After nearly getting his head kicked in by Gran Torino, Toshinori found himself understanding all the more why Nana had been more willing to pass on One For All when he'd asked for it. Sure, Nana had been getting older when he'd first met up with her – Kotaru had already been born by then, and it had been starting to seem like she wanted to step back from being a Hero and have the chance to be a mother – but now that he'd had the chance to make his own mark on the world of Heroes, Toshinori found he could understand.

He'd have to talk to to Hisashi, of course, since even though each individual holder of One For All was given the option of selecting their own successors, it was always better to have more opinions than just their own when they were thinking about those kinds of things. Hell, he himself had stayed with Nana and her family for the better part of half a year before she'd brought up the idea of making him the next in One For All's line of succession. He'd been happy to have something to strive for, but looking back even he hadn't quite been prepared for the exponential growth of the Quirk he'd been handed.

Being Quirkless for the better part of his life, One For All had been something of a revelation…

Sighing softly as he found himself thinking back on Mr. and Mrs. Yagi – the pair who'd thrown him out of their home for being Quirkless as soon as he'd turned sixteen, effectively cutting him out of their lives just as soon as they wouldn't raise too much of a fuss for doing something like that – Toshinori thought back on what had happened after that: Nana had adopted him, raising him in the same house as her own son Kotaru, and then he'd been given the opportunity to meet Councilman Midoriya in person. Of course, back then he hadn't known just how integral the man would become to his life.

Really, sometimes it still surprised him, just how large his family had grown even after he'd been tossed aside by his biological parents.

Speaking of family, he mused, as the sound of his phone receiving a text went off suddenly, and he looked to see that it was one of the very men he'd been thinking about. As he paused for a long moment, letting the GPS get a lock on his position so that Kurogiri could open a Warp Gate to him, then stepping through it when Councilman Midoriya's aide had finished preparing the way for him, Toshinori found himself curious about just how all of this was going to go down. Apparently, two more of the Top Five had proven themselves stable and trustworthy enough to learn the story behind All For One and One For All; one of the best kept secrets in the modern world.

Enji Todoroki – the Pro Hero Endeavor, who currently held the number two spot with distinction – had always been more than a bit of an enigma to him; the man was standoffish in the extreme when he was in the powered-up form that One For All granted him, but indifferent nearly to the point of outright rudeness whenever he appeared as Toshinori Shimura. Sure, Enji had solved more cases than any other Pro Hero in Japan – possibly in the world; considering the man's dedication he honestly wouldn't have been surprised – but his obvious and myriad personality problems had kept him from rising any higher than that.

Not that Enji was the kind of person who could realize that kind of thing without some serious, heavy-duty prompting.

Once the slight feeling of vertigo had cleared and he could actually take a look around the room he'd been moved to, Toshinori found himself in the old, familiar office where he'd sat down to nearly the same kind of discussion back when he'd first accepted One For All and the responsibility that holding the Quirk entailed. Nodding to Hisashi as he settled himself down in the chair at the head of the table, Toshinori pulled out the chair next to the man and settled down into it, himself. Turning to look at the door, Toshinori reflected on the other Hero who was going to be showing up.

He hadn't had that many interactions with Best Jeanist, in either his capacity as All Might or as Toshinori Shimura, but given everything he'd heard about the man, he couldn't help but think that he was a good fit to know about the secrets that were going to be discussed at the upcoming meeting. Of course, that was probably why he was being read in in the first place.

But, even though Enji had met the requirements to find out about the two Quirks that had shepherded the growth of modern society for basically as long as they'd existed, Toshinori couldn't quite see him as the kind not to take what he was going to be hearing in exactly the wrong way; still, time would tell, as it always had.

~MHA~

When he'd gotten the notification that his presence was required for some sort of meeting – specifically a meeting with Councilman Midoriya, the Number Four Hero, and that secretary who was probably just there to take the minutes or something – Enji finished his training session with Shoto slightly before schedule, so that he could find out just what it was that the Councilman wished to speak with him about. He doubted that it was the one thing he'd worked so hard to accomplish, since something like that would have been announced online and in all the relevant magazines and papers. Still, knowing that Councilman Midoriya wished to see him for something was rather interesting on its own.

Soft-hearted the man might have been, but no one other than a complete fool could deny his effectiveness.

When he finally arrived at the office that Councilman Midoriya and the others he'd invited had come to, Enji allowed the Hellflame that made up his mask to lapse, leaving only the meager flames that made up his beard to flicker about the lower half of his face.

"So, what's this about?" he asked, sweeping his gaze over Councilman Midoriya and Best Jeanist; the secretary was sitting at Councilman Midoriya's right hand, but Enji didn't take much notice of him.

It wasn't as though the man would have much of an impact on the proceedings, after all.

"The both of you have proven yourselves to possess both the loyalty and the discretion to be allowed in on a secret has been guarded by generations before you," Councilman Midoriya said, and there was something about his manner that suggested this would be something more than idle chatter.

That was pleasing; he didn't have the time to waste on that, not if he was going to ensure that Shoto gained the recognition that he himself had been denied all his life.

~MHA~

Watching Enji's face as Hisashi set the stage for his explanation, Toshinori found himself wondering just what was going on behind the man's inscrutable expression. The man wasn't a fan of All Might by any stretch of the imagination, and he hadn't exchanged more than a handful of words with Endeavor as Toshinori Shimura. So, like Hisashi would probably say, this would be a learning experience for them both. The only one whose reaction he wasn't feeling even slightly apprehensive about was Best Jeanist's, because he knew from both sides of the fence so to speak that Tsunagu Hakamata at least wasn't someone to judge solely on his own preconceptions.

When Hisashi steered their conversation away from the matter of his own Quirk – and seeing the varied reactions of Best Jeanist and Endeavor were fairly telling in and of themselves, with Endeavor seeming wary if not disgusted by the very idea of someone being able to take someone else's Quirk and either use it themself or give it to someone else, and Jeanist clearly more interested in the man who actually held that power – Toshinori braced himself for the revelations that were soon to be coming.

"I'm pleased to know that that kind of power is knitted to someone of your moral fiber," Best Jeanist said; if there was one thing that Toshinori didn't think he would get used to when speaking to Jeanist, it was the clothing metaphors that the man seemed to really enjoy speaking in. "I shudder to think of how the fabric of society would unravel if someone else possessed such a Quirk."

"Thank you for the vote of confidence, but my own Quirk is only half of the reason I called you both here," Hisashi said, a gentle, amused smile on his face as he glanced briefly over at Best Jeanist where he was sitting.

He got the feeling that he was just as amused by Best Jeanist and his constant clothing metaphors as Toshinori himself.

Settling back in his seat again as Councilman Midoriya began telling the story of his brother and the Quirk that he'd passed on to the younger man; the Quirk that had originally been called Stockpile, and had then merged with the Quirk that he and Hisashi had ended up calling Chosen Inheritance, the pair of them combining into the Quirk that would eventually come to be called One For All. At least, that would end up being the name, after a couple more of the people it'd been passed onto had had the chance to get used to it.

It was the kind of clever wordplay that Toshinori enjoyed, though he didn't really know if he would have been able to think up something that sounded as good himself.

"Toshinori," Councilman Midoriya prompted, and he stood up quickly.

He'd been mentally preparing for this ever since Hisashi had first started talking about One For All, and as he rose to his feet, setting the chair aside so that he wouldn't end up knocking it over considering what was going to happen, Toshinori called upon the energies of the Quirk that had allowed him to rise to the top of the Pro Hero rankings and to become the Symbol of Peace.

"What?" Endeavor demanded, glaring harshly at him as he stood in his powered-up form.

"Ah, such is the power of One For All," Best Jeanist said, nodding as he studied Toshinori in the form that everyone else knew as All Might. "The Quirk that has been woven together like a quilt, sheltering, protecting, and giving comfort to those who find themselves faced with danger."

Okay, so it's not just clothing metaphors, it's sewing in general, Toshinori reflected amusedly, as he let go of his powered-up form and settled back down in his chair amid the usual cloud of steam. "That's about the size of it, yeah."

"So, it seems you're in need of a successor," Enji said, seeming to have regained his composure. "After all, a man your age hardly has all the time in the world."

That last was said with a glance at Councilman Midoriya, who turned to Enji with a look of subdued interest on his face. "You have someone in mind?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do."

~MHA~

Finding out that All Might hadn't actually earned the Number One ranking through any inherent skill of his own had been annoying enough, and to hear that Toshinori Shimura – the false face that All Might wore to keep himself out of the spotlight that he hadn't rightly earned – had been born Quirkless was basically a thumb in his eye. Still, knowing that One For All – the Quirk that had given a Quirkless nobody the power to rise to be the Number One Hero; to craft himself into the Symbol of Peace – could be passed on… Well, that simply meant that, once Shoto had come into the possession of the Quirk, it would be inevitable that he would be the next Number One Hero.

It was in the very nature of the Quirk itself, to grow stronger and more powerful each time it was passed on; the ninth bearer – Shoto – would stand above the eighth, who stood above the seventh; and on even to the younger brother of Councilman Midoriya, who'd possessed such a feeble Quirk as to be little better than the Quirkless All Might. Still, knowing just how the Symbol of Peace – and even the Symbol of Hope, considering the limitations that Councilman Midoriya placed on himself to perform as he did in that guise – had come to be… well, he could hardly say that he approved of any of it.

Still, he was hardly about to dismiss the chance to improve the standing of the Todoroki family out of hand.

~MHA~

He'd known that the U.A. Sports Festival was coming up even before Aizawa-sensei had started telling them all about it, since he and Dad had watched it together when Tenko-nii had been one of the ones competing. Really, they still did, since there were always interesting Quirks on display, and it was easy to get into given Dad's position as both All Might's friend and as a government official. It was always fun, watching all of the new people with all of their Quirks on display, and sometimes, when he or Dad saw a new one that they really liked, Dad would write them a letter and ask them for one of their hairs.

Or an eyelash, if they didn't have any hair.

"Zu-chan, it's time to get to lunch," Tenko-nii said, having stopped in front of his desk just before he dragged Aizawa-sensei out of the classroom and down the hall.

"Thanks, Tenko-nii," he said, smiling at his brother as he, Kacchan, Tenya, and Ochako made their way to the cafeteria to have some of Lunch Rush's food.

It might not have been quite as good as Mom's home cooking, or even Dad's when he put his mind to it, but it was at least good enough for something he was having at school. Or, at least that was what he'd heard, since he hadn't spent much time in public schools aside from the last couple years, when Mom had started worrying that he wasn't socializing enough with people his own age. Still, before the four of them could make it halfway down the hall, Izuku heard the sound of someone familiar calling to him.

"Hey, kiddo."

"Uncle Toshi!" he exclaimed, turning to see the man peeking his head and shoulders out of the office that he used; the one that seemed to have some kind of secret passage, since Uncle Toshi didn't have a teleportation Quirk and he couldn't really be seen spending too much time in All Might's office when he worked as a secretary for U.A. itself.

"You want to have lunch with me?" Uncle Toshi asked, pointing his thumb back at the door he'd clearly just come out of, smiling in that gentle sort of way that was almost the complete opposite of All Might's beaming grin.

"Sure, Uncle Toshi," he said, then paused for a moment. "Can my friends come, too?"

"Sure, the more the merrier," Uncle Toshi said, smiling wider as he led them back to his office.

Making his way inside Uncle Toshi's office, Izuku found himself happily surprised to see Bambaa-chan, and a bit surprised to see Shinsou-san and Todoroki-san sitting on the couch. Shinsou-san was sitting next to Bambaa-chan, but it looked like Todoroki-san would be sitting next to Uncle Toshi when he sat down. When Uncle Toshi actually did sit down, he did end up next to Todoroki-san, and Izuku couldn't help but wonder why it was that Todoroki-san was even there.

None of them had really talked to each other, except for maybe Uncle Toshi when Endeavor would bring his son to the occasional press conference for the publicity; at least that was what Dad said he was trying to do.

"You're Councilman Midoriya's son, aren't you?" Todoroki-san asked, having turned to look at him almost as soon as he'd come into Uncle Toshi's office.

"Yeah, I am," he said, wondering what Todoroki-san was getting at.

"We can talk about that later," Uncle Toshi said, and the look in his eyes told Izuku that there was something that none of them could really discuss outside of the family.

There were really only a couple things that they couldn't talk about with other people – only two, actually – and Izuku found himself looking at Todoroki-san in a new light. Passing on One For All was pretty important, considering that the Quirk had been used to protect everyone, and also the fact that it grew stronger with each new link in the chain of wielders, Uncle Toshi being the eighth and currently most powerful.

"Ah, okay," he said, turning to smile invitingly at Todoroki-san. "Your name is Shoto, right?"

He might not have known Endeavor's son very well, but from what he had seen he seemed like a nice enough person.

"It is," Todoroki-san said, though he still didn't seem to know what to make of his current situation.

/He's not really much for talking,/ Bambaa-chan said, tail twitching slightly as she purred to try to put everyone in the office at ease.

It didn't quite seem to be working on Todoroki-san, but then there seemed to be more on his mind than just the potential inheritance of One For All. He was still glad that Bambaa-chan was at least making the effort, though.

~MHA~

When the rest of their classes for the day had finished, leaving him alone with Izuku Midoriya, his sister, and Toshinori Shimura – who he could still remember from the press conference they'd first encountered each other at, mostly for the way he'd called the old man an ass while he'd been leaving the room – Shoto wondered just what was so secret that none of them had felt comfortable sharing even a word with the people they called their friends. Still, once all four of them had climbed into Toshinori's car, Shoto was at least reasonably certain that none of them would feel that a car of all places would be too public a setting for… whatever it was that they felt they couldn't discuss in public.

"So, I guess you have a few questions," Shimura-san said, turning to look at him in the car's rear-view mirror once they'd pulled safely out of U.A.'s parking lot.

"Only one, really: what are you people hiding?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

"That's a long story, but it isn't just mine to tell, Todoroki-kun," Shimura-san said, with a soft smile that Shoto didn't know quite what to make of.

Still, he hadn't understood the Midoriyas even after meeting them more than a few times, the way he and the old man had, so it probably made sense that he wouldn't understand someone who was clearly deeply connected to them.