AN: I'll be out of town for a bit over a week soon for a family reunion so this will be the last update for a couple weeks.

AN2: I also know people made comments in past reviews about a side effect of OFA. I still haven't gotten that far in the story (only seen dub and I haven't found where in the manga season 5 lets off) but I have my own idea on how to adapt it for this and how to respond to it. I don't really like the whole idea in general for that OFA weakness, but I thought of an interesting way to counter it so I'm keeping it in.

A Fool's Bonds

Chapter 9

-All Might-

"H-he's right in here sir!" the nervous young sidekick Bubblegirl squeaked as she finished leading him up to Sir Nighteye's old office.

"Thank you." He gave the woman a warm smile as she beamed back before hurrying off, giving him the privacy he knew the upcoming conversation would need. Reaching up, he knocked the 'shave and a haircut' routine he knew would always make his old friend smile.

The air was silent for a moment before the door slowly creaked open, a single shocked eye peering out "All Might?" Sir looked stunned to see him. Given how they'd left off without any reconciliation over the years, All Might couldn't say he was surprised.

"Hello old friend." He gave his old sidekick a smile. It wasn't as bright or boisterous as the one's he showed the public, but it was far more real, "I…can we talk?"

"Of course!" Sir quickly backed up, opening the door as All Might stepped into the office that was completely plastered with his merch. Pointedly ignoring that fact, All Might sat on the sofa his friend offered to him.

"The office is secure; you can release that form." Sir sat down across from him, the man's finger's steepled and expression pinched from both confusion and concern.

"That's part of what I came to talk to you old friend. That…and my successor." All Might saw Sir's expression stiffen up, the man's displeasure there albeit muted.

"I take it then you don't plan to pass One for All to Mirio?" Sir's tone was blunt as All Might repressed a sigh at his old friend's stubborn attitude.

"It's already been passed to another." All Might shook his head, "But I wanted to share some happy news with you." Reached, he pulled up his shirt to show the injury that had haunted him for so long vastly healed.

"…Impossible." Sir breathed out, eyes wide with blatant disbelief written on his face, "They…they failed. Transplant after transplant failed. I even looked into your future! I saw you dying in a battle against a foe you couldn't win! That wound was still there!"

"It's all thanks to the successor I chose." All Might smiled easily. He hoped that this wouldn't just convince Nighteye that Young Yaoyorozu was the correct choice for successor, but break the man of his rigid view of his own quirk.

"What could they do that Recovery Girl couldn't?" Sir Demanded, hope warring with denial in the man's eyes.

"Momo Yaoyorozu. Her quirk is called creation, which let's her create anything she can understand the atomic structure of, providing she has enough lipids to handle the creation in question. With the power of OFA, as well as extensive knowledge and guidance from both Recovery Girl and Nezu, she was able to craft replacement organs, muscles, and tissues designed to my body and strong enough to handle the remnants of One for All; which were grafted onto me. My quirk factor is still fading now that I've passed along One for All, and I'm still recovering. But now I will recover."

Sir staggered back like he'd been struck, "I…this is impossible." The man tentatively reached out for his hand, eyes desperate. Nodding, he reached out to let his old sidekick touch his palm, the clairvoyant's eyes glowing as his quirk worked rapidly for a brief moment.

"That death…it's gone." Nighteye's tone was full of wonder, "Could…could One for All allow its user to defy fate?" All Might did his best not to sigh at Sir's take on it, figuring it was better than the man's attitude before.

"There's more." All Might sighed, feeling pained to admit the next part "Young Yaoyorozu will likely never be passing this quirk down."

"WHAT?!" Sir surged to his feet, "That quirk is need to-!"

"It almost killed her." All Might's cold blunt tone shut Nighteye up as the wide-eyed man collapsed back into a chair.

"What do you mean, it almost killed her?" the man's eyes were flitting as his mind likely ran with scenario after scenario.

"That quirk gained more and more power over the years, passing from person to person." All Might sighed, running a hand down his face, "It's gotten so strong now, that if given to someone with another quirk then it will start causing constant cellular decay. Or that's what Recovery Girl's tests have figured out."

"Then…the Yaoyorozu girl?" Sir's tone was horrified at the thought of a young girl losing her life like this, even if he'd never wanted her to get the quirk.

"Her quirk is the only thing keeping her alive ironically." All Might gave a wry grin at the morbid irony. "She understands her own body's biology, and One for All can act as a power source beyond just her lipids. Much like how our bodies pump blood and digest food without our direct thought, some part of her brain or One for All itself has taken to using her own quirk to constantly regenerate new cells within her own body. The decayed ones being used as part of the 'fuel' to create new ones. But as it stands, the only person she could safely give the quirk to is someone quirkless. And even that who knows if it will grow too strong with her to be passed down, let alone if there will be any viable quirkless candidates left when she gets to that point."

"Then…then if Mirio." Sir's shoulders were shaking as he realized what would have happened. It showed that the future seeing hero cared about the boy beyond just as a potential inheritor for One for All.

"But he's fine." All Might grinned at his old sidekick, "As is Young Yaoyorozu and even I'll recover! Although…I do need to think how to explain why I suddenly don't have a quirk anymore once these embers burn out."

"I…actually might have a way to help with that." Sir's eyes gleamed, "I've been looking into the case of a new drug being sold on the streets. It's been hocked by trigger dealers but this one has reportedly caused the erasure of quirks for a few hours. There have only been a few reported cases of this quirk being used, it's probably too expensive to waste. But I'm positive the source is developing a permanent version."

"You want to have me take part in the raid and claim I got hit with one of those." All Might realized, "Do you know who the source is?"

"I'm fairly certain. Tell me All Might, what do you know of the Yakuza?"

-Momo-

Returning to the dorm building after Recovery Girl's demanded weekly checks to make sure the cellular decay hadn't worsened; Momo saw that the dorm was mostly deserted.

"Sup Yaomomo!" her room's neighbor Jiro waved at her from where the purple haired rocker girl was reclining on the couch, snickering as she looked over at Midoriya who was trying to get some throwing cards into a hat. His aim…still needed some work.

"Where is everyone?" she tilted her head as she sat down with her two classmates that were still around.

"Aoyama, Asui, Ida, Hagakure, and Koda went home to visit their families for dinner." Jiro listed out, "Mineta, Kaminari, and Bakugo all got detention from different teachers. Todoroki, Kirishima, Shoji, Sato, and Ojiro are all at the gym and plan to grab some barbeque later. Tokoyami agreed to show Mina to a bookstore he knew of since she wanted to look into something. And I've no idea where Sero or Ururaka wandered off to. Since it was just the two of us, I guess three now, we ordered some pizzas for dinner."

"Feel free to join us." Midoriya gave her a grin that sent her stomach tumbling, the greenete turning to make another attempt at throwing his card only to miss once again.

"I keep telling you dude, it's in the wrist." Jiro snorted, perking up as the doorbell to their dorm rung, "And that's the food. You, Midoriya! Where's your share of the cash!"

"Table by the door!" Midoriya grunted, eyes narrowed with laser focus.

"Midoriya…may I ask why-?" Momo trailed off, unsure how to phrase her question without the risk of upsetting her new…friend? Was he a friend?

"My costume has support gear in the form of throwing cards." Midoriya didn't seem upset, if anything he gave her another eager grin at getting to share "They have different effects. I figured since my whole thing is based around the arcana and they're usually shown through Tarot cards I could have said cards be part of my hero kit."

"That's brilliant!" Momo clapped excitedly for her new friend as he took a break from throwing the cards. Probably because Jiro was returning with a small stack of piping hot pizzas.

"Thanks." He grinned wide as he set his throwing cards on top of a sketch book "I'll grab some drinks from the fridge. You guys start digging in." He gave her and Jiro a grin before walking off.

"So, Izanagi huh?" Jiro grinned at her as the purplette pulled out a slice to eat "How's it feal knowing you turned him into something like that?"

"I'm still processing being the Empress." Momo admitted sheepishly as Jiro gave her a teasing grin, thankfully keeping quiet as Midoriya came back with drinks and smiles for them all.

AN: To those curious, I went with cellular decay because Nine's quirk was so strong it caused that because his body couldn't handle that much power. I figured this situation could work the same.

AN2: when it comes to acquisition of confidants there are only two more planned by the end of the Sports Festival. I'm curious if anyone can guess who they'll be and what their Arcana is. That of course means more bonding time with the existing ones as well as regular plot stuff and training. If anyone has anything they'd like to see with the existing Arcana's I'd love to hear ideas.