I won't ramble. Life got busy and I lost motivation for a while, but I'm back and ready to keep working on this fic.

Now on to the chapter!

"Beep. Beep. Beep."

With a groan, Rumi let go of the pillow against her chest and slapped her bedside table until she finally turned off her alarm. The fact her alarm had gone off at all meant she'd overslept.

"I don't want to do this," She muttered as she buried her face deeper into her pillow.

The day before had been rough.

She'd spent a few hours training the kid her dad had found. He was a fast learner and a good listener, but she found his constant questions and muttering annoying. By the time she was done working with him, Rumi wanted to go to bed.

Unfortunately, since her 'agency' consisted of only her, she had to meet the weekly patrol quotes by herself. The prior night's patrol had consisted of her chasing a criminal around the entire city only for them to escape. By the end of the night, she was exhausted and only had enough forethought to remove her prosthetic before she faceplanted into her bed.

Luckily for Rumi, she had the day off, allowing her to continue lying in bed and enjoying the comfort that came with it.

However, eventually, the feeling of dried sweat and the tightness of her boots bothered her enough to force her to do something. The next twenty or so minutes consisted of Rumi pulling herself out of bed, showering, getting dressed for the day, and making her way to the main area of the apartment.

As she entered the kitchen, Rumi was greeted by the pleasant aroma of cinnamon and nutmeg.

"Good morning my little rabbit!" A voice from the stove said happily. "I hope you're hungry, I

made your favorite!"

Rumi rolled her eyes at her dad's favorite nickname and took a seat at the counter.

"You want to know about your 'star student'," Rumi said pointedly, enjoying the way Percy seemed to squirm. "Don't you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Percy replied unconvincingly as he put a plate of pancakes and a fork in front of Rumi. "But since we're already on the topic, how's Midoriya doing?"

"Wow, not even going to ask me about my night?"

"You passed out face first with your boots on. I have a pretty good idea of how it went."

"How do you know about that?"

"I came to check up on you like the doting father I am," Percy replied cheekily. "Also you left the light on and electricity isn't cheap," Percy pulled out the chair right of Rumi and sat down with a plate of very brown pancakes. "Now how's the kid doing?"

Rumi stabbed at her pancakes with a fork and sighed.

"He's a good student. Soaks up information like a sponge and puts it into practice at a terrifying speed," Rumi said tiredly. "His hand-to-hand needs a lot of work though."

"And?"

Rumi sighed again.

"He asks a lot of questions. I'm fine with answering most of them, annoying as they are, but some.."

"Hit a little too close," Percy finished with a slight frown. "He wanted to know what happened, didn't he?"

Rumi put down her fork and looked to the left, suddenly painfully aware of what was missing.

"It's not like I haven't gotten used to it by now, it's been almost six years. I just don't like being reminded of it," She said. "Especially since I heard what attacked the USJ."

Rumi felt Percy wrap his arm around her shoulder and leaned into his embrace, basking in the comfort he provided.

"If that crusty old bastard is truly back, I'll put him in the ground personally," Percy said darkly.

"Aren't you two like the same age?" Rumi teased, her throat constricting slightly at the mention of the man. "And doesn't make you a 'crusty old bastard' too?"

"That monster is at least twenty to thirty years older than me, way more decrepit," Percy replied with a chuckle.

Rumi hummed in response.

"How are you managing by the way? Is your new prosthetic holding up well?" Percy asked suddenly, his tone switching to one of a worried parent. "If not I can call the support company and get you a new one!"

"Dad, it's fine. It works perfectly," Rumi rolled eyes. "I've only had this one for a month."

Percy pulled his arm off her shoulders and looked her in the eyes.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," Rumi said in exasperation. "You need to stop stressing yourself out about it."

She was well aware of how much guilt her dad carried about her injury and nothing she said seemed to lessen the load.

"If I had just been," Percy said with furrowed brows." Maybe if I was faster, I could have-"

Rumi cut him off by flicking his forehead.

"I chose to ignore your warnings and follow you into that fight. I have to live with the consequences of my decisions." Rumi said gently. "You can't protect me from everything, no matter how much you want to."

Percy's face seemed to cycle through several emotions before settling on a mix of pride and sadness.

"When did my girl become so wise," He said with a watery smile, his voice full of emotion.

"About five minutes ago."

Percy chuckled and pulled her into a tight hug.

"I love you."

Rumi melted into the hug.

"I love you too."

Percy gave her one last tight squeeze before letting her go.

"We need to get ready for our meeting with the Midoriyas," He said suddenly. "Your extra suit is hanging in the laundry room, I washed it for you."

Rumi nodded before stuffing the rest of her breakfast in her mouth.

Etiquette be damned, she was not wasting her dad's carrot cake pancakes.

Finishing her meal, Rumi cleared her dishes, rinsed her plate, and made her way to the laundry room. The room was big enough for her to quickly change, the feeling of a clean suit helping brighten her mood. After grabbing a few things from her room, mostly first aid supplies, Rumi walked to the front door where Percy was already waiting.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yeah," Rumi replied quickly. "Let's get this done so I can enjoy the rest of my day off."

Percy nodded.

"Understood," he said before stopping suddenly. "Oh, before I forget, Shima Hospital asked if you could visit again. The kids have been asking for you."

"Yeah, I can swing by," Rumi said nonchalantly, trying her best to suppress her smile.

She would have to make more room on her walls for drawings.

Izuku was a nervous wreck.

When All Might told him he'd be stopping by to have a discussion with his mom, he nearly fainted on the spot. When he heard Percy would be joining him, he did faint. Since waking up, Midoriya spent the time before his teacher's arrival pacing in front of his apartment's front door, thinking of reasons why they wanted to talk to his mom.

Maybe he let them down and they were coming to take One for All back?

Did they find a better successor?

Did a strong villain show up and they needed his quirk to fight it?

A hand gently grabbing his shoulder pulled Izuku out of his mumble spree.

"Is everything alright?" His mom asked softly, her voice full of concern. "You've been pacing for the last hour."

Izuku's head snapped to the wall where the clock hung.

Twelve fifty-nine.

His eyes widened in panic. They'd be arriving any minute and he was far from ready. A quick glance down revealed he was still in his sleepwear, sleepwear with All Might's face plastered on the front of it.

He had to change. He had to shower. He had to clean hi-

Izuku's mental spiral was cut off by someone knocking on the front door.

"Oh, are we expecting guests?" Inko asked as she walked to the door.

"Mom wait!" Izuku yelled out but it was too late, his mom opened the door revealing the forms of Percy, All Might, and Mirko.

"You must be Inko," Percy said with a wide smile. "We're here to talk about your son's quirk."

Izuku immediately moved to catch his mother, the appearance of three of the Top Ten at her doorstep causing her to faint.

"That was unexpected," Percy muttered.

"Was it though? Young Midoriya almost passed out when he saw me transform for the first time."

"And he's passed out plenty of time during our training," Mirko added.

"Choking him out doesn't count Rumi," Percy shot back.

"W-would you like to come in," Midoriya asked nervously as he started to move toward the living room, his mother's unconscious body making the trip much harder. "We can use the living room."

Nodding quickly, Percy came over to Midoriya and helped him guide his mother to the couch. All Might and Rumi followed them into the living room after grabbing chairs from the kitchen.

"How long until she wakes up?" Percy asked as he set Inko on the couch.

"She'll be up soon, she was just shocked by your arriva-" Izuku trailed off as the events of the last few minutes finally registered.

He had three of the Top Ten in his home. Three of the Top Ten that he knew personally.

It was almost too much to handle.

"Are you feeling okay young Midoriya?"

"I'm fine," Izuku replied quickly. "Why are all of you here?"

"We're here to bring your mom into the fold about your quirk," Mirko replied, earning her a harsh look from Percy and All Might. "What? He was gonna find out in a few minutes anyways."

Izuku's stomach dropped.

He suspected Mirko knew, it only made sense for her too, but having his mother know was something that couldn't happen.

"W-we can't tell her! Sh-she'll make me stop if she knows!"

His mother had always worried about him, even when he was still quirkless. Her worry had only gotten worse since the 'awakening' of his quirk and the myriad of injuries that came with it. After the events of the USJ Attack, it's taken him days to calm her down enough to allow him to go back to school.

"Izuku," The softness of Percy's voice grabbed his attention. "We will do everything in our power to make sure that doesn't happen, but you need to tell her," Even through his helmet, Izuku could feel the longing in his words. "The longer you keep this from her, the more damage it'll do when it comes out."

Izuku noticed Mirko lean her head against Percy's shoulder, a sad look on her face. All Might has a similarly somber expression.

Izuku looked to where his mother was lying, still not awake after fainting.

She'd been his biggest supporter all of his life. No matter how much he worried her, she was still in his corner cheering him on. Would having her know the full truth change that?

"Okay," The words sounded unsure, even to himself.

"Good, now we just have to wait for your mother to wake up."

The wait ended up only being a few minutes, the Midoriya matriarch stirring from her sleep quickly.

"Izuku, I had the weirdest dream," Inko said as she sat up. "Three of the top ten were in our-"

"Wasn't a dream Mom and they are here to talk to you about something very important," Izuku said quickly, cutting Inko off.

Inko looked between him and the heroes several before taking a shaky breath and smiling tightly.

"What is it you would like to talk about?"

Despite agreeing that telling his Mom the truth about One for All was a good idea, the arrival of that very conversation made Izuku's stomach twist in knots.

"Before we get to why we came here, we need to get some things out of the way," Percy said firmly as he tapped his chest to retract his suit and gestured to his left where Mirko was sitting. "My real name is Percy Jackson and this is my daughter Rumi Jackson."

"I can introduce myself, old man," Mirko added with a frown before turning to Inko and bowing as best she could while sitting. "It's nice to meet you, ma'am."

Izuku had to dig his nails into the sides of his thighs to prevent himself from running to get his notebook. The connection between Wavebreak and Mirko was known, but the revelation that it was familial was new information.

"You know me as All Might, but," as he spoke his body began to steam and shrink. "My real name is Yagi Toshinori."

Despite seeing it countless times over the last year, All Might's 'real' form never failed to shock Izuku. To see the mountain of a man turn into a normal, albeit slightly underweight, adult man was equally surprising and disturbing.

"Why are you revealing this to me? What does my son have to do with anything?" Izuku could hear the barely restrained panic in his Mom's voice.

"As you are aware Midoriya developed a quirk a few months ago after being quirkless his entire life. He told you he was a late bloomer," All Might said calmly. "The truth is that he, at my request, lied to you. He didn't suddenly develop a quirk, I chose him as my successor and gave him mine."

"What? How is that possible?"

"Around one hundred years two quirks merged, Stockpile and Handoff, creating One for All. Since then it has been passed from person to person," All Might gestured to himself before pointing at Izuku. "I'm the eighth person to wield it and Midoriya is the ninth."

Izuku could see the gears turning in his mom's head trying to make sense of the situation she found herself in. He knew more questions were to come, questions he hadn't thought to ask.

"Why my son?" Inko asked sharply. "I've seen what you're capable Mr. Toshinori, anyone with access to the news has. Why give my son, a child, the power to topple buildings and change the weather with ease?"

All Might sat uncomfortably for a few moments before answering.

"Your son has a heroic spirit and the will to act even if he's scared, the qualities needed to wield One for all and not abuse its power."

Izuku's heart swelled. Hearing his mentor and idol praise him never failed to make him happy.

"With all due respect, that doesn't answer my question."

The expression of shock that appeared on All Might's face matched Izuku's. The shock was made worse when Izuku heard Percy and Mirko start chuckling.

"I like her," Mirko muttered.

"You two have been awfully quiet," Inko said, her attention off All Might. "What do you have to say?"

Izuku was impressed that Percy's smile didn't falter. Despite her timid nature, his mother was terrifying when she had reason to be.

"Yagi needs to finish putting his foot in his mouth before I can explain my role in all this," Percy said before gesturing to All MIght. "Tell her."

Inko's eyes snapped to All Might who let out a defeated sigh.

"About six years I was in a battle with a very powerful villain. I defeated him, but was seriously injured in the process," All Might lifted the top of his suit to reveal his injury, the angry red scar causing Inko to gasp. "Since then the amount of time I can operate as a hero has slowly dwindled. Before the USJ it was seven hours, but since I had to exert myself to save Young Midoriya's class, it has lowered to five hours." All Might gestured to MIrko and Percy. "Without my master's assistance and Young Mirko's sacrifice, the limit would be much lower."

Izuku's eyes immediately went to Mirko's arm, his mind filling in the gaps. For some reason, seeing that others were hurt to take down the villain who injured All Might made him seem even scarier.

"The villain who hurt Rumi and Yagi is named Mugen Shigiraki, or as he calls himself. All for One," Percy said seriously, his words making the room feel colder. "He is the older brother of the first One for All wielder, Yoichi Shigaraki, and has been hunting down and killing One for All users for two centuries," Percy leaned forward and looked Inko in the eyes. "Until recently, he was thought to be dead, killed when All Might fought him six years ago."

Izuku felt his heart stop. The villain who injured All MIght had killed past users. The villain who had destroyed his idol might still be alive.

He might come for him next.

"What do you mean until recently?" Inko asked, her voice full of emotion. "You mean that monster could still be alive? That he might come after my son!" She suddenly turned to All Might, tears now running down her face."You selfish, selfish man. You put all this on a child! A boy who couldn't say no!"

"I-I thought he was dead," All Might defended weakly, his arms up as if he were shielding himself.

"We all did," Mirko added, her tone graver than Izuku had ever heard it be. "We all watched All Might cave his skull in."

Inko glared at the rabbit hero silently for a moment before sitting back down, her eyes red and puffy. Nobody said anything for several minutes, everyone seemingly trying to figure out the best way forward.

"Do I need to return All Might's quirk?" Izuku asked quietly, his voice fragile and desperate.

He didn't want to, it was the absolute last thing he wanted to do. His dream to be a hero hanged entirely on him having a quirk. Giving it back would mean giving up on his dream. But, at the same time, someone better might be able to use All Might's quirk to beat All for One once and for all.

"No," The answer came from Percy. "You wouldn't be able to anyway."

Inko's head snapped toward Percy, her confusion clear.

"What do you mean?"

Izuku watched as All Might and Percy seemed to have a silent conversation, one that ended with the Number One Hero sighing and nodding.

"Three reasons," Percy held up his hand with three fingers raised. "First, Yagi can't use the quirk for much longer. It makes no sense to give our most powerful weapon against Mugen to a broken vessel," His wording earned him a harsh glare from Inko.

"My son is not a weapon."

"No, he isn't, but his quirk is," Percy responded without missing a beat. "Second, passing the quirk on and using it makes it more powerful. There is a chance that the quirk is too strong to be passed on again, no matter how strong the vessel," Percy turned to Izuku and smiled. "And like Yagi said, the quirk requires a noble heart. I doubt we'll find someone more noble than your son."

Izuku looked away quickly. He had never been very good at accepting compliments.

"Finally, the quirk has to be passed on to someone quirkless," Percy's voice was suddenly serious and somber as if his world had physical weight.

"What? Why?" the words fell out of Izuku's mouth before he could think.

No matter how many times his idol told him he deserved the power, he felt that someone could use it better. To find out that likely very few others could use it at all was shocking. A quick look at All MIght's face told him he was just as surprised.

"Hikage Shinomori, the fourth and only weirder to avoid death by All for One's hand, died of old age when he was forty, only holding the quirk for eighteen years," Percy said heavily.

"Forty?" Inko said quietly, a horrified expression on her face.

"A normal human can't handle more than one quirk," All Might said." it's like trying to stuff something into an already full box, in order for it to fit, something has to break."

Inko stared off into the distance, tears running down her face.

"You've killed him," Inko said to All Might, her voice small and broken. "You shackled him with a burden he can't give up. How long is it going to be before he doesn't come home one day?"

"I can assure you ma'am that's not going to happen," the words of comfort surprisingly came from Mirko.

"How can you say that? How can you promise me while that thing is still out there trying to hurt my son?"

"Because we won't let him," Percy's voice was loud and clear. "We are all taking steps to make sure Izuku is ready for any situation," A dark look came onto his face. "And if he does decide to crawl out of his hole, I will personally put him down like the rabid dog he is."

Izuku didn't know how to feel at his teacher's proclamation. He felt a surprising amount of gratitude and happiness coming from somewhere inside him, but the idea of a hero killing anyone, no matter how evil, made his guts churn. He was confused and off balance and just wanted the day to be over.

"I believe we've overstayed our welcome," Percy said as stood up, his hand rummaging in his pocket for a moment before pulling out a piece of paper. "This is all of our phone numbers, please feel free to reach out if you have any questions."

Inko took the paper and stared at it for a moment before tucking it away.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet us and sorry for giving you so much to think about," Percy grabbed Mirko and All Might by their shoulders and unceremoniously guided them to the front door. "Enjoy the rest of your day."

Without any further words, the three heroes exited the apartment, leaving Izuku and Inko alone.

"That was kinda rude," Izuku said with a forced chuckle, the sudden tension in the air making him uncomfortable.

"If you could give up your power, would you? ' Inko asked in response.

He had been expecting the question, but hearing it still caught him off guard. Even then, he answered without hesitation.

"No."

"But you heard them! There is a monster out to get you, someone All Might couldn't beat!"

"If I gave up at the first sign of trouble I wouldn't be a hero!"

"This is just 'trouble' Izuku! This is something the best can barely handle!"

Years of people telling him he couldn't be a hero flashed across Izuku's mind, fueling his frustration. He was finally given the chance, and his mom was trying to make him stop.

"I have to try!" Izuku shouted back, his voice cracking slightly. "I don't care how dangerous it is, if I don't try then I'll never forgive myself."

"I can't lose you," Inko's voice was quiet. "You're all I have left."

Any anger Izuku had drained out of him immediately.

His father had left to 'work overseas' when he was young. His mother had never told him if it was because of his quirklessness or not, but he had long suspected it was. The monthly checks the man sent did nothing to replace the father figure Izuku never had.

It had been hard on him, but it had been especially hard on his mom.

Izuku stepped toward his mom and pulled her into a hug.

"I'm not going anywhere Mom," Izuku said quietly.

"Can promise that?"

Izuku's throat suddenly felt dry.

"Yes."

He desperately hoped he could.

[Long day]

[You down for a drink]

Tomoko Shiretoko read the message with a small smile before quickly typing back a response.

{That rough?}

{I thought you were capable of anything}

[...]

[Do you want to get a drink or not?]

Tomoko laughed slightly as she got up off the couch and made her way to her part of the lodge, the path so familiar she didn't need to look where she was going.

{Do you need to ask?}

[Thought so, I'll be there in 10]

{See you then}

Getting ready didn't take long and before long Tomoko was standing in front of the main door to the lodge, waiting for the text telling her they'd arrived.

"Going somewhere?" a teasing voice called from behind her.

"Just for some drinks," Tomoko replied, looking up to see her friend and teammate Shino.

"Is this with your mystery man?" Shino said. "When are you going to tell us about him? You know Ryuko won't leave you alone until you do."

"She can complain all she wants," Tomoko responded with a frown. "He's very private and I plan to respect that." her phone buzzed. "And it looks like my ride is here."

"Alright, have fun." Shino sighed. "We're doing that charity even tomorrow, try not to get too drunk."

"Heard," Tomoko said with a mock salute as she opened the front door and left.

"Your teammates hold you up again?" a deep voice called as she stepped out of the door.

"Just Shino. We're lucky Ryuko is busy tonight."

Tomoko took a second to appreciate her date's appearance. The green flannel he had on paired nicely with his eyes and his black hair somehow looked styled and not at the same time.

"You ready?"

"Of course! Where you thinking?"

"There's a nice bar in Tottori I've been wanting to check out."

"Sounds good," Tomoko said with a smile. "Think we'll get a discount if we flash our licenses?"

"I'm sure we would. But I doubt we'd be able to lowkey if the owner knew both Ragdoll and Wavebreak were drinking it their bar," Percy said with a grin.

"I guess I'll settle for full-price drinks."

"That's my girl. Come on let's go."

Percy held out his hand which Tomoko took immediately, her fingers lacing with his comfortably.

I debated putting a Percy flashback scene at the end of this, but I couldn't make it work right, so I put something else I've been planning for a while.

The next chapter will be the last before the Sports Tournament, something that I have not been looking forward to writing.

'Til Next Time!