I do not own Kimetsu no Yaiba or MHA.
Chapter 4
After a long night of anticipation which Tanjirou failed to suppress despite his best efforts, he finally fell asleep on the bed that still felt like heaven.
What wouldn't he give to soak in this bliss for eternity?
Sleeping soundlessly all the way up until sunrise, Tanjirou managed to pick his body off of the guest bed, drag his feet down the stairs once more, and rub the exhaustion out his eyes before the all too familiar light of day struck his eyes again, along with the first floor of the house he was currently in.
It was a repetitive cycle, and it hadn't even been that long since he came here. But alas, when things were hectic, too many things could happen in the blink of an eye.
It's been 24 hours since he arrived in this world, and he really couldn't say it was a day wasted. He learned many things that he wouldn't have known about this world otherwise, and he was happy with that.
Now it was finally time to take the first step forward to becoming the hero that he needed to become. That the world needed him to become.
After finding something already waiting for him, which was a light breakfast, he had asked Ryukyu when they would begin their training, and that he was ready to go.
Normally, he wouldn't be this impatient, but he couldn't stop his young mind from rushing her to get some training done. Unfortunate side effects of turning into a literal child, but it just made it all the more believable, or so he hoped.
Ryukyu didn't seem to mind. "Not at the moment. There are still preparations that I have to make. For now, go change into some athletic attire, something informal and loose would do."
That was fair. And he had just the thing. He was itching to put it on.
Rushing back up the stairs, he hastily opened his wardrobe, or what his current guardian named a "closet", and shifted through the small amount of clothing that he had gotten to find the article of clothing he was on his mind.
He had noticed something in that clothing store that looked suspiciously familiar to another uniform that existed in his world. It was a plain black shirt, along with a matching pair of pants, made from a material which the tags on the back called "condensed synthetic fabric". It claimed to be tougher than regular clothing, and could be used for nearly every sporting environment.
It was a mini Demon Slayer uniform.
It wasn't exactly the same, but it was close enough in its usage that he instantly snatched it off the rack. And now, he put it on.
It felt familiar yet at the same time it wasn't. It wasn't intrusive, and it fit quite nicely and wasn't baggy anywhere.
However, it was different in the way that he could feel the differences on certain parts of his body. It felt as if there was a strange weight on his arms, shoulders, and legs, places that just didn't feel right.
The only thing that came up in his mind when he felt that was when you got something new, such as footwear, it felt off for a while on the sole of your foot until you got used to it. It was supposed to be subtle, but not on the level he was experiencing.
It might have just been something different to how this world makes its clothing. He wasn't sure, however it definitely didn't seem hand-made like how most things were.
That was his guess, but he couldn't even begin to know everything that happened in this new world. From cars that could travel at the same speed or even faster than Shinobu, the fastest Demon Slayer, the possibilities could be endless.
There was probably something that made clothes automatically. Such a thing wouldn't even surprise him anymore.
To him, new clothing felt the same either way. You weren't used to it when you first wore it, especially if it was a quality that you never owned before. He first felt that way when he received his Demon Slayer uniform, and he would get more used to this with time.
He then slipped on his new combat shoes, or "athletic shoes" as the box had said, which were quite frankly a lot better, and he meant no disrespect to the makers, than his regular battle sandals that he wore during combat.
His old sandals, something that he had been using for the past 2 years, were both comfortable and secure, and allowed him to make all kinds of movements without any trouble. With a strap in the back ankle, and a cushion on the sole of his feet, it gave him no problems.
However, these new shoes, something that would normally be reserved for someone like the Emperor or similar nobility, gave him that and a lot more.
They wrapped securely around his ankles, and they fully covered the entirety of his foot, front and back. It made for running around and doing maneuvers such as kicks a lot easier and avoided placing unnecessary stress on his feet.
It would also make them hit a lot harder. All in all, a sound improvement. Just like with the clothes, there was an odd weight in his foot, especially because whenever he lifted it, the shoe sometimes dangled and moved around.
Maybe it was too loose? No, he should be grateful to have something like this. This was much more than he would have expected, even considering the fact that he saw literally everyone around having them.
Now fully dressed out in attire that made him look like a nendoroid version of himself from when he was his actual age of 16 (minus the haori of course), he went back down and outside, and opened a door that was opposite to the entrance to what looked like a miniature garden, except that around it there was a large section in which there was concrete flooring.
It reminds him of the Butterfly Estate in more ways than one. An open area that could be used for training, picnics, clothes drying, outdoor baths, and many, many other things.
A part of him wanted to remember, another, not so much.
The beginning of that training wasn't good.
Not at all.
He had learned things there because of that harshness. Chief among them was Total Concentration Constant. However, there was another important thing, something that Urokodaki also emphasized. It became habitual to him, and should be for everyone.
Stretching was always a necessity before someone did any sort of training. Especially if said someone suddenly puts their muscles under massive amounts of stress, like during sparring, or worse an actual fight with a demon.
That's why all Demon Slayers, when headed to dangerous areas during the night on missions, made sure to stretch. The last thing they needed, especially the people living in that area, was the Demon Slayer injured, the one person that had to take care of the demon.
It happened more often than people would expect.
People usually don't think to do so in the heat of battle, and it was a prime issue given that the enemy wasn't going to give you time in the middle to stretch. They wouldn't care about that, they would just rush you.
So do it beforehand. It's better to be prepared and not let anything happen than to be dead.
Sure, he was able to block out most pain during fighting, and even if he did get hurt, it wouldn't matter to him. But that was mostly because of the increased flow of adrenaline due to Total Concentration Breathing nullifying the pain.
However, muscle tears and cramps get very annoying at times. It causes weakness of the limbs when you don't expect it, and that can be deadly in his line of work. Demon Slayers had to be at full strength against demons.
While he was stretching, sitting on the floor with his legs out and touching the back of his foot, Ryukyu had come out from the house, dressed in her regular hero clothing, something that Tanjirou had only seen once before yesterday. A red qipao with one side open, and a black band strapped around her thigh, and…
"Ryukyu-san, What is that thing on the side of your face?"
He finally took in the claw-like item on her face that was covering her right eye.
What was the point of that? All it was doing was hindering her vision!
Ryukyu followed his gaze, which was aimed at the side of her face, and instantly knew what she was talking about. She smiled a little on the inside.
People all too often assumed that many things on a hero costume are just for aesthetics, and that they sacrificed some advantages just to look good. If she were to be honest, a lot of heroes do that, so it would be a reasonable assumption to make.
Tanjirou likely thought that the claws were just to fit with the appearance of the "Dragon Hero" name, but she would be lying if she said that she didn't care about that.
In fact, it served a completely different purpose. Multiple purposes, actually, but she wouldn't reveal that now. Might as well make it part of the lesson plan.
Maintaining her neutral face to conceal her thoughts, she simply replied, "You'll see soon enough. For now, let's start with some simpler things."
Tanjirou sat up and nodded, readying himself for what was to come. Maybe a sudden attack and a test to see what he could do? A training regiment? Different things were going through his head, all thinking and preparing.
What he wasn't expecting was for her to ask a question out of the blue.
"What do you think it means to be a hero?"
He felt his body relax, and then be taken over with confusion. He'd thought she was going to start off with maybe a light spar, not a question!
He allowed himself to bring his thoughts back to the question at hand. What did it mean to be a hero? All he had was what Yoriichi told him, and the various things that Ryukyu said the night before.
Yoriichi had told him that the heroes of the world acted as peacekeepers, people who tried to keep society running without any problems.
The main difference between Heroes and regular police officers was ability. Heroes specialized in improving their quirks to subjugate people, or villains, who used their power out-of-hand.
It was necessary because in this society, there was no other way to stop them. Quirks had to be combated with quirks.
Just like demons had to be combated with Demon Slayers with Breath Styles.
People with power used them to protect the ones that didn't have a power that could, and stop the ones that used power for their own monetary gain.
That was the whole point of Heroes. A regular society without power would just have a police force to make sure that people were acting under the law, and they were given certain privileges to enforce that.
Because if the people didn't have any power to abuse, there wouldn't be Heroes around to stop it.
"I think heroes are people that use their power to protect the ones that don't have abilities adequate to help others. They also help stop people who use their powers for bad things," he finally answered, reiterating some of the things that the first Demon Slayer had told him.
Ryukyu listened to his explanation, and started to nod slightly.
"I think you have a general idea of what Heroes are supposed to be, but you got down what they appear to be from the civilian perspective. Being in the profession itself is that and a lot more."
The civilian perspective? Or the outside view, and what the results actually are? Same difference.
She paused and started to elaborate more on her point.
"To put it as best as I can, heroes are people that are licensed, or given permission from the government to use their quirks to help people. And it's not just villains. It's about protecting the people from natural disasters or any other kind of harm that can come their way."
She could see the gears turning in Tanjirou's head, and was secretly glad that what she was saying was making sense.
A lot of times she tried to explain things, it didn't work out too well.
"About the power part, you aren't wrong there. Except there isn't really something called a 'strong quirk'. It's just about how well you use it. There are certainly a lot of quirks that can cause a lot of damage, but if someone doesn't know how to use it, it can lead to lots of damage for the person and the people around it."
Like stomping around as a fully formed dragon, and crushing everything in her wake. She could relate on far too many levels to even comprehend.
She pointed to herself. "My quirk was like that too. I couldn't fully use it until the start of junior high. All it would result in was an incomplete dragon transformation. Then once I was finally able to turn completely into a dragon, I destroyed many things during my training at U.A."
Tanjirou, digesting this information, seemed to have an idea where she was getting at. People with power had to learn to not let that affect the civilians around them.
She continued on. "Powerful quirks don't necessarily mean it's easier to be a hero. That's one of the main things that Hero schools teach you, and the other thing is increasing the capabilities with your quirks. Once you are at a level where your quirk can be effective, they teach you how to control that in certain situations when they arise."
So what she was saying was that increasing your power and then controlling it was what you learned in Hero school?
"That shouldn't be a problem for you, but don't take my word for it. Your quirk has basic strength augmentation, sort of like All Might's quirk in a way, but a lot less destructive," she said, clarifying his thoughts.
No one could compare to All Might's strength, but at the end of the day, his quirk was strength enhancement. A lot of people could do that, but not just at the level that he could.
"The details and all of that will be elaborated more in Hero schools, but for now, the main focus should be grasping a base for your power. There was a teacher at U.A who summed it up perfectly. 'Know your own maximum first.' We need to see what you can do, and what you're capable of before we start training. Then, we can work on improvement."
How did she even manage to come up with something like that on the spot? This wasn't her. Where did Ryuko Tatsuma go? She wasn't usually like this! She would normally be a wreck, and get everything wrong. She wasn't a smart person by any means, where did all this appear?
God damn, she was starting to sound like every generic teacher that she's had over the years!
Tanjirou, on the other hand, nodded. The same thing that Urokodaki made him do. See if you could run down the hill, and only then he will start training him.
"So how do we do this?" he asked.
She paused for a moment, seemingly deep in thought about something, and then beckoned him with one hand. "For now, just attack me wherever. In any way. It doesn't matter what you do, and a villain won't care if your attacks are 'fair'."
"Got it!" He balled his fists, and examined the way she was standing. She stood in a relaxed position, arms loose by her sides, and feet shoulder-width apart, not bent, making it clear that she wasn't going to make any move to him.
He had to make the first move.
Normally, he would let the enemy make the first move in hand-to-hand combat, since it was easier to anticipate it and work from there. It was easier to defend than to attack, and this way, you can figure out how they attack, how strong they are, their attack speed, all of these factors matter. It let you figure out what to do next.
However, if one was fast and/or strong enough, he could break through their guard and get a clean hit off, get them winded, and finish them off as fast as possible before they could retaliate.
Prime example, Inosuke. He charged him hard enough to break a rib or two, which slowed him down enough to match him. Taking the time to figure out his fighting style of going for low shots and fighting like a four-legged beast, he compensated for going low. That allowed him to work with his style, and eventually counter it, knocking him out with a not-so-small headbutt.
He knew he couldn't do that there. One, because he wasn't strong enough. Two, because of quirks. All he knew about it was it let her turn completely or parts of her into a dragon. He didn't know how much power it had, how fast she could go.
Because he was never on the receiving end of it. Looking at someone fight off to the side and actually fighting them head on were two different things. Observing them from the side was only good for looking at what types of movements they made, so you can defend against the general direction of the attack.
These were the first things that Urokodaki had taught him about combat.
If you encounter an enemy that is stronger and faster than you, make up for it with the mind. Compensate with strategy. Bait him. Use feints. They will go for it, because Demons are the ones trying to take your life, and they are the ones that want to survive, and the only way they can do that is to get rid of the Demon Slayers.
He recalled that advice from Urokodaki and even Hashiras like Giyuu and Shinazugawa, but that only worked for demons.
Demons, if you put some thought into it, were beings with special power too. It gave them enhancements and regeneration, along with a Blood Demon Art. Who said it wouldn't be too different here?
Could strategies that work against demons here?
Approaching her slowly, he breathed in and out, getting his blood flowing. He didn't have a Nichirin Blade, so he was at a disadvantage compared to when he usually faught.
Total Concentration Breathing!
He bent his legs forward and dashed towards her, head on, so that she didn't know which side he was going to strike at.
He raised his left fist, which he cocked back, and threw a punch directly towards the left side of her chest, to disorient her.
Or that was what he wanted her to think. But it didn't matter, because it wouldn't have landed anyway.
It was hard to tell, but he knew that she was ready for that. When he put his hand back, he watched her left eye slowly move towards the direction of his fist, and even though he knew she couldn't see her right side, she was trained to anticipate that attack.
Instead, he threw his fist, but not at her. At the last second, he drew it back in, towards him, and because his last step was on his left foot, he spun his body forward while putting additional pressure on it. With the added momentum from his twist, his front flip made for a nasty turn.
And his foot aimed directly for her head.
His main reason for doing this was because he knew she expected an attack on her right side. Everyone would know that people would go for the points where you couldn't see their attacks, or their blind spots, and Ryukyu had a glaringly obvious one. So she expected people to attack there.
And they did, which meant that she would be better at defending from there than her left side.
Secondly, he wanted to test the effect of his new shoes. If he launched a kick at full power along with Total Concentration Breathing, what would that do.
"Haaaaaah!"
With a yell, he brought his foot down as fast and as hard as he could, only for it to be caught.
By something metal.
He looked at her once again from his current position and realized that the metal part that was covering her face was now gone, and had gone into her enlarged and now draconic hand.
So that's what it was used for.
Before she could capitalize on that, he moved his foot back, and fell back on his hands, which, with help from Total Concentration Breathing, he used to push his small form up and over, back to a standing position.
By all rights he shouldn't have been able to do that. His untrained body wasn't supposed to handle his weight.
But that's what Breath Styles were for, surpassing human limits.
Inhaling and exhaling once more, he went on the aggressive. Throwing one punch after another on the minuscule openings that he could find, he tried to break through her guard. Towards her stomach, legs, shoulders, face. Anywhere that she wouldn't be able to react fast enough to, anywhere where she would be put in an awkward position, he struck at.
It wasn't easy. Her draconic hands absorbed most of the impact that his fists made, and the vibrations that the impact sent back through his body slowed him down a lot more than he would have liked.
Ryukyu occasionally dodged or caught it on her metal hand piece, which was not at all comfortable for him. He wasn't able to get a single good shot onto her.
He just wasn't fast enough at the moment.
He repeated this sequence of events for a while, until it started to get too repetitive. She was just making the same moves over and over, but able to dodge them this whole time.
Drawing out fights and suddenly changing it out works to your advantage in many situations. Being on the offensive means they have control of the situation, and the movements that you make also affect the movements that the one on the defensive makes.
You also control any sudden changes that can catch them off guard.
After a final string of attacks, he took another breath, once again accelerating his blood flow, and increased his speed even further.
After throwing a left hook, instead of throwing from the right, he shot his foot up. He saw her hand come up in defense of his hand, but that was a lot higher than where he aimed his kick at.
It was a perfect opening, and it was sure to hit.
Until she enlarged her arm, growing scales and other hard things that completely blocked it.
"Ah!"
He instantly regretted that. Those scales weren't there for decoration.
Pain blossomed from the point of contact throughout the front of his leg. He hopped away on his other foot before trying to reset his weight onto the injured foot.
Ryukyu, witnessing his pain, broke her stance and rushed over.
"Shit, are you okay?" She said that purely out of impulse, and forgot who she was in the presence of until a few seconds afterwards.
Wait, did I just swear in front of a kid?
Tanjirou didn't seem to notice or mind, as he set his foot down, albeit with a slight grimace.
"I'm fine. It was just a bit uncomfortable." He felt and experienced much worse pain before. He wasn't bothered too much by it, and it would go away in time.
Ryukyu didn't seem so convinced. Her scales had the potential to hurt even an adult who had a pretty exceptional pain tolerance.
"You sure? These scales can hurt when something comes full speed into it," she replied with concern in her voice.
"Yeah, I'm fine. See? I'm walking just fine. No need to worry." He walked around evenly, putting weight on both legs to try to relieve her worries. Seeing the display, she put it to the side.
"Well, if you say so." She didn't believe it, but he would probably tell her if it bothered him.
Maybe? She didn't know how he thought.
What does she do now? She let him try to hit her once, but he wasn't able to do it. She was trying to teach him something, but what was it…..?
Oh right.
"Alright, let's stop for now and see what we got from this." She gestured to the door that led inside, and they both walked in, sitting down on the couches once again.
She still couldn't remember. And she would make herself look like a fool in front of him. He literally hurt himself on her scales for no reason….
Maybe she could tell him about how heroes could use weapons that were hidden on them? He was asking about her metal claw earlier. Maybe that could be a lesson.
What else…..?
Right. Quirk improvement.
"So what happened during that whole thing back there? What new things did you see?" Damn, she could have phrased that better.
Once again, he didn't seem to notice. Or care. He did that a lot. Someone who could seem so smart at one time could then seem so oblivious to other things around him was just strange to her.
"You used the metal claw on your face as a weapon," he responded, clearly impressed. Good thing that he wasn't too mad about her using it against him.
It was a lesson one had to learn eventually. There were a multitude of items on someone's person that could be used as a weapon, or even something that is hidden in plain sight. She just used her claw to make it seem like part of her costume, but it serves a double purpose of a weapon.
She took out the claw from her hand, and held it up so that Tanjirou could get a better look at it.
"Things like these are known as Support Items. These are items that go somewhere on a costume, as something that can help with quirk usage or even simple things like extra protection or another way of attacking. Most heroes have them, because they need them for whatever situation may arise. This is mine," she explained to him. The sun filtering through the window gave the claw a bright sheen, illuminating it as if it were some sort of grand object on a pedestal.
Tanjirou admired it, his bright red orbs staring at the piece as if he hadn't seen anything like it before. He most likely hadn't, so she let him keep at it. In the meantime, she continued her explanation.
"My scales can sometimes do the job of protecting me from all kinds of attacks, but there are times when I need some sort of sharp tool or some metal to cut through things without destroying the area around it. This has come useful in ways I didn't think about when I first had this made."
Tanjirou nodded his head in understanding. "I see! You use support items to do what your quirk might not let you do. That's pretty smart!"
Breath styles were made to be versatile and used in all types of scenarios, so he hadn't really had the thought of using something other than Nichirin blades on his various adventures. That was something that he had to put some more thought into.
Ryukyu smiled at the boy's compliment. "When you have a quirk that has obvious flaws, it's easier to make support items for it. I originally had this, and I still carry it around with me at times, but it doesn't work all that well." From the strap on her thigh, she pulled out something from a leather sheath attached to it.
Wrapped in a dark black hilt with some geometrical designs, she held a short sword, approximately 60 centimeters long, with a clear, curved blade that held a round cross section. Tanjirou recognized this immediately. Why wouldn't he?
Wakizashi were notorious for being held by Samurai, and coming from a time where they were extremely prevalent, it was always the dream of kids to be able to walk on a battlefield holding one, along with a Katana.
"This is a Wakizashi, a blade that was used mostly by Samurai back in Imperial Japan," she explained. "It's short, but it's light and extremely strong. Many heroes with strength-enhancement quirks similar to yours have some sort of bladed weapon to help them, and I really don't have a use for this anymore."
She took off the sheath from her strap and put the Wakizashi back in. "If you want to use this, you can. It's really useful if you learn how to use it properly, which was something I wasn't able to do. This could be your first support item if you want it to be."
Tanjirou kept looking at the weapon with interest, and a bit of conflicting thoughts.
Should he take it? It wasn't a question of whether or not he could use it. Of course he could. He had fought demons with his sword completely snapped, except with a few centimeters of metal. He could get by the small reach.
The main question on his mind was how he would use it when he would become a Hero.
His techniques were meant to pierce and kill demons. Breath styles did that. If he were now in a place where he couldn't kill people, then how would that work? Bladed weapons were prone to damage every time they were involved.
Ryukyu saw the look on his face, and she put it down. "If you don't want to take it that's fine. There are plenty of heroes that don't use any support weapons, or come up with better ones over time. Once you have more time to think about it, it'll be easier to think what will work best."
Tanjirou broke out of his thoughts, and quickly denied her claims. "No, no, that's not what I meant. I would be honored to have something like this, but…" He broke off, and Ryukyu tried to fill the gap with her best guess.
"You don't know how to use it? That's underst-"
Tanjirou interrupted before she could get the wrong idea. "Actually, the old man that I told you about yesterday was a swordmaster. He taught me a lot about blades and how to use them. I'm confident I can, but won't it be dangerous if I use it as a main weapon?"
Ryukyu raised an eyebrow. "You were already taught swordplay?" Huh. That makes things a lot easier. "Interesting. As for dangerous, that might be a good question…"
She thought about different things that he could do to get around that.
Would it even be dangerous in the first place? She knew many people who used much more questionable things as weapons, and they were able to get along just fine. Snipe literally uses a gun, without rubber bullets! What can be more dangerous than that?
Swords have non-lethal takedown methods, that could be a way to use them…..
Eh. She could probably put some thought into it, and give him ideas, but in the end, it would be his decision. She wasn't going to choose for him, that would be just unfair.
"You can come up with ideas for your support items as you train further. You have years to figure it out. For now, let's just relax, and smell the roses," she finally told him, leaning back.
"Eh? But what about training? We only did one spar!" he protested. Did he really want to train more? His leg was probably still hurting, it hasn't even been that long.
"We can continue training tomorrow if you really want to do it. For now, just rest that leg. It's not good to train while hurt, it'll just worsen the condition," she told him, trying and failing to use a stern voice.
"Really, Ryukyu-san, I'm fi-"
Tanjirou tried to get off of the sofa, and found his foot slightly wobbling, unable to handle his weight.
How? He had fought on broken bones before, and he wasn't even feeling any pain! So why…?
Ryukyu saw this, and her face softened a little. "Look, when you're hurt, there's no need to act tough. The more you do that, the less chance you give it of healing. Just let it relax for now, it'll get better in no time."
Tanjirou looked like he wanted to say more, but then thought better of it. He sat back down on the couch, but not before grabbing the Wakizashi off the table.
He took the leather sheath off, and examined it with his own hands. It was a lot lighter than his Nichirin blade, and definitely not as well-made. Haganezuka really knew his stuff when it came to those types of things.
But it wasn't terrible either. The balance was pretty good. Rather than being even on all parts of the blade, it compensated for the blade length by putting more weight on the hilt, allowing for more power.
He swung it in the air a few times as a test. It was easy to direct, and a lot of force could be put behind it. If a bit more care were to be put into it, it could make for quite the formidable weapon. There was evidence of the blade turning dull, after all. That was the last thing someone wanted.
Finally satisfied after examining the blade, Tanjirou tried to brainstorm ways of using said blade in a non-lethal way. It wasn't like he had anything else to do at the moment.
There most likely was some way, given how advanced things were here, that allowed him to use a sword without trying to cut into some sort of skin. The other way, or the way he would have done it back in his world, would have been to use an extra sword that was intentionally dull.
He had tried dual-wielding once before, when Inosuke tried to convince him to change his style. He could use a sword in either hand, but something about holding them at the same time just wasn't right with him.
Is that all you got, Monjiro? Come on!
That didn't go well.
He had years of time now, maybe he could see if it would work? No, he should probably leave that as a last resort. He wasn't sure if learning that would be a good idea, considering he was too used to this one.
He would have to ask Ryukyu to see if there were options that would be available to him.
Meanwhile, what to do now? He couldn't train, he couldn't find ideas…
He was bored out of his mind!
I take it back! This isn't an ideal situation at all!
Never before had the atmosphere been this tense. No one spoke a word, and a deathly silence filled the three heroes as they began to process the situation they were currently in.
Toshinori Yagi did not want to believe this reality. And yet it was here. He tried, he tried to fruitlessly maintain calm within himself. However, he just couldn't. The single man he hated beyond all others, was finally back.
He would never forget the face. The face of the man, towering over a city of rubble, standing amidst those churning flames that night. He still had occasional nightmares about it to this day, to the time he crushed his master without mercy.
After 6 years, he was back. He made his appearance, and it was something that he couldn't pass up. He, Gran Torino, and Nighteye have waited for this day to come.
He had trained himself as hard as he possibly could to even stand a chance against him. As the current wielder of One For All, it was his duty to put an end to him.
And end him he would.
"Calm yourself, Toshinori. Letting your emotions run high here isn't going to help the situation," The old man spoke from the side of the room as he leaned on the wall, watching his student pace back and forth in the private room of Nighteye's study.
Gran Torino noticed how tense he was, and he recognized the anger bubbling underneath the massive frame of All Might. Due to his old age, he had seen many things. Too many to count, and out of all the experiences he had as a hero, the one that was most prevalent among the many causes of failure was rage.
Rage clouded the mind, and caused them to make rash decisions that they normally wouldn't make. They took risks, all because of one goal. They tossed aside all repercussions of their actions and it bit them in the ass later.
This was the issue that was facing All Might right now. And it wasn't something he could just punch his way out of.
"Calm? Sir, how can I remain calm after that… monster has returned? You of all people should understand-"
Gran Torino wasn't having it. "Don't think even for a second that I don't understand the importance of this situation. I am well aware of what that man has done to my sworn friend. But I don't let that rage take over me. That's what gets heroes killed."
The silence came back yet again as Toshinori glared at his teacher through his fierce, blue eyes. Before he could retaliate, Nighteye spoke up.
"He's right, All Might. This is a chance that is quite literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If we botch things up here, it can get one of us killed, and All for One goes back into hiding for years. All that it will accomplish is additional danger to society, and that is the last thing we need."
His words seemed to calm down the Symbol of Peace slightly, as he continued to pace around the room.
He once again spoke up after a while.
"Why can't we just use Nighteye's quirk to see what's going to happen, where he is, and take him down that way?"
Nighteye looked up at him, not sure if he heard him correctly. "My quirk is always 100 percent correct, no matter what steps we take to make sure an event doesn't happen. If I predict a failure here and now, nothing we do can stop that from happening. You should know this, All Might."
He should have. He worked with Nighteye for years now. This predicament definitely was taking a massive toll on his psyche as of lately.
Gran Torino was listening to the conversation and of his student's suggestion, and thought it over. It wasn't a bad idea by any means, aside from the points that Nighteye himself stated. They were coming at it from the right angle, they just needed some more thinking.
"Can we do anything else with your quirk to help us out here, Nighteye?" Torino asked. Nighteye knew better than anyone about his own quirk, after all.
"My quirk can make accurate predictions through time. All I can do is select certain time intervals. If I overshoot it by even a tiny bit, it might spell game over for us."
They really were at an impasse here. There was such high stakes here, but this would be the best chance that they had in a long time. They couldn't afford to wait.
If Nighteye couldn't predict anything in case of a loss, then…
A realization struck at that moment in Gran Torino.
Time Intervals?
That wording. If they could predict a time right before they fought All For One without actually looking through the battle, then they could get his location and the time that he would appear, and prepare for it, without running the risk of losing it.
And even better, they could evacuate said predicted area before the fight even occurs, and ensure that no one found out about All For One, and no casualties would occur.
They all knew how much that man loved casualties. He was the Symbol of Evil after all.
He broke the silence with his suggestion. "Nighteye, if you could predict the time all the way up to where and when All For One appears, but not the battle itself, do we still have the possibility of winning?"
All Might had stopped pacing around the room, and had instead been standing in silence, trying to calm himself down. Hearing this, his head snapped up to stare at both his teacher and his sidekick.
Nighteye thought this over. It wasn't the most perfect plan they had, but it was certainly better than anything that they had come up with so far. The only flaw that he could find was that the farther into the future he went, the more hazy the predictions became. He would need to be careful in his precision for this to work.
"It's definitely doable. It isn't foolproof, but it is the best we can come up with. I'll have to be as precise as I possibly can however, and that will take time."
"How long?" All Might asked, latching on to this plan instantly. He would take anything that would lead to success, if it would lead to him gone.
"It depends on when he will appear, but I would say at the minimum, 10 minutes."
They both nodded. A small price to pay for the knowledge they would receive.
"Alright. Do it." All Might kept his eyes open, blue eyes staring unblinkingly at Nighteye as he actictivated his quirk, his pupils took a deep shade of purple, and formed outlines of a blank clock. This was what happened to his eyes whenever he looked into predictions. His eyes roamed left and right, undoubtedly looking into All Might's immediate futures
Gran Torino came up to All Might. "Let him do his job for now, Toshinori. All we can do is wait." All Might stood unmoving, and after a few moments, he walked away from Nighteye.
Once they were a distance away from Nighteye, the long time Hero tried to talk to the Symbol once more. "I know how much this means to you, Toshinori. Don't get me wrong there. I want him gone just as much as you do. But you need to remember that you cannot fall here. No matter what happens. Japan still needs the Symbol of Peace, and if he has returned, they need him now more than ever."
All Might took the words of his teacher in, and closed his eyes. He unconsciously clenched his fists. "I know, sir. But after all this time, I can't shake off this feeling. Not after what he has done. He cannot be allowed to threaten the world any more than he already has."
"And he will be. You're stronger than you were the last time. But letting your emotions run high is the last thing a hero can do. I've seen too many young ones make that mistake, and we can't afford anything that can drag you down."
All Might knew he was right, but he still couldn't make himself get rid of it. Even though he was the Symbol of Peace, he was still prone to feeling emotion during a battle. Even though he was smiling all the time, it didn't change what was on the inside.
"All For One knows that you're angry. And he'll exploit it to his advantage. He'll use that to control you. Bait you. Make you run into your own death. Don't let him. Push all of those asides. The important thing here is that you win. Win and take him down."
He smiled because the public needed to know that he was there. That as long as he still stood, they would be safe. That was his job. His duty, as a hero, as a Hero, the Symbol of Peace, and most importantly, as the wielder of One For All.
"I'll try to. I understand what you are trying to say, sir. I really do. But what I'm feeling right now isn't as easy to get rid of. However, there's no need to worry about me."
All Might's face shifted once more into his renowned smile, and looked down on Gran Torino.
"Something like this won't drag me down. Whether it's anger, sorrow, or fear that I'm currently feeling, I'm still the Symbol of Peace. That won't change. I won't let it control me. I can't let it control me. I won't give him any weaknesses. And I'll make sure to get this done, and let society be free from his clutches."
That he swore.
Tsukauchi was once more at his desk in the police station, attending to calls, filling out papers, the usual detective work that he had to go through.
Luckily there was a shortage of villain activity lately, which reduced his usual workload by a generous amount. But it didn't matter in the end. After all, when work disappears, more always finds a way to take its place. And this time, it took place in meetings. Lots of meetings.
He was beginning to be tired of talking. His voice was about to go hoarse from it, and he just couldn't be asked anymore. He just wanted to go home, and relax.
Awaiting a scheduled call from a certain Pro Hero for the report of a young red-headed boy, he balanced his phone on two of his fingers, with his head in his hand.
As he expected, the phone lit up, and he answered it within a single ring.
"Hello?"
"Yo, Tsukauchi."
As he expected, Ryukyu was on the other line, sounding completely bored and not wanting to have the call. But they both knew it was something that had to be done.
When kids were put on probation, the Hero that was in custody of them had to watch over them, and every two days, they had to submit some sort of report or analysis by email or over the phone about their actions, to see if they understood what they did shouldn't be done.
That was hardly necessary for Tanjirou, and they both knew it here.
"I'm pretty sure we both just want to be home and relax, something that you've been pretty much doing this whole time, so let's get this over with as fast as possible."
"Yeah. Besides the villain attack yesterday, everything is fine here. Tanjirou did open up yesterday, and told me a bit about his past and what he wants to be, and I've been teaching him little things about what being a hero is."
Definitely wasn't a bad thing. Not at all. Advice from a Pro Hero about how to be one was definitely invaluable information to have. He just had to hope that Tanjirou was doing his best to learn as much as he could from her.
"Other than that, he's just a normal kid. A kid with dreams and aspirations just like any other. Although with a bit of a past behind him. There's no need for him to be cooped up here for any longer than there needs to be."
Tsukauchi listened to this, filing some things in his mind to note down later about Tanjirou. But for now, he had other matters to deal with regarding him.
"Alright then. I'll set the end date to 5 days from now. But there's something else we need to discuss about him.
"What is it?"
"It's about what's going to happen to him after this whole thing ends."
There was silence on the other end of the line. Tsukauchi waited for an answer, but there wasn't for some period of time.
That could only mean that Tanjirou hasn't expressed any other plan for what he wanted to do. All he knew was that he eventually wanted to be a Hero.
"I take it he hasn't told you about what he wanted to do after this week ended?"
"Can you blame him? He's just a kid. I doubt he's even thought about it. As much as he acts like an adult, he isn't one. Not yet. But I understand what you mean."
The message went unspoken. She would try to find out what it was that he wanted to do, and she would tell him when that happened.
"Well then, I won't take up any more of your time than I already have. Make sure to keep the kid safe, and have a good rest of the day, Ryukyu."
"You too, Tsukauchi."
The phone sounded a beep, an indicator that the call had been disconnected. He set the phone down, not before quickly flashing it off and on again to check the time.
It was currently one in the afternoon, about time for lunch break. He grabbed his lunch and was about to make his way to the break room when the same phone that he had been using just a few seconds before started to ring again.
With a sigh, Tsukauchi put his lunch down and grabbed it off the desk.
"Seriously, I can't be asked anymore. This is just…" He trailed off as he saw the caller I.D.
All Might?
Why would he be calling now of all times?
No, he would only call if there was something important that he needed to know. All Might trusted him with his great secret for a reason.
Closing his computer, he picked up the phone and held it to his ear closely.
"Yes?"
"Tsukauchi, are you there?" The voice of the Symbol of Peace came from the other end of the line. He could recognize this one as his true form of Toshinori Yagi, not the one that he keeps up to the public. "Is there anyone around you right now that can overhear this conversation?"
This had to be important. The line that they were using was secure, extremely so. If he were taking all these measures to avoid being overheard, this had something to do with One For All, or so he assumed.
"Not yet, but I can get there right now." He knew just the place he could go. Climbing up the stairs, he walked down the hall until he spotted the soundproof room that was mainly used for keeping watch on interrogations. It was designed for sound from the interrogation to come into this room without being heard.
Checking if anyone was there, and locking the door once more, he spoke back into the phone.
"Okay, there's no one nearby. You're free to talk now."
"Do you remember what I told you about my quirk, and the one that created it?"
"Yes, of course I remember. It was hard to believe at first, but it definitely makes sense once you consider the whole story you told me." The tale of All For One was certainly unbelievable, especially how one person could take as many quirks as he could at once. It was hard to imagine someone with that kind of power still on the loose.
"He's returned. He's begun springing his plans into action to come after me and try to take me down." His voice sounded haunted and grim, even more so than it usually was.
Tsukauchi's eyes widened. How? He usually handled all of the reports of villain attacks that occured, but not once has he seen something that was evidence to All For One's return.
"What proof do you have of that? Did he attack you directly?"
"No. I'm not sure even he would reveal himself in broad daylight like that. But it was someone else that he was able to transfer quirks to, and get him under his control. His Villain name was Toxic Chainsaw."
He remembered reading about him on one of his reports, and it did say that All Might had taken him down. Yet, it only listed one quirk. Was he sure that there were two quirks, or was it two effects blended into one?
"Did he specifically say that he had multiple quirks? Or was it just multiple effects in one quirk?"
"He told me later on as we fought that he had a 'master', and that it wasn't the only quirk he had. There's only one person that can do that."
If that was what he said, it was quite explicit.
"So what are we going to do about it now?"
"Gran Torino was able to come up with a plan that let us use Nighteye's quirk to find out when and where he will appear. We have the location, and the time is 3 days from now. We need to prepare for that, and that is where you come in."
Tsukauchi nodded his head, ready to hear what he had to say.
"We need to evacuate the entire area by 11 P.M, 2 days from now. Make sure the reasoning is a potential villain attack. Luckily it's nowhere near any residences, but people still travel through there. We don't want any casualties."
All Might told him the location, and Tsukauchi nodded, knowing exactly where that was.
"I'll get on it as soon as I can."
"Thank you for this, Tsukauchi."
"Anything to help. And All Might?"
"Yeah?"
"Make sure to put him down. For good this time."
"Definitely." All Might declared with certainty in his voice as he hung up the phone. Tsukauchi walked out of the room, running his hands through his hair, and thinking over what he had just heard.
Two days from now. That would be a night to remember.
Thanks for reading!
