Izuku coughed softly as his eyes opened.

'Where am I?'

The room he was in was dark, and he could feel the comfort of a bed beneath him, even as the sound of snoring nearby grated against his tired mind. Blinking away some of the sleep in his eyes, he looked around the room.

'Mei?'

Mei sat on a chair next to the bed he was lying in, her head hanging over the backrest as she snored loudly. He couldn't help but stare for a moment, the sight of her asleep being such a rare thing, but eventually moved on.

Even though the room was dark, it was clearly still daytime, or at the very least the sun was still up, a single beam of light peeking through the mostly-closed blinds on the room he was in.

It was this light that set him to see the rest of the room and realise where he was. Pushing himself into a sitting position, he grunted with the effort. 'Ah, I'm back in the clinic… did I hurt myself again?'

The grunt seemed to draw the attention of someone sitting outside the door, as it opened a few seconds later, bathing the room in the light of the hallway as Otto stepped into the room, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his overalls.

"Hey, kid. Good to see you awake. Feeling alright?"

Izuku did a mental check over himself and nodded. "Y-yea, I think so. Why am I here again? Everything after we came to the clinic the first time is still… blurry in my memory. Did I hurt myself?"

He hadn't expected the question to make Otto angry, but as the man slammed his hands down on the end of the bed, Izuku flinched. "Seriously?! You make my sister worry her heart out over you, again, and you can't even remember?!"

Otto must have seen the worry he caused on his face, and huffed, letting go of the bed and turning to the side. "This is why I didn't want Mei talking with fucking adventurers. All of you people seem to think that combat is just another part of life… you don't seem to understand what it's like to the people who aren't batshit crazy when you involve them in your shit."

Izuku felt like his throat was closing up on him, but did his best to keep his breathing steady. "I'm sorry."

Otto's glare turned back to him. "That's the worst part, you genuinely are sorry, aren't you? You've got no fucking idea what you did, or how much you made her worry, and you're still so sorry you're about to cry."

Turning away from him, Otto sighed. "Fucking hell. Couldn't you have just been a prick? At least then I could have convinced Mei to just have a business relationship with you for that contract of yours, instead of getting so attached. Did she learn nothing from our-"

He froze at that, turning to look back at Izuku. "Whatever. Melissa and Mei are gonna tear you a new one for this stunt of yours anyway, and that's not even talking about what the rabbit will do."

Izuku felt guilty. Otto was angry at him, but Otto had always seemed a bit standoffish about adventurers as a whole and was likely the source of Mei's initial wariness of him, but he had obviously done something to make Melissa, Mei, and Rumi upset as well.

Otto moved over and kicked Mei's chair, jolting the girl awake. She snorted as her snoring stopped, and whipped her head to look at Otto. "I'm awake!"

Smiling softly down at his sister, Otto moved to the doorway. "Yeah, and so is your friend. I'll go get Melissa for you."

At his words, Mei's head wrenched around to look at him, her golden eyes going wide as he gave her a small wave, before she rocketed forward, slamming him into the headrest of the bed as she hugged him. "You're okay!"

Izuku met Otto's eyes as she buried her face into his chest, and the man just stared at him for a moment before leaving the room. Once Otto was gone, he raised a hand to Mei's back, patting it softly.

Usually, he knew he would feel embarrassed beyond belief about the hug, and he likely would later, but right now…

Right now it was really nice.

It was only a short while later that the door to his room was kicked open with a 'SLAM!'

"IZUKU!"

Izuku yelled in shock as the door slammed open and Rumi stomped in, followed by both Melissa and David Shield, who looked almost amused at her antics. Melissa's face shifted to a relieved expression as she saw him sitting up in the bed. Her eyes flicked to Mei for a moment, who was still wrapped around his torso like a cat.

He put on his best 'I'm not hurt' smile and waved to them, before his eyes landed on David, and he felt himself jolt into an upright position. "S-Sir Shield! You're awake! I'm so glad that you're ok!"

David was walking with a cane in his left hand, the tapping noises it made echoing around the room as he walked forward, his Mana glowing in his hand as a couple of chairs floated over from the sides of Izuku's room to sit next to his bed. David dropped down into one with a sigh, Melissa sat next to him, and Rumi sat cross-legged on the end of the bed, staring at him.

David put both of his hands on the top of his cane and smiled at Izuku. "I am feeling better, yes. And I hear I have you to thank for that, young man. I heard about the Dragon from my daughter, as well as your little foray into the Dungeon earlier."

Izuku gaped at that, feeling embarrassed at the praise. "I… I don't really remember doing that. I must have over-strained myself or something, the last thing I remember is entering the clinic with Mei and Rumi to come visit Melissa."

David shot a glance over at Melissa, who pointedly did not react, and sighed. "Whatever the case, we'll talk about that later when I'm able to thank you properly. For now, I believe you have some questions awaiting you."

He nodded over to Rumi, who hadn't stopped glaring at him since she got into the room. Izuku met her eyes, and he saw that even though she was angry, it didn't seem directed towards him.

"What does 'the chosen' mean to you, Izuku?"

Rumi's words came out slowly as if she was testing the waters for something as she stared at his face. Izuku's confusion must have shown as he frowned. "I know what the words mean, but… they don't mean anything to me in particular."

Her eyes narrowed for a moment, but he was being honest. He really didn't know what she was after, and he felt bad as he saw her ears twitch in frustration. When had he started being able to tell why they twitched?

Rumi glanced over to David, who was also frowning at her words, but for a different reason. She was distracted, however, when Izuku spoke up again. "Why do you ask, Rumi? What's going on that has you so spooked?"

She paused. He really didn't remember anything, did he? That was annoying, but not impossible to work around. "When we saw Melissa, she told you what was going on with Shield. You told us that you knew something about what was happening to him, and then charged straight into the UA Dungeon to get a [Greater Restoration Potion]. You thought it would cure him… and it did."

Izuku's face lit up at that, even as it kept its guilty expression, and she sighed. "You passed out as the healers were giving it to him, and then… something called a [Fractured Soulborn Shade] was forced out of Shield and fled, attempting to possess the corpse of the [?] Dragon."

Immediate Panic. It was written all over his face as he moved to stand up, but both Mei and Melissa practically tackled him back into bed by grabbing his arms. "I dealt with it, Izuku. Calm down."

The panic didn't leave his face, but he didn't struggle against the girls. "But you weren't able to beat it last time! Are you alright, Rumi?"

She felt her eye twitch at the unintentional insult he threw her way, growling. "It didn't resurrect the Dragon, it just possessed the corpse. I neutered it by cutting it in half and then destroyed it afterwards. But…"

She took a deep breath as the memories of the fight attacked her, calming herself. "But the [Fractured Soulborn Shade] spoke to me, Izuku. It talked to me in a voice that sent terror through my entire being. It's been over a decade since I was that scared."

She saw him flinch at that, but he didn't speak. Shield sent her a sad look, and she brushed off the memories of how they first met, focusing. "It talked, and I think it was talking about you."

Shield's breath stuttered for a moment, confirming her suspicions that he knew more than he told, but she continued. "It called you 'his brother's new favourite thorn in its side' and 'the chosen'. Told you that you would have a respite for now, but that your days were numbered."

She sighed, her shoulders dropping. "Said that it would be easier for you if you killed yourself instead of trying to fight it."

He heard the two girls breathing hitch for a moment, and saw the pain that shot through Izuku at the words… and the lack of surprise from Shield in general. "I think I've realised that you have no real clue what I'm talking about. But you do, don't you?"

Shield didn't look surprised to be addressed and just sighed. "I was hoping that it wasn't the case, to be honest. Hoping that you were just another [Heroic] soul that the UA Dungeon picked because it enjoyed your fighting or something like that."

Izuku looked over to Shield and Rumi could see the worry on his face. "What do you mean, s-sir? You know what's happening?"

David's shield huffed an attempt at laughter with no real mirth to it as he leaned over his cane, his face showing a myriad of warring emotions, none of which looked positive. "Yeah, I think I do, unfortunately."

"Allow me to tell you… about All for One."

David could see every single person in the room freeze at his words.

He'd been thinking about whether or not to tell Izuku, tell all of them, the truth after the boy woke up, but with Rumi's revelation that the [Fractured Soulborn Shade] actually spoke to her…

There was no doubt in his mind now.

"You all know the basic gist of the story. Every [Bard] from here to the elven lands has been spouting the 'Tale of the Kings' since it happened. Yagi, and his party, which I was a part of, hunted down and destroyed an ancient evil known as All for One."

He saw the group all nod. This was the story that all of them had been told for all of their lives, and for the most part, it was true. It skipped a few things that the public was better off not knowing, as would he in his retelling, but it was mostly accurate.

"All for One had a great many abilities, so many that I am not sure we ever saw the full extent of them all, but the greatest one in his arsenal was his command over Monsters."

Talking about it was bringing memories to the surface that had laid long dormant. "And one of his favourite monsters to use was the [Soulborn Shade]s. They are spirits that invade the soul of a person, feasting not on their body, but on their life itself."

He sighed, motioning to Izuku, whose awed face shone with a tinge of fear. "The rest have already seen it, but please Izuku, use [Identify] on me, and tell me what you see."

He saw the flash in the boy's eyes as he followed David's order, and heard the gasp of shock when he saw what the [Fractured Soulborn Shade] had done to him, to his levels. "They feed on the soul, and the consequence of that is that they are able to steal levels from people."

He held a hand out in front of himself, clenching and unclenching it. "I've fought them before, but not once in my life prior to this have I ever been feasted on by one. It's… an odd feeling, to be at 'full strength', but be woefully below where you know you should be."

He almost laughed at himself for the wording he'd used. 'Is this how Yagi feels, after the incident? Am I finally going to be able to "understand your battle" now, old friend?'

He continued, ignoring that for now. "Anyway, I am grateful that you collected the [Greater Restoration Potion] for me, Izuku. It is one of the only ways for someone to be freed of the grasp of a [Fractured Soulborn Shade], the only other being an [Archpriest]s [Greater Soulcleanse] ability."

Shaking his head, he hummed. "If a [Soulborn Shade] ever gets you down to Level 0… then you die. Thats it. Looking at the progress it made in just 2 days, I wouldn't have had long left without you, young man. From the bottom of my heart, thank you."

He heard Melissa choke slightly at that but pressed on. Now that he was telling them this, they needed to know all of it. "The reason it is so important that it was a [Fractured Soulborn Shade] that attacked me is that my party thought to have hunted down every single last one."

He saw a couple of frowns at that, but there was nothing that he regretted about their quest to get rid of them all. "Yes, it seems we were either proven wrong, or they were brought back, recreated, by someone who wanted to use them to grow their power again."

He saw the gears turning in all of their heads, and it was Izuku who spoke up first. "All for One isn't gone, is he?"

Izuku's words caused a gasp to leave Melissa, and both Mei and Rumi had conflicted looks on their faces. David met Izuku's eyes and sighed. "No, I don't think he is. And I think that he has his sights set on you, Izuku."

The boy's face went through a couple of emotions, before landing on realisation. "Because the Dungeon likes me… Because the system is weird around me."

David nodded a soft smile on his face. 'The kid's got a good brain in his head. Would have made an excellent spellcaster, I reckon.' He saw the girls look at Izuku with confused expressions. It seemed that he hadn't told them about the bells, about the system itself seeming to assist him sometimes.

"Indeed. And this is why I believe the voice that Lady Usagiyama heard referred to you as 'the chosen.' Because I've heard it call someone that before, and I'd really been hoping to never hear that phrase need to be used again."

Izuku gulped, and asked a question, even though the look on his face let David know that he already knew the answer, deep down. "W-who did All for One call 'the chosen' before me?"

David let out a shaky sigh, one that felt like it had an entire lifetime's worth of regret and memories behind it. "The last 'chosen' was Toshinori Yagi, emperor of the Kingdom of Mightia."

Izuku nodded, his entire body shaking as he very clearly held in tears. "And about All for One. Now that he wants to kill me… I'm going to have to fight him, aren't I? He's going to keep attacking me until he kills me like he tried to kill Emperor Yagi, isn't he?"

David nodded, resting his forehead on the top of his cane, even though he knew everyone in the room other than Izuku was looking at him with some form of anger as he spoke. "You will."

Even if he wasn't looking at him, he could hear the panicked sob in Izuku's voice, and it tore him up inside to know that someone so young was going to be drawn into this fight. 'Just like last time, when we were kids.'

"Can I beat him, if I train really hard?"

'I hope so. I really do.'