22/10/2024

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The Emperor's Dragon
Dragon 62 - Passing the Torch

Toshinori watched the Provisional License Exam with a growing degree of pride. Inasa was doing very well. He'd formed an alliance with students from Ketsubutsu, Seiai and UA and had managed to knock out several rivals before clearing the first event. Inasa hadn't done anything spectacular but that was okay. He had proven he was capable. On the screens, Toshinori could see the way the Seiai ladies were looking at him. They knew he hadn't gone all out.

And in forming an alliance… That was best. He was showing that he had no intention of standing alone.

Yagi sighed under his breath. If only Katsuki had learned that lesson. The blond had stormed away from his class group, and had been promptly taken out. Unfortunately, Eijiro had gone with him which just reinforced his earlier assessment of the two.

Katsuki still had to come to terms with what it would actually mean to be a quirkless hero. He wouldn't ever be Number One but that wouldn't mean the work he did wasn't important. But… to someone like Katsuki, the change in mindset had to hurt. Toshinori could acknowledge that. With Explosion, there was a very good chance he could have been Number One… if he got there before Inasa did but now…

He sighed again. And Eijiro was still trying to comfort Katsuki. It was honourable in a way, because the red head wouldn't let Katsuki be alone but it was beginning to stunt his own growth. He too would be a quirkless hero but Toshinori thought that Eijiro had a better idea of what that would mean. He hadn't expected to be Number One and he had a more pure view of what a hero was. He wanted to help people and… That made all the difference.

Toshinori took a mental note to suggest that Eijiro was not in Katsuki's class next year, assuming neither teen withdrew. It would give Eijiro space to grow his abilities, without always having to defer to Katsuki and maybe it would make Katsuki appreciate he could still be a hero? That was going to be a difficult question and Yagi knew Hound Dog was doing his best but also knew this was not a situation that had any precedent.

The Number One Hero ignored the curious stares he was getting. There were a lot of rumours going around about a lot of subjects at the moment. As the Number One Hero, Toshinori heard some, but he knew he didn't hear them all but one of the things people were talking about was the media event tonight. With the Provisional License Exam being today, and Inasa having good control over One For All, there was no point in delaying his retirement any further. He was going to announce it tonight.

That was all he would be announcing. He wasn't going to suggest he had a successor or anything like that. Those who were here today, might one day look back and realise but others would have no idea.

There was a short break between the first and second rounds and Toshinori shifted as he waited for the second round to start. He looked at the results and smiled slightly. From what he'd seen in the first round, and the times that people passed the first round, he could tell that the decision to invite other schools to study at UA was the right one. There was evidence of several alliances in the results. That was good. The heroes no longer had the luxury of being separate.

Not with the villains who were out there.

He was slightly surprised that so far, nothing had happened but… It appeared that Tomura was laying low with Izuku. Though there was information coming out of the underworld that they weren't being passive. They had, or at least, Izuku had been seen taking out one of the remaining Yakuza clans.

And Tomura… well, no one had heard from him, and that was worrying. All Might could imagine what the young man was doing. They'd be mourning All For One's capture but… He had expected at least some attacks by now but there had been nothing.

As far as they could tell, Izuku hadn't even gone after that vigilante again… Though he had seen his friend and given her a healing quirk.

What were they thinking? The two of them were showing a degree of patience he didn't think they had. Which was concerning. It meant they were planning. That was going to be bad.

The obvious thing would be that they'd try to get All For One out of Tartarus but there had been nothing to suggest they were planning that. There was nothing to suggest they were planning anything.

That was actually the most concerning thing. With new villains there were usually hints of what they were up to, with those two… nothing.

He didn't like it. It probably meant that they were in touch with what was left of All For One's network and those contacts were helping keep their planning quiet.

They would just have to deal with an attack when it happened.

All Might took a deep breath as the bell rang, signalling the beginning of the second round. This was a rescue round, combined with a villain assault.

He watched as the teams formed again, and was pleased when Inasa let the Ketsubutsu teen take charge. Her quirk was healing related, though he couldn't remember exactly what it did at the moment. She was going to be a rescue hero, and a darn good one. The fact that Inasa could let her take charge here spoke well for him. He recognised the strengths of his team and played to them.

They were certainly one of the first teams rushing towards the emergency, though Toshinori was glad to see that they were careful to ensure that they examined the ground carefully to ensure they didn't become the next victims.

Toshinori leaned forward, steepling his fingers and resting his chin on his thumbs as his fingers rested on his nose. As he watched, the Ketsubutsu teen - her name was Ishina he remembered - examined several victims, reassuring them and triaging their injuries. She moved quickly but Yagi could tell from the expressions on the actor's faces that they were not insulted by the speed. She was giving each person their due and quickly the victims were moved from the immediate danger area to the waiting facilities.

That was good.

Then, right on schedule, Gang Orca appeared. There was confusion on the field for a few moments as people took stock of events, but he was pleased when Ishina yelled something at Inasa and Shouto and the two of them quickly conferred.

Apparently, their decision was that Shouto would stay to protect the rescue teams, while Inasa would deal with the villains. This was confirmed when a wall of ice appeared, shielding the rescue teams. Gang Orca and his sidekicks could probably go through the ice quickly, if they needed to but it would protect the teams from any stray ricochets and that was probably the point.

Toshinori was, admittedly, more interested in what Inasa was doing. The ninth holder of One For All had taken to the air, which was a simple way of avoiding all the on the ground issues, but did leave him open to attack. As Yagi watched, the few projectiles shot towards Inasa were expertly caught and then put to the ground. It looked like they just fell there, but All Might could see the way Inasa was controlling the drop. Thankfully the people in the control room also noted that. It would have looked bad if he had to point it out and he wanted no hint of favouritism to taint Inasa's abilities.

As they watched, Inasa made a broad sweeping motion and to the surprise of quite a few people, Gang Orca's sidekicks were pushed back. To anyone watching, Inasa was using highly powerful whirlwinds, which were his quirk, to Toshinori, he could see the way that One For All had strengthened his quirk. It was a good way of showing off, without raising suspicions because most people here had no idea how strong Inasa's Whirlwind was originally.

However, it did bring Gang Orca's attention to Inasa. The hero, acting as the villain grinned, showing off his rather impressive set of teeth. Gang Orca's speciality was melee combat. Whirlwind gave Inasa a greater advantage at ranged battle but he was built and was strong enough to take on melee combat but there was no need to show that aspect off quite yet.

The hero was quick to improvise ranged weapons and threw them at Inasa. Whirlwind took them down but there were more already in the air, and with the advantage of multiple screens Toshinori could see that Gang Orca was getting into position to attack.

The man was fairly direct. If his opponent would not come to him, then he would go to his opponent. Gang Orca had the durability to take a few falls to get there and as All Might watched several of his sidekicks arranged themselves in what was obviously a practised move. They launched their boss at Inasa while the other sidekicks kept up the barrage of missiles.

The look on Inasa's face when Gang Orca appeared next to him was priceless but he was quick to react. Gang Orca could only move on a limited trajectory. Inasa had the ability to fly and so dodged by launching himself higher. All Might saw Gang Orca slash at him as he went past and saw him snag Inasa's cape, and from there, one of his boots.

The sudden extra weight caused Inasa to drop in the air and Yagi could tell that he was in some pain as Gang Orca gripped him. The killer whale themed hero shook Inasa and heaved at him, trying to throw him to the ground. Toshinori could see the way Inasa was resisting but he hadn't put quite enough power into it and was flipped in the air. That gave Gang Orca the advantage and the hero was quick to capitalise on it. He actually drove Inasa down but Yagi hadn't chosen Inasa because he couldn't think on his feet. Or in the air.

Usually, the whirlwind's Inasa made weren't visible but with all the dust in the air All Might could see the outlines of them. So could Gang Orca and so the hero was braced when one hit him from the side. It threw him off Inasa but the teen couldn't deal with the extra projectiles from the sidekicks and was hit as he tried to correct. That gave Gang Orca time to recover when he landed but by that time, the other students who'd been tasked to protect the civilians from the villains arrived.

Inasa recovered quickly as well and worked with them to drive Gang Ocra and his sidekicks back. All Might was pleased to see that he didn't try to push past the others and was working with them.

He'd… He'd almost always been alone and that had been a mistake. He was a pillar, but he was alone. That was a problem. This was better. Heroes had to be united to save people and while the ranking system said that they were in competition, that should not stop them from achieving their main goal. It appeared Inasa knew that.

That was good. That was for the best. He would be a true hero and…

He was going to need the support to take out All For One's successors, so it was best to establish now, when it was just an exam that he could work with others, that he wanted to work with them. Then they could work together in the future.

After the students worked together, it was a foregone conclusion that Gang Orca would be driven back and Toshinori watched as they set up a perimeter which kept the civilians safe against a possible follow up attack, while still evacuating them to the designated safe zones.

It was a smooth operation, and All Might nodded as the exercise concluded.

Inasa had done well, and should pass, which was his first step into the future.

This was a good beginning.

-ted-

For the past few years, whenever he'd had to give a press conference, Toshinori had arrived at the last second, said as little as he could and left immediately to preserve his time limit in his buff form. With everyone now knowing about his small form, he couldn't get away with that, and his Agency's media consultant had actually grinned when telling him that. He knew his… limited appearances had caused the woman some distress, but he thought insisting he was here a full hour in advance was a bit of overkill.

Still, it did allow him to make use of the facilities. In this case, it was the waiting room. Yagi knew they existed but hadn't used them and now he was just sitting here. Make-up had already come and gone and…

It was kind of boring.

"You are actually here," Mirai said from the doorway.

"I suspect Kouhou would skin me alive if I was late," he said with a sigh.

"Probably," his sidekick agreed as he came into the room. "Did everything go well today?"

"You saw the results," All Might reminded him. Inasa had passed and now had his Provisional License. Sir Nighteye already knew that.

"I meant more than just passing," came the retort.

Yagi grinned. "He did fine and he didn't show One For All too much. I doubt anyone noticed."

"Weren't they meant to notice?" Mirai asked.

"They were to notice Inasa, not the quirk," Toshinori reminded him.

Sir Nighteye nodded.

"What did you see in his future?" Yagi asked, moving on.

Mirai smiled. "I didn't see him fighting Izuku, or Tomura," he said but actually sounded relaxed about his vision. That was nice to see.

"And?"

"Inasa will be the Number One Hero," he confirmed what All Might was hoping for.

"And others?"

"Mirio is there," Mirai said with a grin. He was happy that his protege would make it that far. "I don't know who he took the position from. That wasn't in my vision. I saw the ranking announcement where he made it."

"How old was he?"

Mirai frowned and Toshinori knew he was recalling the details. "It wasn't straight out of school," he murmured. "Probably about 25 or so," he decided.

"Good," Yagi said firmly. He didn't want Inasa taking on that responsibility too young but at the same time, with One For All, it was likely to be the rank Inasa would have within the hero rankings. He didn't, technically, care what rank Inasa rose to, so long as he was helping people but Toshinori knew the influence that came with the Number One position.

"You definitely saw nothing of Izuku?"

"Not with what I saw," Mirai confirmed. "I was hoping for something," he added. "To help prepare but-" he shook his head, before reaching up to push up his glasses.

All Might sighed, blowing the breath out noisily. "I think it's too much to hope that everything will be settled by then," he said.

"It might be," Mirai suggested. "They are being cautious now, but how long will that last?"

It was a reasonable question. He was concerned that All For One's heirs were planning something but… if they took too long, then they would lose momentum and if they did something stupid then they'd be captured. They were walking on a tightrope really and…

He sighed again. In many ways it was easier when they were actually in combat but that was of course the worst outcome. If they could capture All For One's heirs before they had a chance to do anything, that would be best.

"Did you see anything else?" All Might asked. "I'm thrilled he got to be Number One but-" Sir Nighteye would know what he meant. That was scant information but it was better than no information.

Mirai shook his head. "Just a bunch of regular looking missions. I'm sure they were important but I couldn't see enough to link them to anything else."

All Might nodded. That was disappointing but not unexpected. Mirai could somewhat direct his vision but there was a lot of time to cover in Inasa's future so he really came down to luck as to if he saw something useful.

"Well, we'll just have to work with what we have," Yagi said with the cheer he was known for as the Number One Hero.

Mirai nodded. "Are you sure about this?" he asked suddenly.

"This?"

"Retiring."

Toshinori looked at his sidekick. "I'm sure," he replied firmly. "The timing is right and I want to be around to train Inasa. This is the right thing to do and hopefully it will give Endeavor time to establish himself before Izuku or Tomura do something," he added.

"Hopefully," Mirai agreed neutrally. All Might reminded himself that it was simply because Sir Nighteye didn't know what the immediate future would bring. Just like the rest of them.

"I will be okay," he reassured Mirai.

"Yes," he agreed but didn't sound convinced.

Before Toshinori could say anything else there was a knock on the door and they both looked over to see Kouhou looking at them both. "It's time," she announced. "Are you ready?"

All Might gave her a smile and nodded.

He was ready.

-ted-

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-ted-

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