Disclaimer: I do not own Boku No Hero Academia.

CHAPTER VI – AN OUTCAST

This room was monitored by multiple cameras with guards watching him. They were always watching and guarding him.

"It's been quite some time since you've come to visit me, All Might.", even all chained up, with multiple weapons pointed at him, enclosed between the strongest, thickest walls to be created by mankind, All for One's voice still sounded sublime and powerful. His lips were pulled in a dreadful smile, which All Might knew never meant something good. All for One should have long received the death penalty, but this was an area not even the former number one had any influence on.

"There must be a reason. I can't wait for you to tell me.", the villain added.

"I'm here to talk about the League of Villains.", All Might stated and made sure to always look into the prisoners deformed face, he himself had destroyed. It could have been over back then, but his rival had survived.

Don't show any kind of intimidation. You've prepared yourself for this, there's nothing he can do to you, or anyone else anymore., All Might repeated to himself, just like on the drive here.

"Really?", he sounded so smug saying that, "About the League? Or about my apprentice?"

All Might kept a straight face.

"You cannot make a fool out of me, All Might. I chose the grandson of the seventh wielder for a reason: To hit you where it hurts. I knew you'd care about him. That's why you're here and that's why everything is still going according to how I've planned it.", All for One proudly told him and All Might just shook his head.

"Nothing is going the way you've foreseen it. But keep assuming, there's not anything else for you to do in here anyway.", All Might couldn't even imagine being strapped to a chair all day long, but the punishment was still too good for someone like All for One, someone who had done all these horrendous things for longer than a human was supposed to live.

"Oh-ho! That snippiness doesn't suit you, All Might! So then I take that my young apprentice is not imprisoned right now?", he asked but received no answer from the hero. Whatever All Might would say to this, it could give away some sort of information All for One wasn't allowed to have.

"You don't have to answer me. I've lived long enough to be able to know when someone wants something, without them actually saying it. There is a question burning under your nails; something you want know so bad it tickles under your skin. You wouldn't have come here after all this time for any other reason."

If Tomura didn't have it in his genes, it was clear now that he'd gotten that perceptiveness of his from his teacher. All for One had gotten everything right until now and All Might was losing his cool.

You can't properly prepare for this.

Focus now, no mistakes.

"Come on, symbol of peace. Don't let an old man like me wait. Why are you here?"

"What have you done to Tom-.. Shigaraki?", All Might bit his tongue, no way All for One hadn't caught that slip-up.

All Might smirked satisfied, but did not comment on it: "Ah, it was a joy seeing him grow up. Such an innocent boy, always blaming himself – he truly became a twisted man, wouldn't you agree, All Might?"

The symbol of peace couldn't keep that straight face anymore. His eyebrows pulled down, his pupils contracted and he bared his teeth but that didn't intimidate the former kingpin of the underground, quite the contrary: It just made All for One wanting get more under his enemy's skin. But All Might knew all of this already, why was he letting this guy provoke him?

"You haven't answered my question.", he asked after forcing himself to calm down.

"I've never done anything to my dear little Tomura."

"Then we're done here.", All Might said, turned around and stood up. This would surely get him what he wanted; All for One did like to hear himself talk.

"Oh no, no, no! Don't go just yet, I can think of something that might be of interest to you.", All for One suddenly begged as All Might had predicted. The man known as the symbol of peace may have not been able to fight anymore, but he still had his skills and he knew that All for One liked to hurt him. Whatever he was going to hear would not be pretty, but it would help him in getting to know Tomura better.

"Get to the point. I have no other reason to stay here.", All Might crossed his arms.

"Well, I don't really know what you want me to say. I have always been good to Tomura.", he started, "Sometimes, I starved him of affection for so long, he would use his quirk until complete exhaustion just to get my attention. He would vent a lot by training himself and his quirk, until he passed out, just to wake up with me waiting at his side and patting his head." All for One sounded as if he was just speaking about the weather and not about manipulating a child.
"Isn't it ironic? I taught everything to him, so that he could become my heir. And he would do everything for me, so that he could feel better. Everything we exchanged seemed simply symbiotic. But he's surpassed all of my expectations: He's not only my heir anymore, no, he's the next Me.", that dreadful smirk never left All for One's lips when he spoke and All Might felt already sick and angry again just hearing that.

"Why would you care about him wanting your attention? You could have just taught him without bringing in human emotions. Why care about that?", he did genuinely want to know what the man thought of his own apprentice.

"Isn't it obvious? I made him dependent. He couldn't help but obey my every command, fulfil my every wish. He killed dozens, no, hundreds for me, All Might!", while he said that, his speech turned into an almost stereotypical evil laughter.

All Might had trouble holding himself together. He just wanted to break that bulletproof glass separating the two and do what he never wished to do to anyone: take the man out of this world for good. Unfortunately, that wasn't possible, not even because All Might didn't have the strength to break anything remotely that strong anymore, but because All for One's fate didn't lie in his hands.

So he settled on cursing him instead: "You should burn in hell for what you've done, bastard."

"Don't be like that, All Might! I'm not as heartless as you think. I've become quite fond of my apprentice: I do care about his well-being. That day at Kamino, when you beat me, was the best thing to ever happen to him; he became independent again, because his teacher went to a place he couldn't reach." That day at Kamino had also been the day that All Might had learned about Tomura's ancestry. Everything could have gone so different if All for One had never told him that. Or if Tomura wasn't Nana's grandchild to begin with.

Would I care about him then?

"It is not me who only cares about your name, it's All for One.", he had told that to Tomura. And he believed it true, but his mind seemed to like to challenge his own beliefs.

"Had I wanted, I could have easily abused him, like Shimura did, that useless spawn of your master. Tomura would have taken it all like the little pet he was. He still loves his father, even after all that suffering.", All for One continued and he looked especially satisfied, when All Might began to shake with fury. How he managed to actually "see" people without eyes was beyond the hero's comprehension.

The way Tomura was attached to the hand he put over his face, affectionately calling it "Father", had always given away that he must have had an unusual and unhealthy relationship with his parent.
So Nana's son really did abuse his own child. Why? Had the fact, that Nana's had given him away, caused such harm, even a mental damage? Thinking about Tomura, no, little Tenko Shimura, getting abused––

Don't.

This was a line, he was not willing to cross yet. Not with All for One at least – he wanted Tomura to speak to him about it. If he never did, that was fine too. Those were a young man's painful memories: They only belonged to him and it was his choice, to do with them as he wanted. All Might would be the last to force him.

"We're done here."

"Please, All Might! Isn't there anything else you want to know? I could talk about how he started to enjoy killing. Or about those many times he tried to use his quirk on himself, trying to get free from my chains."

All Might felt as if he'd just been shot.

"Explain yourself!", he shouted and felt his heartbeat speed up and his anger skyrocketing.

"Once you're part of our world, there's no going back. Who outside of the underground would ever accept him? Him, who had already murdered dozens of people at the tender age of fifteen? Even before that, no one would have ever wanted a child with such a destructive quirk. Don't you think he didn't know that? His only way out of my grasp was death." The words spoken aloud sounded like thunder in All Might's ears.

"You're wrong. He just needed a hand. His quirk would have been so helpful in many situations! He could have been a hero!", All Might argued against the man, but then remembered Nana who wanted to shield her family from villains and heroes alike. Still, she would have preferred her grandson becoming a hero over a villain anytime!

"Yes, maybe when your society needed it. Don't lie to me, you know he always would have been an outcast."

All Might didn't know what to say to that, because he could easily imagine it being true.

"I killed my father and then I murdered my old self, Shimura Tenko.", the world as it was didn't hold a place for a child who murdered his father, even if it had been by accident. Had it been by accident? It must have been. Why else would Tomura still cling to his father's hand?

"He never went through with it and by the time he would have had the courage, he was already too addicted by his own dependence to me. Then I got put in here and him having to think for himself, was the catalyst for a completely new hate for you and society. Isn't that true, All Might? He must have hurt you all badly."

"All Might, it's time.", a voice sounded through the speakers and without saying another word, the hero stood up and walked towards the exit in fast paces. Unlike his visits with Tomura, he was glad to get out of here.

"You think you have him where you want him to be. But Tomura will never change. Everything is going as I've foreseen!", All for One called towards All Might. He didn't look back once.

All Might exited Tartarus just to get some fresh air. He was already feeling exhausted and he needed to calm his heart before getting into Tomura's cell. Otherwise, the kid would immediately notice that something was up.

But why shouldn't he know that you've just visited his master? Beside the point that isn't allowed to know.

They can't hear in on you.

Then it was decided. He would break the rules and speak to Tomura about his visit with All for One today. But first, he needed to get through the whole entrance process all over again.

Back on the lower floors, the young guard from the last Tuesday greeted him when he arrived at the block where Tomura's cell was: "Hello All Might, welcome back!"

Next to the guard stood a woman, All Might estimated that she must have been around his age. She had her dark brown hair up in a tight bun, her blue eyes looked at him through some old fashioned round glasses and she wore a white lab coat. In her arm, she held a clipboard holding some sheets.

"I thought of it as a rumour but here you are! It's nice to meet you, All Might.", the woman bowed and introduced herself as one of Tomura's doctors. Apparently, she was responsible for the prisoner's physical health.

"It's good to meet you too. Tell me, doctor, how is he doing?", he asked and noticed the worry in his own voice. He was still shaken about what All for One had told him.

Pull yourself together, Toshinori.

"Am I allowed to share my notes with All Might?", the woman turned to the guard. He shrugged and asked a question in return: "I don't see why not, but as a doctor, aren't you bound by an oath?"

"There's nothing Shigaraki can really do about it, can he?", she said. Then she turned to face All Might again.

"I have been informed that Shigaraki has been eating all of his meals these past days. This is really important, since he quickly needs to regain some strength. If he doesn't, there may be some long-term effects because of nutritional deficiency.", she started and waited for some comment.

"I see.", was all the hero could add.

"Whenever I visit him, we just do routine things like checking lungs, heart, eyes, etcetera.", she then continued and went through her sheets while talking, "He never talks but groans whenever I want to see the scars around his neck and arms but today, he was.. different. For the first time, I was able to take care of his wounds while he was still sober."

"That's good, isn't it?", All Might looked at the guard and the doctor when he asked and they both nodded reassuringly.

"Yes, I think so too.", the doctor confirmed, "It looks as if he's getting to terms with the situation he's in. I bet the therapists will have more luck with him starting from now on."

That really was positive news for a change and All Might felt relieved, especially after that wearing last visit and those horrible information he'd gotten. The guard then, as always, told him about the rules and while he did, All Might watched the doctor add something to her notes. She was writing with one of those brightly coloured, bendable pencils. He didn't even know that those were still a thing, remembering them from when he was a child. They used to be part of every writing kit in kindergarten or first grade and he couldn't deny that the doctor looked kind of ridiculous while she was holding one of them. The pink, green and blue coloured item just had that big contrast with her white sterile lab coat and that clean hairstyle. The hero smiled.

"What's so funny?", she asked, looking up in just that moment.

Caught.

"Nothing, really. I just haven't seen one of those pencils in a while.", he explained and the doctors eyes wandered to the item she was holding in her right hand.

"That? Oh, you're right! We had quite the trouble finding them. They're not 'trendy' anymore these days.", she explained and seemed highly amused by the item as well.

"Why would you need to find exactly those pencils?", All Might couldn't help but wonder.

It was the guard who answered his question: "As you are aware, items that could be used as weapons are not allowed into the cell. Medical items are usually an exception, but the doctors are still asked to look for safer alternatives. You can't really harm someone with a bendable pencil. Normal writing tools however, can be used to stab someone."

All Might frowned.

"Why would Tomura stab you?", another slip-up. All Might bit his tongue. What was wrong with him today?

"Tomura, hm?", the doctor repeated (unlike All for One, she of course chose to comment on it) with a raised eyebrow and then looked at the guard, who barely shrugged as to say 'What are you looking at me for?'.

She stored the pencil into one of the pockets of her coat and put the clipboard underneath her arm.

"All Might, whatever you're doing by visiting Shigaraki is showing effect: He is changing, albeit I cannot say, if that change is genuine. But even the people inside a high security prison talk and I already got wind of you getting.. closer to the prisoner."

All Might didn't know where she was getting at, but he wasn't just going to let himself get attacked by a person he just had met.

"I have my reasons. The high court is informed about all of my doing whenever I'm here. I therefore don't see, why I should be judged by you or anyone else.", he defended himself, rightfully and the doctor seemed to regret her words, or at least the way she had told him.

"All I'm trying to say is, that Shigaraki still is a very dangerous person. We are not going to risk our own lives by bringing in potential weapons into a cell, where he could easily overpower and kill us.", she explained and the young guard nodded.

"I understand.", he truly did, but this discussion had already gotten past that point, "But I still don't see how any of this has to do with me getting, as you say 'closer' to the boy?"

"I am not trying to be rude here, but you don't seem able to objectively evaluate the situation anymore. You literally just asked me, why Shigaraki would stab us, as if it wasn't obvious.", the doctor stated bluntly, rendering All Might speechless, "Also, you might be interested in knowing that Shigaraki is not a boy anymore; it is hard to determine a person's exact age, but judging by his wisdom teeth, he has already left his teenage years behind. I'm guessing he's in his early twenties."

"Just a way of saying. I remember my early twenties; still very naive and childlike at that age.", All Might had already assumed that Tomura was a few years older than Aizawa's and Vlad's students.

"All of the things he has done are evidence for the contrary. He's not a child anymore." Was this lady trying to pick a fight with him or why else was she engaging with him in this time wasting verbal duel?

She's right. Gran Torino is right too. They're all right. What am I trying to accomplish here?, a voice in his subconscious speaking again. He remembered his last visit, when he embraced a shaking Tomura, who had not been able to defend himself, not been able to push All Might away. All of the hero's doubts had vanished into thin air at that moment, yet they were back whenever someone confronted him about his beliefs in Tomura.

"There's no way I can morally justify what I'm doing.", his own words back in the police car with Tsukauchi and Gran Torino.

"A chance to save a child who has lost his way and bring him back to the light.", also his words in the same scene, only a few seconds later. His heart speaking.

He thought back to all those things All for One had said to him and came to the same conclusion: Tomura deserved a change. And All Might would be the one to give it him. He would guide him, he would save him.

"It was nice to meet you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a prisoner to visit.", he sealed the conversation and entered the cell.