Mirio POV, six months later
I idly chew on my sandwich as I enjoy my lunch. I'm in Toshinori's personal office, although right now the older Hero is stuck on a phone call with Sir. He had been pacing around the room having a heated discussion over… something, for almost ten minutes now. Unfortunately, it wasn't particularly rare for them to get into long arguments over the phone these days.
Preparing for the final exams is hard. Let alone, doing so whilst also keeping up with the work schedule that Toshinori has placed on me. I'm still not entirely sure what Sir did to make the number one Hero decide to personally train me, but I'm not going to throw away the opportunity. Especially when I'm learning interesting things!
Toshinori has taught me so much today, he explained the optimal methods to trick your secretaries into doing all of your paperwork. It was probably the most important thing he has ever taught me. He also taught me a few tricks around avoiding the Commission's lackeys, as well as how to keep yourself safe from the prying eyes of the press. It was truly priceless information.
After lunch, he's meant to be doing some personal training with me in the gym. The man is a bundle of wisdom when it comes to exercise and has revolutionised some of the ways I do fitness. Actually, now that I think about it, how does he even workout when his normal form is so deathly ill? Surely it wouldn't be possible to lift weights in his Hero form due to how strong he was, did his weird transformation quirk have something to do with it?
Actually, why are his two forms so different at all? There is so much I don't know about the man. I wait until Toshinori finishes up with his call before giving him a small wave.
"Hey Toshinori, I've been meaning to ask this, but how are your two forms so different? I can understand how a transformation quirk works, but why is your base form so…?"
Well, I don't want to say sickly because that would be rude. Thankfully he seems to understand what I am implying. He looks uncomfortable for a long moment before he eventually lets out one of his typical wheezy exhales. He grabs the edge of his shirt and lifts, revealing a truly horrible scar across his entire torso.
"This is an injury I received a bit over four years ago. I was fighting a villain and he got a good hit on me. Damn near tore all my organs out! These days I barely have half a stomach and a single lung left. I can't keep any weight on or perform any strenuous exercise, and I cough blood sometimes as you've probably noticed."
A lot of things start adding up. Toshinori is always out of breath and he really does have a tendency to spit blood whenever he gets a shock. I've also never seen him eat anything more than a snack. I always assumed it was some sort of weird trade-off with his transformation quirk. I let out a hum as I consider my next question.
"So, the injury caused your normal form to waste away… while your Hero form stayed the same?"
He gives me a nod.
"Back in the day activating my quirk was like getting a good pump at the gym! My muscles would be a little bigger than normal, but it wasn't anything special. These days-"
He suddenly buffs up into the towering figure of All might.
"-It's a completely different body all together!"
He deflates again into the deathly figure that is Toshinori Yagi, the true form of the number one Hero. I chew over my thoughts. I can accept who Toshinori is, and I can accept how his weird quirk works, but I still can't get over one thing…
"What villain could have possibly been strong enough to injure you? Also, what happened to this villain, are they just rotting in Tartarus, waiting for the day they can escape?"
A flash of guilt crosses his face.
"The villain… well, he's gone now. Dead. I didn't exactly have much choice. He was just too strong to go down any other way. He was… well, he was the worst villain to have ever walked this Earth. His power was a true one-of-a-kind and something on a scale that has never been seen since. But, I dealt with him so it's not something you have to worry about!"
He waves his hands frantically at the end. I chew on my lip. Accepting that the number one Hero killed a man is… surprisingly easy. If All might of all people was saying that a villain was too powerful to be taken in, I believed it. Whatever the villain's quirk was, it was clearly something special.
I also didn't miss the fact that Toshinori specifically avoided saying his name, or describing what his quirk actually was. In fact, he seemed all too eager to have me forget about this villain altogether. Perhaps this villain was more important than he was letting on?
I consider pressing for more information but ultimately decide against it. Toshinori was a good man, if he was hiding something, there was probably a good reason for it. I don't want to push his trust just for some trivia on a dead man.
He leans across the desk and gives me a slap on the shoulder.
"Right, now how about we go to the gym and get you a good workout? Having big shoulders is the key to delivering a good punch!"
I give the man a grin and climb to my feet.
Mirio POV, twenty minutes later
I gulp as I look at what Toshinori is doing to the weights. I try to put on my best Heroic smile as I pretend not to be concerned.
"Hey, I'm not sure if I can bench all that!"
Toshinori finishes clipping on the additional plates and looks up.
"Come on Young Mirio, one last rep!"
He gives me a big thumbs up for good measure.
I turn and look at the bar. There are now a full four plates on either side of the barbell. Factoring in the bar, that adds up to one hundred and eighty kilos of cold, hard steel. My last lift was with just three plates and I barely even got that rep in! I can't help but gulp.
"Toshinori, what if I can't lift it?"
Toshinori goes to smile before he suddenly stops. He looks deep in contemplation for a moment before his eyes widen. He carefully schools his features and looks down with a cold expression. I'm briefly shocked by just how harsh he looks. To be honest, he looks exactly like Endeavour.
"You have to. If you can't do this right now, then you are a failure. You can never become a Hero unless you succeed where I demand it."
My heart clenches. Does he… really mean that? I grit my teeth and lay down on the bench. I take a few deep breaths as I try to pump myself up in preparation.
"Plus Ultra!"
I arch my spine, straighten my wrists and plant my shoulders firmly against the bench. I grab the barbell and shift myself until I'm in a comfortable position, the bar just below my eyes. Toshinori has himself in a spotting position behind me.
"Come on young Mirio, don't give up before you've even tried!."
I exhale and push the bar off the rack. I slowly move it forward until it's parallel to my upper chest. I adjust the position slightly until I feel my pectorals tighten. Toshinori is hovering overhead, his arms prepared to help catch the weight if I can't get it up.
Alright, here goes nothing.
I lower the bar to my chest and let it bump against my lower pecs. Next comes the hard part.
"Up up up!"
I take a deep breath. I tighten my abs and start to apply stabilising force from my feet. I push up with all my strength. The bar moves, slowly, agonisingly slowly. My muscles scream as my arms shake. The bar reaches higher and higher, then begins to drop. I try to push harder but I can't, the bar slowly drops lower and lower toward my chest. Toshinori transforms and catches the bar just before it reaches my pecs. He throws the weight back onto the rack with a huff.
I pull myself upright. I breathe heavily as my adrenaline spikes. My heart flutters as fear sets in.
"I'm sorry, but I couldn't do it."
He folds his arms together in the same manner that the number two Hero does.
"Then, you cannot become a Hero. From now on you will be on your own. This is the end of your training."
I clench my fists.
"I… I don't care. I don't care what you say, I will become a Hero no matter what! I will become the best Hero I possibly can, for I am Lemillion! No matter what you say I will save as many lives as I can! I don't care if you will help me or not, I don't need any help to be the best!"
I stand upright and glare at the man.
"I don't need your help! If you don't want me, then that is your mistake. I will be the best Hero I can be."
Toshinori's expression shifts.
"Young Mirio, you just passed my test."
I blink.
"Test?"
He lets out a booming laugh as his entire body relaxes suddenly.
"My boy, I wanted to see your conviction! I channeled my inner Endeavour and tried to crush your dreams as harshly as I could. I wanted to see if you would stand up for yourself and defend your dream. Not only did you do as I hoped, you even went past my expectations!"
I gape at the man, unsure what to say.
"But… I did fail?"
He laughs once again.
"Ah, that's nothing, I didn't actually think you would be able to get it up! You can try again next week, or the week after that, or so on and so on until you get it! I remember when I first tried to benchpress five hundred pounds. I failed twelve times until I finally got it!"
He twists his torso and pulls one of his feet behind the other, leaning back slightly where he stands. He curls his left arm into a front bicep position and then points his right arm to the sky, tilting his head to look upward. The lighting is just right as he strikes a perfect pose of the gods, perhaps one of the most iconic bodybuilding poses ever created.
"You should never be afraid to fail! Anything that I've ever attempted, I was always willing to fail. There is going to be a time when you try to save someone, and you can't do it. I remember the first time I had to tell a mother that I wasn't able to save her son, the first time I had to comfort a grieving parent over the death of their loved one."
He suddenly deflates into his regular form. He wipes a dribble of blood from his lip before he continues.
"I felt crushed. I was miserable for days. I felt like a failure. But then, I had a very important realisation. I can't save everyone, so I have to do my best to save who I can! Even just last week I got to the scene of a crime too late and had to report a dead body, but I didn't let it get me down! Letting yourself get bogged down over your failures doesn't help anyone out, all it does is make you feel bad! Always remember that there are more people out there just waiting to be saved, no matter what there is always another opportunity to be a Hero!"
He reaches out and grabs me by the hand.
"So, remind me why you were so concerned about failing to lift a little bit of metal again?"
I can't help but burst out into laughter. The sudden back-to-back tonal shifts was just too much for me to handle. After a second Toshinori joins in and the two of us laugh together for a long moment. After I calm down I give him a grin.
"You know, I had no idea you were so good at speeches. I feel so silly being so concerned, I actually thought you were being serious! I thought that you were about to disregard me and send me home…"
He shakes his head.
"No, it is entirely understandable. Youth in Japan are taught from the day they start school to always do as they are told and never fail the expectations of their teacher. The true lesson here is that no matter what anyone says, only you can decide your own future. The only person who can decide where you can be a Hero is yourself!"
He holds a hand out toward me before he continues.
"Mirio, I deem you worthy of my power!"
I blink.
"What?"
He stares at me expectantly for a long moment before he pauses. He retracts his hand and rubs the back of his head.
"Ah, I just realised I haven't told you about that quite yet! My quirk is… special. You see, I was actually born quirkless. My quirk, One for All, is a quirk that can be manually passed down between users! The quirk grows stronger over time and between generations, becoming more and more powerful as time goes on. It came to being in the dawn of quirks, and now belongs to me."
He has an expression of pride on his face. He reaches out his palm once more in a symbolic gesture.
"I deem you as worthy of One for All. Do you accept my power?"
I wave my hands for a moment.
"Okay, hold on a minute! I am missing a LOT of information here! So your quirk is called 'One for All', which is a rather mysterious name by the way and it can be transferred somehow? How did the first person even figure this out? Also, you said it's been around since the dawn of quirks, so how has this thing gone under the radar for two hundred years? Actually, now I suddenly understand why you have been personally training me! Wait, did Sir specifically suggest me as a candidate for One for All? Wait did Sir pick me in my first year because I'm blond a look a bit like you? Oh my god what if-"
Toshinori grabs me and shakes me until I stop rambling.
"I'm sorry Young Mirio! I realise now that I'm dumping a lot on you, how about I explain things in more detail in my office and we can make your decision a bit more educated?"
What on earth have I stumbled into?
Mirio POV, five minutes later
Toshinori locks the door behind him as we enter his office.
"Alright Young Mirio, take a seat."
I sit across from his desk and wait for him to do the same. Once he gets into his own chair I stretch my neck and give him a nod.
"Alright, hit me with it."
He seems to collect his thoughts for a moment before he veins.
"The story of One for All began with two brothers from long ago. The older brothers had a quirk that let him give and take other quirks, which he used for evil. He became one of the first villains in history and used his quirk for great evil and cruelty. However, the younger brother was born sickly and weak, as well as being quirkless. At some point the first brother decided to give a quirk to the other, presumably to control him."
He leans forward.
"But, the second bother did have a quirk! It was a useless quirk that had a unique ability, it could pass itself on to others. The older brother gave him an energy stockpiling quirk and suddenly the two quirks fused together, creating One for All! Ever since that day, One for All has been passed down between great Heroes, eventually ending up with me as it's eighth wielder. That is the story of One for All."
I groan loudly.
"Okay, you completely skimmed over the villain there! So this villain can give and take quirks? That's completely overpowered, what happened to him?"
Toshinori looks panicked in the exact same way he did when he was talking about his injuries earlier.
"Ahh, you don't need to worry about that! It's not a-"
Something clicks.
"He was the villain who gave you that injury, right? Let me guess, he stole some sort of longevity quirk? If he was strong enough to face you he probably had a lot of quirks… and was able to use many of them at once. That would easily make him the strongest villain ever recorded. Since he isn't known to the public, I'm guessing he chose to operate in the shadows, and the Heroes decided to keep it under wraps to avoid making the public panic?"
Toshinori vomits blood. I grab some tissues from his desk and shove them toward him. He wipes down his face and throws them in the bin, before turning toward me with an expression of shock on his face.
"How did you…"
I shrug.
"Well, Sir taught me to work on my logic and deduction skills. You were trying to hide information about this older brother and seemed panicked to not let me know. I noticed that you did the exact same thing when talking about the villain who gave you your injury. Toshinori, you need to tell me about this villain. About everything. I will not accept this quirk if you try to hide things from me."
Toshinori is silent for a long time.
"All for One. That was his name. He was a villain that lived for more than two hundred years, collecting thousands of quirks over that time. He was the man who ended the lives of every One for all user before me. The two quirks are diametrically opposed, One for All exists to save others, and All for One exists to oppress them."
I shrug.
"Well, the names definitely give it away. I mean 'One for All' is really Heroic, while 'All for One' is something an edgy fourteen-year-old would think up."
Toshinori just nods.
"Sure, whatever. Now back to my story, the younger brother was the first Hero to rebel against All for One's rule. However, he was unable to defeat him and instead passed down the quirk in the hopes of the next user being able to finish the job. This continued for eight generations until I became the first one strong enough to finally defeat him."
Holy shit. A war between two quirks that lasted for two hundred years? That was just… nuts. The fact that I was being offered something with such a history is honestly humbling. The fact that it took so long for All for One to be defeated is a little terrifying, just how strong was this man?
I clear my throat.
"Okay, and he is dead now, right? Because I really don't want to take this quirk and then suddenly wake up to All for One outside my window."
Toshinori nods with fierce intensity.
"He was the first and last person I have ever intentionally killed. I ripped his limbs off and then crushed his organs into paste for good measure. Then, I smashed his remains into the Earth so hard that the Commission decided to cover up the whole battle as being a localised magnitude nine earthquake. There is no quirk in existence that would have allowed him to survive that. I am utterly certain that he is well and truly dead."
Wow. That was… wow. That was a brutal murder, and the number one Hero was the one who committed it. It was hard to imagine Toshinori doing something so… violent. Then again, this was the villain who spent the last two hundred years hunting down One for All. It feels hard to blame him for going overboard, even if it is wrong.
I tap my fingers against the desk as I try to ignore the fact that Toshinori had murdered someone.
"Okay. So, what happened after All for One died? Did he have a successor of some kind, or any children?"
Toshinori scoffs.
"No. There is simply no way that man would have ever had a successor, let alone children. He was simply too evil for such things. He would have seen them as a competitor to his throne and would have inevitably ended up killing them."
I lean back in my chair and exhale. There is just… so much to unpack here. This entire conversation was crazy. The fact that All might is offering me his quirk is just nuts. Although, I still don't know exactly what the quirk does. Does it just make you become really strong?
"Toshinori, how does One for All actually work? Am I going to gain a transformation like you do?"
He scratches his head rather guiltily.
"Uh, maybe? When I received it I just sorta got really really strong. I do recall my master saying it made her quirk way stronger, but I'm quirkless so I don't know if it still works that way. It'll most likely just make you super powerful is my best guess!"
That is a truly terrible explanation. One for All is an energy stockpiling quirk, shouldn't it behave like Nejire's quirk? Maybe instead of emitting energy like Nejire, it instead stored all of the energy inside of the body? I very much get the feeling that I'm going to have some serious work to do in order to learn this new quirk.
Then again, everyone in the Big Three had a quirk that was hard to master. I'm sure with our minds put together we will be able to figure it out. My own quirk was a nightmare at first, how hard can a second quirk be?
Ah, speaking of my friends, I should probably mention them to Toshinori.
"I'm going to need to talk to Nejire and Tamaki about all of this before I make my decision."
He shoots upright instantly.
"No no! You can't tell anyone about this! If the secret of One for All were to get out then everyone in the world would be trying to get it! Every person you tell is one more person that could be captured or interrogated!"
I fold my arms and meet his eyes with my own.
"I trust them with my life. They are more than just my friends, they are part of the Big Three. The two of them are guaranteed to become top-level Heroes, I'm sure they will learn many secrets in their lifetime. Anyway, there's just no way I could hide gaining a second quirk from them! What would I say, 'Hey guys I suddenly got an All might level power up for no reason!'. They wouldn't buy it even for a second."
Toshinori looks deeply conflicted.
"Okay… but only if you are certain. Please ensure they keep their discretion."
Tamaki could barely talk to people at the best of times, there's no way he would have a slip-up. Nejire was scatterbrained at the best of times, but she actually had a very good head on her shoulders. She would definitely understand the importance of the situation and wouldn't let it get out.
I give him a nod.
"I'll talk to them about it once I get back to UA. Nejire is an expert in any sort of energy or stockpiling-based quirks so having her in the loop will be a huge help. Speaking of, if I do choose to accept One for All, when do you intend to do the transfer?"
I wait for him to respond. He says nothing for several seconds. I wait a bit more.
"Oh, uhhh… how about I give it to you… after the UA exams! But only if you pass! I wouldn't want to distract you with a new quirk right before your exams!"
I roll my eyes. Toshinori was an amazing Hero but he was really scatterbrained at times. I climb to my feet.
"Alright, I'm going to head back to UA. I'll talk to Nejire and Tamaki once I'm there, and I'll give you a call once I make my decision."
This is going to be an interesting conversation.
Mirio POV, one day later
"And that's the story. So, thoughts?"
Nejire and Tamaki sit before me with shocked faces. I lean back in my chair as I wait for them to process it. It took a while to explain everything but I was confident they now understood the importance of what I had just told them.
After a while, Nejire folds her arms behind her head and whistles. She's not a very good whistler so it sounds a bit strangled, but was better than her previous attempts.
"Wow."
Yeah, that's about the reaction I expected.
"That's what I said when All might first told me. So, do you think I should take his offer?"
They both speak at once.
"Yes!"
"Y-yes."
I blink. I really didn't expect them to answer so soon. Let alone for Tamaki to speak at all, the boy had barely moved since I began talking. I chew my lip.
"Are you guys sure? I mean, it's a big decision. To be honest I didn't think you would be able to come to a conclusion so fast…"
Nejire jumps to her feet and throws a few punches at the air in pure excitement.
"Of course! Who else All might give it to? You have the most amazing Heroic spirit! All might would be dumb as fuck to consider anyone else! Except for me of course, but I'm way too humble and amazing to need an extra quirk! Mine is already super cool and it would just be unfair on the villains to face Nejire but even stronger!"
She has a big grin on her face. Ah, never change Nejire. Her eccentric behaviour made her off-putting to many people, but once you got to know her it was rather charming. She usually didn't mean half the things she said, except when she did, in which case she was fully serious. It was usually hard to tell which of the two it was.
Tamaki clenches his fist as he looks at me with conviction.
"Y-you're the perfect person for it, Mirio. You are the reason I decided to become a Hero! You're the one who saved me, when no one else would! You should be the one to take One for All."
I launch myself to my feet and wrap the two in a hug. Nejire of course takes this opportunity to float upward and dangle us all around mid-air. Tamaki freaks out and shoves himself away, landing on the floor in a heap. I cant help but laugh as Nejire starts giggling. Tamaki gives his own snort a moment later.
Nejire sets me on the ground and give the two of them a grin.
"You two are right, thank you. For everything. I'll give All might a call, be right back."
Tamaki and Nejire gives me a big grin and a double thumbs up.
"Remember, you need to pass your exams first! If you don't then I'll rip your balls off!"
Why is she so terrifying?
.
.
.
Author note:
By the way, in the original draft I had All might's acting being WAY better. My beta pointed out that some people would definitely not realise he was acting and would click off the story, so I added bunch of lines not very subtly hinting at him just trying to act like endeavour.
