After the chaos of the villain attack on I-Island, the world finally slowed down. David Shield was taken to the hospital under heavy guard, one stationed right inside his door. Even as he lay in bed with bandages wrapped around his arm and shoulder, his face held more guilt than pain.
His daughter, Melissa, hadn't left his side. She sat beside his bed, tending to him quietly. She barely spoke, not because she was angry, but because she didn't know what to say. Every time she looked at him, she saw the image of Jiro jumping in and saving her, of Todoroki fighting to protect them, of Bakugo's heroic stand against the villains, and of Tsutsumi standing in the middle of the chaos, carrying the weight of what they couldn't.
...
Meanwhile, back at the hotel where the U.A. students were staying, the mood was lighter, or at least trying to be. Tsutsumi was sprawled on a lawn chair by the pool, one arm resting lazily behind his head, the other holding a single card between his fingers.
Attack Ride: One for All
He spun the card lightly, watching the sunlight flicker across its surface.
During the confrontation with Wolfram, Tsutsumi had stepped in and fought in All Might's place. His action had struck something deep inside the Symbol of Peace. Giving him hope and belief in the next generation.
"Young Tsutsumi! Come, you should eat too!" All Might's booming voice broke through the air. He stood by the barbecue pit, holding a mountain of shish kebabs in both hands, the smell of grilled meat filling the air.
Tsutsumi tilted his head lazily to glance at him. Around them, the rest of the U.A. group had gathered, laughing, eating, and enjoying what little time they had left before summer camp began.
Yaoyorozu had paid for most of the rooms and the feast, so no one was complaining. Tsutsumi certainly wasn't.
"All Might," he greeted as the older man approached with his usual bright grin.
"Do you need something?" he asked, sitting up slightly.
All Might pulled up a chair beside him. He'd already heard both Midoriya's and Tsutsumi's versions of what happened during the attack. While he approved of Midoriya's decision to retreat as instructed, he couldn't help but respect Tsutsumi's choice to fight. If the boy hadn't stepped in, they might not have made it back at all.
"Young Tsutsumi, there's something I'd like to ask," All Might said after a moment, his usual energy dimming into sincerity. "You're... rather talented at improving Quirks uses, yes? Do you have any advice that might help me improve mine?"
The question caught Tsutsumi off guard. Then he realized, All Might wasn't asking for himself. His Quirk was already gone. This was for Midoriya.
Tsutsumi sighed softly. He didn't mind. All Might, flawed as he was, had always tried his best, even if his student, Midoriya, was simply pathetic.
"Sure," Tsutsumi said casually, slipping the card away. "The private artificial beach should be big enough for a mock spar."
All Might's grin returned immediately. "Wonderful!"
...
While the others continued their party, Tsutsumi and All Might slipped away to the private section of the beach. The ocean stretched endlessly, reflecting the soft glow of the city lights.
They faced each other on the sand.
"All Might," Tsutsumi began, arms crossed, "you should start preparing for retirement. At your current stage, your body can't handle much more."
The larger man laughed, loud and sincere. "Thanks for the concern, my boy, but don't you worry about me! I can still hold on for a few more years!"
Tsutsumi's eyes flickered briefly, unreadable. "Your injury says otherwise."
All Might froze. His secret wound wasn't public knowledge. But before he could ask how Tsutsumi knew, a mechanical voice spoke from the younger man's Driver.
Attack Ride: One for All!
The sound made All Might's stomach drop.
"So this is One for All…" Tsutsumi murmured, gazing at his palm as magenta lightning danced across his skin. His voice was calm, but the power pulsing around him was overwhelming. "Midoriya's first mistake is that he still sees this as your Quirk, not his."
Through his vision, Tsutsumi could see them, faint spectral figures of the previous One for All users, hovering behind All Might. Their eyes were wary, almost fearful. Even the faint shimmer of Midoriya's soul, a floating moss of green hair, was there.
"After unlocking this Quirk, I know all its secrets," Tsutsumi said, meeting All Might's gaze. "Including yours."
All Might tensed, but Tsutsumi raised a hand. "Don't worry. I'm not interested in revealing them. There's no point in doing that."
The spirits behind All Might whispered silently, uneasy, but Tsutsumi ignored them.
"The second thing, you're teaching it wrong."
The magenta lightning flared, running across his entire body in rhythmic waves.
"You don't pour all the power into one body part," Tsutsumi explained. "You let it flow through you evenly. That way, you maintain your strength without tearing yourself apart, like how you keep your muscular form. Midoriya treats it like a switch and only focuses on one spot to power up at a time. That's why he keeps breaking himself."
All Might blinked, then scrambled to pull a small notebook from his pocket. "Right, right, hold on!" He started writing everything down with surprising focus.
Tsutsumi raised an eyebrow but didn't stop him.
"Next," Tsutsumi continued once All Might looked up again, "Lower the power output. My body can't handle one hundred percent either, but I can safely use thirty-one percent without enhancements. Midoriya needs to learn to scale down, find his threshold."
"Thirty-one. Scale down… got it!" All Might jotted it down quickly, muttering the number under his breath.
He had to admit, when he inherited One for All, it came naturally to him, like raw instinct. Trying to explain it had always been difficult. Tsutsumi, though, analyzed it like a machine. Was able to describe it with efficiency and precision.
So fast, just hours or minutes after obtaining One for All, Tsutsumi has already dissected the Quirk down to how to use it without harming himself, and even gives a proper explanation on how to use it.
"Now then…" Tsutsumi said, "on to the combat part."
All Might raised a brow as he tucked the notebook away.
"Your fighting style is too power-based," Tsutsumi said flatly. "For example, without the overwhelming strength of your Quirk and just your muscular form, can you still fight?"
All Might chuckled. "I suppose there's only one way to find out!"
They both activated a controlled fraction of One for All, about five percent each. The air cracked with pressure.
For a few moments, they traded blows, small shockwaves echoing across the beach. Tsutsumi's smaller frame moved like water, slipping past All Might's punches with ease. Each counterstrike landed cleanly, never cruel, but surgical.
Without his usual power, All Might's movements were slower, predictable. Tsutsumi could see the habits of a man used to winning by force alone.
"Too wide," Tsutsumi said between dodges. "You telegraph your swings."
All Might tried adjusting, using feints, shifting his footing, but Tsutsumi was faster. When All Might finally managed to grab his wrist, Tsutsumi held onto his large hand, jumped, and sent a kick directly onto the larger man's chest, breaking free, and forcing the giant of a man to one knee.
The sound of the waves filled the silence between them.
"All Might," Tsutsumi said quietly, "you are already too used to your style. Changing it won't be easy."
All Might looked up, breathing heavily, not angry, but thoughtful. Then he laughed again, deep and genuine. "You remind me of someone I know."
Tsutsumi gave a half-smirk. "How about we kick things up a notch?"
Increasing to thirty percent, Tsutsumi vanished from sight, his movement breaking the air with a sharp pop before his fist buried itself into All Might's cheek. The sheer impact sent the Number One Hero skidding backward across the sand, his large sandal carving trenches in the ground. Still, the old hero only laughed, wiping away the blood from his lips with that same indomitable grin.
"Not bad!" he said, his voice booming even through the sound of crashing waves. Raising his power to match the boy before him.
He launched himself forward like a bullet. The air cracked, the sea rippled, and both fists collided midair with a thunderous boom that sent shockwaves tearing across the beach.
All Might's punch came from the left, heavy, straightforward, and predictable. Tsutsumi twisted mid-air, his legs spinning in a graceful arc as he flipped over the blow. The young fighter's heel came down like a guillotine.
All Might raised his arm, blocking it cleanly, but Tsutsumi used his forearm as a springboard, kicking off and flipping backward. He dropped low, driving a spin kick into All Might's knee.
The Pro Hero hissed sharply, his knee buckling as he fell down on one leg. Before he could react, Tsutsumi spun again, a roundhouse kick connecting with his face and sending droplets of blood into the air.
All Might reeled but steadied himself, laughing through his labored breath. Despite the pain and blood dripping down his chin, there was pride in his eyes. For a brief moment, he saw an echo of his own youth, the spars with his master, his early struggles, when brute strength alone wasn't enough.
"ALL MIGHT!!" A familiar voice rang out, causing the two to stop seeing that the other had noticed them disappearing for long enough.
"Heh?" Tsutsumi tilted his head, seeing that Midoriya was already in front of him.
"Wait, Midoriya-!"
"SMASSHHH!"
Midoriya's fist glowed violently with uncontrolled power as it crashed into Tsutsumi's back. The impact rippled through the air like a cannon blast, throwing Tsutsumi away. He shot across the sand and over the ocean, crashing into the water with an explosion of foam and spray.
Everyone fell silent.
Midoriya hit the ground, gasping for breath, his right arm and both legs limp and broken.
"A-All Might… are you okay?" he asked weakly, forcing a grin that didn't reach his eyes, like a puppy waiting to be prayed.
Truth be told, Midoriya's resentment and envy toward Tsutsumi only grow day by day; the two of them don't see eye to eye.
One of the reasons for Midoriya's resentment toward Tsutsumi was because of his power. Tsutsumi has the power to save everyone like All Might, but instead of helping everyone and acting like a hero, he either does nothing or does whatever he wants, even if it means breaking the law. This action is more in line with what a villain would do in Midoriya's eyes.
So, when seeing Tsutsumi attacking All Might and making him cough up blood, mixed with the desperation and jealousy, Midoriya completely blanks out, his body moves on its own, and the two figures before him register in what they truly see of them.
A villain injures his idol.
"Deku, you idiot!" Bakugo roared, already moving.
Everyone's eyes widened as the spot where Tsutsumi had hit the water began to turn red.
"Shit," Todoroki cursed, instantly freezing the water's surface into a smooth path. He blasted forward with ice, Bakugo flying beside him on a trail of explosions.
They reached the spot quickly, Bakugo dove in without hesitation. Seconds later, he surfaced, dragging Tsutsumi's body out of the crimson water.
"Tsutsumi, you bas-" Bakugo froze, the insult dying in his throat when he saw the red-soaked shirt.
Todoroki reached down, helping him haul Tsutsumi onto the ice. "What happened?!"
"Nothing," Tsutsumi muttered, coughing out seawater as he stood. Blood trickled down his torso, staining the ice beneath his feet. "Just an old wound got torn open."
His tone was calm, his expression unreadable.
When they returned to shore, everyone's faces paled. The long scar across Tsutsumi's chest had reopened, the gash bleeding through the white fabric. He removed his shirt wordlessly, and even All Might's composure wavered at the sight.
"Ponytail," he called evenly. "Can I get some bandages?"
Yaoyorozu snapped out of her daze, hastily creating a roll of gauze from her skin.
Attack Ride: Half-Cold Half-Hot!
Tsutsumi's left side erupted in gentle orange flames that evaporated the seawater off his body, while his right side shimmered with frost. The wound chilled under a thin coat of ice, perfectly controlled so the flame never reached his inside.
The display was mesmerizing, pure precision. Even Todoroki stared, mouth slightly open. Even he couldn't control his Quirk with such effortless balance.
"Bandages," Tsutsumi asks as the flame disappears from his body.
Jiro quickly took them from Yaoyorozu's shaking hands. "Let us," she said softly, stepping closer.
He didn't argue. He simply sat as they wrapped his wound in silence.
"Ryo… how did you even get this injured?" Jiro finally asked, her voice trembling.
Tsutsumi's gaze flicked toward her, then to the horizon. "A loser thought it'd be smart to use an energy sword in a kendo duel. And..." he said dryly. "I was careless."
As Jiro tied the last knot, Tsutsumi's purple eyes shifted, landing on Midoriya.
The boy was still kneeling, despite being covered in bandages for his injured legs and arm, and he was being lectured by All Might, guilt and confusion written all over his face.
Nearby, Bakugo and Todoroki were visibly restraining themselves, ready to lunge at Midoriya if not for All Might's presence and Tsutsumi telling them not to drop to Midoriya's level.
The waves crashed softly in the background. The tension was suffocating.
Tsutsumi exhaled, his gaze shifted toward the setting sun in the orange sea. "This was a shitty vacation. At least the view is great."
The others didn't respond.