Chapter 15: Yagi Toshinori I

A/N: And here we all are with a new perspective on things. Chapters like this will begin appearing from this point on, but only every so often — the main protagonist of this fic is Izuku after all. These fun little interlude-types will function to supplement the story with information not usually privy to what's usually available.

"Ba— Back the h— hell up! Or else! I— I mean it!"

The man's shaking, with a wild look in his eyes. He's frightened for sure — and trigger-happy doubt. The jagged spines jutting out from his arms and back shiver ever so slightly, ready to launch themselves out over the crowd. Easily, ten, twenty, or even thirty people can be hit, with the entry wounds capable of causing severe injury or even death.

"I'm not afraid of the consequences anymore!" The man — the villain — continues. "You have no idea what it's like! What living—"

But alas, such a tragedy is not meant to be. Not when certain individuals are around to ensure the well-being of Japan's civilians.

A blur of speed rips across the landscape, effortlessly flowing past the traffic that consists of both people and debris. A moment, maybe two; and that's all that's needed. In the blink of an eye, the villain lies knocked out on the cold concrete.

All in a day's work for the Symbol of Peace.

"Don't fear, citizens!" All Might cheers, brandishing his ever-recognizable grin to the gathered crowd at large. "The situation has been handled!"

The crowd cheers in earnest, chanting their savior's name. Their looks of fear and worry from before instantly evaporate into nothingness. From the turn of a few seconds, the crowd is engulfed with awe and astonishment, reactions built from years and years of selfless service.

All Might lingers for a bit, waving to the crowd and maintaining his smile. Before his fans can begin to crowd him, however, he moves to pick the unconscious villian up and under his arm.

"Sorry, but I can't stay for any longer!" All Might announces. "I've got a villain to turn in, after all!"

And with that, he jumps skyward.

The shouts and applause fade into the background as he rises higher and higher. The wind rushes through his hair and past his ears, and with his height and speed he's essentially flying.

People down on the ground point and gawk, unable to keep their composure upon spying the famed #1 hero in the flesh, even if just for the very few seconds he's within sight.

But he pays them no mind.

Because up here? All Might feels free — liberated from all the constricting expectations and harrowing scrutinizations of society.

It may come to a surprise to some, but not even All Might is infallible. He feels pain, grows tired, becomes irritated. He's human too.

Some days he wishes that he can just escape from it all and find peace — settle down away from all the hustle and bustle and danger and just retire.

But he always, immediately, vanishes that thought away whenever it shows its provocative head.

He didn't give up after he had been horrendously injured from All For One's last ditch attack. And he hadn't given in when Mirai had begged him — pleaded him — to resign, lest he face an untimely and brutal death.

So he won't quit now. Not before he finds a successor to uphold his legacy and trains them up to the best of his ability, at the very least.

It's an odd thought to have, knowing that his time was coming up. It's not a surprise to him, though.

He knew the moment he lost his stomach and one of his lungs. He knew as he began to grow sluggish, and as he gradually grew more gaunt and spindly. He knew when trips that used to take seconds turned to take up minutes, and when he found a true temporal limit to his strength.

It was only a matter of time. The same process of passing the torch had occurred between himself and Nana passing. But the reality of the matter itself is just surreal.

He just hopes that he'll be alive to see his successor grow into the hero they're meant to be.

But of course, finding someone truly heroic enough to fit his standards had proved near impossible.

He had begun to wonder if maybe he should have started his search years before, instead of waiting until his limit had been stretched so thin.

But his worries ended to be for naught, for it was to his immense relief that Mirai had contacted him about the matter not too long ago.

Just as he always had before, his sidekick — or ex-sidekick now, he supposes — had delivered. He had provided a name and face of one of his interns; a promising candidate to inherit One For All

Togata Mirio, third year at Yuuei, and the contender of the foremost spot amongst the current Big Three. A shining beacon of selflessness, compassion, and outward charm — combined with his skillful dedication to training his quirk — and suffice to say All Might was impressed.

Though, that didn't mean that he had responded back to Mirai just yet. Aside from their rather… heated debate before they had gone their separate ways, All Might still wanted to hold out. To see if he himself could find someone worthy of his quirk.

But that was a thought for another time. Alas, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.

Almost as if bogged down by his thoughts, he begins to descend from the sky. He barrels towards the ground, and yet despite his speed and incoming force the descent is precise and controlled. He leaves little evidence of his landing; no spider web-like cracks or deep indentations left in the concrete at the spot below his feet at all.

His landing leaves him standing before the Musutafu City Police Department. He takes a moment to settle and let the personnel inside confirm his presence, lest they fire blindly at a possible unidentified threat.

When he eventually enters the station, he is met with the same sorts of cheers and awe that he had encountered mere moments ago. He mostly ignores them — but smiles and waves as he normally does in no specific person's direction — and makes his way to the stairs in the back to reach the basement level.

The process of finding an open cell, depositing the villain, and having a guard pass through all the regulations is a rather concise and quick affair.

He holds a quick conversation with the guard — nothing too serious or personal — and then he's on his way.

Usually, by then he'd do one of two things. First, he'd be on his way to leave the station, off to stop another villain or help any civilians in need. More often than not, that would be the path he takes.

The other option applies only to this station, courtesy to the presence of his friend, Tsukauchi Naomasa. Ever since the friendly detective had discovered his secret, the man had become a constant source of comfort, knowledge, and companionship.

However, All Might knows how busy the detective can be at times. It only makes sense; with the man's quirk making him an absolute boon to investigations and interrogations, Tsukauchi had very little time to waste on trivialities. And so he wouldn't just barge in unannounced whenever, no matter how much he wants too.

At first, All Might had been planning to follow through with the first option simply to leave. But what he sees as he makes his way up the stairs warrants the latter.

A blotch of color catches the corner of his periphery. When he turns his head to gleam a greater picture of what has caught his eye, the sight of it brings a frown to his face.

It's the missing children noticeboard.

Papers are strewn about its length, some ripped and torn from age while others are pristine and in their youths. Images upon portraits of children of varying ages litter the board, their eyes either filled with joy or despair staring right into his soul.

He never likes looking at it.

In fact, normally he never even bothers looking at it. It's not that he doesn't care; it's that he knows there's nothing he can do to help these children.

It bothers and irks him to admit it, but he isn't skilled in things such as tracking and searching. His strategies of brute-forcing his way through his problems just aren't fit for finding missing persons.

Don't get him wrong, he will be there when asked to crack a slave ring right open, or to save a lost child from the physical grasp of villains. But all the work that comes before that is lost on him.

With such a myriad of those corrupting thoughts, it makes sense why he goes out of his way to ignore the board.

So what's different about this time? His eyes scan the board. There.

There's a specific notice that catches his eye, half-hidden under another sheet of paper. Only half of the child's portrait is shown, depicting an incomplete image of a head of green hair and a single green eye.

He pushes the sheet aside, revealing the notice in its entirety, and pulls it off the wall.

Midoriya Izuku — Date of Birth: July 15th, 2137 — Hair: Green — Eyes: Green — Height: 173 cm — Weight: 70 kg — Blood Type: O — Quirk: Super Hearing — Last Seen: April 5th, 2152; Honmoku Hospital, Naka Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa

All Might stares at the image of the boy. He's momentarily dazed upon gazing at it. There's two images; a common practice when demonstrating how a child may look after years of aging. The first picture shows a smiling boy, of five or six, maybe seven. The second shows a boy of fifteen smiling — but something about it just seems off.

Nevermind the fact that the child in the notice has only been missing for a few months.

Why use such an old picture? Why not use a more recent one? … And why does this boy look so familiar?

He knows that there's no hope of his thoughts leaving him anytime soon. So he sums up his courage and makes his way to the detective's office.

"Tsukauchi?" All Might asks, knocking on the door a few times before pushing open the door.

The man in question looks up from the piles of paper on his desk. A look of irritation is plastered across his features, but when his eyes land on his visitor his expression quickly rounds out.

"Ah! All Might!" He stands, gesturing inwards. "Come in, come in!"

All Might starts to back out. "Sorry. You look busy. I'll just come back lat—"

"No, no! It's fine!" Tsukauchi smiles. "You don't visit enough as it is. I won't push you away when you're showing initiative for once."

"Well." All Might sighs. "If you insist." He walks in and closes — locks — the door. He moves to the blinds, shutting them and blocking out any view of the office from the outside.

Without a moment to waste, a puff of smoke fills the room. And in an instant, the fearless and resilient All Might changes. All that is left is the weak, frail, and helpless form of Toshinori Yagi.

"Tsukauchi," Yagi greets with a forlorn smile.

"Ah," Tsukauchi nods in understanding, taking his seat. "I take it this is a business visit then?"

"Not… entirely," Yagi says. He takes the seat in front of Tsukauchi's desk. He shuffles a bit in it, leg bobbing and finger tapping on the armrest.

"What's that in your hand?" the detective asks.

"It's… why I'm here actually." Yagi slides the paper across. "You wouldn't mind, um, giving me a bit more information on this child, would you?"

Tsukauchi raises an eyebrow at that. "Normally I'd go on a rant about how illegal such a request is, or at least mention how many loops and jumps I'd have to go through to approve such a thing through the proper channels. Though…"

He looks over at Yagi. "I'll spare you from that. Considering it's you, my superiors could care less. And I doubt that you're planning anything nefarious." Tsukauchi takes the paper in his hand, scrutinizing the details on the page.

After a moment, he stands up and heads towards his filing cabinet. "If you don't mind me asking, what's so special about this kid? You usually don't bother with these types of cases."

Internally, his guilt bites at him upon hearing that. But he pushes those thoughts down — he shouldn't get worked up over Tsukauchi's unintended jab.

"Honestly?" Yagi shrugs. "I'm not so sure myself. There's just… something about the kid's face. It just seems… familiar?"

"Could be because of your conventions," Tsukauchi says offhandedly. "I remember this case, you know. The kid's room is filled with your merchandise — and I mean filled. Maybe you've interacted with him during a signing or something?"

Yagi shakes his head. "I don't think so."

"Here." Tsukauchi deposits the manilla folder before on the desk.

Yagi picks it up, finding it to be surprisingly thin. He opens it up to find just under a dozen documents within. "This is it?"

Tsukauchi nods. "There wasn't much on the kid, unfortunately. Delinquent at school, highly disliked by his peers. Didn't want for much despite the hefty sum in his bank account. And he didn't have much of a social life aside from volunteering in an orphanage in Kamino — as conflicting that is to his supposed nature — and having a female friend the same age in the area."

"The mother was helpful and cooperative, if a bit apprehensive. It's clear that there was a bit of a falling out between mother and son. A few outsider's accounts claim that the Midoriya's family dynamic became ever since the boy's father died in an incident with Dark Cesspool and Endeavor. The mother isn't a suspect in the boy's disappearance however, considering a preliminary statement from the victim's friends in Yoko—"

"Wait."

Tsukauchi stops himself mid sentence, looking at Yagi. "Yes?"

"You mentioned Endeavor?" Yagi asks, leaning forward. Something, ever so slight, sparks in his mind. But he can't quite reach it — he needs more.

"Mhm. Nothing that pertains to the case though. Just that the victim's father — Midoriya Hisashi — was an unfortunate victim of Dark Cesspool's attack on the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall a few years back. Endeavor and Burnin eventually arrived on scene, but they were too late to prevent Midoriya Hisashi's death." Tsukauchi hums. "Any reason you're focusing on Endeavor specifically?"

Yagi grimaces. The little tidbit of information is just enough for all of it to come rushing back into him. The memories flow into his mind, every pain-staking moment. It's no wonder that the sight of the boy — however slight — pinged something in his mind.

But now, with a name to match face, and to know the boy is missing…

His body jerks back into focus. Yagi shoots out of his seat, and in seconds he changes, alternating back into All Might.

"Toshinori?" Tsukauchi asks.

Yagi makes his way towards the door. "I need to go."

"So soon?" Tsukauchi asks. "What about this boy that's gotten you so worked up?"

All Might frowns. "This is about him… I just need to confirm some things for myself first. Then…" He grabs for the doorknob, and turns. "Then we can talk."

He remembers it now, standing underneath the overpass.

The same overpass from before.

It was six months ago, within the expansive city confines of Shizuoka.

There was a boy. Green-haired, skittish, and with star-filled eyes.

Yagi was impressed at first, seeing the boy so deftly and skillfully dodge the attacks made by the Sludge Villain.

He admits that he might have gone a bit overboard when he had attacked the villain himself. All that muck and gunk everyone wasn't exactly a pretty sight. But the kid was alright in the end, and that was what mattered.

After the villain was captured, the boy began babbling incoherently. And if he was going to be honest, he wasn't listening at the time. He was too preoccupied with his nearing time limit, too ignorant to see what was in front of him.

His ignorance persevered through the boy grabbing on his leg as he jumped into the air, and he still didn't see what was in front of him as the boy asked him questions.

In fact...

It isn't hard for him to find his previous launch point, and — despite how little he was paying attention at the time — it isn't hard to find the rooftop they were on either.

Landing on the desolate rooftop brings back the first query. That about the quirkless and those with 'useless' or 'villainous' quirks.

I… He grimaces.

"And over 15% of those people — that's over three million — commit suicide before they reach maturity."

And I forgot all about that. Such startling and revolutionary information, and all of it just entered one ear and ran out the other. I haven't brought it up at the agency, haven't brought awareness of it at all…

Failure. He failed to follow through with a boy's simple request. Failed to expose a boy's selfless and helpful nature to the world. All because of his irritation.

"A little rough around the edges sure, but nothing to the likes that you're telling me!"

"You're lying to yourself."

Was he?

He thinks back to every interaction he's had with Enji Todoroki through the years. Every harsh comment, every brash response, every heated

Enji's children shrinking away from his imposing presence, the ever-constant absence of his wife, and even the death of his other son in that tragic incident…

There's so much… I— I just never bothered to think about it all. Never bothered to consider that Enji is—

Yagi shakes his head. No. No. I… I can't just think like that. It's wrong to accuse him so harshly when I could just be misconstruing everything.

"You're willing to stand by while injustice continues to occur? Just like that?!"

That stings him. After all, if taken into account, isn't inaction exactly what had brought him into this situation in the first place?

He takes a breath. He looks around, eyes taking into detail every piece of gravel and trash. He replays the moments in his head, relives all the pain and anger and distress that's so clear to him now.

And all he can think is: Is this my fault?

He makes a decision. One against his greater judgement.

But I owe the boy that much. The least I can do is try.

And so, there he is.

Not All Might, the unwavering bastion of hope. Not the Symbol of Peace, icon upon millions of children.

No.

There, on that rooftop?

All there is is just Yagi Toshinori; a helpless, hopeless man who had driven a boy away; cast him away to the wide unknown.

Wherever Midoriya Izuku is, Yagi hopes that the boy is alright.

A/N: And there's the chapter, short and simple. Yes, nothing much really happened this time around. And yes, this chapter is shorter than most. But this was more of a bridge from one part of the story to another. Simple perspective shifts in the future will be much more giving.

Anyways, I hope that you all still enjoyed. If not, well, we're back to Izuku next week. So look forward to that!