Chapter 28
Chapter Text
All Might was getting slower.
And if he could feel it, surely it wouldn't be something he could hide much longer. Sooner or later someone was going to notice, especially with the current media scrutiny he was receiving.
It was kind of ironic that the same news stations and internet blogs that had built up his reputation as a hero would also be the ones to tear down his career.
If only he'd met Midoriya sooner. Maybe he would have been able to train him longer and better prepare him for using One for All.
But—and he needed to be brutally honest at least with himself—he wouldn't have asked for help from anyone with Izuku's training. He'd been too arrogant, too overconfident in his own abilities to consider the idea or even wonder if he could teach more effectively. Having the child return to them as a ghost had felt almost miraculous but discovering that he could now access the previous users' quirks had filled Toshinori with hope.
Even if All for One had managed to survive their fight five years ago, at least One for All was stronger than ever.
And—Toshinori laughed softly at the irony—All for One wouldn't be able to kill him.
~*~
Dad rubbed his hand tiredly over his forehead. He'd arrived home with Todoroki in tow about ten minutes ago, and had been surprised to find Hitoshi at home instead of at his internship with Miss Joke. They'd started the conversation with "I'm not mad but you better have a good reason" and everything had gone downhill from there.
"Okay, so let me make sure I've got his straight," Dad said tiredly, "Midoriya Izuku is not just a ghost with All Might's quirk, he's also a time traveler sent back to stop a villain All Might supposedly killed five year ago from starting a war that destroys most of Japan."
"When you say it like that," Hitoshi said, still freaking out over everything he'd learned from Izuku's suppressed memories, "it sounds kind of crazy."
"No kidding," Dad said, reaching for Hitoshi and hugging him hard. "And you're sure these are real memories, not something Izuku maybe dreamed up while he was getting used to being a ghost? The human mind can do extraordinary things given half a chance."
"We don't think so," Hitoshi answered honestly. "But Zuku knew Iida was going after the hero killer and that there would be a nomu attack in Hosu."
"Anyone who met Iida Tenya for five minutes could anticipate him doing something that ridiculous and everyone working with Shigaraki would know about the nomu attack in advance."
"You think Izuku is working for Shi—"
"No," Dad said very firmly, "but these are the arguments others will use to discredit your information. What else can you tell me, Izuku?"
Hitoshi struggled to keep up with the rush of memories. "Um," he said, shaking his head slightly, "All Might fought and arrested All for One at Kamino Ward after the summer camp was attacked and Bakugo was taken. Wait, Zuku, I'm…" His head was throbbing. "This is a lot to decipher when I have no timeframe."
"Izuku," Dad said, "you've been practicing your typing with blackwhip, yes?" A blackwhip appeared and bobbed up and down. Dad smiled grimly. "Any chance you could type it all out. Dates would be helpful, if you remember them, but if we can at least get a sequence of events we'll have a better chance of thwarting the ones that lead to disaster."
The blackwhip nodded.
"Sorry, Toshi," Izuku whispered inside his mind, "but there are a couple of things that I'm not sure your dad would want me to write down, but he needs to know them."
Hitoshi explained that to his dad and then waited for Izuku to start.
"Todoroki's brother, Touya," Hitoshi repeated, "is alive and known as the villain Dabi."
Dad cursed quietly at that one.
"And nomu are made using dead bodies. The one known as Kurogiri was made using Shirakumo Oboro's body. They combined his quirk with someone el—"
Dad stood up abruptly and left the room.
"Dad?" Hitoshi called, his voice strangled to near silence with the memory of his bio-parents doing the same.
"Sorry, Toshi," Izuku whispered into his mind. "I knew it would be a shock for him and wanted him to have a chance to deal with it before I write it down in a report he might have to share."
"It's okay," Hitoshi said, even his internal voice sounding shaky. "He'll um…"
"He's not your bio-duds or your foster monsters," Izuku said, making Hitoshi smile softly. "He loves you fiercely and forever. He's freaking out because Oboro was a good friend who died on an internship when they were in high school. Your dad saw it happen."
"He told you this…in the future…um other timeline?"
"He did," Izuku said, apparently trying to hide the memory of Dad having lost a leg and an eye at some point.
"Fuck," Hitoshi said, at least relieved to see Papa, whole and uninjured, sitting beside his hospital bed in the memory.
"Your little sister has a… Shit, we need to rescue Eri."
"I have a sister?" Hitoshi asked and then almost wished he didn't when the details of her torture at the hands of a madman came to the fore of their minds. "We have to tell Dad and Papa right now."
"Yeah," Izuku said, apparently rummaging through the rest of his "other timeline" memories to see if there was anything else that needed immediate action. "Toshi, it's okay. You don't have to stay. Hopefully none of this will happen and you won't need to know."
"What sort of hero would I be if I let you carry this burden alone?"
It was clear that Izuku was feeling as emotionally raw as Hitoshi. "Thanks," he whispered softly, before returning to picking through the details of a future that would hopefully never come.