Chapter Text
Yagi Toshinori had been 14 when he met the woman who would turn his life upside-down. The woman who would help him achieve his dream of becoming a symbol, a pillar of hope and peace that people can rely on. Yet along with the fulfilment of his dreams and quirk came the responsibility of defeating the man who has been his predecessors’ greatest enemy. The same man who has taken his master away from him so soon. A man whom he has vowed to defeat. Then years passed traveling all over the world in a wild goose chase of leads and sightings. He has never gotten anywhere near defeating All for One. Until his leads brought him back to Musutafu. Where it led him to the same place the bastard has killed his master when he was only 18 years old. The prick probably thought it was befitting to kill him in the same place his predecessor died. Dying wasn’t an option, not without a successor for One for All.
Toshinori’s eyes opened to a sterile white ceiling. The smell of antiseptic the feel of stiff yet cool beddings beneath him made him conclude that he was at a hospital. He turned to the partially open blinds to see the setting sun. Toshinori was fighting All for One, they exchanged blows after blows, the fight dragged on for possibly hours, there was an opening, he went for it, they were to exchange their most likely final blows, when... He furrowed his brows at that. Something happened. Shigaraki’s quirks vanished. Even the bastard looked surprised. His attack landed and after that, he remembered plenty of dust. It was fuzzy after that. He could remember a black blob, a fellow hero, who rushed to his side just as he was about to fall. The hero was talking to him, he couldn’t hear him. In a moment of clarity, he remembered seeing golden eyes. He vaguely remembers muttering a “thank you” before everything went dark.
He was broken from his musings when the door to his private room swung open as his mentor and sidekick strode in. “Good, you’re awake,” he heard Mirai’s voice as he turned towards them. Before he could even fully look at their direction, a white blur snapped his face to the left. “Gran Torino-san!” voices shouted in alarm as he felt the painful impact of his mentor’s boot against his slowly swelling cheek. “What on earth made you think it was a good idea to face Shigaraki alone? You’re lucky to be even alive right now Toshinori!” the old man screamed as he finally looked at the guests. Even Nedzu and Recovery Girl were here along with Tsukauchi. Toshinori stayed silent as he took in his mentor’s furious face and the others' worried expressions. There was a tense silence as everyone observed the blonde.
Mirai finally broke the ice as he cleared his throat. “Well, since nothing terrible happened to him, I think it’s best if we leave this discussion for a later date and focus on more urgent things?” the seer addressed everyone as he subtly signalled for everyone to drop the subject. Gran Torino only huffed as the others finally relaxed with the tension bleeding from the room. Recovery Girl approached first as she kissed Toshinori’s cheek, making the forming bruise fade away. He immediately felt the added fatigue making him lean back on his bed reflexively. “There were only a few bruises, scrapes, and minor wounds on you, nothing critical that needed surgery. You probably passed out from exhaustion and quirk overuse,” the old woman told him as she patted his arm. It has always been her way of telling him not to overdo it and rest back when he was still a student at UA.
“That aside. Shigaraki is currently in Tartarus. He was heavily wounded and unconscious when the police found him. After detaining him, a medical team saw to his wounds and healed what they can. Most of his face will scar and he’s currently dependent on oxygen and other fluids to survive. We suspect that his injuries are this bad since he wasn’t able to use his healing quirks immediately and fell unconscious,” Tsukauchi told him from the side. The man was his closest friend in the police force and was one of the few who knew about his secrets. He was a very loyal and good companion. One of the best people he’d met since he started his career as a pro hero. Hearing the prick was still alive made him annoyed. However, considering he got the longer end of the stick with just minor injuries while the bastard is on life support made him tons better. The important thing was that he is locked up in Tartarus where he couldn’t do anything to harm anyone.
Toshinori finally broke his silence. “When I was fighting Shigaraki, I remembered that his quirks suddenly... vanished? Even he seemed surprised about it. Then after the fight, I remembered someone catching me before I passed out. Was somebody else there besides the two of us?” he asked them. He thinks the golden-eyed person he saw was probably a hallucination from the exhaustion he felt. However, if there really was someone else there, he needed to know. The others looked at one another before finally looking back at him. Nedzu answered him. He met the principal a few years back when he was visiting Recovery Girl. The dog-bear-mouse found out about his quirk by accident but has proven himself trustworthy and has been a close acquaintance since then. “Yes. The one you’re talking about is Eraserhead. He apparently received an alert about your fight and rushed over. He was responsible for erasing Shigaraki’s quirk and why the villain wasn’t able to use his healing quirk until he eventually fell unconscious. He was the one who called Nighteye’s agency, the police, and 119,” the principal said calmly as he looked at the number one hero.
Toshinori sucked in a breath at that. There was someone else with them. Someone who was able to erase quirks temporarily it seemed. He is most likely the reason Toshinori is alive and breathing right now with minimal injuries. This man had saved his life and made it possible for them to capture All for One. “You know him Nedzu-san?” he asked after noticing the familiar way the principal called the hero. “Yes, he is currently a teacher at UA and used to be a student of mine during his time at UA,” the principal replied with a smile. Everyone seemed to notice the fond and proud tone to the principal’s voice. If Eraserhead was close to principal Nedzu, he must be trustworthy to keep the secrets about his quirk and enemy to himself. Nedzu seemed to have read his thoughts and answered him: “He is trustworthy Toshinori. Shouta is good at keeping secrets. He isn’t really the type to tell people things. I think it will be fine if you asked him to keep quiet about the whole thing”.
He looked towards his mentor and sidekick. The former narrowed his eyes in thought as the latter tapped on his tablet. “He seems decent. Clean records and all. His work as an underground pro hero suggests that he is good at keeping things under control. He tends to avoid the media, which is an added bonus. After all, there hasn’t been a single word about your fight for the past ten hours,” Mirai said as he perused what he believes are Eraserhead’s files. If his sidekick thinks that Eraserhead is trustworthy then he believes he is as well. “I don’t trust him. We barely even know this kid and you want to believe he won’t say anything about this. What if he tell others what he saw. What then?” his mentor grumbles as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Why don’t we schedule for him to meet with us Gran Torino-san. You can talk to him first and see for yourself if he really is trustworthy,” Nedzu replied from where he stood beside Tsukauchi. Recovery Girl nodded her head in agreement.
Gran Torino huffed before looking away. “Fine then. Bring the brat here tomorrow,” he said as he made to sit at a sofa in the corner of the room. Nedzu grinned in approval as the others moved to sit at whatever available surface there was in the room. Toshinori quietly laid on his bed as the fatigue and effects of Recovery Girl’s quirk gradually seeped in. He tuned out their chatter as he turned back to the slowly disappearing sunset. The golden color reminded him of the hero’s eyes, a warm golden color. Toshinori fell asleep with a lighter heart and to a pair of golden eyes. Thank you...