Yoichi Shigaraki felt his world shift. Unlike all the other times when One For All had been transferred, he wouldn't, this time, be sent back into a torpor after a brief moment of conversation with the other vestiges. He was well and truly here, and for the first time in the century he had spent inside One For All, he knew he was here to stay.
"I am glad to see you again, my hero," he said, turning his head toward the salmon-haired man—the second wielder of One For All—who appeared on the throne beside him.
Kudo rolled his eyes, a shadow of a smile on his lips, at the now-century-old greeting. "As dramatic as ever, Yoichi."
"I like the classics," Yoichi replied to his oldest friend in their shared space inside his Quirk.
Another shape joined them, slightly older than both of them, as reddish smoke swirled into a person. Silver hair tied back in a ponytail, the same straightjacket as Kudo. "I am glad to see you again, my hero."
Bruce rolled his eyes, and Kudo sighed. "And again, we fall for your old trick."
"You both have always been so predictable," Yoichi chuckled warmly as both men sighed in unison again.
Centuries might have gone by, but Yoichi never missed these few short minutes when he could talk and engage with the only two people he'd been blessed to call friends in life. Aggravating them was just a bonus.
"I assume if we are here, then All Might has chosen a successor," Bruce stated, his tone curious. "He dealt with All For One years ago; there's no sense in passing the Quirk on now."
"Peace, my friend. Wait for the others to arrive before I explain," Yoichi said to the Third. "You've always been impatient."
Again, the silver-haired man rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.
Another shape began to form. "Ah, I see All Might has finally chosen a successor," Hikage commented placidly, running a hand through his white hair. "I was wondering if he would ever pass the torch. Looks like I finally have my answer."
"Indeed," Yoichi agreed as Hikage brushed his hand over his scar, still self-conscious after so many years. "It took him more time than any before to pass it on."
The fifth shape barreled into existence faster than the others—a bald man in a leather jacket, wearing goggles on his head and a bandolier across his chest. Fucking finally! I was getting bored. Blondie better have found us a good heir, or I'm never letting him live this down," Daigoro groused, already animated at the prospect of a short meeting. "Can't y'all appear faster? I've been waiting for this for years!"
"As pleasant as ever," Kudo muttered, irritation flickering in his voice. "Could you sit down and shut up for once in your life, baldy?"
"Not on your life, pinky," Daigoro shot back with a wink.
The Third, as expected, growled in anger. "You should know your place by now, Fifth."
"I do—right at the top," Daigoro continued, clearly enjoying the act of irritating his two friends.
The Sixth arrived next, his large red jacket adorned with numerous straps and buttons, a high collar obscuring his mouth and nose. "Greetings," said the new arrival.
"Took you long enough, En. Getting slow in your old age?" Banjo teased his successor.
"I am," En replied with a nod, well aware this was the best way to make Daigoro lose interest.
Not that the Second or Third ever could resist biting back.
And, of course, the Seventh was never far behind. She wore her hero costume: a dark, sleeveless bodysuit with a high collar, yellow elbow-length gloves, white knee-high boots, and a white cape. "I thought this day would never come. Toshi should've eased off on the heroics years ago," Nana groused with her trademark beaming smile. "He really took his sweet time choosing a successor."
"That he did," Yoichi agreed. "We only need one more—"
Yellow mist coalesced into a figure as All Might's vestige took his place in the room, seated on his own chair.
"—and here he is. Everyone, meet Toshinori Yagi."
"Good job turning that old bastard's head into a pancake, my dude!" Daigoro shouted over everyone else.
"Indeed, it was a masterful blow," En added. "I quite enjoyed the feeling of his bones giving under your knuckles."
"I told you Toshi would be the one to do it!" Nana declared smugly, her smile radiant. "Good job. We can wait a while before you join us, so don't rush yourself."
Yoichi knew All Might's vestige was still young and incomplete. It would take time for him to form fully, a process tied to the years remaining in the life of the Symbol of Peace. Yoichi was prepared to wait.
"Welcome to One For All, Toshinori Yagi," Yoichi greeted the wispy form of the Eighth wielder. "I am glad to see that, for the first time, my Quirk wasn't passed to another right before its previous wielder's death. I doubt you can yet speak, but know that in time you will regain your faculties."
The All Might-shaped smoke nodded slowly, unsure. Sadly, there wasn't much Yoichi could do for him until his form stabilized.
"Okay, now that he's here, tell us who the Eighth chose!" Daigoro demanded, and though the others were less vocal, their interest was just as evident.
Yoichi smiled as he accessed the memories of his host. "Let me introduce you to Izuku Midoriya—eighteen years old and the Ninth wielder of One For All."
A boy with a muscular build and a shirt that read pants materialized before them all.
"Holy crap, Yagi really gave this to a kid!" Daigoro laughed, slapping his knee. "Welp, he won't be able to use the stored-up energy for a while."
"Yes, he can barely manage five percent of it," Yoichi confirmed, and the others nodded.
"So, tell us about him. Why did Toshi choose him?" Nana asked, trying and failing to hide her excitement.
"His heroic spirit, of course," Yoichi replied as the memory, drawn straight from All Might's past, replayed for all of them to see.
"Kacchan!"
Izuku's legs moved on their own as he sprinted toward the slime villain, who was holding and choking his childhood friend. He closed the distance, thoughts a jumbled mess as he frantically analyzed the situation, and then hurled his bag at the villain with all his might.
A heartbeat passed—a near brush with death.
"Why are you here?!" Kacchan shouted, fear still evident in his wide eyes.
"I couldn't just let you die!" Izuku yelled back, his voice trembling but resolute.
"Well, that would have done it," Nana chuckled as she forced herself to sit back in her chair. "So, what's his Quirk?"
"He is Quirkless," Yoichi informed everyone present, his tone measured as the scene shifted to one of the many difficult days from the boy's past. "And, as you can imagine, this has not been the most pleasant experience for him."
"Jump from the roof, you useless waste of space!" a girl shouted, right before something struck Izuku hard on the head. He stumbled, a sharp pain radiating through his scalp.
Reaching up instinctively, he felt something warm trickling down his fingers. Horror washed over him as he realized he was bleeding.
"Please, Deku, stop disrupting the class," the teacher drawled, barely glancing up as he flicked through the pages of his notebook. "Today, we are going to—"
"The Quirkless hating the Quirked, the Quirked hating the Quirkless," Kudo sighed, closing his eyes for a few seconds. "We've gone full circle."
"I would like to have a word with that teacher," En stated emotionlessly.
"So we've got ourselves a Quirkless kid with a heroic spirit who's been bullied for years," Hikage summarized with a frown. "I hope All Might got that kid some help."
"He did. The staff responsible has been removed, and Izuku is now studying at U.A. under Nedzu," Yoichi informed everyone.
"So the rat is still kicking. Good to know," Nana commented with a nostalgic smile. "If he's taking that boy under his wing, then that means he's more than just a musclehead."
"He is," Yoichi confirmed. "The Ninth is quite smart—some would even call him a genius. His hobby of breaking down Quirks already made him a threat before Yagi picked him up."
"After two centuries, One For All is finally in the hands of someone who isn't a complete moron!" Daigoro cackled, earning himself a glare from everyone in the room. "Oh, come on, we weren't the brightest of the bunch. Especially you, En."
"Please. Choke," En drawled.
"You know you love me," Daigoro cackled again.
"I assume the kid didn't have the best life so far, if that was supposed to be a school day," Hikage continued slowly. "I imagine he's a shifty, anxious mess. Any friends or family?"
"A mother and two friends," Yoichi revealed, changing their surroundings to show the boy's mother. "Inko Midoriya—quite a sweet woman. She did her best to raise her son while being entirely unaware of his treatment at school."
"The apple didn't fall far from the tree," Bruce commented, noting the resemblance between the two.
"And his friends, are they any good?" En asked with interest.
"They very much are, both of them," Yoichi said, knowing it was time for the reveal of the Ninth host's friends. "One of them is bound to catch your attention more than the other."
Two shapes materialized. "Mei Hatsume and Takuma—"
"YES!" Nana shrieked, whooping with joy as she bounced on her feet, unable to contain herself. "My boy made some babies! Tell me EVERYTHING! How is Kotaro? Does he have other children? Tell me!"
Yoichi smiled as he changed their surroundings once again.
"Alright, let's cut the bullshit," the boy snapped, his anger palpable. "What do you want from me? And why the hell are you so interested in my family? Since I woke up, he's been looking at me like he's seen a ghost. Unless you have a damn good reason to keep me here, I'm ripping this off and leaving." He gestured sharply to the needle in his arm, his glare challenging anyone to stop him.
Chiyo sighed, her expression weary, before turning to All Might. "Yagi, please."
All Might stepped forward, his towering frame seemingly unsure of itself. "Young Takuma," he began, his voice laden with regret, "I'm sorry my condition has affected you the way it has. I hope you can forgive me for the pain I've caused you. The truth is..." He hesitated, as though every word cut deeply. "As you've said, you are an orphan. From the moment I saw you, I couldn't help but be reminded of an old friend—a mentor—who you bear a striking resemblance to."
Takuma blinked, his frown deepening as he stared up at him, his posture tense like a cornered animal sizing up a threat.
"So what?" Takuma spat, his voice sharp. "You knew the people who birthed me before screwing off? What of it?"
"Not exactly," All Might clarified gently. "I knew her as a hero, a mentor, and a dear friend."
A hiss escaped Takuma's lips as he waited, his expression demanding an answer.
"And the blood test..." All Might continued, guilt evident in his tone. "We took it without your consent, and for that, I sincerely apologize." He drew in a breath before delivering the blow. "The results came back positive. You are Nana Shimura's grandson."
Takuma's eyes narrowed, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "Is that name supposed to mean anything to me? I'm sorry for your loss, but that doesn't explain why any of this matters to me."
"Aren't you the least bit curious?" the girl interjected, her voice soft but genuinely inquisitive.
"No," Takuma replied coldly, his voice like steel. "If that's all you've got, get this thing off me, and we're leaving." He pointed sharply at the needle in his arm, his tone brooking no argument.
The room fell into a heavy silence as the weight of the revelation settled over everyone.
"An orphan?" Nana's voice trembled, barely a whisper, as her horrified expression deepened. "No... no. How—why? He can't..." Her words faltered, each syllable carving another wound into Yoichi's heart. Tears streamed down her face, unbidden and unstoppable.
"Shit," Daigoro muttered under his breath, his tone heavy with regret. "I'm sorry, Nana. He was a good kid."
Nana quickly brushed the tears from her cheeks, her expression firm despite the grief etched into her features. "Tell me about him," she demanded softly. "Takuma. How is... everything?"
Yoichi nodded solemnly, understanding the importance of her request. Without hesitation, he shifted the scene, letting the memories change and reveal another moment in time.
"You have an Empathy Quirk, a powerful one at that. You can feel emotion and pain from around a hundred-meter radius," Midoriya explained, dreading the other boy's reaction as his frown only deepened with irritation. "It's not a very well-known subject. The few experts on the matter are in Europe, where there's a high concentration of Empathy Quirks. Japan doesn't have as many people with such Quirks. It's kind of a weird subject, really—a lot of studies are taken down before they reach the public eye."
He hummed thoughtfully. Izuku couldn't tell if he was impressed or about to call him a creep.
"You're correct, though you might need to add the inability to turn it off to the list of symptoms."
That wasn't so bad, Izuku commented internally.
"Wha-What?!" he exclaimed in shock as his brain caught up to what the black-haired boy was saying. "What do you mean you can't turn it off?"
"My Quirk doesn't have an off button. Trust me, I've been searching for it my entire life," Takuma chuckled sadly. To Midoriya, it felt like he was failing to cheer even himself up.
"That's—"
"If you say impossible, I'm going to kick you."
"—must be hell."
The expression on Takuma's face confirmed his theory.
"An Empath with a wide-range Quirk," Hikage commented, a saddened expression on his face. "I am sorry for what he has to endure. I left the city for a cabin in the woods for a good reason."
"An Empath?" Nana whispered, surprised. "This must have come from the mother's side."
"What else do you have on that boy?" Banjo asked, serious for one of the rare times he bothered to be.
"Not much. Takuma Takuma, as his name is, is quite the secretive fellow," Yoichi revealed as he changed the scene.
"—don't think I've forgotten you didn't answer my question, you Quirkless freak. What the hell are you doing on my turf, you reject!" the Shideya seethed, as Izuku back hit a wall
'I'm stuck.' he realised, dread pulling in his guts.
"I-I-I told you I'm just meeting some friends, Shideya. Nothing else," he shot back hoping today wouldn't be one of 'those days' "Let me go, I'll be late."
"Oh no, no, no, you Quirkless fuck. Ever since Bakugo has stopped wasting his time on you, I've been looking forward to this."
Izuku's met the eyes of Takuma who appeared behind the other two bully right before he grabbed the heads of the two lackeys closest to him and slammed them against each other. The shock of flesh against bone was sickening to hear.
"OW!" "FUCK!"
The following kick was too quick for him to see as both stumbled against their respective brick walls, falling on their asses gracelessly.
"Who the FU—"
Two quick steps and a straight punch landed firmly on Shideya, snapping his head back as he cried out at the sudden rush of pain. "Grargh, what the fuck?!"
Izuku heard the crunch as the nose broke, it made him feel sick.
"You've got my friend. Please give him back before I break something else." Takuma stated blandly, looking utterly bored as he flexed his hand.
"WHA—"
Another straight punch to the gut had Shideya bent over, emptying his stomach on the floor.
"Any volunteers?" Takuma asked the two others, who were quick to turn tail and run away.
"You good, Midoriya?" Takuma asked, turning to Izuku with the same bored expression on his feature.
"I—yes?" Izuku mumbled, still in shock from the quick succession of events.
Takuma brushed some grime off Izuku's clothes, ensuring he didn't look like he had been in a scuffle.
"Alright, if you're good, then we can go," Takuma said, wrapping an arm around Izuku's shoulder and pulling him towards the road. "And in case what happened didn't compute for you, he's one of mine. Fuck with him, and I won't content myself with a broken nose next time," he added, casting a death glare at the bully, who was too shocked to react.
As they walked away, leaving the bully covered in vomit behind them, Izuku finally spoke. "You could have stopped them without hurting any of them," he said, his voice shaky.
Takuma shrugged, removing his arm from Izuku's shoulder. "I could have. A bunch of school bullies aren't much of a threat if you know what you're doing."
"But...why didn't you? He's still there, covered...and you broke his nose," Izuku said, stumbling over his words. The simple if effective way he had fought didn't stop replaying in his mind, there was so much to learn in that single instance, Izuku yearned to grab his notebook.
"You're friends with Mei," Takuma sighed, with a blank expression. "We haven't talked as much as you two, but since she considers you a friend, then you're one of mine. And I take care of mine. Sometimes it means being cruel to some jackass who needs to put someone down to feel better about themselves, and sometimes it means hanging out at a cafe. There's not much to it, really."
"It's a very cold way to look at the world," Izuku commented not quite daring to say anything else. "You could have talked to him. He wasn't listening to me, but I'm sure he would have listened to you."
"Why bother?" Takuma asked with some annoyance, nearly making Izuku flinch. "We had a problem. I punched the problem twice. We don't have a problem. Now, next time he sees you, he'll wonder if I'm around and walk the other way."
"And if he doesn't?"
"In that case, I'll gently remind him that kneecaps are a privilege, not a right."
'He had to be joking.' he pleaded internaly.
"Please don't go hunting down my bullies...I'll be done with them in a few months. U.A. will be better; it's just a question of time," Izuku said in a panic, afraid of disrupting the status quo and bringing the wrong kind of attention to himself.
"I won't do anything if you ask me not to, but if Mei gets worried for you, be prepared for a few empty seats in your class until they leave you alone," Takuma replied, his tone serious.
"Welp, it's official. Nana, your grandson is a menace," En commented with a shadow of a smile.
"Practical and vicious, I like him," Bruce said. "I would need to see him in action against stronger opponents to get a good idea of how good he truly is."
"At least we know he can defend himself," Hikage added.
"And he can do more than that," Yoichi revealed as he queued the next memory.
"Tell you what, when you awaken your Quirk. Call me. I'll help you get the hang of it." he offered.
"I know you can fee-feel Quirk, but I don't know if-"
"Midoriya, I mean it. Do you know what Quirk specialist are worth to an orphanage ?" Takuma questioned to Izuku surprise.
"Eh, given that they deal with children who can awaken pretty much any Quirk, they must be worth a lot right ?" he offered the only logical conclusion he could come accross.
Takuma shook his head, barely resisting the urge to laugh."Orphanage only have access to Quirk specialist once or twice a year, and most of the time those guys aren't worth much more than the ink on their diploma." he revealed to him."Over the year I kind of took it upon myself to help the other kid with their Quirk, some are harder to deal with than other. But I have a pretty good record guiding someone to use their Quirk in a safe way. I won't promise anything, because when Quirk are invovlved nothing is, but I can give it a look and see if I can do anything to give you a leg-up."
Izuku was gratefull for the offer, due to how little he interacted with him outside of training he was never quite sure where he stood with his...intense friend."I-I will, thank you."
"Midoriya." Takuma nearly whispered"I know I'm not...the frendliest guy around." he said, trudging on mouniting irritation."I'm not the biggest fan of anyone beside Mei really, but your not too bad, from what I've seen." he managed to let out between clenched teeth."And your Mei bestfriend, which mean a lot to her, so it does to me. What I'm trying to say is if you need anything don't hesitate to ask, you got that ?!" he finished his sentence with a tone that reminded of a friend he used to have.
To his own surprise he just started chuckling."I-I got that, thanks Takuma." he managed to let out between laugh."You sounded like someone I know just now."
"He can feel Quirks?" Kudo wondered, surprise evident on his face. "I didn't know Empathy Quirks had such a reach."
"Neither did we," En pondered. "Empathy Quirks aren't that common, and I don't believe many use theirs in any heroic capacity."
"They were a rarity in our time," Bruce reminded his leader. "I believe we would have made use of this knowledge had we known it was a thing."
"If Izuku's memories are to be believed, they still are to this day," Yoichi informed the others. "They are few and far between. Takuma makes use of his Quirk to acquire intelligence and read his opponent in a fight—two things that aren't common for Empathy wielders."
"So Takuma isn't the most open kid around. What else do you have on him?" Nana asked, curious and slightly horrified by what she was learning.
"Let's see."
"One last question before we release both of you," Naomasa said as he read the words on his notebook. "From Gran Torino, we've learned you were an orphan, but after a short investigation, we discovered no pupil of the state under the name Takuma Takuma. The only Takuma we have in our database was part of the Suikestu orphanage."
Takuma's expression didn't even twitch, still the blank expression that was always on his face.
"Takuma, named Suzenitsu at the time, was reported missing after an unknown villain attack that left twenty children dead and more than two-hundred wounded with far-reaching mental disabilities," Tsukauchi stated. All Might, who had been taken by surprise by the question, couldn't help but want the answer. "Do you possess any knowledge linked to his whereabouts?"
To his credit, Takuma didn't even blink before replying.
"Never heard of him," he simply said, as All Might watched for the code like a hawk.
Two taps.
'A lie,' he thought, grief filling his heart. 'I'm sorry, Nana, I have failed them.'
Silence fell again on the assembly as Yoichi sighed. "I believe Takuma has been intertwined with All For One for a long time now."
"You think he might be working for him?" Hikage asked, unsure of his reasoning.
"He either opposes him or works for him," Yoichi let out. "Either way, we already know that young man didn't have a conventional childhood."
"How do I eat you ?" Takuma whispered to Izuku surprise as he tried and fail to digg with his spoon into the iced treat nearly spilling the content on the table until he grabbed the base with his free-hand."This is harder than it look."
After a few more second he finaly succeeded to dislogdged a piece of chocolate and eat it. "This is pretty good." he said to himself as he then turned to look at Mei and him."Something wrong?"
"Takuma...did you never have icecream before ?" he couldn't stop himself from asking as what was happening in front of him didn't make much sense otherwise..
"No, maybe ? If I did I certainly don't remember." he answered with a shrug."It's pretty neat."
'What happened to you.' Izuku thought,
"How the hell did that kid never have the time to eat ice cream? How? How?!" Banjo seethed, nearly apoplectic. "This is the best thing since we invented fire, and he only tried it now?!"
"Maybe he had a brush with All For One before his death," En offered. "If his orphanage was attacked, then AFO must have learned of his survival and sent someone to finish the job."
"That would explain the trust issues and dislike of authority figures," Hikage added.
"So we have an anxiety-ridden mess of a Ninth, and a survivor of AFO's latest horror," Banjo whistled. "And both of them are going to U.A, right?"
"Indeed," Yoichi confirmed.
"I just wish I could talk to him," Nana let out in a barely audible whisper. "Fuck, my grandson is out there alone, and I can't do shit. Being dead is torture."
"Well, you just might have your wish," Yoichi revealed as he changed the scenery again. "This is happening now. Takuma invited Izuku to his house to take a look at his Quirk. Who knows what's going to happen?"
The scene, taken straight from the boy's instant memory, played in front of them.
"The house looks like a battlefield," En remarked.
"Mei Hatsume, Izuku's best friend, is an inventor who will soon join U.A's Support Course," Yoichi informed everyone.
"So, he already has his tech monkey. That's good," Kudo commented while taking in the organized chaos around the house. "She might be helpful for his development. It's safer for him if he knows where his tech comes from."
"She is also Takuma's girlfriend," Yoichi pointed out.
"Oh, he got it like his grandma," chuckled Banjo, as Nana rolled her eyes.
"It's a Shimura duty and greatest pride to be good in bed. That girl is lucky," Nana joked, as Yoichi could feel her interest growing for the couple. "I'm going to need to pour through this boy's memory before we go back to sleep."
"You'll have all the time in the world for that later. I believe we've reached the point where we can all stay awake," Yoichi revealed to his audience.
"Fucking finally!" Daigoro shouted before crumbling onto his chair. "Sleeping gets boring, I can tell you that."
"It does get tiring," Hikage agreed.
"Yagi better take care of him, or I swear I will find a way to come back to life," Nana let out with a mountain of worry seeping into her voice.
"Well, our little Quirk Specialist is about to try and feel One For All. Do we risk anything?" Banjo asked, turning his head to look at Yoichi.
"I do not believe we are in any danger, unless Takuma's Quirk works in an unexpected way, of course," he replied to the group. "We'll have to wait and see. He's about to dive."
"All hands, prepare for impact!" Banjo mock-shouted as most ignored his jest. "You guys are boring."
Then he felt it. Yoichi focused on the strange sensation that was seeping into him, into all of them. It was gentle, like someone slowly falling to the bottom of the ocean. Takuma, if it was truly him, was diving—deep into Izuku's mind, farther than Yoichi had expected. Soon, he materialized, in the room with them.
"Sooooo, can he see us?" Banjo asked as he closed in on the boy, who was blankly staring toward the horizon.
"I do not believe he can," Yoichi said, waiting for what would come next.
Then, the boy who had materialized in front of them started turning his head, from left to right, staring them in the eye one by one.
"Or not. He may be seeing us right now," Yoichi corrected himself, unsure of what was going on.
"Can you see me?!" Nana, who had rushed to him, demanded, her hope and dread clear in her voice. "Can you hear me?!"
'What are you?' came the single voice from the boy.
"He can see us, but not entirely," En remarked. "I believe he does not see us as we are, but in other ways."
"Fuck!" Nana let out a shriek filled with let-down fury.
'Am I fucking high?!' the echo of the boy's image nearly shouted, before he took another look at all of them. 'Holy shit, One For All is a sentient Quirk!'
"Did the blonde in chief or his heir share the secret of One For All with him?" Daigoro asked.
"In fact, he did not," Yoichi told the other wielder. "Neither did the boy."
"So, he met with All For One? He may be working for him from the grave?" Kudo seethed, looking over the boy with hatred in his eyes. "Can we do anything?"
"No," the First sighed. "Our hands are tied, as always."
'Welp, now that's fucking unexpected,' the boy who looked so much like Nana continued. 'One more reason for staying away from that stupid Quirk. Hope you're not too much of a pervert, whatever you are.'
Yoichi felt a wave of indignation at his comment. Even though the vestige had full access to their current and past hosts' memories, none had ever used this power for such a depraved goal. Even dead, all of them could respect the very basic need of privacy.
"Given his reaction, I don't believe he is working for All For One," Hikage stated. "As Nana's grandson, he's in a prime position to inherit the Quirk. He could have easily used his family name to acquire it if he wanted."
"Maybe," Kudo growled.
'So you can understand me. Good to know,' the boy chuckled to everyone's surprise.
"He got us there," guffawed Banjo.
'Got you, whatever you are all supposed to be.'
"That he did," Nana commented with some approval.
'So I suppose, since you are going to live inside my friend from now on, I guess I'll have to do the presentation. Takuma, Takuma, resident Empath. I'm down here to get an idea on how to best help All Might's boytoy wield One For All. You mind showing me the way?'
"He doesn't seem like much of a threat," Bruce stated as he looked the materialized form of the boy up and down. "Should we trust him?"
"He won't do much more harm than Yagi telling the boy to, and I quote, 'clench his buttcheeks and yell smash!'" Daigoro recalled with a laugh.
"I agree. The amount of stored energy is much more than any one of us ever had to deal with when we came to inherit the Quirk," Yoichi reflected. "This is an opportunity to ease the Ninth into his power that we cannot pass on."
Nods all around. They were in agreement.
Yoichi stepped forward—not in a physical sense, but more of a metaphorical one. Close as he was to the boy, he had an easier time sharing a long-forgotten feeling—the one All Might had forgotten due to the easy time he had activating his Quirk. He sent the idea, like a weight, a pressure—something the boy could comprehend.
'Maybe All Might? This might be how he goes about wielding it.'
All Might's use had been like breathing for so long that Yoichi actually had to go back farther to the time the seventh first learned how to use it.
'Well, thanks little buddy. That's exactly what I was looking for,' Takuma said to him, which, as a two-century-old man, stung a little.
"Little buddy, ah!" Daigoro laughed to Yoichi's irritation.
'Waiting here won't help me much.'
"That was quick," Hikage commented neutrally.
'Alright, thank you all for your help. Before I go, just a little bit of warning,' the boy said with a smile before it dropped, much like Yoichi felt his stomach drop.
Influence. Much in the same way, All For One had twice used it to try to steal One For All.
"Attack!" Kudo shouted as he jumped to his feet.
The vestige, each and every one of them, prepared to defend themselves and the boy. "The kid doesn't just have the ability to sense emotion—whatever it is, it's more than that!" Daigoro shouted, as with others, he locked rank.
Their defenses were set. None had ever succeeded in breaking their hold.
But no attack came. No pull that threatened to rip them away from their host.
'I don't have many people I can stand, and this boy is one of them,' Takuma threatened as bloodlust and killing intent started to slip away from the boy's mind. 'Hurting him would be the last mistake anyone of you would ever do. I may not know what you all are, but let me be clear. There are things out there that even Villain Fear. And I'm one of them. Don't. Fuck. With. Him.'
They were taken aback by the threat, as one last push made the space around them shake and groan.
'Welp, it's been a pleasure. See ya.' Then the boy was gone.
A moment of silence settled over the group as everyone returned to their seats.
"Welp, the Ninth has a greasy tech-monkey as a best friend and the feral grandson of the Seventh as a bodyguard," Daigoro said, drawing agreement from everyone. "I wish we had popcorn, because if there's one thing we know, what's coming next isn't gonna be boring."
"He has the capacity to act on the emotional spectrum," Yoichi said, his mind drifting back to the sensations he had felt. "I didn't feel my brother's touch, and he definitely didn't use a single Quirk during his dive."
"He can read emotions and shape them," En mused aloud. "There are many ways to abuse such a power. He could become a pernicious threat to the Ninth."
"Heh, 'pernicious.' There he goes again with the big words," Daigoro chuckled. "The kid doesn't seem that bad. There's a lot we don't know, so let's wait and see. If he tries anything, we'll just have to kick his ass the next time he shows up here."
"We'll see," Nana replied cryptically, her eyes still fixed on the present.
"Yes, the girl seems very touchy," Hikage observed.
"You have no idea," Yoichi added, surprising the others.
The couple's daring escapade had gone completely over Izuku's head, but Yoichi wasn't so lucky. Over the years, he had come to understand what others gained from such experiences, but to him, sex was still... uninteresting.
A rush of energy surged. It was a small amount, considering the vast reserve of stockpiled power.
"And he just used One For All for the first time," Bruce said. "At least Takuma knows what he's doing."
"Yep, it'll take a while before Izuku can use more than five percent safely," Daigoro remarked. "Slow and steady wins the race, and all that."
"And she's feeding him ice cream!" Nana cooed, transfixed by her grandson's interaction with his girlfriend. "They're so cute together."
"You'll have all the time in the world for that later," Kudo groused. "Let's not get ourselves attached to the possible pawn of All For One. Dead or not, that boy is a mystery we cannot underestimate."
"Kudo's right, we don't know yet how much we can trust him," Yoichi mediated, sensing Nana's growing frustration. "In time, we may communicate with the Ninth. We've reached a singularity. The Quirk has changed, and so have our possibilities. Time is our ally. Until we can act in the real world again, there's nothing we can do but wait."
"Yes, yes," Daigoro groaned. "Just let me watch the Ninth crush a robot before we go all speechy."
Yoichi sighed. "I like speeches."
"We know!" the other vestiges replied in unison.