Mom," Izuku exclaimed as he entered his home. It had been a long day. It had been dark when he left, and it was dark now. He just hoped that his mother was still awake. "I'm home."
"Izuku!" His mother exclaimed, running over to him and giving him a hug. "You're home!"
She pulled away, her eyes shining with happiness as she looked at him, "How did you do?"
Izuku smiled. While he'd focused most of his efforts on preparing for the practical exam, he knew he'd done well enough on the written that he'd passed. And as for the practical... well... before he'd broken himself punching out the Zero Pointer, he and Iida had been neck and neck for kills. And considering Iida was a member of one of the most prestigious hero families in Japan, he felt that the taller boy was a good stick by which to measure himself.
That and he'd been outright told that he passed. But thinking about it and judging it for himself filled him with pride and accomplishment that just being told he passed in passing simply couldn't. It was a new sensation, and one that he very much hoped he'd get used to.
"I did great," he replied with a smile, "I got in without a doubt. I'm going to become a hero."
Her already misty eyes began to stream with tears as she pulled him into a tight embrace.
"Izuku!" she called out, "I'm so sorry Izuku... I'm so sorry I doubted you! "
"It's okay mom..."
"No it's not!" she exclaimed, pulling away and looking at him, her face filled with shame, "My boy. My baby boy. You... you've accomplished so much Izuku! You've reached your dream, and it was in spite of me!"
"Mom!" he exclaimed, "Don't blame yourself. You didn't do anything wrong."
"I'm your mother," she whispered, "I should have believed in you. I should have done more. I should have helped you..."
"You just wanted to protect me," he replied, "I understand. You were scared for me. I was scared too. It's okay."
She smiled and pulled him back into a hug.
"How was I so lucky to have such a special boy?" she asked as she hugged him tight.
Izuku smiled and squeezed her back. "I guess my mom raised me right."
She laughed and pulled away, smilingly radiantly. He always thought his mom had the best smile when she was happy, and he hoped that she would be happier. When he was little he never understood why she was sad all the time. It had only been when he'd grown older and started to study quirks that he understood.
She blamed herself for his quirklessness, and as much as he hated to admit it, there was some cause for it. Her and his father didn't have synergistic quirks. Her quirk was small-scale telekinesis. His father's was Fire Breathing.
When a couple with synergistic quirks had children, their quirks would often complement each other in some way. Sometimes their quirks would favor one parent or the other and occasionally the two would meld, creating a powerful hybrid quirk. But in virtually all cases the children were born with strong, healthy quirks.
When a couple without synergistic quirks married, most of the time the quirk would simply favor one parent or the other, but occasionally one of three things would happen. First, the quirks might meld in unexpected ways. For example, he might have been born with the ability to control flame like his mother with small objects. Or he could have had an Aberrant quirk, a quirk unrelated to either of his parents. Aberrant quirks were basically a fresh draw on the superpower lottery. They could be extremely powerful, but also had the potential to be unstable. Then there was the final possibility. The parents' quirk factors might cancel each other out leading to a genetic throwback: a quirkless child.
If she hated herself for marrying a man without thinking of how their quirks would affect their children, Izuku hated himself for destroying their marriage. When he was little, his father had almost always been busy, but had clearly treasured every moment he could with them. Once he'd been diagnosed as quirkless, he began throwing himself more and more deeply into his work until he took a position overseas.
And the worst part was, in his heart, he understood that his father blamed himself too. That his son being quirkless was somehow his fault, and that the only thing he could do to make up for it was to provide for them the best he could.
He wanted his mother to smile all of the time. He wanted his father to not feel like he had a duty to sacrifice himself for their sake. He wanted his family to be whole again... or at least for his parents to be able to find happiness, no matter what form it was in. He didn't want to be a burden on them anymore. And now that he was going to become a hero, he wanted them to know that everything was going to be all right because he was here.
"I have such a day planned for tomorrow!" she said with a wide smile. "I know you've been training hard, so I've been giving you your space, but now that you're in... I've missed you Izuku."
He couldn't help but flinch. He'd already promised All Might he'd help watch the girl. They'd both realized she needed someone friendly that she'd recognize to be there, and All Might couldn't wait by her side 24/7. He still needed to be a hero, and do things like go to the bathroom. And that was with him deciding that her comfort and sense of safety was more important than petty things like sleeping in his own bed for the next few days.
He'd already had his specially built Bigntal Recliner wheeled in.
His mother's face fell, that look of happiness vanishing, something that made him feel like a dagger was twisted in his gut.
"Something came up, mom," Izuku replied, "It's... complicated."
She looked at him in confusion, "What happened?"
Thankfully, All Might had decided that with the cover story in place it would be safe to tell her the truth. Or at least most of it. They'd keep the true nature of One for All to themselves. For now they'd go with the excuse he'd come up with and just claim he had an Aberrant quirk.
Which technically wasn't actually a lie. All first generation quirks were Aberrant and One for All was as old as the modern world. A legacy of heroism passed down from generation to generation: a torch created to light the way to a brighter world.
He loved his mother dearly, but he knew she wore her emotions on her sleeve and could cry at the drop of a pin. He didn't want to upset her, so he'd been planning on easing her into the fact that he was All Might's student. But now... seeing the look on her face...
"Mom," he placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled. "I need to make a call real quick, okay?"
She bit her lip and nodded, her eyes watering slightly, causing him to wince slightly. He hated it when his mother got upset.
Midoriya Inko was terrified for her son. It felt as though over the past year they'd grown apart. She could almost pin it on the day when he came in full of hope and vigor, and with that ridiculous meal plan. It had been expensive to cover, and hadn't been nearly as good for her as it was for him, but when she saw the look of hope and joy on his face... well... she was his mother. Mothers make sacrifices for their children and it had been the first time she'd seen him show hope in years. What was a couple of kilos in exchange for being able to see her baby boy smile?
Before all of this, she and Izuku had been extremely close. Her son had been her best friend, but now he almost felt like a stranger. She knew teenagers grew apart from their parents, and she accepted that. Struggled to, but she accepted it. But he was keeping so many secrets from her and she just wanted to know what was going on. So she could support him. So she could help him...
"Mom?"
"Izuku?" she asked, looking up to her son, "What was that call about?"
Izuku sighed. "Mom, you'll probably want to sit down for this."
She frowned and nervously did so. When someone said that, it never went well. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong mom," he replied, looking quite uncomfortable himself, "Just I need to say some things that are complicated."
"Alright," she replied, "What's going on."
She didn't ask him. She ordered him, as his mother. She needed to know.
"Mom, these last ten months? I haven't been training on my own."
"I guessed as much," she replied, "Who have you been training with?"
Her Izuku was such a bright, kind hearted, sensitive boy. She was afraid that someone had lured him into some kind of trouble...
Her brow furrowed. If someone had taken advantage of her baby boy, well, she'd get to see how well her quirk worked on eyeballs.
"Um, mom, what's with the scary face?"
"Please continue," she dryly stated.
He smiled wearily. "Um, well, after what happened with the sludge villain, I caught the attention of um, someone who decided to help me..."
Seeing Izuku on the news charging at a monster that had the heroes staying away had been the single most terrifying moment of her life.
Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "And who was this someone..."
Eyeballs...
"A pro-hero," Izuku replied, "He said that all the greatest heroes... they all... well... he asked me why I did it, and I told him it was because of Kacchan, he looked like he needed help and my body just moved on its own. He said that all the best heroes would tell that very same story... that their bodies did the same... and he offered to help me become a hero."
Now she wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. She wanted to protect him from the world. But having heard that, what did she really have to complain about? That someone out there besides her had finally seen how brave, special, and wonderful her Izuku was?
She wanted to say he was quirkless, that he'd just get himself killed. But if he could pass UA's entrance, something famed for being virtually impossible to the point it was often seen as unfair to all but those with the most flashy, combat oriented quirks, then he'd already proven her wrong.
She'd strangled his dream once, and she'd hated herself ever since. Now that he'd overcome everyone who doubted him, including her, how dare she even think it? She'd have to thank this hero from the depths of her heart, for believing in her baby when no one else would...
"Who is your mentor?" she asked. Which hero did she have to thank for teaching her son how to stand proud? For pulling him out of that pit of self-doubt and resentment? One she herself had helped plant him within when she had pitied herself instead of trying to support his dreams. To whom did she owe her most humble and impassioned thanks?
"I.." Izuku paused, "He'd like to tell you himself. Tomorrow. The reason I can't spend tomorrow with you is because this morning, before he took me to UA, we came across a girl..."
Inko blinked. "A girl?"
Her son nodded. "Yeah, mom. A little girl ran up to us, she was injured and looked to be in trouble. She fainted soon after and is still asleep. He took her to his office and..."
"Why not go to the hospital?" she asked. What kind of hero doesn't take a little girl to the hospital?
"She has a powerful quirk and looked like she was abused," Izuku replied, causing Inko's eyes to widen. "There's a chance bad people are looking for her so we wanted to make sure she's kept somewhere safe and secure."
"Then why his office?" she asked. Was he endangering her son? The kind of people who'd do terrible things to little girls were the types of villains who might try and take them back. And if her Izuku was there when they did...
Izuku looked thoughtful for a moment. "He's based out of Might Tower."
Inko nodded in full understanding, her fears put completely to rest. That explained everything. Might Tower wasn't just All Might's personal hero agency, but she knew that he also permitted a number of other heroes to place their offices there as well. It also had a free medical clinic open to anyone in need without question, one that specializes in difficult quirk cases, along with a small emergency trauma ward. It was one of the best equipped non-hospitals in Tokyo.
And as for keeping the girl safe, anyone who wanted to go after her wouldn't just have to deal with the numerous heroes working there, but would face the wrath of the Symbol of Peace himself. And she couldn't imagine that the smiling man would at all tolerate that sort of nonsense. Thanks to Izuku's obsession with All Might she'd watched more videos of him in action than any other three mothers combined, and one thing she'd learned about that wonderful , heroic man was that arguably the fastest way to really piss him off was to endanger children.
She shuddered when she remembered that time he fought that horrible bear villain. He hadn't been smiling then... and when he was done, neither was the bear.
She normally wasn't one to question the decisions of Pro Heroes, but in this case she'd been left wondering. But hearing the details, she could completely agree with his mentor's decision on that front. Sometimes heroes could seem a bit reckless, but this mysterious hero, whoever he was, was clearly experienced if his thoughtfulness was any indication. She could respect that, and it did help calm her maternal fears, but there was one question she needed answered before she could be fully at ease with this.
"But what does this have to do with you?" she asked, "Why does he need you there?"
"I was there when she fainted," he replied, "He'd like someone she'd recognize to be there when she wakes up. So she's not scared, and he can't be there all the time."
Inko's face slowly softened and her smile grew. Her Izuku, acting like a hero already, trying to heal the world with his smile. "Well then, we can have some time together after she wakes up then, I guess..."
Izuku, her darling boy smiled at her, "Actually... would you like to come in with me tomorrow? He'd like to speak to you and I'd like to spend the day with you too, mom... and maybe once everythings calms down, we can have a special day, just you and me?"
"Of course I would," Inko said with a beaming smile. Now this was her Izuku! Her kind, sweet, thoughtful, and oh so brave little Izuku. She'd get a chance to spend the day with her son, and a chance to meet the man who'd give her boy a reason to stand proudly... and thank him from the very depths of her heart.
"I'd like nothing more in the world."
Sasaki Mirai, known to most as Sir Nighteye, took a deep sip of his bubble tea as he looked at the slumbering girl that lay before him as he examined her expressions. She was sleeping deeply, but by the occasional twitch and microexpression, he was getting a feeling that her dreams were anything but sweet.
This lined up with the scars going up and down her limbs, some healed, some fresh. Someone had been taking a great deal of blood from this girl and without any care as to her comfort or wellbeing. The fact that they did so by cutting rather than simply drawing it like a civilized person pointed to a degree of casual sadism that filled him with a cold fury.
Glancing at Toshinori, their eyes met and he could see the concern in the larger man's eyes. Of course All Might would be deeply concerned for any child in this condition, not say nothing about one with a quirk as powerful and easily abused as the one he was describing.
"So, your new protege believes her quirk is temporal in nature?"
"Yes," his friend replied, "He also believes she's a time traveler."
Mirai looked at the girl and gently nodded. "I find that hard to believe. However... If you'd asked me yesterday if the future could be changed, I would have said no. Never before has my Foresight ever been wrong..." he paused for a moment, "But now everything has changed because of this... child's intervention."
A smile slowly spread across his face. "She gives me hope."
Toshinori's eyebrow peeked, "Really?"
He looked back down to the girl and nodded. "Yes. While it's a useful ability, sometimes the most terrible thing you can do is to look upon the future, to see what is to come, and to know that no matter matter what you do, you can't change it. This girl... I didn't foresee this. My quirk didn't see her here and now. She's proof that nothing is set, and that free will is not an illusion," he looked back up to his old friend, with a thoughtful expression, "While the loss of absolute clarity may reduce the effectiveness of my quirk to a degree, I welcome it. To know that we mortals can defy the fates and be the architects of our own destiny trumps any inconvenience I might face."
The Number One's expression softened. "I'm happy for you. I'll admit, I've always worried about you and your fatalist attitude. I think this is the first time I've ever seen you at peace."
"Perhaps it is," he said, taking a sip of his drink. He chewed on one of the tapioca pearls for a moment before looking at Toshinori, "Though I doubt you would have called me in just to tell me about our pretty little time traveler here. Does it have something to do with your youthful appearance?"
Toshinori nodded and lifted his shirt. Mirai's eyes went wide when he saw the heinous wound on his friend's torso, or rather, its absence.
"She rewound my body," Toshinori stated with no lack of pleasure, "Yesterday I ate a steak dinner for the first time in half a decade and I no longer look like a zombie when I'm off the job."
"That's... This is wonderful news, Toshi! I-I'm so happy for you!," While he normally wasn't one for emotional displays, he was beyond ecstatic. So much so that he actually gave the larger man a hug. All Might was not only his best friend and mentor in heroics, he was his personal hero, the person he looked up to the most. He was not ashamed to say he had every piece of licensed All Might merchandise ever sold, and several that never made it to sale.
"Thank you, Mirai," Toshinori said with a smile.
"So, I'm guessing you're not going to be passing on One for All then?," he said as he attempted to school his emotions in favor of the topic at hand. While he might have felt as giddy as a first time father, this was neither the time nor place.
"Not anytime soon," was his response.
"Hmn," he nodded, "Have you broken it to Midoriya-san then?"
Toshinori simply laughed in response. "He's aware. Thanks to this girl, he has no need of it."
Nighteye blinked in confusion. "What?"
"She was, at least for a short time, the host of One for All. A separate One for All. She came to us on the brink of death. It seemed that it was only her quirks ability to rewind her body that was keeping her from being torn apart from within. She passed the quirk to Midoriya-shonen, then she used the embers of One for All within her to restore me. And then she fainted."
He blinked in surprise. What. Seriously. What? "That's ludicrous enough that if we weren't entertaining the idea of something as equally ludicrous as time travel, I'd find it hard to believe."
"As do I," his friend chuckled, "As do I... but... just because it's difficult to believe doesn't mean it can't be true."
Toshinori then paused for a moment. "But anyways, there's something else I wanted to talk about."
"Yes?"
"First... you were right," he said, causing Mirai to almost lose his composure if only for a moment. "I do need to spend time being... just Toshinori." He took a deep breath, "Before my injury, I felt like I couldn't risk it. Having a life. Having loved ones would have been selfish, because all I would have been doing is painting them as targets for All for One. I couldn't handle losing someone like I lost Nana- she was almost a mother to me, you know that. To put myself, or someone else through that? And after..." he closed his eyes, "I was a broken man, Mirai. I couldn't live a proper life anymore. How could I? I was in constant pain and had a daily diet of medications so vast I can't even remember half their names after five years of taking them. I didn't have anything left to offer anyone. What was I? A skeleton living off milkshakes? If I'd made it to 60 I'd have been utterly shocked. Being the Symbol of Peace was all I had left."
Nighteye felt a lump forming in his throat. Normally his friend never opened up like this, instead choosing to paint a brave face for the world. But this was something else. "Toshinori..."
Toshinori smiled, and half laughed, half sobbed, "But that's the past. All for One is gone, and I'm whole again... I think... I think that for once, I just maybe can afford to set aside some time for Yagi Toshinori."
Nighteye placed his hand on his friend's shoulder and simply smiled. "Toshi?"
"Yes?"
"I'd like to work with you again," Mirai's smile was beaming, "And if he's good enough that you would have made him your successor, I guess... I'm sure that Midoriya-kun's going to get along well with Togata-kun."
His friend blinked, clearly confused. "Wait, really? That was it?"
"What was it?"
"I was wondering what I'd have to do, how hard I'd have to beg for you to work with me again," All Might admitted.
Mirai snorted, "I never wanted to stop working with you. I just couldn't bear to watch you grind yourself to dust like that..."
"I see," Toshi muttered to himself, "Going to have to call Dave, I guess..."
Sir Nighteye blinked in confusion. David Shields? "Why?"
"Looks like I'm going to need a bigger car."
Mirai couldn't help himself. He began to laugh. And so did Toshinori. They must have looked like a pair of jackasses. Two grown men laughing to themselves to the point of tears at a joke that honestly wasn't even funny, but he couldn't give a damn. For the first time in years he felt like everything was going to be alright.
He smiled as he wiped his eyes, "It's good to have you back."
Toshinori smiled. Not All Might, Toshinori. "It's good to be back..."
Then the moment was broken when his phone began to scream "A PHONE CALL IS HERE! A PHONE CALL IS HERE! "
He had to groan, "I see you're still using that idiotic ringtone..."
Blushing slightly, Toshinori picked up the phone. "Um, yes... I see... Well. Right then. Thank you for sending me the heads up."
He turned off the phone. "Midoriya-shounen has just arrived with his mother."
Mirai nodded. "I guess I should get going then?"
"I don't want to chase you away," Toshinori said, "But at the moment, it might be for the best. We have a cover story, but I won't have time to fill you in before they get here."
He nodded. "I understand completely."
Ok I know I said "A few hours, but why not just do it now?" I've already started improving on the fic, so by the time this catches up I'd have made about 3 chapters worth of progress.
