Toshinori’s mind was made up.
The thought had first sparked during the entrance exam and had then been solidified by the Battle Trials and USJ. He knew, that Izuku Midoriya was destined to be the next holder of One for All.
The only thing he really needed to do now, was talk to him. Toshinori was aware that others would be skeptical of his choice, seeing as he had lied a few times during his interview, but he knew that Young Midoriya was the right choice.
He had a true heroic spirit.
Toshinori had already sent a letter to Gran Torino, letting him know about his decision and ask for his old mentor to send an internship request. After getting told by the majority of the other teachers that his methods were…unhelpful at best to first year Hero students, he figured that Gran would do a better job than him at guiding Young Midoriya’s usage of One for All.
He also ended up informing Nedzu, but that was because the principal always seemed to know everything, and it would be rather pointless to hide it. He had asked if he was sure about his choice despite the suspicion surrounding the boy. Of course he was! He wouldn’t make such a decision frivolously! In the end, Nedzu simply asked to be there when Toshinori explained everything to Young Midoriya.
Nedzu asked for Midoriya to come to his office over the PA, and the Hero had full intentions of intercepting him and talking to the boy. After all, a good bond was needed between mentor and mentee. He was in his small form, but it was for the best this way. He needed his time for teaching after all.
Midoriya came walking down the hallway, head buried in what looked like a notebook as he sped towards the principal’s office.
Toshinori moved to intercept him, but Midoriya didn’t even stop, just ran straight into him.
“Fuck!” Midoriya cursed, startling the blonde. That was nothing however, to what he said next.
“Sorry All Might, I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
…
Izuku knew, the second those words left his mouth, that he had made a mistake.
He had no idea why the principal had summoned him, though he was desperately hoping it wasn’t because of his papers. Giran was one of the best when it came to fake identities, but Nedzu was probably the smartest person in Japan, if not the world so it stood to reason that he might have noticed something.
Izuku had been writing down possibilities of what could have gone wrong-in his own code of course-when he’d bumped into the man standing before him. He hadn’t been looking, and had only been using his original Quirk to sense people. Right now, the candle that was All Might’s light flickered in agitation and shock. It made sense in an odd way that this was the reason why the man’s light had changed so drastically at the USJ; this must be what he looked like when he wasn’t using his Quirk.
“What did you just say?” And this was not his teacher asking, no, this was the Number One Hero of Japan demanding he answer.
Forcing himself to relax, Izuku blinked in faux confusion. “Oh, you’re not All Might. Sorry, I don’t really know why I said that.”
Despite the gaunt look of him, the Hero still towered over him. “You’re coming with me.” He said, grabbing his upper bicep.
Alarm coursed through him. “I have to go to the principal’s office.” Let go let go let go let go.
“I’m aware.”
For a split second, Izuku considered jerking his arm away and making a break for it. He might have too, if it weren’t for that fact that it was fucking ALL MIGHT.
“Look, I don’t know why you’re reacting this way. It’s not like you’re All Might.”
The grip tightened as Izuku’s heart pounded rapidly.
Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.
…
Nedzu was pouring three cups of tea when the Midoriya was unceremoniously shoved into the room.
The boy stumbled before righting himself, posture speaking of a cornered animal ready to lash out. His eyes flickered between Yagi’s small form and his own place at the head of the table, hands twitching.
The instant Yagi looked away from Midoriya, the teen suddenly smoothed over entirely. His rigid posture relaxed, pursed lips softening and expression switching from tense to curious.
Well that in certainly interesting. While it was mildly concerning that Midoriya could change his entire body language on a dime, Nedzu had seen stranger.
“Come take a seat.” He said with a smile. “Here, I’ll pour you some tea.”
Yagi’s normally smiling face was twisted into frown. “He knows.”
Ah, well that complicated things. Izuku Midoriya was already a problem that he couldn’t wait to solve, and this just made things even more interesting. Seeing as Yagi was extremely protective over his secret, he had probably overreacted, hence his previous tension.
“Does he now? Well, I see no reason we can’t sort this out. Why don’t you take a seat, Midoriya?”
Looking like he would rather jump into a pit of lava, Midoriya slowly crept into a chair, his body angled so that his back wasn’t turned on either of them.
Sliding a cup to both males seated opposite from him, Nedzu discreetly had sent out a message to Tsukauchi telling him to come to U.A. as soon as Yagi had confirmed that he would be telling Midoriya today. While the detective’s presence may unsettle Midoriya even more and cause him to shut down, having him there would calm Yagi and reduce the possibility of any deception.
“How was your day today?” He asked, taking a sip of his own tea. “Not too stressful, I hope. U.A.’s curriculum is hardly a walk in the park.”
Midoriya eyed him. “It was fine.” He said eventually. “I like learning.”
Liked learning indeed. His written exam had spoken more of someone who had an intelligence Quirk rather than telekinesis, and it was easy to see that he was passing his classes with flying colours.
“It seems we share a trait.” He said pleasantly. “What’s your favorite subject?”
Yagi’s frown deepened. “Nedzu-”
“Personally, mine is science. It’s such a broad subject with endless possibilities, don’t you think?”
Midoriya smiled politely. “Science is cool.” He said quietly. “I like languages the best though.”
It did not escape Nedzu that he said languages. “Seeing the different ways humans communicate is fascinating.” He agreed.
For no apparent reason, Midoriya froze before relaxing once again.
A knock sounded from the door.
“Come in!” Nedzu called out, not at all surprised when it was Tsukauchi who stepped in.
Curiously enough, Midoriya didn’t look the slightest bit shocked. Not pleased, but as though he had been expecting it.
“Naomasa? What are you doing here?” Yagi questioned.
Tsukauchi paused minutely. “Nedzu asked for me to be here for when you asked Midoriya to be your successor.”
A strange expression flickered over Midoriya’s face before it disappeared.
“We’ve come across a bit of a problem, you see, Midoriya here seemed to know about Yagi’s small form before being told. Why don’t you explain what happened?” He encouraged.
It was a short story but raised many questions. From his own watching of the cameras before they entered, the teen hadn’t even looked up when he first spoke. That meant he somehow knew it was All Might without even seeing him.
This promises to be fascinating.
…
Naomasa was too tired for this shit.
Being summoned by Nedzu always led to a headache, but he hadn’t expected this one to be the same headache he’d been dealing with before.
Sitting there, sipping tea was Izuku Midoriya, features pleasant and lightly curious. His posture didn’t indicate being a threat in the slightest, and when their eyes met, the boy smiled slightly.
It reminded him chillingly of a snake, acting harmless until the moment of attack.
“So, how did you know about All Might’s small form?” Nedzu questioned, drawing the unsettling gaze of the teen away from him.
The air becomes heavy.
“I…didn’t”
Truth.
Naomasa doesn’t know if he’s relieved by that or not.
Nedzu takes his silence as confirmation and continues. “Oh? Then how did you identify All Might?”
A pause. “I’ve seen All Might in that suit before. I was distracted while walking here and since I’ve never seen anyone else with that colour suit it makes sense for my preoccupied mind to jump to the last person I saw in it.”
Truth.
His Quirk’s response did little to reassure him. The wording was too specific, admitting very little and leaving much up in the air.
Nedzu seemed to be thinking along the same lines. “And is that how you identified him?”
“Yes.”
Lie.
He gave a slight shake to his head, and Nedu’s grin grew.
“We can’t sort this out unless you’re honest with us. This is a national secret you understand.”
Midoriya’s eyes narrowed as they flickered from Naomasa to Nedzu. “I’ll trade you.”
Toshinori blinked. “What?”
“I’ll explain how I knew this form was All Might and you explain why you have that form and what the detective here meant by making you my successor.”
Naomasa could not believe he was bargaining. He had arguably the most powerful man in the world, the smartest creature in the world, and high figure of law enforcement and he was bargaining for a national secret to have on top of the one he already knew.
He was about to say as much when Nedzu tilted his head in concession. “Very well, as long as Yagi agrees I don’t see a problem with that.”
What was that rat playing at?
And Toshinori, the impulsive idiot, agreed as well!
Am I the only sane one here?
Midoriya leaned back in his chair, taking a sip of his tea. “I…have a strange sort of add on ability in my Quirk.” (-) he said slowly. “I can sense people’s Quirks within a certain radius of me and use it to identify people.”
Truth.
Well that was…weird, and kind of unexpected.
“Isn’t you Quirk a powerful telekinesis?” Nedzu questioned. “Having a sensing ability on top of that seems strange.”
Midoriya shrugged. “I don’t know why, it’s just there.” (-)
All this fuss and suspicion over a strange mutations Quirk. God he wanted to go home.
“And your Quirk is telekinesis, correct?” Toshinori said suddenly.
Midoriya gave him an odd look. “I have a telekinesis Quirk.” (-)
Why didn’t he just say yes? The paranoid part of Naomasa questioned.
“Well, now that that’s out of the way, I believe we should hold our side of the deal up.” Nedzu said with a clap. “Yagi, if you would?”
With a nod, his friend then began the tale of how he could pass on his Quirk, leaving out All for One but giving enough information to give him a solid idea.
There was a long silence as Midoriya seemed to digest the information. He seemed uncomfortably calm about the whole thing, and not nearly as surprised as he should have been.
“That makes a lot of sense.” He said eventually. “Considering you’ve never been seen in public doing things like grocery shopping, a transformation aspect of your Quirk is actually something I’ve considered.”
Naomasa blinked. “You’ve thought that much about All Might’s Quirk?”
“I’ve thought that much about everyone’s Quirk.” His unsettling green eyes seemed to bore into him. “I find them fascinating.”
Toshinori cleared his throat. “I apologize for my behavior, but now that we’ve gotten that cleared up, I wanted to ask-”
“No.”
Toshinori coughed up blood. “Excuse me?”
“You’re going to ask me to be your successor, right? Pass your Quirk along to me like your mentor did to you?” Midoriya stretched his arms out, getting to his feet in one swift movement. “My answer is no.”
Nedzu’s grin seemed to grow, which, all in all, is never a good sign. “And why is that?” the mammal asked.
Midoriya tone was light as he stalked towards the door. “Power comes with a cost. Even when you think you’ve already payed it, the universe isn’t one to listen to the whims of mortals.” He eyed Toshinori. “Even those likened to gods."
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