It had been a week since Izuku had left the house without an escort. Well, a school week. This was Izuku's first free day since classes had resumed, the first day when he had nowhere official to be, and hence no reason to be driven anywhere. If he was going to follow through with his plan, he was going to have to go by train.

He'd watched the news carefully the previous day, to make sure that his brief appearance in front of the camera wasn't being played any more. Thankfully the news cycle had moved more toward Stain's ideology rather than the heroes who had captured him, especially since Mic had only given one interview and then declined all future opportunities to comment. Still, Izuku pulled an old All Might beanie over his hair and wore a light blue jacket with one of his plain shirts, the farthest he could get from his darker hero uniform. He left the apartment just after breakfast, with his laptop in his bag.

The official story, the one he'd told his mom, was that he was going to hang out with some friends. This had at one point been the case: Hitoshi had mentioned he was going to a cat cafe that weekend to unwind from all the excitement and when Shouto admitted he'd never been to one Hitoshi had invited the two of them along. However, Izuku had told them on Friday that he couldn't make it, that something important had come up and he had to go to the Nighteye Agency that weekend. The others had been disappointed, but understanding, and they'd all agreed that they'd go together some other time.

He didn't know why it had taken him most of the week to decide. Options and possibilities had kept presenting themselves, obscuring the obvious conclusion. There was only so long he could ignore the truth right in front of him though. As he boarded the train he told himself he might still be wrong, that it might still just be a random weirdo on the internet, but if he was right then he had to tell someone. He couldn't put it off anymore.

The Nighteye Agency was an hour away by train. Every car was packed when Izuku got on, so he stood holding onto the handholds dangling down from above. The weather was already getting warmer, spring at its peak and summer just over the horizon, and the more crowded the train became the more uncomfortable the heat grew. When one stop let on a good five more people, packing the current occupants even closer together, Izuku gave in to temptation and removed his hat, using it to ineffectively fan himself.

"Hey!" said the voice of a small child, making Izuku and several other passengers turn to look at him.

The kid in question was maybe seven or eight, wearing an All Might t-shirt and a baseball cap. He was holding his mother's hand, but with the other hand was pointing at Izuku. He was smiling a wide, snaggle-toothed smile, his eyes eager and overbright.

"I know you from TV!" the boy went on. "You're Present Mic's son! You helped him take down

the Hero Killer!"

Izuku froze. This was very bad. Already other passengers were looking over, attention drawn by the child's cries, and some of them had dawning looks of recognition. He was trapped in a crowded place with no easy exits, a moving vehicle no less, and this time there was no Mic-sensei here to help him. There was no anyone here to help him.

Still, he'd been prepped for this. He had the training. With effort he swallowed his panic and forced a wide smile onto his face.

"You sure are observant little guy!" he praised. "Present Mic actually isn't my dad, he's just my teacher, but I was lucky enough to be there when he took down Stain!"

"That's so cool!" the kid said excitedly.

"That's very impressive young man," said another passenger, a middle aged man wearing a suit. "You should be proud of yourself for facing such a dangerous villain."

"It's the type of work I want to do," Izuku hedged, carefully straddling the line between confident and humble.

"Weren't you scared?" asked the little kid feverishly.

"Don't pester him," the boy's mother said, pulling him a little closer to her legs.

"It's OK," Izuku assured her, then turned back to the kid. "I was a little scared, but it's important for heroes to be brave. When someone's counting on you, you have to put your own feelings aside."

The kid beamed at him, nodding animatedly, and the mother gave him a grateful smile.

"The news said your hero name was Dekiru, right?" another passenger piped up, drawing Izuku's attention onto her. She was an older lady with graying hair, but her smile was kind. "I thought that was such a sweet name."

"Thank you!" Izuku said, still smiling broadly. "I really want to be an inspiration to others when I become a hero. If I can do it, anyone can!"

"I don't think that's a very good message," scoffed a voice from behind Izuku.

Izuku turned, to see a middle aged woman staring at him with a sour expression. Her hair was cut in a short, conservative style and her face was shiny with dewy, youthful make-up, but her eyes were narrow and bitter, and her mouth was a hard, firm line. She was angled away from Izuku, looking at him disdainfully over her shoulder, but her attention was definitely on him.

"Heroes are a special breed in our society," the woman went on. "Not just anyone can become one. Giving children false hope is rather cruel don't you think?"

The little voice in Izuku's head that sounded like his teacher said 'deflect.' It was an attack, not a question, meant to make him argue and become aggressive. There wasn't a camera in his face, but that didn't mean someone wasn't filming on a cell phone, and Izuku knew he couldn't break character now. For the moment, he was Dekiru, and that meant not ruining his public image while he was still a student.

Still, wasn't it also Dekiru's job to speak out against people like her? Wasn't it his mission to make

it clear that gatekeepers and elitists were wrong? What was the good of having a platform if he didn't use it to say something meaningful?

"It certainly takes a special type of person to be a hero," Izuku agreed, still smiling. "You have to be willing to devote yourself to helping others. However, I think anyone can be the kind of person who becomes a hero, if that's what they want."

"You have to be strong to be a hero," the woman protested. "You have to have a strong quirk."

"Anyone can be strong if they work at it," Izuku replied. "The only thing you really need is a strong heart, and a strong desire to help-"

"I heard you don't even have a quirk," the woman interrupted, turning a little to face Izuku more fully. "Most news stations aren't running it, but I saw it on SuperWeb. A reporter asked if you were quirkless and trying to hide it, but you didn't answer him."

Izuku clenched his teeth but kept his smile in place. It was true that all the major news stations had cut whatever footage of the interview they had so that the disrespectful questions were omitted. However, a few of the lesser known, less scrupulous news sources were running footage of the full interview. Izuku and Mic had neither confirmed nor denied Izuku being quirkless, but he'd never displayed a quirk and he'd never intentionally kept his quirklessness a secret. Still, it wasn't public knowledge yet.

That was part of why he was making this particular train journey.

Suddenly the train slid smoothly into a stop, and the doors on either end of the car opened. Thankfully several people were getting off, and Izuku noticed that something of a path between his position and the door had accidentally cleared. Izuku didn't give himself time to think, he made a decision and acted.

"I'm sorry, but this is me!" he said cheerfully, nodding to the woman. "Thanks so much!"

The woman opened her mouth, an obstinate gleam in her narrowed eyes, but immediately Izuku turned and began making his way toward the door. As he passed he felt the crowd close behind him, making it impossible for the woman to follow. The path in front of him remained clear, and he stepped off the train and onto the platform just before the doors closed.

Izuku turned and watched the train speed off. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves, then remembered himself and hurriedly put his hat back on. He would have to remember to keep it on in future. He couldn't afford another confrontation like that.

Now he just had to wait for the next train to arrive. *

Izuku had expected to have to get through Sir Nighteye's sidekicks before he could talk to Nighteye directly. He had a story prepared, about how he had something he needed to bring to Nighteye's attention and it shouldn't take long, and he was sure he could 'explain' to their satisfaction without giving any details. He was just going over his noncommittal answers in his head when he reached the front door and nearly collided with Nighteye coming out of it.

"Midoriya!" Nighteye said in surprise, looking down at where Izuku had jumped back out of his way. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh," Izuku said, brain stalling. All his explanations dried up. He had been so focused on getting

through to talk to Nighteye he hadn't even considered how he would explain the actual situation. "I, um, need to talk to you."

"Can it wait?" Nighteye asked, glancing at his watch. "I'm in a bit of a rush."

Izuku hesitated. He didn't want to be a pest, and the last thing he needed was to bother Nighteye with something inconsequential. If he was wrong he would look pretty foolish, in front of a very important underground hero. If he was right though . . .

"If we could just step back inside for a second," he said hurriedly, "I have a question."

"Couldn't we do this by email?" Nighteye asked, nonetheless holding the door open for Izuku to follow him back into the building.

"I didn't want to risk someone finding it," Izuku told him once they were both standing in the lobby. There was no one else there by the two of them. "I'm kinda new to this, but I didn't know what kind of channels you prefer to use when discussing stuff about One for All."

Nighteye, who had been glancing at the door impatiently, turned his attention back to Izuku. "One for All? What about it? If you have something new for Toogata you're fine to discuss it at school, just as long as you're careful no one overhears."

"It's not that, its's just . . ." Izuku trailed off, trying to think of how to ask. "How many people have had it before him? Like, in the line of wielders, what number is he?"

Nighteye gave Izuku a puzzled look. "Toshinori was the eighth wielder," he said carefully, "so Toogata is the ninth. What's this about?"

"I got a message I think you should see," Izuku told him. "I brought my laptop, I didn't want to risk pulling it up on one of your computers but . . . Sir, it asked me if I was number nine."

Nighteye stared at him for a moment, eyes wide. Then he turned away from the door and adjusted his glasses, standing straight and tall over Izuku.

"My office," he directed, and led the way further inside.

Bubble Girl was surprised to see Nighteye coming back, but didn't seem to mind that he didn't answer her question, waving to Izuku as they walked briskly past her. Once they were behind the closed door of Nighteye's office Izuku powered up his laptop, then logged onto the forum and brought up his inbox. Nighteye sat at his desk and examined the one line message closely. He was quiet for a moment, and then he stood up.

"Wait here," he instructed. "I'm going to call Toshinori and Mirio. We need to talk about this."

It took a little while for All Might and Toogata to get there. In the meantime Nighteye questioned Izuku about his online presence, and what kind of picture might have been painted of him from his activity on the internet. He didn't seem bothered when Izuku told him about the comments about Endeavor, merely instructing Izuku not to mention them to All Might before moving on to the next question. Once Nighteye was satisfied he left Izuku in the office, saying he had a few things to attend to before the meeting.

Izuku, meanwhile, was left to stew in his worry. Judging by Nighteye's reaction, he had been right to think the message was important. He didn't know who had sent it, and if Nighteye had an idea he didn't share it, but he could take an educated guess that they were dangerous. Did they have something to do with the League of Villains who had attacked the USJ? Or the Hero Killer,

perhaps? Nighteye hadn't seemed this concerned when discussing the plan to capture Stain. Could this villain be someone even worse?

All Might apparently thought this meeting was important enough for him to go pick Toogata up, because the two of them arrived together just over half an hour later. Nighteye showed the two of them and Izuku into the conference room where he'd previously put Present Mic, instructing Izuku to bring his laptop, then called out to Bubble Girl that they weren't to be disturbed and locked the door.

"What's this about Sir?" Toogata asked anxiously, once they had all taken their seats, with All Might and Nighteye on one side of the table and Izuku and Toogata on the other. "You said it had to do with All Might's quirk. What-"

"I said it was about All Might's legacy," Nighteye corrected, then turned to All Might himself. "We may have a problem."

All Might's dark eyes narrowed in his skeletal face. "What's this about Mirai?"

Nighteye turned to look at Izuku. For a moment Izuku blinked at him, then realized Nighteye meant for him to explain.

"I, uh, got a message on Monday night," Izuku told them. He turned his laptop for them to see. "It struck me as wrong that the sender knew my real name, even though I do have an old picture as my icon, and the whole tone of the message creeped me out. The reference to a number though, made me think of All Might's quirk, and how it's had multiple users. I didn't know what Toogata's number was, so I figured I'd ask, and then . . ."

He trailed off, looking around the room. Toogata seemed confused, looking at Nighteye for answers, but Nighteye and All Might just looked grim. Finally All Might took a deep breath, eyes closed as though in defense against some unpleasant sight.

"This is worse than I'd feared," All Might sighed. "You said you received this on Monday?"

"I debated for a while whether to bother you with it," Izuku admitted, turning the laptop back toward himself and closing it.

"You were right to bring this to our attention young Midoriya," All Might assured him, then turned to Nighteye. "We ought to have been more careful. Knowing he was back should have made us more cautious with our students' lives, not less."

"It was my error in judgement," Nighteye said, head bowed.

"What do you mean?" Toogata piped up. "Who sent the message? Who's back?" All Might looked at Toogata with a pained expression, then sighed again.

"Young Toogata," he began, "the quirk you now have is unique, and you should know its origin. Young Midoriya, you are a secret keeper and a member of this legacy, so you should have this information too."

Izuku glanced over at Toogata, to see the older boy looking back at him. Quickly he looked back at All Might, not wanting to face the nervous look in Toogata's eyes, and hoping it wasn't reflected in his own.

"One for All was derived from another odd quirk," All Might continued. "A power that's very

old."

"The power of All for One," Nighteye chimed in.

"Mirai, please," All Might said reproachfully. "Let me tell them. This is my responsibility."

Nighteye bowed his head in concession, and All Might went on. "The name of that quirk is, indeed, All for One. It allowed its user to take quirks from others, then the user could keep the quirks for himself or give them to someone else."

Izuku wanted to ask more about All for One, fascinated by the idea of a quirk that could take other quirks. Did the transfer of power have to be consensual? Probably not. How many powers could the user hold at a time? Could he use multiple powers at once? What was the limit?

He heard Toogata swallow beside him, and put his questions aside.

"This was back when quirks were just starting to show up," All Might continued, "before society had figured out how to deal with the newly powered among them. When quirks first appeared, suddenly it was impossible to say what it meant to be a 'normal' person. Laws and human rights were hotly debated. Civilization's progress stalled. Society decayed."

"If superpowers had never appeared, then humans would be taking interstellar holidays by this point," Izuku recited. "I remember hearing that from someone famous."

"Right," All Might nodded to him. "During that chaotic period of change, there was one person who managed to rally many people together. He went by the name of his power, All for One. He stole quirks from others and then, with his overwhelming abilities, he spread his influence across the country. He manipulated people to serve his purposes, and committed evil acts with little resistance. In the blink of an eye, he became the leader of villains and ruled over Japan."

"I've never heard of this though," Toogata piped up. "I don't remember ever being taught about some criminal overlord that dominated the whole country."

"And you, Midoriya?" Nighteye asked, looking at Izuku curiously.

"I've seen plenty of rumors about this online, sure," Izuku admitted. "But isn't that all just made up? This isn't in any of our textbooks."

"Because it's the kind of shameful history people would rather ignore," All Might informed them.

"I'm sorry but, I don't understand why you're telling us this," Toogata said. "What does this have to do with One for All? Or the message Midoriya got?"

"I said that All for One could give quirks to others remember?" All Might said. "He made people trust him and submit to his will by altering their abilities. But apparently, there were many poor souls who couldn't bear the burden of the quirks they'd been given. They became like mindless living dolls, incapable of speaking."

"Just like the Nomus," Izuku breathed. When the heroes had taken down the Nomu in downtown Musutafu, the news had reported on his strange silence. After the Hosu Incident it had become obvious, even to the media, that the multi-quirked monsters couldn't communicate.

"Correct," All Might confirmed. "Meanwhile, some quirks actually evolved as they were passed on. Some even combined with other power sets. This evil man had a quirkless younger brother. He was small and sickly, but he had a strong sense of justice. They couldn't have been more different."

Like me, Izuku thought, and kept listening.

"It pained the brother to see All for One's deeds," All Might told them, "so he kept resisting him. And then, All for One transferred a quirk to his sibling, one that would allow him to stockpile power. We don't know if it was a gift he was giving his brother, or if he just wanted to force him to submit."

"You mean . . ." Toogata said softly.

"Yes," All Might said, his voice growing louder, as though strengthened by what he was recounting. "Even though everyone thought he was quirkless, turns out the brother did have a quirk, though even he hadn't realized this to be the case. He had a useless power, that only allowed him to pass on quirks."

All Might threw out his arms dramatically. "And so the stockpiling ability merged with the younger brother's power, and that is how One for All came to be."

Toogata made an impressed noise, and Nighteye was looking at All Might reverently. Izuku, however, couldn't help but feel disappointed.

So the answer was that he had a quirk all along? That's not very inspiring.

"I've always found it ironic how justice so often spawns from evil," All Might sighed, lowering his arms to the table.

"Wait, hold on," Izuku protested. "What does any of this have to do with the message? This bad guy should be long dead, why are you bringing him up?"

"One who steals quirks has no limits," All Might said. "Anything's possible. There are quirks that halt aging. He probably has something like that. The Symbol of Evil seemed pretty much immortal. With the state of the world at the time and the huge difference in their combat abilities, the younger brother decided to entrust this new quirk to future generations. Even though he couldn't defeat All for One, he hoped One for All would continue to grow in power until it was strong enough to stop his older brother. Eventually it was my turn, and I managed to defeat All for One!"

All Might turned away, and it seemed like the lines on his face grew deeper.

"At least, that's what I thought," he said. "But he survived and is now back in action as the brain behind the League of Villains."

"How do you know?" Toogata asked.

"Last week a friend of mine, Detective Tsukauchi, told me what the police had found out about the man called Nomu," All Might said. "That he was a mindless creature that had been altered to contain multiple quirks. I immediately told Mirai, and he in turn immediately sought you out, young Midoriya."

"That was when you came to Centerstage on the second day of our internships," Izuku realized. "But, why?"

Nighteye took off his glasses and began to clean them, slow and methodical. "I panicked," he confessed. "I thought time was growing short to prepare Mirio for an inevitable confrontation with All for One's forces. He needed some semblance of control over his quirk, at least some ability to use it, and you were the only way that I could think of to provide that."

"The decision seems to have placed you directly in harms way," All Might said. "I'm sorry, young Midoriya, but you're in this now. Even if you didn't want to be my successor, it seems you are destined to be a part of this legacy. All for One now believes you to be the ninth bearer of One for All."

"Why would he think that?" Toogata demanded.

"It makes sense, with the information he has to hand," Izuku told him, cold dread settling in his stomach. Things were beginning to slide into place in head, and it didn't look good. "The more I think about it, the more I realize how what's happened must look from his perspective."

"He has an incomplete picture, but the evidence is compelling," Nighteye said, putting his glasses back on. "The USJ attack was in response to All Might beginning to teach there, meaning All for One must have realized that he was looking for a successor and become desperate to defeat him before he passed on his quirk. However, it wasn't All Might that repelled the attack."

"It was me," Izuku realized, feeling slightly sick.

"And then you gained entrance to the hero course, having previously been a quirkless Gen Ed student," All Might said. "At the sports festival you performed exceedingly well, and in both your tournament fights you obscured visibility, making it difficult to determine whether or not you were using a quirk. Young Toogata was still recovering from his attempts to master One for All, so he didn't get to show off his new quirk to the world, and you appeared to have something to hide."

"He must have someone watching the Nighteye Agency," Nighteye concluded. "Toshinori, when you came here for the first time it would have demonstrated that we'd reconnected, but Mirio had been my student for nearly a year and it wouldn't have been obvious you were coming to meet him. Then when I brought Midoriya here, in the middle of another internship no less-"

"But then, if I were the successor, wouldn't I have just taken an internship here?" Izuku asked.

"Except you immediately used your internship with Present Mic to set a trap for which he was the ideal bait," Nighteye reminded him. "It looked like you were just using him, and like I had set the scenario up."

"A fine first step for the fledgling Symbol of Peace," All Might said, sounding very tired. "He must think you very ambitious."

"But Midoriya is quirkless!" Toogata protested. "Surely that would make it obvious he doesn't have One for All?"

"Does All for One know that?" All Might raised an eyebrow.

"There's no public record of it," Izuku said, tugging at his own lip. "Even with all the times it's been relevant, I've never confirmed or denied being quirkless anywhere that it might get back to All for One. Not to the press or to Shigaraki or even to Stain. Even if he knows I was quirkless at one point, that doesn't mean I'm not just waiting for the right time to reveal that I've miraculously developed a quirk, which would be the obvious cover story for me taking One for All."

Silence reigned for a moment, each of them alone with their own thoughts. Izuku could tell the others were feelings guilty; even Mirio had his eyes downcast in shame. Izuku didn't want them to feel guilty. He didn't want them to be ashamed that they'd gotten him involved. Nighteye had asked for his help because he was useful, and if he was going to be here anyway he wouldn't just be a victim to be protected. He was going to stay useful.

"OK," he said, interrupting the thoughts of the other three. "How do we use this?"

"What do you mean use this?" All Might demanded in alarm. "We're going to engineer some means of publicly announcing that you're quirkless, and then hope that some opportunity for young Toogata to prove his strength arises-"

"No," Nighteye interrupted, "he's right, Toshinori. This could provide a strategic advantage over our opponent."

"We have painted a target on young Midoriya's back!" All Might said loudly. "Our only strategy should be to remove it as quickly as possible!"

"Consider though, Toshinori," Nighteye pressed. "This is the first time we've caught him in a real, true mistake! This is the first time we've ever successfully concealed our movements from him! If we encourage this misunderstanding then we control what our enemy believes-"

"By making him believe that a quirkless child is his new nemesis?" All Might shouted.

"Midoriya is a hero student," Nighteye said, voice measured and calm, sounding more than reasonable.

"A first year hero student!" All Might retorted, his voice rising in pitch in agitation. "Listen to yourself Mirai!"

"It's a good idea though," Izuku insisted. "Toogata doesn't have full control of his quirk yet, so if the villains go after him he'll be in a bad position. If All for One thinks I'm the successor, then I can take the heat for him while he learns to use One for All effectively!"

"Midoriya, that's crazy!" Toogata spoke up at last. "I'm a third year hero student with my provisional license and a year's worth of work study under my belt! I'm not letting a first year stand between me and danger!"

"The fact that you're so close to becoming a Pro just means that you have less protection," Izuku argued. "You have more independence, so there's more opportunities for you to be attacked. I don't have nearly as much freedom, so there's no opportunity for me to get into trouble. I even have All Might driving me to and from school, there's no point in my day where I'm too vulnerable!"

"A fact that will not have escaped All for One's notice," Nighteye pointed out.

"And what about an attack at home?" All Might demanded. "I know you don't mean to put your poor mother in danger, young Midoriya!"

Izuku cowered at that. He certainly had not been thinking about his mother, and what kind of danger this might put her in. Maybe it was best if-

"An attack on his home in unlikely," Nighteye interjected flippantly. "Not when the villains think you could return at any moment. Spend some time inside and double back a time or two, once or twice a week. If the villains don't know when you'll show up, the house is as secure as if we had them under surveillance."

"It's an apartment," All Might snapped. "And I don't like your tone Mirai."

Nighteye bowed his head in deference, but Izuku leaned forward. "If I was going to draw their fire," he proposed, "how should I answer?"

"In the affirmative," Nighteye replied.

"Not at all!" All Might cried, finally so impassioned that he swelled into his muscular form, standing up from his chair so suddenly that it went shooting out from under him. "Young Midoriya, you are to delete that message and never think of it again! If the sender pesters you with additional messages you will report them to us, but you will not give him any information or try to persuade him to believe anything! He's much too dangerous for you to be talking to!"

"I'm not-" afraid, Izuku was going to say, but All Might was having none of it.

"NO!" he boomed. "Young Midoriya, I know you're trying to help, but you've already done young Toogata and I a great service, and I cannot in good conscience put you in any more danger! There is no possible excuse for using a first year student in such a manner! It would be unforgivable!"

He sounds like Present Mic, Izuku thought anxiously. Is this like the Hosu Incident? Am I being too reckless again? Maybe I shouldn't push this. Maybe-

"Don't worry, Toshinori," Nighteye said, standing up beside All Might. Izuku looked over at him, to be met with Nighteye's piercing, intensely focused eyes. "I'm sure Midoriya knows what the right thing to do is."

There was silence for a moment. Then All Might coughed, loud and with a large spray of blood, and deflated into his skinny state. Nighteye pulled a handkerchief out and handed it to him, and All Might wiped his mouth before looking back at Izuku and Toogata.

"The two of you get your things," All Might instructed. "I'm taking you both home." *

Hizashi took another swig of his beer, leaning back in his seat in the booth and trying to focus on where Nemuri was currently making a fool of herself on stage. She had chosen her sexy hero gimmick because she enjoyed it, but she also enjoyed forgetting about sexiness and just being silly, hence her tendency toward weird, wiggling dances that were decidedly unsexy when she did karaoke. Hizashi usually found it amusing, but this time he was distracted by Shouta sitting next to him, so close that their thighs kept touching.

It wasn't the first time Shouta had ever come to karaoke with the other teachers. It was a rare occurrence, but it had happened before. More frequently he just came out when they were planning on drinking, and Hizashi appreciated how affectionate he tended to get after about his second or third drink, but tonight he was sticking with soda water so as to not become drunk enough to get dragged onstage. However, the combination of Shouta's stiffness and the fact that this was the first time they'd been out together since the internships was playing havoc with Hizashi's head.

"You should go next," Ken suggested, poking at Shouta with one of his big, square fingers. "You haven't sung all night."

"I'm not going to sing," Shouta insisted, looking down at his phone rather than at Nemuri onstage. "I'll go next," announced the residence karaoke enthusiast, and that settled the matter.

After a few moments however, curiosity got the better of Hizashi. "Why'd you even come out with us if you weren't going to sing?" he asked.

"Because I agreed to it," Shouta said grumpily, still looking at his phone. "I'd much rather be giving Shinsou a few extra lessons-"

"I don't care if you call him Hitoshi," Hizashi told him. "It's not weird."

"-but I'd already agreed to come out with you when he told me he was free, so here I am stuck in off-key hell."

"Don't be so dramatic," Hizashi said, then took another sip of his drink. "Besides, it's your own fault for not asking him sooner."

"He said he was doing something with Midoriya and Todoroki today," Shouta complained. "Midoriya canceled last minute, but by the time Hitoshi told me I'd already made plans with all of you."

Hizashi frowned, trying to think through his light buzz. That sounded wrong. "Why'd Izuku cancel?"

"Something about going to the Nighteye Agency," Shouta shrugged, then glanced up from his phone to glare at Hizashi. "If you knew he had business there you could have told me."

Fear creeped like frost through Hizashi's veins, sobering him considerably and making him sit up. "What did he need to go to the Nighteye Agency for?"

"Hitoshi didn't say," Shouta replied. "He didn't tell you?" "No," Hizashi admitted, "and that's what worries me."

"Nighteye won't let him get cornered by the press," Shouta assured him. "He knows how to be discreet-"

"I'm not worried about discreet," Hizashi snapped, then softened his tone when Shouta drew back a little. "I just . . . I don't trust Nighteye. He's not a good influence on Izuku. He doesn't make him respect his own limits, and he turns a blind eye to reckless behavior."

"He likes to push his students," Shouta countered. "It makes them better."

"Not when the student's already pushing himself so hard," Hizashi argued. "And anyway, Izuku's not his student. I'd never approve that internship."

Shouta finally put his phone down on the table. "Why are you so anxious about this? Nighteye's a good hero."

"Are you just saying that because he's underground?" Hizashi challenged.

He went to take another drink, but a hand on his wrist stopped him, and he looked back at Shouta to see his friend watching him with curious eyes.

"No," he said softly, "I'm saying that because I believe it. Nighteye hero-worships All Might, so our perspectives are different. I wouldn't put my weight behind him just because we're both the type to plan our moves carefully."

Hizashi pulled out of Shouta's hold and took another drink. "I don't like the effect he has on Izuku," he confessed. "I think I might tell my 'lil listener not to get more involved with the Nighteye Agency than he has to."

"Don't get overbearing," Shouta warned. "The kid's got big dreams, he doesn't need a mother hen."

"He needs someone looking out for him," Hizashi protested.

"Then maybe don't limit the number of eyes on him," Shouta said, with a raised eyebrow.

Hizashi looked back at the stage, to where not one but three of his coworkers were currently butchering a song from the closing credits of some anime. Maybe Shouta was right. Maybe he was being overprotective. Maybe the best thing he could do was back off, and let Izuku make his own decisions.

Izuku sat at his desk, his laptop open in front of him. Up on the screen was the hero forum, and the message from All for One. He had a reply typed out, and his cursor hovered over the send button.

His mind turned the decision over and over, weighing the potential consequences. He might put his mother in danger, but Nighteye had said that possibility was negligible. He might make Toogata and All Might angry with him, but Toogata being angry at him was better than Toogata being dead of an attack he might have prevented. He'd been told not to, but it was his decision to make, wasn't it?

The only thing that rankled on him was what Mic had told him, the advice his teacher had given him when they'd left the hospital.

I'm worth saving.

Was this contradictory to that affirmation? Was he not telling himself that enough, training his mind like he'd been instructed? Was this another reckless move, like with the hero killer op? What was the right answer?

Nighteye's words came back to him also. I'm sure Midoriya knows what the right thing to do is, he had said. What was the right thing to do?

In the end, he decided that the right answer, the right thing to do, was the thing that was most heroic. He wanted to become a hero to save people, and here was his chance to protect someone with minimal risk to himself. With All Might watching his back for so much of the day, the possibility of him getting hurt was next to nothing, and under any other circumstances he could protect himself long enough for a hero to arrive.

He was saved enough.

He hit send, and somewhere in Japan, All for One had his answer. Yes, I am number nine.