Me: Oh man, people are gonna be PSYCHED about the huge plot twist reveal in this chapter!
Everyone else: FEMZUKU, FEMZUKU, FEMZUKU.
Well, it's good to see my points are hitting home. Not that I'm complaining of course, it's endlessly amusing to see what you guys take away from each chapter, plus it gives me fuel for possible filler points in the story. It DOES make me wonder what you'll take away from this one, though.
Oh, small note, this chapter has a slight Manga spoiler (it's in the last section of the chapter) so if you want to avoid it, just skip the final part.
Anyways, with that said, read on my peeps!
"Ugh, it really sucks Izuku couldn't be with us today," Ochaco whined as she placed her hands behind her head, "But I mean, he's hanging out with his dad so…"
There was a pause from the group.
"God, that's got to be weird. Hanging out with the literal devil all day."
"We should have given him a list of questions to answer, think about what we could have learned!"
"I doubt the King of Hell would be so willing to answer the questions of a group of high school students, even if they had befriended his only son."
"We shouldn't bother him with stuff like that," Hitoshi cut in, his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, "I mean, he's still getting used to even being around his dad. The last thing we should do is use him like some… hotline to hell."
"Hotline to Hell, new band name, called it," Ochaco said with a wide grin.
The mall around them was busy as one might expect for a blazingly hot Saturday afternoon. Thankfully, the inside of the mall itself was only warm, not hot, though even with its giant fans and attempt at climate control, it still couldn't overcome the full fury of a Japanese summer's day.
The group, who had still yet to decide on a cool gang name, had gathered to shop and prepare for the upcoming school camp trip and were now strolling casually through the mall. Each of them had the pre-required list of items that UA was asking for, but Ochaco had heard from the gossip within the classroom that really UA was fine with them not having the exact requirements as long as they still served the same purpose.
Which was a blessing for her considering she worked everything on a budget so slim it would cause Ebenezer Scrooge to get out his wallet.
Still, Tenya had offered to pay for anything Ochaco couldn't get herself, telling her that he knew she was good for any money he spent on her. Though Hitoshi had always thought that was just code for being nice and he never truly intended to ever ask for the money back.
In typical Ochaco fashion, however, she had vehemently denied any offer of loan money and was determined to somehow get everything on the list within her meager bank balance.
Somehow.
Hitoshi, however, had other things on his mind. All Might had pulled him aside the other day to give him some more information on his quirk, most notably the history of it.
And of the villain he now suspected of working with the Heralds.
All For One. The legendary 'Emperor of the Underworld', though All Might had never called him that. Hitoshi had been gifted with a particularly bad bout of insomnia after their meeting and had spent all night looking up whatever he could about the man.
There was very little, with some historians not even considering him a real figure, but an amalgamation of various crime bosses over a hundred-year period.
A hundred years of one man ruling the criminal world from the shadows. And now he had teamed himself up with the Heralds, a group whom Hitoshi knew was secretly controlled by a Fallen Angel.
Satani, She Who Wants, He Who Takes.
Of course, he hadn't been able to tell All Might this. He hadn't been able to tell anyone this. He intended to eventually let Fumikage and Izuku know, but he wanted to tell them both at the same time in some private setting.
Either way, the news was deeply, horribly troubling.
An immortal, moral-less, possibly soulless crime lord, one who had the power to challenge All Might on one hand, and an immortal, moral-less, possibly soulless Fallen Angel on the other.
He shuddered at the implications, and at the possible challenges ahead.
"Hey, Hitoshi, are you alright?" Ochaco's words brought the young man back to the present, and he blinked, looking up and out of his internal musings.
He forced a tired smile onto his face, "Yeah, sure. Sorry, just… thinking about the camp."
"As we all should be," Tenya's hand came down in a chopping motion, "We need to be prepared for the intense training ahead! As U.A. students, it is our responsibility and our honor to work as hard as we can for our future as heroes!"
"… so, I wonder if we'll get to sit around and tell campfire stories," Ochaco asked with a thoughtful expression.
As Tenya began trying to remind Ochaco of the importance of hard work, and as she seemed intent to ignore him, Hitoshi let out a small breath. He hoped this trip would go well. The Heralds hadn't popped their heads up to say hi since Hosu, and as far as All Might knew, had gone completely silent.
Though they both knew that when there was a long stretch of nothing, it usually meant it was leading up to a big something by the end of it.
Yet again, he was broken out of his thoughts as a sudden loud, harsh shout, barked his way.
"HEY! NERDS!"
The four of them stopped and, collectively turned to see four other students quickly approaching them.
Hitoshi smirked, internally glad for the distraction but did it have to be them?
Coming to stand in a line before them, was Katsuki, Ibara, some blonde kid who Hitoshi remotely remembered as being Neito from the Sports Festival, and someone he was sure he'd seen before but couldn't quite put a name to. A girl with flowing, seaweed green hair, a laughing, sharp-toothed smile, and sharper crocodile-green eyes.
He also couldn't help but notice that they were all dressed in… lighter clothes than himself and his own friends. Literally. While himself, Fumikage, Tenya, and Ochaco tended to darker shades, mostly thanks to their shared enjoyment of loud, fast rock music, the group before him wore brighter shades of greens, yellows, and reds.
How ironic.
"Where's your fucking ringleader?" Katsuki barked, his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. "Where's Deku?"
"He's not here," Fumikage replied in his low tone, eying Monoma carefully "He's busy today."
"Cavorting with the forces of darkness no doubt," Ibara replied with a sigh before clasping her hands together, "I pity your souls for being so corrupted."
"We're not corrupted!" Ochaco snapped back, "And neither is he!"
"Coulda fooled me," Neito chuckled before looking to Fumikage, "Tell your demon I'll get him back for what he did to me, making it so I see those horrid little creatures everywhere."
Fumikage seemed to pale at this, if the black feathers on his face could pale, "You- you know about-"
"Ibara filled me in. The unborn, demons, all that stuff," Neito breathed out a quick sigh before putting three fingers to his forehead in some dramatic pose, "I was almost lost, but now I am saved! Well, sort of. At least now I know who and what I need to fight."
"I- erm-"
"Don't get me wrong, I don't blame you for what happened, it was still my own fault. But I will find a way to get revenge on Dark Shadow," he chuckled and ran a thumb across his throat, "He and all his demonic kind are going down."
This was met with a quick elbow in the ribs from Katsuki, "Don't say that shit so loud, moron."
"So, what's your deal?" Hitoshi asked the new girl, giving her a cautious look, "You seem to be, you know, in the know."
"I'm Setsuna, Setsuna Tokage," She gave a quick, and frankly considering her company, friendly bow to the group, "I'm looking forward to fighting you guys, eventually! Or fighting with you against evil, or both! I dunno, either way it's gonna be lit," She clasped her hands together and grinned, taking advantage of the clear shock she had caused, "Hey, is it true that Izuku is the son of, what was his name? Lucifer? Is he like, the Prince of Hell or something?"
This really did shock the others, who looked to one another with worried expressions.
"Setsuna! Shut your mouth! We're in fucking public!"
"And you're swearing in public!" She snapped back, "Isn't that just as bad?"
"Okay, well, we'd love to sit around and talk shop all day," Hitoshi quickly announced, "But we've got a trip to plan for, so… how about we just call it a truce for today and you can fuck off, and we can fuck off, and we can just ignore one another."
"Sounds fucking fine by me," Katsuki growled out before looking to Ibara, "What about you?"
Ibara seemed to think for a moment, her eyes lingering on Hitoshi. For a moment, Hitoshi wondered if she somehow knew about One For All too. Had Izuku told her? No, surely not. Yet her gaze was so piercing.
"… without the Son of Evil here, I have no reason to quarrel with you all. Other than for the states of your damned souls," She shrugged and looked away, "But I am trying to become more… forgiving. So, I'm fine with a truce."
"Besides, this place is easily big enough for all of us to shop in peace," Tenya cut in, "And as the Class One-A class president, I believe we should all uphold the values and morals of our esteemed high school!"
This was met with a moment of silence.
"… okay, whatever, weirdo," Katsuki turned and began walking away, "You and your little Goth Crew can go do whatever. Come on, guys."
As they walked away, with Monoma shooting them a quickly pulled tongue, Ochaco called out, "Well, you and your… God Squad can go... do something- okay they're out of earshot, damn it."
The group turned their backs on their would-be rivals and began walking deeper into the mall.
There was a moment of quiet before Hitoshi broke it, "God Squad, huh? That's not bad."
"Not as good as Goth Crew." Ochaco sighed and looked away, "God, that's a cool nickname for the group."
"They really need a better attitude towards their fellow students. We're only trying to do our best in a world filled with unknown dangers."
"Mmm."
Fumikage's response caused the others to pause and look to him.
"Are you okay, Fumi?"
"I'm fine."
Hitoshi shared a look with the others, well, except for Fumikage who seemed to be very focused on the floor before him.
It quietly hit them all that Fumikage had been sharply reminded that his quirk had permanently effected Neito's life, which was an old hurt that he hadn't completely gotten over. To bring it up again so suddenly…
"Hey, I'm going to go get some drinks. It's way too hot anyway," Hitoshi announced swiftly, "Be right back guys."
"Hitoshi, you don't have to-"
"Oh nooo, I'm too far awaaay," Hitoshi called as he quick-stepped away from the others, ignoring the look Fumikage was shooting him. He knew that the raven-headed teen was practically built on pride and guilt, so to even offer a hand was hard enough for him to take.
But this was a small thing that Hitoshi could do, something that he was sure would at least lift his spirits slightly.
And sometimes that was the best thing to do. Now wasn't the time to sit and talk him through his worries and fears, his regrets from things he couldn't control. Now was the time to make him smile and take his mind off the past for a little while at least.
Yet as Hitoshi split off from his friends and wound his way through the dense crowds, he couldn't help but think back on his own failures. Like not being there at Hosu, like being too late to stop that crazy cult guy in the USJ, or not thinking to try and stop Izuku when Nemesis had control of him.
He should have done more. He was the next Symbol of Peace. It was shameful that he wasn't doing more even now.
Sometimes, despite all his added strength, he felt helpless when it really mattered.
He came to stand in a line at a drink kiosk and began fishing in his back pocket for his wallet. He could afford to get everyone drinks, probably. Hopefully.
"Hey, could you lend me a couple of yen?"
The voice came from behind him and was scratchy and harsh. Hitoshi, so busy looking into his own wallet, didn't even look up, "Sorry, I've only got enough for-"
"Oh, hey, you're from UA, right? I saw you on TV," The voice got closer, and Hitoshi turned his head just in time for someone far taller and lankier than himself to drape themselves across his shoulders.
They were wearing a huge black hoody that drowned their form and the hood was up, hiding their face.
The sudden contact immediately sent red flags popping up within his brain. Not to mention he got a sudden nose-full of the person's scent, which seemed to be… candle flame? And something else hiding under it. A sort of decay that sent the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.
"Dude, what the f-"
"Yeah, I know you. You punched that fire kid in the face," The person, who was most certainly a guy, continued as his arm quickly began curling around Hitoshi's neck, "And you were at the USJ too, I spotted you standing up the top with all the other blind idiots." Hitoshi's blood ran ice-cold, and his struggling stopped, "Didn't see you at Hosu though. I guess you're not that eager to be a hero, huh?"
He took slow, deep breaths as his heart began hammering within his chest. He turned his lilac gaze to see the milk bottle pale skin, chapped lips, and almost sunken eyes of Tomura Shigaraki.
He felt the man's fingers curl around his neck, all except one, which he held barely a shuddered breath from his skin.
"Let's go sit down for a moment, huh? I wanna quick chat with you."
As Hitoshi allowed himself to be turned away his mind was flooding with every option he could think of. He could try and strike him before it went any further, but with his hand on his neck… dammit, One For All was useless in this situation.
But he still had Brainwash. He could still use it to take control of the man and end it here and now.
That was his best option.
As he was forced into sitting on the rim of a squared water fountain, which babbled and splashed innocently behind him, he managed to scramble up his courage and quickly started to ask, "So, are you just-"
But before he could finish, the fingers tightened on his throat and he let out a choked, strangled noise.
"I know what you're trying to do. Don't think you can get me with that little brainwashing trick of yours. Do you think I was stupid enough to come here alone? If my familiar even thinks I've been caught by you, they'll unleash a storm of demons on this place and it'll turn into a bloodbath."
Again, Hitoshi felt ice run through his blood as his one good option vanished in the wind. Was Tomura lying? He very well could be, though after Hosu… he couldn't take that chance.
So, Hitoshi played his last, and only, card.
He ran his big, stupid mouth.
"You call those things you showed off at Hosu demons? I've seen unborn that were scarier than that."
This caused Tomura to look at him in surprise, and while his grip didn't lessen any, it did give Hitoshi an advantage.
"Good. He's knocked off balance, if I can just keep him that way…"
"So, you know, huh? You know the truth."
"I hang out with the Prince of Hell, of course I know the truth." Hitoshi snapped off again, "So whatever two-bit demon claiming to be a Fallen you're getting your info from better back the fuck down before the King of Hell shows up to kick his ass into next week."
This was the wrong thing to say because again the fingers tightened around his throat and Hitoshi felt his airways close. He tried not to choke, and his fingers gripped onto his pant legs hard.
"Father Satani is not some demon, insolent infidel," Tomura hissed out in a tone so venomous it could have poisoned a snake, but then his fingers relaxed a little, and Hitoshi took in a thankful breath. "But… Izuku Midoriya now calls himself the Prince of Hell?"
… oh shit. He probably shouldn't have mentioned that to the one guy who was trying to murder him.
Before he could say anything more, however, Tomura continued.
"If it's true, it's just another sign that the apocalypse is coming, just like Father said it would. The Prince of Hell has been born, ready to claim the title from the King, just as I am destined to burn the earth to ash." His voice somehow became even lower, even harsher, "And yet another seeks to usurp my place at my Father's side while Sensei continues to focus on other, lesser members. Sometimes it feels I'm still being punished for what happened at the USJ, even though I brought Hosu to its knees."
Hitoshi had no idea how to respond to that, though Tomura's words lodged themselves into his mind. "Another seeks to usurp my place." Was there some kind of strife within the Heralds?
Maybe he could exploit that.
"If another is trying to replace you, maybe you should let them. Hand yourself in now, before it goes any further."
"Ha!" His laugh was like sandpaper on a chalkboard, "Do you really think I'd do that?"
"… well, it was worth a try."
"No, no. While that little bitch may scrape and debase herself for Father's favor, I know my place is to be the Ender of Days," Tomura growled deeply, "But if the Prince of Hell has risen…"
He seemed to go quiet for a long moment, so long that Hitoshi almost thought he could make a move to escape.
Then Tomura spoke again, "Tell me, Hitoshi Shinsou. When it seems as though others are trying to take your place, when you have nothing but failures to present to your Lords and Masters, what would you do?"
Hitoshi breathed slowly, carefully, knowing what could happen if all five of those fingers closed on his throat.
What could he say? What should he say? He felt as though if he lied, Tomura would know, and then who knew what would happen.
Dammit, he would have to tell the truth and hoped this monster would believe him.
For a moment, his memory ran with his own failures. The failure to stop Izuku from losing himself at the USJ. The failure to go to Hosu when he was needed there. The failure, here and now, to capture Tomura.
But he also thought about how others around him had fought so hard to get where they are now. Izuku, Fumikage, even Shoto. They had all clawed their way up from the darkness despite the world trying to hold them down.
He thought about the gift that had been handed to him, a gift to help others rise out of the shadow, to make their own voices heard.
He closed his eyes and gathered his courage.
"… I would try harder," He finally replied, the determination in his voice quiet, but made of iron, "I would do all I could to prove myself worthy and if others stand in my way, then I simply have to work harder to surpass them. "
"Work harder to surpass them…" Tomura echoed, before growing quiet once again. Hitoshi could feel his fingers tightening, and that index finger slowly, agonizingly, inching its way towards the skin on his neck. He felt the lighting surge of One For All gathering within him, his blood almost turning to electricity within his veins.
If he was fast enough, maybe he could smash Tomura's face in before he was turned to dust. His hand clenched into a fist, and purple sparks danced over it.
"I see," The finger moved back, and Hitoshi's heart almost stopped. "You know, that's not a bad idea."
Suddenly, the hand was let go from his throat, and Tomura stood up, tucking his hands into the pocket at the front of his hoodie, "Ah, you know, I feel much better after talking with you. I feel… focused."
"You're leaving?" Hitoshi was rubbing his neck, though he had yet to stand up. His eyes were trying to set fire to Tomura's back though so far, he was failing.
"I've got better things to do than spend my time with lesser beings," Tomura announced, waving his hand as he walked away, like they were old buddies or something, "Don't try to follow me, you know what'll happen if you do." Though he paused and turned just before he entered the crowd, "Be seeing you real soon, Hitoshi Shinsou."
Hitoshi blinked and scrambled to his feet, but Tomura had already vanished.
The mall had been cleared out not soon after, though the police and other heroes who had all been swiftly called in could find no trace of Tomura Shigaraki. He had appeared on a few security cameras but otherwise had vanished the moment he had exited the mall.
Hitoshi's friends had panicked and had, of course, rushed to his side the second he had managed to catch them again. He had even seen Ibara, Katsuki, Neito and Setsuna briefly, as the ex-templar had marched over to demand what the man had looked like and where he had gone.
Of course, their frustration was just as directionless and fruitless as his own.
He had left the mall early to go give a brief statement at the closest police station, and while the man he had talked to seemed friendly enough, it was the presence of the lawyer from UA who had sent his skin crawling.
The man had barged in barely thirty minutes after he had been pulled in and seemed… rather unkempt considering what Hitoshi had remembered of him. He looked as though he had changed quickly and rushed over while dodging traffic. He was even putting his tie in place as he had marched into the room.
He had reintroduced himself as Hisashi Hokori and had given both Hitoshi and the detective a quick bow. Apparently, he was there to make sure Hitoshi's rights were respected, though Hitoshi suspected he was also there so that anything that could be damaging to the school was kept confidential.
Ultimately, though, his purpose was unnecessary. Hitoshi answered the questions put to him as best he could though he avoided mentioning Izuku being the Prince of Hell and his ability to see small, shadowy monsters everywhere.
Thankfully, the police didn't seem to press him on those details, they were far more interested in what Tomura had to say about the Heralds, and his general demeanor. They seemed already resigned to the whole cultish, end of the world-style outlook of the Heralds, so thankfully did not seem shocked at the religious overtones of Tomura's words.
Hokori had mostly remained silent, simply taking a chair adjacent to the young man, noting things down on a phone he kept in his jacket, though Hitoshi couldn't help but notice he had looked up at the mention of The Ender of Days, Father Satani and at the grumblings Tomura had at this apparent usurper.
It was odd. Before when he had met the lawyer, he had seemed snakish and weird, but nothing that he wouldn't really expect from any lawyer. But this time he seemed… darker, and somehow thinner. As if his very being was being stretched by some invisible force acting on him.
Worse, was that every time he glanced at the man, he saw those burning, ice-cold blue eyes in that void-like sclera looking back at him. The way his hair was just a little messy and even the black coating on his fingernails.
He looks like Izuku.
The thought had crawled into the very back of his mind, though he didn't bring it up. It was probably just a coincidence.
Soon enough the statement had been given, his parents informed, and he had been free to go.
He had told Tsukauchi, who was the same kind, helpful detective he'd met after the USJ, he wanted to go outside to catch a breath of air while he waited for his parents to arrive. The truth was he could no longer stand the stifling atmosphere of the interview room and he need space to think.
The night sky had already gone dark. The air had become crisp, unusually so considering the heat of the day. But it was a clear sky above, which always gave the night an added chill.
Hitoshi breathed deep, yet he found his breath shuddering. His jaw tightened, and his hand clenched into a tight fist.
"Dammit," He hissed to the shadows cast by the overhead lamps, which only hummed in their silent electric response. "Fucking… Goddamnit."
"Young Shinsou?" The voice quickly brought Hitoshi out of his thoughts and he spun around, his eyes wide.
Walking towards him, dressed in surprisingly plain clothes, was All Might. Well, Toshinori Yagi in that form, but even so. The shock easily registered on his face, and the hero chuckled, a thin smile stretching across his lips, "Didn't expect to see me here?"
"I- no? I mean, why are you here?" He asked suddenly, "Not that I'm not glad to see you or anything but, you know, just-"
"The detective you talked too, Tsukauchi, he's handling the investigation into the Heralds, and besides, he's an old friend of mine. The moment he pulled you in he knew to give me a call." As he came to stand before the young man, he lowered his voice and hissed out, "He knows about One For All. He's one of the few in the world who do."
Hitoshi could have mentioned that number might have gone up a few but decided now probably wasn't the best time for it. Instead he simply breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, "Yeah, well, I guess he seemed friendly enough… good to know there's someone on the force I can rely on."
"Of course, you can rely on all of them. Well, mostly. Even I won't say the police are perfect, but neither are the heroes, for that matter." The hero chuckled before pausing again. Before Hitoshi knew it, a boney hand had reached out and touched his shoulder, "What's wrong?"
Hitoshi didn't answer right away. Instead, he stood for a moment, not making eye contact with his sensei and predecessor. How could he? He felt as though he was letting him down at every turn.
… maybe it was about time he said something about it? After all, keeping silent about things always seemed to make them worse, even if it was his default way of dealing with his problems.
Well, other than making dry-as-the-desert jokes about them.
"… All Might, are you sure you made the right choice when you picked me?" He spoke quietly, even though they were utterly alone in the dimly lit parking lot. His words were heavy on his heart and mind, and he could feel them dragging him down with every syllable.
Before All Might could reply, he pushed on, "I mean, it's just. At the USJ I could have stopped Nemesis with my quirk, but I didn't think to try and I told you to hurt my best friend and… and it almost… and then at Hosu I made the wrong choice on where to go with Gran and now today I could have- I mean I could have stopped Tomura, right then and there and I…"
He swallowed, and it felt thick in his throat.
"I just… I'm sorry. I feel like you gave me your power and I've not even saved a single person with it yet."
All Might was quiet for what seemed like an age. An age in which Hitoshi could feel the well of his inner doubts bubbling up within him. The old taunts of villain and evil were whispering back to his mind.
And then All Might spoke.
"You don't need One For All to help people, Hitoshi," The teenager looked up at the man, his eyes wide. Yet All Might's cool, impossibly strong gaze almost glowed in the darkness of the night, "You never have. You've been helping people since you came to UA, and I'm betting you were probably doing so before then. Today you saved an entire shopping center full of people, and you did it without using One For All. You used your head, you kept Tomura in one place when others might have panicked and tried to detain him. You provided new information to the police and furthered our understanding of his goals."
Hitoshi went to speak, but All Might help up a hand.
"You couldn't have known about Hosu, and you were barely conscious during the USJ. No one can ever blame you for the actions you took and telling me to stop Nemesis was what I needed to hear because without it I might have been too lax and that could have made everything so much worse than it was. Furthermore, when Izuku needed you again, at the beach, you were there for him, and I imagine you've been there for him, and all your friends, plenty of other times before and after."
"Yeah, but I… I let Tomura go. I could have- I mean- what if he was bluffing?"
"What if he wasn't?" All Might countered, causing Hitoshi to fall silent again. He sighed, then looked up to the sky, "You know, there could be someone out there right now who needs my help, and I wouldn't know it. Not even All Might can be everywhere at once. That's why you have to work at reaching those you can help," He ruffled Hitoshi's hair, causing an unintended smile to move across his face as he batted the arm away, "You're Altashjie, the voice of hope. If that's the case, then work hard to make sure that your voice reaches as many people as you can, that when they hear you, they know the symbol of hope has come to save them."
Hitoshi couldn't help it. He smiled, and the doubts that had plagued him were banished, if perhaps only for the time being.
The air felt lighter and with so much now cleared within his heart, he asked, "A-All Might, have you ever- I mean- has One For All ever-"
There was a sudden beeping from behind him and he turned his head to see his father pulling up in his beat-up old car which he refused to trade in. Knowing the moment was gone, Hitoshi pushed the question down and instead, decided to take a different direction.
With a wide grin, he turned back to his sensei and said, "Hey, All Might, come meet my parents!"
About thirty minutes later, and Toshinori was waving as the car bounced back onto the road and headed down the street. While he hadn't revealed himself as All Might, he had informed Hitoshi's parents that he was something of a teacher at UA, which had caused both of them, a tall man with sandy skin who looked exactly like Hitoshi except with black hair and brown eyes, to eagerly shake his hand over and over, and a woman with flowing purple hair and shining lilac eyes to give him a hug.
It had taken a moment for Hitoshi to calm them both down and assure them he was fine.
Either way All Might was glad to see the young man had parents who cared about him so thoroughly. Too many of his students, it seemed, had home lives that were strained and harsh.
As the car headed out of sight, he let a frown form onto his already thin and grimacing features.
The life of one student, in particular, came to his mind. A student with a family life shrouded in mystery, but one to which he was slowly, carefully, finding answers.
"He's a good choice."
He turned suddenly, almost bursting into his All Might form before he spotted him.
Hisashi Hokori.
The man was leaning against a lamppost, the only one in the parking lot that wasn't working, though Toshinori was sure it had been only a few moments ago. The darkness, as always, seemed to drape across the man, obedient as a loving slave. Even as he pushed himself from the post, the darkness did not seem to leave him.
"How- How long have you been there?"
"Does that matter? You have nothing to hide from me." Hokori said, moving to stand at the very edge of the circle of light that protected Toshinori, "Like I said, he's a good choice."
"I don't-"
"For One For All."
Toshinori felt his heart go cold in his chest, and his flower-like scar seemed to burn, as did the one around his neck.
"He's a brave one, that Hitoshi Shinsou. He'll do well as your successor, maybe even better than you."
For a moment, Toshinori felt as though he should argue, that he should continue to deny the accusation.
But by now, he knew better.
"… I guess I should say the same for your successor too," He countered, his eyes never leaving Hokori, "Izuku Midoriya, I mean."
The gamble worked, though not nearly as Toshinori had thought. For in the dark shadows of the night, even with the indirect light of the lampposts around them, the eyes of the man before him glowed. That terrible fire-ice blue, those eyes which seemed so ancient and great and wrong.
They glowed. Though not with anger, as Toshinori thought, nor with denial.
But with amusement.
"Why did you try to have Aizawa spy on me?" He asked suddenly, and Toshinori was sure now that as he spoke, he saw the flash of fangs within his smile, "Not that he succeeded of course, but what did you possibly think you could learn?"
"You don't deny it then?"
"You're playing a very dangerous game, All Might," The lawyer warned in a tone as soft as a knife-edge, "You have no idea what you're poking your nose into."
"I want my students to be safe," The hero replied, his hand clenching into a fist, "And whatever you're up to-"
"I am not up to anything," The man replied, then he began pacing the circle of light slowly, carefully, each step was as if he was stepping onto thin glass, and yet he never once took his eyes from Toshinori. "My only concern is Izuku Midoriya's continued safety, education and training."
"So why all the secrecy? What's going on between you and Hawks?"
The man suddenly laughed, and to Toshinori's irritation, it was genuine, "What's going on between us? You mean other than the fact my sibling is an idiot with a big mouth?"
Sibling. So, it was true, they were related.
"Listen to me, Toshinori Yagi. The only thing that you need to know is that we are not opposed to one another. Not with what's coming."
Toshinori paused on this, refusing to let the creeping darkness that seemed to worship Hokori unnerve him. The man seemed… greater in the shadows, like a pacing wolf stalking its prey, ready to pounce at any moment.
He would not allow that to happen. He would keep in the light, and he would hold his ground.
"And what is coming?"
Hokori stopped in his tracks, pausing, and frowning deeply. For just a second it seemed as though the terror the man possessed like a cloak over royal shoulders seemed to dissipate. Something more… human crept into his being, something that seemed so utterly unnatural on him.
Yet it was something that told Toshinori that he was being honest.
And that scared him.
"The dark is coming. Hell is coming," As he spoke his voice changed, something that made Toshinori's eyes widen because he had heard it before. But not from Hokori.
He had heard that very same echo from Izuku.
"The world will need Morningstar and Altashjie to stand shoulder to shoulder against the coming night and to lead those who are left once the tide washes back. The world is changing and there's nothing we can do to stop it."
Toshinori was speechless. His heart hammered in his chest as he looked upon… what was Hokori? What manner of man could cloak himself in shadow as he could, that could command the darkness as he could? Not even All For One had held such an unholy aura like this man before him.
… was he even a man?
"Toshinori!"
Toshinori turned to see Naomasa strolling towards him from the entrance to the station, a smile on his face and a hand raised in greeting.
Before the man could react, there was a sudden movement, a cross between a subtle breeze and the flicker of soft flame on a candlewick. He turned his gaze back to Hokori, but the man had already vanished into the night.
All For One was a patient man, or so he considered himself. He had learned patience after the first hundred years of his existence, and it had served him well. Never to dart into something when waiting, watching, and careful planning could work just as well.
Sometimes it would mean making subtle moves. A pawn lost here to make a better opening there.
Sometimes, however, his impatience did get the better of him. Maybe it was his condition that made it worse, the helplessness he felt with all these strange machines attached to him. He couldn't even breathe without the strange flesh-metal of the tube in his neck rubbing against the skin it had supposedly molded itself to.
He would have once thought such bio-mechanical horror impossible.
Now it was a fact of his existence.
He felt the portal open up behind him before he heard it, the sound of air rushing into a space that wasn't there before, almost like the gasping of a dying breath.
And then he felt the pressure of the Fallen Angel moving into his presence. He couldn't see Satani, he had never seen him except for strange, vivid visions that Satani had planted into his mind. But even they were hazy and unfocused as if the Fallen Angel found it amusing that he would never get a true understanding of them.
He liked to think that being around a Fallen was like normal people being around him. Though, deep in his heart, he knew it wasn't remotely the same.
People feared him because of who he was, of what he had done.
People feared the Fallen because it was encoded into their souls.
"Satani," All For One breathed, his voice harsh and grating. The good thing about speaking mostly though machines was that he could hide how much it hurt to even talk, though even that was a faint, distant pain, "You're here. Finally."
"I am here, finally, my dear Shigaraki."
The use of his name caused All For One to shudder. He didn't like being called by his actual name. He liked being called All For One. His quirk was him, after all, and he liked the idea that he was seen less of a man, and more of a force of nature. An impossible thing that consumed everything before it in a tide of blood.
But Satani simply ignored him for the same reason a human wouldn't fear an insect.
All For One was blind but he could see in a sense, by cycling through his various quirks. He found thermal sense gave the most accurate reading, even if everything he 'saw' was still just blobs of hot and cold.
He turned his head to see Satani move around him.
Satani both registered and did not register. They were both there, and not there. Hot and cold. A strange, static-like presence that was both dark and golden light to his blind eyes.
One thing he could focus on, however, was the fruit they were holding in one of their hands. A quick cycle to an enhanced senses quirk, told him it was an orange.
The Fallen Angel stopped beside his chair, and he could hear the soft tearing of the fruit's skin.
"You wished to talk to me?"
"I did," His hand clenched tight, "I've heard whisperings from the aspirants that you've taken a liking to Himiko Toga," His voice lowered into a growl, "Why?"
The golden-dark being before him chuckled, and he heard more of that soft tearing of citrus flesh. "Are you worried, my love?"
My love. The Fallen said that like it meant anything.
Satani couldn't love anything, except themself. Not to mention All For One had no love for Satani. He didn't even have a heart. How could he ever love anything?
"I am concerned about the effect this could have on Tomura. He is the Ender of Days, the bringer of ash and fire to the world. But if you are not fully focused on him-"
"I am capable of focusing on more than one thing at once, Shigaraki," Satani replied sharply, "Do you think I'm a fool?"
"No," If he could panic, he might have done. But he didn't have feelings, not really. He had echoes of feelings, long distant memories of true emotions. Though with Satani so close, he could feel them stronger than he usually could.
He took in a small breath, just to feel some air in his lungs.
"So, are you denying me the chance to experiment on my own? Would you want Tomura to go through the rest of eternity alone? Without another by his side?" Satani began moving around All For One, yet all the man could hear, over the sound of the ever-present unholy machinery keeping him alive, was the sound of sharp teeth softly tearing through the fruit. The wet ripping of its insides, the drip of juices on perfect lips. "Himiko Toga was sent to me for a reason. But she's not perfect, not yet. But I'll make her perfect." Their voice smiled softly. "Just like Tomura."
"So, what are you doing to her?" All For One asked, turning his head to follow as Satani circled him.
The Fallen Angel seemed to pause for a short moment, before saying, "Do you remember how I found you?"
The sudden, sharp change in topic almost threw the man, though he kept his cool, even as the echoes of emotions grew stronger within the heart he no longer possessed. His chest felt tight, and the blood seemed to slow in his veins. "… I remember."
"With your brains all over that cold, wet asphalt. You were already halfway to the underworld when I saw you," Satani passed out of his sight, but he didn't try to follow them, his body seemed frozen to the chair he was bound to.
A clawed hand draped across his shoulder. Almost lovingly.
Almost like a snake curling around his throat.
Images were forced into his mind. He didn't choose to remember, this was Satani making him remember.
The pain he felt, the cold, burning, numbing pain as he lay dying on the rubble-strewn floor. Everything was black and he couldn't move. He had felt as though he had been… floating, somehow. Moving downwards. Down into the dark. Into the ash. Into the all-consuming void.
And then a hand had reached out and taken his soul.
"You were so close to death, my love. So close. You still are, even now." The talons moved to the top of his hairless skull, then slowly traced down his side to his neck, "Just a second away from Hell."
All For One refused to feel fear. He couldn't feel fear. He couldn't feel anything.
And yet he couldn't deny the cold chill that ran over his pallid skin.
"But as long as I am here, you will live, I will make you strong again, strong so that when you pass your soul onto Tomura, he will receive all your power, not just a part of it." The soft tearing of the inside of the orange was right by his ear. Skin slowly ripping away between unholy talons, "And that's what I'm doing to Himiko Toga. I'm making her strong so that perhaps one day she too will join us as one of the immortals. Lucifer is not the only one who can create an heir, though his will die before the true heir of the Earth."
"And what about the other," He breathed out, feeling the movement of his lungs beneath his too-tight ribs, "What about All Might? Or his successor?"
"The Symbol of Peace? The Warrior of Mankind?" Satani chuckled and it was like ash snow landing on soft earth, "If he's not already picked his heir, he will do soon. But it won't matter. He and Tomura are destined to go to war, but Tomura will take their soul as well. They're all just fuel for the fire of his Armageddon."
A finger moved across his lips, so sharp that he felt it cut into his flesh, drawing a bead of blood that he could taste on his tongue. When Satani spoke, he was barely an inch from him, "Our shared dream is coming true, my love. All. Will. Burn."
And then the aura, that terrifying, oppressive, perfect aura moved away, and All For One felt his blood start to move through his body once again.
"Wait," All For One called out before Satani had completely faded from the room, "Please. Give me the dream again,"
"Why should I?" The softly echoing voice called back, "You questioned me. You should know never to question the master of your heart and the owner of your soul."
"Because I know the time is drawing close," All For One hissed out, "And I want to dream again before it all comes to an end."
There was a terrible silence, in which All For One felt the numbness of his corpse-body creeping into his mind. Dead but still moving. A marionette doll for a Fallen Angel to play with.
"… alright, just this once," The being moved close to him again. He felt something being pressed into his hand. It was the half-eaten orange.
Soft lips kissed the top of his head, and he took in a shuddered, death-rattle breath.
Then the dream began, seeping into his mind like wicked poison. The dream of fire and blood, of all that was good and right in the world collapsing to devastation and ruin. Of his enemies dead and dismembered, of hordes of monsters rising from the shadows and consuming the flesh of the living.
Of Tomura standing above it all, surrounded by death and decay.
His heir, the newly reborn Fallen of Earth.
And himself, not with his flesh prison but immortal, living on within his heir, their souls intertwined, forever.
Yes, that was the dream he wanted.
That was the dream of the world to come.
SO ABOUT THAT SATANIxAFO ENDING HUH. Though I kid, there is literally no love or romance between the two, Satani just calls him that cos he owns his heart. It's a little joke he has. You know. Cos he's messed up like that. But you know Satani could totally kill him any time he wants cos he has his heart.
Man, it sure would suck for some other character to have their heart owned by some other Fallen, huh? Yep. Umhmm.
But yeah, we had some more Dad Might, some minor Dadcifer (defending his son) and some Shiggy and Hitoshi bonding time. It's fun setting the two of them up against one another as Hitoshi falls more into the fate of the OFA wielder. Oh, and of course some Goth Crew vs God Squad action. That's what the people REALLY wanna see.
But seriously, next chapter we set out to the Forest Camp and the wheels of fate keep turning. What wonderful adventures and fun times await them? You'll just have to wait and see!
So until next time, thanks for reading and for being awesome! KEEP SAFE PEEPS!
