Chapter Text
The video is black, with no logo or picture to distract. There is a bit of text that appears, like in those videos where creators wish to talk to the watchers but are too shy to use their voice or can’t alter it.
‘Hello,’ the text says. ‘My fellow Sir Nighteye fans.’
‘He is awake now, I have confirmed it. Thanks to my special little birdie I managed to get a camera to his recovery room and in a minute we will see his meetings with his closest comrades. He will not be back to duty for a while still, but you can see he is alright and his friends visit him even if we, fans, cannot keep him company.’
Tags are added to the live, the hero names and real names of the hero and all that worked as his sidekicks or internship students from UA, even All Might,. Someone in the comment section asks if it’s okay to stream private meetings of the hero like this, but is not heeded and muted before too many can agree with them. A bunch of people voice their happiness that the hero is going to recover and reminiscing about his accomplishments and the last mission he had taken part in. Someone posts a fairly new Deku gif and exclaims he was doing his internship in his agency before the war, starting a short thread full of silly Dekuu gifs and fairly known facts about other notable people from the agency.
The discussion fades to almost nothing when the video finally starts.
There is no doubt that this is a hospital room, bland walls and little decorations on them. A table full of gift cards and flowers, a couple of uncomfortable chairs and a bed with a man propped against a big pillow. He is almost as pale as his shirt and the sheet covering his lower body, his hair not quite as perfectly styled as usual, but his eyes shine with determination and purpose in his thinned face.There is a vintage AllMight bento box on the table, partially obscured by a handful of knick knacks.
“Sir,” comes a feminine voice, probably a nurse. “Deku was in the hospital already and is here now to see you. I will alert you when others come.”
“Very well, thank you. Send the boy in, please,” the man says in a voice somewhat raspy from disuse.He looks tired and pale, but well enough to spend a few minutes talking and not needing constant surveillance.
In comments people voice their excitement that for someone who had been in a coma for a year and during the war times he is doing pretty well. Someone speculates how long his recovery will take. Deku fans flood the chat box with green hearts when the young hero steps into the field of vision, dressed in his costume and with a polite smile on his face.Some users start to repost ‘Save to win’ and ask if Dynamight will be making an appearance, too. Everyone knows that where you see one of the Wonderduo the other is near.
“Sir,” Deku greetss. “It’s so good to see you awake. How are you feeling?”
“I’m alright,” the older hero offers his right hand and Deku clasps his own in it after a second of hesitation, as if not expecting such a greeting.
“Sir?” he asks, blinking when the other doesn’t let go for a bit too long.
“In five minutes you will leave a lock of your hair in my hand,” the older hero declares with confidence, his eyes boring into Deku’s. “In six minutes you will leave this room. This is what I see and this is what will happen.”
“Wha-”
“I will be meeting Togata-kun afterwards and it’s high time he gets the quirk you are misusing, boy.”
Deku flinches back, gaping at the sitting man, then at his hand.
“You used Foresight on me,” he exclaimed.
The man on the bed nodded with a calm expression on his face, his eyes shining with determined fire.
“Yes. I cannot see far into the future right now, but I saw enough. You are an atrocious successor to All Might, a dim candle while Togata-kun is a true brilliant Sun. The country needs that Sun. If you have any sense of decency you will relinquish this power to someone more worthy than you so he can bring forth a better era.”
After the first dozen of confused messages the chat remains eerily silent as people stare at the encounter. Deku may not be the most popular hero out there, but there is no denying his dedication and his role in ending the war, his fanbase is massive. All Might himself had revealed him to be his chosen successor, one of the leaders of the famous class A from UA, those that lead the changes to the flawed system. Even those who dislike the green hero don’t speak about him with the amount of derision and disdain the recovering hero has in his voice.
Deku blinks at him, still unable to find the right words to respond with. After a second he shakes his head and wipes his hand on his pants as if to remove the feel of the other man’s hand.. The familiar kind smile and warmth in his eye are gone now, replaced by weary and guarded expression. There is no surprise after the initial shock of being subjected to the other hero’s quirk.
“I won’t give away my quirk to Togata-sempai,” he declares, frowning.
“You will leave your hair to me to give to him,” the older hero says coldly. I saw it. Don’t dawdle, or am I to tell UA that you are the traitor sending the villains valuable information?”
Deku gasps, jerking back a step from the bedside, his hands lifting as if to shield himself from the harsh words. “What? I’m not…”
“Oh, who will they listen to? A real pro or a nobody kid who lied about having a quirk while being registered as quirkless just a year ago?” the man raised a brow. “Sure, they can learn the truth after an investigation, but it will take time and before it ends no one will trust you. Better listen to me and do as I say. I don’t care what you do afterwards, you can still try to be a hero course student till Erazerhead expels you for your lack of potential as he should have done long ago.”
Messages are filling the chat now, moving too fast to be read by anyone, people venting their emotions, asking if this all is real, disbelieving and disturbed about the way this conversation is going.
Deku closes his eyes for a moment and when he opens them there's a shadow of exhaustion in them, a weariness not many saw since the end of the war.
“So, you think I can’t do it.” he says flatly. “There is no changing your mind about me, huh?”
As the man shakes his head Deku sighs like a disappointed parent and reaches up to pluck a lock of his hair. He puts it on the side table of the bed and steps back.
“In this case I guess this is goodbye,” the young man states, his voice flat. “I did just what you wanted and I don’t think either of us will want to see the other again.”
In the chat people are arguing and using too much caps. Many point out how uncharacteristically blank Deku’s face is, others rage about the demand of the older hero, some voice their disbelief at what they just witnessed. Confused fans beg the young hero not to forsake his quirk, not to listen to the demand of his senior, but obviously Deku has no idea about that.
“I’m glad that at least you know when not to act like a brat and do your duty,” the pro hero says, his gaze focused on the tiny lock of green hair and not at the Deku sighs again.boy in front of him.
Then, without another word, the young hero turns on his heel and walks out of the frame of the video, a silent click indicating that he left the room. Only then the recovering man moves, reaching for the lock and the bento box sitting on top of the table. With sure hands he opens the box and removes an onigiri wrapped in seaweed. Carefully he fiddles with the wrapping, stashing the piece of hair under it before replacing the food in the container. He relaxes against his pillow and lets out a content sigh.
People in the chat use this lull in the live to argue among themselves, some worriedly asking what Deku was planning to do, where he was and what was going on. Others raged that this conversation took place and how cold the supposedly kind and nurturing hero treated one of his students. The messages slowed to a stop when the relaxing man lifted his head, a genuine smile on his face. Togata’s cheery voice was heard, greeting the man as the young hero, dressed in civilian casual clothes, entered the frame. His fans cheered at seeing his big smile, but it lacked the same enthusiasm the earlier cheers for Deku had, people confused and anxious to see what was going to happen now. Was the older hero going to act so cruel towards his other student as well?
“Sir!” the blonde beamed like the ray of sunshine he was.
“Hello, my boy,” the man in the bed smiles fondly. “It’s so good to see you.”
They shook hands just like he had done with Midoriya.
“How are you, sensei?” Togata asked, sitting down in a chair with a big grin.
“I’ll be fine in no time. And I’m exercising my quirk. I saw you eating that onigiri in the next minute,” he pointed to the piece of food he had tampered with not too long ago.
In the comments people shift between Outrage, confusion, questions about Deku and voicing their disgust about eating hair. Some share the tidbit the public knows about Deku’s quirk, that it can be passed by digesting DNA, but can be dangerous to most people. Some fans speculate there must be more to the possible transfer of this power, but no one can agree on details of how that can be done and Deku refuses to answer most question about his quirk After the war some of the details of how OFA worked had leaked thanks to the faults in the Commission ranks and fans had long speculated, after seeing Deku’s first years using the power, that it would probably kill the next user instantly, no matter who it was. The dramatic difference of the current body of AllMight compared to his active hero days was attributed to carrying the quirk for decades. Still, Deku had been targeted by a few villains trying to steal his quirk, all attempts ending in the would-be attackers in jail.
Lemilion’s fans are distressed especially when the man takes the piece of food and laughs before popping the whole thing into his mouth in one go.
The chat goes silent for a while, people staring in apprehension at their screens, but nothing seemed to change in the young man.
The two men chat pleasantly afterwards, discussing light topics. Togata warns his Mentor that the nurses ordered him not to stress him with heavier topics, so they focus on light ones, like training and what the young man is up to. Togata shows the other man a bunch of photos on his phone, assuring the older hero that a girl that is assumedly in those photos is doing great. He tells his senior about his last visit with the mysterious girl, smiling as he talks about Midoriya and the little Eri-chan teaching him how to make candy apples.
This all is sweet and wholesome, just like the optimistic hero himself, but the viewers of the stream voice how shaken they are still in the comments, worried for what was going on, where Deku was and what could be done to make the situation better. The relaxed, happy mood shown by both men is nothing like what it had been when Deku was talking with the pro and the contrast is jarring. This was what people hoped to see in this stream, some wholesome interactions, but the memory of that previous encounter casts dark shadow over this one. Someone says that they hope that this recording could be used to get Deku some justice, but someone else points out that the green hero didn’t appear like he wanted to go to court. Multiple fans argued that even if so this behavior from a famous and influential pro should be punished.
That is when AllMight, thin and out of breath, barges into the room and into the video frame. His hair stands in all directions and his eyes seem to blaze like in old days.
“What have you done Mirai?“ AllMight bellows, his voice as strong as it used to be. Togata stumbles to his feet, startled and with his greeting dying on his lips at the sight of the fuming legend. “Where is my boy?”
Sir Nighteye
Merely shrugs his shoulders, not at all startled.
Those who aren’t focused on typing their thoughts in the chat but instead watch the events unfold notice a dark clad shadow slink into the room behind AllMight, managing to stay mostly out of the frame as they approach. Then the image shales and rustling can be heard as if someone picked up the recorder.
“This recording device should have been confiscated before it entered this room,” murmurs an angry voice and the video cuts off.
Not even five minutes later the live is gone, but by then it is has already too late, the social media got copies and clips of the whole thing. Some less ethical sites publish the thing and many people try to reach Hero Deku.
His phone is not responding.After a short time it’s revealed to his close friends that the boy had left it, battery dead, plugged into the charger in his dorm room.