Chapter Text
It had been a very strange day indeed. All Might was used to being hounded by press and fans when he still had One-for-All. Even after he had lost his power, he found himself being pursued for soundbites and autographs. Today however, he received no requests to stop for an interview or a selfie, not even a sideways glance.
He was grateful for some peace and quiet in public at last, certainly, but it was...off. At the very least, if he wasn’t recognised as this-is-what-All-Might-looks-like-now, he often got disbelieving or frightened stares because of his gaunt and skeletal appearance.
People were avoiding him though, that much was certain. He happened to catch sight of a couple visibly shiver as they passed him, and one man on his phone changed directions completely as if by instinct to avoid getting in his path.
He pushed it to the back of his mind as he continued his walk to work, in a sort of daze, as if he was floating there on autopilot.
When he arrived at the school, the front gate was crowded with hundreds of people. What in the world was going on? There were reporters, photographers, camera crews and general onlookers packed in the space between the gate and the opposite sidewalk. He hadn’t seen this many people outside UA since it was first revealed he was a teacher there. But today, there was no excitable buzz among the crowd, no shoving to get to the front. Everyone was eerily still and quiet.
He had no idea how he was going to get through this rabble. Fortunately, an opportunity soon presented itself when he saw a staff vehicle - Cemontos’ Volvo, he believed - slowly part the crowd and aim for the gate. He slipped in behind it and followed closely. The reporters still did not hound him.
Once he was through, Cementos drove off at a quicker pace towards the underground parking area. He must not have seen him. All Might continued down the long bricked path to the front doors of the school, wondering where everyone was.
He checked his watch. He was about fifteen minutes early for sign-in, but there were normally a lot more students bustling around the grounds at this time. He glanced around, and saw a smattering of small groups conversing quietly with each other. He tried waving at a group of third-years, but they did not wave back. Perhaps they hadn’t seen him either. That feeling was getting uncomfortably familiar today. Shrugging this whole morning off as a weird day, he continued to the entrance.
When he crossed the threshold into the building, he felt a sudden intense feeling wash over him, almost knocking him down. It was like walking through a waterfall, the heavy current beating down on him as it thundered upon him. He knew this feeling, he had felt it many times in his life: grief.
But why? He hadn’t recently experienced the passing of a friend, and it’s not like he didn’t feel the pang of the loss of Nana and Sir Nighteye daily anyway, so why was today so different? And why so suddenly?
When he looked up, he got his answer.
There were black banners hung in the corridors, candles burning on tables by the entrance. The students wore somber, morose looks on their faces; many of them looking down at their feet somenly, others wiping away tears.
All Might’s chest felt tight. What horrible thing had happened to a student, or a fellow staff member?
He ran down the sparsely populated hallways towards the main assembly hall. The doors were already open, and he could see the faculty members setting something up on the stage. He ran faster, but his feet felt heavy and his movements were sluggish.
He burst into the hall and saw what they were hanging.
Two large portraits of his own face; both All Might and Toshinori Yagi.
It all came flooding back to him, like a door unlocking and letting in a hurricane of memories. He had accompanied Class 1-A and 1-B on a visit to a support items manufacturer. They were there to do research and submit their names for future applications for wearable tech. There was a sudden villain appearance; they stole some of the tech and tried to attack a group of students with it. All Might dived in front of them, on instinct. Something hit him square in the chest and…
The sensation he had experienced upon entering the school intensified at the recollection.
It was not his own grief he was feeling. He was feeling the emptiness and heartache of everyone in the school.
He was dead.
~*~
All Might stared at the posters on the stage, which had been adorned with black banners, candles and bouquets of various types.
He looked down at his hands; something he had unconsciously been avoiding all day, and now knew why. They were there, but they were semi-transparent. Where panic should have gripped him, he was actually curious. He brought his hands together, and placed a thumb over the other palm, wondering if his hands would simply pass through each other. They did not. Puzzled, he raised a hand and put it against the wall and pressed. It phased right through.
Okay...maybe this is happening after all…
Still in a stupor, he wandered closer to the podium, where Nedzu’s little step ladder was propped against it, ready for his address to the school. All Might took in the scenery once again and chuckled lightly. This was all a bit excessive, he thought to himself, absentmindedly reaching for a single, solitary sunflower next to a candle.
The flame flickered.
He froze. Was there a breeze coming through one of the wings backstage? He looked up: no. The wing curtains were not moving at all. He shook his head. Candle flames flicker, he told himself, stop fixating.
But when he reached for the flower again - he couldn’t even tell himself why he was reaching for it in the first place - the flame definitely danced as if someone was attempting to blow it out. He looked about him; there was nobody nearby. The few cleaning and event staff he could see were too far away.
Hesitantly, he moved his hand toward the flame. His hand passed right through it, just as it had done with the wall. He was perplexed. Somehow, the flame reacted to him in some small way. What did it mean?
He felt suffocated in this room, he had to get out of the hall. Once he got through the doors into the hallway he felt lighter, but he could still feel this heaviness in his chest.
He saw young Amajiki walking from the other end of the corridor. He was seldom on his own; All Might surmised that he must be heading to meet his two friends. The young man usually had his head down and his shoulders hunched, but today he seemed even more withdrawn into himself.
All Might instinctively wanted to give him a reassuring gentle pat on the shoulder, forgetting his current state.
As he got closer to him, he saw the hairs on Amajiki’s arm stand on end and the boy shivered slightly. He halted his approach and stepped back, and the goosebumps that had formed on the boy’s arm vanished soon after. He watched as he passed right by him and joined a waiting Hado and Togata, the latter putting his arm comfortingly around his friend.
The logical part of his brain deduced that he must still be a physical presence if he was having an effect on the candles and students.
Logical…
His head snapped up and his eyes widened. He knew just the man he needed to see.