Izuku wasn’t sure what he was expecting when he arrived on Gran Torino’s doorstep, but it definitely wasn’t what looked like a condemned house with the door slightly ajar.
I’ve seen weirder. He decided, pushing the knob forward to see…an old man laying in ketchup?
Even if there hadn’t been an intense bubbly yellow light indicating he was in fact alive, the strong smell of ketchup would have given it away.
“Uh, hello?”
The man’s head shot up. “I’M ALIVE!”
Izuku blinked. “Yeah, I know.”
There was a slight pause before the other got to his feet. “WHO’RE YOU!?”
“Loosing my hearing. Can you tone it down a bit?” He dropped his suitcase on the ground. “Or like, tell me to leave. Honestly I’m down for either at this point.”
“WHAT’S YOUR NAME?!”
Was…he just going to ignore him? That’s…alight whatever.
“Izuku Midoriya.”
“WHAT?”
He didn’t bother repeating himself, knowing full well the old man had heard him.
There was another pause before Gran Torino squinted at him. “Toshinori.”
Who?
…
So this was the boy who had inherited One for All. He wasn’t much to look at, but then again, neither was Toshinori when he’d been this young. He’d been taller of course, and with hopeful eyes and a bigger smile.
The teen in front of him just looked tired.
It surprised him a bit that Toshinori hadn’t picked someone with the same type of overwhelming brightness that the man exuded from every pore. Frankly, the only thing he could see in common between the two was immense power.
He wasn’t sure what it was, but something about this kid was…off.
Maybe it was the fact that he’d barely blinked at Sorahiko’s little prank, or how even with the senile act the boy seemed to see right through it. Despite the teen’s lanky frame, he held himself with a quiet sort of confidence and an unwavering calm. It wasn’t a youths misplaced sense of invulnerability, but rather a knowledge based on countless battles.
A tall man grinned viciously over a body.-Black curly hair blew gently in the wind as the smattering of freckles across his face stretched with his smile.
Whatever it was, it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
Acidic green eyes met his own, sharp and calculating, and Sorahiko knew that this boy was nothing like Toshinori.
“Put on your costume!” he barked when the boy didn’t react to hearing Toshinori’s name. “Let’s see how you handle One for All.”
The boy who’d been in the process of picking up his suitcase, paused. “Uh…I don’t have One for All. I turned down All Might.”
What.
…
“I am glad you decided to join me in my internship. I am sure we will both benefit from out time here!”
Shouto resisted the urge to wince at Iida’s booming voice, choosing instead to focus on the boy’s older brother.
Ingenium was exactly as he seemed in the media. A large dark-haired man with a wide smile and cheerful demeanor. He was much looser about propriety and rules than Iida was, something Shouto couldn’t help but feel glad for.
“I’m on the mend for a few more days, so you guys will be going out and training with some of the other Heroes that work here.” He explained. “Todoroki, you said you wanted to work on controlling your fire, correct? So you’ll be with Phoenix for the most part.”
His decision to begin using his fire was a complicated one. On one hand, he still wished to refuse his father’s legacy and on the other…
“Arrogance like that is what gets people killed.”
He had been wrong to assume that half his strength would always be enough-looking back on it now it seemed like something his Father would think as well. Shouto didn’t want to cause someone pain just because he had been too stubborn to use all his power.
Acidic green eyes stared mercilessly down on him, not hint of compassion to be found.
Ingenium clapped his hands together, startling Shouto out of his thoughts.
“Let’s get to work!”
…
Ochako balanced on the balls of her feet, watching Gunhead carefully for any movement. They were in the middle of a no Quirk spar, and he was thoroughly kicking her ass.
It frustrated her, but that was why she was here in the first place. She didn’t want to have to rely on others to protect her or have too much confidence in her Quirk, leaving her wide open if she wasn’t able to use it.
Gunhead darted forward and grabbed one of her wrists, pulling her forward until he could slam his knee into her stomach, forcing all the air out.
Ochako collapsed on the ground, clutching her torso.
That fucking hurt.
Slowly, she pushed herself up once more, meeting Gunhead’s eyes and falling back into her defensive position.
Again.
…
A water bottle was tossed in Hitoshi’s face, and he just barely managed to catch it.
“Stay hydrated, kid!” Ms. Joke said with a grin. “And I wanted to ask, who taught you before now? You’re a little rough around the edges, but you’re better than someone with no training would be.”
He took a sip of water to buy himself time. Would Midoriya mind…?
“A friend taught me.” He settled on. “We live pretty close, and he knew I was aiming for the Hero Course, so he took it upon himself to make sure I wasn’t entirely pathetic without my Quirk.”
She let out a booming laugh. “He did a good job then! Of course you still have a long way to go, but you have a solid base. You even managed to flip me!”
Ms. Joke’s hand went up, descending quickly towards him. And he knew it was a high five, he knew that.
But that didn’t stop old instincts from flaring up, his face turning to the side as his arm came up to block a blow that never came.
It took Hitoshi a second to realize what happen, but by the time he’d dropped his defensive position it was too late.
He gave a weak smile, grasping at the strings of his composure and trying to force it back together. “Thought you were going for a sneak attack.” He joked.
For once Ms. Joke didn’t laugh-didn’t even smile.
Her dark green eyes pierced into him, and he felt as though he were laid bare before her.
She abruptly turned around. “Nah, that’s not my style,” she said calmly. “Why don’t you head down to the cafeteria and get a bite to eat? We’ll resume when you’re done.”
Hitoshi forced his panic away. “Sure, I was getting hungry anyway.”
He doubted he’d be able to keep anything down.
…
“I’m glad you decided to accept my internship.” Midnight sprawled lazily across a leather couch. “I know I teach at the school, but I haven’t had you for any Hero Course classes.”
Momo smiled. “I figured you would be the best option considering my Quirk.” She admitted. “I also contemplated Fatgum, but I wanted to focus on the exposure necessity of my Quirk rather than it’s stamina for the moment.”
The Heroine’s blue eyes were sharp as she surveyed her. “Well you’ve come to the right person.” She got to her feet. “Shall we begin?”
…
Gran Torino seemed genuinely caught off guard by his words, and Izuku took that time to slip into his costume. When he returned, the old man had a different gleam in his eye.
“So, you rejected the brat, huh?” He leaned on a cane Izuku knew he didn’t need. “That impulsive idiot must have sent the letter before actually asking you.”
Izuku resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “I’m not surprised.”
Gran Torino eyed him. “Why’d you accept the internship offer then? There’s no information on me and if you don’t have One for All you don’t have a reason.”
Izuku let out a hum. “I’m not here because of All Might.” He ducked as the other bounced off the wall and aimed for the back of his head. “I’m here because of All for One.”
He didn’t think he imagined the small pause in movement before Gran Torino launched himself off the wall once more.
“Is that so?” A sharp blow forced Izuku to roll to break his momentum. “Survive this spar and I just might tell you something. And keep yourself under control-I don’t want to have to move.”
The old man was moving far too fast for his eyes to follow, and even Izuku’s ability to sense Quirk’s only gave him a minute warning.
This should be fun.
…
The kid was good.
Too good.
Though it was subtle, he seemed to have some sort of sensing ability that allowed him to know where Sorahiko was going to be next, giving him just enough time to either dodge or lessen the blow so that it was easy to recover from.
His stance was natural and practiced, scarred hands loosely closed in a way that allowed him to easily close them for a punch or open them for a deflection. He was steady, yet light on his feet and fast considering his Quirk didn’t effect how he moved.
The boy’s control over his Quirk was also admirable, the teen limiting himself to small object despite the enormous display of power he had shown during the Festival. Those who had that amount of power usually have terrible motor control.
He knocked him around for a while to tire him out. The less inclined he would be to follow Sorahiko when he called his idiotic previous student the better. He was going to have words with Toshinori.
He tossed a microwavable dinner at the teen and shut himself in his bedroom before digging out his cellphone.
“G-Gran-”
“When the hell were you planning on telling me you hadn’t actually given One for All away?!”
He could practically see the other man wince. “I-I forgot-”
“You forgot? You forgot!? The most powerful Quirk in the world and you forget to tell the man who you asked to train it’s next used, that they were actually the next user?!”
A pause. “He-he accepted the internship offer? Why?”
Sorahiko huffed angrily. “Kid wants me to tell him about All for One-guess you spilled all the beans when you asked, didn’t you.”
Silence.
“Didn’t you?” He demanded.
Toshinori’s voice was alarmed as he felt. “No…I only told him about One for All. I never said anything about All for One-even when explaining the Quirk’s origins.”
Sorahiko swore and hung up the phone.
…
He found Midoriya sprawled out on the couch, eyes half lidded as he watched Sorahiko. “Have a nice chat with All Might?” he questioned.
“How do you know about All for One.” He demanded, pushing aside the fact that the boy had somehow known who he was talking to.
Midoriya grinned unsettlingly. “Because somewhere in that bastards long, long life, he fucked a woman, who had a kid.” Sorahiko went still. “And that kid had a kid, and that kid had a kid, until my father was born, and he had me.” His eyes were cold. “And we had the misfortune of inheriting that monster’s Quirk.”
“You-”
“Have All for One? Yes, if a slightly mutated version. Now, I don’t usually tell people this, but my mother said I could trust you, so here’s hoping she was right.”
And suddenly Sorahiko knew.
This was why the kid looked so damn familiar. This was why every hair on the back of his neck stood on end every time his gaze turned on him. It was because the boy looked like a mixture of the two most dangerous people he had ever known.
All for One, and Inko.
“All for One isn’t dead. His network is still alive and well, and considering that Shigaraki couldn’t plan anything intelligent to save his life, someone is running things from the shadows.” The boy straightened. “Make sure he dies this time, alright? Cause if he catches me he’s gonna have an entire new arsenal and I’ve collected some pretty nasty Quirks along the way.”
Sorahiko finally found his words. “How do you know all this?” he attempted to activate his Quirk, only to be met with a chilling lack of power.
A wan smile stretched over thin lips. “That doesn’t really matter, after all, y̷̧̢̦͉͓͈̅̎͜ô̸̡̧̲̯̰̞̰̥̟̺̫̈̋́͛̄̇̈́̆̔̇̐u̶͍͙̱͎̪͍̠͆̿̄̽̒͒͛͋̈́̏͊̇̚͘͝ ̶̠̖͖͕̰͉̅͝ẃ̶̡͑̉̌͂͗̑͑ǫ̸̡̫̹̞͉̟͕̰̠̪̘̖̜͌̓͊̒̈́͆͠͝ņ̵͍̳̝̝̆͋͆̾͐̔̋̀͗̈̈̈́̕͝'̶̛̘̤͚̫̲̇t̵̥͂̑͌̒̑̍̊̚ ̴̨̯͇̘̼̉͊r̴̩̅͗̈́͆͑̈̈́̑͒͗̇̓͠ę̴͚̝̲̙̝̖̬̟̈̍̓̔̆͝m̴̡̞͓͓̫̦͍̖͓͚̦̻͎̠̎̈͘e̵̢̢̹̟͎̱̺̮̟̹̝̪̪̋m̷̢̠̺͖͖͎̪̭̗͐̈̕b̴̢͇̝͎͖̗̮͚̄̅̓ĕ̷̍̑̒̐̿͋̿͊͝ͅr̴̡͈̭̳͓͕̣̮̻͉͖͈̟̼̣͂͝ ̶̧͉̣̹̇̈́͗͛̓̆͋̆͠a̶̧̛͉̗͎̗̲͓̦̱̥͍͉̯̩͑̑̔͐͒͐́͐͝ ̶̢̧̘͍̞̃̈́͗̐̄̓̅͒̃͂͆̕͜͠t̴̢̳͚̥̗̝͉̙͚͉̹͔̣̭̪̃̓̄̃̇͑̔̆̚̚͠͠͠h̷͕̞̼͖̯̫̣͎̠͕̩̯͚̃̎̍͌̉͌͠i̸̪̻̺̟͖̇̔̈́̕n̴͖̜̠͉̼̼̯̮̲̣̖̱̗̲̓̏͂͋̚ģ̶̨̛̗͙͓͈̙̦̐͒͂̇̕͜͝.”
F̵̛̳̯̻̥͕̂͌̾̊͂̄̊̈̿̑͐̐͐
Ö̸͎́̋̌̓͆͊̅̂̎̅̚̕
Ả̶͕l̷͈̅ḽ̴̇̿ ̶̪̥̀͝f̷̦̀͊o̷̯͋r̵̘͙͋͑ ̴̪͋̚Ŏ̵͓n̵̹̘̾ë̸͍̱̂ ̵͉̑̓i̷͉̩̐̎ŝ̶͖̪ ̶͔͝ą̸̥̋l̴͖̽̐ḭ̷͚̾v̷͕̮͌̉ė̵̗̼͠
R̶͔̘͈̿͊̓͠
G̸̨̻͎͔͓̫̱͈͔̜̬͑̒̚͜
Ả̶͕l̷͈̅ḽ̴̇̿ ̶̪̥̀͝f̷̦̀͊o̷̯͋r̵̘͙͋͑ ̴̪͋̚Ŏ̵͓n̵̹̘̾ë̸͍̱̂ ̵͉̑̓i̷͉̩̐̎ŝ̶͖̪ ̶͔͝ą̸̥̋l̴͖̽̐ḭ̷͚̾v̷͕̮͌̉ė̵̗̼͠
Ë̵̘͎̜̅͒̌̆̈́͒̀̂̚͜͝͠
Ả̶͕l̷͈̅ḽ̴̇̿ ̶̪̥̀͝f̷̦̀͊o̷̯͋r̵̘͙͋͑ ̴̪͋̚Ŏ̵͓n̵̹̘̾ë̸͍̱̂ ̵͉̑̓i̷͉̩̐̎ŝ̶͖̪ ̶͔͝ą̸̥̋l̴͖̽̐ḭ̷͚̾v̷͕̮͌̉ė̵̗̼͠
Ṯ̴̨̢͕͙̫̯̟̱̱̫̪̌̆̿̓͊̆͂͘
Sorahiko blinked, his eyes refocusing on the lazy teenager in front of him who was playing on his phone.
“You kids and your technology.” He grumbled. Toshinori was such a forgetful idiot-now he had to train some random kid who didn’t even have One for All. And the rudeness of that boy to just hang up on him! At least Midoriya had only been curious about All Might’s teacher instead of asking stupid questions about a Quirk he didn’t even have.
T̴͔͎̺̯͍͇̱́̾̽͜ͅḩ̶͕̯̤̩̍͌̍̇̐̄̄͜ͅȅ̸̡̙̹̯̎͛͋͑̅̑̚͠ ̴̜͍̈́́̈́͒̕t̵̙̝̞̲͙͕̳͉̣̿͌͒̐e̸̡̩̟͍̺͊̾̇̏̔͛͌̌͜ë̷̺͈̮̝̤̾̊̈́ͅn̸̹̘̞͇͖͔͗͋͊̚̚ ̵̧̢͍̗̠̯̲̭̔̀̿̑̏ģ̸̼̝͖̻̝͕̬͓̈́͌͊̓̏̇͘r̸̼̰̘̜͐͋̄̊͑̃̚i̵̺̖͊̒͜n̵̛̤̮͕̟͖̠̰̔̑̂͂̑̒͘n̴̮̈́ẻ̷̖̭̼d̵̻͍̐ͅ,̸̧͙̙̰͉͈̳͙̺͠͝ ̸͙̟̠͉͋̈́̔̚͜ą̴͔͇̪̳̾͒̔͘͘͜͜c̷̻͔͕͈̳̣͎̬̣̐̈́͐̔̉̓͐̍̌i̵̳͈͖̦̤͈̻̯̿͛̑̀ͅd̶̢̳͇̭͓̮̬̬̥͕͒ï̵̧̬͚̮̲̀͆̚͜c̵͈̜͎̿́ͅ ̷͎̯̩͛̈̑̈̅͐̏e̶̛̟͔̪̗̱͙͊̾̌̈́͋̈͐̕y̸̛̥͇̖͚͖̙̩͗̈́͛͐̈́ė̶̺͚͈͚̃s̵̛̰̻̣͕̪̣̩̪̬͐̆̽̊̎̅̔ ̶̱͔̊̇͘ş̴͉̱̼͕̽̓̓̀̊̚͠h̷̛̰͙͇̹̯̞̀̆͌a̶̡̛̳̳͕͎͊̈̈́̀͒͘ͅŗ̴͖̩̇̕͜p̴̢̳͕͖̩͖̭̙͓̤̀̿.̵͈̦͂͌̉̉͐̃̚ ̷̧̢̦͔̲̩͛̈̾͐̒͘͜ “̷̪͎̈́̇̏͆̔̑̃̓͋̇̅̏̊̒͝İ̸̡̫̬͖͕̹̪͉͖͔̜͖̹̝̥͍̫̬̲̱͕͍̯̬̼̭͑͒̿͒́̽̊̍̊͜͜͠͝ͅ’̴̨̢̢̦̭̘͕̻͇̻͙̯̝̗͓̘̲̞͍̳̑̋̓̍̆̄̄̓͊̚ͅm̵̡̨̜̯͙͉̘͈͕̙̦̗̱̠̂̎̐͊̐̀̔̈́̒͑͗̅̓̈́̅̽͐̈́̄̽̄̿͐̚̕̚̕͜ ̸̧̡̧̡͈͖̘̗̹̳̭̟͓̩̰̭̳̥̦̒́̔̃̐͌̾̎̓̂̈̀͑̐́̐͊̊́̅͘̕͝g̴̨̻̬̙̻̣̠̦̫̼͖̞͑͑̈͑̀̓̽͊̉̎̋̅̾̅̔̈́̆̌͛͊̄̚͠ͅo̴̢̱̭͔͚̖̞̫̩̲̙͕͍̲̻̟̳̬͙̟̥͓͑͋̚͜͜͝ơ̶̡̱̳̣͎̭͖͈̬̘̲̲̜͐̏̉̄͌̌̈́́̈́͌͆̓̽́̋͒͐̈́̏͑̊̋̈̌̆̆͝͝ḑ̷̡̛̲̥̺̮͉̣̯̙͓͈̰͍͖̾͛̓̈́̓͗͑́̉̋̽̅̄́́͌̕̕̕̚͝͠.̷̢̢̛̛̙̗̯͈̝͇̣̗͕̝̤͍͉̭̥̳͇̹̠̙̤̀̽̅̍̊̑͌̏́͐͛̊̇̽̾̅̒͗̔̔͘̕̕͜”̴̛̼͉̘̻̼̗̭̩̪̱͍͚̥̗̤̼̓̓͐̇̌͑͛̑̓̆̈́͆͗̚
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