Another failure. All For One stared at the body that wasn't quite right.
It was the eyes. It was always the eyes. But then there would be something else. Every single time All For One did this, there would be something off. The skin tone. The hair. The voice when activated. All the way down to the finger prints.
It.
Was.
All.
Off.
He had to suppress a sigh. Two hundred years. It has been two hundred years and he has not been able to perfect it. One would think that they would be able to do so with such a long span of time. But evidently technically wasn't quite advanced enough.
It was never enough.
"Oh brother," he crooned, "this would never have happened if you went against me."
The floating body said nothing as it stared ahead in its tube.
Just like One For All, recreating his brother's body perfectly was always just outside his reach.
All For One has come to recognize that quirks held the personality of their owner. An afterimage. A ghost if one wills. And after the accidental demise of his brother, All For One wanted his brother back.
And as he found ways to preserve his brother's body, and ways to grow new ones as the old one had proven to be faulty, All For One debated with himself.
Would he keep the quirk with him to keep his brother with him forever and always? Or would he give the quirk a new body to control? It would be hard to not let his brother's voice be drowned out by the countless others, and there was something appealing about being able to physically see his brother.
Slowly, his eyes drifted down to the report his good doctor gave him a few months ago. It laid down on the lone clear table that All For One dubbed his to use whenever he wanted to work by his brother's side. It was something he wanted to look over once more. After all, the contents within it was very important. Very interesting.
The Nomu will help his research.
If the clones will not work, then a different base shall be used. Much like how the Nomu would be made. All For One would not risk his brother's original body.
A sharp ringing noise broke the man from his thoughts. He let the phone ring once more before walking over to answer.
"Ah, sensei!" Ujiko cheered. "I have news for a potential candidate!"
"Is that so?" All For One mused.
"Yes, yes, I'm sending you his information right now. It's very exciting, you see, this child I have found is quirkless! The luck I have managed to get in order to find a four year old quirkless boy!" The doctor rambled as the files started pouring in.
"Quirkless you say?" That was certainly interesting.
Listening with one ear, the bicentenarian read the child's information.
Midoriya Izuku, born on July fifteenth, age four. Quirkless. Mother was Midoriya Inko and father was Midoriya Hisashi. Inko worked in an office, and was a fourth generation quirk user with a weak attraction quirk that pulled small objects to her. Hisashi worked overseas in America, and was most likely another fourth generation quirk user with a fire breathing quirk.
What were the odds of those two parents giving birth to a quirkless boy? Very, very, very, slim.
Then he saw it.
Little Izuku's picture.
The tiny thing looked so plain compared to the rest of the world. The only thing that would set him apart from the children back in his day was the green hair.
And those green eyes.
Those oddly familiar green eyes.
Why was it so familiar? All For One had never met this child before, this he knew. So why?
The nagging continued, eating at his mind. Demanding that he remembered.
Suddenly, the man remembered his little brother at that age. How he would smile shyly up at him, asking to be with his beloved big brother. How he would stubbornly guard his snacks from his mean big brother. How he would cry waterfalls for his hurt big brother. Oh how did All For One remembered.
A large, wide, grin split across his face.
He now knew what he wanted this child to be.
"Doctor," All For One spoke, interrupting the doctor's rambles about the potential Nomu that could be created by the boy, "I have decided. This child will be part of my… special experiments. If I find out you used him for anything else, without my permission, know that you will have dire consequences."
Silence. And then, "yes sensei. If I may ask, when do you wish to obtain him?"
All For One hummed. That was a very good question.
"I'll let you know." All For One said before ending the call.
This boy. This Izuku was perfect. Plans and plots filled the bicentenarian's mind. He could steal the child away, much like young Tomura, and raise him as his own. Mold him into perfection. Or he could do it all from the background, creating situations, making things fall into place. See what the child would take a hold of.
A different thought came about, unbidden.
What if Izuku became the next One For All holder?
Now that… was a thought.
It was unlikely, but if All Might took pity on the child, or was forced to give it to Izuku…
All For One quickly frowned at that. Izuku would be the dominant personality if that were to happen. No wriggle room for his brother, no wriggle room at all. And knowing him, he probably wouldn't want to anyways.
But Izuku was only four years old. All For One had quite a bit of time before he could come to a decision.
Walking away, All For One went down a flight of stairs to where his brother's first body laid. Putting a hand onto a cold cheek, All For One rubbed his thumb in circles.
'Yes.' He thought. 'I will have enough time.'
He'll have his brother back either way.
Midoriya Izuku was the key. He just had to do this right.
Okay, so I didn't feel like writing AFO actually taking Izuku and do the transformation process and whatnot, but I *did* wanted to write a before bit. In this one Izuku and AFO are not related in any way but AFO is searching for a new way to bring his brother back and well we see this. I don't think I'll be making a sequel to this so it's just a stand alone. However if anyone is interested they are more than welcome to take this idea and run wild with it. Hope you liked the short fic!
(Also on AO3 and Wattpad)