Eijiro was disappointed to see that Yagi had arrived alone. While his chats with Loki had made it clear that the man was at least being honest about his connection to All Might, it was looking like he might have been lying about Eijiro getting to meet the hero himself during this meeting. Still he buried his disappointment and offered the man a smile as he approached the beach. "Hey! Good Morning!"
The man returned the smile. "Good Morning young Kirishima! How goes the clean up?"
Eijiro winced. "Honestly, I don't think I can clean all this by myself. Every time I clear out a section, more people come by and dump their trash. At the rate I am cleaning right now, I would be lucky to clear even a tenth of the beach before the UA entrance exam."
The man's face dropped. "I see. That is rather unfortunate. It appears I was being a bit optimistic. Perhaps we can see about finding some more volunteers? There is no shame in asking for help when needed."
Eijiro brightened. Well that was one worry taken care of at least. He had been afraid the man would have insisted he do all the work himself. "Oh, maybe I could ask Loki if he wants to help out for a bit before he goes on his patrols. Or maybe he knows some people around here that might be willing to help."
Yagi looked surprised, albeit slightly guilty at that. "I was not aware you knew our newest vigilante."
Eijiro gave the man a puzzled look. "I mean, I am pretty sure he lives around here somewhere. I met him while I was working a bit late almost a week ago. He likes to swing by on his way to his patrols and check on me. Is there something wrong?"
Yagi waved him off with a sad smile. "Nothing you can help with. I made the mistake of saying that since he lacked a Quirk, he should reconsider his dream of becoming a hero. I failed to take into consideration that his uncles were some of the best Quirkless fighters in heroics due to not realizing who he was, which is slightly ridiculous in hindsight since he is almost the spitting image of one of them. I suspect that my comment might have been what pushed him over the edge into less than legal heroism in an effort to prove me wrong."
Eijiro frowned. "I mean, setting his family aside, just being Quirkless shouldn't have been enough to tell him that. He could have had loads of training in weapons or martial arts and you probably wouldn't have been able to tell from looking at him. I know he is good at knife throwing from some of the knife tricks he showed me the other night and that isn't just a skill you pick up in just a few months."
Yagi sighed and nodded. "I am starting to understand where I went wrong in that regard at least. Come on, there is something we should discuss away from prying eyes and ears." He then proceeded to lead the way into the piles of trash out of sight from the road from any angle.
"So what is up with the secrecy?"
The man gave a bit of a sheepish smile. "I believe I promised you that I would introduce you to All Might, when we last met."
"Yeah?"
The sheepish smile turned a bit mischievous. "I have to apologize. That will not be possible given that you have already met me." Before Eijiro could react, Yagi seemed to puff up for a moment and then standing before him was the number one hero himself. "I'm sorry for the deception but I thought it best if we started with your training while I was in my civilian form given that was how we actually met."
"You're your own assistant?" It was a stupid question but it was the first thing that came to him in his surprise.
Thankfully that earned him a chuckle from the Pro. "I will be honest, of all the questions I was expecting, that was not one of them. Yes, in order to keep my private life private and keep the secret of my Quirk just that, I live under the identity of my own assistant. It gives a good explanation as to my presence if I need to power down after a fight but can't get very far away to do so, as well as allows me to enter and exit my own agency without getting questioned."
"Wait so why are you telling me all this if it is some huge secret? And training me personally for that matter? Not that I am not honored and all!"
A hand came down to ruffle Eijiro's hair as the man seemed to deflate in a puff of steam. "If it wasn't obvious, my days as a Hero are numbered. You can see how poor my health has become as of late and the hours I am able to work as All Might are getting shorter and shorter. I have been looking for someone to act as my successor for a while now and I believe you have the heroic spirit needed to become the next symbol. I will admit, I wish you were a little older and I had found you a few years earlier since whether I like it or not, I am going to start the process of retiring at the next hero ranking coming up in October here in a few months. Ideally, I would have held my position long enough to pass the torch directly on but I have found myself out of time."
That was… a lot. "You really think I could be the next Symbol of Peace? I know my Quirk is great at keeping me safe and all but like I said before, it isn't even in the same league as your own."
Yagi nodded. "That is true however there is more to my Quirk than just strength. One for All is a transferable stockpiling Quirk that has been passed down through several generations of Heroes, gaining more power with each set of hands it passes through. I believe that with One for All, you would one day surpass me as number one Hero."
Eijiro's brain had to take a moment to process that. Before he could really think about what all this meant, a few of Loki's and Eraserhead's comment from a few nights ago clicked. "Oh, so that is what they meant."
Yagi looked startled. "I'm sorry?"
Eijiro blushed lightly. "Oh, uh, a few nights ago, Loki made a bunch of weird comments about you training me with Eraserhead when he showed up looking for Loki. The most important bit was that he told me that they already knew about One for All if I needed to talk to someone later and that it wasn't their secret to share."
Yagi seemed to flicker through a range of emotions before seeming to realize something. "Oh, Mirai must have told them the name. Sorry, it never really registered that while I never actually told him the name of my Quirk, he probably would have gotten it from his uncle after the fact. Yes, Loki would know at least the basics of my Quirk given he knows the name and has seen me transform before."
Suddenly, something else clicked into place. "Wait. Mirai is Sir Nighteye right?"
The man nodded. "That is correct. Why do you ask?"
"Is the boy who dressed up as him and joined him during his panel Loki then?"
"Oh. Yes, that would be him. Midoriya Izuku." He scratched his head. "I wasn't sure if I should refer to young Midoriya by name or not. From what I have seen, he is rather well known publicly as a relative of my former sidekick at this point as well as a vigilante as Loki but from what I can tell, the public at large has not connected the two. Most of the top Heroes know of course at this point, either from Mirai or his sister. That would be young Midoriya's mother. Young Midoriya doesn't really seem to be trying all that hard to keep his identity hidden from the public but until he personally reveals himself, it would be considered bad form to out the connection."
Eijiro nodded in understanding. "I'll at least tell him that you accidently told me when I see him later tonight. I don't get the impression he would care too much that I know given he openly referred to Eraserhead as his uncle in front of me."
Yagi chuckled at that. "I can't imagine Eraserhead took that well. From what I've heard about the man, he generally values his privacy."
Eijiro shrugged. "I mean he wasn't really happy with Loki for it but he dropped it after Loki mentioned that I was probably going to get into UA's class 1-A and that you were the one training me."
"Ah. I suppose that makes sense. I understand that Eraserhead is one of the homeroom teachers for first year heroics so I assume that likely means he will be the homeroom teacher for 1-A next year."
Eijiro nodded. "So what does being your successor all entail?"
"For now, we need to train your body a bit more so you won't be hurt by any Quirk backlash once I transfer you my Quirk."
"Wait. When you do that, does that mean All Might is just gone? You won't be able to go out anymore without your Quirk right?"
Yagi chuckled. "Not to worry. The transference process is more like transferring a fire from torch to torch instead of passing the torch along. It will take a bit of time for your flame to fully light and for my own flame to become extinguished. Besides, I am retiring here in just a few months so depending on how training goes, I will likely have not passed on the Quirk quite yet. Come, I wish to do a few tests to check your progress…"
---MiM-MiM-MiM---
Overhaul studied the knife that had been previously lodged in Larceny's shoulder the prior evening. It was a neat trick that this Shigaraki had pulled to sow doubts in the Underworld of All for One having truly vanished. It was obvious in hindsight what he had done to try and cement himself as All for One's possible successor. Plant a few actors in the crowd and pay off the info broker to play along with his little ruse and suddenly the man child was the "son" of the Symbol of Evil himself.
The kid with the knife throwing Quirk was a nice touch though the kid's rumored Villain name left a lot to be desired even given they were trying to play him off as All for One's biological child. Small for One. He found himself snorting at that. Like All for One would have allowed himself to be distracted with a woman long enough to produce a child, let alone so recently with how old the man was. The idea was frankly a bit disgusting.
Still the fact that the man that they grabbed who had been in the bar after Larceny had been forced to retreat had been quite helpful in solving the mystery of what they had missed from the meeting. The mystery girl was Shigaraki's younger sister evidently and it seemed he was hosting the League normally from his place of residence given his comment about Small for One and the other boy called Peppermint having to approve of new members as well despite not truly being members yet themselves. Perhaps they could find the boys during daylight hours and follow them back to their home…
---MiM-MiM-MiM---
There was someone following him. It hadn't taken him long to notice given that Dabi and Midoriya had spent an afternoon teaching him how to lose a tail properly before calling Kurogiri to come pick him up when he went out. Shoto was in a toned down version of his Villain disguise out shopping for a few things for his new room at the bar. Just his wig and a fake eyepatch with a bit of makeup.
He had been surprised when a groggy looking Dabi had shoved his new phone and credit card into his hands this morning. Apparently he was now Midoriya Hyouka, youngest child in the Midoriya family. A part of him wished he could have had his own name but going by Shoto would have just increased the chances that someone would connect him and the now officially missing son of the number two Pro Hero. Still, the name gave him a warm feeling in his chest when he thought of it.
Shoto had to wonder if his tail was after him because he had been seen like this in a known Villain hangout with members of the League or if it was someone who suspected he might be himself. With little to no fear, Shoto readjusted his path through the Tokyo downtown to where he knew Sir Nighteye patrolled. He wasn't sure of the man's exact route or hours, but he did know he would at least be safe since Shoto's attempts to lose his tail so far had been failing.
Shoto spotted the man's Hero agency before the Hero himself. He internally crossed his fingers that the man following him would not follow him inside as he pushed open the door and made a beeline to quickly move to duck down behind the front desk next to the Hero's sidekick.
Bubble Girl looked down at him from her seat in her chair slightly confused. "Oh, uh, can I help you?"
"There is a man that has been following me for nearly an hour now. I am not here."
To the young woman's credit, that had her snapping her attention up away from him. She angled her face so that it looked like she was looking at her computer monitor but she was clearly watching through the glass door. After a minute, slowly she brought her hand up to cover her mouth as she readjusted to seem like she was resting her chin on her hand. "Slim guy with short sandy hair wearing a suit and round glasses?"
"Yes."
"I think he is waiting for you to come back out. I'm going to call Sir to see if he can figure out why he is following you kid."
"Thank you."
Shoto watched as she picked up what he recognized as an emergency line directly to the Hero. She was careful to keep her posture that of a bored assistant and made sure her mouth was still obscured from anyone looking through the door. "Sir, we have a problem. A kid just rushed in to hide from a guy who has apparently been tailing him for a while. The guy is hanging out watching the door for the kid to leave. I'm not sure if he saw the kid duck behind my desk or not…I would put him at maybe about 190cm. Slim but muscular build. Shorter hair then your own in a sandy blonde color. Wearing a normal business suit and round glasses…See you shortly." She hung up. "Sir is just grabbing Centipeder before coming down. He is going to send him out on a patrol to see how the guy reacts. If that doesn't scare the guy off, he will take care of things."
It only took a few minutes for the Hero and other Sidekick to appear. Shoto saw a look of puzzled recognition in Sir Nighteye's eyes as he spotted him behind the desk. He casually leaned on the desk with his back to the door. "You don't recognize the man I take it?"
Shoto shook his head. "I have never seen him before today."
He nodded. "Has he moved away at all?"
Bubble Girl shook her head. "He pulled out a phone and is either texting someone or pretending to."
"I see." He pushed himself away from the desk. "I'm going to go inquire why he is loitering outside my office. I want you to call for help if he turns hostile."
---MiM-MiM-MiM---
As Mirai stepped out into the sun, it took no time to spot the man standing stiffly across the street, trying and failing to look casual. He was slightly pleased that the man tensed slightly as he approached, on hand in a pocket to hold one of his seals. "Excuse me, I was wondering if you needed something? My Sidekick Bubble Girl noticed you loitering out here a little while ago."
The man seemed to consider his options. "The kid that ran into your agency, do you know him?"
"He is a friend of my nephews." As the words left his mouth, understanding of the man's Quirk dawned on him thanks to the familiarity he now held with Hitoshi's. This was not good. Before the man could ask another question, Mirai's hand left his pocket and a seal flew through the air to hit the man center mass.
"You are aware that using your Quirk in such a manner is illegal, correct? And using it against a trained Pro Hero in broad daylight is doubly so?"
The man groaned and clutched his stomach as he bent over to throw up. "Do you enjoy using your Quirk to hurt people this way, Hero?"
"I haven't used my Quirk in months but no. Inflicting pain is not why I became a Hero."
The man looked up at him slightly dumbstruck. "How did you do that then?"
"My Seals are made of a hyper density material. That was just years of training." Mirai was glad that the man's shock of what was happening was keeping him from asking too revealing of questions. This sort of oversharing was not enjoyable.
Before the man could force more information from him, the familiar figure of Fat Gum (Toyomitsu Tashiro) rounded the corner. Seeing him, the man scrambled to flee the area before any of them could grab him. As the other hero came to a stop in front of him, Mirai bent down to pick up the fallen Seal. Thankfully, it appeared the man failed to throw up on it. "What's going on? Bubble Girl sent out a call that you might need back up."
Mirai gestured in the direction that the man had fled. "He had a non combative Quirk so it wasn't a problem after all. Your arrival spooked him enough to flee over staying to try and use his Quirk to fish for more information. He was following a younger teen who eventually noticed and fled into my office for help."
Toyomitsu frowned. "What did he want?"
"I am not completely sure but given that his first question was if I knew the boy, I have to wonder why he was following him. If he was targeting him as a target of opportunity or if he was following him because of someone else he had seen the boy associated with."
"Do you?"
"Do I what?"
"Know the kid?"
Mirai sighed and nodded. "He is friends with my nephews. He is currently more or less living with my sister's family lately. Nedzu is working on an investigation into his home life alongside my brother."
Toyomitsu's smile returned at that. "Sounds like the kid is in good hands at least. I am going to return to patrol. Wish the kid well for me."
Mirai nodded with a tired smile as he waved the other man off. "Will do."
He then turned and wandered back into his agency. The young "missing" Todoroki was now out from his hiding place. "He's gone?"
"The arrival of another hero scared him off. You are alright?" At a nod from the bicolored boy, he found himself studying the boy's slightly altered appearance. "That is a nice wig. Where did you find it?"
The boy shrugged. "Dabi threw it at me a few days after I showed up but I think Kurogiri might have been the one to get it for me."
Awata gave a low whistle at that. "Damn I thought that was your actual hair from your visible eyebrow and lashes. Your hair just white then?"
The boy sighed and shook his head. "I wish. I would be able to dye my hair that way."
Mirai felt a bit saddened at the seeming wistfulness in the boy's voice at the idea. "Do you need an escort back to Tomura's place?"
The boy shrugged. "Probably a good idea. I just hope that Dabi isn't too upset that I failed to bring anything back with me for my room after he told me to spend the morning shopping."
Mirai had to snort at that. "I suspect he mostly just wanted you to go out so everyone else could get more sleep. He has been kicking Himiko out for the same reason since she is a morning person by habit like yourself. Perhaps tomorrow you could go out together?"
Shoto seemed to think about that for a moment before nodding. "Probably a good idea. If I get followed again, I could give her a bit of my blood and we could split and find a Hero faster. If they follow her as me, she could always give them the slip by changing into someone else too."
Mirai nodded and turned his attention back to Awata. "I'll be back shortly. Keep an eye out for that man on the off chance he returns."
With a nod from his Sidekick, he turned and led the way back outside. "So what should I be calling you when you are disguised like this?"
The boy pulled a credit card from his pocket and offered it to the hero. "According to this I am now your nephew Hyouka."
Mirai read the name on the card and snorted before passing it back. "I don't know why I am surprised. Should we blame your new father or one of your brothers for your recent less than legal surprise adoption?"
The newly dubbed Hyouka shrugged. "I don't mind. I wish I could have kept my given name the same but I do like Hyouka as a name for myself. Perhaps after I have to go back, I could use the name for my hero name."
Mirai found himself smiling lightly at the idea. "You have become attached to the sweets theme Tomura gave you, I take it."
The boy actually smiled slightly at that. "It is the sort of thing my father would hate. Plus it is a theme given to me by my friends."
They had reached the blind alley that Mirai suspected that Izuku had been using as a place for Kurogiri's Warp Gates when he visited. He watched as the bi-colored teen pulled out his phone and tapped a quick message. Only a few seconds later, a doorway of dark mist rose up before them. The boy gave him one last wave before vanishing into the mist.
---MiM-MiM-MiM---
Naomasa stared at the lab results on the broken bullet that Sir Nighteye had submitted for testing just a few days prior feeling slightly sick. The bullet had two distinct human DNA signatures on it. One, a male, was to be expected as the victim of the shooting but the other…
Female DNA. Female DNA that was not possibly young Himiko's that could have cross-contaminated it. They had checked. No, whatever had been in the bullets had been made from the body of another girl. While they didn't know much, analysis of the Quirk factor of the girl's DNA showed fairly recent activation and none of the genes that would have been needed for her body to produce such a substance naturally.
They were dealing with a group that was dabbling in human experimentation on a little girl who couldn't be older than six at the most. "This isn't good." Truth. "I suppose this is just another reason for me to deal with this group as soon as possible." Truth.
Naomasa rubbed at his face to distract himself. How was it that the man who he knew financed a Doctor with similar inclinations for human experimentation was bothered by this too? "Well he only ever experiments on the bodies of the already deceased and myself as far as I am aware." Truth. "Additionally, I only fund him so I can keep him under control at this point." Truth. "After he started bringing the dead back to life, it became clear he was too dangerous to leave unsupervised." Truth. "If I didn't rely on him for his medical proficiency, I would have killed the man by now to remove the threat he presents." Truth.
Naomasa really wished the villain would stop telling him who he was planning on killing. He didn't want to become an accomplice in a murder. "Ah. Sorry." Truth. "I am trying to not mention that sort of thing to you but, well, Izuku didn't get his habit of rambling his thought process aloud from Inko's side of the family." Truth.
Naomasa sighed and nodded to himself. He couldn't help but think the Villain was getting worse about it though. "You're not wrong." Truth. "The walls between our minds are eroding the longer we are like this." Truth. "Honestly, I am starting to worry that if I can't find a way to separate our minds properly, we might start to lose our individual identities." Truth.
Naomasa went rigid in his seat. What exactly did that mean? "Essentially, at this rate, we run the risk of ending up as one person in two bodies." Truth.
Shit that was bad. Really bad. "I agree." Truth. "I am working my hardest to try and untangle our minds but the longer we are like this the more tangled we get." Truth. "I am beginning to suspect we might need outside assistance." Truth.
What about if he took the problem Empathy Quirk? He could deal with that Quirk if he had no other choice. "I am afraid it is a bit late for that." Truth. "Even if I gave you the Quirk now, our minds are connected by more than that at this point." Truth.
Naomasa found himself having to quickly grab his trash bin as he found himself throwing up. Of all the ways he had thought he could die, his mind being eaten alive by a super villain who didn't even want to do it had never crossed his mind. After all, what chance did he stand in all this with how much older and just more the villain was. Would Hisashi even be all that affected by this or would he just get a new perfectly healthy body out of this all to himself?
Panic shot up his spine as he felt himself losing control of his body once more. His body fought to regain even breathing as he panicked. "Naomasa you need to calm down." Truth. "I'm sorry but you had stopped breathing completely so I accidentally took over on reflex." Truth. "If you can try and breathe with me, I will release control." Truth.
Naomasa struggled to get his breathing under control. A part of him, no it was Hisashi, registered Sansa now in his office beside him rubbing at his back as Naomasa clutched his now vomit filled bin in a white knuckled grip. He was saying something but neither the detective or Villain could hear him through the pounding of blood in Naomasa's ears.
At the same time, Naomasa felt a burning in his lungs that was both terribly familiar to him and brand new. He couldn't see but he knew where he was just fine. He struggled to reach out and press a familiar call button. Lines blurred between the two minds as both men struggled to call for help.
His son was in front of him. Izuku held a tension in his frame as he looked to his lavender haired cousin who had followed him into the police station. Hitoshi gestured for him to move so that he could rest a hand on either side of their face (in another place, a familiar set of arms wrapped themselves around them to restrain them).
"Can you give me a verbal response?"
As one they spoke. "Yes.