"Hmm, are you sure about this All Might?" Izuku wondered slightly aloud as the jostling of the early morning train woke him up from his short nap, naturally filled with more dreams he'd never seen. Glancing at his teacher, All Might was in his shrunken form, not wanting to cause a ruckus on the train as they traveled. His leg was bouncing nearly continually, nervous energy pouring off the blonde hero.
"Yes, I would rather not be here, or have sent you alone, but he's the best person to talk to about these things, regardless of my personal feelings..." Toshinori trailed off, glancing out of the window as they neared their station.
It has been two days since the USJ attack, yesterday was Friday, but the school closed, most likely due to the attack, no that wasn't the right way to put it, to reinforce the school to assuage concerned parents like Mom." Izuku thought aloud, not noticing as his teacher smiled. "Hey, All Might?" He paused his considerations to ask something that was bothering him.
"What's wrong, Young Midoriya, did you think of something?" All Might was immediately the pinnacle of concern.
"No, well yes, umm, kind of, err what I mean is that... No offense, but what Shiga- Tomura was saying, about your 'legality and your morality coming into conflict', isn't saving people more important than following the law?" Izuku asked as Toshinori sighed, looking into the distance as he thought of best way to answer the serious question.
"I'd say not to worry about the things that monster said, but I suspect something you saw in your dreams makes me think otherwise." All Might guessed as Izuku nodded softly, a sad look on his face.
"Just now, I saw me, and Iida, and Todoroki fighting a villain called Stain. Well, really, I saw the end of the fight, and while we were in the hospital, a police chief came to scold us for our actions. I didn't see the start of the fight, so I can't say how accurate it was, but assuming he was right... both me and Todoroki ignored our hero mentors' orders to engage the villain, and we must have roughed him up pretty badly for a police chief to come speak with us. He said we weren't allowed to harm Stain with our Quirks, and that... uhm, 'so it's okay to break the law because everything went your way, huh?' But if we didn't show up, Stain was going to kill another hero, and Iida too!" Izuku cried, small tears forming at the edges of his eyes as he tried to decipher his dreams/ visions.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that, both the dream and the fight. This kind of stuff isn't usually covered until your second, or even third year when Works Studies come into the picture. I suspect Tomura brought it up to trip me up for the exact reasons you're bringing up, not that that's a bad thing, Young Midoriya!" He hastened to cut short Izuku's hurt look.
"It's just complicated to get into... when Quirks first started, everyone was using them willy-nilly, and injuries went out of control, crime too. The government had to step in and set down laws to restrict Quirk usage. Heroes got it even worse then, due to the variety among Quirks. Setting a law about something like firearms was simple, a blanket law, but when Quirks can range from something harmless like being a cat to very lethal like killing someone with a touch, each Quirk had to be judge, monitored, and appraised by the government, with different punishments as people broke the newfound laws. This only got more complicated by Heroes who sought to use their Quirks in newer and more creative ways to do their jobs, once again forcing the government to step in and set new boundaries." All Might lectured as Midoriya faithfully took notes in a notebook that he pulled from somewhere.
Even so, Toshinori could see the steam pouring from his student's ears as he tried to follow along. Giving a hearty laugh at the boy's bewildered expression, the blonde hero paused," You can see why this topic is usually left until second and third years? I suppose the simple way of looking at it is this: Letting someone get hurt because you're afraid of getting into trouble isn't heroic, and neither is breaking the law, so if you're ever in a situation where you have to use your Quirk to save someone, then do it, and accept the punishment. I was scolded my share of times when I was much younger, as have many other heroes, but I find its easier to accept punishment with a clear conscious than with a guilty one. Understand?" Toshinori stated, as Izuku nodded emphatically.
"Good, because I think this is our stop." All Might said, standing to his feet as the train 'ding'ed, the doors opening with a pneumatic hiss.
A short five-minute walk later, and they were standing outside a nondescript building, a nervous Izuku looking upwards as an equally resolute Toshinori walked towards the doors, pushing one of them open as he ushered Izuku inside.
Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, All Might buffed up, now towering over the hero student.
"Are you sure about that sir? You can only keep that form up for a little while now, and you said Mr. Sir Nighteye already knows about One-for-All so wouldn't it make more sense to conserve your energy?" Midoriya fretted as the pair began making their way up a spiral staircase.
"Hmm, it would, but I don't know if either of his sidekicks are in today or patrolling on the streets, and don't want to risk involving anyone else. Once I'm sure we won't be interrupted, I'll shift back." All Might revealed, as Midoriya nodded silently.
"So, what is he like, Mr. Sir Nighteye, on television, he's always so intense, is he normally like that, or does he act that way as a hero?" Midoriya asked, nonchalantly pulling out one of his 'Hero Notebooks for the Future'.
"Hmm, when we worked together... he was always serious... a serious fanboy, he was meticulous about completing paperwork, but he always placed more value on a hero's smile, and the laughter the people had around them." All Might said, reaching the top as he turned down a long hallway.
"A fanboy?" Izuku muttered under his breath, giving a giggle.
"Something the matter, Young Midoriya?" All Might asked as he saw the shaky grin Izuku had.
"Oh, nothing All Might, I was just thinking you have a type. Both me and Sir Nighteye have green hair, were huge fans of yours, and we have precognitive Quirks... just thinking of the irony." Izuku teased as the blonde hero blushed.
"Yes, I suppose I can see the irony there, as if someone is laughing at my attempts to run away from his warnings..." The #1 hero whispered as he knocked on a door, a sharp, "Come in." answering him as he pushed the door open.
"Ahem, I AM HERE for a meeting." Toshinori declared, a thin man sitting behind a desk glancing up with raised eyebrows, long fingers pressed together as Midoriya looked from behind the towering hero. "I AM HERE as well." He declared, putting on his best All Might impersonation.
Sir Nighteye looked very unimpressed, but a soft smile crossed his face as he spotted his old hero's embarrassed blush. It was nice to see that All Might was still surrounding himself with people who could tease the blonde Symbol. However, "The wrinkles are the wrong length, I can tell even from here. Especially, compared next to the real deal, it's obvious yours is but a cheap mimicry of his." Nighteye scolded, rising from the desk as he approached the nervous pair.
"Early on, his crow's feet were 0.6 cm long, and from the Silver Age, they grew to 0.8, even the knockoffs you can buy on the street mange to get that simple detail right." He lectured as Izuku considered turning tail and running away in terror from his fierce gaze. But heroes didn't run from a challenge, they rose above it!
"Wow, All Might said you were really his biggest fan, but you really know your All might trivia! You even got the 10th year anniversary poster, that was never for sale. I must have got my mom to buy 1000 boxes of All Mighties™, but I didn't win the drawing." Izuku chuckled sheepishly. "Oh, do you have the original straight-to-DVD Tv special where All Might teamed up with Kamen Rider?" The green-haired fanboy cheered as Sir Nighteye stared at him in silence.
"No, he-" "Of course I do, I had to use a serious favor to get a hold of it, someone tried to do away with all the copies, but I managed to get ahold of one." Sir Nighteye revealed as Izuku beamed, and All Might hung his head in shame.
"Cool, I heard a lot of people say it was super campy, but that's what the appeal is right? Lots of heroes can fight off villains, or kaiju, or giant mechs in the movies, but All Might looks the coolest when he's just being normal!' Izuku shared as the fanboys shared hero tried to sink into the ground, unfortunately, that was a different blonde hero's Quirk. That didn't stop him from vanishing inside a cloud of steam now that they were alone in Nighteye's office.
"Oh, are you okay All Might?" Izuku worried, rushing to his mentor's side as the emaciated man, silently stared at the floor.
"Hmm, now that you're here, what was it you wanted to talk about All Might? It sounded very serious when you called, did you finally decide to listen to reason about my suggestion for your successor." Nighteye inquired, returning to his seat as Izuku looked between the two of them, confusion on his face.
"His successor, did you tell Mr. Sir Nighteye about me?" Midoriya asked earnestly.
"Not exactly, Young Midoriya... seeing as it'll come up again, that's one of the reasons we've not spoke in so long. You knew I came to UA to look for someone to take up my mantle as the Symbol of Peace when I found you... Nighteye had his own suggestions. He felt it was better to give One-for-All to someone with an already powerful Quirk to make an even greater Symbol of Peace, while I wanted to choose you, and did." All Might gave the abridged version of their arguments as Izuku looked at the floor.
"Maybe he was right, if your successor was stronger, then maybe..." Izuku's self-pity was cut short as All Might gave him a short hug.
"No, I'd already met Sir's suggestion before I passed my Quirk on to you, despite how capable he was, I still chose you, Young Midoriya." The blonde hero comforted his charge.
"Well, judging from how you still haven't seen reason, I'm more interested in your visit today." Nighteye said, looking over his steepled fingers as All Might gently shoved Izuku forwards, gesturing for him to explain, since it was his Quirk.
"I'm Izuku Midoriya, umm, All Might chose me to be his successor, but when he passed One-for-All to me, something weird happened. I started having visions... of the future, All Might-sensei said you would be the best person to help me with them..." Izuku tried to explain, but Sir's glare was making it difficult.
"You're telling me, that after ignoring my advice about the next Symbol of Peace, you picked a boy who can see the future?... ... ... Hahaha HAhaHa HAHAHA!" Nighteye broke out into a surprisingly deep laughter as he rapped his hand on his desk, scaring Izuku as the serious hero broke down in fits of laughter. "As far as jokes go, that's one of the funniest things I've heard.
"Sir! Sir, are you okay?" A young girl's voice could be heard outside the door as All Might panicked, buffing up.
"I'm fine Bubble Girl, I was just talking to an old friend I hadn't seen in years." Sir Nighteye wheezed out with a strained smile, trying to keep a calm expression as the sidekick answered in the assent, walking away as her footsteps echoed down the hallway.
"Uhmm, I'm not joking, Sir Nighteye, I don't know how it happened either. According to the Quirk doctor I saw as a kid, I was Quirkless, and I never had dreams like that before All Might gave me his quirk, so we can only assume it activated something in me when he passed it on." Midoriya tried to explain, which worriedly did wonders to stop Nighteye's laughter.
"This joke is getting much less funny. All Might, if you showed up after all this time just to play a practical joke on me, I can't say I don't appreciate it, but my opinion still stands." Sir Nighteye commented seriously, most traces of his previous laughter gone now.
"Unfortunately, what Young Midoriya is saying is correct, somehow when One-for-All passed to him, he started having prophetic visions, similar to your own Quirk, trust me when I say the irony is not lost on me." All Might stated, not meeting either of his fans' gazes.
Nighteye, on the other hand, was thinking of his own apparent irony, taking on a young blonde hero in whom he saw the next Symbol of Peace, perhaps Gran Torino had been right in his assertions the two were projecting. "You mention dreams, is that how the Quirk works?" He asked simply as Midoriya answered with a simple nod.
"Yes Sir, when I sleep, I dream about the future, about things that haven't happened yet. I used to only be able to see up to a certain point, just after the recent attack on UA, at the USJ, but when I fell asleep that night, I had new visions about... All-for-One, and this morning about fighting a villain named Stain. I-I tried to change things, but..." He trailed off as Nighteye nodded knowingly.
"The things you see can't be changed." He finished for the boy as Izuku shook his head ashamedly, not about the dreams, but about his own inability to change them.
"No, it's like the things I see aren't definite, only parts of my dreams come true... that's why I didn't mention them to All Might or Principal Nezu for so long. I thought they were just my subconscious speaking out, but some of the things I saw, I couldn't know about them, not like that!" Izuku shouted, small tears rolling down his cheeks.
"They don't always come to pass?" Sir Nighteye latched on to Midoriya's shoulders, interrogating the boy as the student shook his head.
"No, I saw my fellow classmates, but some were different, a boy I'd never seen before was there, replacing another boy, who was one of the villains that attacked the USJ. And All Might-sensei made us do a 'Battle Trial' where we teamed up and fought other teams, but all the teams were jumbled, and while I saw the leader of the villains attacking the USJ, he acted differently." Izuku explained as Sir looked thoughtful.
"Tell me some other things, less about what you see and more about how you see it." He ordered, as Midoriya stood up straighter.
"Sir?" He mumbled bewildered.
"Ahh, when I use my Quirk on some, I can see whatever they see up to a certain point, but only from a first-person point of view, and like I'm looking at a film reel. When you have your dreams, can you see yourself, can you hear what other people are saying, what about smells and feeling?" Nighteye explained as All Might debuffed, smiling at the display of guidance he was seeing between his two fanboys.
"Oh, umm, I can only see from someone else's perspective, I guess myself, because I never see myself. And I can't control it, it's like I'm not in control, I can hear, but not smell, I don't know about taste either. I can..." He paused, thinking carefully before he answered.
He still could remember the feeling of Kacchan's explosions on his skin, the pain of every broken bone in his arms, and the blood dripping from his body from Stain's sword. "I can feel it, every injury I should've taken." He revealed as the two adults listened silently.
"Hmm, it sounds less like my own Foresight, and more like you are somehow mentally projecting yourself into a future version of yourself, occupying the same place in time and space. This less useful however, as not everything you see and hear is 100% accurate, meaning you act on faulty information, which can cause worse problems than no information at all. On the other hand, ignoring your 'visions' isn't advisable as most of what you see does come to pass, just not all. It would be safer to assume that everything you see is wrong, but that isn't true." Nighteye considered, stroking an invisible beard as Izuku and All Might listened closely.
"I see no reason for any of that to alter my opinions though." Sir exclaimed unrequitedly, "If anything, it only furthers my belief that you should choose a stronger and better successor to face these challenges." Nighteye added, crossing his arms as he leaned back against his desk, as Izuku nodded solemnly, and All Might frowned.
"Midoriya, would you mind waiting outside for a few minutes? Sir Nighteye and I need to have a private chat about something." Toshinori asked as Izuku looked between them, sensing the tense air between the two men as he nodded silently, leaving the room with a sad, dejected look.
"I'm not changing my mind, All Might. Despite my feelings towards you, I refuse to let you make such a mistake about this!" Nighteye said sharply as All might's eyes softened.
"Strange, I was going to say the same thing. If you still can't understand why I didn't retire all those years ago, then you'll never understand why I chose Young Midoriya, and that saddens me more than I can explain... that you can't see the potential hero he can be." All Might said, looking into the distance at something only he could see.
"Regardless, that's not what I wanted to talk about... when we faced off with Tomura Shigaraki, he relished in throwing my many perceived mistakes back in my face, no matter how slight." Toshinori explained, Nighteye snorting at the idea of a villain disparaging All Might.
"He had a point in many ways, as much as I'm ashamed to admit it... I've been thinking on his words ever since then, and he makes a twisted point. For so long I pushed aside any help that people provided, feeling like I alone had to carry the burden, it's certainly what contributed to our separation. I hate to admit that I'm getting weaker, even before I passed on One-for-All, I was a shell of my former self, reduced to only three hours of hero work a day, but my stubbornness has led to this problem, to countless people I never reached because I wouldn't ask for help, because of my stubborn pride!" Toshinori admitted to his former friend, a few tears forcing their way out.
Sir Nighteye looked at his former hero, this wasn't All Might the hero talking, this was Toshinori Yagi the man under the cape.
"Taht's why I, why we came here today. This villain knew too much, things that I tried to keep hidden even from my closest friends, from my own successor. He taunted me with the vision you had of my own impending death." Toshinori said as Sir's blood ran cold.
"What did you say All Might?" He shouted, rushing to his side as he looked the blonde hero in the eyes.
"I don't know how he knew, I never told anyone about that day, neither did Nezu or Recovery Girl, and despite our falling out, I know you'd never say a word about that. I can only assume he has access to an information gathering Quirk of some kind, if my feelings are correct about those Nomu creatures, then it's possible he survived as well, and he's found his own successor. In this wide world of our, no Quirk is truly off limits, and no one would have more at his disposal than All-for-One. We, no, I need your help in this fight that's coming." All Might declared as Sir Nighteye soaked in the words of his hero.
Meanwhile, outside, Izuku was sitting in a chair, looking over notes in one of his notebooks, specifically, an article on Sir Nighteye, amending some of the info, and adding more bits of information. It wasn't everyday he got such an up-close and personal meeting with one of the heroes in his notebooks.
He was so caught up in his notes, that he didn't notice as the other occupant in the room walked up to him, curiously looking at him scribbling away.
"Hello, are you here to report a crime? Generally, we prefer it if you report crimes to the police instead of us, but if it's important then I'll see what we can do to help." Bubble Girl suggested as Izuku yelped, tossing his journal into the air in a blind panic. Bubble Girl caught it, looking at the open pages.
"Uhmm, no, sorry, I'm here with my teacher. He's in there with Sir Nighteye right now." Midoriya revealed as Bubble Girl looked over the notes he'd taken.
"Oh wow, you have a lot of notes about Sir! You even have pages for both me and Centipeder!" Bubble Girl smiled, flipping through the pages as Izuku turned red, giving his best impression of a Christmas tree with his green hair. "Most people don't really care about us sidekicks, but you have so much written... almost too much, but I guess it's better than some of the things about me... damn perverts. You must be a huge hero fan!" The young, blue-skinned heroine handed the journal back as Izuku took it silently. Bubble Girl was glad to note his eyes didn't linger on her underboob, or her open shorts, unlike plenty of other of her 'fans'.
"Oh yeah, Miss Midnight is one of our teachers at UA, so your costume is still pretty tame compared to..." He trailed off, his face turning an iridescent crimson as the sexy hero came to his mind.
OH, do you study at UA too? Mirio didn't mention bringing another student by, and you look a bit too young for an Internship." Bubble Girl exclaimed as Midoriya looked confused at her.
"Mirio?" He asked, not recognizing the name right away.
"Oh, do you not know Mirio, but I don't think Sir knows anyone else from UA except the Principal and maybe All Might but-"
"What's up gang!" A boisterous voice shouted, Bubble Girl jumping in surprise as she fired several bubbles into Izuku's face, the green-haired hero student falling to the ground as a noxious odor filled his nose, reminding him of raw sewage or the slime villain from when he met All Might.
"Mirio! I told you not to surprise me like that!" The heroine scolded, crouching down beside a hacking Izuku. "Are you okay... I don't think I got your name, sorry?" She checked.
"Izu *cough* Izuku *cough cough* Midoriya." The hero student replied, wheezing as fresh air started to fill his lungs.
"Sorry about that guys, sometimes you just gotta make a POWERful entrance!" Mirio announced as Izuku looked at the third-party in the room.
A young man with an upcurl of light blonde hair, he had large cartoony blue eyes, and a beaming smile. He was currently posing with his fists on his hips, giving an air of cheer.
"How did your patrol go, Mirio? And did you run off and leave Centipeder again?" Bubble Girl asked as Midoriya got up, dusting off his clothes as Mirio cheesed.
"Nah, I just couldn't wait to get back and tell Sir about my patrol. Centipeder is taking the stairs up." The blonde student revealed.
"Anything to report?" The stern voice of Sir Nighteye ordered from directly behind Mirio, who jumped in surprise, arms and legs kicking in the air like a cartoon character before he fell through the floor, Izuku blinking owlishly at the stunt. Bubble Girl laughed at the intern's reaction, and Nighteye gave his own small smile, which was eclipsed as a buff All Might followed behind him.
"Nothing important, although it seems you had your own important meeting." Centipeder exclaimed with a high-pitched voice, Mirio climbing back through the floor as everyone turned to look at the beaming All Might.
"Oh wow, why didn't you mention you came here with All Might?" Bubble Girl asked the smiling Izuku.
"Never mind that right now, Bubble Girl. It seems we have a new investigation to commence...All Might thinks you can be of use, so I'll test his belief; I want you to tell me everything you can about Hero Killer: Stain." Nighteye said, his intense eyes digging into Izuku as he gulped nervously.