Strong wind hit his face and the sudden onslaught of white light blinded him for a moment.

"Shigaraki! What is the meaning of this?!" he heard a male, worked-up voice. "Have we retreated?! Have we lost?!"

Enji looked around, his eyes adjusting to the pale blue sky reaching out to far away horizon where it joined with the distant sea, and to the blinding ...whiteness of snow. He blinked. They were somewhere high in the mountains; the landscape of tall mountain ranges, too high to be anywhere in Japan, and of deep green forests stretched before them.

He looked around. By his side was his Izuku, taking all this with wide eyes. There was the woman, completely impassive. There was Spinner; it was him who was shouting at Shigaraki while the latter ignored him and was looking around, there was Mr Compress still in his jail clothes, also looking completely shocked, there was Kurogiri, his eyes on the woman, and there was...

...Touya.

His Touya.

Lying on the ground, his body terribly burned, but breathing.

"Touya," he whispered. The blue eyes opened.

"Where is Toga?" he heard Shigaraki's growl.

A mad grin appeared on his Touya's face as he scrambled to his feet.

"Are you sure you should be standing?" came a worried voice of Compress. Touya's grin widened, the same madness Enji had seen before, filling him up as he took them all in.

"Ah, the two my most beloved members of my sweet family! And dragged away from the rest of the heroes! Thank you, leader, you have finally earned my respect and gratitude. I will-"

"Where is Touga?!" snapped Shigaraki again, turning to the woman.

"She died," she answered peacefully. "She-"

"WHO CARES ABOUT HER! HER LIFE, HER CHOICES! DEAD ARE DEAD AND MY DEAR FATHER AND BROTHER WILL HAPPILY JOIN HER!" shouted Touya cackling madly. The beams of blue flames soared toward Izuku who immediately jumped out of their way.

"I don't want them dead," came Shigaraki's cold voice.

Dabi just laughed even louder at it while he rushed after Izuku. "We're gonna have a problem, then, leader! Because their death is all that matters to me! It is my dream!"

Enji flew after his son. "Touya! Touya, leave Izuku out of this! This is all my fault!"

Touya's laughter turned even higher and more insane. "Thank you for stating the obvious, dear father! It is your fault and it is you that shall be punished! And what greater punishment than the death of your beloved masterpiece!" A blue Hell Spider burned through the air with speed and power bigger than Enji's own Quirk would ever allow. Izuku was quick but this was Hell Spider, the technique specifically designed to be difficult if not impossible to evade, and Touya had clearly been preparing himself well. One of the fire threads cut through Izuku's suit, tearing it open and scorching the boy's chest.

"Zuku!" shouted Enji among Touya's laughter. "I don't want to fight you, Touya! If you want to destroy me, fine! But leave Izuku alone!"

"Dad!"

"DABI!" Enji had never heard Shigaraki shout. Apparently, neither had Touya since he stopped in midair, turning his head towards his leader.

"Leave. Them. Be," There was a clear threat in the villain's voice. "They clearly aren't half as shitty as you painted them to be. You're clearly just a whining brat."

Everyone stared at Shigaraki now. Enji'd swear he saw a shadow of a smile on the woman's face. 'This man will become the man who saved your life four times,' a thought crossed his mind. Why? Why Enji of all people? Why was he even here among Shigaraki's friends?

Touya's face twisted in insane hatred. "Their death was the only reason why I joined your pitiful League!" he spat. "You were supposed to destroy the hero's world! Look at you now, licking Endeavor's balls, protecting my dear little brother-"

Shigaraki turned to the woman. "Can you send him back?"

"Yes," she simply said.

"No! Wait!" shouted Enji but Touya was gone in an instant.

A silence fell.

"It was his dream, you know," murmured Spinner. "He joined you to-"

"If that green hero brat cares about me more than Dabi does, on whose side should I be?" asked Shigaraki in his low, menacing voice.

Spinner shut up.

Izuku dropped back down, and Enji followed him, his heart thundering. "Are you okay?"

"The suit took the brunt of his fire. I'm fine."

Enji turned to the woman. "Where did you send him?"

"Back," she answered. "Right back to the place and time he was taken from."

"Will he be... alive?" Enji asked, quite sure it was a stupid thing to ask.

Shigaraki gave him some sort of an ugly, hard-to-decipher look.

"He should be," answered the woman peacefully.

"Fuck, it's cold here," murmured Spinner.

Enji activated his Quirk on reflex and everyone stared at him.

"So," said the woman. "This is an artificial small universe that we have created for-"

"Shut up," growled Shigaraki and he snatched the tablet from her hand. She obediently fell quiet.

"So..." he said quietly. "If I sign it, can I bring Touga back?"

"Yes."

Another silence fell broken by quiet murmur of Spinner, "Who even is she?"

"Apparently a multiversal God," came Kurogiri's calm voice. How the hell anyone could be calm saying shit like that?

"Much depends on your definition of a God," the woman replied serenely.

Shigaraki kept staring at the tablet intensively. Enji half-wished to see what exactly was written on it. What exactly was the contract Shigaraki was supposed to agree to?

"It says I can't exterminate whole species. If I kill, let's say, half of humanity, it is not an extermination of species, right?"

"No," said the woman lightly.

Frost gripped Enji's heart. "You've got to be joking!" he barked. "You can't just let-"

"Alright," said Shigaraki and pressed his finger against the tablet. The woman smiled, pleased. "Now bring back Touga."

"It would be educational for you to observe how exactly it is done. You-"

"Just bring her back," hissed Shigaraki angrily.

The woman nodded, still completely unfazed by the villain's behavior, and indeed Touga's unconscious body appeared on the ground. She looked white as a sheet, with dark blue circles under her eyes.

"Touga!" shouted both Spinner and Mr Compress as they dropped to their knees by her side.

"What's wrong with her?" Shigaraki asked.

"She died of blood loss. But she is alright now. She should regain consciousness in minutes."

"Good."

"About this place," the woman started again.

"Fuck you," said Shigaraki. Enji stared at him. "I don't care. Just leave me, all of you." He turned and started walking away taking the small path leading down towards the forest surrounding the mountain, still completely naked, barefoot on the snow. Enji could see his shivers.

"Tomura Shigaraki," Kurogiri called after him.

"Leave. Me. ALONE!" barked Shigaraki not even turning his head.

"So, where exactly are we?" asked Izuku kindly though Enji could see his eyes were following Shigaraki.

"It's a small artificial universe," repeated the woman. "It is mostly used for recreation. A VR game of sorts. I think it will be a good place for your overseer to rest in. It can be peaceful and beautiful. This cave here," she motioned to a barely visible due to resting much lower than their feet level opening in a solid stone. "leads to a comfortable residence. You all can rest there. There is food and clothes and books, though you'll find only pure fiction here, apart from some skill books."

"But what happened in our world? And what do you mean, artificial universe? What the hell has happened?" asked Spinner, sounding rather frantic. Enji didn't blame him in the slightest.

"Your friend is an overseer of your universe," she responded peacefully. Every time Enji heard this or something along those lines he wanted to smash his head against something. Very hard. Maybe that would wake him. "That is why Kokushibo Shigaraki groomed him and sought to destroy his mind and overtake his body. Shigaraki hoped he would gain access and control over what you call the Singularity Quirk, which would give him the highest power possible in your universe."

"Wait... so our Shigaraki... has some sort of ultimate power?" Spinner's eyes were even wider than before.

"Have you never heard of the Singularity worshippers?" Mr Compress scolded him.

"But they're a bunch of lunatics!" protested Spinner.

"Exactly," murmured Enji.

"More importantly, should we let Tenko just go?" They heard his Izuku. "He had just been through a gigantic trauma. Everything he knew was a lie. Whole his life, his feelings, his pain, his dreams were just a scheme spun by All for One." Enji saw Kurogiri's long look on his Izuku.

"He needs to rest. If he wants to rest far from anyone, be it enemy or friend, it is his choice," responded the woman.

"Because he is known to make good choices?" murmured Enji. Kurogiri's eyes were on him now.

"Atsuhiro-kun?"

"Toga! You're awake!" exclaimed Mr Compress with joy and both his and Kurogiri's attention turned to the exhausted and confused-looking girl. Spinner however was still staring at the woman in shock.

"Wait, wait, wait the hell," he said, his eyes wide and breath quick. "What the hell do you mean by Singularity Quirk? What the hell do you mean by an overseer of the Universe? What kind of sick game are you, heroes, playing? Do you think we're completely braindead?! You want to confuse us to-" he stopped abruptly, even him apparently not able to figure out what that kind of plan could serve. "Wait, have you messed with Shigaraki's mind? We'll kill you for that!"

"Um, Dad, maybe you'll stay and I go after him? Just to have my eyes on him?" Izuku completely ignored Spinner.

Enji turned to the woman. "So, he can do everything he wants now, right? He signed the contract."

"Not here, no. I was going to ask him which Quirks he wants to have in this universe but maybe this is not the best time to speak to him."

"Stop ignoring me, you haughty-"

"Shuichi." Enji was surprised to hear so far rather taciturn Kurogiri. "Those two heroes aren't Tomura's enemies. Izuku Midoriya is actually the only person who seems concerned for him now."

"He does that, doesn't he?" came a tired murmur from Touga. His Izuku shot her a surprised, slightly suspicious, slightly concerned look. Why? Enji had no idea.

"How dare - You know I'd die for Shigaraki, right, Kurogiri?! What came over you all?! Is that-"

Enji turned to the cave, tuning the irritating brat out. He already knew what he wanted to know, and it wasn't his business how the woman would handle those villains. He just shot a glance at Kurogiri.

"How are you feeling?"

Spinner shut up abruptly and they all stared at him, the tiniest smile appearing on the woman's face.

"Ah, so that's where Izuku-kun takes it from," said Touga sounding surprisingly - considering what he knew about her behavior - weary and emotionless.

"The hell is happening!" growled Spinner again.

"I am fine, thank you," said slowly Kurogiri, the golden glints of his hidden in the dark mist eyes looking into Enji's.

"Somehow I doubt it," murmured Enji and went to the cave, hearing his Izuku following him.

He could hear Spinner aggressively throwing questions at the woman but couldn't care less. The villains seemed, more or less, fine, barring Kurogiri who probably could never be fine being what he was, and they had each other anyway. And the woman was apparently just doing her job; it wasn't like she needed Enji for anything. She was only here because of Tenko Shimura.

Right, Shimura.

He tried to somehow reach out with his mind to this 'future Shimura' but no response came. Had he stayed in their universe? Were the times in both universes even aligned in any way? Did the time in their universe stand still while they were here, just like an object entering a black hole seems still to the observer? In that case future Shimura wouldn't be able to reach them, wouldn't- wait, if he was future Shimura, he should have known all this happened. He should have known Enji was here.

Enji sighed. He was sure he was in a coma but, just in case he was terribly wrong, he would behave as if he wasn't. Just in case.

His Izuku was walking by his side, quiet, deep in his own thoughts.

A fifty or so meters of the cave looked like a perfectly natural corridor, with droplets of humidity on rocks shimmering in the light coming from the entrance, and some moss and mushrooms growing everywhere despite the low temperature. Then it opened to an enormous cavern lit up by sunlight sneaking in through the small tears in the stony ceiling, with an underground river complete with a waterfall, and a massive ornate bridge leading to a residence adorned with dragon heads carved on its roof and statues of naked men and women on the small court. It reminded Enji of small, centuries-old palaces he had seen in Europe.

"It looks quite like Bloodchill Manor," whispered Izuku in awe.

You certainly could see some resemblance to one of the homes you could have in Skyrim. Enji shook himself mentally. This was no time to marvel at the architecture and wonder how much spare money the woman had.

He walked past the bridge and courtyard and opened the huge wooden door. The inside, again, looked like the most expensive of European hotels he had ever been to. He went to the first room available but it wasn't what he was looking for – he found himself in some sort of a medieval-styled kitchen, with a huge fireplace, a clay oven, and plenty of food lying on the massive wooden table. The next was some sort of a playground for history reconstructors? There were bows and swords and axes and straw mannequins. He shook his head and headed upstairs. Of course, the bedrooms would be upstairs, he should have guessed that. And he wasn't wrong – he found what he was searching for in the first room that he had opened. The wardrobe. He opened it, rummaged thr-

He closed his eyes.

"Dad."

Fuck this shit. So he really was in a coma. Admittedly he did not remember ever having any so vivid and long dreams like this one but, well, maybe he would forget this when he woke up. But it meant he lost. It meant that his Izuku-

"Dad?"

"You're not real," sighed Enji. "This isn't real."

"Dad, calm down."

"I am calm," whispered Enji and sat on the floor, hiding his face in his hands. "I lost and I left you there, to fight him on your own."

The familiar arms did their best to surround him and squeeze him tightly. It felt so real. But then again he knew this feeling so well it was nothing surprising his brain was able to reproduce it easily.

"Dad, I am here. We both are here. If you really think about it, all this is quite logical."

Enji barked out a bitter laugh though a part of him wanted to cry.

"Yes, it is perfectly logical! Our Shigaraki is a God, or something close enough to it. Still, instead of doing whatever he wants, for some reason he goes back in time to bother me about doing things he could have done himself with his god's power. And then a goddamn multiversal fucking clerk comes to take us to fucking Skyrim." Because the clothes he found in the wardrobe were Skyrim clothes. He could recognize them anywhere.

"Well, she said this is an artificial universe made for recreation; like VR but better. If I were a god I'd totally create life-like Skyrim, like in Westworld," said his Izuku, trying to sound reasonable. As reasonable as his sick comatose brain could make him be. As if any of this was even a little bit close to a definition of 'reasonable'.

A soft rustle caught their attention.

Kurogiri was standing at the top of the stairs, keeping his distance, watching them closely. Enji wasn't going to care. This wasn't real.

"Were you going to take clothes for Tomura?"

"He's not real. You're not real. This isn't real," answered Enji feeling empty now. "I'm in a coma and I don't know w-"

"You're not in a coma, Dad!" shouted his Izuku shaking him.

"He is right," agreed Kurogiri in a somewhat tired voice. "You are not in a coma and Tomura is somewhere out there freezing."

"Then go and take care of him!" snapped Enji. Kurogiri flinched and the golden eyes lowered to look at the floor.

"Yes," he said quietly, pain clear in his voice. "I should have done that."

"No," said Izuku decisively. "You have to take care of yourself. You went through as much of an ordeal as Tenko did. You concentrate on healing now. I will find Tenko." He turned to the wardrobe and rummaged through it, taking out... Enji closed his eyes. ...taking out the goddamn mage robes, an exact fucking copy of the ones in Skyrim. In a fucking goddamn centuries-old video game that wasn't real.

"I'm going after him, Dad," said Izuku, his voice steely. "You stay here with Shirakumo-san. Tomura is not the only one who needs a hero's help." Then he activated his Quirk to leave the place in a couple of jumps.

Enji stared blankly at the still open door and a glow of light coming from the cave entrance where his Izuku disappeared.

"It is real," came Kurogiri's voice, followed by a sigh. "We live in a world where there is a man who lives for centuries, where he brings back people from the dead to serve him, where I can literally teleport people and your body survives the temperature that should break down your proteins. And you think this cannot be real? ...I wish all this indeed was only a dream. That I am still in a coma after-" He stopped abruptly and turned away from Enji.

They heard the steps of the rest of the villains and the woman's calm voice. "...so you can enjoy at least that. Later on, we can discuss activating you as proper players."

"As if we want it!" snapped Spinner. "We need to go after Shigaraki and go back! If this is true... we can finally overturn society! We can finally destroy this rotten world! How can you all prefer to just stay here and relax!"

"Some people, Iguchi-san," said the woman gently. "just died. Some of your friends. Some just realized their life was a lie. Some just got out of jail and, I know, these aren't very nice in our part of the multiverse."

Spinner huffed angrily. "All the more reason to quickly go back and crumble the world and people who caused that! And why are these two heroes even here with us?!"

The woman did not answer, her eyes laying on Enji.

"You can ask your overseer to send you back," she said in the same gentle tone. "I can see all this is too much for you. Your Izuku had already found him. You might want to take some spare robes, too, I think our friend has torn the ones Izuku kindly brought him. I am sure if you ask he will send you back. Me and Izuku will be enough to help the overseer recover."

Enji wished there was a proof, any proof, somehow... but what proof could he have that this was real? And it wasn't like Kurogiri was wrong... their world always was... weird. Black Shadow, Warp, New Order, Creation.

Singularity.

...and if this was real he just let Izuku go after Shigaraki, all on his own. When would be the end of his fuck-ups, he had no idea.

He wordlessly got up, brought another pair of robes from the wardrobe, and activated his Quirk to go af-

He stopped abruptly as he recalled something.

"Kurogiri."

The Noumu turned to look at him.

"This... future Shimura. He cares for you. He called you his family. He.. If he is really a God... he won't let you suffer."

"I really would prefer if we called him an overseer," said the woman. "A 'God' is a highly misleading term sin-"

But Enji wasn't listening, rushing out after his Izuku.

888

As it appeared, his son wasn't difficult to find, his dark green suit easily visible amongst the mountain rocks from the air. Enji could easily spot Shigaraki too, still stubbornly naked, making his way down the mountain, despite the more and more sickly color his skin was taking. Enji would bet he could see him shivering even from meters above.

"What is he, a child?" he grumbled to himself as he dropped down by his Izuku's side.

Izuku smiled at him. "Are you better, Dad?"

Enji felt exasperated at the question. "I don't know how can you take it all so calmly. This is... absurd. Ludicrous. Insane."

Izuku sighed. "And what can we do about it? Do you really think you're in a coma right now?"

"I don't know," sighed Enji watching the small figure pig-headedly taking barefoot step after step in the snow. Admittedly it was less of it in the lower parts but Enji'd swear the idiot villain's feet were turning bluish.

"Well, I don't think so, Dad. I mean, if it was a dream, it would be my dream, and I don't remember any hit that could make me unconscious. And all this just doesn't seem to be the type of play All for One would create. It just is... too absurd, as you just said. Serves no purpose. All for One wants my Quirk. How could this make me want to hand it over to him?"

Enji watched his son carefully as the boy's brows frowned, eyes took on the familiar intensity he always had when he was analyzing things, fingers pulled lightly at the chin. He was so real. So real.

Enji sighed. "So, if this is true..." He did not even want to think about the consequences.

"Dad, so far he did not go back to slaughter everyone. All his life was just AfO's scheme, you heard what that villain said. Everything, every single horrible thing in Tenko's life was orchestrated by his beloved master. I think he has a lot of things to reconsider now. Is his dream even his own dream really?"

"...he still is broken and hateful. He has all the right to, yes, but he can now..." If Enji could trust what he felt back then, when Shigaraki, Shimura awakened... the villain could slaughter most of the humanity with ease.

"Dad, that's why we're here now, right?"

Right.

Right. A memory appeared in his mind, as vivid as if it was yesterday. 'I want you to belong to me. A friend, a servant, I want my wishes to be fulfilled by you. I want you to keep my goals in your mind, always.'

It was future Shimura, Shigaraki - who knew how he was calling himself in the future - but it was his future self. Why did he choose Enji of all? 'A friend, a servant'. Was he thinking about now? Well, this indeed was rather a crucial moment for Shigaraki whose whole world just crumbled. But for Shigaraki Enji was just a hero who-

-who for some reason was here, among the rest of the League of Villains.

So, apparently, it was his job to help Shigaraki now?

Enji's job?

Enji's of all people?

Enji's, who did not even understand normal, everyday civilians, much less villains whose whole life had been hell?

Enji who himself was seeing a therapist?

Enji hid his face in his hands.

"Dad?"

Wouldn't Izuku be the better choice for such a deal, a thought crossed his mind, and he immediately hated himself for it. How could he even think that? His child should be free of such a horrible burden!

"Dad. That woman."

Indeed, the woman appeared out of thin air before Shigaraki. They couldn't hear a word they were saying, too high up, with the wind dancing in their ears and among the trees of the huge forest. The conversation did not take long and suddenly they both disappeared.

Enji's heart stopped for a second. "What? He went back! Leaving us here! He's just gonna do whatever he pleases back there while his 'friends' are safe here and-"

But they were back again.

The hell did they do? The-

There was a corgi in Shigaraki's arms now.

Ah.

Enji's heart softened. So the cruelly hurt child never forgot that one friend he had in his childhood. The dog was wiggling rather enthusiastically, barking loudly, and licking Shigaraki's face. The woman just nodded and disappeared.

Shigaraki simply sat down, right on the ground and curled up around his dog.

They watched him in silence, Enji feeling very much like an intruder now.

But Shigaraki shouldn't be left alone now. Enji feared him, that was one reason, he feared what he might do. But the other reason was exactly what he was seeing now – it was just a fucking human being, almost a kid, what was he, twenty? Younger than Touya. And he was broken and hurting beyond anyone's imagination and he shouldn't be fucking left alone, even if he claimed he wanted that. What was even wrong with his villain friends? Ah, true, they were villains too, and had probably been through their share of shit too, if Shigaraki had chosen them basing on common reasons to hate the world. You usually surrounded yourself with people with similar views and experiences when you wanted to achieve something, right? When you wanted to destroy the world? He thought of his Touya who was a part of Shigaraki's group, hurt so terribly by Enji in his childhood and now driven insane.

What would happen to him? What would happen to his other children? What was Shigaraki going to do?

So Enji's job was to be here and somehow try to help the villain though gods knew how he was supposed to do it, especially with his people skills. It was his job because his children's lives were at stake. And all the children's lives in the whole goddamn world. And because he had sworn. And because, simply, Shigaraki deserved help and not condemnation, not after All for One had openly admitted the man was nothing but a victim. And didn't future Shimura mention drugs? Fuck, every time Shimura was talking about Shigaraki he was talking about himself. Enji felt like his head was starting to spin again when he was trying to take all this in again.

Shigaraki was completely motionless. The little dog kept licking his face and Enji saw once again that dark terrible memory of a hungry, cold, itching, desperate, pained child hugging his only friend, this little dog, while his family was in the warm, lit house.

"I always thought how I felt a crying child in him, back then, when our Quirks touched. He seemed to be screaming for help, Dad, very deep inside," said his Izuku quietly. "Just look at him."

"I know, Izuku. I saw one memory of his past, and yes, you are right."

"...that's why I didn't want..." his boy hesitated and fell silent.

Enji knew what Izuku was thinking about. "Izuku, that was part of a deal I made."

"Right. You never told me. What did that woman mean about future Tenko and you?"

Enji sighed. "Remember that time when you were told I had come into contact with a mental Quirk?"

Zuku nodded.

"Actually... A villain had been approaching me for some time. I thought he had a mental Quirk. It was only after the fight with Hood I realized his Quirk had to be something else, and it was also at that time that he showed me his face. But I assumed there were two Shigarakis. I thought the one visiting me was the original Tenko Shimura, working to destroy All for One from the shadows, and that Shigaraki we've been fighting was a clone. He never denied it, even lauded me for 'being smart'. But he never said I was right either, come to think about it. He was obsessed with the fact that Shigaraki should die 'at the right moment'. Even though he also kept telling me he was Shigaraki's 'friend'."

"Ah, so he made you kill Tenko in that battle?"

"We..." Enji sighed. "We made a deal, after the Hood fight. I..." he realized he really did not want to tell his Izuku that. "I... died back then, Zuku."

The soft kind but a little sad smile his child kept during the whole conversation disappeared as it was replaced with shock.

"But I'm okay now!" Enji rushed to reassure him.

But Izuku was already hugging him tightly. "So you did die! I thought-! Back then when I saw the footage-! I knew you couldn't survive! I thought you died! I- And you did die!" Tears started to drop from the emerald eyes and Enji cursed himself that he couldn't keep his goddamn mouth shut about some things.

"I'm fine now, Zuku, I am, love, hey, my sweetheart, it's fine now."

"And during our fight with Shigaraki, I saw those blades going straight through you, I saw it!"

Enji sighed.

"He also saved me when I was fighting All for One. Originally I died there too. I think he rewound time. So... he saved me many times. So... I promised to... abide by his wishes as long as it wouldn't be something completely against my conscience."

Zuku started calming down in his arms.

"So he saved your life."

"Yes."

Zuku slowly moved away and turned to look at the small figure of Shigaraki, still in the same position as before.

"He must have had a reason," his boy said pensively. "He could have chosen anyone."

"For a moment I was surprised he didn't choose you but, yeah, you would never kill Shigaraki."

"So, that's why you were able to use Decay?"

"Yeah. For a moment I thought his Quirk was some sort of a Quirk copying power. I thought being near someone he could freely use or give their Quirk to anyone. I never thought... it was this kind of power. Why didn't he just do whatever he pleased if he had such a power? He can shape reality."

"Maybe he doesn't want to. Maybe he doesn't want to force anyone to anything anymore. Maybe he doesn't want to be like All for One."

Enji did not think it would be as easy as that. Future Shimura still behaved... like he wasn't properly healed, like he wasn't completely sane. Or was he just checking Enji's reactions? Enji sighed.

"I don't know, love."

"Can you still use Decay?" asked Izuku curiously. This child, so deep in a serious conversation and still not able to help his inquisitiveness about Quirks. Enji couldn't help but smile at it.

He tried to reach for the dark Quirk he remembered but there was no response.

"No, I don't think so. Well, it was given to me in the sole purpose of killing All for One and Shigaraki. He took the Quirks back." Which wasn't bad. Enji did not want to have a Quirk like that, it felt alien and so malign when he was using it.

"How did it feel?"

"...I hated this Quirk," admitted Enji. "But I was glad I had it at that time. It is a really powerful Quirk. I felt I could truly destroy anything and anyone with my mere touch. But it wasn't a pleasant feeling."

"It wasn't Tenko's original Quirk either. Whole his life he was forced to live with an alien Quirk, and a Quirk like that too. Do you think it affected his mind?"

"Probably. Future Shimura also mentioned that All for One was drugging him too."

Izuku's fists clenched and his mouth pressed into a tight line.

"Yeah," agreed Enji.

"What could possibly make you the kind of person who would do something like this to another human being?"

"Some people are just psychopaths, Izuku. Maybe it's just their brain's chemistry. Maybe, if you really want to think about it deeply, it's not their fault that they were born like this. But still, they know what they are doing to others. I'm not sure you should seek too hard to find something redeeming in All for One."

Zuku sighed.

"Hard to understand that not everyone is as good as you, right?" Enji reached out to stroke Izuku's bushy hair. "For someone as kind as you it is really difficult to comprehend someone can do things like that to other people, to a child."

"It is," sighed Izuku. "It is horrible."

"Yes," admitted Enji heavily. "In one thing Shimura is right. This is a horrible world."

Notes:

No, this wasn't written under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Let's face it, if you know ANYTHING about the Skyrim community you know Skyrim was modded unto infinity and converted to every possible platform including a fridge ;). Of course, in a universe where creating artificial universes was possible, they'd fucking create real-life-like Skyrim :). Still, never tagged it as cross-fandom since this is not real actual Skyrim.
Shout out to all of you who hadn't rage-dropped this fic after the last chapter, I love you 3.
Also, it's been a while since we had Izuku and Enji long interactions, recently too many people and things were going on but we have it again, folks, Izuku and Enji together, alone, hugging, being a supportive healthy dad and son.
And yeah, Shigaraki walking out on everyone's bullshit, butt-and-nut-naked, through the snow is a MOOD (that I fully understand)