Izuku Midoriya stood on a stool, staring at his own legs that were currently on top of the same stool.

Not from above, like a normal person, but from the side. The parts of his body above his shoulder stuck out of a shadow about ten feet away from where the rest of his body was. A bright light shone from the side, behind a metal box that created the shadow where Izuku's head was currently sticking out of. Likewise, a board nailed to the ceiling created the shadow that Izuku's body was currently standing under. Izuku's body was basically split up in between two physical locations: the bottom half standing on the stool, buried in the ceiling, and his head sticking out of a shadow a fair distance away.

Yeah, things were weird. Izuku had used Shadowsneak before in the past, but those times, he was in and out of the shadows pretty much instantaneously. He never dwelled in the shadow, suspended between two realities, for longer than a second. It was slightly nauseating to see his own body from another perspective.

"Commencing test," a researcher said, signaling to a few assistants. She typed away at a computer from her seat, this time strangely from within the same room that Izuku was in. "Case A: the topic of what happens when the shadow is removed."

They turned on another light, altering the position of the shadow. Izuku's detached upper body traveled along with the new shadow, which shifted as the researchers moved the new light back and forth. Once again, the nauseating feeling from earlier returned. The uncanny sensation of having his view shift without actually moving his body physically was disorientating. It was like being in a car with major motion sickness.

Then, the researchers flicked a switch, bathing the entire room in a harsh, bright light. Doing so instantly removed any shadows that Izuku was currently inside of, but the result wasn't anything gory like Izuku suddenly being sliced in half. Instead, Izuku's head felt like it was getting compressed in every direction and, with a pop, extracted itself from the ceiling, sending Izuku tumbling off of the stool and onto the ground.

After a wave of nausea flowed through his head, Izuku was unable to stop himself from retching, throwing up the remains of his meal.

"Disgusting," the researcher said. Then, with a hint of disappointment in her voice, she continued, "It's a shame that our hypothesis was incorrect."

Izuku wiped some drool and unsavory bits off of the side of his face with his arm. "What was your hypothesis?"

"That the removal of the shadows would cut your body cleanly in the areas where it was stuck in the shadow," the researcher scathingly said. Her dark eyes contained no empathy for the boy.

Izuku thought about that for a second. "So, your hypothesis was that you would be able to kill me."

"It would be a happy accident," the researcher fired back.

Izuku stared at the woman. She was shaking, struggling to keep her emotions in check.

"What was his name?"

"I'm sorry? Who?"

Izuku clicked his tongue in annoyance. "The one that I killed a while ago. The man I 'shot' when we were testing Electromagneta."

That certainly caused a reaction. Instantly, the woman was on her feet. She would have walked straight up to Izuku had it not been for her fellow assistants. Even then, it took all three assistants to hold her back.

"Never mind," Izuku sighed. "His name isn't important, since now I can see why you must hate me so much. Hoping to avenge him by somehow managing to kill me?"

"You little shit," the researcher cussed at him. "You're a monster. If he didn't like you so much for whatever fucking reason, I would have throttled you by now."

"I'm not a monster," Izuku reminded her, "And, plus…"

Izuku stared at the researcher.

"What makes you think that you're in control?"

She wanted to respond, but her retort died in her throat. She couldn't move her mouth; she couldn't even breathe. The three assistants by her side were also frozen in place, struck by the suffocating, heavy atmosphere that Izuku suddenly created with King's Will.

"I wonder, where are you getting this idea that sensei is holding you back from throttling me?" Izuku continued. "What makes you think—for even a moment—that you are stronger than I am? You're holding back from throttling me?"

Izuku glared at her.

"I'm holding back from killing you."

The researcher couldn't respond. Her vision was slowly going hazy from lack of oxygen. Seeing their faces becoming discolored, Izuku unclenched his jaw and relaxed King's Will, allowing the four older people to breathe again. They all collapsed into a heap on the floor.

"You are all so incredibly weak. The fact that King's Will is so effective on you is testament to that fact," Izuku coldly said. "In the first place, I'm only allowing you to experiment on me so that I can see my own limits and grow beyond them. In the past, I may have been subject to your whims, but now it's different."

The researcher and her assistants had nothing to say to Izuku's words. They were quite literally too scared to move a muscle.

"Now, get up," Izuku commanded. "We have more tests to run."

.:.

"I would like to apologize for Haruka's behavior," Izuku's sensei said, taking a seat at the dinner table beside Izuku.

Izuku looked up from his extravagant meal—Kobe beef steak and garlic mashed potatoes—and tilted his head. "Why?"

If All For One still had eyes, he would have blinked. That was not the reaction that he expected. "That silly little girl came crying to me earlier, wailing about how she wanted to swap test subjects. She said she tried to hurt you in one of the experiments and deeply regretted it, but I don't think she was thinking straight. The moment she admitted that, she clamped her hand over her mouth and turned so white that I thought she passed out on the spot."

Izuku continued looking at him.

"Anyways, I assured her that her death would be quick and had her locked up in one of the cells. After all, she did try to kill one of my favorites," All For One genially said. "Of course, her death being quick—that's not up to me. I've decided to give you the honor of deciding how to end her life."

Izuku still had that quizzical look on his face, so All For One asked, "Izuku? What's wrong? Do you still not understand why I'm apologizing for Haruka?"

"Oh, nothing." Izuku's eyes refocused. "I was just wondering this: why are you apologizing for her? What she did has nothing to do with you, right?"

"Ah," All For One nodded, "well, you see, it's about taking responsibility. My negligence in assigning researchers led to a situation where you were forced to undergo potentially life-threatening experiments. When you're working alone, you only need to hold yourself accountable. But when you're the head of an entire organization, like I am, the actions of other people in the organization are a reflection of your own."

"Taking responsibility…" Izuku repeated, mulling over the words in his mind. "Sounds difficult. Worrying about what other people do all the time doesn't seem fun."

"You're right," the faceless man said. "It's not. But, onto brighter topics, how would you like to deal with Haruka? She tried to have you killed, so it's only right that you decide what becomes of her life."

"Hmm…" Izuku hummed, stroking his chin.

He thought deeply before continuing. "Spare her for now. Let her continue designing experiments for me."

His sensei was decently confused by his words. "May I ask you why I should allow that to happen? She did try to have you killed. Just help me understand your reasoning."

Izuku set down his fork and knife. "I want to be stronger, sensei."

All For One, sensing more, remained silent.

"Having someone who hates me design my experiments and trials… it seems like she'd try her hardest to make me miserable, to hurt me, or to kill me. Probably all three at once." Izuku looked over at his sensei. "Maybe tell her to not try to kill me in an experiment, but I'll overcome all of them, regardless, and grow stronger. If I don't, I'll see my limits or die. I…"

"I just want to be useful to you quicker," the child admitted, playing with his thumbs.

All For One smiled at the boy. He wasn't one to play favorites—okay, that was a lie, he definitely played favorites—but this boy truly distinguished himself from the rest of the experiments. It was just so interesting to see the way that Izuku reacted to All For One's teachings, his indoctrination, and the way that he absorbed any and all information. He had to beat loyalty into all of the other subjects, ingrain it so deeply in their minds with sessions that they couldn't think of ever defying him.

But Izuku… he never had that issue with Izuku. Ever since All For One had helped him solve the issue of the voices in his mind by giving him advice, Izuku had grown more and more willing, more and more obedient, and more and more powerful. He never had to beat loyalty into Izuku—just some hunger, some personal deliveries of food, and then the boy sincerely believed in him. He had Izuku eating out of the palm of his hand.

All For One liked that obedience. It was almost like raising a child.

"I see," All For One said. "But Izuku—you mustn't die. It might just break my heart if you did. Pursuing strength is fine and all, but you've got time. I'll reinstate Haruka as your particular researcher, but I will closely supervise the experiments to ensure that she doesn't put you in life-threatening danger. At the end of the day, you are very important to me. I consider you to be my greatest creation, Izuku, so I just wanted you to know that…"

All For One smiled, a rare, gentle expression compared to his usual sadistic smirk.

"You have worth. You matter."

Izuku glowed upon hearing All For One's words, and the man wondered if this was what Izuku had been seeking throughout his entire short life: purpose and, more importantly…

Validation.

"Sensei," Izuku said suddenly, "I have a request."

"Say it," the faceless man permitted. "If it's within my power, I will grant it."

"One day…" the boy murmured, "one day… I want to show you how strong I've become. It probably won't be today, or tomorrow, or any time soon…"

Izuku stared at All For One.

"But one day I would like a chance to go against you in a fight." Then, as an afterthought, he added, "So that I could prove my worth to you, prove to you that you weren't wrong in choosing me."

All For One grinned.

"Consider your request granted."

Unbreakable

Difficult Conversations

"The first, and perhaps most important, thing to being a hero," Rumi said, placing both hands on her hips, "is figuring out your limits."

Izuku stopped as she did, taking in his surroundings. What he had initially thought was a modest-looking gym in Mustafu turned out to contain a massive, sprawling underground complex. When Rumi and her intern exited the elevator at B3, it was almost like they traveled to another world. Training equipment of every kind and mechanical robots similar to the ones at the U.A. entrance exam appeared everywhere before his eyes.

"If you don't know your limits, you end up getting in over your head. When you get in over your head, you're probably already dead. We have one week," Rumi continued, "so we gotta make the most of it. I want to teach you how to be a proper hero, but I can't do that first without a basic understanding of your Quirk, well, Quirks. So think of this as a baseline test."

"I understand," Izuku said. "That makes sense."

"Good," Rumi nodded, "now, which of the One For All Quirks can you use?"

"I can use Blackwhip, Electromagneta, Chrono Force—"

Rumi bit back the doubts that she had in her mind about those being One For All Quirks and allowed him to continue.

"—and a fraction of One For All itself. I feel like I used to know how much I could use it, in like percentages and stuff, but nowadays… I don't know," Izuku laughed self-deprecatingly.

"That's alright. You mentioned it to me before—percentages, right?" Rumi tapped her chin with a finger. "Maybe that's not the right way to think about it. After all, you're getting stronger, right? What was your ten percent in the past might be your five percent right now. Percentages seem like an inconsistent way of describing it."

"That actually makes a lot of sense."

"Of course it does," Rumi huffed, crossing her arms. "We'll work on it, of course, but now I wanna see what you consider one hundred percent."

Izuku faltered. "Which one hundred percent?"

Rumi blinked. "There should only be one one hundred percent."

He fidgeted with his hands. "I have two. One that I can use with Chrono Force activated, a kind of 'restricted' one hundred percent, and the other that I can use is just unrestricted pure one hundred percent."

"Why does the restricted version exist again?"

"It's there so I don't break my bones," Izuku explained. "When I go pure one hundred percent, I tend to break my bones. When restricted by Chrono Force, I can use one hundred percent like three times before my body gives out on me. I tested this with All Might and found that my restricted one hundred percent is actually much weaker than my pure one hundred percent. He said it had something to do with the way muscles worked, probably."

Rumi nodded slowly, digesting the information she received. "That system sounds a bit confusing to me. So basically, restricted one hundred percent doesn't equal pure one hundred percent?"

"Yeah."

"Huh, okay, I kinda need to see this difference for myself." Rumi looked at him. "Think you can punch the wall or something at pure one hundred percent?"

Izuku remembered the old rock climbing wall at U.A. that he had punched with pure one hundred percent. Suffice to say, that wall did not exist anymore.

"Probably not," Izuku admitted. "I would, but we're underground… I wouldn't want to cause an earthquake. It could hurt other people."

Rumi stared at him for a bit longer. Under the heat of her gaze, Izuku wilted and wondered if he had said something wrong.

"You have no sense of self-preservation, do ya?" Rumi asked him suddenly.

"Huh?" Izuku intelligently responded.

"That was… a kind of test. Instead of worrying about your own body being hurt, your first instinct was about others," Rumi said. "It's not a bad instinct to have as a hero, but I want you to value yourself more. I'm not telling you to value your own life over those of other people… I just want you to think about it some more and make a decision after you've done some thinking."

A distant look came across Rumi's eyes. "After all, there's no value in a dead hero."

Before Izuku could say anything, she shook herself out of her funk and said, "Is there anything else you can think of?"

Izuku pointed at the robots. "We could use those."

Rumi facepalmed. "That's—That's not what I meant. I guess it's my bad for not being clear. I meant is there any way that you can use pure one hundred percent without hurting yourself?"

"I don't think so," Izuku said. "But I can usually just heal myself afterwards with Chrono Force."

Rumi stared at him blankly.

"Right, I forgot All Might didn't explain that one to you," Izuku said. "Chrono Force doesn't just 'lock' my body in place. It can also rewind or fast forward anything done to the body, so I can just rewind my body to its previous unbroken state. Doing this typically makes me relive the pain on a much greater scale, but that's all mental."

"… okay." Rumi decided to just roll with it. "Well, if you're alright with that, I'd like to see the difference between pure and restricted one hundred percent. But before that, I'd like to discuss a potential system we could use instead of percentages."

"Sure," Izuku agreed. "As I said before… percentages aren't really working for me anymore."

"Yeah, so I think that you can think about it in 'modes,'" Rumi suggested. "For example, when you walk around normally, you're not using the Quirk, correct?"

"Uh, yeah, I think I'm not."

The bunny girl held up a finger. "Right. So that's your 'normal mode.' And then we'll have a mode that you can use when fighting criminals that don't really pose a threat to you, so you don't like, I dunno, overkill them or anything. We can drill the level of output into your body at a later date when we've figured it all out."

Izuku nodded. For a brief moment, he thought back to the U.S.J. and the feeling of bones crunching under his fists. Suppressing a shudder, he broke away from the memory. Izuku's reaction had been in two parts: one half, out of horror, and the other, out of satisfaction. The half of him that enjoyed that feeling was very concerning, but he forced it down.

"Next, a mode when you're fighting a potentially life-threatening opponent, and then…" Rumi paused, eyeing him. "Do you have any forbidden moves? Like, moves that you'd only bust out if your life was in serious danger?"

"I… don't know?" Izuku answered her.

"'Kay, makes sense. Well, we can worry about all this later. Naming stuff is hard for me—I'm shit at naming things—but things get easier when we can put a label on them. For now, I wanna see what you can do."

Izuku nodded. "Okay. Where do you want me to start?"

"I like your attitude," Rumi smiled. "How 'bout we boot up some of these robots and see what you can do to them?"

.:.

Himiko's phone rang for the fourteenth time.

Finally pissed off enough to answer, she picked up and answered, "What, Shiggy. This better be worth interrupting this quest that I'm doing—"

"You are being recalled," the voice on the other line said.

Oh. That wasn't Tomura's voice. That was the voice of the one person she feared more than anything. All the fire and heat that she'd reserved for Tomura disappeared when she heard his voice.

"S-Sensei," Himiko weakly said, instantly cowed. "May I ask why? My reconnaissance at U.A. hasn't really born fruit yet. I haven't learned anything about—"

"Kurogiri will pick you up at Extraction Point Bravo. I will see you soon." The words or else weren't spoken out loud, but Himiko could read between the lines.

" Yes, sensei."

The line went dead.

A bit shaken, Himiko put on Izuku's green hoodie that he gave her on their first date. It had been a long time since he had given it to her, but she'd taken good care of it, so it didn't look too worn out despite constant usage. Plus, if she truly was being recalled, Izuku's hoodie was really the only thing that she wanted to bring with her.

But why was she being recalled? Himiko didn't report anything to All For One or to Tomura that could be worth recalling her for. In their eyes, she should still be in the collecting information stage of her infiltration. She hadn't told them about One For All being in Izuku's possession.

Squashing her suddenly frayed nerves, Himiko took a few deep breaths. It could just be something routine, she told herself. As she left the dorm and began walking out of U.A.'s campus, Himiko found herself growing more and more nervous.

It's always like this when sensei is involved, she bitterly thought, attempting in vain to move past her growing trepidation.

When Himiko reached point Bravo after fifteen or so minutes of walking, Kurogiri manifested out of the surrounding darkness without her even telling him she was there. The location, the back entrance of a rather shoddy thrift shop, was perfect for a warp gate.

"Hey," Himiko brusquely said, "do you know why I'm being recalled?"

The fog man didn't say a word. He only gestured toward a circular cloud of dark mist, no doubt a portal to her destination.

Himiko frowned and said under her breath, "Thanks for the help, jackass."

She stepped through the warp gate and shut her eyes. Once Himiko felt her feet on solid ground again, she opened her eyes and saw one of their normal meeting rooms. A mahogany table surrounded by nice, leather chairs greeted her eyes, as well as the forms of Dabi, Tomura, and her sensei.

"So nice of you to join us, Himiko," All For One jovially said. "Please, have a seat."

Himiko did as she was told, and Kurogiri wordlessly left the room, leaving only Dabi, Tomura, Himiko, and All For One within it. Himiko swallowed, staring at her sensei, All For One.

"Why did you recall me?" Himiko said, cutting through the stifling silence.

Tomura stared at her while Dabi very noticeably zoned out.

"Your mission is over," All For One said simply. "We have collectively decided that Izuku Midoriya's retrieval isn't possible. As such, I have decided that our only course of action is to kill him."

The nonchalant way in which he uttered those words chilled Himiko to her very core.

And then she realized what he had just said.

"W-Wait," she weakly stammered, pressing her hands against the table and standing up. "Hold on a second."

"Why should I?" All For One asked, cocking his head. "We are planning a raid on U.A., and we'll need you to be a part of it. Our primary objective will be to kill Izuku Midoriya—"

"Please, just wait," Himiko pleaded with him, panic lacing through her tone. "Why… why do we have to kill Izuku?"

"I have deemed him to be worthless," the imposing man said. "U.A. has made him weak. He is no longer the same Izuku that I've known. It would only make sense to crush him now before he becomes a tool to the heroes."

Himiko's mind rushed. "He… he has worth to your cause, sensei. He's strong, he placed first in the sports festival without trying too hard—"

"Izuku was going up against weaklings," All For One dismissed. "You could have placed first in the sports festival."

"But still," Himiko tried to reason, "it… it—"

"I would be going out there in person," the man interrupted her. His words shocked Himiko; after all, it wasn't every day that All For One acted personally. "He's one of my failed creations, so it's only right that I end him personally."

Well, shit. Himiko would bet on Izuku if he sent Dabi or, God forbid, Tomura, but he—and any hero that rushed to his aid, even All Might—probably stood no chance if All For One personally graced the battlefield. Especially since All Might didn't have his Quirk anymore.

"There's no need for you to," Himiko quickly spat out, heart racing. The nervousness that she felt was eating her alive. "I can convince Izuku, so just give me some more time."

"I don't think you understand this important fact," All For One stated simply. "I don't even want Izuku Midoriya. I just want to kill him before his skills grow and become of use to those filthy heroes. Who knows what toxins, what poisons, they are pouring into his mind, right now, as we speak."

"B-But," here, Himiko's voice grew weak, "I… thought you liked him."

That got the attention of all three of the other people in the room. Even Dabi began paying attention, but even then, it was to throw a pitying gaze in Himiko's direction.

All For One clicked his tongue in annoyance. "I just thought of him as my greatest creation. But what artist doesn't detest their own painting after it's been violated by the masses? The heroes have tainted the Izuku that I knew. Additionally… Himiko…"

He stared at her, and she felt like she was drowning under his gaze. Quite literally.

"You know that I stopped having those emotions centuries ago."

All For One chuckled, a deep, foreboding sound. "Did you really try appealing to my humanity, Himiko? Don't insult me. I should have you killed for even trying such a thing."

Okay. If Himiko had drank anything before coming here (she fortunately did not), she would have pissed herself already.

"So," All For One clapped, standing up. "Killing Izuku. We'll call it 'Operation Kill Izuku.' Does that work for everyone?"

Dabi and Tomura both rolled their eyes. They were growing tired of this farce.

"No, no, no," Himiko repeated, mustering up the courage to look All For One in his damned ugly stupid faceless face. "Please reconsider."

"Himiko," All For One warned, his voice growing stern. "There is nothing that you can say that would possibly change my mind."

Then, he smiled.

"Unless… there was a specific reason for me not to end his life."

His eyeless gaze focused on her, and Himiko knew, instinctively, that he had her trapped. She knew, from the moment that he had uttered those words, that he had her right where he wanted: a cornered little rat in the face of a tiger.

All of the words before had been an act, a fraud, all spoken just to get her to admit what she had been hiding from them. Himiko didn't consider All For One to be the "master manipulator" for no reason. The bastard had been gaslighting her from the very beginning.

"You already know the reason," Himiko said glumly.

"Yes, but I want to hear you say it. Oh, Himiko, you just basically confirmed for me that you knew!" He smiled; the same sadistic and cruel expression. "I want you to explain how long you've been hiding it from us. After that, I'll decide your punishment."

Himiko grit her teeth. "How long have you known?"

"Tomura brought it to my attention," All For One casually said. Himiko leveled the most ferocious glare that she could muster and threw it his way, but Tomura just shrugged under the heat. "The sports festival. The funny little Quirk that he used with the black strands. I've fought the person who used that Quirk in the past… he was a funny little man with a funny little Quirk. He was even funny in the way he died as I crushed his throat underneath my heel."

All For One gestured for Himiko to retake her seat as he retook his. She remained standing.

"Now," All For One said, "what were you hiding from us?"

Himiko clenched her hands, balling them up into fists. "You already know. Don't make me say it."

She promised him, after all. Himiko promised Izuku that she wouldn't tell anyone. She knew that it was probably meaningless, but she wanted to stand by that promise to the end.

"Himiko, oh, Himiko," All For One chuckled. "I don't think you understand the situation that you're in. Tell me, the next time you see Izuku, do you wish to be paralyzed from the waist down or be blind and deaf, so that the only way you can recognize it's him is by touching his face?"

Himiko shuddered underneath All For One's "gaze."

"Or…" her sensei grinned, "Maybe I won't do anything to you. Maybe, the next time you see Izuku, it will be only his head on a silver platter, severed from the rest of his body. Then, I'd make you eat it. Isn't that so kind of me, Himiko? This way, you can be together forever."

Himiko's stomach lurched at the thought. All For One was a sick, twisted man. He had the power and authority to throw around words and follow through on his threats. That's what made him so dangerous in the first place.

The room remained silent for a few minutes. Tomura was watching the two disinterestedly, while Dabi was—was he snoring? All For One just stared at Himiko, his smile growing bigger and bigger as she suffocated underneath his gaze.

"—uku… has it," Himiko murmured, looking down at the ground.

"I'm sorry?" All For One said. Despite having no visible ears, he tilted his head towards Himiko. "I couldn't hear you."

Inexplicably, tears began to gather in her eyes. Well, looking at it objectively: she'd just been through an emotional rollercoaster, and now, she was being forced to betray the man she loved. Things were decently shitty right now for Himiko Toga.

"Izuku has it," she ground out, blinking rapidly.

"Has what?" All For One prompted. Then: "Himiko Toga, look at me when you answer."

Unable to disobey, Himiko looked at him. His grotesque mug was twisted into a sneer.

"Izuku… has One For All."

All For One was relentless. "How long have you known?"

"S-Since the U.A. Sports Festival."

The room remained silent, allowing Himiko to bathe in the filthy feeling of having betrayed Izuku's trust, even if her sensei somehow knew already. Hot tears streamed down her face as she stood there, feeling more and more guilty by the second.

"Good." The faceless man leaned back in his seat. "Good, Himiko. Hopefully this teaches you a valuable lesson: your loyalty is to me first and foremost. Understand, Himiko?"

In a small voice, Himiko uttered, "Y-Yes."

"Now, for your punishment." All For One gestured for her to come towards him, and her feet betrayed her heart, escorting her until she stood right before the seated villain.

Himiko struggled to keep her crying silent, but it eventually became too much for her to bear, and a choked sob escaped from her mouth. All For One just smiled at that action. "Hand, Himiko."

Himiko did not dare to resist. She raised a shaking hand, compelled by his voice. His rough hands grabbed a single finger on her hand, caressing it gently.

"Your first mistake," he said gently, as if he were a father lovingly scolding a daughter, "was not reporting to us your findings the moment that you found out."

With a brutal crunch, he snapped her index finger backwards. Himiko bit down on her tongue, desperate to not release even a single noise, and she drew blood. When he released his hand, Himiko's finger on her left hand was bent backwards unnaturally. The pain finally made her whimper.

All For One admired his handiwork, moving on to her middle finger. "There are a number of ways that you could have handled this better," All For One amicably said. "For example: play dumb all the way through. You were right, after all. I do like Izuku, so there should be no reason for me to kill someone as valuable as he is to me. I was just kidding before, teehee."

He grinned. "Your second mistake was not understanding the type of man that I am. I don't discard those that I've built up easily. Doing that is a sign of poor managerial skills."

Crunch.

Himiko gasped, letting out a cry of pain. The fear, the anguish, the pain—they were all threatening to devour her whole. All For One's grin grew wider at hearing Himiko's labored breathing and feeling the fear radiating off of her.

"The third mistake," All For One continued, moving onto her ring finger, "is disloyalty. I thought that I'd ingrained loyalty deeply into your bones, but you surprised me, Himiko. Perhaps another session is in order."

"No, no!" Himiko repeated, trembling. The pain of her broken fingers far paled to the horrors of those ungodly sessions. "Don't send me back to that room."

"Well, it's up to you whether or not you get sent back," All For One shrugged. "Oh, right. I forgot."

He ruthlessly snapped Himiko's ring finger, causing her to grunt. She tried not to make any further noises, but a strangled sob still escaped from her throat.

"None of this would have happened had you just listened, Himiko," All For One sighed, shaking his head. "You must be getting to that rebellious age. Well, just know that if you dare misbehave again in the future, you won't be the only one getting hurt."

The thinly veiled threat that he would also hurt Izuku if she acted out of order sunk its claws deep into Himiko's psyche. She nodded through the immense pain of having three of her fingers broken, not trusting her voice to speak.

He'd probably already seen through her feelings for Izuku. Knowing All For One, he definitely knew about them, and that was why he was even making that threat in the first place.

All For One remained silent for a few moments, observing his handiwork. Then, he relented, "Since I'm in a good mood, Himiko, I won't leave you like this."

He activated some Quirk of his and it cast a green, soothing glow over her hand. Slowly her mutilated hands snapped and straightened themselves, forcibly healed under the effects of All For One's Quirk.

The physical pain faded, but the mental humiliation, the torment that she'd just endured, did not. Being forced to betray Izuku's trust, even if only superficially, as All For One knew already about Izuku and One For All, stung her and hurt her deeper than she could have ever thought.

No matter how much she wanted to—

No matter how much she tried—

Himiko was powerless before All For One.

"Are you done putting on your show?" Tomura asked tentatively, glancing at his mentor.

All For One nodded. "It's not a show, Tomura. It's called sending a message. You'll learn about it, one day."

Tomura nodded slowly. "Uhuh. Now, can we get to why you called Dabi and me here? Oi, Dabi, wake up."

He poked Dabi, and the dark haired man started, snapping to attention. "Yes, I'm here. Present."

Himiko wanted to punch both of them in the face and slice them up until not a drop of blood remained in their bodies. Well, to be honest, she wanted to do that to All For One, but she simply couldn't, so maybe she would have to settle for skinning Tomura and Dabi alive to help dispel the dark emotions that were clinging to her.

"Himiko, this is where you get to rejoice!" All For One said in the same lighthearted tone he'd used when he broke her fingers. "You get the leading role in this play that we'll perform."

Himiko was not rejoicing.

Pressing on, All For One continued, "Now that we know that Izuku possesses One For All, he's become my top priority. He was already pretty high on the list, to be honest, but now we know he has the single thing I desire most in this world. But… we have to do things right."

Himiko felt like her worst fears were being realized right in front of her. Traitorous tears still streamed down her face, but she didn't dare voice any discontent in front of her sensei.

"In the past," All For One admitted, "I'd have just stormed U.A. and taken him by force."

"Why don't you?" Tomura asked. "Seems simple enough."

"It would be, especially now that All Might no longer has his Quirk. The teachers at U.A. are formidable, but they are nothing before me. Before us," the faceless man stressed, gesturing at the three of them.

"But," he said, "attacking when he's not at campus, preferably on a school trip or something, is safer by a wide margin. Retrieving Izuku is important to me, but so are your lives. I'm a greedy man; if I can have everything, then I will take everything."

Tomura very noticeably bit back a snort. It looked like his eyes were bugging. He evidently didn't believe a single word their mentor said about them being important to him. The amount that All For One talked about Izuku, even nowadays, clearly illustrated undeniable favoritism. He was sure that, if forced to choose, All For One would choose Izuku over any of the others in the room in a heartbeat.

Tomura was only marginally pissed off by that thought.

"Plus," All For One added, "attacking U.A. outright and taking Izuku from them would cause an uproar in the press. It would become a very public thing. We were fortunate with the U.S.J. in the sense that U.A. decided to cover it up. We can probably extrapolate from that incident that, should we take Izuku covertly, U.A. would make the same folly and try to cover this up as well. Now, tell me, why is this important?"

Himiko was too busy holding her crying at bay, and Dabi just shrugged. He was only with them for one reason, and Izuku had nothing to do with that reason. The onus was on Tomura to respond.

"It buys us some time," Tomura hazarded a guess. "Less publicity, less heroes on the case."

"Hmm," All For One thought about Tomura's answer, "good guess. Less publicity would typically equal less heroes, but I won't doubt All Might's ability to mobilize every hero in this country once he hears about what happened to his successor. You are right, however, in the sense that it buys us some time—maybe two or three extra days. That's invaluable."

"Then I don't know why it'd be important," Tomura admitted.

All For One smiled. "It's all about perspective. See, the first thing that we'll have to deal with when we take back Izuku is getting rid of whatever nonsense the heroes taught him about silly things like justice or morals. What do they say these days? To rebuild something, one must break it first?"

Tomura bit back the retort, no one says that these days.

"We might… have to do a little damage to Izuku first," All For One confessed, looking a little heartbroken for a man with no face. "Maybe a couple of sessions here and there. There might be a bit of breaking involved, hehehe."

No one laughed.

"A teensy bit of a psychological torment," All For One went on, "and we'll have to convince him that the heroes aren't coming for him, that they don't care about him. We'll have a TV running in his room, and all it'll do is show him exactly what we want him to see: that his kidnapping isn't even mentioned as an afterthought in the news. After all, there's no easier prey than someone who believes that they've been completely abandoned. It won't be true, of course, but he'll have no way of knowing that."

The man stroked his chin. "Then, I think we'll have Stasis cranked all the way up. It'll put a lot of strain on Kyudai, but it will certainly help. Izuku will feel like ten weeks have passed in the span of one. That'll feed into the feeling of abandonment even more."

He refocused his "gaze" on Himiko, and she flinched. "This is another place where you'll play a big part, dear."

She felt disgusted when All For One used terms of endearment with her.

"Tell me—and don't even bother trying to lie—how close is your relationship with Izuku?" All For One pressed. "If I remember correctly, I recall that you used to have quite the crush on him in the past. From what I've seen today, it feels like you two are more than friends. Lovers, perhaps?"

Himiko didn't respond at first, but she was quickly forced to nod once All For One looked at her.

"Good, excellent," the man breathed, clapping his hands. "We have another way to make Izuku obey should he prove unruly. And, more importantly, you'll serve as the perfect bait."

Himiko hadn't liked where the conversation had been headed for a while now, but she feared that it was just going to get worse.

"Tell me, Himiko. Does Izuku seem like the type of guy who'd stop at nothing to save you if he believed you were in danger?" All For One asked.

Himiko nodded shortly, not trusting her voice. She was feeling shittier and shittier.

"Perfect. And I trust that you can still use Blood Counterbalance, correct?"

Another nod.

"That'll prove vital to securing Izuku," All For One admitted. "Depending on his mastery over One For All, he may be too dangerous for you all to take in a fight. Who knows how far he has progressed since the U.S.J. Disabling his Quirks would be the best option, though I don't know how long it'd last with Regenerator… but we can try, anyways. And under no circumstances is lethal force authorized, you hear me? I want him back alive."

"Yea, yea," Tomura said, waving his hand. "So when is this happening? Soon?"

All For One shrugged. "That depends on Himiko. Go back to U.A. Figure out for us if Izuku is going on any class trips. It's almost summer, and I'm pretty sure U.A. has a summer camp thingy-mcbob. Find out. If there aren't any, let us know, and we'll have to revise our plans. Oh, also…"

All For One truly focused on her. Himiko felt as if the atmosphere grew a thousand times heavier, and she was being crushed under the weight. Tomura and Dabi's strangled looks to the side of her indicated that they felt it, too.

She was suffocating.

She couldn't breathe.

All For One intoned, crossing his fingers, "If you go tell the heroes—if you go tell Izuku—about what has happened today, and I find out… let's just say that the consequences wouldn't be pretty. Not for the heroes, not for you, and, perhaps, more importantly, as much as it pains me to say this, not for our dear Izuku."

He paused before saying, "Do I make myself clear?"

Himiko didn't respond.

"Himiko," All For One said in a warning tone, "did you hear me?"

"… yes."

"Good," he said. "Himiko, I can see that you're upset."

That was a major understatement.

"Look at it this way," the faceless man continued. "We can say that acquiring Izuku Midoriya is a certain outcome that will happen no matter what occurs. You, Himiko, are at a crossroads, right now. One path that you could choose is this: you betray us and go tell the heroes about everything in an effort to evade his capture. That would be problematic, and it certainly won't end well for anyone. I will still stop at nothing to acquire Izuku, after all. I do not care who I have to fight, who I must kill, but I will have him."

He sighed. "Here's what I would do in that scenario. I wouldn't like doing it, but after I acquire Izuku, I would… modify him slightly. Something kind of similar to what Pavlov did to those dogs. I would condition Izuku to associate the emotion of hatred, of disgust, with everything that has to do with the concept of Himiko Toga. Are you understanding what I'm insinuating, Himiko?"

Ice crawled through her veins.

"I'm saying that I will make him hate you," All For One said slowly, emphasizing every syllable.

Himiko tried not to allow her face to reveal her inner thoughts, but her sensei seemed to have found what he was looking for, as he chuckled after looking at her. It was like he could smell the fear radiating off of her, and, given his gigantic collection of Quirks, she didn't doubt that he had a Quirk that allowed him to do just that.

"That's a suboptimal situation for both of us," the older man admitted. "For you, well, it's obvious why that wouldn't be the best. As for me, I sincerely don't want to do that. I'm overjoyed that two of my 'children' have found love with each other. It's a beautiful thing, no?"

Tomura felt disgusted by the way that he mockingly said the last two sentences—it was such a load of bullshit that he almost let out a bark of laughter. He glanced at Himiko; the girl was trembling. Evidently, she took every word that All For One said at face value, but Tomura knew better than to do that.

The poor girl probably didn't even realize that she was being manipulated.

"This leads us to the other option. You try your hardest to ensure that our capture of Izuku goes as smoothly as possible. Then, I simply won't make him despise you. Now, we don't know how Izuku is going to feel about you being on the side of the 'villains,'" All For One threw up air quotations when he said the word villain, "but at least there's a chance that he'll still have a positive feeling about you at the end of it. Got it, Himiko?"

Himiko nodded slowly.

As if sensing her hesitation, All For One continued, "You win. I win. If you look at it rationally, there's really only one choice to make here." All For One tapped his chin with a finger. "I like to think that I'd raised rational children."

Tomura and Dabi both frowned at that. They knew themselves well enough to confidently say that All For One must have been capping. Dabi was psychotically obsessed with his old family and Tomura… well, he was Tomura.

"And Himiko, do you know why this is a risk I'm willing to take?" All For One asked, chuckling. "Because, after spending all this time together, Himiko, I like to think that I know you quite well. Going against me here is the same as throwing Izuku away for you, you know that right? You'd lose him. Forever."

All For One's words battered at Himiko's fragile mind. Too exhausted and too weak to resist, Himiko couldn't help but nod, once more, like a robot on autopilot.

"Good," All For One grinned. "See to it. I'm expecting something within the week. Oh, and Himiko…"

Unbeknownst to Himiko, Dabi, and Tomura, All For One activated a Quirk. He liked to think that he had a pretty solid grasp over his subordinates, but he had to make sure. It was really just in case Himiko's thoughts diverged from what he suspected they were—nothing more, nothing less. This way, he could make sure that she wouldn't go against his wishes.

Power filled his voice. "Himiko Toga, don't disobey me this time."

Himiko nodded numbly, not even noticing the Quirk that was being placed onto her.

All For One smiled.

"Stay for a day or two," he said amicably. "You can miss a few days of school, no?"

Himiko, completely devoid of the will to resist, nodded slowly once more.

"Good," All For One said. He smiled, a cold expression, and then—

"I'd like you to tell me more about the Izuku that you know."

.:.

The day after Rumi had Izuku demonstrate his Quirks to her, he met the rabbit fully dressed in his hero costume that he wore for the combat training exercise at the beginning of the school year.

The mix of dark green and black accented by white was pleasing to the eye—well, in Izuku's opinion at least. Additionally, the fingerless gloves with metal padded in above his knuckles and the shoes with the steel heel made him feel properly geared up and protected. Finally, his costume was completed by a black breathing mask, courtesy of Himiko.

"Why mask?" Rumi questioned him simply, pointing at her own face.

Izuku touched it, feeling the sleek substance under his fingertips. "Good luck charm."

Rumi shrugged, satisfied with his answer. Instead of her casual wear, she was dressed in her full hero gear, which was, well… uh, to Izuku, it left very little to the imagination. Her costume was a skintight sleeveless white leotard, decorated with a crescent moon over her chest and a dark purple line near her shoulders. Matching purple thigh-highs traced the muscular curve of her legs, ending at her feet in some steel plating, similar to what Izuku had in his own shoes.

He had to try very, very hard to refrain from fanboying.

The pro hero was beginning to draw a lot of attention, and she noticed this, waving at the onlookers. "Smile and wave," Rumi instructed, "but don't engage. Engaging with civilians typically shortens the time that you have to spend on patrol. Some heroes live for that attention, but I don't, and you don't seem like that type either. Today, I'll teach you about my personal favorite method to fight crime—the 'boots on the ground' approach."

Izuku waved at a little boy who recognized him before turning back to Rumi. "Got it."

"There's also 'raids' and stuff like that, but organized crime has been on the decline, so those aren't that common anymore," Rumi continued. "I like just running around and helping people. This way, I think, is the most rewarding to me. You actually get to see the faces of the people that you helped."

Izuku smiled at the thought. "That's nice."

"It really reminds me of the reason that I'm doing all this for," Rumi said, and for a moment, her eyes grew distant. "Not for fame, not for glory, and not for money. It's just for a simple reason, something someone I really looked up to once told me in the past…"

Her gaze refocused, and she looked directly at him.

"Make this shitty world better."

Rumi remained silent, allowing Izuku to soak in the words. Overcome by a sudden, indescribable emotion, Izuku couldn't help but admire the person standing in front of him.

Rumi smiled. "So, I'll tell you that same thing, Izuku. This world has a lot of awful things in it, and it's our job to make it better for people. It's up to us to fight for those who can't. Decide for yourself how you wanna do that."

Decide for yourself. The words echoed in Izuku's mind.

"Enough about that," Rumi dismissed. "Today, I'll show you how to effectively patrol. Follow me for now, and limit the usage of your Quirks until we've better figured out what to do with them."

Without really waiting for Izuku's confirmation, she kicked off the ground, deftly leaping up and scaling the side of a building. Izuku quickly followed, landing on the rooftop a few moments later.

"Higher places equal greater vision," she explained. "Remain vigilant. Constantly be on the lookout. And remember, Izuku—"

She looked at him, a savage smile spreading across her face.

"You are a predator right now."

.:.

Later that day, the Class 1-A girls were all eating dinner together when, all of a sudden, the topic turned dour.

"Hey, Momo…" the resident invisible girl, Toru, murmured. "Did you hear about what happened to Iida's brother?"

Momo looked up from her dinner. She spotted a floating t-shirt and phone to the right of her, and she said, "No. Is something wrong?"

"That's Ingenium, right?" Kyoka spoke up. "I saw in the news. It's terrible."

"What?" Momo started, feeling a bit panicked, "What happened?"

Toru handed her the cellphone in her invisible hand. It was already open to an article, which Momo quickly scanned.

Pro Hero Ingenium crippled by Hero Killer: Stain… the Hero Killer strikes again… with this, the Hero Killer injures his twenty-fourth victim… the villain has killed seventeen known pro heroes…

Momo began feeling sick. She handed the phone back to Toru and said, "We should check on Iida. Make sure he's—"

"I did," Ochaco interjected, "but he's being oddly… cordial about it. He just said it's not something that we need to worry about, and that he'll take care of things himself. Whatever that means…"

Momo frowned. She didn't have that great of a grasp on Tenya's personality yet, but he seemed like the type of person to bottle everything up and put on a facade for the sake of normalcy. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but now, it'd be hard to determine how he was truly doing.

"I texted Midoriya about it," Ochaco continued. Momo almost instinctively asked how do you have his number? Fortunately, for her own sanity, she bit it back. "I didn't say much. Just told him Iida's brother got hurt because of Stain and to check up on him. I don't think there's much we can do to help if the person in question doesn't want any help."

The table of girls grew silent. For a while, no one said a word.

"S-So," Mina suddenly said, "how have your internships been going?"

Thankful for the change in topic, the rest of the girls began chatting, but Momo remained silent. She wondered if she should check up on Tenya and make sure he was doing alright.

Momo just didn't want him doing anything risky.

.:.

Izuku, tired and sweaty from a full day of heroics with Rumi, opened the door to his room and rushed in, too quick to notice that it had been strangely unlocked. He took off his shoes before entering the room.

It had been a long day. He had grabbed a quick dinner with Rumi before rushing back to the dorms after receiving an alarming text from Ochaco about Tenya's brother. She didn't really elaborate, so when Izuku spotted Tenya in the weightroom at 10:00 PM, he naturally went and asked the taller boy about it and if he was doing okay. Tenya's response?

"I am fine. Do not worry about me."

Izuku wasn't the most socially aware person out there, but even he knew when someone shut down a conversation. And it was very evident that Tenya was not in the mood to talk. On the way up to his own dorm room, Izuku looked up this Stain person that Ochaco had mentioned and found numerous articles detailing the mysterious villain. Eye-catching titles like Most Prolific Killer and Human Error popped up left and right.

Apparently, he was an obscure figure until he started killing ranked heroes around the time Izuku started attending U.A. Normally, Izuku would have known all about it, due to his natural inclination to stay up-to-date on all hero news, but unfortunately, his perusal of hero news had declined as of late.

As he began peeling off his hero costume, he hallucinated that Himiko suddenly appeared in his room right in front of him. Wow, he must have had it bad if—

Hallucinatory Himiko crashed into him and hugged him, toppling the two over onto his bed.

Wait, wait, wait, Izuku thought. This is real?

His hands grabbed her sides, unsure, but they gripped onto something solid. And her scent was present, too, suddenly overpowering. The feeling of her snuggled into his arms was too real to be a mere hallucination.

"Himiko," Izuku said fondly, "I thought that you were—"

Then, he heard the crying.

"H-Himiko?" Izuku asked, startled. "What's wrong?"

She didn't say anything—just cried gently into the crook of his neck. Izuku shuffled to a sitting position so he could get a better look at his girlfriend. She was dressed in a hoodie that he'd given her a long time ago and casual leggings, but—as messed up as this was to admit—Himiko looked as lovely to him as she did when she dressed her best, even though she was currently quietly crying.

Izuku didn't notice any external harm done to Himiko. It didn't look like she got into a fight or anything similar, which filled him with relief. But then… why was she crying? Did someone make Himiko cry?

Her weeping broke his heart. She sounded so utterly defeated, so crushed, and it hurt Izuku, as well.

He hugged her back, and they stayed in that position for some time. As the minutes ticked away, her crying subsided as she cried herself out, resulting in a few stray sniffles here and there. Izuku didn't say anything—he couldn't—but he just held her and provided her with the warmth that he hoped could help even just a tiny bit.

"… thanks," Himiko murmured, squeezing him.

"Always, for you," Izuku gently reminded, squeezing her back. "Wanna, uhm, wanna talk about it?"

"No."

The curt answer was surprising, but Izuku went with it. "Okay. Anything I could do to cheer you up?"

"Just… stay with me," Himiko said. "Promise…"

She paused.

"Promise me you'll never leave me."

"Of course," Izuku easily replied. "That… that doesn't even need to be said."

She seemed to calm down, slightly, but there was still a tortured look in her eyes. "No matter what?"

"No matter what," Izuku affirmed, adding, "unless, of course, you leave me first. I wouldn't wanna cause trouble for you or anything like that if you decide that you've had enough of me… though I do hope that that will never happen. Plus—"

As Izuku began rambling, Himiko looked up at him—her Izuku. His response just demonstrated how thoughtful he was, but he was a massive idiot if he ever thought that Himiko would one day decide that she had enough of Izuku. Well, Himiko did love that thoughtfulness of his, as unneeded as it was. She loved every bit of him.

Himiko trembled.

And she was forced to betray him.

As much as she wanted to come clean and tell him about everything she had done, to beg for forgiveness, she simply couldn't. And that was all because of All For One. She feared him… no, that wasn't quite the apt description. She was downright terrified of him.

It wasn't Himiko's own life that she cared about. It was Izuku's life. If she did tell Izuku about what had happened—or anyone else for that matter—she was terrified of All For One following through on his words.

She knew his terrifying power better than almost anyone still alive. Himiko knew that, if he truly dedicated himself to it, he could take Izuku no matter how many heroes guarded him or no matter how well he was hidden. And then… making Izuku hate her… she didn't doubt his ability to make something like that come true as well. That option was worse than death, actually.

But… if she stayed strong, played her part well… then there was a chance.

A chance that he'd still love her after she showed her true colors.

She needed that. No, she really did. She needed his love. After having tasted it once, she could never go back. And it was for this love that she'd tasted that she'd even go so far as to betray him. Betray him to that fucking bastard All For One. All for the slight chance that after the dust settled, he'd still love her. Because the other option would hurt too bad. All For One was going to end up with Izuku no matter what. That was a given. Nothing could stop him. Right? Going to the heroes, even fucking telling All Might about All For One's plans, wasn't going to stop the inevitable from happening. And if she did, sensei would find out. And he'd hurt Izuku more because of it. And he'd make Izuku hate her. That would break her. If Izuku looked at her with disgust in his eyes she wouldn't be able to take it. So the other option was better. Obey. Pray for the chance that Izuku would still love her after the dust has settled. She inhaled deeply, taking in his scent. He was sweaty after presumably returning from some sort of physical exercise, but that was okay, she liked it anyways. Okay. For that one, tiny chance. She could do it. She could hold up this deception for just a little while longer. Maybe Izuku won't care. Maybe Izuku will be happy once he's returned under sensei. She didn't know. And this uncertainty hurt. Whatever the case it may be, anything beat having Izuku hate her. She would have to come clean to Izuku at some point. She really wasn't looking forward to that conversation. She really wasn't looking forward to that conversation. She really wasn't looking forward to that conversation. She really wasn't fucking looking forward to that conversation. But she'd have to explain, at some point, and beg him not to hate her. Hopefully, she wouldn't have to beg. Hopefully, he'd still love her. No matter what. No matter what. Because she would still love him no matter what he did, but she didn't know if he felt the same way. She should just tell him. She should just tell him. She had to tell him. She had to tell him to give him a chance. But even as she opened her mouth, no words came out. It was like something within her compelled her to stop. She did not know if it was her own thoughts and reservations that made her stop, or something else, but it didn't matter in the end anyways. She couldn't speak. She couldn't speak. She couldn't—

"Himiko!"

Himiko was brought back to reality by Izuku shaking her gently. "Wh-What's up?"

"You were spacing out," he told her. "Himiko. Something's obviously up. What's wrong?"

Izuku's inquisitive eyes met hers, and Himiko hated herself a bit more after looking at her reflection in them.

"I'm… just a coward," she finally said. Something within her only permitted those words to be spoken.

Izuku frowned and put two warm hands on her shoulders. "No, you're not." He pulled her into an even warmer embrace. "And… even if you are scared or something like that, I'll protect you."

Not from him. No one can protect us from him, Himiko nearly said, but she kept her mouth shut. Instead, she opted to snuggle closer to Izuku.

She didn't deserve Izuku's love, but she was willing to do everything in her power to keep it.

"'Mkay," she finally mumbled. "Just… spend more time with me, please."

While we still can.

"O-Of course!" Izuku said, caught slightly off guard by her words. His face started heating up as he tried to reassure his girlfriend. "I'm so sorry that I haven't been spending as much time with you as I should have been. These probably sound like excuses, but I've been out patrolling with R—Mirko recently, so that's why I haven't been around that much recently. But soon… wait, shoot, it's the end of term tests in late June and early July… but then, for summer break, I've got nothing! I'll spend every day with you then, I swear."

Himiko nuzzled Izuku's chest. "Every day?"

"Every day," Izuku affirmed. "Well, actually… wait. We have a school trip sometime in August."

He felt Himiko stiffen in his arms.

"I'm sorry," Izuku said, not knowing the real reason for Himiko's sudden distress. "But I think that it's mandatory."

"That's… that's alright," Himiko murmured. She sounded like, to Izuku, she was breathless. "Where is it?"

Something about her tone seemed forced, but Izuku did not pay much attention to it. "I'm not sure, but I can figure out if you'd like."

Himiko didn't respond for some time. She just remained cradled in Izuku's arms.

"Yes, please," Himiko finally said. "I'd like to know. I… I just—"

She paused, then spoke:

"I just want to make sure you're safe."

.:.

The next day, when Izuku was off at his internship with Rumi, the rest of the class were at their own internships.

They all learned and grew as heroes from their internships—well, most of them. Some, like Katsuki…

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu—"

"Oh, quit whining," the hair stylist said, smacking Katsuki lightly on the back. "Best Jeanist said that those who work with him must have immaculate hair. Yours is too spiky for his taste. He tried tolerating it for a while, but now, he just can't stand it any longer."

"Fuck his tastes!" Katsuki roared, struggling to get free. His limbs were tied down by fine threads courtesy of the current rank four hero, so his efforts were largely in vain. "I like my hair! I like it! So, stop—"

A clump of denim secured itself around Katsuki's mouth, effectively shutting him up.

"What a stubborn child," the pro hero, Best Jeanist, sighed.

A series of muffled screams were all that he got in response.

.:.

Momo stared dubiously at the object that she was holding in her hand.

It was a caltrop. Or, it looked like a caltrop. In reality, there was a miniature explosive hidden within the thickest section of the caltrop designed to shoot the spikes out in different directions when triggered. So… explosive caltrop seemed like it would be a more apt descriptor.

"You think it works?" she asked Edgeshot, turning to glance at her mentor. He had been gracious enough to offer her an internship despite her poor showing at the U.A. Sports Festival, and she had all but leapt at the opportunity when she received the offer. Momo didn't want to let the hero down, but her nervous side got the best of her when she was constructing the device that he had shown her.

"If you followed the blueprint, it should," commented the ninja. "Wanna test it out?"

Momo nodded enthusiastically. "How, though?"

"Give it to me," Edgeshot said. Momo followed his instructions and carefully handed him the explosive caltrop only for the pro hero to take it and toss it on the ground before them. Momo flinched as it hit the ground, but fortunately, it didn't explode.

Edgeshot seemed satisfied. "A good sign." Then, before Momo could even react, he took his shoe off and threw it on top of the caltrop. A sharp pop! resounded, causing Momo to nearly yelp, but fortunately for her own pride, she held it back.

Edgeshot went to retrieve his shoe and nodded happily. "Look," he said, showing Momo the shoe. There was a medium-sized hole in the bottom of it where the explosion had gone off and the metal pierced the sole.

"This seems good," Edgeshot commented. "Powerful enough to penetrate the sole and potentially cripple those who step on it, yet controlled enough to not outright kill them. This will benefit you greatly in your future as a hero."

"Thank you," Momo said, feeling happy to receive the praise.

"Next…" the ninja stared at Momo. "You ever thought of creating a sword that could shoot its blade?"

"What?"

.:.

"Father. Stop."

Enji Todoroki, unfortunately for his son Shoto, did not stop. His right hand held the burnt, but alive, body of a criminal, and in his left hand, he held a cellphone with its camera facing the father son duo.

"Stop taking selfies."

"How could I stop? I've been waiting forever to take you with me when I'm on the job," Enji said, snapping another quick selfie of the three of them.

"This isn't even our first day anymore. Plus, Enji Todoroki," Shoto hissed, immediately capturing his father's attention, "if you think acting chummy with me now is going to erase everything you've said and done to me and my siblings in the past, you must be living in a pipe dream."

The joyful expression on Enji's face quickly dissipated.

"I chose your offer so I could get the best experience, because I thought that the rank two hero in Japan might be worth training under." Shoto shook his head. "I see now that I was mistaken."

Without another word, Shoto stalked off, leaving Enji and the burnt criminal behind.

"You guys have such a great father-son dynamic," the criminal sarcastically said.

"Oh, shut up."

.:.

Later that same night, Katsuki, Momo, and Shoto sat around a table in the dining hall, munching on some sweets that Rikido had made to reward everyone in Class 1-A for a job well done at their internships.

Normally, they weren't the type of people Momo usually ate with—being perfectly honest, Momo typically only shared her meals with the other Class 1-A girls—but both of them looked down and out-of-it, so Momo invited them both to sit with her. Katsuki's acceptance of her offer really hammered home the point that the boy was just not present, mentally. Under any other circumstance, Katsuki probably would have turned her down.

"So, how were your days?" Momo asked in an attempt to kickstart the conversation.

"Terrible," both of them responded at the same time, and the conversation ended there.

Momo, in a desperate attempt to keep the flow of words going, just blurted out the first thing on her mind. "Okay, uhm… that's a cool new hairstyle, Bakugo. It, uh…"

Momo was just about to say it fits you, but that would be a blatant lie, and Momo wasn't a fan of telling lies that egregiously humongous. Katsuki's new hair looked more suited towards someone like Tenya—immaculately cut, smooth, and just not-spiky, it was the antithesis of everything Momo had come to associate Katsuki Bakugo with.

Katsuki groaned upon hearing Momo's words. "Well, I hate it. I've tried washing it three times, but the gel just. Won't. Come. Out."

Momo didn't know how that worked, but before she could question him, Tenya hobbled through the door with a plate in one hand and a crutch in the other.

"Iida, what happened?" Momo immediately asked, taking in her classmate's appearance. She quickly stood up and moved toward Tenya, offering to take his plate, but he turned her down with a stiff shake of the head. She shadowed him as he crutched over to where the three were sitting, taking his own seat.

"Shit day?" Katsuki asked, not bothering to mince his words.

"Yeah," Tenya responded, not even reprimanding Katsuki for cursing. Just from that one action, Momo could tell that something was seriously off with Tenya, as well.

"Are you alright, Iida?" Momo pressed, examining Tenya more closely. Bandages were wrapped around his shoulder, his left forearm, and his right leg and heel. She asked again, "What happened?"

"I am alright… it could have been worse, really," he said. Before Momo could speak again, he continued, "It was Stain."

Momo, Katsuki, and Shoto were stunned into silence. Evidently, the other two had also heard about the hero killer, and even Katsuki had enough tact to not say anything at the current moment.

"I…" Tenya clenched his fist, "I went after him. I tracked him down. I could not forgive what he had done to Tensei. But he… but he—"

Tenya took a few measured breaths to calm himself down. "I did not have a chance. If Manual had not shown up, I would be dead. Even my mentor did not come out unscathed. In fact, I think his wounds are worse than mine."

Momo was too horrified to even speak. She knew she should have checked in on Tenya before he got injured to this extent, but even she could not have guessed that Tenya would go after the Hero Killer on his own.

Katsuki just said, "Shit, dude."

"Yeah," Tenya agreed. "Aizawa-sensei said I was lucky to be alive and that what I had done was technically vigilantism. So… my internship is over. Manual—he is alive, but… but just barely. He said not to blame myself for what had happened, but…"

The normally stoic Tenya buried his face in his hands, voice thick with emotion. "I… I should have been better."

With those miserable-sounding words, the other three's appetites utterly vanished.

.:.

Around the same time that his friends were eating, Izuku entered one of the teacher's offices' conference rooms.

He was about to whip out his phone to look at the text Toshinori had sent him just to check that he was in the right room, but his worries were immediately assuaged when he saw Toshinori sitting at the head of the long table in the room. A few teachers were also present, like Eraser Head, Present Mic, Midnight, and Vlad King. In addition to the teachers, Nezu, the head of the school, and even the guidance counselor, Hound Dog, was attending the meeting.

Surprisingly enough, he even saw Rumi leaning against the wall in one of the corners of the room. She kept a neutral face, but Izuku knew well enough by now to tell when Rumi was agitated: her leg wouldn't stop twitching. He gave her a little hand wave, and she acknowledged him by dipping her head.

"Uh, h-hello, everyone," Izuku stuttered, slightly nervous. Toshinori had not prepared him for a crowd of this size; all he had sent was the text: hey, can you meet me in the conference rooms? i have somethin i wanna tell you about your quirk.

"Izuku," Toshinori said warmly. Izuku noticed several beads of sweat traveling down the man's throat. "Please, take a seat."

Timidly, he did as he was told, sliding into the nearest open seat. As he looked at the teachers, he had the uncanny feeling that it seemed like it was them versus Izuku. They were all sitting on one side of the table, while Izuku was the loner on his side. Even Toshinori straddled the boundary, not entirely on their side, but not entirely on Izuku's, either. Only Rumi stood somewhere off to the right of him, but Izuku didn't pay much attention to this.

"Am I in trouble?" Izuku finally mustered up the courage to ask.

"What?" Todshinori said. "No, you're not. I asked you to come here so we can discuss your Quirk."

"Oh, thank goodness." Izuku deflated, releasing a breath he didn't know he was holding in. "I, um, do they all already know about…?"

"Yes, they do," Toshinori answered his protege. "They know about One For All. But… today, we aren't here to talk about that."

A confused look and silence was all the rank one hero got in response.

"I… should have told you about this as soon as I found out," Toshinori admitted, lowering his eyes. "I feel like I have to come clean about this. It's… about some of your Quirks."

He paused, but before he could speak, Izuku started, "Oh, is this about Electromagneta and Chrono Force?"

A wave of uneasiness rippled around the room.

"Yes, but," Toshinori said slowly, "how… did you know that?"

Izuku simply answered, "Gut feeling."

Toshinori shared a look with the other teachers. Only Izuku and Rumi seemed to be left in the dark, and the rabbit woman wasn't happy about this at all. She nearly spoke, but she shut her mouth once she decided that it was Izuku's place to ask the questions.

"So…" Izuku started, not picking up on the discomfort that Toshinori and the other teachers were feeling, "what about them?"

Toshinori remained silent for a while. Perspiration dampened his cheeks and neck.

"They… they aren't One For All Quirks," Toshinori finally said.

Izuku immediately fired back, "But didn't you tell me that they were the First or the Second's Quirks? That they just didn't appear a lot in the users of One For All?"

A soul-crushing silence suffocated the room.

For a straight minute or two, all eyes were on a silent Toshinori.

"I…"

The rank one hero took a deep breath.

"I lied to you, Izuku."

His admission was as frank as it was simple; straight and to the point.

Izuku blinked.

"And I am so, so, so very sorry that I did." Toshinori bowed his head so deeply that it touched the surface of the table.

Izuku didn't quite know what to think. "What was the lie?"

"That Electromagneta and Chrono Force were One For All Quirks," Toshinori answered after a pause.

"Toshinori…" Izuku said, now more curious than anything else, "a doctor told me that I was Quirkless when I was very young. I don't think he was wrong, so tell me: if they aren't One For All Quirks, then just what are they?"

Everyone in the room looked expectantly at Toshinori, at All Might, the rank one hero. Only Rumi and Izuku didn't know what Toshinori was about to tell them.

"When you were very young," the blonde man began, "you were kidnapped."

Visible confusion crossed Izuku's face. "But I don't remember that…?"

Wisps of a memory tickled the edge of his subconscious, but he couldn't pull up anything concrete. It was frustrating, and Izuku pushed it from his mind.

Toshinori held up a hand. "I'll get to that, but please, just allow me to finish this story."

Izuku nodded, gesturing at Toshinori to continue.

"You were kidnapped while you were on the way home from school. The man who kidnapped you was none other than that villain that I told you about: the one who created One For All," the older man said.

"As I have told you before, the villain created One For All by passing it along to his brother, but his power was much greater than that. He had an insidious Quirk that could steal the Quirks of others and then pass along that same Quirk to a person of his own choosing. He… experimented on you, Izuku. He wanted to make you into one of his soldiers."

Toshinori paused to check Izuku's reaction, but the verdanette's face was frighteningly blank.

"He gave you several Quirks," Toshinori revealed. "Chrono Force and Electromagneta are amongst those Quirks that you were given. We… we don't know how long you were kept there for because one of the researchers had a rare time dilation Quirk, but when you were finally rescued, the authorities wiped your mind to save you from the trauma." Toshinori couldn't bring himself to add: and potential indoctrination.

The room remained silent.

"Well…" Izuku began neutrally, "that explains a lot."

Something… it felt like something should have happened. But instead, all he felt was… emptiness. A cavern inside his soul, filled with nothing.

Memories, gone.

Emotions, evaporated.

Feelings, obliterated.

He looked at Toshinori, who couldn't even meet his gaze. In his shriveled up state, he looked more pathetic and miserable than Izuku had ever seen him. It was like Toshinori and All Might weren't even the same person anymore.

Perhaps he should have felt angry or betrayed, but all he felt… no, a better description was that he felt nothing.

Izuku was probably already broken on the inside, somewhere.

He was reminded of the incident at the U.S.J. when he met Tomura Shigaraki. The other man had told him to visualize reconstructing, not healing. Izuku distinctly remembered breaking down, breaking down, breaking down, and not even knowing the reason why. The information that Toshinori had given him was probably why. It certainly explained why Tomura knew about Chrono Force, and he was sure that somewhere in there was also the reason why Tomura called Izuku "senpai."

Back then, he had felt fear when remembering those words, but Toshinori's words did not manage to evoke the same kinds of emotions from him. It felt so strange, as if critical information was still locked away, and Izuku still had no means of accessing them.

Again, that feeling of something just barely tickling the edge of his subconscious returned, but try as he might, he couldn't derive any information from it.

Izuku looked at the other teachers and Rumi. They were all watching him with bated breath, so Izuku said thoughtfully, "No wonder they always felt different."

Alarmed looks surfaced on most of the teacher's faces, but Izuku didn't notice, having returned to staring at his own hands.

"You see," he continued, "I always had this nagging thought that, whenever I used Electromagneta or Chrono Force, that they weren't One For All-related Quirks. So this is the explanation. Thank you, Toshinori."

Toshinori looked half-surprised and half-relieved by Izuku's reaction. The other teachers, who were tense before, visibly relaxed.

"I just have a few questions."

"Yes, of course." Toshinori smiled unconvincingly at him. "Ask me anything."

Izuku started with: "You say that I had my memory wiped, but sometimes, I have… I have thoughts that just appear randomly. Do they come from the time that I've spent with that villain?"

The relaxed expressions on the teachers' faces quickly became cramped. Izuku didn't see this.

"Izuku," Toshinori said carefully, "what thoughts appear?"

Izuku leaned a finger against his cheek and thought carefully about what he should say. "Like at the U.S.J. when I fought that villain that incapacitated Aizawa-sensei. I could have fought it with other people, but something compelled me to fight it alone. The feeling of completely and utterly dominating something in a one versus one…" Izuku's voice trailed off.

Before Toshinori could get a word in, Izuku continued. "And these phrases… visualize reconstructing, not healing. Visualize opposites. The words…"

Izuku looked up from his hands and stared into Toshinori's own eyes.

"You… are my greatest creation."

Toshinori suddenly felt like he was suffocating under Izuku's gaze. The other teachers couldn't even speak, consumed by an unforgiving pressure radiating from Izuku. Even Vlad King was temporarily cowed by Izuku at this moment.

"So those are leftover memories from before the wipe?" Izuku asked normally, completely unaware of the pressure he was emitting. Like a spell was broken, the rest of the teachers began moving again.

Moving on from that strange occurrence, Toshinori nodded, "Yes, they are. Are there any… other, perhaps more—"

"Nope," Izuku answered, popping the p. "Next question."

Izuku had firmly grasped the driving wheel and was steering this conversation in the direction that he desired.

He held up a hand, and extending from it was a strand of Blackwhip. "Why is Aizawa-sensei using his Quirk on me?"

Several things happened in that moment.

Vlad King instantly got out of his seat, ready for a fight. Shota actually blinked for the first time since Izuku set foot in the room, as he had been continuously erasing the verdanette's Quirk usage the entire time. Midnight stuck a protective arm in front of Nezu, and Hound Dog began growling.

Izuku retracted Blackwhip, a somewhat sad expression on his face. "Do you all really not trust me at all? What, did you think that being told about something that happened years ago would suddenly make me psychotic? I…"

Izuku looked down, unable to meet any of their stares.

"I just want to be a hero."

The adults in the room suddenly felt very ashamed.

"Toshinori," Izuku continued. "I just want you to know that I'm not mad. I decided, of my own volition, to believe in you, so it was my mistake in the end. You just didn't want to hurt me, right? That's why you lied to me, to spare me from any potential pain. I can understand that, and I thank you for your consideration."

Toshinori didn't like the implications behind that statement one bit.

Izuku returned his gaze to Toshinori. "I want to make this clear. I want to be a hero… not whatever you guys might have expected me to become. I don't care about the origins of my powers or how I got them—I plan on using them for good, not evil. Or is that not good enough?"

"N-No," Toshinori quickly assuaged. "I never—we never expected you to become anything other than a fantastic hero. Really, Izuku. But we had to take precautions, you know… just in case."

"Just in case…" Izuku repeated, face darkening. "I see. I… if there's nothing else to discuss, I'd like to ask for permission to leave now."

Permission to go barely reached his ears.

Izuku decided to think about how he felt about everything another day. It may have seemed like—no, he was cognizant enough to realize that he was definitely just running from his problems again, like he'd done at the U.S.J. and with the nagging inconsistencies that he felt about his Quirk, but he didn't care. It was easier this way.

Things were definitely cleared up and information was gained, but in return, his emotions were thrown for a complete loop. He really didn't know what to think about this whole thing, and he wasn't sure he'd ever get a real answer until he figured out what that thing in the corner of his subconscious was trying to tell him. Another reason to put off thinking about it.

But… there was one thing that stood out to him.

The other things—the origins of some of his Quirks—in the end, it didn't even matter a single bit.

What Izuku truly learnt from this was that he shouldn't trust others so easily.

Ah.

In times like these, Izuku wanted to see Himiko.

She'd know what to do; she'd tell him what to think.

He could trust her.

Once Izuku left the room, the other teachers looked at each other.

"Well, all things considered, that went pretty well, didn't it?" Midnight tried saying in an attempt to cheer up the crestfallen rank one hero.

"All Might," Rumi cut in before anyone could say anything else, "so this is what you were hiding from him."

Before he could even respond, Rumi continued, "I—I think I'm gonna head out before I say or do something I regret."

The rabbit woman was in an interesting mood. She was torn between being fucking pissed at All Might and feeling sorry for Izuku. The former won out slightly, though, so Rumi turned around when she reached the door to deliver a parting blow despite her own words.

"You should thank your lucky stars that Izuku is like that," Rumi spat scathingly. "If I were in his shoes, I wouldn't say thank you at all—I'd cuss you out and go on hating your guts for the rest of time."

Barely constrained fury lit her eyes, and Rumi stormed out of the room.

Midnight looked at Toshinori, who seemed to be more miserable than ever.

"I still stand by what I said. That went remarkably well."

.:.

Izuku and Rumi were about two-thirds into their patrol the next day when Rumi suddenly stopped them in their tracks.

"Yo, so, Izuku…" Rumi began, slowly trailing off. Scratching her ear, she continued, "How are you feeling?"

Izuku blinked. "How am I feeling? Good, I guess."

"No, I know," Rumi said, searching for a good way to breach the subject, "but I mean… after yesterday, when All Might told you about the origins of your Quirks. How are you holding up?"

Let it be known that subtlety was not one of Rumi's stronger skills.

"Oh," Izuku breathed. "I'm fine. I've already resolved to use my Quirks for good, so that's that."

The air of finality was troubling to Rumi. The information that he'd learned yesterday would seem like the type of information that would take a while to process or, at the very least, warrant a bit of further contemplation than a simple so that's that.

"Well, if you ever need someone to… talk to," Rumi said somewhat awkwardly, unused to making these types of offers, "you can always talk to me. You have my cell."

Izuku smiled. "I appreciate it, Rumi. I really do. But I'm fine."

"Right," Rumi said, ears drooping. "If… if you say so."

For a brief moment, it looked like Rumi was sad. About what, Izuku didn't really know, but that expression was quickly wiped from her face as she patted her cheeks with her hands and visibly brightened up.

"Let's get on with the patrol," she ultimately said. "I'll let you take the lead starting from now, so get on with it."

Rumi lightly kicked Izuku on the butt with her left leg, causing Izuku to stumble forward. "Y-Yes, of course!" he said, slightly surprised.

He led the patrol for an hour or so after that, leading Rumi along the old route that she had taken him on. As he effortlessly leapt up the side of a building, Rumi followed. They traversed buildings and kept a bird's eye view while Izuku was on the lookout for any signs of trouble. As he bounded from rooftop to rooftop, Izuku had the feeling that he was being watched, but he just shrugged it off. It was probably Rumi.

Things were relatively peaceful, though—apparently word had gotten out that rank seven Mirko was in town actively patrolling, so they didn't run into any trouble, much to Rumi's chagrin. But this was the life of a hero, Izuku surmised. It wasn't every day that one would find people committing a crime in broad daylight. Of course, since the advent of Quirks it had certainly become a lot more regular, but it just must have been a peaceful day.

At Rumi's suggestion, they returned to street level. As Izuku and Rumi leapt off the rooftops and landed on the ground, they gathered quite a lot of attention. He made eye contact with a small, cute girl as she and a trio of men entered an alley. Her large, red eyes widened further upon seeing him, as if she recognized him. Izuku gave her his best smile and waved at her, drawing the attention of the three men that were with her.

And then all hell broke loose.

"Save…" the girl murmured, before screaming, "SAVE ME, PLEASE!"

She tore free of the tall blonde man who was holding her hand and sprinted towards Izuku. Before she could reach him, she seemingly ran into a suddenly-created force field and sprawled out onto the ground. The dome of yellow psychic energy disappeared as she was quickly picked up by the blonde man.

"My apologies," the man said. He seemed remarkably calm despite the situation. "Please ignore her. She's been watching too much TV."

"Please, save me, save me," the girl outright sobbed, weakly beating the blonde man's chest. "Save me, Izuku!"

He felt Rumi step forward beside him. "I'm not sure if watching too much TV is the problem here. This young lady hasn't been mistreated or anything, I hope?"

A crack was beginning to show in the blonde man's monk-like exterior. "Nothing of the sort. She's just upset that we haven't been giving her the treats that she wants."

The other two men besides him nodded.

"Don't listen to him, he's lying!" the young girl shouted, words difficult to make out under all the tears. "They run experiments on me. They torture—"

Izuku felt something spark within him. Maybe it was from the knowledge that he was basically an experiment for one of the greatest villains in the world, but regardless, he felt an immediate kinship with the little girl.

One of the other men hurriedly wrapped his hands around the girl's mouth. The final one of the trio, a tall, muscular man with spiky blonde hair, laughed unconvincingly, "She's delirious. She has a high fever and is spouting nonsense. It's nothing serious."

Rumi and Izuku stared at the trio of men and the sobbing girl before them. Now, Izuku hated to judge based on appearances, but in this situation…

Three men, two of whom were wearing a plague mask for whatever unknown reason, and a frightened little girl claiming that they tortured her.

Something seemed to be up.

Rumi had evidently reached the same conclusion that he had, but she waited, studying him. Most likely, she wanted to see how he'd take action in a situation like this. She was training him, after all.

"If it's really nothing serious," Izuku said slowly, in as unthreatening of a manner as possible, "then I hope you don't mind us asking you some questions? It's really just for our peace of mind, that's all."

The three men looked at each other. The girl's mouth stayed tightly sealed, but the message in her frightened eyes was clear: please don't leave me.

"Actually, if you could stop covering her mouth like that, it'd be great," Izuku insisted, speaking in a measured tone.

"Hekiji," the long-haired man who was covering the girl's mouth murmured, "I'm not sure we can get out of this one."

Rumi and Izuku shared a look. The message in her eyes was clear: no need to worry about "modes" today. First, save this girl.

"I know," Hekiji calmly said. His grip on the girl tightened. "That's Mirko, rank seven, beside the brat."

"I knew we should have brought Kai along," the spiky blonde groussed, cracking his neck. "She's a lot less likely to act out when he's around. Oh, well, I guess it's a fight then."

Immediately, two of the three men drew out handguns in a quick, fluid motion, but Izuku and Rumi reacted faster than they thought they would. Rumi closed the distance between them in an instant, kicking the long-haired man away from the girl and into the spiky blonde, sending the two sprawling to the ground.

Not bothering to think about how much of One For All he was using, Izuku leapt at the one called Hekiji and all but tore a now sobbing little girl from his grasp. The other man didn't have a chance in the contest of strength. As he cradled the crying girl in his arms, Izuku whispered, "It's alright now. You're safe with me."

The words just caused her to sob even harder, burying her face into his chest. A powerful kick from Rumi sent Hekiji flying into the other two.

"Hekiji," the spiky blonde growled, climbing back onto his feet, "where the fuck was the barrier?"

"They moved too fast for me to react," Hekiji explained, rising after his friend. "Joi. You're the highest ranking out of all of us here. What should we do now?"

"I have a suggestion," Rumi cut in, sending a glance towards Izuku to make sure the girl was safe. "How about you all obediently surrender and come with me, or risk getting the shit beat out of—hrrrrk."

Rumi made an odd, retching noise, and she staggered on her feet. A wave of nausea washed over Izuku, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. Unfortunately, it looked like Rumi was still temporarily incapacitated. It seemed like some sort of disorientation Quirk had been activated.

The two seconds it bought the trio was more than enough time for them. Joi, the spiky blonde, quickly said, "Thanks, Deidoro. Unfortunately, it looks like we have to leave, now. But first—"

He raised a gun, aimed at Rumi, and fired.

Even while under the influence of the mysterious Quirk, Rumi had the reflexes to dodge the bullet, diving to the left. Growling, Joi switched targets and took aim at the girl held in Izuku's arms. A brief spike of anger coursed through Izuku as he realized what Joi was about to do.

Before he even pulled the trigger, Izuku had instinctively turned and shielded the young girl, activating Electromagneta. The bullets bounced harmlessly off of him thanks to the Quirk, causing Joi to curse, "Fuck it, we should just get out while we can."

A loud boom caused Izuku's ears to ring, and smoke spread from the source of the noise. The trio had evidently used some kind of smoke grenade. Before Izuku could give chase, he was reminded of the precious cargo tucked in between his arms by said cargo crying loudly out of relief and squeezing him tightly.

Rumi appeared by his side a moment later, looking relatively pissed off but recovered from her disorientated state. "You," she looked at Izuku, "stay. Take care of her and keep her safe. I'm going after the bastards. Do not move from this spot."

Izuku nodded. It was times like these where Izuku was reminded of Rumi's status as a top ten hero. Her tone carried authority, and it was obvious how experienced she was.

With a growl, Rumi disappeared into the smoke, leaving Izuku alone with a crying girl.

And he was truly alone. While his focus had been absorbed by the situation at hand, the civilians had all scattered the moment that they heard gunshots, running for cover. That fact, honestly, made Izuku a bit relieved—he wasn't the best at dealing with the public. Plus, he had his hands full with the still sobbing little girl in his arms.

He set her down slowly, but she still clung to him. To get in a better position, Izuku had to kneel down on the ground since she wouldn't let go of him.

"Hey, hey," Izuku said softly, not entirely sure how to deal with a crying girl, "everything's okay. You're safe now."

Those words just caused her to cry even harder. Big, fat tears dripped down her cheeks and snot ran freely from her nose. But, even then, Izuku hugged her and whispered, "There, there. You don't have to cry anymore. I'm sure you were scared, but it's okay now. It's okay now, because…"

He squeezed her tighter, careful not to crush her.

"Because I am here."

Slowly, her crying ebbed away. It was replaced by sniffling, and she wiped her tears and nose on Izuku's hero costume. He let her do as she pleased, gently comforting her all the while.

"What's your name?" Izuku asked. "I'm Iz—"

"Izuku Midoriya," she finished for him. "I saw you on TV. I… I recognized you, and I thought that you could help me."

"Of course I can help you," Izuku said kindly, patting her on the back. "If I can't even save a cutie like yourself, how could I call myself a hero?"

The girl said through her tears, "I'm Eri."

"Eri," Izuku repeated. "You're safe w—"

A sharp, stabbing sensation laced through his head. His instincts screamed: behind you, to the left!

Without hesitating, Izuku scooped up a startled Eri into his arms and shielded her. Three knives would have struck him in the back, but they were repelled by Electromagneta, hovering in midair before Izuku visualized opposites and sent them hurtling back in the rough direction that they came from. His aim was, quite frankly, garbage, and they clattered uselessly against the walls of the alleyway.

Making sure that he had a secure grip on Eri, he quickly turned around and came face to face with one of Japan's top most wanted villains and, quite honestly, one of the last people that he wanted to see while he was still carrying Eri:

Hero Killer: Stain.

Oh, come on, Izuku thought.

Some notes:

1. Thank you for all the follows, favorites, and reviews! Sorry for the wait. Exams kicked my ass. But, in return, this chapter is extra long—17k words! Longest chapter yet, woohoo!

2. Thinking about his power output in percentages isn't working for Izuku anymore, so I decided to have him operate in "modes." Thus, my question is this: what names and specifications do you lovely readers want for Izuku's battle modes? I'm open to ideas, so definitely leave a review or PM me.

3. Writing All For One is a treat and just so much fun, and I hope you can kinda see the parallels that I'm attempting to draw between All For One and All Might—especially their role as a mentor and father figure to Izuku. Feedback on my portrayal of him would be greatly appreciated.

4. Poor Himiko got the shit gaslighted out of her. She's not having the best of times, right now.

5. It's important to note here that Toshinori did not tell Izuku everything about his past. The line "he had felt fear when remembering those words, but Toshinori's words did not manage to evoke the same kinds of emotions from him. It felt so strange, as if critical information was still locked away, but Izuku still had no means of accessing them" is quite impooooooortant, ha ha ha ha.

6. For those of you who are disappointed at Izuku's lack of a reaction—his emptiness—just know that this isn't his full reaction… that will come along later, when… ha ha ha ha ha. What did you all think of the way the conversation went?

7. What do you all think of the Rumi that I've been writing so far? I'm curious to hear what you think of her in this story.

8. Eri! I love Eri! And especially for this story, I felt like this was the perfect time to introduce her since Eri and Izuku (in this story) have somewhat similar pasts and Izuku just found out about his. Maybe she'll force him to face his problems instead of running from them, I dunno.

As usual, thank you so much for reading—oh, wait… there's more.

Some years in the past, a college student stood with her internship mentor.

"Kainaaaaaaaa," Rumi groaned, kicking a stray pebble, "why can't you show me what you actually do?"

A gorgeous—from Rumi's perspective, but she was sure others would definitely agree—woman stopped in her tracks. Her dark blue and pink hair was strung up into a ponytail, which swung hypnotically as she turned to face Rumi. Her lips were curved in a demure smile.

"Because, my dear little rabbit," Kaina Tsutsumi breathed, a shadow crossing her eyes, "you… let's just say that the types of jobs I take aren't often suitable to take interns on. So, that's why we'll stick to patrolling the streets."

"What, too dangerous?" Rumi scoffed, blushing slightly at the pet name Kaina had for her. "I like danger. I can handle it."

"It's a danger of a different type," Kaina said shortly, ending all further discourse on the subject matter, but Rumi wasn't one to read social cues like Kaina's tone of voice.

Rumi sulked. "If you can't even take me to see what your real work is like, what was the point in inviting me to be your intern?"

The older woman thought about this for a while. "Would you believe me if I said I sent you an invitation because I thought you were cute?"

"Wha–" Rumi spluttered, taken completely off-guard. Her face rapidly reddened as she tried to cover for her reaction by speaking, but words failed to come to her. For a few terrifying moments, she just opened and closed her mouth like a fish.

Kaina laughed at Rumi's flustered reaction. "This, ahaha, this is fantastic. Who knew that under all that hotheadedness was such a defenseless maiden? Ah, is this what they call gap moe?"

"Shut up, Kaina," Rumi glowered, looking away out of embarrassment.

Kaina smiled fondly at Rumi and shook her head. "Didn't I tell you to call me by my hero name when we were on the job?"

"Fine," Rumi relented, turning to look at her beautiful mentor. Well, Kaina was her mentor, sure, but more importantly, she was her friend—one of her first and only since she started attending U.A. University. And, well, maybe… no, Rumi decided to just leave it at that. For now.

Rumi made a show of bowing and showing respect. "Shut up, please, Lady Nagant."

Kaina smiled. "That's better."