This story take place after another story, The Only Hero, and contains major spoilers for it, as well as likely not making much sense without it. Please don't read this without having read it.
s/13802677/1/The-Only-Hero
Nighteye slowly walked along the grounds of U.A. to Training Site Omega on one sunny Sunday morning. He had arrived earlier than expected and had some time to kill before his meeting. He wouldn't want to leave them waiting, but he wouldn't want to interrupt them by arriving too early. He would arrive exactly five minutes before the arranged time, as he always had.
Which left him plenty of time to speculate what exactly All Might wanted to see him for.
Well, to be honest, it was rather obvious that the topic of their discussion would revolve around his chosen successor. All Might had said as much when he had called. But for what reason? Nighteye doubted it was to rub it in his nose that 'Deku' had been the right choice in the end.
Because as much as it perturbed him, Nighteye had to admit the boy was likely worthy of One for All. He had no doubt that he wouldn't have received those commendations from Japan and the U.S. unless he truly had helped save everyone. Unfortunately, the exact details hadn't been released. All the public has known was that 'Aliens kidnapped everyone, and some young man named Deku helped All Might and Star save them'.
Nighteye hoped All Might could clarify the missing pieces. He had not been terribly impressed with the boy's description back before the Rapture. But much time has passed since then.
It had been a month since the Rapture, and people had finally started returning en-mass. So soon after the event, most people returned first were those connected to the infrastructure of Japan's system. Government officials, emergency services, and most importantly, Heroes.
But with All Might having decided to retire at the events resolution, people would not be able to look to him for protection in this turbulent time. This 'Deku' needed to fill those shoes. And he would judge if the boy was truly worthy to. He may have been worthy of All Might's Quirk, but All Might's role was an entirely different matter.
Reaching the doors to the facility at exactly 10:55, Nighteye opened the doors as quietly as he could. As he stealthily entered, he could see All Might sitting on a nearby bench, watching the training field intently. There was a wall erected between them and the training field itself, windows tinted. A combination of privacy and protection for spectators, likely used during practical testing.
The other Hero had yet to notice him enter, so Nighteye took the opportunity to creep forward and see what had his idol so enraptured. The training ground was about the size of a soccer field and filled with many cement hills and arcs mimicking mountainous terrain. Two blurs could be seen bouncing around the terrain, at speeds that Nighteye had only seen few times.
'That has to be Gran Torino.' Nighteye quickly deduced. He had seen the old man in action plenty of times during their hunt for All for One. 'And then the second must be…' The other figure landed against one of the pillars, and Nighteye caught only a glimpse of a green-haired teenager before he vanished again in a cyan flash. 'The current Holder. He's faster than I expected.'
He was about to announce his presence to All Might when he noticed the two figures burst up into the air. A tactical disadvantage for the young man, as Torinos's Jet allows for perfect aerial maneuverability. However, his expectations were shattered when the young man managed to maneuver just as easily through the sky.
'He can fly? But the boy was supposed to be Quirkless?' Nighteye thought for a moment, before pricing it together. He had heard of such a Quirk before, from All Might himself, in fact. "So, it finally awakened."
"Huh?!" All Might nearly leapt out of his seat, turning to Nighteye with a start. "Mirai? How long have you been there?"
"Just a minute." He responded, taking a seat next to All Might. "I always speculated that One for All might allow you to use the previous Holders eventually, but I wrote off the theory after nothing happening in the forty years you had it."
"Yes, well… It apparently just needed a push to get there." All Might said evasively. "Though there's a bit more to it than that."
"I can imagine that's part of why you called me?" Nighteye guessed, before raising an eyebrow at his muscular form. "But besides that, should you be wasting your remaining time in that form? Even if you're retired, it doesn't seem wise to waste it."
All Might just let out a huff, raising his shirt up to reveal perfectly bare skin.
"You're… healed?" Nighteye asked in amazement.
"Good as new." All Might confirmed. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but this might take a while. So, in the meantime…" He reached beside him, revealing the greasiest burger Nighteye had ever laid eyes on. "Are you up for lunch?"
Nighteye nearly answered no, fearing for his health, but seeing All Might's excitement at the burger he no doubt would have been unable to eat a month ago made him relent.
'Well, I suppose this is worth celebrating over…'
There was a loud burp in the observation area as All Might finally finished explaining everything that Nighteye had missed.
"Ah, pardon me! It's been a while since I've had a meal like that." All Might said sheepishly.
"It's no worries." Nighteye admitted honestly. He had seen the man after one of his all-day shifts in his prime. The amount of caloric intake required could probably bankrupt the average fast-food joint and made a mess as bad as one. "I'm just trying to process… everything."
"I know. You can see why we decided to keep so much under wraps." All Might said, looking back out to the two sparring.
"I still can't believe All for One was still around. I saw the state you left him in." Nighteye shook his head. "He must have had a rather reliable partner in order to put him back together. I'll have to investigate that."
"You'll have to fight Nezu for the case." All Might said with a role of his eyes.
"And… the part about the drawbacks of multiple Quirks?" Nighteye questioned.
"Also true. Between the Nomu and the Fourth's testimony to Izuku, the side-effects are impossible to turn a blind eye to." All Might sighed.
And to think that Nighteye had planned to give the Quirk to Mirio. How long would he have lasted? Ten? Five? Or would One for All have simply killed him on the spot?
"Stop beating yourself up. You couldn't have known about that." All Might suddenly said.
Nighteye glanced away. "I didn't say anything-"
"You didn't need to. It was obvious." All Might said. "You couldn't have known the drawbacks. All you knew was that I was running out of time and needed to find a replacement as soon as possible. And… you were right."
"Excuse me?" Nighteye stared as All Might bowed his head.
"I should have chosen a successor a while ago. Without all the recent, err, extenuating circumstances, I probably would have kept working forever. It took Nana herself to finally get it through my thick head to retire." All Might sighed, glancing out at Midoriya. "I shouldn't have ignored you for so long. I'm sorry."
"Oh, I see." Nighteye said awkwardly, not expecting the sudden apology. "Well, I'll admit I might have been a bit… insistent about my own wishes. I should have worked more with you on the idea, instead of just asking you to give up."
"I suppose we've both been a bit stubborn." All Might agreed.
"Who do you think I got it from." He drawled out, producing a laugh from All Might.
That laugh made Nighteye feel more relaxed than he had in years. He let out a sigh himself as he too watched the new Holder (could he really be called that anymore without Bestowal?), who was moving around with a level of speed and accuracy that would make most Pro Heroes jealous.
"Well, you certainly chose someone who's good with the Quirk." Nighteye admitted.
"He's got just as much brain as brawn you know. I wasn't kidding when I said that he was the one who really saved everyone. I must keep fighting off Nezu from stealing my own successor out from under me." All Might said, annoyance making it clear he was being honest.
"Interesting…" Nighteye hummed.
He had to admit, if Nezu had taken a direct interest in the boy, then Izuku Midoriya might be able to equal All Might. As much as he loved his idol, his plans could be rather… single-minded. Not to say he was an idiot. All Might could throw hands against the rest of the top 10 all at once and barely take a scratch, and his control over his power was truly extraordinary. He just lacked some of the long term analytical talents. It was the reason for their separation after all.
"Would you like to see his talents for yourself?"
"Hmm?" Nighteye suddenly snapped up to look at the man beside him. "Is that not what we're doing right now?"
"I meant in the field." All Might asked. "To be honest, this is what I wanted to ask you when I first called."
"You mean as an internship?" Nighteye asked incredulously. "Is that even allowed? Did Nezu actually enroll him in U.A.?"
"Nezu says that since he was the only one who showed up to the Entrance Exam at its start, he instantly passed and was able to join the Hero Course. However, due to the issues currently facing Japan. He will be held back and join the next course in about a year." All Might explained.
It certainly sounded like Nezu's logic. Though such an arrangement was probably for the best. Better than the boy taking up a spot in either Exam next year, despite well exceeding the requirements expected from them.
"And besides, the honorary license he was awarded wasn't just for show. He can go and do Heroics without any restrictions. He just needs some… guidance on how to go about that properly." All Might finished.
"Considering the amount of work I did under your agency, this boy will need a lot of guidance." Nighteye snarked, and the man next to him shrunk slightly.
"Yes, well, that's why I want to ask your help. I'll admit that my approach to being the Symbol of Peace was at times unhealthy. So, I'd like to make sure Izuku doesn't pick up too many bad habits from me." All Might looked at Nighteye directly and pleaded. "I know it's asking a lot after rejecting your own assistance for so long, but can you please help train Izuku as a Hero."
Nighteye tried to keep a neutral face but found himself quickly faltering at his idol's desperate expression. "Alright already. I'll take him for a week, so please stop making such a pitiful expression! But I'll need time to prepare, so he'll start on Tuesday for a four day internship."
"Got it!" All Might immediately shot up, back to his usual smile. "I'll leave him in your expert care!"
A buzzer went off, and Izuku and Gran Torino stopped their spar. Both floated down to the floor slowly, allowing Nighteye to finally get a good look at the one he had just accepted under his care.
Izuku Midoriya looked no older than fifteen. A decent amount of muscle could be seen past the sleeves of the U.A. gym uniform he was wearing, as expected from someone who had trained under All Might's All-American Dream Plan (he had helped come up with the outline back in the day for whenever All Might finally decided on a successor before the injury made it a sore topic). But what surprised him most were the scars.
Streaks of scarred lines ran across the young man's body like lightning. The power of All for One, or All as One he supposed now, ran along it like a shining light.
"Those injuries. Where…?" Nighteye glanced at All Might for answers.
"Overload from the Quirks before merging." All Might answered with a grimace. "They don't cause any pain according to him, but it's a bit worrying. The boy will go through Hell and back just to save a single person."
"Pot, meet Kettle." Nighteye shot back, producing an eye roll from the older Hero. "I assume that part of this partnership is to make sure he learns to save others without injuring himself so gravely all the time?"
"Please. He has the skill to keep himself safe. He can just get focused on 'more important things'. Especially now that he has a healing Quirk." All Might explained.
"Sounds wonderful." Nighteye drawled, sighing as the two sparring partners approached the tinted windows of the viewing area.
As Midoriya approached his eyes flashed gold for a moment, and Nighteye swore that the boy was looking right at him. The boy then glanced to where All Might was somehow. "All Might, why didn't you tell me Sir Nighteye was coming?"
All Might let out a laugh as Nighteye froze in surprise. He retracted the glass of the viewing glass, revealing what Midoriya apparently already knew. Nighteye quickly realized it must have been one of the additional Quirks. He quickly collected himself and strode forward to greet All Might's pupil, holding out a hand. "It's good to finally meet you. I… apologize for not coming to meet you earlier."
"Oh, it's fine?" Midoriya said with a bit of confusion. He took Nighteye's hand and looked up at him. Their eyes met, and Nighteye activated Foresight as the conditions were met. But before he could look at the boy's future for more than a couple seconds, Midoriya's hand released, stepping back in surprise.
"What?! Wait, did you use your Quirk?!" Midoriya asked, and Nighteye raised an eyebrow in surprise. He doubted All Might told him about Foresight, and even if he did, he should have no way to know it activated. Before Nighteye could reply, the boy began to ramble.
"Woah! People always speculated you had some sort of predictive ability, but didn't know the specifics! I could tell it was some sort of temporal ability, but I couldn't tell how it was used until you activated just now! Let me guess, its physical and eye contact for activation conditions?"
"I… yes, that's how my Quirk works." Nighteye managed to get out. "How did you do that?"
"Well, I've always been a really big fan of Quirk Analysis." Midoriya admitted embarrassed. "But after I got Scanning, I've been able to get the general idea of a persons Quirk just by looking at them, as well as tell when they activate it. Honestly, it feels like cheating sometimes."
A Quirk-seeing Quirk? Nighteye quickly realized that must have been how Izuku had been able to tell who he was through the tinted glass, as well as Foresights activation. He also had a healing and flight Quirk apparently. Among many others, if All Might's testimony was correct.
He could already tell this boy was going to be a handful.
"Didn't I tell you to tell people before doing that, you brat!" Gran Torino shouted up at him, giving him a grumpy look.
"Apologies. I was rather curious and got ahead of myself." Nighteye apologized, turning to Midoriya. "I hope you don't mind."
"Not at all! As long as you tell me everything about how it works!" Midoriya said cheerfully, a tentacle of black energy shooting to the bench behind them and dragging a notebook from it into his hand seemingly without even thinking about it.
"… Maybe later." Nighteye eventually said, pushing up his glasses. "I'm here to offer an 'internship' to you for the next week. As All Might's successor, it's important that you gain the proper experience expected of you. Just because you got a license early, doesn't mean there aren't things you don't still need to learn."
"An internship?! Of course, I'll accept-! I mean, thank you for the offer!" Midoriya quickly said, bowing frantically.
Nighteye produced a card from his jacket for his Agency and handed it to the boy. "Starting on Tuesday, come to the address on the card at 7:00AM exactly, with your hero costume. I presume you have one of those already?"
"Of course sir! Yes sir! I'll be sure to be there!" He quickly began to walk away to change, as he excitedly mumbled to himself. "Man, I can't wait to tell Mom and Melissa…"
As the young man walked away, the other two Heroes gave Nighteye curious looks.
"I figured you would want to talk to him more before deciding to take him in for the week." All Might admitted, giving him a suspicious glance. "Unless… you already knew you were going to accept…"
"What did you see, brat!" Gran Torino asked far less subtlety.
"Well…" Nighteye adjusted his glasses, looking into the memories of Midoriya for the near future he saw through Foresight.
'Izuku Midoriya shows up to Nighteye Agency and understand the true pain of Heroics.'
'Izuku Midoriya will face extreme danger in order to save a fellow Hero.'
'Izuku Midoriya will show up late to the Agency and find Mirio naked and bound on the floor.'
'Izuku Midoriya will find himself obscured in smoke, a towering figure of muscle standing over him…'
Nighteye couldn't help but sigh. "It'll certainly be an interesting week, at the very least."
Next Chapter: Day 1 – Learning the Ropes