After class the next day, I waited for Aizawa at the front gate, the work I still had to complete, and tonight's homework, both sitting in my bag.

Aizawa came out with a handful of paperwork, stuffing them in his scarf.

"Come on, it'll take about thirty minutes to get there, so you'll have about an hour and a half before we have leave."

It was better than nothing, following the lanky man to the train station, doing my homework while we rode as close as we could to the wreckage, looking out on the carnage. I couldn't imagine how it looked on day one when rescue workers had been here.

There was a sign in sheet for volunteers, a man in a suit sitting behind the booth. I guess the government here cared a little more than back home. They wanted to know who was here helping out and even provided safety equipment. I guess it made sense, dozens of people already working to clean up the mess, some of them costumed heroes, others just normal looking people who wanted to help.

Aizawa waved his hand, shooing me off.

"Go. Keep an eye on the time, though. We have a tight schedule to keep."

Once I was let loose, I found the closest bit of rubble, using tools to break it, carrying it to the metal bin waiting nearby. It was hard, but this was the difference I wanted to make. This was something I could be proud of.

"Hey! Who do you think you are!?"

At first, I didn't know who was yelling, but once the large man with black hair and two deer like antlers sticking out of his head made himself known, walking up to me, I had an idea of why this guy was yelling.

Keeping a calm head was important to being a hero, and I was going to be a hero, no matter what.

"I'm Midoriya Izuku. Who are you?"

It seemed like I just angered him more, the grown man leaning down to look me in the face, smelling like cigarettes and sweat.

"You think being here is appropriate after what you and your father did? You two destroyed Kamino, and now you think you can just make everyone forget by cleaning up?"

His anger had attracted a small crowd, some of whom were vocal with their hatred of me, others who stood there looking indifferent. No one seemed to want to stick up for me, but I didn't need them to. I knew why I was here.

"I don't want to be forgiven. I'm here to help, nothing more, nothing less."

All I did was enrage him by mistake, and he drew his fist back, closing my eyes and tensing my body for a strike that never came.

Opening my eyes, I saw a cloth wrapped around the man's fist, Aizawa perched up on a building that had been turned into rubble, high above us.

"I can't make up for whatever or whomever you lost, but what we can do is rebuild, and make sure what happened here can never happen again."

It wasn't much, but his shoulders fell, and Aizawa let the cloth loose so he could pull his hand free, silently fuming as he walked away.

Now that he was gone, the crowd dispersed, and I could get back to work, making up for the few minutes that had been wasted with the man.

When my time started getting short, I finished with what I could, turning in my equipment and returning to the train station with Aizawa.

The ride was silent, and he left once we got back to campus. Of course, without work to take my mind off of it all, my conversations with the man earlier weighed on my soul. I was there for forgiveness, just not for them. I was there wanting a reason to forgive myself.

Shower, dinner, avoid the people who cared about me, and lay in bed, tired and feeling emotions words didn't do justice to. Beatrix jumped up on the bed, grunting as she made me turn over from my stomach, looking at the pig who ran from me to the door, back and forth.

"Okay, we'll go for a walk, but we got to make it quick. I've still got some homework." I told her, getting up and out of bed, letting her run down the hall and into the opening elevator, spooking Aoyama.

"Sorry, she's excited about going for a walk." I apologized, just for her to squeal and stick her nose up in the air.

"Do not worry, mon ami, I am unharmed. But perhaps a leash would help teach her control, non?" He asked, and Beatrix turned to him, nipping at his shoe, the French boy jumping back in fear.

"I'm afraid not. She's too smart for that. Oh, she got into your room, so look out for any pellets." I told him, pushing the button as he tried to keep talking to me, asking me if I was kidding or not. Maybe it was mean, but I didn't like him. I didn't trust him.

"Come on, girl, there's a big forest we can enjoy."

Squealing happily by my side, she stopped a few times to eat a couple of flowers, but eventually, we made it to the wooded area.

Quiet and peaceful, we stayed out in the woods for a while until I had to get back for curfew, trying not to be late as we ran back, bunping into the skeletal former symbol of peace.

"Oh. Hey All Might, how's retirement?" I asked, making sure he was alright before picking up Beatrix.

"What a coincidence kid, I've been looking for you. Don't worry, if you're late, I'll take the blame." He told me, continuing walking in the direction he'd been headed.

"Uh, alright. Is everything okay?"

Silence came from him, and my curiosity was in full swing as we walked. Beatrix finding a way to rest awkwardly in my arms. At least one of us was comfortable.

"In our last conversation, I told you about One-For-All and how I plan to pass it to you. Ideally, you would be a bit more muscular, but I'm running out of time, kid. Unless it's passed soon, the flames of power may go out entirely, leaving only embers inside me."

Out of the things I expected this to be, this was not it. How could his power just stop working? Wasn't that the whole point that it was a quirk, a piece of him biologically?

"Wait, let me make sure I've gotten this straight. If you don't pass your power, it'll fade? How? I thought the point of a quirk was that it was part of you."

Lifting his shirt, I could see a giant scar spreading from the left side of his chest and stomach.

"Holy shit, what happened?"

"Your dad happened, kid. One-For-All originally came from All-For-One, a strength stockpiling quirk, given to his quirkless brother during a time when quirks were still new. The only thing is, his brother wasn't quirkless. He had a hidden quirk, one that allowed him to pass his quirk to another. Every user has made it their mission to stop your father. Now that he's incarcerated, we can't rest still. Tomura Shigaraki and the League of Villains are still out there." He told me, and I wondered what the odds of this were. That my dad was the reason he'd been brought down, giving my uncle the power that was getting passed to me.

Then another thought hit me.

"Jesus, my dad's like, two hundred years old! That's insane!"

All Might leaned forward, coughing into a hankerchief. It seemed like I'd managed to surprise him with my observation.

"Did you gleam anything else from what I said?!"

"Of course I did, and the fact that my father is the reason this power exists at all is. it's poetic that I'll use this power to stop the League he created."

My reply was a little cheesy, but watching him buff up and pluck hair from the top of his head was a little rude

"Alright, kid, you ready to become number nine?" He asked, offering the hair to me with a smile.

"Explain why you're holding out hair, and I'll answer that."

He laughed heartily and offered the hair again.

"Eat this! You have to consume a piece of my DNA for One-For-All to transfer to you."

It felt like my eyes were bulging out of my head, and I wondered if he had been pulling my leg and having a laugh with me, or if this had been how he got his jollies off. But if this was real, all it would cost is a bit of my dignity. If it wasn't, It didn't matter. I didn't have enough dignity to lose to care.

Taking the hair from him, I held it in front of my mouth, preparing myself with a little rhyme.

"Through the lips, past the tongue. Watch out stomach, hear it comes."

Done the hatch. It sucked trying to chew, and it got stuck halfway down my throat, swallowing over and over until I felt it go down.

"Water?" All Might offered, a fresh bottle in his hand. That would have made eating it way easier.

Drinking it down and making sure there wasn't hair in my teeth, I looked at him, feeling kind of stupid.

"It'll take a few hours to kick in, so now would be a good time for us to return to your dorm. I'm sure Aizawa is probably waiting for you, arms crossed and grumpy."

Great. I didn't even get to know if this was the real deal until tomorrow morning? Oh well, It was Saturday. I could play Fallout 4 until two in the morning.

We spoke about classes and how, for the most part, I was happy here. I had friends, even if I'd been withdrawing since I'd gotten back. Things were tough, I knew they would be when I signed up for this gig, but man, I was not handling it as well as I could.

Almost everyone was still up, hanging out in the dorm and watching movies, playing video games, and cooking in the kitchen. It seemed like the only one not here was Bakugou, but I wasn't surprised. He didn't seem to have too many friends.

"Hey Midoriya, why are you getting in so late?" Kaminari asked, drawing attention to the both of us.

All Might answered, and I wondered how badly one man could lie.

"That would be my fault. I needed to discuss an issue with your classmate."

Ah crap, I'd have to answer for that vague answer. Great.

"I'll be seeing you all. Enjoy your free time."

All Might left, and I was left standing in the door kind of awkwardly.

"Midoriya, come join us. We're bonding." Iida called, and in his no-nonsense voice, it sounded funny.

Turning into gas and floating over next to Iida and Uraraka, I watched him lose in Mario Kart.

"I can tell. You all seem to be having a good time."

Sero asked the question I could see in many of their faces, more bold than most of the them, and not as socially aware as those who were.

"So, uh, what were you guys talking about? I don't mean to pry, but it's All Might."

Lying wasn't something that anyone wanted to do to their friends, but All Might said the truth was dangerous.

"My father. Since Kamino, so much happened, but it keeps coming back to my father. What changed him into that monster, one who tries to kill heroes? What happened to the man who checked my closet for monsters?"

It wasn't the answer to the question he'd asked, but it was one I'd been looking for since it had happened. Since I lost my father again.

My shoulders shook, and grief I thought I'd already worked through took ahold of my all over again, tears streaming down my face as it worked its way through me.

It was one thing to cry in front of my family in Gotham, but in front of my peers? It was different. My family gave me space, didn't touch me, but they didn't. They came up to comfort me, walking me to a chair, giving me a cup of tea, and putting a blanket over me.

Once I stopped, no one spoke about my sobbing, instead inviting me to play games and try cakes and sweets, all of them just treating me like I could handle my pain, and letting me work through it. But they didn't leave me.

As I fell asleep, I smiled, thinking about how I wasn't alone, surrounded by my friends.