Mirai pursed his lips as he closed the tab on his laptop and contemplated everything he'd seen of Midoriya during U.A's conference and compared it to the boy's previous behavior.
From what he could tell Midoriya was starting to let his mask slip, perhaps feeling more comfortable now that he had Nezu and U.A's protection behind him.
Though the boy was still being cautious and didn't completely let go of his facade.
No, because Midoriya would still need to play up the part of being a young boy simply doing the 'right' thing.
And Mirai had to give it to Midoriya, he lived up to the act very well for the most part.
Born to a nice enough couple with an upper-middle class income combined, even
though the lovely couple divorced when he was five and they just had to live on his mother's still generous enough pay to stay in their cozy apartment.
His schooling records were the only thing that hinted to the boy's darker side.
The one that showed he was as jealous and petty of a boy like his grandfather, though he still wasn't sure on which side All For One was related to, since he couldn't poke any holes in the grandparents he found on file.
Perhaps the relation between Midoriya and All For One was more distant than grandparents, but they couldn't be that far apart genetically since Midoriya was quirkless.
A fact that was easier to believe would happen since All For One was almost certainly the first with the quirk gene in his family line, bar his brother, compared to the six generations on both sides the flies would have them believe.
And as the medical records stated Midoriya was quirkless, the x-rays he managed to get a hold of were accurate and not quite identical to any of the other ones he could scrounge up, so Mirai was more inclined to believe the fact he was born that way.
Being given a quirk likely didn't change the bone structure of the person given said quirk from what they could tell of the few people they had found that had their quirks taken from them, bar any quirk-based mutations.
It was highly possible that Midoriya had a secret quirk, or multiple ones from All For One that wouldn't be found without a gene trace, something that hadn't been given to Midoriya at any point.
What a coincidence.
Mirai scoffed.
Nothing about that boy was a coincidence.
The paranoia and actions of Midoriya didn't speak of an innocent mind, much less that of a pre-teen.
Mirai was quite sure Midoriya was given advice about how to proceed in his endeavors without being caught from All For One.
Why else would Midoriya begin his work in the South Side, one of the easiest places to hide his illegal actions, which the boy most certainly had.
Mirai had reviewed the footage of Midoriya's first 'interview' and it was a joke, the boy had run mental circles around Nezu and Tsukauchi, getting them both to go along with talking about what Midoriya wished to discuss and not let them ask the more important questions.
Such as his real relationship with All For One.
Sure the boy's answers implied he was hiding from the man but not once did he directly say he was one of the many quirkless hiding from All For One or that he himself was being hunted by All For One.
The fact was Midoriya never once said it was something that he personally feared, and Mirai couldn't believe that something so big had slipped past both Nezu and Tsukauchi.
Using the 'trauma' of the inferno at the South Side to throw both Tsukauchi and Nezu off kilter had been a very effective ploy of Midoriya's.
And all the while building himself up as a 'good' person for being there to aid the people simply out of the kindness of his heart.
Mirai scoffed again rolling his eyes this time and moved over to his filing cabinet to pull out all the connections Midoriya was confirmed to have.
The Vespas, an Italian mob family that had a choke hold over the largest information network seen on the planet and dealt with far more than just information.
The Russian Vipers were of a similar size and were nearly as old as quirks themselves, a mafia that basically worked hand in hand with Russia's large government bodies though that was normally kept very quiet outside of the country.
The South Side was all but in Midoriya's pocket as were the groups that lived there under the umbrella of protection that comes from the lack of oversight from the proper authorities.
Not to mention the dozens of smaller gangs and even a few of the leftover yakuza members from Toshinori's dismantling of them had joined under Midoriya's banner under one of the only groups they hadn't taken out, the Night Crawlers.
And Midoriya just so happened to have relationships with all of these important and influential criminal groups by chance?
It had as much 'chance' as was Mirai's selection as Toshinori's one and only sidekick being completely random and not at all affected by him pestering Toshinori for months.
No Midoriya had to be building himself a network of his own, one that wasn't that different from All For One's if he recalled.
All For One's network was formed via goodwill in the beginning as well, preying upon his fellow quirked people into believing him to be some sort of messiah, a god like being able to take away their curse or give them the power to defend themselves.
Midoriya however, wasn't able to gift quirks as candy like All For One so he aimed for a niche that gave him the control that All For One hadn't capitalized on yet, though it was in the same vein of manipulation as All For One's with the quirks.
Instead Midoriya preyed on people by making them indebted to him, by offering them everything else a person needed to survive.
Gave them food, water, shelter, and protection from the dangers they surrounded themselves with, making them feel indebted to Midoriya for their continued survival.
Even his making them independent was further playing into the manipulation Midoriya was doing, because those he uplifted would still feel indebted to him but would have even more to give back to Midoriya and in turn extend his reach in addition to the boy's power.
And all of this maneuvering masquerading as the altruism of a young boy that just wanted to do right by others.
All For One truly taught that boy well.
Though Midoriya's old man would have many years to perfect the many ways to make people bend to his will, willingly or not.
A skill that Midoriya had picked up with zeal considering that he was able to worm his way into Nezu's pocket within weeks of the two them meeting.
How else would the mammal not realize the deviousness of the boy?
In any other circumstance Nezu's quirk would've helped him understand the underlying nature of the boy's actions and help them neutralize Midoriya as the threat he was instead of protecting him.
Mirai placed the folder of Midoriya's connections back and rubbed the bridge of his nose, he understood that by going after Midoriya he'd be mostly on his own.
He wasn't dumb enough to think that All For One didn't have some heroes under his influence, whether they knew it or not.
Nor would anyone call him a saint for persecuting a boy most people would still consider a child regardless of the law.
But most people didn't know about All For One or a lot of the dangers out there in the world.
Though with a quirk like his Mirai didn't have the luxury of being so blind to the cruelty of the world.
Feeling that he'd been cooped up in his office for too long Mirai turned to his office's door and left the room, wandering the halls for a bit in an attempt to clear his head while he got some fresh air.
After a few minutes of walking around Mirai ended up on another level, the one that held large panels of glass for one of the outer walls, and Mirai pursed his lips at the sight of said glass.
To say he was a fan of such an… 'open' layout would be underselling his distaste of it, however the rest of the building was just fine and he could rent the space out as temporary space for other offices once in a while.
Approaching the windows he looked down at the street, any number of people down there going on with their lives as normal with monsters that they had no clue about lurking under their very noses.
Ignorance is bliss as they say he supposed.
"Heya Sir, there you are!" a cheerful voice called for him, bringing him out of his own thoughts and he turned around to look towards the voice and smiled.
There at the other end of the hall was his young charge Mirio, dressed in the workout clothes he'd recommended to the boy once he started training the boy, the young boy running up to him.
"Hello Mirio, has something happened? You weren't supposed to come by for," Mirai paused from his question to check the time with his watch "Another half an hour." he said before placing his hands in his pockets.
Mirio began to chuckle lightly as he rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes closed and a carefree smile on his face, a display that was bittersweet in its familiarity having seen it time and time again from Toshinori.
"Sorry Sir, but I wanted to show you the new uniform I got made, it was made from all the hair I got so it'll stay on me when I'm training." Mirio told him a bit flustered as he held up a bag in one of his hands.
The boy standing in front of him like a puppy waiting for Mirai's opinion.
An image that was very fitting for the young boy and Mirai reached out a hand to place on top of Mirio's head.
"I see, well then I suppose we should go down to spar." Mirai replied moving to go to the elevator, Mirio practically bouncing after him.
Mirai pressed the button before turning his attention back to his charge "How was class today Mirio?" Mirai asked as he always did when Mirio visited him after a school day.
"Hm? Oh, they were alright. I mean, it's sort of weird but like, not in a bad way? My classmates keep to themselves more but I mean since we weren't all that close before the whole bucket thing you know." Mirio said, fumbling a bit to explain what he was trying to say.
Mirai nodded along with a smile on his face the entire time Mirio fumbled to tell him what he meant without it sounding rude about his classmates.
One of many traits he'd learned that Mirio had shared with Toshinori making their likeness go beyond just their appearance.
And only reinforced Mirai's belief that Mirio deserved to be the next holder of One For All.
Sure Mirio was quite unsure of himself when he first came to Mirai for the internship but he doubted any young boy would be one hundred percent certain of anything at this point in their lives, bar the narcissistic.
But Mirio's personality was only one half of the equation, as was his quirk though both things would be meaningless if the boy didn't have the proper drive of a true hero like Toshinori.
Taking a moment to remember what the boy looked like when Mirai first saw him, he could see the broad-shouldered but otherwise meek boy with short hair anxiously looking up to him awaiting his guidance.
Then with this mental picture in his head Mirai's eyes slid over to the boy who moved to follow into the elevator and who would've dwarfed his previous self with all of the muscle he'd managed to build up in less than a year.
Having followed the exercise and dietary plan to the letter to achieve his current stature, a fact that spoke to the boy's determination which was a very important thing for the next wielder to have in order to fight off All For One should they cross paths too early.
And if Mirio kept it up like he hoped then he'd be ready to accept One For All by the start of his third year exactly as Mirai planned.
Now the only question would be how he'd get Toshinori to listen to him long enough to come down and see Mirio.
Mirai was quite certain that once Toshinori sat down with Mirio he'd see just how perfect the boy would be as the ninth holder and no doubt live up to the legacy of the quirk itself, what with Mirio being such an upstanding young man.
"Uh, Sir?" Mirio called staring at him and Mirai hummed out of acknowledgement.
Mirio looked down suddenly and rubbed the back of his neck, looking much more nervous and again adopting the stance of Toshinori making reading the boy very easy to him.
"I know you said that building up my strength would help me in the long run, but um, shouldn't I also be working on my, flexibility too and not just building muscle?" Mirio asked hesitantly as he avoided Mirai's eyes.
Mirai smiled shaking his head. He could understand the boy being concerned about that but it was a moot point with his quirk, especially with how One For All would evolve his quirk once it was transferred over to him.
Mirai patted the boy's head "While keeping up your maneuverability is important Mirio it will not mean much if the few blows you land won't knock them out immediately, shock and awe will be your greatest asset with a quirk like yours." Mirai assured Mirio.
"Besides, I took that into account when I made up those plans for you." Mirai added just as the elevator reached the floor that held the practice areas and stepped off the elevator.
Mirai's additional comment clearly putting whatever worries the boy held to rest and he continued to follow after him.
The second part of his statement wasn't a complete lie, Mirai had put in a bit more stretches in the workout routine Toshinori told him he followed when he was Mirio's age and working on putting on pounds so the quirk wouldn't tear him apart.
A regiment Mirio seemed to be taking to quite well, especially when one considered the boy had not put on a monstrous amount of weight despite the severe increase in caloric intake compared to the average human diet of course.
Truly Mirai's gut instinct about the boy was spot on.
And the only thing left to do was get back in contact with Toshinori and have his friend meet his little prodigy.
Mirai *glaring down at Midoriya*: I don't trust you.
Izuku *completely unfazed*: Good, the feelings mutal