"Two minutes."

Toshinori looked over his shoulder as he washed the dishes. Taylor was huddled in the corner. "What?"

"I remember, it was two minutes."

He saw tears start to roll down her cheeks and he went over to crouch near her. "Taylor, what is wrong? Is there anything I can do for you?"

She glared at him, her eyes red with tears. "I mastered you!" She spat. "Why don't you hate me?"

"Taylor, you were in a desperate situation trying to save everyone. I'm just happy that I could help."

She started shouting, her voice raspy, "I didn't grab you to save the world! I did it because one of the Thinkers I had mastered calculated that the army would probably survive two more minutes with you in it!"

She lunged forward, grabbing at his collar and pulled him so his face was directly in front of hers. "I enslaved you! I would have sacrificed you without a second thought! All for two fucking minutes!"

He kept his voice calm and steady, "Taylor, if I had died buying you two more minutes to save the world, then they would have been the proudest two minutes of my life."

He saw the strength leave her and she collapsed onto his shoulder. She started to weep uncontrollably. He pulled her into a position that he hoped would be more comfortable for her and allowed her to do so until the tears finally stopped flowing.

Eventually she got her strength back and pushed herself back into the corner. Then she looked him dead in the eye, "I wish you would hate me."

Toshinori looked back at Taylor, unsure of what to say or do. Finally she answered the unasked question that hung in the air.

"I wish that you would hate me because if you did I would feel less conflicted about hating myself."

Izuku watched the second hand on the clock with fascination. He knew with certainty that it was 15.08 cm long and had a mass of 5.92 grams. Despite the fact that it looked like it was barely moving, he knew that it had an angular momentum of 4.7e-6 kg m2/s. He knew the plastic that made it had a flaw that was 6.37 cm from the tip which would halve the force needed to snap it in two.

He turned his attention to the things he couldn't see. The bed he sat on was about 60 cm off the ground. There was a person about a meter to his left quickly standing from the chair they had been sitting in.

He had a quirk! It wasn't the most impressive quirk, nothing like Bakugo's, but it was his and with it he was going to become a hero!

"I-", Izuku was pulled out of his revelry as he heard his mother's voice coming from his left. He conjured the image of a microwave's dial in his mind and twisted it until it turned off. As he did, time seemed to return to normal and the information about everything he looked at stopped flooding in. "-zuku! You're awake!"

"Mom! Guess wha-" Izuku's words cut off as his mother's face came into view and he saw the tears in her eyes.

She pulled him into a hug, "Izuku! I was so scared!"

Izuku did his best to return the hug despite her having pinned his left arm, "I'm fine, Mom."

The door opened and she released him from her hug. He turned and saw a woman in a white coat step in followed by a man in a suit and the woman in the checkered coat that had been collapsing during the attack.

Izuku felt a deep shame well up from inside, he had been so focused on his quirk he hadn't even thought about her since waking up. Some hero he was, not that he had even saved her.

He wanted to ask if she was okay but the doctor quickly came up to him and started asking him questions and running tests. He answered and after a few minutes she spoke to the room at large, "He seems lucid, though there seems to be some signs of a minor concussion." She turned to his mom, "I would like to hold him overnight just in case, but I don't expect any complications."

He heard his mother agree and then the man in the suit asked, "Chiba-sensei, is he well enough to make a statement?"

The doctor paused for a moment before answering, "That shouldn't be a problem. Just keep it short."

The man turned to him, "Midoriya-san, I'm Inspector Yano. I have a couple of questions I'd like to ask you about the villain attack. But if you aren't feeling up for it, or if your mother would prefer, we can schedule something and do this later."

Mom walked up and grabbed his hand lightly, "Do you want to do this now?"

"I don't have a problem with that, but I have a question first if you don't mind." The inspector nodded and Izuku turned to the woman in the checkered coat who had yet to speak, "You weren't injured were you?"

The woman smiled at him, "Just a couple of scrapes."

Izuku let out a relieved breath, "Good." He turned back to the inspector, "I'll answer your questions now."

The man turned his head towards the doctor and the woman in the checkered coat, "Chiba-sensei, Hebert-san, I must ask you two to step out of the room for this."

Izuku felt his mind race. Hebert-san, as in Taylor Hebert? And the bugs during the attack. He gasped at the woman, "Are you Khepri!?"

The woman looked surprised, "I am."

Izuku felt his eyes go wide.

"You were All Might's second sidekick! And you made his last two costumes! That's so amazing! His newest one is the best one he ever had! I think your first design was a bit too much of a departure from his classic look, but the current one brought it back to basics with just a touch of modern flair. It looks amazing and the fact that you make all of your suits out of spider silk is the coolest thing ever!" Izuku sucked in a breath, "When you left, you went to work at UA right? I really want to go to UA to become a hero! Can you give me any tips!? Actually, give me a second. I need to find a notebook!" He twisted in his seat searching the room. He found his hero notebook sitting next to the chair his mom was waiting in, "Can I get your autograph?"

Having finally stopped talking he noticed his mom squeezing his hand and tapping him on his arm, then he saw the bemused smile on Khepri's face. He felt his blood rush to his face and time slowed to a crawl. What had he been thinking? That was the most embarrassing thing ever. He forced himself to get his emotions under control and then turned time back to normal.

He bowed his head at Khepri, "I'm sorry."

Khepri laughed, "It is not a problem."

Izuku looked back up, "It is just that you are one of my favorite heroes and I'm still a bit overwhelmed because I just got my quirk."

The room exploded in noise and motion.

His mom squeezed his hand hard enough to hurt, "What? How?"

The doctor gave him a confused look, "That should not be possible. We may need to take some scans."

The inspector's eyes turned sharp, "I'm sorry young man. When exactly did you get your quirk?"

Khepri just looked at him with tired eyes then said a single word, "Silence." The room obeyed.

"Chiba-sensei, you can talk to Midoriya-san later about getting scans. Yano-san, the boy seems distracted right now. Maybe if I get him an autograph like he requested you would have better luck getting a coherent statement." Her voice brooked no debate and the two quickly agreed to her suggestions before leaving the room.

Khepri walked over and picked up his notebook with a metal hand. Then she pulled out a pen and signed it with her left. She then pulled out a card out of one of her pockets and wrote on it as well.

She handed him the notebook and mom the card. He looked at the cover and saw her signature! He was going to need to get this framed!

"As for your questions about UA, how about we schedule a tour. I will be able to answer anything you want to know then."

Izuku turned to his mom, somehow even more excited, "Can we? Please?"

"I don't know, Izuku. Khepri-san must be a busy woman, I don't want to use up too much of her time." Izuku felt despair sink into his soul.

"It wouldn't be any trouble at all."

Mom turned to him, then glanced at the card Khepri had handed her. She frowned and turned the card over. After a moment she quickly pocketed it and looked back up. "Well if you insist. I know Izuku would be over the moon for a chance to get a tour of UA."

Khepri smiled back, "Then I will see the two of you in a couple of days."

Izuku stopped time to stop himself from shouting out in excitement. Almost being killed by a villain aside, today was truly the greatest day of his life.

Taylor sat on a bench in front of the hospital thinking about what she had just heard through her bugs. Midoriya-kun's statement to the inspector had been shockingly thorough and accurate given that he was a young witness, though she wondered if the Thinker power he described had a hand in that.

At the thought of his trigger she felt the deep pit of worry she had been struggling with returning. Was Scion still alive? Or did another one of his kind come to pick up where he left off? Or did this not mean anything and it was just the Passengers acting on their own with Scion dead? So many questions and no way to get any answers.

She forced the questions out of her mind as there was no purpose in dwelling on it. If Scion or something like him had returned she would fight them again, but until she knew for certain she would focus on what she could do on this Earth.

She stood as the inspector stepped out of the hospital and approached her, "Hebert-san, I'm surprised you are still here."

"I was going to meet with a friend when I ran across the robbery. He should be meeting me here very soon."

Yano-san nodded, "Well if you have a moment, I have another question for you."

Taylor faked a smile, "Certainly."

Yano-san pulled out a recorder, "Midoriya-san said he remembers grabbing something while trying to escape the slime villain, but we did not find anything like that at the crime scene. Do you remember seeing anything in his hand while you were providing medical aid?"

Taylor shook her head, "I did not find anything like that."

Yano-san turned off his recording device then gave her a stern look, "I've worked with you before, Khepri. Something is different about this case. What are you hiding?"

Taylor kept her face blank, "I've already given you my statement. The villain's death was an accident that I will be taking full responsibility for." She looked down, directly meeting his gaze, "Do you understand?"

Inspector Yano flinched and looked away, "Midoriya must have been confused."

Taylor patted him on the shoulder with her prosthetic, "I'm glad we agree. Now my friend has just arrived. If you have any other questions for me, reach out to the UA Hero Agency."

She then walked past him to where the thin form of Toshinori stood waiting. He turned and started walking with her. After a moment she heard him sigh, "Taylor did you have to intimidate the poor inspector? He was just doing his job."

"Midoriya-kun does not need the records to say that the first thing he did with his quirk is kill someone."

"Still, there had to be other ways you could have accomplished that."

Taylor laughed, "What can I say? I was just falling back on old habits."

Toshinori groaned, "You have to stop using that excuse, you were only a villain for a few months, and it was almost a decade ago at this point."

Taylor turned to meet her friend's gaze. His eyes sparkled with mirth as she continued the old routine, "They were very memorable months."

"I don't think you can argue that, son." Toshinori finished with his best impression of Sorahiko.

They both giggled and Toshinori pulled her in for a one arm hug, "It is good to see you Taylor."

Taylor returned it, "You as well." She looked up at the darkening sky, "It is a little late for tea. Want to get takeout? We can chat at my place."

Taylor handed the last dish to Toshinori so he could dry it. While he finished up she filled her tokkuri with sake and pulled out two ochoko. She went to the table with Toshinori trailing shortly behind.

She filled one of the ochoko and passed it to Toshinori who was looking at the walls. She heard him speak quietly under his breath, "Still so spartan..."

Taylor coughed quietly and Toshinori started. He picked up the tokkuri and poured sake into the other ochoko and passed it to her. They clinked their cups and drank them in peaceful silence. After setting his down Toshinori broke the silence. "So, any idea what that boy triggering means?"

"No. It could mean anything or nothing. We know that the Passengers survived the death of Scion because my power still works, so there is no reason to think they couldn't give out powers without him. Still I called Nezu and asked him to check if there are any other reports of people getting new powers after traumatic events."

Taylor wasn't very hopeful about him finding anything. Quirk Awakenings were going to lead to lots of false positives so unless quirkless people had started triggering it was going to be like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Toshinori picked up the tokkuri and poured more sake into her ochoko, "And is the boy alright? From what you told me Trigger Events are traumatic and powers can have side effects."

Taylor returned the favor, "Izuku Midoriya. He seems like a good kid, wants to be a hero and is a huge fan of yours. He started critiquing the costumes I made for you when he found out I was Khepri." Toshinori started to laugh but stopped himself before he could spit out the sake he was sipping, "I invited him and his mother on a tour of UA. I'll tell him about being a parahuman there."

"Good idea. For now I think I will take this as good news." Taylor raised her eyebrow at him, "You are not the only parahuman on this earth now."

Taylor sipped her sake, "Misery loves company."

Toshinori set down his ochoko and gave her a worried stare, "Taylor, are you miserable? If something is bothering you, let me kno-"

"Sorry, that was a bad turn of phrase." Taylor cut him off, picking up the tokkuri to top off his ochoko. "This Earth has been good for me."

Toshinori let out a long breath, "I'm glad. You deserve happiness after everything you have been through. Everything you have accomplished."

Taylor smiled in agreement…

She felt a chill run down her spine. She agreed that she deserved happiness? When did that happen? Had she forgotten who she was? What she was?

Taylor emptied her ochoko and forced the unwelcome thoughts out of her mind. She made a note to bring this up at her next appointment with Hirabayashi-sensei.

"So I know the events of today have been distracting, but why did you want to see me in the first place?" Taylor changed the subject.

Toshinori gave her a concerned glance before answering, "Well I did just want to see how you were doing but I also have something I wanted to tell you."

He picked up the tokkuri and filled her ochoko with the last of the sake. Taylor stayed quiet letting him stall.

"I want to start teaching part time at UA."

Taylor blinked, "Are you looking for a successor? Honestly I thought you would never retire willingly." She had already been talking with Mirai about how they would probably have to start browbeating him into doing so in the next few years.

He laughed and transformed into his All Might form, "I've still got plenty of heroic deeds in me before I need to retire." He transformed back, "But that isn't completely untrue. I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. I need to start looking for a successor. I don't plan on giving them One For All right away, but if I don't start looking I might miss the perfect candidate."

Taylor frowned, this didn't seem like Toshinori. "Even with All For One still out there?"

Toshinori nodded, "He is who I have been thinking about. When my master gave me One For All I had thought I understood its purpose. To stop All For One and bring as much peace as I could to this world. But five years ago I had a chance to stop All For One once and for all and I just let it pass."

Five years ago would have been right before she signed up with his agency. How serious he looked when he told her about the threat that man posed had been the impetus for her to actually get her license and try being a hero again. She considered interjecting but sipped her sake instead letting Toshinori tell the story at his own pace.

He looked down into his ochoko for a second then emptied it in a single gulp. He set it down and continued, "I had already beaten him, stopped his plan and captured his allies. We were fighting and he decided to cut his losses and retreat. I saw the opening, but if I went for it he would have definitely had a chance to counterattack. So I let it pass, and let him escape."

Toshinori looked up at her as if expecting her to pass judgment upon him, she remained silent. Finally he continued, "I've been thinking about it for years now, I've thought myself a coward, told myself that it wasn't a real opening just a trap, I've wondered if my master hates me for failing to avenge her. But now I think I finally understand. I couldn't risk One For All just to kill All For One because that is not its purpose."

Finally Taylor broke her silence, "Then what is?"

Toshinori looked her in the eye and answered, "Gold Morning." Taylor flinched. Toshinori looked at her apologetically but continued anyway. "Gold Morning showed me that for as dangerous as All For One truly is, he can still be nothing more than a chapter in human history. Even if he were to succeed and shape this world in his own image, he would still have done nothing to the majority of humanity. But Scion, he was something else."

Toshinori closed his eyes and took in a deep breath before continuing, "With every successor One For All grows stronger. My responsibility is to ensure that chain continues. to find someone who will wield the power it already holds with responsibility and who will help forge it into a shield that can be used to protect all of humanity the next time there is a threat like Scion."

"Then let's get started."

A/N: Thanks to MN01 for beta reading this chapter. So canon was never really on the rails. I had a few reasons for this change but the biggest one is that this lets me decouple from the canon timeline so that we can follow a class through three years of Taylor's lessons.

I do have a mild concern because Taylor is a first name basis with a few characters who are better known by the hero names so I figured I would mention them down here to help clear up any confusion.

Sorahiko = Gran Torino

Mirai = Sir Nighteye

Finally I am looking for beta readers. PM me if you are interested.