"What are you going to do with Young Kageyama, Airi-san?" All Might asked, now in his deflated form. Airi was one of the few who knew what he really looked like. He could still hold his muscular form for many days before needing to rest, but whenever he did have privacy, he was in this form. Sunken eyes and skeletal frame that was in such contrast to his "All Might" persona that you'd never recognize him in public. Eraserhead had already left, back to doing his underground hero work.

"I'm going to take him with me to Seasoning City to live with me for short while. I know it's still the middle of the school year but... going to school right now, like this, it won't be good for him. There, I'll homeschool him with my son, Ritsu. They're close in age, and Ritsu loves him like a big brother. Hopefully there, he can heal his emotional scars to a degree."

"Hn." He nodded, agreeing that getting away from the nostalgia of the home he used to live will help him to overcome this sad part in his life. "What about his power? Young Kageyama has one of the most peculiar and strongest quirks I've ever seen. Do you know what it could be?"

She took a moment, taking in all of the information she'd seen, and what she knew about their family. "Yes. When quirks were first being discovered, our ancestor was one of the first. They called his power "E.S.P." or "Extrasensory Perception.". There were many who have that type of power now, but what made his special was that it was basically limitless. And there were parts of his mind that were untapped, like what we saw in that video. It was said that that power was simply called "The Unknown", not much else is known."

"How unlimited is it? How strong can this child possibly become."

"Very, Yagi-san. He absorbs energy, utilizes it, sees and manipulates it, and can potentially copy it if he understands it enough. And his energy? He has an almost unlimited supply of it that refuels on its own, taking it from nature, the air. Heck, he could probably take energy from you or me if he needed to. At least, that's what I've read. It could be different."

All Might stiffened at that. Did that mean he could take One-For-All from him or accidentally copy it? As if reading his mind she shook her head. "No, Yagi, he can not. It's not that all powerful. He can just read, understand, and manipulate energy through his sixth sense. "

"Ah." He said, feeling a little embarrassed at himself.

"Besides," Airi added, caressing the side of the sleeping child's peaceful looking face. "His body is much too fragile for One-For-All. Just tapping into his power too early caused him to be in this weakened state. His body isn't able to handle the amount of energy he can theoretically control. The quirk is powerful... and there's only so much he can take in with such a frail body. Our ancestor was said to also be terrible physically when he was young, so I guess Yuuma was perfect for this quirk." Airi said sadly.

"Hn." He said, looking at the child. He still had an IV in his arm giving him fluid. The doctors had said he'd just overexerted himself, and he'd be discharged the day after tomorrow. Airi had already packed a few of his things from his house, everything he'd needed, and everything he said he wanted in the short amount of time he was awake.

"How will you train him?" He said after a pause of comfortable silence. Airi's quirk wasn't anything like his. It was called Mind's Eye, and it was a sensory type of ability great for locating and reading people. Her natural battle sense made her very formidable in a battle close-quarters, and her natural strength was very high compared to normal people. She'd been recommended to become a hero many times because of it, but chose instead to become a policewoman.

For the simple reason that she didn't want the fame that came with being a hero. She liked police work better. But it was more than that. Every second of every day she was seeking out cases, her badge was always on her. Airi was with a special unit on the police force that dealt with underground problems that were too much for the regular police force to handle. She had the legal leeway to investigate what she found suspicious, and was able to avoid the fame that would ultimately just get in the way of that.

All Might was sure that she'd put away as many villains as he had saved civilians.

"I have my ways." She said cryptically, causing the older male to scoff at her. She never did tell him how she did it. She was strong, beautiful, and mysterious. It had gotten late into the night, and All Might still had many things to do, she knew this. Of course, he wanted to keep her company a bit longer, knowing that this was a difficult time for her, but she was having none of it. "Bye, All Might. Hopefully we get to see each other under much happier circumstances."

"Yes. I hope so too. I'll visit you when I get the chance." With that, he said his final goodbyes, and left Airi alone with her sleeping nephew.

How had she met those two? Well, it was kind of a funny story. Both of them had met for the same reason: Work. She'd worked cases with Shota, be it infiltrating villain hideouts, stake outs, investigations, or just beating up bad guys, many times. They built up a mutual trust in each others skills. Outside of work, they'd occasional meet up, and that trust became friendship. He was a no-nonsense type of guy with a slightly sadistic sense of humor.

Yep, they became good friends real fast.

As for All Might, well, that one was a bit more complicated. Or ridiculous. She wasn't sure which one it was more of. Where to even start with that one? Why it was ridiculous then. How they met?

"I AM HERE... COMING INTO THE POLICE STATION!" He'd burst through the doors at breakneck speed, most likely trying to get away from the press. He stood there in all of his All Might glory, striking his pose with his hands on his hips and that blindingly wide smile on his face. While everyone else, especially the newbies in the precinct, were in awe of his greatness, Airi resisted the urge to facepalm.

"Um, yeah, We can see you." She deadpanned, earning a nervous sweat drop from the number 1 hero. That was the first of many cases she'd worked on with the man, and her first thoughts about him? He was a dork. A seven foot tall dork with muscles. "Come on, we got work to do."

And thus their partnership began. The same with Shota, Yagi proved himself to be formidable, even with his silly tendencies. He wasn't all that bad to be around, and she found herself liking the fact that he lightened the mood. A dork with a good heart. He would burst into a room with way too much energy and constantly announce "I AM HERE" and continue with whatever he was doing. She'd found out that he was best friends with her colleague, Naomasa Tsukauchi, and because of how often they had to work together, she saw the blonde muscle giant almost just as often.

And then came when he got injured, and the battle that took the life of his mentor. This is where everything became complicated. It was a job they were working together, and she had infiltrated their base of operations. It was a very sad day, and also the day she found out about One-For-All. She and Naomasa headed the investigation, and because she was on a special force that dealt with these levels of crime, it was in her best interest to know all of the facts.

That, and Yagi was comically bad at lying when caught red handed.

She stayed in touch while he was in recovery, and without realizing it became friends with him. Of course, her family knew nothing of this and she planned to keep it that way. It was too dangerous.

And now her thoughts returned to that villain... It was strange. A cluster of concentrated energy, more than likely due to a quirk, or even worse, a multitude of quirks. The energy itself had been taken care of by Yuuma without him knowing it, but the vessel used for said energy was still there. An experiment gone wrong? Probably.

Everything in her was screaming to investigate further, and she knew from experience to always trust her gut feeling. So, she dialed a number on her phone, and hit the call button.

"Hello, Detective Naomasa speaking."

"Yo, it's Kageyama."

"Kageyama-san! It's nice to hear from you." Silence for a moment. "How are you doing?"

"Not fine at the moment, but I will be eventually." She answered honestly. "But enough about me, I want to re-open the case."

This took him out of friend mode and into detective mode. "I assume you have a good reason."

"A hunch, a gut feeling, and evidence that seems too out of place not to look further into. I hope I'm wrong and I'm just being paranoid but—"

"But your hunches have never been wrong." He finished. "I'll see what I can do."

"Yeah, thanks. Talk later I guess."

"Until then, Kageyama-san." Airi hung up the phone, letting out a long, low, tired sigh.

She really hoped that for the first time one of her hunches was wrong.

-A few months later-

Yuuma woke up in his new room, a dull feeling in his chest. He'd cried all of his tears out ages ago, and the outburst that came with it was very scary. So, from that point on, he'd bottle up his emotions. He'd try his best to keep them in check. From 0 to 100. Each one would be in a separate box in his mind. Each negative emotion would be locked up, and very hard to open. One by one, he locked them away, until his once vibrant and happy face was replaced with one that had no emotion at all. He put all of his emotions in a box and didn't want to ever let them out.

A shell that was seemingly empty. Yes, this was much safer. He couldn't risk almost hurting his aunt again, or his cousin Ritsu. He needed to keep it at bay, keep it contained. He needed to learn control. He got ready to go, his aunt wasting no time in their preparation to leave. They had a small, family only funeral for his parents. And after that, they left for his new temporary home in Seasoning City.

His aunt and cousin were worried when they noticed this change in him, but this went completely unnoticed by Yuuma.

He did not say goodbye to any friends, he did not give notice to them of his leaving. He wasn't in the right state of mind to do so. Overnight, he became an orphan. It wasn't something he could just get over in a few days. He'd never get over it.

His parents were heroes, and they protected the futures of many people through their efforts to put away villains and stop crimes before they started. They saved lives... but in doing so, they left him behind. But to everyone else, they were heroes.

He knew that he'd rather be a doctor, or a scholar, or a scientist... If he was going to be a hero, what kind of hero could he even be? He wasn't strong and his quirk wasn't flashy. Or maybe it was? He didn't know... he'd only had it for a few months. But his parents' quirks weren't flashy either. His parents were brave, and had a strong will. They gave everything they had to fight for what they thought was right.

'Never be too afraid to do the right thing.'

Was dying the right thing then? Was orphaning your son the right thing? He was without parents, his aunt was without her only sister, his grandparents each lost a child. How was this right? They should have lived, they deserved to live. His mom and dad did nothing wrong to deserve this.

Was it his fault? Was it because he wanted vanilla ice cream? Is that why he didn't have parents anymore? Was he being selfish? Was this God's punishment on him because he didn't want them to fight? What right did it have to take them away from him? What right did anyone have to take them?!

25%

He quickly dismissed these negative, angry thoughts. He knew his parents much better than that, even if he only got to have 5 years with them. A hero is someone who protects the future of strangers, who keeps them smiling, and full of hope. A hero is someone with the resolve to give up everything for the greater good.

His mom and dad had been heroes. They gave up everything for the person most precious to them. Yuuma didn't know if he could do something so amazing. Was it amazing? Or was it foolish? He wasn't sure anymore. Since the incident his feelings had become a lot harder to pinpoint and recognize.

It was a lot harder to smile than it used to be. No, it was practically impossible. He no longer found what he used find funny humorous anymore. He kept studying, hoping to fill up the hole that he didn't know had started forming. A distraction from how hollow he felt now. Should he be concerned about this? Where was his happiness? His joy? His amusement? His sadness? His anger? He couldn't really tell what he was feeling anymore. It was numb, his emotions felt numb. He'd locked his emotions and buried them deep within himself, now he couldn't find them.

Why did they do it when they could have ran to safety? No, he knew the answer. It was painfully simple. If he had a chance to protect someone that was precious to him, if he was ever in the same situation... he would do the same thing.

He'd give everything for them, and he wouldn't regret it. He began to write in his notebook, putting his passing thoughts onto the blank page. He kept that silent dream in the back of his mind because he thought he'd never be able to make such a choice.

In his new room at his aunt's house, he sat at his desk. It was the middle of the night, and both his cousin and aunt were fast asleep. He took out a notebook, flipping to an empty page and writing his current thoughts. Thoughts on his future.

A future without his mom, without his dad...

'Doctor, Scholar, Scientist' he wrote down... That was what he told them. He was so happy thinking about the possibilities. But that day... that horrible, awful, terrible day...

The tears were welling up in his eyes, dripping down to his paper. What was this? Oh yeah, this feeling was grief(?). It's heavy and murky and suffocating. It's like drowning in a dream you wish weren't real, but it is. All of this time, Yuuma felt like he was drowning. He couldn't feel anything because all of his other emotions had been overwhelmed. Soon enough, the tears overflowed from the edges of his eyes and onto the mostly blank page and small hiccups escaped his lips. The fond memories rushing through his mind only causing the sadness to rise.

'"Hey Buddy! Wanna see an illusion?" His dad said, giving him his signature smile with his single closed eye. Yuuma nodded, always loving when his dad did his illusions. The room became wavy as it shifted from being couches and a TV to an underwater wonderland.

Yuuma could see the sun shining from beneath the clear blue waters. The coral reef shimmered in the warm light and the little schools of colorful fish swam past the child who was in awe. At the center of the reef the coral resembled a stage, and poor Yuuma struggled to keep from laughing as he could see it was full of goofy looking fish doing clumsy acrobatics. One particular fish caught Yuuma's eye.

"Hahaha Daddy! Why does that fish have a clown outfit on?! That's so silly!"

"Aren't all clownfish just fish dressed as clowns?"

"No!" Yuuma laughed. Some looked like his grandparents doing a silly dance, their faces on the bodies of wacky looking sea creatures. "That one looks like Grandma doing the worm! And—Daddy?!" His dad decided to join in on the illusion and turned his suit into a fish costume, wiggling his arms in a wavy fashion while crab walking side to side, making sure to make fish lips and beady, focused eyes. He was practically rolling. Yuuma had never seen anything more ridiculous and proceed to laugh his tiny lungs out.

"Yuu-chan!" His mother called. Yuuma got up from whatever it was he was doing and immediately went to see what she wanted. When he got there his mother was on the ground, sighing dramatically. Yuuma started giggling, knowing exactly what was going on.

"My Energy is depleting! I need your help!"

"I'll help you, Mommy!" Yuuma exclaimed.

"Quickly my sweet little angel! I can't last much longer!" She said dramatically, earning another giggle from the three year old. She was sprawled out on the floor waiting for Yuuma to rush over to her. He leaned down, placing a little kiss on her check and she immediately shot up. "I've been revived! My son's kisses are the best!" Yuuma couldn't help but laugh at his mother's silliness.

She proceeded to pick up the small child, and the baby had a great idea. He leaned in and gave her another kiss on her cheek. She stopped dead to stare at her son who was smiling form ear to ear. "If I give you more kisses, you'll have more energy!"

She squealed and spun, squeezing her little bundle of joy while returning his kiss with her own on his little forehead. "My son is the best son in the world! Now that I have so much more energy... I can do this!" She proceeded to make the little guy float in the air, flying at a steady pace around her as he erupted into gleeful excitement. "Higher Mommy!"

"Up you go, Yuu-chan!" She lifted him up until his hand could touch the ceiling, and then floated him back into her arms where he proceeded to give her one more kiss on her cheek. "I love you, Mommy!"

"I love you too, Yuu-chan." She said, a fond, warm smile on her face.

'I'm sorry, buddy.' His father's tears as he put him to sleep.

'We're going to protect you, Yuuma.' His mother's sobs and she floated him away.

'We love you, Yuuma' Their backs turning towards him as everything faded to black.

Now the tears were coming full force, no longer able to be contained. He was drowning, he was suffocating, but he was still breathing. The air was clear, the room was big, but he felt as if he were trapped in a small box. The pain he felt in his chest was different from normal pain, it was much worse because there was nothing he could put on it to ease it.

Part of him wanted this to be just one long nightmare, but everyday he'd wake up and nothing ever changed. The dreadful feeling of waking up to find out it really did happen, and nothing was ever going to change it was something Yuuma would have to live with.

That day, they'd asked him what he wanted to be. And he naively said he'd be a hero just like them. But he saw first hand what being a hero meant. His parents were so brave, and so strong. They saved so many lives, stopped so many villains.

No matter how sad they were, they fought on.

No matter how scared they were, they fought on.

No matter how hurt they were, they fought on.

That was what a hero was. Yuuma didn't understand the weight of the burden back then, but now? Now he knew it all too well.

"I'm not strong like you were. It's scary, and bad things happen. They did happen, but... I—I don't want to be too scared to do the right thing...you were the greatest ever, and I don't know if I'll ever be so cool, so strong, so fearless, but... maybe... maybe..." And in the smallest, faintest letters, through the tears that clouded his vision, he wrote one last dream job. One last thought that he wasn't sure about anymore, one that he buried deep within himself.

His silent dream. One last hope as the memory of their smiling faces reappeared in his mind.

'Yuuma, you can be a hero!'

[A/N] Are you hurting? Because I most definitely am.