Chapter 2 - Inko-nceivable News

(Musutafu Children's Park - Musutafu, Japan - 10 years ago, July)

Inko sat on the park bench feeling the warmth of the sun on her skin as she sat next to her friend Mitsuki Bakugo as they watched their children playing. They weren't sure what type of game they were playing but it was clearly something related to heroes if the names being called out were any indication. She resisted the urge to say something, knowing that Pro-heroes were a non-topic in their tiny apartment, however, Izuku like everyone else his age loved them and he needed to socialise so she bit her tongue for the moment. Her eyes glanced at Mitsuki's son Katsuki who had developed his quirk a few months ago and since then had become the leader of the gaggle of children she was watching, he let off a small puff of an explosion that resulted in Mitsuki yelling for him to be careful.

The use of the quirk caused her to frown a little and turn her gaze to Izuku, if Katsuki was the leader of the group then Izuku was his constant shadow. Both mothers had been thrilled how close their boys had grown, the two were like brothers most of the time but Inko was starting to get a little worried as she saw their relationship changing. Izuku still hadn't developed his quirk and the power imbalance between the two was starting to develop into unhealthy territory where Katsuki made all the choices and Izuku meekly followed them. She wasn't the only one noticing the difference but beyond herself, Mitsuki and Mitsuki's husband Masaru very few of the adults seemed inclined to do anything about it. She suspected it was due to Katsuki's powerful quirk, she had seen the same thing when growing up, if one had a powerful quirk you were given a lot of leeway in how you acted.

She was also getting worried about her son's lack of a quirk, he had turned 4 a few weeks ago and there was still no sign of it. He had yet to display any sign of attracting objects to him as she could or anything remotely close to…..his father's quirk. That thought made her pause for a second as her mind turned to Toshinori. She, like everyone else in the world, didn't actually know what All Might's quirk was, only that it made him strong and unstoppable, but beyond that, she had no idea what to be watching out for. Would Izuku suddenly be able to grow powerful muscles like Toshnori did? Or would he one day just start breaking things with incredible strength? Or what if he developed a weird combination of theirs and who knew what that would look like?

'I wish Toshinori was here.' Inko blinked as the thought sounded in her head before she could dismiss it completely.

She would be lying if she said Toshinori didn't cross her mind nearly once a day, mainly because pictures of All Might were everywhere but also because Izuku each day reminded her of him. However, that was largely due to how he acted rather than any physical resemblance on his part to the world's symbol of peace. She was thankful beyond belief that Izuku was nearly the spitting image of her instead of Toshinori, which would have potentially led to awkward conversations as to why he looked like All Might. No Izukumostly took after her, he had her round face, her round emerald green eyes, and in all, no one couldn't tell they were mother and son.

However, one thing Izuku had inherited from his father which made her worry beyond belief that he would soon show signs of whatever Toshinori's quirk was. Izuku was tall for his age. Toshinori had towered over her, over everyone in fact, it was one of his most distinguishing features, the man stood at over 7 feet tall even when not in his muscle form. As she looked at her son playing with the other children she could see he was easily the tallest kid in his year group, he wasn't freakishly tall but he was close. Looking at him she could tell that he was going to at least resemble his father in height, each year Izuku always grew a little faster than the other kids and she guessed it would be the one thing he would always beat his friend Katsuki on.

Speaking of Katsuki the boy had let off another explosion although this one was a little more powerful than the sparks and puffs he normally did. It also appeared hot enough that it burnt the ground in front of him a little.

"HEY IF YOU DO THAT ONE MORE TIME YOU LITTLE BRAT I WILL END YOU!" Mitsuki exploded to her feet, her fiery parenting style on display as she yelled at her kid before sitting back down again. "That kid, he gets his quirk and it's all, bang, bang, boom, boom all the time. Why couldn't he just get mine! I swear if he breaks one more piece of furniture I am sending him to an orphanage"

"What did he break this time?" Inko gave her friend a little smile as she pulled out her thermos and poured out two cups of tea passing one to her friend.

"The fridge, he wanted some milk and instead of asking for help, BOOM!" Mitsuki gave a little sigh as she sipped Inko's tea. "No fridge door, I swear the Quirk Counseling at their school is a joke."

"Well, I'm sure he'll get control soon." Inko gave her friend a supportive grin but couldn't help her eyes darting to her son and frowning a little.

"Oh shit, sorry Inko." Mitsuki gave an apologetic look as she looked awkwardly at the kids, the two had spoken on the topic more than once in recent months. "Here I am complaining about my kid's quirks and I haven't asked how Izuku is handling things on the quirk front."

"He's…enthusiastic, can't wait to get it," Inko just sipped her tea not looking her friend in the eye as she looked at the children playing. "We've got a doctor's appointment next week to see a specialist."

Inko tried her best to hide her slight worry about what the test was going to show, her fears that Izuku would develop a quirk exactly like his father terrified her. She knew despite her rule against talking about pro-heroes at home that Izuku idolised them and she suspected he had watched a certain video of All Might saving people on their computer when she was cooking. What scared her most wasn't people linking him to All Might but that if he developed the same quirk he would follow his father down the same path. She knew she was slightly biased because of her fears, she did admire All Might and respect what he had done but she was more aware than most of the dangers his life imposed on him.

"Inko is Izuku a bastard?" Mitsuki's question caused Inko's eyes to widen and look directly at her overly blunt and direct friend.

"WHAT?!" Inko's panic was mixed with shock at the brazen question, not sure how to respond to the sudden line of questioning.

"Inko we've been friends for over four years now and have practically raised our boys together. I've never met your husband 'Hisashi' and the photos you have of him look like the stock photos of the fashion magazine we work for." Mitsuki stayed calm as she sipped her tea, her eyes darting to the other moms sitting close by but out of earshot of them. "Also, every time something even remotely related to him, like Izuku's quirk, comes up you get all…..weird, cryptic and lost in thought. And you touch that scar on your cheek."

Inko blinked as she removed the hand from her face that had been tracing the faded but still visible scar on her face. "And, and….How does that make you think Izuku is….illegitimate?"

"Because I'm a model, who has seen all the shit women go through because of men. I've seen girls become mistresses, have affairs, one night stands gone wrong, date a villain, get into drugs and the rest of it. I've seen the aftermath too when the bastards leave after the fun is gone" Mitsuki's eyes for once weren't filled with fierce competition or fiery resolve but a gentleness that came with experience "Look I'm not judging but you react like every girl I know who has a kid whose dad is someone important or dangerous or both and they can't talk about it…..I just wanted you to know I'm here for you, no judgement"

Inko was quiet for a few moments her eyes leaving her friends as she then stared at the ground gripping the cup of tea in her hands. She wanted to put on a smile and pretend Mitsuki was wrong, she could get angry but that wasn't Inko's speed and besides Mitsuki was just trying to be a good friend. Her eyes darted up and saw Izuku smiling as he and Katsuki 'saved' one of the other children, her baby boy saw her looking and gave her a wave which she returned before letting out a sigh.

"Izuku's father is….it's complicated and staying was dangerous. It's why I moved here to keep my baby safe." Inko wasn't sure if she was feeling a weight lift off of her or her chest tighten as she decided to trust her friend with her fears. "I'm just worried about Izuku's quirk if he takes after his father it's going to be….."

"Did he give you that scar?" Mitsuki was soft and gentle in her tone, not wanting to push her friend, she had met a few young models whose boyfriends had gotten rough with them.

"No, he never, he would never hurt me." Inko's response caused her friend to nod slowly her eyes taking in Inko and decided to believe her, she was far too calm for it to be a lie to cover up old abuse.

"So, can I ask what happened?" Mitsuki pressed gently wanting to help her friend who she could see was carrying something that had been troubling her for years.

"Izuku's father and I were together for a few years. I loved him, I loved him so much but staying became…complicated and potentially dangerous." Inko resisted the urge to touch the scar on her face again, especially now that she knew people noticed she did it when Izuku's father was mentioned.

"Was he married?" Mitsuki's question was awkward, she loved Inko like a sister and the woman didn't seem the type to have an affair but it would make sense, a powerful man having an affair could be dangerous.

"No, nothing like that." Inko chuckled at her friend's awkward shifting, before looking her right in the eye. "He doesn't even know about Izuku, I left before he found out….His work was dangerous and I didn't want to expose a child to it"

"Okay, I won't press" Mitsuki gave her a smile seeing Inko was grateful but done sharing any more details about Izuku's father "But if you ever want to talk or anything let me know. Although I will say one thing about this mysterious man of yours."

"Oh yeah, what's that?" Inko raised a curious eyebrow

"If he let you go he must be the world's biggest idiot," Mitsuki drained the rest of her tea and smiled at her friend just as another explosion happened in the direction of the children. "THAT'S IT YOU LITTLE BRAT! COME HERE! I'M GOING TO END YOU!"

Inko could only chuckle as she watched Mitsuki rushing towards her son, the other children rushing away from the raging woman who had a visible aura of terror coming off of her. The only two children that didn't move was Mitsuki's son Katsuki who seemed to ignore his mother's yelling and her own son Izuku. She couldn't help but smile as her son tried to defend his friend from his mother's warth only for Katsuki to shout at him that he was fine, that caused her smile to drop a little but Izuku didn't seem to care and just kept trying to help.

'Maybe I'm overthinking it…..maybe it will all be okay.'

(Midoriya Family Apartment- Musutafu, Japan - 10 years ago, the day after the specialist appointment)

Inko stood still as she washed the plate in her hand again for the tenth time. Izuku was in her room which doubled as her office, she could hear the video he was watching. It was the famous clip of All Might's debut on his return to Japan, she would normally go in and turn it off but right now she didn't have the heart. She wasn't sure what to do as she stared blankly at the plate in her hand,out of everything that had ever crossed her mind with Izuku this had never even remotely registered on her radar. She knew something was wrong after they had run a whole battery of tests and left them in the doctor's office alone for over 3 hours, however, even then she had never expected this.

"Sorry kid it's not going to happen" The specialist's cold tone and blunt words echoed in her head as she felt anger rise in her at his callous approach.

CRACK!

"Oh shoot!" Inko looked down and saw she had cracked the plate in her grip and cut her hand a little, quickly putting the plate to the side and running the cut under the tap.

She hadn't really spoken to Izuku since it had happened that they had got back so late that she had just curled up with him on her bed and held him. Her son was…..quirkless. The shock of it was still catching up to her, she knew about 20% of the population didn't have a quirk but she had never actually met anyone who was quirkless. The closest she had ever got were friends who had relatives that were quirkless but even then they always seemed to be living somewhere else or out of sight. No one wanted to talk about it but she knew that a lot of quirkless people ended up in dead end jobs or worse, they also had a very high rate of sui-

'NO! We are not going there!' Inko shook the thought out of her head, as her eyes glanced to her room the door was ajar and she could hear sound coming from it. 'Oh baby what can I do? What can I say? Would Toshinori know what to say?'

That thought caused her to take a deep breath, that wasn't an option now more than ever. She knew how the world would react if they found out All Might had a kid. The pressure that would put her boy under the expectations of him, the dangers. But All Might having a quirkless kid? Izuku was already in for a lifetime of hardship as a quirkless person, he didn't need that added to by being the poor quirkless son of the world's greatest hero. She felt her heart tearing itself apart at the thought of her Izuku being torn apart by the society that worshipped his father for failing to be like him through no fault of his own. One question was lingering in her head though as she kept her bleeding hand running under the tap.

How? How had this happened?

Her parents both had quirks, and so had all of her grandparents and her great-grandparents, they were all gone now but she never knew anyone in her family not having a quirk. She didn't know much about Toshinori's family, he had only told her they died in a villain attack and she had never pressed. However, he was All Might, so she didn't doubt that his family probably had a history of powerful quirks, so that couldn't be it. She felt tears welling up in her eyes, as she concluded it must have been her side of the family, some quirkless relative no one ever talked about, that she had done this to her son. She knew he wanted a quirk more than anything else in the world, she knew that despite her only strict rules about no hero talk in the house that her son wanted to become a hero.

'Oh god, Izuku I am so sorry, I wish the wor-' Inko felt the tears starting to flood out of her but they were halted as she felt something warm on her leg.

As she looked down she could see that in her haze of emotional turmoil thinking about Toshinori, Izuku and her failing him she hadn't noticed he had slipped from her room. Her son was hugging her leg so tightly and although she could see he had been crying he had dried his tears as he tried to hug her as well as his small frame would allow. He had even fixed a broad smile on his face that didn't even remotely reach his eyes, but in that moment it didn't matter as he looked up at her. He took after his father so much without even the remotest hint about who he was.

"Mom, don't cry please." Izuku was clearly a wreck himself but all he cared about right now was that his mother was crying and he wanted it to stop "I'm okay! See I'm smiling! Please don't be sad! I'm sorry if I made yo-"

It was Izuku's turn to be cut off as Inko suddenly pulled him tight to her momentarily knocking the air from his small lungs. She was holding him now off of the ground clutching him to her chest as he wrapped his small hands around her neck, trying with all his might to make her happy. She fought back her own tears as all the things she had planned to say to him went out of her head, the apology she was going to blurt out and how sorry she was his dream was never going to come true.

She knew that was the truth though, that despite his hope and desire of becoming a great hero like his father, he was doomed to live a life in the shadows. However, as she pulled back from the hug and saw him still smiling at her she knew that tough conversation could wait another day. Her eyes went from her son to his room, it was tiny like the rest of the apartment and apart from a few toys was completely bare. He had wanted posters of heroes all over the walls but had stopped that when she had told him no, the same with more than a few action figures he had pointed to when they were out. However, Izuku was incredibly well-behaved for a four-year-old and although he hadn't understood and been sad at the event he had never cried or pushed her on it.

She knew her avoidance of pro-hero worshipping made her at best an oddball and at worst a social pariah, even amongst fully grown adults not liking the pro–hero scene was seen as crazy. However, try as she might as just couldn't look at any hero without seeing Toshinori and the devastated look on his face the last time she had seen him. What didn't help was that it was usually Toshinori's face that she was seeing All Might was so omnipresent amongst heroes that she believed like 9 out of 10 photos of heroes were just him. That notwithstanding, she knew the real reason she had always avoided it was because she had been terrified of Izuku following down Toshinori's path and living a life filled with violence and danger.

'He's been so brave, he deserves something to make this day not a total wreck.' Inko turned her attention back to her son plastering her own fragile smile on her face 'And it's not like he's at risk anymore of becoming a pro is it? We can let him dream a little, it's what Toshi would do let him dream before settling him into reality.'

"Izuku why don't go get your shoes on," Izuku gave him a little squeeze as she put him down on the floor, bending over so she could look him right in the face with her wide smile "We are going down to that store you love. I think someone deserves something for being such a brave boy, don't you?"

"Really?" Izuku's eyes widened the shock of his mother agreeing to take him to the Hero shop stopped all tears flowing.

"Yes, really, if you are quick you might even get two" Inko gave her son a teasing ruffle of his already messy hair and chuckled as he shot out of the room.

As he left she stood up allowing the worry and concern to return to her face, which stopped for a moment as she felt her hand stinging again. She looked down remembering the cut, and whilst Izuku raced to get ready she placed a plaster on the wound the bleeding having decreased to barely anything. When Izuku returned ready for his treat, she quickly plastered on another smile offered her hand and gladly took him out of the apartment.

The shop wasn't very far from their home and Inko knew exactly where it was as she had made a point to avoid passing it unless absolutely necessary. It was a typical hero store, a mix of arcade, toy store, and general paraphernalia that ultra fans collected, and it was filled mostly with children and teenagers. She gently guided Izuku through the store, her eyes fixed ahead of her as she ignored the omnipresent pictures of All Might that was everywhere, but she could bear it for now. She let go of her son as they reached the section of the store that was a bit quieter than the rest and looked age appropriate, as he rushed off to look at all the hero stuff on sale she couldn't help feel the worry return to her.

"Free sample miss?" Inko blinked and saw a store employee was offering some sort of chocolate covered treat in the shape of a hero she didn't recognise. "You can have as many as you like, the kids don't seem interested today and they are just going to be chucked."

"Oh, n-" Inko held up a hand to refuse but stopped as her eyes caught Izuku again darting between action figures as she felt her stomach flip with worry. "Well, maybe just one."

She just watched her son for a few minutes, not noticing that she not only eat the first snack but her hand quickly returned to the employee's plate stopping them leaving. The young employee shifted a little uncomfortably as the mother just gazed at her son whilst devouring the entire plate without saying a word to him. He was more than a little when the green haired boy bolted back over clutching one of the more popular items the store solid for children, a silver age All Might action figure that said up to hundred different phrases.

"Look Mom its All Might! And he talks!" Izuku was almost leaping into the air with excitement as he pushed All Might's chest.

"I AM HERE!" Izuku was so enraptured by his idol speaking that he missed his mother flinching at hearing Toshinori's voice.

"Can I get it, mom?! Please?" Izuku looked up just missing his mother's reaction as she put on a smile that could only fool a child as the store employee glanced at her a little bit worried now.

"Of course sweetheart," Inko said as her hand went automatically for the now empty tray, her burrow furrowing as she failed to pick up another comforting snack, her eyes going to the tray rather than the employee. "Oh…..You don't have any more do you?"

(Might Tower - Annual All Might Charity Gala - 10 years ago August)

"I AM HERE!" All Might landed on the stage before the flashing lights of cameras and the applause of the crowd. "TO THANK YOU FOR COMING! Now please have a great night and remember every donation helps a number of worthy good causes!"

All Might felt himself go on autopilot for the next few hours as he greeted, smiled, posed, autographed anything offered and generally sold the charities to the rich and famous around him. He didn't necessarily hate this annual event, in fact, he was extremely proud of the record-breaking amount of money each year the gala raised each, he just wished it all was….a bit less. It was basically an entire night of just standing around for him, so rich people could gawk at him, say they met the number one hero and take a photo. However, he could bear all that for the good tonight did, although it didn't stop him from twitching a little, he was a man of action and standing around really wasn't his thing.

"And finally this is Mr and Mrs Yaoyorozu, of the Yaoyorozu Corporation," All Might returned to complete focus as the event coordinator introduced the last people he had to speak to. "They are the top donors tonight."

"It is a pleasure to meet you," All Might gave the couple a bow of his head and his best smile, which earned grins from the extremely wealthy couple.

"The pleasure is all ours," Mrs Yaoyorozu responded as she and her husband moved next to him sp their photo could be taken "We are huge admirers of yours, as is our daughter. She wants to be a hero just like you,"

"Then I wish her all the best, the world can never have enough people striving to make it a better place." All Might responded as the last photo was taken and the couple shook his hand.

"Indeed, thank you All Might and have a pleasant evening." Mr Yaoyorozu and his wife gave a deep bow before moving off wanting to let the symbol of peace enjoy his evening without further interference.

All Might waited for a few moments making sure no one else wanted a photo before he moved off himself making a beeline for the back of the house area the event coordinator cordoned off. Once he was safely out of sight, he released all the tension and power coursing through him resulting in the only slightly less muscular form of Toshinori appearing. He released a sigh as he readjusted his bowtie and headed back out to speak with his sidekick Sir Nighteye about their current operations and investigations. He could have just done it in his All Might form but in truth, he was just tired now and a quick conversation without someone wanting him for an autograph or photo.

He weaved through the crowd his massive height and frame making it a little difficult as Toshinori didn't command the same level of deference and respect All Might did. So he was constantly forced to apologise, wait for people to move or else just find a completely different route when the odd person wouldn't make way. It took him about twenty minutes to reach Sir Nighteye even though he was less than a hundred yards away from him, all of which earned him a rare full smile from Mirai.

"Enjoying yourself?" Mirai teased as he arrived next to him squeezing past one particular older woman who glared at him for forcing her to move his seat.

"Oh course, nothing like battling the forces of overcrowding and buffet lines" Toshinori gave a chuckle as he gestured to the event around them which every year just got more packed. "So how are we doing?"

"Very good we over last years donations and the night is still young. I might suggest another appearance later, crack a joke or make a thank you speech and we should go Plus Ultra tonight" Mirai responded readjusting his glasses as he and Toshinori walked around to avoid being overheard.

"Good, and how are we doing on the other thing?" Toshinori asked his eyes darting to people they passed but he relaxed as he didn't see anyone trying to listen in.

"We are progressing, the dismantling of that trafficking ring was certainly a blow but its made the ones I had my eye on go to ground, so its made it more difficult at the moment." His sidekick released a sigh as he delivered his less-than-ideal news but did perk up at the one sliver lining he had come across "However, I did meet someone during the investigation, he is a detective his name is Tsukauchi. He's got an interesting quirk, does solid work even without it and I think you should meet him."

"Can we trust him?" Toshinori hated that he had to ask but his nemesis had more than a few cops on his payroll and they had been burnt before working too closely with the police as a result.

"I believe so. I'll keep looking into him but at the moment he's as honest a cop as I have ever seen." Mirai responded, knowing he needed to triple check everything and keep digging to be certain.

"Good, good," Toshinori gave a nod as the two stopped walking and stood by a standing table next to the dance floor.

The two stood in a comfortable silence for a while with Toshinori just watching the crowd and Mirai doing the same, occasionally glancing at his friend. However, Mirai quickly saw that Toshinori wasn't watching the whole crowd his friend's eyes were lingering on a woman on the edge of the dancefloor across from them. He knew immediately where his friend's mind was as the woman possessed a very particular shade of light green hair and when she turned her back to them she looked very similar to someone neither hero nor sidekick had seen in nearly five years.

Mirai was about to say something but the look on Toshinori's face kept him silent, it was a look that he had rarely seen from the world's greatest hero and he knew it was best just to leave him for a few moments. The first few times he had interrupted Toshinori when he was like this, it hadn't ended well, the man hadn't been rude or angry but he had then thrown himself back into hero work to an even more unhealthy level than he already did. Toshinori had never spoken about Inko again, at least not to him and for a time Mirai thought that his friend had put the whole incident behind him, that it was a momentary distraction and he realised how wrong he had been in pursuing it. However, in the years since he would catch Toshinori every now and again looking at a woman, a scene or something else with a hint of longing and sadness.

Mirai was never sure what to do when these moments happened, every time he looked back on Inko and the events of that night he felt a twinge of regret. He had been so certain that she was a mistake at the time and when he had spotted her listening in to his conversation he hadn't held back for both her sake and Toshinori. Their life was dangerous and he knew that if she stuck around it would have endangered everything, likely gotten herself or at least someone killed, and his friend would never have been able to live with that. However, since she left he had seen a change in Toshinori, in public All Might was the same as ever, but in private his friend and idol had become more muted and slightly grim.

His friend spent less and less time as Toshinori and every chance he had he was All Might, even when he didn't need to be. Even when he was Toshinori he was far less sociable, he rarely talked to regular people, he had stopped taking lunch in the main cafeteria and seemingly didn't have time for anyone new unless it was related to finding All for One. He hadn't been idle watching his friend change and had tried to help, even to the point he had tried to set Toshinori up on a few dates with several female Pro-Heroes. That had been a disaster that he wasn't going to get into and had only seemingly driven Toshinori further down the rabbit hole he was in and he was starting to get worried for his friend.

Mirai looked from the woman Toshinori was looking at back at his friend his mind racing to a thought he was considering more and more. 'Maybe I should look up Ink-'

"Sir Nighteye?" Mirai turned and saw it was one of the gala's coordinators holding a clipboard in her hands. "We need you for several things backstage."

Mirai frowned a little and looked from the coordinator to his friend but before he could say anything Toshinori just gave him a broad smile and waved him away.

"Go and let me know if you need me okay?" Toshinori's words earned him a nod from his sidekick who left to sort out whatever issue had arisen.

The moment he was out of sight however Toshinori felt the smile fall from his face as he turned his attention back to the dance floor and saw the green-haired woman had moved out of his sight. He let out a thankful sigh at that, tonight was suppose to be about rising money for a number of good causes, he needed to focus on that not on…her. He regretted even the passing thought of Inko as it caused an image of her to flash in his head, she was a green dress, twirling around the dance floor and laughing at his poor moves. The memory returned a smile to his face as he remembered the gala from five years ago where he had brought Inko as his secret date, they had shared one dance under the guise of friendship.

'What I wouldn't give to just see her again let alone dance,' Toshinori felt the smile again fade from his face as he watched the dance floor where a number of couples were pressed close together. 'I could always look her up and see if sh- NO.'

Toshinori winced a little as his more rational side that resided in his head reared to life again, smacking down the foolish thought his heart kept trying to raise. When she had first left he had nearly run after her been so close to chasing her down and promising anything to get her to stay but he knew he couldn't, he had a job to do. So he had distracted himself anyway he could. For the first few months after she left he had chased down every lead on the people who had attacked them, where they came from, who supported them, who paid them, all of it. He had hoped if he pushed hard enough at that door it would lead him to All for One so he could finally end that monster and the terror he wrought on the world. However, like every other route to the monster he had taken he had dismantled a part of All for One's criminal empire, made the world safer and saved lives but never came close to reaching the man himself.

After he had exhausted that avenue, he found himself stuck again and that had led to more than a few nights of him being alone with his thoughts, thoughts that invariably turned to her. So he had further distracted himself by going full steam at the underworld, not leaving a moment for doubt, loneliness or regret to creep in. There was also strategy to this approach beyond keeping himself occupied, their old method of targeting key points of All for One's operation to reach the man hadn't worked. So Toshinori had decided that the only way he was ever going to stop All for One was to dismantle not pieces of his empire but the whole thing, all at once. Mirai wasn't thrilled at the approach as he thought it was stretching All Might too thin and that it would take years for it to work, All for One's empire was huge and reached across the world.

However, that didn't deter Toshinori at all, if it took years, it took years, this was the only way he saw at reaching his nemesis and ending his terror. He had to be the unstoppable hero, the symbol of peace and justice, the force that no criminal could resist, he had to overwhelm All for One's ability to operate if he didn't the criminal would just regrow like a weed elsewhere. If he broke up the monter's empire quicker than he could rebuild it eventually the snake would show himself, he would have to, to prove to the criminal underworld that he was in control. When that happened All Might would be there, for his master and all the other's the monster had hurt he would finish it.

His unrelenting assault on All for One's operations hadn't gone unnoticed by the world and although Mirai was sceptical he was already seeing progress. The crime rate in Japan had dropped steadily in the last four years, the public was calling it his Golden Age and criminals were becoming less frequent. He could feel the change he had wanted to bring about for so long coming into effect, all he had to do was keep pushing and the world he dreamed of would become a reality.

'A world where every one can smile, where everyone is safe…where she is safe'