Toshinori and Izuku didn't even have to ask for clarification; they knew that Nana wouldn't demand to speak with them like that, her face more serious than it ever was, unless it was important.

Toshinori nodded once, but he seemed preoccupied by another thought. Judging by the curious, slightly conflicted look that appeared on his face whenever he looked at Izuku and Nana, he was probably still reacting to the admittedly very passionate kiss he'd just seen between them.

Even so, he agreed, "Okay, let's go to my office."

As they quickly left the gym and started heading towards the main building of UA, Nana could tell that her boyfriend was getting more and more uneasy.

"What's wrong, Izuku?" she asked through their link.

Without turning his head to face her, Izuku replied, "I'm just...wondering what All Might must be thinking. He saw that kiss, and if he still thinks our relationship is a cover…"

"Yeah, that could be awkward," Nana agreed, "we'll see what happens if he asks."

"What would we tell him?" Izuku wondered.

Nana mentally shrugged and answered, "I have no idea."

As they approached his office, meanwhile, Toshinori himself was trying to sort out his own feelings. He didn't think that his successor and his (resurrected) predecessor were truly together, but then, he couldn't be sure...that kiss had certainly seemed quite real. But then again, if Nana was truly trying to sell her cover story, kissing Young Izuku in public like that would be the perfect way to do it. In the end...the only way to know for sure was to ask, but Toshinori felt like that conversation was going to be incredibly awkward. Not only would he be deeply conflicted if the answer was yes (despite everything, some part of Toshinori still looked at Nana and saw the woman who had represented everything good and safe in the world to a teenaged version of himself not used to either of those concepts, and he wasn't sure how he felt about Nana having a romantic relationship when she didn't even remember her dead husband), but did Toshinori even have a right to ask such a question? Nana's life was hers to do with as she chose; why should Toshinori have any say in it?

At last, they entered the door to Toshinori's office. Once they were seated, three generations of One For All users stared at each other in slightly awkward silence, each of them not quite sure how to start.

Eventually, the need to end the silence mixed with Toshinori's bubbling, conflicted feelings. Without even meaning to, he blurted out, "Nana, can I ask a question?"

"Sure," Nana replied coolly, leaning back in her chair, her hands still playing with the curly strands of her newly-shortened hair.

Toshinori couldn't quite meet his successor's gaze as Izuku stared curiously at him. Toshinori took a deep breath and asked, "I couldn't help but notice the...intimacy between you two, during and after the spars. I was under the impression that you two were merely pretending to be in a relationship in order to disguise your true origins. Is...is that incorrect?"

There was a heavy pause, and Nana and Izuku looked at each other meaningfully. Toshinori remembered Nana mentioning that she and Izuku could speak to each other in their minds, and he wondered what, exactly, they were saying.

Meanwhile, Nana was saying, "Well, shit."

"What are we supposed to tell him?" Izuku fretted.

Nana thought for a second, then mused, "What he wants to hear, probably."

Izuku looked scandalized, and Nana could feel the shock and disapproval radiating from him.

Nana rolled her eyes and told him, "Look, if you want to explain to All Might that you had sex with his maternal figure, go right the fuck ahead."

"I-that wasn't-" Izuku spluttered, his mind reeling from thinking of explaining what Nana did to him every night to the man he looked up to so much, "we can't just lie to All Might!"

"Why not?" Nana asked lightly.

"B...because he's ALL MIGHT!" Izuku said indignantly, "lying to him is like...lying to God!"

Nana frowned at her boyfriend, who looked just a tiny bit bashful. Nana told him, "Okay, first off, I trained Toshi, and I can confirm that he is not, in fact, a god. Actually, he's kind of a huge dork. Second, what makes you think I wouldn't lie to God, too?"

Izuku paused. Nana absolutely would do just that, and she would probably get away with it, too. "Okay, you've got me there," Izuku admitted, "I just...I don't like lying to him, it feels...like a betrayal of his trust, somehow."

Nana sighed, and Izuku got a brief glimpse into the regret she was feeling. "Believe me, I don't like it, either," she agreed, "we'll tell him the truth someday, once he's gotten used to the fact that I'm not who I was back then."

Izuku hesitated one last time, but he knew Nana was right; All Might was still seeing Nana in a golden light tinted by grief and the way people seemed to idealize dead loved ones, and it wouldn't be fair to him to spring this on him so soon. At last, Izuku sighed, "Okay. Just...I still don't like it."

"I know you don't," Nana told him gently, "and that's why I love you. You always try and do the right thing, the good thing. Thank you for being yourself, Izuku."

Then, Nana finally turned back to the boy she had made her successor. She told him, "No, you're right. I was just doing it to help keep our cover solid."

Toshinori raised an eyebrow, but as he held Nana's gaze, she didn't flinch, ignoring the regret she felt about lying to him. Eventually, Toshinori nodded once, and Nana knew he believed them, at least for now.

Sighing heavily, Toshinori leaned forwards and asked, "Very well. Now, then, what was this about One For All?"

Izuku nodded in interest, as well, his eyes drilling into the back of Nana's head as she met Toshinori's gaze. He hadn't seen what she'd seen, and when he'd tried to look through her memories, he'd only gotten the mental equivalent of static on a TV screen. Whatever had happened, it had happened to Nana, and Nana alone.

Nana felt a chill run through her as she remembered the images that could have been memories, the disembodied voices, and the face that she'd never seen before, but somehow felt painfully familiar.

Slowly, she began, "So, when that purple-haired kid hijacked my brain-"

"His name is Shinsou," Izuku interrupted, earning a sarcastic glare from Nana and a resigned sigh from Toshinori.

Nana repeated, "So, when the purple-haired kid used his quirk on me and took control of my movements, it...well, I felt kinda like I had been dumped into this big, endless void. I saw a bunch of things that I couldn't really make sense of, heard some weird voices of people I didn't recognize talking, then saw... somebody's face, I'm not really sure who. I think they said… "I'm sorry," or something like that. I'm not sure what was going on, but it was definitely One For All."

Izuku and Toshinori nodded along. Izuku supplied, "I experienced something similar in first year. I saw some figures, too. Heck, the first time I ever saw them was when Shinsou brainwashed me in the first year Sports Festival."

Nana tilted her head at Izuku in curiosity. "Figures? What kind of figures?" she asked.

Izuku shrugged helplessly as he answered, "I don't really know for sure. Most of them were really cloudy and vague, and I can't remember if they said anything to me or not."

Nana made a face as she absorbed this new information, just as confused as Izuku was.

Then, Toshinori spoke up, adding, "I experienced something similar myself, a long time ago."

Instantly, both of the teenagers swiveled their heads to stare at Toshinori, the same question on their lips.

"Wait, what?" Nana and Izuku asked simultaneously.

With distant eyes, Toshinori explained, "It only happened or twice, but after you died, I had a few...I guess "visions" is the right word? I'm not sure, because they never really made any sense. It was mostly limited to shadowy figures, and that sort of thing. Although…"

Toshinori trailed off, but Nana was having none of it. She prompted, "Although what, Toshi?"

Toshi gave her a look of barely-subdued grief, and answered, "A few times, I could have sworn I heard your voice, telling me to dodge a punch or fight a villain or help somebody. It was probably nothing, or else my grief driving me to hear things, but…"

"But here I am, talking to you," Nana muttered, another chill seeming to run through the room.

Looking uneasy, Izuku volunteered, "I've been hearing voices sometimes, too."

Nana turned to face her boyfriend. In an attempt to lighten the mood, she joked, "You know, that statement would be pretty alarming without context."

"So would half the things you say," Izuku noted dryly. Toshinori snorted in agreement, making Nana roll her eyes at their lack of deference to their elders.

Getting back to the topic at hand, she asked, "Izuku, what do you mean by "hearing voices?"

Grimacing as a memory returned to him, Izuku answered, "When we...remember that time we experimented with how the link handles memories?"

As Toshinori watched in confusion, Nana nodded once, recalling that exhausting night.

"Well, while we were in-between memories...I could have sworn I heard someone say "I'm sorry," Izuku continued.

Nana blinked once, and wondered why she felt such a powerful pang of sorrow at Izuku's revelation.

Again, the heavy silence settled over the room, until Toshinori asked the million dollar question.

"So, what do you think is causing this?" he wondered.

"Isn't it obvious?" Nana replied, her voice grim and ominous, "somehow, One For All itself is doing this."

The atmosphere of the quiet room was oppressive now, weighing on the occupants like a stone around their necks as they wrestled with the possibility Nana had raised.

"What makes you say that, Nana?" Izuku prompted.

"And what do you mean by One For All?" Toshinori added, "It's just a quirk. An extraordinarily powerful quirk, yes, but still just a quirk, not something with...intent, or agency, or anything that could explain why the three of us all seem to be having these... experiences."

Nana couldn't quite explain the heaviness that made her move and speak slower than she ever did, but it was there all the same as she began, "Toshinori, I never did get to explain this when I gave you One For All, but...I never believed that One For All is just a quirk. I still don't."

Two generations of Nana's successors stared back at her, mystified expressions on their face. She sighed, and explained, "When I first learned about One For All, my mentor told me something I never forgot. I must have said something about it sounding like a nice power boost, because he looked at me and said, "This is not a mere quirk. This...this is a torch, something we carry and pass down again and again, hoping that it will survive us. I don't just carry the strength of those who came before me, I carry their will, their hope, their faith. One For All is that hope, the hope of everyone who believes that tomorrow will be better than today; the strength comes second, for me, to the duty to make the world safer than it was before."

Izuku tilted his head curiously as Nana finished; he could feel just how reverently she recited the words, the years of emotion that had surrounded the wisdom her mentor had given her along with One For All itself.

He asked, "So, what does it mean for us? Do you think that your mentor was saying something important, or was he just saying what he personally believed."

Nana smiled weakly, her eyes glimmering with hope and loss as she remembered her mentor. She answered, "I have no idea. But I always thought he was right. This quirk...it does more than stockpile the power from each user, I think. Maybe it didn't originally, maybe it used to be as simple as we thought it was, but…"

As Nana trailed off, unsure what to say next, Toshinori made a small noise of consideration. He mused, "I suppose that I always just assumed it stockpiled energy, but… "power" is an exceptionally vague word if you think about it. Does it mean strength, or energy, or...something else? Willpower, perhaps?"

"That would make some sense," Izuku agreed, "not just because of the way its power seems to respond to our desires, but...if the quirk really does carry some imprint of our will within it, that could easily mean that some fragment, an echo, maybe, of each user's mind could be…preserved, I suppose."

"You're right," Nana told him, her voice overflowing with confidence, "I think that's how it works."

"What makes you so sure?" Toshinori challenged.

Nana looked up at him, a wry grin twitching on her lips, as though she was about to burst into laughter. Izuku's eyes were locked on her, studying Nana's face as if searching for something deeper in it.

Nana pointed at herself, and said, "How do I know? Because that must have happened to me. Do either of you have a better explanation for how I was resurrected from One For All itself, other than the fact that I must have still been somewhere in there?"

Izuku and Toshinori fell silent as they realized that Nana was right. She, too, joined them in dead silence, as they sat there, three generations of torchbearers for a power none of them fully understood, and they wondered about what motives that power might have, what it might be capable of.

At last, Toshinori sighed, "What do you think this means for us, if the previous holders might still be present in some way within One For All?"

"I can't say," Nana answered honestly, "but...I don't think we should be treating this as grimly as we are."

"Excuse me?" Izuku asked, still confused.

"Look, I only ever knew my mentor and Toshi among the other holders until now, but clearly someone thought they were worthy enough to hold One For All in their own time. And beyond that, if One For All itself is somehow acting of its own accord, I don't think that's a bad thing. All it has ever done is help us, right? I don't think it's out to hurt us or do anything bad, at least," Nana explained, making the other two nod thoughtfully.

"So, then, what should we do?" Toshinori wondered.

"For now? Nothing," Nana replied, "like I said, One For All is on our side. So until it, or the previous holders, or whatever's causing these visions does something else, I don't think we need to worry about it too much."

"You have a lot of faith in...whatever we're calling One For All now," Izuku pointed out.

Nana nodded gravely, the few scattered fragments of her old life she still had bubbling to the surface. She answered, "Yeah, I do."

"Why?" Izuku asked, a short, gentle inquiry that slipped past her defenses and walls just like he always did, lifting Nana's heart.

With fire in her eyes and rock-solid faith in her voice, Nana told Izuku and Toshinori, "Because I have to. With everything that's happened, I have to have faith in something. One For All has never hurt me, never caused me pain. I don't have many memories, Izuku, but I don't think I can say that of many things in my life."

"You're one of the others," Nana didn't say out loud, but Izuku heard all the same. He didn't respond with words, but by letting a heady wave of his love pour through the link, letting her envelop herself in it, wrap it into a tight-knit blanket to shelter inside.

Behind his desk, Toshinori flinched. Nana turned to see if he was okay, but he had already recovered, putting on a steely front to her as she gave him a questioning look. It was only slightly undercut by the fact that he couldn't seem to meet her eyes.

For a second, neither Izuku or Toshinori spoke, awed into silence again by the sheer force of Nana's unshakable faith in something she barely understood.

Then, Izuku decided, "You're right, Nana. I trust you."

"As do I," Toshinori added a moment later, "although...your theory still doesn't explain how you came back to life."

Nana gave an exaggerated shrug as a familiar grin formed on her face. Cheekily, she responded, "Hey, who knows on that one, right? Maybe all the other wielders are super lame, so I got bored and willed myself into re-existence out of sheer spite! Or, hell, maybe my resurrection didn't have anything to do with One For All, and I just beat God in a fistfight or something!"

Izuku and Toshinori snorted, unable to suppress their laughter as Nana's typical pep and cocky attitude returned.

"The worst part is, we both know she would," Izuku muttered, just loud enough for Toshinori to hear.

Toshinori chuckled and asked, "Which one? Come back out of spite or beat up God?"

"Both," Izuku replied, and Toshinori nodded in vigorous agreement. When they looked up, though, they realized Nana was staring right at them.

"I heard that!" she said with a grin.

Then, someone else chirped, "As did I!"

All three living One For All holders immediately leaped to their feet, wildly searching for the source of the voice in blind panic.

"Up here!" the voice said, terrifyingly polite and familiar.

Suddenly, the vent on the ceiling of Toshinori's office, directly over his desk, swung open on hidden hinges, and Nezu himself dropped down, his clothes immaculate and his fur luscious. He looked completely nonchalant about having just dropped out of a vent like...well, like an actual rat.

The effect of his sudden appearance was immediate and merciless. Izuku and Toshinori yelled in terror, throwing themselves back and landing heavily against walls and the floor. Nana, though she would never admit it, also briefly screamed, launching herself straight up and painfully slamming her head into the ceiling, before gently drifting back down, dazed and rubbing the new bump on her head.

As all three of the heroes lay groaning on the ground, Nezu casually stood on the desk, a tiny, amused grin on his face.

In the same level, cheery voice he used in every meeting, Nezu said, "Surprise, bitches."

Several minutes later, when the pain and terror had subsided and everyone was seated again, Nana was the first to speak, as usual.

"Okay, Nezu, care to explain why you were in the goddamn vents like a horror movie monster?" she demanded, still rubbing her aching skull.

Nezu's smile didn't change in the slightest as he replied, "Why wouldn't I be in the vents, Miss Shimura?"

"Uh, because it's terrifying as fuck?" Nana retorted, the pain making her cranky.

"That's just a bonus," Nezu assured her, "Also, I find that they are quite the effective way of listening to fascinating conversations."

"Eavesdropping, you mean," Izuku muttered.

"If you wish to use such a crass term, yes," Nezu told him.

Sheepishly, Toshinori asked his boss, "So, uh, how much of that did you hear?"

With a twinkle in his eye, Nezu answered, "Everything. I quite like your theories, by the way. For such...unevolved minds, it is quite intelligent."

All three of the wielders of One For All shuddered in a brief bout of existential dread, which only made Nezu chuckle more.

Eventually, Izuku sighed, "Principal Nezu, other than putting the fear of God into us, is there any other reason you decided to show up?"

"Joke's on you, I'm not afraid of God," Nana quipped.

Ignoring Nana's jokes, much to her chagrin, Nezu explained, "I'm actually here to discuss an important matter with Miss Shimura."

Instantly, Nana straightened and asked, "What important matter, Principal?"

Nezu responded, "Well, now that I have successfully created a foolproof identity for you, we have to start thinking about other forms of licensing you may want in the future. Specifically, you'll need a hero license."

Nana perked up even further. Sure, Nezu had managed to forge everything she needed to pass herself off as a legitimate Japanese citizen (which she technically was anyway, just one who had been listed as dead for thirty years), but a hero license? She loved the thought of having that again. Although…

"Why can't you just forge that, too?" Nana asked suspiciously, squinting at the principal.

Nezu gasped in mock horror, "Miss Shimura, are you suggesting that I would ever commit a crime as grave as forgery?"

"Uh, yes, yes I am," Nana retorted.

Nezu sighed regretfully, "Very well, you have me there. But as for why I can't...well, I probably could, I just don't want to."

"And why not? I was a hero for years, isn't that good enough?" Nana challenged. By now, Izuku and Toshinori had been relegated to helplessly watching the back-and-forth, their heads swiveling like spectators at a tennis match.

Nezu shrugged and replied, "Perhaps, but I do feel that it never hurts to make sure your skills are up to par. Besides, this way, you don't have to go around getting questions from the Hero Commission about why your license ID matches up perfectly with that of a woman who died thirty years ago."

Nana couldn't deny that Nezu had a point there. Honestly, taking the test again wouldn't even be that hard; a quick dig through Izuku's memories of the provisional license exam from his first year made Nana confident that she could win, no problem.

"Okay, when is the next exam date?" Nana asked, already eager for a chance to really stretch her legs and maybe get away from UA for a while.

"Oh, you're not taking the usual exams, those are far too easy for you," Nezu told her with a grin, "I've arranged with the Hero Commission to give you a special test in about a week. It'll just be you against whatever they decide to throw at you."

Nana felt her excitement growing rapidly, but she couldn't help the tiny stab of worry she felt as an idle thought crossed her mind.

Nana had been taught in an era where the most important thing a hero did was win, period. The cost didn't matter, the how didn't matter, the why didn't matter. If you were standing at the end and the other guy wasn't, you were a successful hero. That meant that Nana fought dirty, when she didn't have any other choice. She wondered if her tactics would be frowned upon today, if she wouldn't be heroic enough for the Commission.

Eh, that was a worry for another time. Nana wasn't the kind of person who doubted herself, and she didn't plan to start now.

"A week, you said?" Nana asked.

Nezu nodded, and Nana's grin got wider, baring teeth as her eyes brightened. She said, "I can't wait."

Nezu grinned right back at her. "Excellent. I'll let them know you're coming," he chirped.

With that, he went to leave, thankfully through the door instead of the vents.

As he reached the door, though, Nezu paused one last time to add, "Oh, Miss Shimura, I almost forgot to give you my congratulations."

Nana blinked, and Izuku subtly went rigid, barely daring to breathe.

"Um, thanks?" Nana replied, "what are you congratulating me for, again?"

Nezu's only response was a meaningful glance at Izuku, who was fighting hard to suppress a blush, followed by a wink to Nana. Then, he was gone, leaving all three of them mystified and still a little terrified.

"D...did he just…" Izuku spluttered through their link.

"I think he did," Nana agreed.

"How?" Izuku demanded of nobody in particular, "how the hell does he know already?"

"Who fucking knows?" Nana replied with a mental shrug.

"Why is our principal so goddamn terrifying?" Izuku wondered as they said their goodbyes to Toshinori and also left the office.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Nana responded out loud, "Look, I have no fucking clue what's up with Nezu, and honestly, I don't want to know."

"That's probably smart," Izuku admitted. Without even thinking about it, he extended his hand, and Nana slipped hers into it. Hand-in-hand, they started to walk back to the dorms, feeling almost at peace despite everything.

Nana thought she could get used to this.

"Used to what?" Izuku asked.

"Everything," Nana answered simply, "holding hands, UA, being alive again, loving you...I think this is why I came back."

Izuku looked at her strangely, wondering, "What, One For All brought you back to...be my girlfriend? What, does it think that I'm too hopeless to get one on my own?"

Nana felt a laugh, a real laugh, bubble out of her throat, a high, clear sound that seemed to fade into the sunny, clear day. Above them, the sky was an endless, perfect blue, teeming with promise and possibility.

"Not quite, Izuku. Really, I think...well, I've said it before, but I think this is my second chance," Nana explained.

Izuku squeezed her hand tighter as she thought of all the memories she was still missing, the stretches of her mind that were still as blank and featureless as the sky above them.

Nana took a deep breath, and finished, "And if this is my second chance...I'm glad I'm spending it with you."

Izuku didn't reply, but he didn't need to. Sometimes, words weren't enough, weren't necessary. When Nana could feel the steady, warm love that radiated from him, filling her soul until she thought her heart would burst, she didn't need words.

She knew Izuku loved her, and that she loved him.

For now, that was enough. Maybe it wouldn't always be, but it wasn't like that was all she had going for her. Nana would kick as much ass as she needed to, but she was going to have her happy ending, dammit.