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All for One had been feeling strange lately. He was worried he might have caught an illness.
For the past several weeks, since he’d started getting coffee with Midoriya, he’d been uncharacteristically concerned over whether his evil plans could somehow hurt her. (Caring whether or not someone was harmed by his plans was normal enough, but not him wanting them unharmed!)
At first he’d assumed that it was because he enjoyed their conversations and didn’t want that to go to waste, but that didn’t seem sufficient.
He also felt a bizarre desire to do nice things for her, like give her chocolates, play her music, steal priceless jewels, and mount the severed heads of her enemies on pikes.
He’d also been feeling this weird warmth in his chest whenever he thought of her (which was often) proving he was terribly sick!
All for One had gone to the Doctor, but alas he’d failed to find anything wrong. He’d even checked if a quirk was affecting All for One, especially a psychic quirk, but similarly that turned up nothing. Obviously, All for One would have to consult someone else.
But not someone in the underworld. The idea of another villain finding out about Midoriya felt… distasteful. Even mentioning her indirectly to the Doctor had been stretching it, and the Doctor’s devotion was outmatched only by Gigantomachia’s!
Perhaps someone he’d met in the alias he was using to interact with Midoriya, Ichiro (now Hisashi) Rokubungi? Hmmm…there was an older man with a camouflage quirk All for One had spoken to over lunch who’d seemed smart enough. Scheduling something at his accounting firm would be simple enough. Then he just had to ask for the man’s help!
Kaizo stared as Rokubungi outlined his problem. When Rokubungi came to him for help, he’d assumed it was something serious. Instead the problem was something incredibly simple:
The young man was an idiot!
Since he was too polite to say so (at the moment) Kaizo tried to think of another way to explain the problem. After failing to do that, he decided to mess with Rokubungi instead. “You’re having a heart attack. You’ll be dead within the hour. There is nothing anyone can do. My condolences,” he said.
“No, no, it’s not that,” said Rokubungi rubbing his chin. “I checked with my doctor and he couldn’t find anything wrong.”
Kaizo sighed. “You’re not sick.” he said. You idiot. “You’re in love.”
Rokubungi blinked several times before staring uncomprehending at Kaizo. “What?”
“You’ve fallen in love with this girl.”
“In love…” Rokubungi looked up mystified. “I never thought of that…”
“Yeah, big shock you dumb twenty-something,” Kaizo muttered.
“Hey!” said Rokubungi. “I’ll have you know that I am an accomplished-“
And here it comes.
During their last conversation Kaizo had picked up that Rokubungi was the type of young man who was desperate to prove how sophisticated and mature he was, mainly by dressing sharp, using long words, and making overly negative comments about society. While some of his comments were quite astute and his quirk analyses were downright brilliant, he tried way too hard to look smarter than everyone else.
After about a minute of tuning out his monologue Kaizo decided to cut it off. “Rokubungi.”
“Yes?”
“You look to be in your twenties. You’re ID says you were born under thirty years ago does it not?”
“It does,” said Rokubungi, looking annoyed at the interruption.
“You completely failed to notice that thinking of a pretty girl that you’ve been meeting with while having warm fuzzy feelings implies you’re attracted to her?”
…
What is your point?” said Rokubungi.
“You’re a dumb twenty something,” said Kaizo. “Now that you know that you can go be a smart twenty-something and go ask her out on an actual date!”
Rokubungi stared for several seconds before a wide smile came to his face. (Looked a little creepy to be honest) “Why Kaizo you’re absolutely right! Now what to do for a date?” He said pacing. “Should I take her to dine at the finest restaurant in Rome? Eat at the most expensive restaurant in Tokyo? Steal the crown jewels of England and present them to her in front of a burning-”
“Rokubungi?” said Kaizo.
Rokubungi stopped. He turned and stared at Kaizo. Kaizo wondered if it was because of the muttering or the outlandish nature of his ideas. “Did I say that out loud?”
“Yes,” said Kaizo. “Now even if you wanted to, do you have the means to do literally anyof those ridiculous schemes?”
“No?”
“In that case,” said Kaizo motioning him to finish the thought.
“Take her to a nice restaurant and maybe a movie afterward,” Rokubungi said nodding.
“Exactly,” said Kaizo. Kaizo knew firsthand how dumb smart people could get when it came to their crush, but still!
He’d say more, but it seemed his lunch break was at an end. “I’ve got to get back to work. Good luck. Oh and Rokubungi?”
“Yes?”
Kaizo smiled. “Relax and stay calm and you’ll do just fine.”
“Thank you,” said Rokubungi bowing. “I will remember this,” he said before leaving. A week later Kaizo received a nice fountain pen from Rokubungi and assumed that was the boy’s way of saying thank you. When he received a massive raise a month later, the white-haired young man didn’t even cross his mind.
Hisashi pressed Inko’s name in his contacts, listening as it rang.
“Hisashi?” Inko’s unmistakable voice said.
“Hello Inko,” he said with a smile. “How was your day?”
“Oh the usual. Doing paperwork and keeping Mitsuki from committing a felony. You?”
“It was a slow day for me. I had an nice talk with someone at an accounting firm. Aside from that, not much to say.” Nothing that wasn’t incriminating that is.
“That sounds interesting,” Inko said. “Did you want to have coffee again?”
On reflex Hisashi almost said “yes”. Instead he said, “Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to go to dinner instead?”
Hisashi held the phone, not even daring to breathe as he waited for her reply. He hadn’t worried this much about someone else’s opinion in over a century.
“That sounds nice.” Success!
“That’s excellent. Shall we also go to a movie afterwards at say, 9:30?” he said.
“That sounds wonderful Hisashi.”
“Good. This will make a fine first date!,” Hisashi said.
“Wait…first? I thought we were already dating?!” Inko said.
Hisashi frowned. “We were?”
“I thought all of our coffee dates were, you know, dates?!” she said sounding mortified. “Did you not know?!”
“Oh…well…um…of course! I just thought this would be the first date that was more than just coffee!” All for One said. “One that more closely resembles what is usually called a date, with dinner and a movie. That’s what I meant!”
“Oh whew,” said Inko. “I was worried I totally misread the situation…”
“Not to worry, you did not,” said Hisashi.
I was dating her even before asking her out! I’m even better than I thought!
“Good,” said Inko. “So what movie did you want to see?”
“What did you want to see?” He’d deliberately picked a time with several romantic comedies playing, assuming she’d want to see those. There was a well-regarded horror movie playing at that time too, but alas such sacrifices were necessary.
“Oh I’ll let you decide. I wouldn’t want to impose.” said Inko.
“No really it’s nothing. Whatever you want is fine,” he said.
“No please I insist!” she said.
“That’s really not necessary.”
“I would never-“
“Inko really-
“Please!”
“Death by Nightfall!” Hisashi put a hand over his mouth. Him naming the movie was rational. Inko was unwilling to, so he was alleviating her anxiety by doing it for her. But why oh why of all the movies playing at that time had he just named the horror movie?!
“That sounds…fine?” Inko said.
“Oh if you don’t want to-“
“I’D LOVE TO!” Inko said.
“…Ok,” said Hisashi. “I can meet you at your place at 6:00?”
“That sounds good,” said Inko. “Just make sure you don’t run into Mitsuki.”
“Oh believe me I won’t,” said Hisashi. Once the call ended he breathed a sigh of relief then celebrated in the way he always did after a great victory: with a maniacal cackle.
The next day they met and had a lovely dinner together. Hisashi was in a suit slightly above the caliber he normally met Inko with while Inko was in a green dress that went well with her eyes. They ate, talked, then went for a walk until the movie time came, at which point they went to a local theater.
Hisashi went to get concessions. When he turned back he saw Inko talking with another man with a friendly smile. While All for One trusted Inko, that didn’t absolve the other if he was trying to take away what was rightfully his.All for One walked over to investigate, thinking of some lovely ways to murder this man to bring a convincing smile back to his face.
“Hisashi!” said Inko. “This is one of my coworkers Hakobi! He’s bringing his son to see a movie with his friend!” She pointed to a pair of boys talking in front of a nearby movie poster. “Isn’t that wonderful?”
“Delightful,” said Hisashi shaking the slightly intimidated man’s hand. “I hope you enjoy this time with your boy.” Hisashi added. He may have just saved your life.
After that he and Inko sat down and readied for the movie to start. Maybe this was a good idea after all?
This was a terrible idea! Into hated horror movies! Why had she agreed to this?! Oh right, because she panicked and immediately took the path of least resistance! Maybe they could still leave? But Hisashi already payed and she didn’t want to waste his money! Besides, he looked so eager to watch as…as…as an innocent person was about to be killed! Look behind you!
Alas, the character was so engrossed in his phone that he failed to see the killer approaching in front of a large mirror in a brightly lit room. As the blood flew Inko threw herself at the nearest object for protection. Which just so happened to be Hisashi’s shoulder. He in turn put his arm around her. It felt nice. She wondered if this was why he’d chosen this movie...
Wow, I didn’t expect this! thought Hisashi, holding Inko. Obviously, I’m even smarter than I thought!