"Regular speech,"

"Flashback speech,"

'Inner dialogue,'

'Phone Text Chat'

Izuku was completely exhausted, his arm and back hurt, and worst of all he had an itch in the middle of his back he couldn't reach. The cast on his right arm and the gauze inside was making his arm just as itchy.

It had really annoyed Recovery Girl to see Izuku come back into the nurse's office, but she had given him a bit of a break when she saw his arm wasn't nearly as bad as it had been. However, she had told him she wouldn't be able to use her power to heal it for at least a day or two because he was already exhausted and any more uses would probably kill him.

Yeah, Izuku would rather put up with a cast.

The ceremony had been very uncomfortable and very strange. Izuku, the winner, looked very rough compared to Kacchan in second and Setsuna in third, but the oddest sight was Kacchan himself. It had taken four teachers and a whole straitjacket to get him onto the second-place platform, and even All Might had had trouble getting the medal onto him. Compared to the odd states of Izuku and Kacchan, Setsuna had looked more out of place with how normal she was.

Izuku had had no time to talk to All Might about what he'd seen during his fight with Shinso. After the ceremony, amid a storm of people asking him for autographs, Izuku made his escape with Himiko to the school building. The classroom was nearly empty but a few of their classmates were filtering in as he packed.

'I need to hurry so I can talk to All Might!'

"Hold still!" Himiko haphazardly wrote 'Property of Himiko Toga' across the surface of his cast.

"Seriously?! You know a lot of people are gonna see this, right?" Izuku held the cast up wondering if he could find something to erase the permanent marker, but he threw that thought out quickly. He knew Himiko would just write it right back on.

She smiled, flashing her fangs," That's the point! I've gotta keep hussies away."

"What huss—"

"Hey, Midoriya! That fight was so cool!" Ashido smiled widely, her eyes open wide, and her face entirely too close for Izuku's comfort.

"It was pretty interesting. I was surprised how rude you were to Bakugo though," Asui smiled politely," but he had it coming. By the way, your arm okay?"

"Oh! Uh ye—"

Himiko karate chopped a hand between Izuku and the girls," back off hussies," she pointed at the marker on his cast," he's taken!"

"Himiko!" Izuku squeaked indignantly and the three girls burst into laughter at his reaction.

The girls settled down and went into an animated chat that he couldn't quite keep up with, so Izuku continued packing up while Himiko was distracted. As he did Izuku caught sight of Kacchan, he was strangely subdued, and he didn't make a single rude remark when he saw Izuku watching him.

He just packed his school bag, slung it over his shoulder, and walked out of the room.

Izuku turned back to his desk.

'Ignore it.'

His back ached.

'Ignore it.'

His arm twinged as he put his hero analysis notebook he'd been using throughout the sports festival away.

'Ignore it.'

Izuku sighed, slammed his bag down on the desk, and ran after the boy.

'Why am I doing this?'

Izuku leaped down the stairs three steps at a time.

'Who cares if his stupid feelings are hurt?!'

His lungs burned even with the light run he was at. He really needed a nap. Usually, even this level of exercise was nothing to him, but he was so tired.

'The asshole has been tormenting me our whole lives, so why?'

Izuku caught up with the boy outside the school's courtyard," Kacchan!"

'Why do I care anymore!'

Kacchan stopped, but he showed no sign of acknowledging Izuku other than that. His shoulders were hunched and shaking.

'Either he's super pissed or he's about to cry," Izuku snorted,' yeah, he's as bout as likely to start crying as I am to join the League of Villains.'

"I– um, I mean… I never—" Izuku looked down. His stupid hero complex had gotten him into another awkward situation, but unlike with Todoroki, there was no ground to be made in this fight. He and Kacchan had known each other for years, so if no progress had been made in all that time then what would one conversation do?

It certainly wouldn't help mend the hate Izuku felt for the boy, it certainly wouldn't diminish the other boy's hatred for Izuku, so was there anything he could do?

"I never hid my quirk from you," Izuku could feel Kacchan's gaze on him. It was hot and angry, and he knew the boy would blow up if nothing else was said," I genuinely didn't know I had a quirk! Do you think that if I did know that I would have kept it from you? Kacchan, I looked up to you when we were younger, even if you didn't like me all that much back then, I was still amazed by how strong you were. I wanted you to acknowledge me, so don't you think you would've been the first person I to—"

"Aaaaagh! Shut the fuck up, Deku!" Kacchan rounded on Izuku, his bag now thrown to the ground and forgotten," I would've been the first person you told?! You looked up to me? Don't make me fuckin laugh. You always thought I was a damn weakling, but I'm not!"

Izuku could see some scene playing behind Kacchan's eyes, but whatever it was, was lost on him.

"I'm not like you. I've been strong since the beginning, so the last person I need to give me some half-assed pep talk is you! Whether or not you had that damn quirk all along, don't think it means you're anywhere near my level, and don't think that goddamn cheap shot at the end means you beat me! Your ass wouldn't stand a chance in a fair fight with none of your goddamn bullshit!" Kacchan grabbed his bag from the floor and stomped away.

'Well, that didn't go… entirely horribly.'

"He's quite mad, that one."

Izuku jumped and looked behind himself," A-All Might!"

All Might gave a two-fingered salute," Yo, what's up young Midoriya? I saw you two standing out here from the window and got a bit worried. I know how you and young Bakugo don't exactly see eye to eye."

"That's an understatement," Izuku mumbled, but quickly remembered what he wanted to talk to the number one hero about," All Might! I need to tell you something."

The pro nodded and hooked a thumb over his shoulder," Let's head to the teacher's lounge, I don't have much time left in this form, and this sounds pretty important."

All Might turned to walk back into the school, but Izuku gave Kacchan's retreating figure one last long look. But then All Might shouted and Izuku hurried after him.

"Spooky!" All Might seemed to tremble in his skeletal form at the news of Izuku seeing some kind of specters during his fight with Shinso," and you said one of them looked like me? I'm not dead! Oh man, that's freaky."

Izuku could feel himself perspiring," s-so you don't have any idea what it was that I saw?"

All Might composed himself and sat up straight, but Izuku could still see a slight worry in his eyes," I think I might. You said one of the figures said something about his brother, and you're sure about that?"

Izuku thought back to the moment," Yes, it definitely said his brother."

All Might steepled his hands and gazed at Izuku from across the coffee table they were sitting at. A pair of cups sat in front of them, steam billowing out," I think what you saw were the users of One for All, and the one that spoke about his brother was the original user."

"T-The users of One for All?" Izuku let that sink in. He had seen visions of people who were most likely dead. All Might may not have said the previous users other than him were, but he would have mentioned them by now if they were still around. Not to mention All Migjt had never once spoken about the person he had received One for All from

"That's right. I believe that is who you saw." All Might leaned forward and rested his forehead against his hands," I sensed some vestiges of the previous users while I had the quirk, I myself even saw them, but it was only briefly and after…"

Izuku leaned forward," After what?"

All Might grimaced, which was a rather painful-looking expression on his already emaciated features, but he sighed," I suppose it's time I told you, about the origins of One for All, and of the reason for its existence." Izuku gulped," What do you know about the time directly following the emergence of quirks?"

Izuku pulled on his lower lip, wracking his brain to think about the question," Well…I know it was really chaotic at first. People wanted to use their abilities freely, but back then there were more quirkless people than people with quirks so there was a lot of pushback. I don't know when exactly it was that it happened, but after a decade or so society started changing. People with quirks ran rampant and it was a really bad time for people with or without powers. If I remember right it was America that instituted a hero system and that was when heroes started to appear to fight people who used their quirks without restraint."

All Might nodded," that's quite a simplistic summary, but you aren't exactly wrong. Honestly, the unprecedented peace we have now is fairly recent and there's a reason for that."

Izuku balked at that. Was that true? Had the world really been that much more dangerous not that long ago?

"Don't look so surprised, young Midoriya. You forget I haven't always been around! And my title of 'Symbol of Peace' was one that I alone have held. I'm not just bragging here it's a fact that a large reason why this country is so safe is because of the fear that villains have for me and the ideals I uphold," Izuku smiled brightly at his mentor, happy that the man had seen something in him that had inspired the pro," however, where there is light, in this world there is also darkness. The power I used to achieve the peace we now enjoy, came from that darkness. It is a vile monstrosity, known as All for One."

Izuku shuddered. Something about the moniker sounded… familiar," All for One?"

All Might nodded," yes, All for One was the guiding force for much of the chaos in Japan during the upheaval of society. I wouldn't be surprised if his reach extended to other countries."

"H-He was that powerful?"

"Oh yes. All for One, while being a moniker and also the name of his quirk, was a merciless villain who I can most assuredly call the very definition of evil. All for One could take the quirks of others so that he could use them for himself, and he even had the ability to transfer a quirk to another person."

Izuku's blood ran cold," y-you don't mean that One for All…"

All Might nodded, his shadowed eyes were grim and dull," that is correct. One for All is a quirk that was created by All for One. Although, I suspect he did not intend to create the power; it was created all the same. You see All for One had a quirkless younger brother, whose body was frail and sickly, but he had a strong sense of justice. The younger brother, who was coveted as a possession of the older brother, defied his sibling. Until one day his older brother, either out of a warped sense of kindness or perhaps an attempt to force obedience on his younger brother, gave a quirk that stockpiled power to him. Either way, something happened that no one could have expected. The power he had been given mixed with a power that the younger brother didn't even know he had; it was an ability that passed along the quirk factor of the previous user to another. And thus, One for All was born."

Izuku gaped at that. How unlucky could All for One get? Not only did he not manage to control his brother, but he had also managed to create a power that would one day create one of the greatest heroes ever; All Might," but why does any of this matter? I mean, if all of this happened at the dawn of quirks, then surely it doesn't have any bearing on what's going on now! That was more than a hundred years ago everyone involved in that story is long dead."

All Might held up a hand," Ah, but how long do you think All for One's natural lifespan would have been? Sixty, seventy, or maybe eighty years? You could say that is more than enough time to find the right quirk."

Izuku didn't like where this was going, not one bit.

"Somewhere along the line, he found a quirk, one that either halted the aging process or healed him so quickly it wasn't even a factor anymore. Either way, he was still around even when I was studying under my own master," All Might shifted uncomfortably, unbuttoned his dress shirt, and exposed his horrible stomach scar," I told you the villain who did this was fairly unknown; that was an understatement. Only a select few people knew about him and those people were myself, Detective Tsukauchi, my former sidekick Sir Nighteye, and my master's friend; a man named Gran Torino."

"Y-You don't mean the person I'm thinking of did that, do you?"

All Might nodded," That's right, All for One."

Izuku was trying not to hyperventilate. This whole story was somehow familiar, whether it was because of suppressed memories from the fragments of the previous users, or because of something… else; Izuku didn't know.

"Five years ago I fought All for One. It was a hard-fought battle, but I came out on top; I had even believed the man dead. Sure, I was a wreck and on the very brink of death, but he had been left much more wounded than me. This whole time I've seen not even a shadow nor heard even a whisper of the man's survival. Not until recently."

"The League of Villains," Izuku glared down at his long-forgotten cup of tea, the steam now gone, and the cup cold to the touch.

"Yes, I'd had my suspicions when you and young Himiko had brought me the note that the info broker Giran had given her. It was a plan that stunk of All for One's treachery but with none of the nuance. At first, I thought it was the remnants of his organization in Japan, after all, when you kill a snake its body will writhe before growing still. I had hoped that the League of Villains would be his final death throes, but when I fought that monstrous beast, Nomu, I knew All for One must still be around." All might paused, took a sip from his cold tea, and then bowed his head," I am sorry, young Midoriya."

That took Izuku by surprise, and he scrambled to his feet quickly," Y-You don't have to apologize, A-All Might!"

The man grimaced all the harder, and his skeletal features deepened," I'm afraid I must. I took you on as my successor under the assumption that you wouldn't have to go through the very same ordeals I did, but I see now that I was mistaken."

Honestly, the thought of some century-old boogeyman scared Izuku to death, but he couldn't say that he regretted All Might's decision to make him his successor. If Izuku had never met All Might then he most likely never would have met Himiko again.

Izuku chuckled to himself and felt the scar on his side from when he had first met Himiko again,' well she probably would have found me eventually.'

"I don't regret becoming your successor, All Might. I won't lie I'm definitely scared, but weren't you too when you took on the burden of One for All? You must have known at some point about All for One, and no matter what age you were when you did, you must have been afraid. I don't know what I can do, but I won't run away."

All Might studied Izuku for long silent moments, his sunken blue eyes glowed in their sockets with a strange light, and finally, he let out a laugh that was more like a sigh," You're something else, young Midoriya. In all my wildest imaginings I never thought this conversation would go like this. I was expecting cursing, yelling, perhaps even some name-calling, but you truly are too kind."

Izuku smiled as widely as he could," I've been told I'm really stubborn."

All Might laughed," My teacher told me the same thing."

"So what did you need to talk about with Mr. Skeleton?" Himiko balanced carefully and walked along with Izuku up a residential street on the line of privacy walls. She picked along the brick walls carefully and hopped to the next wall as they broke between houses.

"First of all that's not nice. Second, I think he intended it as one of those things just between me and him." Izuku tried desperately not to freak out as she cartwheeled along the thin wall and leaped to the next.

Himiko hummed thoughtfully and stood still as she waited for Izuku to catch up," hmm, well if it's not something you should share without his permission I guess it's fine, but see if he'll let you tell me eventually. Okay?"

Izuku was sure he wanted Himiko to know any more than she already did. He was fairly certain she would already be in a lot of danger just knowing he was the current holder of One for All.

'There must be a reason that only All Might and a few other people know about All for One. I can't put her in more danger than she's already been in. She deserves a normal life, or at least as normal as I can help give her.'

Izuku wasn't an idiot, he might be naive, but he was under no illusions about his girlfriend. Her past was undoubtedly filled with sorrow and hardship, the least he could do for her was try not to fill her future with it as well.

"I'll ask, but I doubt he'll let me tell you," Izuku sighed and hurried to follow his girlfriend.

They continued along like that for the duration of their journey home, her cartwheeling along walls, and Izuku following along, trying not to freak out as she did. When they finally made it back to Izuku's apartment the sun had set and the streetlights had come on.

Izuku turned to Himiko just as they reached the apartment door," Don't forget we can't let Mom know how dangerous today really was. If she finds out I won't ever be allowed to go to school events like that ever again, and she might find a way for you to be excluded too!"

She gasped exaggeratedly," What? Oh no! I would be left out of activities I didn't want to do for a school I didn't want to attend?! Whatever would I do?"

Izuku sighed, hunched his shoulders, and put his key in the door," yeah, I walked right into that one. I don't know what I was ex—"

"Izuku!"

"Daddy!"

A tangle of limbs knocked Izuku to the ground. His mom was crying, Eri was hugging him so tightly around the neck he was certain his brain was losing oxygen, and Himiko was just watching it all.

"M-Mom, E-Eri-chan! C-Can't breathe!" Izuku choked out, trying desperately not to activate One for All so he could break free.

Thankfully Himiko seemed to take pity on him and pulled Izuku free," alright you two! I know you were worried but he's fine… I mean sort of."

Izuku steadied himself, crouched down so he could hug Eri, and then he smiled up at his mom," Yeah, I'm fine! No need to worry."

"Welcome home," Eri mumbled, her voice small and shaky as she clung to his shoulder.

Izuku smiled and ran his uninjured hand through her hair.

Inko worried over Izuku for a few more minutes. Her tirade about being safer in the future didn't come to an end until Eri's stomach growled. They all made their way into the kitchen, had Izuku and Himiko's favorite foods, and then when they had all finished talking about the sports festival, they made their way to the living room to sit and watch movies together.

The day had been exceptionally long for Izuku, and honestly, he was dead tired. But being back at home, surrounded by the people he cared about most, he couldn't really bring himself to go to sleep. Maybe it was because he didn't want the moment to end, maybe he was still a little wired from all the fighting he'd done, but either way he wouldn't trade this moment for anything in the world.

Himiko leaned her head against his shoulder, Eri breathed evenly with her head on his lap as she slept, and his mom smiled warmly at him as she dabbed away a stray happy tear.

'I'm glad I was given this quirk.'

A/N: With this chapter the Sport Festival Arc is officially over and we'll be getting into the Work Studies Arc! I for one can't wait to get into the Training Camp Arc, but we've still got a ways to go so hope you're ready for what comes next!

hope you enjoyed!!!!