Chapter 18: Gran Torino

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews!

A WEEK LATER

Are you freaking kidding me with this?
~Blackfire493

Wait what now? What happened?
~Sheepheadfred

The damn Endeavour case.
~Blackfire493

Yeah, I just saw the report. They didn't even give him any jail time
~Airasilver

Exactly!
~Blackfire493

Hold on I gotta see
~Sheepheadfred

Whee! Endeavor didn't get jail!
~Randomguy

Oh, come on not another Endeavour fan. For god's sake
~Sanjna_23

Whatever, he's a great hero. He got more cases than All Might
~Randomguy

With the highest number of casualties!
~GizmoO

Can't the admin ban him?
~(~‾▿‾)~

He's not breaking the rules, unfortunately,
~Admin

HAH!
~Randomguy

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE PUNISHMENT IS?
~The_sweet_lily_rose

OMG! I just saw it. He only got 6 months of counseling and anger management!?
~Sheepheadfred

I think he got a lot of fines and stuff added up on it too?
~Orangekid12

Well, I mean he does have to give 60% of his pay to the victim and the government for a year as punishment. But come on that's not going to make even a dent in his fortune!
~Sheepheadfred

Tbh I am more surprised hero commission didn't bail him out
~PrinceIchi69

They did, but the prosecuting lawyer was way too good. Good thing the judge didn't pull anything either
~Shepheadfred

Who was the lawyer?
~RashaundaSpears

The same one from the Aldera case. Name's Inko I think
~HerrRot9

I did some digging. Seems like she used to do abuse cases before but stopped suddenly. She restarted now for some reason
~Littlecharmed

But why?
~Sanity1

No clue
~Littlecharmed

Well... was she good?
~Sanity1

Yup, she was ruthless. Even in cases with minimal evidence she won
~Littlecharmed

That good?
~Sanity1

But for real, we ain't gonna talk about Endeavour getting knocked by a teenager, bwahaha
~Kamio18

Yea that was amazing, lol. But it got a lot of villains after him too for some reason
~Sheepheadfred

For recruiting as a villain
~Whyallmaindumb

No, they were all murderers and serial killers. Police caught them after some vigilante duo beat the heck out of them
~Sheepheadfred

Why would they be after him? Shouldn't they be happy that someone assaulted a hero?
~Whyallmaindumb

They should... unless the hero commission is more corrupt
~Sheepheadfred

Nah, they wouldn't stoop so low that they'd hurt a kid
~Whyallmaindumb

Maybe, but hope those kids stay safe
~(~‾▿‾)~

With that vigilante duo... prolly and the police are there too. The police are better, I mean they did charge Endeavour ruthlessly
~Airasilver

I guess we'll see
~yeetmeintothevoidofspace

Gran Torino sat up straight as he finished scrolling through the articles. The hero commission was corrupt, he knew that. One of the reasons why he had cut off contact with almost everyone was to make them believe he was dead. Both Nedzu and he believed that some, if not all, of the hero commission were moles for All for One, not that they could prove it. He sipped his drink, this article had given him a lot of entertainment. First, that boy provoking Death Arms, then the villain on a spree ready to kill, suddenly maimed. Endeavour's acts being brought to the public. The Aldera case, they were all entertaining but... they were not random. They were sequenced as if to maximize chaos. The writers knew how to push the buttons and hit where it hurt the most.

Naturally, Torino's first thought was that Nedzu was behind the article but one thing didn't add up. Nedzu would never use an alias. He wasn't scared of what his actions could bring and Nedzu had enough leverage to bully anyone into leaving him alone. One thing was certain though, Nedzu knew something about the article. Without hesitation, he called Nedzu, he was going to get the answers right now.

"Ah, hello Torino. How has retirement been suiting you?" Nedzu's voice answered.

"Nedzu. Glad to hear your voice again. And no, retirement's horrible," Torino replied gruffly, "Anyway, I will get straight to the point-,"

"You want to know about the article," Nedzu finished for him.

"Yes," Torino said.

Torino heard Nedzu sigh on the other hand, "I am aware, beating around the bush will do nothing to you, so I will just save us both some time and tell you everything. It all started when Toshinori's successor's cousin moved in with him,"

"Toshinori's successor?" Torino exclaimed.

"You didn't know? I thought Toshinori must have said it to you... my mistake," Nedzu said in his normal voice, but Torino could hear the sadistic grin Nedzu must have had on his face right then, "Well, you see, his successor is, quirkless,"

Torino didn't speak. It was better for Nedzu to finish before asking questions. Taking the cue, Nedzu continued, "His successor, Midoriya Izuku, was bullied at his school for being quirkless. I assume you know him, the green-haired boy from the sludge incident?"

Torino grunted, "Yes I do. Should have realized Toshinori would have been interested right there,"

"Well, that same day, his cousin, Hattori Watanabe, moved in. He is an observant one. He figured out about Izuku's bullying, his training with All Might and assumed All Might's quirk can be passed on. A reasonable assumption, considering his quirk is unknown to the public. Afterward, Watanabe introduced himself to Toshinori and got his help to get to me. They wrote the article and then had Toshinori give it to me. I didn't have much to fix so I just published it and then everything you are seeing occurred,"

Torino hummed. Nedzu's description of the events was really scarce, much more like a summary than an actual description, "Is the cousin, the boy who riled up Endeavour and Death arms?"

"Yes,"

"I know what you are doing Nedzu,"

"Do tell me what you think," Nedzu offered.

"You want me to go to UA to meet with you directly. Given your love for chaos, I assume my idiot student will be there too, and you want me to beat some sense into him,"

"That would be appreciated, thank you, Torino," Nedzu said as he disconnected the call. Torino chuckled. It was unlike Nedzu to be so direct about what he wants, so there must be something else bothering him, for him to want to get everything done as fast as possible. Torino sighed as he stood up to get ready. it would be fun meeting his old student.

"Nedzu-san, who are we waiting for?" Toshinori asked as he sat in Nedzu's office, sipping tea.

"He should be here soon. Don't worry,"

Toshinori nodded nervously, he was worrying. Nedzu's surprises were not really known for being pleasant. They sat for a few moments in silence until they heard a slow knock on the office door, "Come in," said Nedzu.

The door opened and immediately there was a whoosh followed by Yagi falling to the ground, clutching his cheek in pain. He looked up through the pain and his eyes widened, "Gr-gran Torino!"

"Toshinori, Nedzu here tells me you have gotten a successor," Torino said with a glint in his eye, "I am hurt you didn't tell me,"

"I-I meant to, I just, erm,"

Torino hit him again, making Yagi yelp, "If you had told me right away, you wouldn't have gotten hit. It seems I failed as a teacher in teaching you manners!" Yagi yelped as Torino caught him by his neck and sped around the room. Yagi screamed in terror. After a while, Torino seemed to have had enough fun and threw him to the floor, "Ah, now that was a good stretch," he said as he sat down, taking the cup of tea from Nedzu with a smile. Yagi coughed as he slowly got up from the floor clutching his chest in pain.

"Come on now, sit, I have had my fun for now," Torino ushered. Yagi hesitantly moved towards a chair and sat. Nedzu smiled, "Now that the pleasantries are over, let's discuss what I called you for,"

Yagi's eye quirked in question, "It wasn't to see Gran Torino beat me up?" Nedzu shook his head, his expression growing grimmer, "I am sure both of you know... about the hero commission, and how corrupt it is," Nedzu said with narrowed eyes. Instantly the room grew serious, Torino's smile vanished and Yagi stood up straighter, unconsciously slipping into his All Might form. Both nodded silently.

"That is why I asked you two. I need more heroes on this. I will be discussing with the UA staff later too, but such a few heroes will do nothing against the hero commission. That is why I am asking you two to be vigilant and try to recruit trustworthy heroes against the hero commission,"

"May I ask why the sudden stance?"

"The attack on the Kaminaris. It's no secret that Endeavour is their pawn, knowingly or not, I don't know but it was guaranteed they would try to retaliate," Nedzu replied.

"Are the vigilantes-" Torino began to ask.

"No, I didn't send them. I have no clue who they are or if they even share the same interest. All I know is that he told one of the victims to steer clear of Izuku, Denki, and Watanabe as well as their families or he'd personally hunt them down,"

"Without those vigilantes, that kid would have been dead," Torino summarised.

"Not exactly, I had sent Aizawa to the Midoriya residence and Present Mic to the Kaminari residence. Mic actually did witness the vigilante attack, but they had been burned to a crisp before he could act. They were out of sight by the time Mic had entered the scene,"

"This is an interesting set of events. We took down All For One but it seems a new threat has emerged now. A threat, we can't use our fists against," Torino concluded and glanced towards Yagi who was clenching his fists tightly.

"My second point, for protection, the police have been deployed. Of course, the vigilante duo are also present but I would like someone to keep an eye on those three too," Nedzu said.

"I'll do it. I have training sessions with them in the morning and evening anyway,"

"You train the other two kids too?" Torino asked.

Yagi paled, he hadn't meant to let that slip, "Well, um-"

"So all 3 know?"

"Oh, only Izuku and Watanabe know though... not Kaminari,"

Torino glared at him, "You better not slip up in front of him and declare you are All Might then," Torino said, "At least your successor has some brains," Torino commented. Yagi sighed in his mind slightly, at least he hadn't been kicked again.

"Well, that's all I wanted to discuss," Nedzu said switching back to his cheery self.

"I should get going, Izuku and Watanabe's training restarts today evening. I'm hoping to show him some moves with One for All since Kaminari doesn't attend our evening sessions,"

"I'll come too. Introduce myself as All Might's sensei to them," Torino grinned. Yagi paled, "No, no you don't need to,"

Torino kicked his student, "Don't talk back to your sensei, disrespectful brat. Now, I assume we have to go pick them up considering it isn't safe for them to move on their own?" Torino said.

"Uhh, that may not be a good choice... the guardians don't know I am training them," Yagi said quietly.

"What?" Torino asked with a narrowed glare that promised pain. "Er, I mean they know that All Might's secretary trains them," Yagi tried to salvage himself. Nedzu chipped in from his desk, "Not formally Torino. They know vaguely because Kaminari called him sensei in court," Nedzu grinned sadistically.

Torino sped up again and beat up Yagi once more making him scream out loud, "You idiot! You are going to transfer a volatile quirk to a child and didn't bother telling the parents anything?" Torino basically yelled.

"I, I didn't think-"

"Let's say the quirk doesn't accept him, then what? How do you plan to explain it to his mom? Even if he doesn't get blown up hopefully, quirks just don't manifest! Especially as a teenager, you idiot!"

"B-but I can't tell them I'm All Might. That would put me at risk,"

"If his mom finds out and isn't understanding, she's going to sue you to hell anyway," Torino deadpanned.

"Get it over with Toshinori," Nedzu offered, his face slightly more serious, "Inko is trustworthy and at least one parent deserves to know,"

"Fine," Toshinori grunted, "I'll ask them to bring Inko-san to Dagobah beach as well," he resigned.

"Where are we going Izuku?" Inko asked.

"Yagi-sensei wanted to meet you," Izuku said vaguely.

"I already permitted for you to train under him, so did Natsume for Watanabe," Inko replied.

"There is more to it..." Izuku replied. Inko was still confused, however, anything that was keeping even Watanabe quiet and serious must be important. After a short walk, they reached Dagobah beach. Inko spotted Yagi and someone else standing beside him.

"Inko-san, firstly let me apologize for not notifying you that I was training your child," Yagi said with respect.

"Ah thank you. But, I did permit him to continue, so I don't quite get what this is about," Inko said. On cue, Yagi transformed into All Might, surprising Inko and making her yelp, "A-all Might!"

"Yes. This brings me to what I really wanted to discuss. Firstly let me explain," Yagi said and pulled up his shirt, "Five years ago, I was horribly injured in a fight. I lost my lung. Since then, I have a time limit to how long I can maintain my All Might form,"

Inko nodded, "But why are you telling me this so suddenly? There is no reason to,"

"My quirk is One for All," All Might said.

Before he could continue, Izuku interrupted, "Yagi-sensei! Is it alright discussing this in front of him?" he nodded to Torino who didn't look like he had been insulted. He was about to retort when Watanabe interrupted, "Izuku, I think Yagi-sensei remembers he brought someone with him," Watanabe deadpanned.

"If anything, I should be more worried that Toshinori is talking about One for All in front of another kid," Torino chortled.

Watanabe smiled, "I already knew. If I am right, you must have been the one to teach All Might? Possibly even the previous user of One for All?"

Torino laughed, "Nedzu was right, you are quite observant. However, no I am not the previous user of One for All. I did teach All Might though,"

"Can we wrap this up first?" Inko said. Torino nodded.

"I have an offer. Your son, I am aware is quirkless but he has the heart of a hero. If he could be a hero, what would you say?" Yagi asked.

Inko's face became slightly sad at that, "I would say that's impossible but with that article, it was pointed out that UA does accept quirkless people too. If Izuku gets in, I will support him, no matter what! Even though it will make me worry for his safety,"

Izuku was shocked, he had expected his mother to say that he probably couldn't, like when he had been a kid. He didn't hate his mother but he thought that would be her reply, so her change in attitude was... overwhelming to say the least.

"What if he could become a hero with a strong quirk? Would that ease your mind?" Yagi asked with a smile.

"Wh-what are you saying?" Inko asked.

"As I said, my quirk is One for All, it gives me super strength. However, it can also be passed on from one person to another to another,"

Inko's face glimmered in slight hope, "A-are y-you s-saying that," she stuttered with tears in her eyes.

"Do you agree, to let me pass my quirk onto Izuku?"

"Yes, yes I do," She replied amidst tears. She turned to hug Izuku, "Izuku, you are going to be a hero!" Izuku also wept silently as the two embraced each other. Torino smiled and then sped up and kicked Yagi straight in the head. Yagi fell with a thump to the ground. Izuku and Inko yelped in surprise, "A-all Might!" Izuku exclaimed with worry. Watanabe on the other hand exclaimed, "Where's a camera when you need one!"

Torino slightly smiled, he could see why Nedzu liked Watanabe, not that Izuku was bad either. He had all the characteristics of Yagi but was smarter! And considering, he had Watanabe as a brother, he had a feeling he'd be a Nedzu favorite too. He turned his attention back to All Might, "Tell the dangers and drawbacks,"

Yagi nodded in pain, "One danger is that, if Izuku's body is fit at the time of transfer, he might blow up," Yagi said slowly.

"What!?" Inko nearly yelled.

"But, don't worry! That's why we have been training hard, there are parameters of safety for this quirk. I will only transfer it then,"

"How can you be sure?"

"Well, seven other people had this quirk before me, so," Yagi half-deadpanned.

"Oh," Inko replied, a bit embarrassed at her outburst, "I'm still not completely onboard. I need some time to think about that, but Izuku can still train with you in the meantime,"

"Great! And, uh that's it," Yagi finished.

"Ok..." Inko said not sure what else to say, "Are they going to be training today, or should we head home?"

"Izuku needs it. However, I am in no shape to help Watanabe, today. Sorry," he groaned.

"Don't be, Imma talk with, er, what's your name old man?" Watanabe asked.

Torino laughed, "Call me Torino, kid,"

Yagi balked, "How come you didn't hit him?" Yagi yelped as he was kicked once more, "Simple, I kind of like him,"

Inko laughed slightly, "Come, Yagi-san. Since we have time, we will talk more about the transfer of One for All," she offered. Yagi nodded and followed, hunching over in pain.

"Now then," Torino said, "Care to explain how you realized I am All Might's teacher,"

Watanabe shrugged, "Firstly, Yagi-sensei was being way too respectful. I didn't even see him being so respectful in court,"

Torino almost laughed at that. Watanabe smiled and continued, "Then there was the fact, he was in obvious pain, due to his stance, he was also trembling and was leaning away from you. Then, he started talking about One for All, which meant you are someone he trusted. Due to your age, I concluded, that you are his teacher,"

"Hmm, very good! Very good indeed," Torino replied, "Now, tell me about your cousin, how good is he, truthfully,"

Watanabe nodded, "He is intelligent, way more intelligent than me. But, Aldera was bad, very bad. They bullied him for not having a quirk and humiliated him, called him a cheater if he showed the barest shreds of intelligence. Cuz, apparently quirkless don't have brains", Watanabe spat. "My grades aren't bad in itself but his is better, not to mention his analysis. On the spot, yes, I do weaknesses, and he does strengths but with the proper amount of time, he can do both, I can rarely find strengths for a quirk. The main outlier, I'd say, is that I twist the rules, Izuku is scared to, but if he snapped..." Watanabe let the silence fill out everything else. "So, ya, he is intelligent, but he hides it, tries it make himself a smaller target, and he will almost never act on it. Cuz, that's how he has been conditioned, you know. Not unless someone's life is on the line at least. People have been so cruel to him that he will blindly trust anyone who is acting like a nice guy, cuz surely if someone is being nice to the quirkless him, they must be good of heart. He has the innocent outlook of a child, I guess that's how he kept his sanity," Torino nodded, Watanabe did seem to have given an honest description of Izuku. It seemed like Yagi had gained a good successor and another good kid too.

"You are rather smart," Torino complimented, "But do you have combat skills? To be a hero you need to be at least average in all the fields," Torino said.

"Well, I am training with Yagi Sensei and going to a dojo for martial arts. I have weights to help me as well so I think I will be able to keep up with villains," Watanabe said with determination.

Torino nodded, "What about your quirk?"

"Huh?" Watanabe said before grinning, "It's eye color changing,"

Torino immediately understood that Watanabe was hiding a part of what his quirk was. Torino laughed, "Smart choice kid, never tell anyone what your quirk is if possible. A lesson most heroes forget,"

Watanabe smiled kindly in reply.

Torino didn't push any further about his actual quirk and instead moved to quiz him more about himself and Izuku. He smiled slightly, it would be interesting to see what the two cousins would do,"

The room was dimly lit, glass shattered across the floor like someone had been on a rampage. A sole monitor was hung on the wall, replaying first-hand footage of the vigilante attack. All for One growled as the footage replayed again, the blue flames burning the goons he'd hired. Those idiots from the commission had wanted Denki dead for disrespecting their 'precious' Endeavour. He had had to oblige, knowing if he didn't, they might expose him. He couldn't afford that, not yet anyway.

He thought he would have gotten a deal out of it too, by stealing the brat's strong quirk and keeping it for himself. He might have even transferred it to some Nomus and would have gotten another body too, but that was not what happened. All For One could not understand why his plans has suddenly crashed. That article: it was the source of all this damage, albeit indirectly. It hadn't done anything to his experiments or Nomu production but his grasp on the villain society was slowly slipping away, not that one would realize from the outside but he had been playing the game for a long time, he can shifts already occurring. That Storm and Chaos, or Nedzu, or whoever it was, was going to pay dearly when he found them.

Problem was, most vigilantes had unofficially taken it upon them to ensure Storm and Chaos' protection. That blue-flamed guy, the hero hunter, Stain, and so many more. Not to mention, the villain redemption program headed by the police had received so many villains surrendering themselves, that their facilities had to be improved. For now, he would keep on with the experiments. He glanced at another monitor, that black-haired, yellow-haired, and green-haired kid... he had seen them first in the mall interview, then the Death Arms confrontation. He hadn't paid much attention then but during that Aldera case... The yellow-haired one was strong but that black-haired one seemed troublesome. Similar to how he controlled fellow villains for his dirty work, that kid had manipulated Endeavour against himself.

Then, there was the green-haired one. He didn't seem too troublesome, but he knew he must be special too to keep up with the other two, and at least one in the courtroom was the next successor of One for All. He had seen All Might's weakened form and he knew he wouldn't offer to be the typewriter for just about any case. He had to have a reason. Then again, that damn rat, Nedzu might have asked, but All for One was keeping his options open. Sadly, he couldn't get anyone to do surveillance for him at the moment, the word had been spread across the villain community, by the vigilantes "Keep clear of those kids, if you don't want to die,"

All For One chuckled slightly, things were heating up. It would be difficult now, but all the more better when he squashed hero society under his feet. As for All Might's successor, he would have to wait. No doubt they would be attending UA next year with their skill and interest from the pro heroes. He could wait till the sports festival. For now, he would work to reverse the article's effects to the best of his ability and assess the damage done. But before that, he'd give it one last shot, he'd send a team to that black-haired kid's house. Strength-wise, he could get the yellow-haired one, but the other two were capable of fighting him from behind the shadows. Nedzu had been interested in them too, so if he was right and the attack was successful, he would be wiping out Storm and Chaos tonight.

A/N: Leave a review, follow, and favorite. :)