished.
"Right. This sure has been one long tutorial," Tomura said with a grin.
"You guys do what you want, but I'm tired of fighting the big guy," said Dabi.
"You're just pouting because your fire didn't work," Toga told him.
"Shut up, you lunatic. I've found a good potential ally, so I'm putting in work toward that."
"Perfect, Dabi!" said Ujiko excitedly. "You can test out a High-End for me! The one I have ready is just your aesthetic! You two will get along great!"
"Alongside that, we will offer our services in one other respect," said Yamishiwa. "These bullets you spoke of."
"Ah, right…" Shigaraki pulled them out of his cloak and held them out. Yamishiwa's black goo Quirk immediately enveloped them, and the box was suddenly in his hands.
"Don't worry," said Yamishiwa, as soon as Twice opened his mouth in protest. "If you can't have Giga submit to you, and don't earn our full support after all, I'll give these back. It's only fair to start you back at the same square you were when you entered. But, in the meantime, we'll work on them. They could come in handy, yes…very handy…"
"If we do end up failing, it seems likely that Giga will kill us, so it doesn't matter," said Shigaraki.
"Speaking of failing allies…" Yamishiwa looked up, frowning. "The boy Kaminari."
"He knew nothing, when we sent him away," said Tomura quickly. "All he could give to the heroes is that we have those bullets, and they already know that anyway. He doesn't know our whereabouts at all, unless you know something I don't."
"The boy was close with All For One, but not as close as the two of us," said Ujiko. "You could compare him to Gigantomachia, really. Both are loyal to their master to a fault and don't believe that you, Shigaraki, are up to the task. Although it was in Kaminari's nature to betray, to be a double agent. That is why he betrayed you when you failed him. Giga, on the other hand, is a soldier. So…yes, I would say that if you fail him, he will kill you."
"Good to know," Spinner squeaked.
Another box was teleported to them by Yamishiwa, this one containing comm devices for their ears. "Use those to keep in touch with us. Other than that, we're done here. Back to the monster you go. Goodbye."
Yamishiwa waved, and activated his Quirk, sending the League on their way. Dabi was sent to a different place, to the streets.
"We'll give him the High-End later. With the Billboard Chart about to start, I think I have a good idea as to what he might use it for." Yamishiwa turned to Ujiko. "What do you think? Has Tomura got it in him?"
"He certainly thinks he does. And confidence can get you very far." Ujiko turned back to the screen. "Kurogiri's capture and Kaminari on the loose are concerning to me, though I did not want to bog them down with that. We need to move the lab soon."
Yamishiwa raised his eyebrows. "Move the lab? To a different hospital, you mean? But…"
"Kurogiri knows that we are at this hospital. His nature will make it very, very hard for the heroes to get him to talk…but they do have your son on their side."
Yamishiwa blinked. "Doko means nothing to me. And my wife will have no connection to him, either…even if there is still a remnant of her left in that thing."
"Kurogiri is more than a thing, and he remembers that we are located at Jakku Hospital. Not to mention that Kaminari's father is still in the intensive care ward here. The connection could easily be made. If the heroes were to find this lab, all would be lost. The Nomu are not ready."
"So, we move to a different hospital," said Yamishiwa. "What about Iwate? It's still Haijima-owned, and their loyalty to AFO runs deep. They would be willing to shield us." And Iwate was where Doko was born. Where we killed that Quirkless child, and switched the babies, giving him away to that family…where my wife died.
If Ujiko knew about this, he gave no indication. "It would be difficult to transport everything there. We'd need a massive train, one with the infrastructure capable of keeping the Nomu alive for the whole journey, and with enough power to still run at a fast speed while doing that. And such trains are expensive. We simply do not have the connections."
"Well, there isn't really a closer option. We must find the connections," Yamishiwa said. If only Tomura was more mature by now…he could make them for us.
Kasumi Yamishiwa considered himself a realist above all else. Which is why he didn't have a lot of faith in Tomura's future. All For One told me to remain in hiding. That means…his plans for Doko didn't fail. They just haven't properly sprung yet. And if AFO still has plans to spring…that means he isn't completely relying on Tomura to succeed. So, neither should we.
"Your son was there when the heroes destroyed the Hassaikai, you know," Ujiko muttered, typing on the keyboard. On the screen in front of him, he pulled up an image. It was a distant photo, blurry, but Doko was nonetheless visible, standing with other heroes and police outside the Eight Precepts base.
An uncomfortable edge passed over Yamishiwa's heartbeat, and he looked away from the screen. "And so what if he was?"
"He's continuing to dance close with the likes of us, even after knowing that AFO had something planned for him. He isn't very cautious, is he?"
"I think he is," said Yamishiwa. "It's just, in this situation…he doesn't even know he needs to be cautious. Because he doesn't know the shadow's already falling."
…
BACK TO PRESENT DAY, THE MORNING AFTER JOINT TRAINING
Eri gasped. "It's the dark side of UA!"
Monoma laughed. "HA! Whatever could she mean by that?"
Mirio pointed at him, smiling. "Oh, that's easy. During the school festival, I told her that you were UA's dark side."
"Nonsense! I walk the path of justice like any other!"
"So…" Doko glanced at Sir Nighteye. "Why are we here?"
Nighteye had brought Eri to campus again, this time to the teacher's dorms. She had requested to see Doko and Mirio as well as Midoriya and Nejire, but Monoma was also here.
"Thanks for coming, you four," Aizawa said, walking up to them. "I requested for Monoma, but it might be good for Eri to have some emotional support while we try this."
"Is that what you people think of me?!" Monoma demanded.
"Anything for little Eri!" Nejire sang. "Right, Izuku?" She nudged him with her elbow.
"Yep!" Izuku agreed, nodding. Those two really are adorable, Doko thought. Did Nejire know the secret, he wondered? No, perhaps not, they hadn't been dating for very long.
"Let's head on inside," said Aizawa.
…
"Alright," said Nighteye, nudging Eri gently forward toward Monoma. "Don't worry, Eri. It's going to be just fine."
"Huh?" her eyes widened. "Wh-what's gonna happen?"
"Monoma here has a Quirk that copies other Quirks!" said Mirio. "He's going to try and copy yours. Don't worry, we've also got Eraser here. His instincts are second to none! If things start to go wrong…" The third year snapped his fingers. "Eraser will nip it in the bud."
"Glad you've got such a high opinion of me," Aizawa said dryly. "Now, Monoma, if you would…"
Doko, Midoriya, and Nejire watched with bated breath from the side, as Monoma leaned down, and patted Eri on the head.
A horn emerged from Monoma's blonde hair, and Doko felt a shiver go up his spine. That Quirk…it saved my life. And yet…
Monoma ran his fingers over the horn. "Hmm…" he muttered to himself. "I believe it's another blank. Sorry, Eraserhead."
"Figured as much," Aizawa sighed. "Well, thanks anyway."
"A blank?" Midoriya blinked. "What's that mean?"
"I can't copy every Quirk. A lot of them require the user to store something up. This is one such Quirk, it seems. Though I don't know what little Eri here might be storing." Monoma frowned. "For example…" He reached forward, and brushed Midoriya's arm. Midoriya jumped back in surprise. "DON'T!" he gasped.
Monoma bit his lip, as if concentrating. Then, he relaxed. "See? Another blank. Your Quirk likely stockpiles your strength. Since I have no such reserves, I cannot let off great blasts of power like you."
"But why copy Eri's Quirk?" Nejire asked, tilting her head cutely.
Aizawa opened his mouth to answer, but it was Doko who spoke.
"She needs to learn to control it, that's why. It won't do her any good to keep it hidden away and not use it. That could result in another explosion of power, or a rampage. Believe me, I know what I'm talking about." He looked down at Eri and smiled. "So it seems that Monoma is here to try and help her out. As an older and more responsible person…proportionally speaking…"
"Hey!"
"...Monoma could possibly help her practice in a safe manner. It's a shame it didn't work…Midoriya, are you okay?"
Doko looked over at the green-haired boy, who was distracting him with his movement.
Hugging himself, and shaking. "Monoma…" he muttered. "You shouldn't have tried that…not on me…"
Monoma frowned in annoyance. "I knew it would be a blank. At least, I had a pretty good guess. Don't worry, Midoriya. See? I'm fine. No broken bones!"
"Ha…yeah…" Midoriya turned his head away, and Nejire wrapped an arm around him.
Aizawa just deadpanned at the kids for a long moment. "...Aaaaanyway, it seems this was for naught. Thank you for trying anyway, Monoma."
"I'm sorry I wasn't able to be more useful," the boy answered.
"Hey, is that why you didn't try to copy my Quirk during our match?" Doko asked him.
Monoma turned. "No. I doubt yours is a stockpile-type, considering how quickly you fire it off once you get going. I simply didn't trust myself to learn to use yours safely in time."
"Ah," Doko muttered, feeling cold. Even the copier knows my Quirk isn't safe. "Right."
"I'm sorry I'm so much trouble," Eri muttered. "This power…I wish I didn't have it."
"You're no trouble at all!" Mirio protested.
"I don't wish that," Doko said bluntly, kneeling down in front of her. "Do you remember what you did, Eri? You rewound something very bad out of me."
"And you helped me win the battle!" Izuku added from behind.
"Your power could be used to do great things in the future, if you learn how to use it," Doko told her. "Believe me, I know how you feel. I…I wished I didn't have my power for a long time." I wanted to be Quirkless, just so my parents would start to love me. "But I realized there was nothing I could do to get rid of it, so I decided I had a responsibility to use it for good. And look where I am now!"
"A…responsibility…" she breathed, looking up at him with shimmering eyes.
"Now, that doesn't necessarily extend to you if you don't want to," Doko told her quickly. While he definitely believed that Eri's power should be put to good use, he did not want to force his ideals onto this troubled young girl. It is her choice.
"If I don't…want…" she muttered, and then seemed to take a deep breath, as if steeling herself up. "It doesn't matter," she said.
Nighteye raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that, Eri?"
"It doesn't matter what I want. It's a responsibility." She looked up at Aizawa. "If I have to learn, then I will. Even if you have to find…another way. I'll do it."
Doko's heart soared. "Eri…do you want to become a hero?"
She smiled, and nodded. "I think so, yeah! I want to become like you and Lemillion and Deku!"
Doko looked back at Midoriya, and for a moment, there was a synergy between the three of them. Him, Midoriya, and Eri. All smiling, all thinking the same thing. Their Quirks, uncopiable by Monoma…
Our powers are our own.
And mine…Doko thought. I WILL conquer it.
…
Outside the dorms, they waved goodbye to Eri and Nighteye. "Don't worry, Mirio," the bespectacled hero said. "You will be able to come back for work studies soon, I imagine."
"That's true," said Aizawa. "Both the school board and the Hero Commission are very pleased at the moment, since the fight with Gentle Criminal and Endeavor's big fight in Kyushu. The restrictions will lift."
"That offer extends to the both of you, as well," Nighteye said to Midoriya and Doko. Then, his lip curled. "That is, if Midoriya would not rather go to Ryukyu instead."
"Huh! Oh, Izuku with me at my work study!" Nejire gasped. "Oh, that'd be amazing!" She flung her arms around her boyfriend's neck. "It would be so great, Izuku! Although I'd feel bad for pulling you away from Nighteye! Wait, maybe I could come to Nighteye instead! You like energetic people, don't you Nighteye! Oh wait, I couldn't do that to Ryukyu! Oh, it's all so complicated…"
Midoriya laughed, and gently removed her from his person. "I would be happy to come back to your agency, Sir. Just…give me some time to think, alright? There have been some recent…complications."
"Of course." Nighteye nodded his head. He knows, Doko thought.
"What about you, Katayama?"
Doko blinked. "Maybe." He hadn't forgotten his overheard conversation. Nighteye doesn't want to use his Quirk on me. He doesn't want to see my future.
"Enigmatic as ever, aren't you? Come along, Eri."
The group split up, and Doko followed Midoriya and Nejire back to the 1-A dorm building.
"Where do you think you're going?" Midoriya asked her.
"I wanted to ask about your new power! I saw the training footage; what on Earth was that, Izuku? I have so many questions, and I'm trying to hold them all back at once…"
"Uhh, see…" Izuku laughed nervously, and then glanced back over his shoulder at Doko, who was following them silently. "I actually don't know. I'm sorry, Nejire. I don't have any answers for you."
"Awww." She pouted. "Well, I'll see you later, then! And Katayama-kun, don't be a stranger! Even though I know I irritate you a lot!"
"That's! That's not true!" Doko protested, but didn't even sound very believable to himself.
Nejire giggled, kissed Izuku's cheek, and whirled around, practically bouncing away from them at light speed.
"So," Doko said, when the two of them were alone. "You haven't told her."
Izuku shook his head. "No. It's still too early. We haven't really gotten serious yet."
"Fair. What about me, though? When are you going to tell me? Have the two of us not gotten serious enough?"
Izuku smiled sadly. "Funny. Yeah, we actually need to go see All Might now. It's time you learned the truth."
…
They sat in the empty teacher's lounge, on two couches. All Might and Midoriya on one side…and Doko and Bakugo on the other.
"Why is he here?" Doko asked, pointing a thumb sideways at the explosion user.
"Because I already know about this shit, and can fill in details that they miss because they're socially inept!" Bakugo barked.
"I think you're all socially inept," Doko said honestly, "but fair. So, who's gonna start? You?" He looked directly into All Might's sunken eyes.
"First, I want to apologize for not speaking to you sooner," said All Might. "Last night, we had to…we had to assess something."
"You were trying to get him to manifest that new ability, weren't you?" Doko said. He looked at Bakugo. "You were there?"
Katsuki clicked his teeth. "We did hours of fight training into the night. Damn thing wouldn't show up, no matter how much I cornered the nerd."
"That ability is a separate Quirk, isn't it." He turned back to Midoriya. "You told Todoroki last night that it wasn't, but it was a lie. It's the Quirk of one of those people I saw in the dream."
Midoriya and All Might exchanged a glance. "Well…yes, but perhaps we'd better start at the beginning…"
"Whose is it? The woman? She was really unhappy that I was there, you know."
All Might shook his head. "No. Nana's Quirk was Float, but we must prepare for Young Midoriya to acquire that one as well."
"You knew her." Doko's lip curled. "Why did she hate me so much? I didn't want to be there, either. It was like…it was like she was seeing something that wasn't me." His stomach growled in an ominous sort of way.
"She was always strong-willed…" All Might said. "She was my master, you see. And…and she had a child. A child she abandoned in order to do hero work. That child grew up to become the father of the man you know as Tomura Shigaraki."
Doko's eyes widened. "All For One did that. Didn't he." Shigaraki could have been me. All For One has been tearing families apart for generations.
"Why the hell are we talking about this in such a roundabout way?" Bakugo complained.
"I am starting with the information most relevant to Katayama and working backwards," said All Might. "He is not like the two of you. His connection to this secret is from another side entirely, one we do not fully understand."
"Get to the point," said Doko. He already knew, but he wanted to hear how they'd explain it.
"To put it simply…" All Might took a deep breath. "The woman you saw, Nana, and all the other people in that dream…were wielders of a Quirk called One For All. It is a Quirk that is designed to be passed on from person to person, and stockpile in power with each pass. The first user of it was the brother of All For One."
"I've seen him," Doko muttered. "I have. In my mind's eye, I see All For One forcing another man to his knees, pressing his hand to his face…"
"While All For One had the power to steal Quirks and redistribute them, his brother only had the power to redistribute. A useless power when he didn't have any Quirks to start with. So, All For One gave him a simple strength stockpiling Quirk, and the two combined together to form One For All. The brother rose to oppose him, and so did all the users after him. One by one, they all stood and died, passing on the power to the next generation. My master Nana was the seventh. I was the eighth. And Midoriya here is the ninth."
"So…what's happening now?" Doko asked. "Why are we suddenly connected by dreams? Why is Midoriya gaining the Quirks of past users?"
"In a dream, the user of Blackwhip explained it to me," said Midoriya. "That's what it's called, by the way. Blackwhip. He said that each time the Quirk was passed down, it took a lot of the Quirk factor along with it, including the other Quirks…and the stockpiling nature of it had finally grown to the point where the user would be able to wield them all. So I'm going to eventually manifest all their Quirks, I suppose. Five more, including Shimura's Float."
"More dreams," Doko muttered. "That still doesn't explain why we are connected. Some of this behavior is so inexplicable. If this Quirk you both use is originally created by All For One, then…could there not be some sort of…evil laid into its foundations, lying in wait for the right moment?"
"That is what is concerning us as well, and it is why we have chosen to share this with you, Katayama," said All Might. "You…as much as it pains me to say it, are still in All For One's cards. I have visited him in Tartarus many times and still have not found out what he has planned for you. That is my own failure, and for it I'm sorry. But together…you and Midoriya…you have decided to become heroes. And you can stand up against this. I believe that more strongly than anything."
"One more question, then," Doko said. "How does he factor into this?" He pointed at Bakugo. "Why does he know the secret? I know that he went to the same middle school as Midoriya, but…" He paused. "All Might, how did you come to pick Midoriya as the next user anyway?"
The other three men in the room all exchanged long glances with each other. Doko sank back into the couch a bit. "That is, if you're okay with talking about it…I guess it's not really that necessary…"
"No," said Midoriya, steely-faced. "We should explain everything. In case there's a detail we missed that might be important."
…
And so, Katayama learned about the events leading up to Midoriya and Bakugo's enrollment in UA. How Bakugo had been the top of his class, the only one expected to actually make it as a hero. How Midoriya had been Quirkless. And how, one day, a villain made of sludge had attacked their area of the city, with All Might in pursuit. It had attacked Midoriya first, and All Might had saved him. At that point, All Might had been injured badly in his last fight with All For One, and was only able to operate as a hero for three hours a day. His time had been running out, so he tried to get away from Midoriya, but the boy had cornered him on a rooftop and learned of his "slim form" (Katayama was surprised to learn that he had secretly been living most of his life in that form already, before Kamino).
Midoriya had asked his idol, the Symbol of Peace, if he could become a hero without a Quirk. And All Might had said no, it was too dangerous, if you want to protect people become a police officer instead. And that was that.
...Until the villain escaped during their conversation, and attacked Bakugo on a different street. All Might was out of time, and could not help, and neither could any of the other heroes in the area. It had fallen to Midoriya to act and try to save Bakugo, inspiring All Might to push his limits and land the last blow. He was so taken by Midoriya's action that he decided to pass on One For All to him.
At the end of the explanation, Katayama's eye twitched.
All Might and Midoriya both gave him strange, apprehensive looks. "...Katayama? If anything is not making sense to you…"
"He asked you if he could become a hero without a Quirk. You said no. But then his actions inspired you so much that you decided to give him one?"
All Might and Midoriya looked at each other, then back at Katayama. A shadow had fallen over the boy's face.
"Err…yes, that's right."
Doko chuckled. It was not a good, happy sound. It was a deep, bitter chuckle, one filled with something that sent a shiver up Toshinori's spine. What…what is he thinking?
"Isn't that convenient. Just so convenient, oh yes."
Alarm bells were ringing in Toshinori's head. "Katayama? Is something the matte-"
"Imagine for a second that everything was the same," Katayama blurted, interrupting him. "Everything was the same, except your Quirk, All Might, was just normal super strength. No magic generational nonsense. You didn't have the ability to pass it on. You tell this kid he can't become a hero without a Quirk. He does a heroic act anyway, so much that it inspires you to take action yourself. What do you do then? Do you still tell him no? No, sorry, you have everything you need to be a great hero except this thing you were born without, that's tough, best deal with it. What would you have done in that situation, All Might? I want to know."
"N-now, listen here," Toshinori stammered. "That wasn't the situation, so there's no point in speculating…"
"My sister is Quirkless, you know. Or at least, she used to be my sister." Katayama lifted his head a fraction of an inch. "I don't think she's ever wanted to be a hero, but she gets excellent grades, maintains a social circle, and is even the star of her volleyball team. Twenty percent of the population is still Quirkless. Midoriya was never alone, you know. But he is now. You've pulled him out of that group of people. You've elevated a single boy up. Congratulations."
"Katayama…I'm not sure where you're going with this…"
"Really? That's funny…because I don't know either." He lifted his face all the way, and Toshinori's heart skipped a beat.
Doko Katayama was crying. Tears were streaming down his face.
"All I know is that you've made me upset," he said. "You…you, were meant to be the Symbol of Peace. You were meant to give hope to everyone. But now I know that you're just some…part of a line. Part of a line of soldiers, meant to stand against All For One. You never actually became a Symbol of Peace. All you did was make the villains angrier, and the citizens more complacent." Doko sniffled. "I've seen the rot firsthand. It pervaded my family. And yes, All For One put it there, but he was only manipulating the strings that you neglected to cut. You could have cut them all. Midoriya, tell me the truth. How was your life as a Quirkless person? How was it in middle school, before this miracle came along? Before this unbelievably lucky thing happened to you? Tell me."
Midoriya shifted in his seat, uncomfortable. "It…I don't know, it was fine, I guess…"
"No, it wasn't," growled Bakugo. Toshinori started. He'd forgotten the ashen blonde was there. "Don't lie to him, Deku. Don't do that for me. You want the truth, Katayama? I'll tell ya. I bullied him for years. Me and the rest of the damn school. The real miracle is how he didn't ever take my advice."
Doko wiped his face, confused. "Your…advice…?"
Bakugo's eyes didn't leave Midoriya. "I told him to kill himself."
Then, he got up, and left the room.
After a long moment of unbearable, overwhelming silence, Doko stood up too.
"Katayama, wai-" Toshinori lifted his hand. He had to remedy this situation. Something, anything.
"I'm leaving, too." Doko stopped at the door. "Don't worry, all your secrets are safe with me. But I don't forgive you. People like my sister, my family…as you shined brighter, you made the shadows over them grow darker. You could have cut all those strings, All Might. With your influence, you could have fixed schools like theirs. Households like mine. Lives like…like Tomura Shigaraki's. But you never did. All you had to offer was a bit of power, and the overwhelming responsibility of defeating a genocidal maniac that came with it. That's all you gave us." His fist closed. He didn't look back at them.
"Katayama…" Toshinori's voice caught in his throat. He felt so utterly…powerless. "I'm…I'm sorry."
"I'm gonna clean up your mess," he growled. "I'll conquer this power inside of me, and then I'll use it for good. I'm going to fix everything."
He left the room, leaving Midoriya and All Might in silence.