Hizashi was pleased to hear that Shouta was giving Hitoshi the week between school ending and
the summer training camp starting off from their private training.
"Some time with his friends will be good for him Shouta," Hizashi insisted when he'd heard. "Whatever," Shouta grumbled into his coffee.
However, Hizashi knew that Shouta could and would go back on that affirmation if he let himself get bored, so he decided to take the opportunity to distract Shouta. The kids probably had the right idea, in Hizashi's opinion, and so Hizashi dragged Shouta out of his sad little apartment to go shopping. Shouta hated shopping, but combat boots were impractical for the woods, so he allowed himself to be dragged out on the logic that he did need hiking boots. Hizashi tried not to think of how little they'd been alone together recently and counted Shouta's agreement to the outing as a win.
"See!" Hizashi said when Shouta not only let himself be swept into the store without complaint, but tried on every pair of shoes Hizashi presented him with and bought the ones Hizashi liked best. "You do love me!"
"You have good taste in shoes," Shouta insisted, which was as much of an agreement as Hizashi was going to get.
Since they were already out, far from Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall so as not to accidentally run into the kids, they decided to get lunch. Hizashi was nearly unrecognizable in casual summer clothes and his hair down, and no one knew Eraserhead by sight anyway, so they were able to get an outdoor table at a little cafe neither of them had been to before. The sun was shining, the air was warm, and the food was good enough that Hizashi made a mental note to come back to this place. They were actually having a nice time.
"You know you've been very accommodating lately," Hizashi said halfway through the meal. "You don't usually let me drag you out shopping."
"We've both been busier," Shouta explained, without really explaining.
"Is that your way of saying you have a minimum quota of time with me you have to fill?" Hizashi asked sweetly.
Shouta glared. "I mean I've had less energy to argue with you."
Hizashi laughed, feeling better than he had in a while. "C'mon, you'd miss the sound of my voice if I wasn't here!"
"If your voice was all I needed, the radio show would be enough," Shouta said, glaring off to one side.
Hizashi blinked. "You still listen to the show?"
Shouta opened his mouth, eyes narrowed, but before he could speak his cell phone began beeping rapidly. He didn't use pictures for contacts, but Hizashi could read Hitoshi's name upside down on the screen. Obviously confused, Shouta picked it up and answered it, but he'd barely managed to get it to his ear and say a gruff "hello?" when he jerked the phone back and hurriedly put it on speaker.
"-only left him alone for a minute!" insisted Hitoshi's voice, high and panicked. "Then there was an announcement that they were closing the mall and I tried to go back but they were all around him and they wouldn't let me through and-"
"Calm down," Shouta ordered, and Hitoshi went quiet. "You're still at the mall, correct?"
Hitoshi took a deep breath. "Yes, I'm still at the mall," he said, then to Hizashi's horror sniffled like he'd been crying.
"Is anyone hurt?" Shouta asked urgently.
"I don't know!" Hitoshi exploded. "Something happened and they won't let me through and-"
"What do you know happened?" Shouta pressed, keeping his voice even despite the way Hizashi could see his brows creasing in concern.
"Everyone went off to shop for their own stuff," Hitoshi said slowly, but it took obvious effort to be so calm. "It was just me and Izuku. I went off on my own to look, but then I felt bad and went back, but before I could get to where I'd left him an announcement came on the loudspeaker that they were closing the mall due to an emergency and we all had to leave."
"And you couldn't find Izuku in the crowd?" Hizashi speculated, hoping against hope that the boys had just lost each other in the confusion.
"I went back to where I'd left him," Hitoshi recounted, voice shaking, "but there were a bunch of mall cops and I think some real cops there. They made a ring around him, and I could see him in the middle, but when I tried to get closer one of them told me to evacuate with the others. I tried to tell him Izuku was my friend, but he just dragged me outside."
"Are there any ambulances there?" Shouta demanded. "How long has it been?"
"It's been about twenty minutes," Hitoshi said, then sniffled again. "I called Shouto and he said to
call you. I don't see an ambulance, but one could still be coming."
"Sit tight," Shouta instructed, reaching under the table for his shopping bag. "I'll come and get you, and I'll send Mic to the police station to find out what's happening with Izuku, alright?"
"OK," said Hitoshi, in a small voice. "I'm right outside the main entrance."
"Got it," Shouta said, then hung up.
"I'll pay up front," Hizashi said, tossing his keys at Shouta. "You get the car."
Thankfully they had taken Hizashi's car, so he was able to drop Shouta off in front of the mall and
then head to the police station himself. He waited long enough to see that Shouta found Hitoshi, and his spirits were not improved when Hitoshi immediately burst into tears upon seeing his teacher. At least the kids felt comfortable enough to cry in front of them, but that didn't mean much when he didn't know Izuku's condition yet. There was still no ambulance.
Hizashi drove straight to the Kyashi Police Station, the one from which any cops heading to the mall would come. It was a little thinly staffed when he arrived, most of the uniformed officers gone, and the harried looking secretary tried to wave him off. Hizashi flashed his hero license at her, but she looked between it and him suspiciously and then told him she couldn't give him any updates on the situation at the mall.
There was however, someone else there who could give him information.
"Yamada!" cried a familiar voice, and Hizashi turned in surprise to see All Might entering the building behind him. "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same," Hizashi said, blinking in confusion. "Something happened to Midoriya at the mall, I need to see what's going on."
"How did you know?" All Might asked, looking just as confused as Hizashi felt. "I only know because Detective Tsukauchi is a friend, and he's the first one to deal with anything related to the League of Villains-"
"The League of Villains!?" Hizashi repeated in alarm. "Did they attack the students at the mall?!"
"Not so loud," All Might insisted, even though Hizashi hadn't used his quirk at all, and ushered him toward one wall of the lobby. "All I know is that young Midoriya ran into Shigaraki, the supposed leader of the League of Villains, while out shopping. No one seems to have been hurt, not even young Midoriya, but we don't know how or why this happened yet."
"Where's Midoriya now?" Hizashi demanded.
"He's still at the mall, I think," All Might said. "Tsukauchi will bring him back here to interview him though."
"I'm going to-" Hizashi began, already turning towards the door, but All Might caught him by the arm.
"Wait here," he suggested. "Young Midoriya is in good hands, and he'll be brought here once he's done all he can to help at the mall. We should be here for him when this is over."
Hizashi let out a frustrated noise, but shoved his hands in his pockets and obeyed.
It took hours. He texted what he knew to Shouta, and received confirmation that Shouta had dropped Hitoshi off at home with as much information as they could provide at present. Apparently Hitoshi was still pretty shaken up, but he was in contact with the other students and all of them seemed to have made it home safely as well.
Eventually officers began to trickle back into the police station, and one of them brought Izuku. Even then Hizashi saw him for only a moment as Izuku was ushered through the door and quickly toward the back of the station where the interview rooms were. There was no opportunity to do anything but wave and try to give him a reassuring smile. Izuku nodded back, smiling shakily in return, and Hizashi settled back into waiting.
After what felt like a day and a half, and surely well after sunset, All Might's phone received a text
with its ridiculous ringtone and he announced that Tsukauchi was through with Izuku. Rather than Izuku coming out the way he had gone in however, All Might led Hizashi to the alleyway behind the police station. There was a single door leading inside, and this opened to let Izuku and a police detective Hizashi figured was Tsukauchi out into the night.
"Sensei!" Izuku called as soon as he saw them, immediately coming around the door and running to greet the newcomers.
"Young Midoriya!" cried All Might, but Izuku bypassed him in order to go straight to Hizashi.
"Izu-, I mean, 'lil listener," Hizashi said, opening his arms when Izuku got close so that Izuku knew he could run straight into them.
Izuku's arms went around his waist, and for a moment they clung to each other. It soothed the tight knot of worry that Hizashi's insides had become to have his student back in his arms. If Izuku had noticed the aborted use of his name he didn't say anything. After the last time Hizashi had tried to use it, when Izuku had immediately started to cry . . . he didn't want to try again so soon.
"Did you bring him here?" asked Tsukauchi, and over Izuku's head Hizashi could see he was addressing All Might.
"Met him in the lobby," All Might explained. "Did you find anything interesting?"
"Mostly just more confirmation of what we already know," Tsukauchi shook his head. "You should be proud of your student though, he was able to remain calm through the entire ordeal, and that's likely why no one got hurt."
Izuku let his arms drop, and he and Mic stepped away from each other. Izuku had the look of someone who had been holding it together as well as they could, but really could have used a shoulder to cry on. Hizashi reached out and ran his finger through Izuku's hair, tilting the boy's head to look up at him.
"You did great, 'lil listener," Hizashi said quietly to Izuku. "Do you want me to drive you home?"
Izuku smiled gratefully, then suddenly looked alarmed, as though he'd just remembered something. He pulled out of Hizashi's grip and turned hurriedly to All Might.
"Actually, do you think I could talk to you for a-" he began, but before he could finish a woman's voice interrupted him.
"Izuku?" came down the alley from the far corner of the building, and Hizashi looked up to see a short, pudgy woman who was otherwise the spitting image of Izuku come tottering toward them, stumbling once in her haste.
"Mom?" Izuku asked in alarm, stepping away from Hizashi to go to her next.
"Izuku! My baby!" she cried, seizing his wrist as soon as she reached him, tears pooling at the corners of her eyes. "I can't do this anymore! I don't think my heart can handle another scare!"
The tears spilled out to run down her face, and she dabbed at them with a handkerchief. Izuku looked panicked, not sure how to reassure her, but before he or Hizashi could say anything All Might was stepping forward.
"Inko," he said softly, surprising Hizashi with how familiar he was with her. "I'm sorry for the scare, but I promise all is well. Young Izuku is safe and unharmed. There's no need to cry."
She sniffled purposefully and wiped away the rest of her tears. "Thank you Toshinori. It means a lot to me to know you're watching over him."
Hizashi looked back and forth between the two of them, then at Izuku. The boy didn't seem at all surprised by the way the two adults interacted. A seed of something took root in Hizashi's brain, something entirely uncharitable and yet impossible to ignore.
Sir Nighteye was not a good influence on Izuku. He was careless with Izuku's life, but more importantly he gave Hizashi the impression that he felt he had the right to be careless with Izuku's life. Izuku's analysis, his time, his career, all seemed to be things Nighteye felt entitled to. It was almost as though he felt a certain ownership of the boy. Now here was All Might, the man to whom Nighteye had been his one and only sidekick, cozying up to Izuku's mother. Hizashi didn't particularly care to speculate on the nature of their relationship, but there was certainly a relationship. Could that have something to do with that sense of entitlement Nighteye felt towards Izuku?
"I'll take the two of you home," All Might offered magnanimously. "Good idea," Izuku said hurriedly, "I have to-"
"No," Hizashi cut him off, causing all three of them, and even Detective Tsukauchi, to turn and look at him in bewilderment. "I'll take the two of you home."
"I'd be happy to-" All Might began, but Hizashi interrupted again.
"My car is in the parking lot," he said firmly, moving to stand next to Izuku and putting an arm around his shoulders. "I was supposed to be driving Izuku home earlier in the semester, but we got the dorms set up before I ever got the chance. Let me do it, just this once."
"It's really fine," All Might said, smiling apologetically. "Inko and I-"
"Please!" Hizashi grinned, bright and enthusiastic. "I'm sure you'd like a hero to take these two home, right Yagi?"
Judging by All Might's look of resignation, Hizashi had been correct in guessing he hadn't told Izuku's mother that he was All Might. A comforting point against his new conspiracy theory, and a point in his favor now.
"You're a hero?" Izuku's mother looked shocked.
Hizashi released Izuku to strike a dramatic pose. "It's your favorite Voice Hero, Present Mic in the house! Here to bring you such rockin' hits as Safe Journey Home and Peace of Mind!"
"Oh!" she gasped, then smiled in delight. "Yamada-sensei! Yes, you're one of Izuku's favorite-" "Mom!" Izuku hissed.
"-teachers," she finished carefully. "I'd be happy to have you take us home."
All Might and Izuku looked at each other worriedly, but neither of them protested. Hizashi showed Izuku and his mother to the car, then regaled his audience with thrilling tales of Izuku's victories in English class during the drive, which seemed to amuse Izuku's mother more than the boy himself. He dropped them off at their apartment, but declined to come in, and he and Izuku were left alone at the door for a moment.
"Try not to get into any more scrapes before next semester," Hizashi instructed, ruffling his student's hair. "I'm proud of you, 'lil listener."
"Thanks," Izuku said, with a tired smile, and thankfully didn't cry this time. *
By the time they got home, Izuku's phone had received 67 text messages and 39 missed calls. Some of these were from his mother, but most of them were from various classmates. Nearly everyone in class had tried to call him at least once, and he had multiple worried text messages from each of them. However, by far the most of the texts and calls had come from Hitoshi and Shouto.
Where are you? Are you OK?
Did you get hurt? Are you in trouble?
Izuku scrolled through their group conversation, reading the backlog of worried requests for information that gave way to the two of them comforting each other. He didn't feel up to calling anyone right now, so he thought for a few minutes and then composed a text.
Sorry for the scare. I ran into the guy with hands all over him from the USJ attack. Seems to have been a coincidence. I'm not hurt, but I really wanna sleep.
The replies were almost instantaneous.
Only you could run into a villain by Crazy Random Happenstance at the freaking mall Izuku, said Hitoshi. Get some sleep and tell us about it in the morning.
As long as you're alright, was Shouto's stipulation. Let us know if you need us. I will, Izuku promised, then closed the chat.
Next he had to figure out what to do with his information.
Izuku had not told Detective Tsukauchi that Shigaraki had been quirkless. He'd started to, then held himself back. Not everyone knew about All for One, the person who could give and take quirks from other people. The idea of someone being quirkless -- quirkless enough to have a second toe joint -- and then obtaining a quirk later in life would be ridiculous to most people. If he tried to say something like that, he might even damage the credibility of the rest of his story. It was better, he decided, to leave that out of the official report and just get the information to All Might as quickly as possible.
He'd been hopeful that he could do it immediately when he saw All Might at the police station after his interview, but his mother and then, strangely, Mic had prevented him. It was better that way though. What he needed to do was call a meeting of everyone that knew about One for All and tell them at the same time. That way there would be as little record of who had what information as possible; even if All for One knew that Izuku had deduced Shigaraki's quirklessness, he could pretend to be keeping the information to himself.
Also, it was time to come clean.
His secret operation with Nighteye to trick All for One into thinking Izuku was the successor had seemed like a good idea at the time. Since then though, it had been weighing on Izuku more and more, and as a plan it seemed worse and worse. They had no strategy, no endgame, no timeline of how long this would last. Was he meant to be a target all the time he was in school? Into the early days of his career? Longer? It was all too undefined. If it was going to go forward he at least needed more specifics, and if he was honest with himself, more support. It felt shameful to be whining about the stress of an obligation he'd chosen to take on, but he remembered Mic's encouragement to think of his own wellbeing.
I'm worth saving, he reminded himself.
He decided to email Nezu, to see if he could set up a meeting for the next day. He composed his message in carefully evasive terms, disguising his true purpose in curiosity about safety measures for the training camp and other school-related issues. Once he could sit down with Nezu, the Principal could get everyone else together. This was the smartest move to make.
Nezu would understand, he thought. Nezu would want to help him. Nezu had been willing to help Shouto, and didn't care that Izuku had bent the rules to help Hitoshi. He would understand that Izuku needed help, and wouldn't begrudge him that.
I'm worth saving, Izuku thought, then hit send.
Izuku expected to have trouble falling asleep, but after the excitement of the day he found himself
dead to the world as soon as his head hit the pillow. *
The next morning Izuku was awoken by his phone ringing. He opened his eyes blearily, blinking them until the screen came into focus. He was expecting Hitoshi, or at least Shouto, to be the one calling him. Either of them had the excuse of wanting details from the previous day.
He had not expected Sir Nighteye to be calling him.
"Sir?" he asked, voice scratchy from sleep, after answering the call.
"I'm outside your apartment," said Nighteye's voice urgently. "I don't want to alarm your mother, but we need to talk now. I need to debrief you about your encounter with Shigaraki."
"I already gave the police a statement," Izuku protested, struggling to connect one thought with another as his brain came slowly back online.
"Yes," Nighteye said impatiently, "but this is specifically about information you might have for me."
Izuku paused in rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he remembered the meeting he'd meant to call. Nezu had seemed the most logical choice, but Nighteye would work just as well. He would know what to do with this information.
"Just give me a minute, I'll be right down," he said, throwing back the covers to get out of bed.
He dressed hurriedly, in unassuming clothes but with his hat tucked in his jacket pocket, and met Nighteye at the base of the stairs outside his apartment. Nighteye ushered him quickly into the car, not looking at Izuku but rather around at the street lit by the early morning sun, as though he were
expecting an attack from all angles at once. A quick glance at his lockscreen had told Izuku it was 7AM, which probably meant that Nighteye had come to get him first thing in the morning. Judging by the dark circles under the hero's eyes, he might not have slept last night.
"I was going to talk to Nezu today," Izuku explained once they were on the road, going a little faster than Izuku thought was necessary. "I sent him an email. I think we need to-"
"I intercepted your email," Nighteye interrupted shortly. "Please come to me with these things from now on."
Izuku recalled how Nezu had specifically directed Izuku to come to him with this kind of information, and wondered if there was any winning with adult heroes.
"I think this is a matter for the whole, you know, group?" Izuku wasn't sure how to put it. "Everyone who knows about One for All."
"Is this about the op you and I are running to misdirect All for One?" Nighteye wondered.
"Well, yes," Izuku admitted. "I have information from yesterday, stuff I didn't tell the police, but I also wanted to tell the others what we're doing. It's been long enough now that I don't think they can stop it, and-"
"It's good that I didn't let it get that far then," Nighteye said, and for the first time all morning he threw a glance at Izuku. "I was counting on you not to involve anyone else."
"I haven't," Izuku said automatically, eager to assure Nighteye he had lived up to expectation, then paused. "But, don't you think it's time that-"
"I decided to keep this between us to minimize the potential damage," Nighteye cut him off again. "Have you considered what would happen if word got out that not only the Principal of UA, but also All Might, had condoned the use of a first year hero student for such an important and perilous mission?"
Izuku slumped in his seat, mind whirring off in five directions about the potential fallout from that revelation. "I didn't think of that."
"That's why I decided to keep the circle small," Nighteye said, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "I knew I could trust you, but the fewer people know the better."
"But my information," Izuku shook his head to clear it of his disastrous thoughts. "I think everyone needs to know that. I found out something important about Shigaraki!"
"Wait until we get to the agency," Nighteye told him. "You can give me a full account there."
Again Izuku was able to do little more than wave at Bubble Girl before he was ushered into Nighteye's office, where he was given a chair and questioned about his encounter with Shigaraki. This felt much more like an interrogation than his interview with Detective Tsukauchi, with Nighteye frequently interrupting to ask loud, forceful questions and then get annoyed if Izuku couldn't answer them. They spent what felt like hours on the conversation itself, speculating about what Shigaraki's questions and statements could mean, and that was before Izuku got to the actual information he wanted to share.
Nighteye did not react well to that at all.
"You're certain Shigaraki was quirkless?" Nighteye demanded. "How can you know that for
sure?"
"We were wearing the same brand of shoes," Izuku admitted, knowing it must sound terribly weak. "Couldn't that be a coincidence?" Nighteye speculated harshly.
"No," Izuku said firmly, knowing he had to impress the truth of this on Nighteye. "This brand is unique, it's the only brand of athletic shoes for people who are quirkless. Our feet are shaped differently, so we need different shoes, and because of the stereotype that quirkless people are more fragile, this is the only brand that makes activewear shoes for us."
"He could have got them secondhand," Nighteye suggested, but he sounded less sure now.
"No," Izuku repeated, shaking his head. "These shoes are expensive, you don't buy them by accident, and they don't end up in secondhand shops. People wear them until they can't wear them any more. Ordinary shoes hurt our feet, but our shoes would hurt an ordinary person's foot too. If he's wearing shoes from this brand it's because he had to have them."
Nighteye thought for a moment, then pulled out his phone. "Give me the brand name," he instructed.
When Izuku did Nighteye entered it into his phone, and Izuku craned his neck to get a look at the screen. Nighteye had brought up their webpage, which was Izuku knew absolutely plastered with the word 'quirkless.'
"The box is like that too," he said.
Nighteye made a frustrated noise and shoved his phone into his pocket. "It doesn't make sense!" he complained, pacing agitatedly back and forth. "All for One only values power! Quirks! Why would he take in a quirkless boy and make him the head of his organization?"
"Maybe he wanted Shigaraki to owe him?" Izuku ventured. "Quirkless people are pretty rare these days. The world isn't made for us anymore, so we don't get a lot of chances."
A shadow crossed over Nighteye's face, and he stopped dead in his tracks. Then he went to the bookshelf and pulled a single, unassuming binder from several identical ones and sat at his desk to open it. Izuku stood and came to the desk to look at the contents upside down as Nighteye began to flip through them, landing on a page with a picture of a young boy and a list of personal information.
"How old would you say Shigaraki is?" Nighteye asked, not looking up. "Maybe a year out of high school?" Izuku guessed. "So, nineteen or so?" "Could he be twenty?" Nighteye pressed.
"Sure," Izuku shrugged. "Why?"
Nighteye flipped to another page, then stood and turned the binder so Izuku could see. "Toshinori's predecessor," he indicated the page, which showed a picture of a smiling woman with dark hair and an accompanying profile, "was a woman named Nana Shimura. Around the time she passed One for All on to Toshinori she put her child in foster care to shield him from the hero world, as she knew she could not anymore. She ordered Toshinori to have no contact with the child."
He turned the page, displaying a picture of an adult man with a sour expression.
"Her son," he went on, "Kotaro Shimura. He grew up, married, and had children of his own before dying fifteen years ago."
"Why do you know this if All Might was supposed to stay away from him?" Izuku asked.
"I keep tabs on anything that might affect Toshinori negatively," Nighteye said dismissively.
He turned the page again, back to where the young boy with dark hair stared owlishly up at Izuku.
"His youngest child," Nighteye explained, "Tenko Shimura. Born approximately twenty years ago. Diagnosed as quirkless at age four. Disappeared a year later, around the time his father, mother and sister turned up dead in their house."
"His body wasn't found?" Izuku asked, cold dread settling in his stomach.
"Hardly any of their bodies were found," Nighteye said. "There was very little left of them, after what seemed a random attack by someone with a . . . disintegration quirk. They were turned to dust. The police declared Tenko dead, but for the purposes of my files he's always been missing. If he didn't die with his family, then I have no idea what happened to him from there."
The conclusion was obvious, but Izuku's mind shied away from it. The whole story seemed too tragic to even contemplate.
"What do you know about him?" he asked instead. "Shigaraki has white hair, not black. I can't tell from that picture what he'd look like as an adult."
"Hair can by dyed," Nighteye argued, but he too looked reluctant to touch his own speculation. "More personally I know very little. He was quiet in kindergarten. He had few friends. He had a skin condition-"
"A skin condition?" Izuku repeated, a memory tugging at his mind with sharp, unpleasant jerks. "Was it on his neck? Did it make him itch?"
"Yes," Nighteye said, voice soft as though with weakness. "And, yes."
Izuku swallowed. "When Shigaraki got upset at the USJ," he recounted, "he started scratching his neck."
Nighteye sat back down in his chair and put his head in his hands. Izuku began to walk backwards from the desk until the backs of his knees bumped the chair. He sat down hard, staring at the binder, at the picture of the innocent child that stared seriously back at him.
"It's him," Izuku breathed. "Tomura Shigaraki is Tenko Shimura."
Nighteye slipped his fingers beneath the lenses of his glasses to rub at his eyes. "This is worse than I feared," he said quietly. "In all my visions, in all the pieces of the future I've seen . . . I could never have predicted something like this."
"What do we do now?" Izuku asked.
Nighteye leaned forward, palms on the desk, and fixed Izuku with a piercing gaze. "You have to promise me Midoriya," he ordered firmly. "You have to promise me you'll tell no one what we just-"
"We have to tell All Might!" Izuku protested, everything inside him revolting at the idea of
keeping such a terrible secret. "He has to know!"
"He wasn't supposed to have any contact with Kotaro or his family," Nighteye insisted. "We would only be forcing him to break-"
"He needs to know this!" Izuku interrupted, voice rising in agitation. "All for One did this for a reason, just to hurt him-"
"And it will hurt him," Nighteye countered, also getting louder. "Midoriya, it will break him if he finds out-"
"Do you think it will break him any less if All for One throws it in his face during a fight?!" Izuku shouted. "We have to prepare him, we can't send him into that fight blind!"
"Midoriya!" Nighteye snapped, pushing himself out of his chair to tower over Izuku. "We are not telling All Might, and that's final!"
Izuku took a deep breath and made a decision. "If you won't tell All Might, I will."
Nighteye stared at him, eyes narrowed in a murderous glare. Izuku stared right back, trying to ignore the way his insides were writhing in fear and pain. Nighteye wanted him to back down, but Izuku wouldn't do it, not when something so important was on the line. He knew that look from his years of middle and elementary school, from teachers who barely thought he was worth the paper his homework was printed on. Who would sooner have reported the damage to a desk than the burns on his skin.
Right now, Nighteye hated him.
Right now, Izuku didn't care.
He held out his hand. "Would you like to read my future, Sir? I promise you, I'm not lying."
Nighteye closed his eyes and took a deep, steadying breath, then stood up from his chair. "I'll call Toshinori," he said simply.
In the time it took the others to arrive Izuku almost changed his mind a dozen times. Only the knowledge that they really did need the information about Shigaraki having been quirkless kept him from stopping Nighteye or telling him to call off the meeting. He didn't know if Nezu would come, Nighteye had only mentioned calling All Might, but he knew ultimately it didn't matter.
When it was time, and Izuku followed Nighteye to the conference room, he found no Nezu but All Might and strangely Toogata waiting for him.
"What's this about Mirai?" All Might asked gently. "Young Midoriya already gave a statement to the police, what new information could he possibly have for us?"
"He left something out," said Nighteye disapprovingly as Izuku went to sit by Toogata, across from Nighteye and All Might like the last time they'd all met.
All Might looked confused, looking between Izuku and Nighteye. Toogata was looking warily around the room at all of them. Izuku felt their eyes on him, and looked down at the table.
Nighteye explained their findings in a clipped, clinical tone. His account left out how Izuku had used his discovery to scare Shigaraki away, and how he had supplied the information about Shigaraki scratching his neck. Nighteye couldn't gloss over how he'd come by the information
about Tenko, but he merely raised his voice a little and kept talking when All Might tried to admonish him.
Finally, he came to their conclusion.
"I'm afraid there can be no mistake," he said solemnly. "Tomura Shigaraki is Tenko Shimura, as twisted by All for One."
All Might, who at some point had sunk down into one of the conference chairs, lowered his head and threaded his fingers through his unruly hair.
"Master . . ." he whispered, voice shaking with emotion. "Master . . . I failed you . . . Master . . ."
"Toshinori," Nighteye said, sitting down to reach out and put his hand on All Might's shoulder, but All Might flinched from his touch. "Please, you have to-"
All Might stood abruptly, his chair sliding out from under him, and stumbled for the door.
"Toshinori!" Nighteye cried, sounding utterly stricken, and launched himself out of his chair to follow. "Toshinori wait!"
All Might ran out into the hall, Nighteye close on his heels, and the door fell closed behind them.
Izuku looked down at the table. His stomach roiled with guilt, so violently he thought he might actually throw up. He clenched his hands in his lap until his knuckles were white. He was the cause of All Might's distress. He had been the one to insist they tell the truth. Maybe it would have been better if he'd kept his stupid mouth shut. Maybe he shouldn't have stuck his nose where it didn't belong. Maybe he should have just-
"What do we do now?" asked Toogata, interrupting Izuku's thoughts.
Izuku looked up, blinking back the wetness in his eyes. "I think we just go home," he said, voice hoarse. "I don't think either of them can drive us right now. Do you want to take the train together, or-"
"No!" said Toogata angrily, and Izuku turned to find him rising from his seat so fast it shot out and hit the wall with a loud bump. "I mean what do we do!"
"I don't know," Izuku admitted as Toogata began to pace with an expression like a stormcloud. "What do you want to-"
"I want to fix this!" Toogata shouted, turning sharply to pace the other way. "I want to stop these things from happening! How do I defend against an attack like this?"
"It wasn't an attack," Izuku told him, trying to sound soothing in the face of Toogata's fury. "It was an accident I found out-"
"Exactly!" Toogata shouted. "This guy can hurt us without even trying! How am I supposed to protect everyone when his moves are years in the making and I've barely been here a few months?"
"I don't know that you can," Izuku confessed in a small voice. "Toogata, no one expects you to!"
Toogata shook his head, an unmistakable fire in his eyes. "All for One lands hit after hit on All Might, on all of us, and I can't do anything about it! I need to do something!"
"Toogata calm down," Izuku cautioned as telltale blue lightning began to crackling along Toogata's limbs. "You're losing control of your quirk!"
"If it's my quirk it should be able to help me protect the people I care about!" Toogata yelled. "If I can't do that, then why do I even have it!?"
With a cry of rage Toogata turned and punched the wall. Izuku flinched from the noise, then looked back to see Toogata's arm buried in the drywall up to the shoulder. He yanked it free, glaring at the hole he'd made, lightning still running along his arms.
"Toogata," Izuku said quietly, "you're not helping anyone right now."
This seemed to startled him, and he looked back at Izuku with wide eyes. Whatever he saw seemed to sap the fight out of him. Toogata drew breath, long and shaky, and the lightning crackling along his skin faded. Then he got his chair from where it had made a dent in the paint and came to sit by Izuku again.
"What do I do Midoriya?" he asked, hanging his head. "You're the smart one, not me. How do I fix this?"
"You can't fix it," Izuku said, grasping desperately for an answer even as he spoke. "That's not what you're supposed to do."
"What am I supposed to do?" Toogata looked up, his blue eyes pained and lost.
Izuku swallowed.
"You don't try to do this alone," he said carefully. "You remember that you aren't alone. You have me, and All Might, and Nighteye and Nezu and maybe even some of your own friends if you work up the nerve to tell them."
Toogata gave a weak little snort of amusement. Encouraged, Izuku went on.
"You can't be the Symbol of Peace yet," Izuku told him. "You're still a kid. Let yourself be a kid." "Tenko didn't get the chance to be a kid," Toogata pointed out bitterly.
"So don't let All for One take that chance from you too," Izuku insisted. "Being cruel to yourself isn't going to make the world any kinder on others. You have to be kind to everyone, and everyone includes you."
Izuku reached out and put a hand on Toogata's shoulder.
"You deserve to be saved too," he said, trying to make the words as meaningful to Toogata as they were to him.
Toogata took a deep breath, then let it out. "OK," he sighed. "I can do that. Just, promise me you'll remember that stuff too?"
Izuku gave him a shaky smile. "I promise."