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“The court rules in favor of the prosecution. Doctor Ogata’s license is henceforth suspended, and Shigaraki Quirk Therapy must pay a fine of one million yen. Court is adjourned.”
The sound of the judge’s gavel was grating to All For One’s ears, his patience already worn paper-thin by the entire situation playing out before him. As the owner and primary shareholder of a wide variety of businesses - not all of his funding could come from illegal avenues, as that was practically asking to be discovered - he was no stranger to the occasional lawsuit. An unhappy customer here, an exploited loophole in a contract there, the word lawsuit was featured so heavily in his daily routine, he was only taken off guard when he wasn’t being sued for something.
The only company exempt from this trend was his series of Quirk Therapy and Counseling centers, the backbone of both his legal and criminal empires, having existed since the dawn of quirks themselves, albeit with a few name and mission changes. He took special care to make sure these centers were completely clean to deter outsiders from looking into them too closely, not wanting anyone to discover the fact that the “long line of Shigaraki’s” who had run the place was, in fact, a single man, or that the “very experimental and dangerous quirk suppressants used in the early days” was that same man removing an unwanted quirk. Even as metahuman abilities became more widely accepted, there would always be someone unhappy with the abilities they were born with, and All For One’s undying hunger for quirks would gladly remedy those situations.
And somehow, despite the extreme emphasis he put on keeping this secret, swearing all of his doctors, specialists, and top-priority clients to silence with the help of a quirk, one of those completely and utterly incompetent fools had managed to screw up the entire operation.
See, the entirety of quirk-dealing depended on absolute secrecy and assurance that this was what the individual (or their guardians) wanted. Just taking the volatile fire-breathing quirk from a four-year-old would never go undetected - even Hisashi, with all his lack of expertise in the childcare department, knew that children tended to already tell their friends about their quirk by the time they were brought to his medical centers - and the parents needed to express a wish for things to be different before put in contact with All For One himself.
Very occasionally, one of the villain’s specialists would discover that a child’s quirk was far more than it seemed, and some of the doctors would often exacerbate the details of the little one’s quirk, effectively terrifying the parents enough to break down and wish for a miracle to change this cruel fate nature had bestowed upon them. Other specialists would take a different route, claiming that the child had an exceptionally weak quirk, one that would get them nowhere special in life (something that every parent the villain had met couldn’t stand the thought of), which would lead them to the same results as the first type. In both cases, it was imperative that everything be communicated swiftly and effectively, lest something go wrong.
One such doctor - the incompetent idiot wasting precious oxygen, sniveling as he was led away in handcuffs - had intended to take the latter route, telling a family that their daughter’s quirk was simply weak telekinesis and nothing special at all. However, the family had been relieved to hear this, grateful that their quirks had not combined to form something more dangerous, and did not show any interest in the fantasy of being able to have a different quirk. And yet, despite clearly having known they were not interested in swapping quirks, that absolute buffoon had included notes intended for All For One about the girl’s incredible gravitational pull quirk - so strong it could potentially alter the Earth’s orbit or even create black holes - in the file that was sent home with the family.
Now the villain was having to suffer through a thorough inspection of all branches of his Quirk Therapy centers, undergoing strict review in light of the medical malpractice (tampering with a patient’s medical files), violation of doctor-patient confidentiality (as seen in the notes that were clearly intended to be seen by a third party), and breach of contract that had been set up to ensure patients personal information was not shared beyond the facility. Add a police investigation into the mix, and it was all adding up to be the biggest headache All For One had experienced since he first started tracking down those blasted heroes keeping his brother’s quirk hostage.
(Thankfully, he had been able to play his role perfectly, convincing the (quite frankly, stupid) officers that he had no connection to or knowledge of a villain that could steal quirks, he was simply a businessman who wanted to improve the lives of those with less-than-ideal quirks. He had never had any faith in law enforcement’s abilities before, and it certainly wasn’t going to magically happen now.)
He had a team of highly revered lawyers, as any decent business owner would, that were supposed to be able to spin any case in their favor, boasting their percentage of cases won, confident that this simple mix-up was just a mistake, but All For One had been flabbergasted to witness the - for lack of a better term - absolute stomping they had received in court. Their argument could withstand almost any challenges or objections, but the lawyer for the family of the little girl was nothing short of marvelous, able to rebut any attempts his team made to claim it was a misunderstanding, clearly pointing out leaps of logic and misinterpretations of laws, making the tiniest slip-ups sound like the most egregious errors, all in a voice that was the perfect blend of pleasant and lethal.
The villain couldn’t even work up the nerve to be annoyed with this lawyer for making his own lawyers look like idiots (because it was clearly true), and he had already begun thinking up ways to convince this force of nature to be his new lawyer before the trial was even halfway over. So, despite his annoyance and already volatile temper, All For One found himself looking for his mysterious opponent, regretting the fact that he had spent the entirety of the trial hidden away in the furthest corner of the seating area while refusing to look at the stand (he knew if he had seen his ex-employee, he would’ve likely killed them on the spot, which wasn’t really a smart choice to make in a courtroom), the only details he had caught of his newest target being their green hair and smooth-sounding voice. He couldn’t see them from the seat he had chosen, but the moment the judge declared the trial to be over, he was on his feet in an instant to track down his future lawyer.
Using his full height to his advantage made it all too easy to locate that head full of green hair, pulled into a half-up half-down style, quickly organizing papers into folders and tucking them into their bag. All For One leaned to the side in an attempt to see the lawyer’s face, pushing past the strangely large crowd of people attending the trial to get closer, his heart beginning to race as he began to get a better angle, seeing what seemed to be a rather attractive profile behind the strands of green hair blocking his view.
“Thank you so much, Miss Midoriya!” The family the lawyer was representing approached her with tear-filled eyes, making the lawyer jump slightly at the sudden appearance of the family, “We really can’t thank you enough for doing this - you’re just as brilliant as my sister said you were!”
“Ah, you’re welcome! It was a pleasure to represent you all!” She replied, her voice almost as delightful as it had been when she was ripping into the idiot doctor, quickly shoving her last few folders into her bag before turning around.
Now, All For One was not one to get flustered, starstruck, or dazzled from just the sight of a person. Being alive for over 100 years, he had plenty of time to see humanity in all of its stages, never bothering to connect with anyone due to the temporary nature of their lifespans. He had seen plenty of objectively attractive people in his lifetime, completely unable to understand exactly what made them so alluring that they expected brainless peons to fall to their knees at the mere sight of them.
And yet, when the green-haired lawyer turned around, a bright smile on her face that made the corners of her eyes crinkle, hiding away the pools of green that shone like supernovas as she spoke with her client, the villain suddenly felt as though the floor had suddenly disappeared beneath his feet and the air was stolen from his lungs. The lawyer, vision in green, angel, an agent of the gods themselves, was unequivocally, undeniably, irresistibly beautiful. The villain was aware that he had stopped abruptly, and yet he couldn’t find the strength to move a muscle, too focused on gawking at the ethereal visage that was Miss Midoriya.
The cognitive function required to move came back to him all at once. Miss Midoriya had briefly glanced away from the grateful family, her gorgeous green eyes flicking over to the villain, widening in what he assumed was surprise as she scanned over his tall body, and suddenly All For One was whirling around, overwhelmed that someone like her had even acknowledged his existence, feeling like he was going to combust and implode all at once if she looked at him any longer. He practically ran out of the courthouse, hardly even paying attention to the people he bumped into on his path out, greedily inhaling the cool, fresh air the moment he stepped outside. Something about those emerald eyes on him made it feel like he was using his fire-breathing quirk, and yet no smoke slipped past his lips and no flames burned the hand he raised to cover his mouth. His face certainly felt like it was on fire, and his heart was racing even faster than it did when he casually committed arson.
For the first time in decades, he felt less like the villain All For One and more like the nearly-forgotten husk of Shigaraki Hisashi, all because one incredibly intelligent and unfairly beautiful person looked at him. The presence of Miss Midoriya was completely overwhelming, but the loudest voice in his head said that he needed to see her again - he just had to find a way to make that happen.
Yoichi had always made fun of his brother’s social skills, saying that he should really learn how to connect with people, even going so far as to suggest dating games to figure out interpersonal communication. Back then, Hisashi had assumed his brother was trying to get a rise out of him - he clearly had some natural charm and charisma if he was able to amass so many followers - but now, All For One almost wished he had taken his younger brother’s advice, if only so he could know how to approach the woman of his dreams without frightening her like he tended to do when recruiting minions.
After that fateful day at the courthouse, All For One spent every minute of free time he had searching for information on Midoriya Inko (he had stumbled upon her name after finding court transcripts of a case she presented - and no, he most certainly did not spend an entire day reading over the documents while swooning over the way she ripped her opponents to shreds), learning that she was not even specialized in healthcare law and had only taken on his case as a favor from one of her coworkers, something that made the way she demolished his lawyers even more impressive. His less-than-legal background checks had shown that she had no connections to any major criminals, barely even a pickpocketer or high school vandal in her life, certainly nothing to indicate she would be willing to converse with an international threat like himself. This begged the question: how was a villain like him supposed to approach someone so disconnected from his world?
All For One thought long and hard about this while nursing a bottle of wine from his favorite French winery (the Aoyama family was truly exceptional at their craft), working through three whole bottles before the solution came to him in the middle of the night, a solution so ingenious only he could come up with it. If he wanted to see the lawyer that had bewitched his mind and soul, he was simply going to ensure his businesses were sued again.
Which was honestly surprisingly easy to do - after all, he was using almost all of his companies to hide some sort of illegal activity - so it was a simple ordeal to anonymously contact the proper channels to get lawsuits going. Midoriya Inko apparently specialized in business law, which was absolutely perfect for his plan to win over her mind and heart; luck must have been on All For One’s side because soon enough, he was receiving plenty of notices that certain individuals in his employ were being summoned to court under a plethora of lawsuits. Forgery, breach of contract, intellectual property, copyright infringement, anything was on the table if it meant All For One would get the chance to see Miss Midoriya again.
And goodness gracious, when he discovered that she was arguing in three of his cases, the villain felt like he was soaring through the clouds. He himself did not get summoned to appear in court (the corruption discovered was on the lower levels of management, as anything too close to the top might accidentally reveal his own dark past), but once the first court date rolled around, he was practically as giddy as a kid in a candy store, moving quickly to strategically pick out the best seat to get the best angle to watch her in her element.
The way she tore into his employee sent a shiver down All For One’s spine, not holding anything back as she exposed their corrupt actions; it was obvious halfway through the trial that the villain’s employee had lost the case, but he didn’t even care. The longer it went on, the more time he had to admire the lawyer’s skills and formulate his plan to approach her. He would make sure his hair was tidy (well, as tidy as his wild curls could be) and his suit looked fresh, wait just long enough so he didn’t come across as desperate, and plaster on his most confident smile before making his way over to her. He would introduce himself as a businessman in need of a truly exceptional lawyer, say he had heard about her skills through the corporate grapevine, and make sure to compliment her intelligence above all else even though he wanted to tell her that her beauty outshone the gods. Perhaps she would look at him the entire time with those mesmerizing eyes, maybe even smile at him if he was lucky, and blush a little at his compliments - the color would look wonderful next to the deep green of her eyes and hair, reminiscent of a flower, but far lovelier than any plant could ever be.
“Sir? Are you alright?” A voice not belonging to Midoriya Inko asked, bringing All For One out of his daydream, “The trial ended a few minutes ago, but you haven’t moved. Would you like me to call an ambulance?”
“I’m fine,” the villain grumbled, his eyes frantically darting around the room and closing in frustration when he saw no sign of green hair, “Just missed my coffee this morning.”
“Oh, I completely understand. My poor coworkers swear I turn into a villain when I don’t get my caffeine fix.”
“You have no idea how much I understand,” All For One groaned, cursing his own overactive mind for ruining his plans and taking deep breaths to keep himself from showing the stranger what a real villain was like. After all, there would be no wooing Midoriya Inko if he was in prison, and it wouldn’t be much longer until the second of the three trials.
As he entered the courthouse for the second trial (a violation of copyright and intellectual property - both of which were his own from a century ago), All For One strengthened his resolve, promising himself that he would definitely try to approach her this time. He remained focused and alert during the trial, resisting the urge to verbally cheer Miss Midoriya on when she effortlessly pointed out the flaws in her opponent’s arguments, not even attempting to calm his rapid heartbeat when she fixed an icy glare on the defendant’s lawyer when they attempted to object. He wanted to have debates with her, to brainstorm ideas for arguments with her, to have her glare at him like that - no, bad Hisashi! Focus!
He barely even had the chance to question when he had started referring to himself as Hisashi again when the loud smack of the gavel echoed through the room and the crowd was standing to their feet, idly discussing the trial and punishments to be dealt. He could feel panic rising within him at the thought that he might miss seeing the green-haired lawyer again, and that pushed him to take a few hesitant steps forward. Hardly even a few seconds later, though, he was rendered immobile at the sight of Miss Midoriya levitating a folder across the table and into her hand. He had never thought a telekinesis quirk could be so enticing, especially when he had no intentions of taking the quirk for himself, but he had never been more attracted to anything in his life. He wanted to see her quirk in action. He wanted to analyze it, to learn how it worked and what its limits were. He wanted her to use it on him, he-
He couldn’t breathe. Oxygen was refusing to enter his lungs - almost like the molecules were being tugged away with Midoriya’s quirk - because right when he gathered the courage to approach her for an introduction, her head turned slightly away from the person currently talking to her and her eyes drifted over to where Hisashi was standing, scanning him from the bottom up, something like recognition flickering in her eyes and making the most adorable squeaking noise when she realized he was already looking at her.
If he were a stronger man, he would’ve taken the opportunity and approached her right then and there, introducing himself and doing everything he could to sweep her off her feet. However, he was a weak, weak fool, and the combined power of her hypnotic gaze, the lovely redness dusting across her face, and the darling little squeak had him retreating instantly, his heart beating like a drumline as he felt the warmth of her stare burning into his back.
And yet, he couldn’t find it in him to be upset at failing to talk to her, not even when weeks went by and his underlings were in a tizzy trying to find the “rat” blowing the whistle on their surface-level illegal operations. How could he possibly be upset when the third trial came around mercifully quick, granting him yet another chance to admire the person of his dreams? Sure, he had still failed to gather the courage to talk to her, but this time, it almost seemed like she was looking for him this time. Even better, she smiled and waved at him - the actions both adorably charming but somehow incredibly alluring, and leaving Hisashi to squeal at home like a lovestruck teenager to his heart’s content.
The euphoria of his last interaction with Midoriya Inko had left him in such a good mood, he didn’t even slaughter assistant who came to him the next morning with unfortunate news: the investigation into the whistleblower in his companies had resulted in the discovery that one of the senior accountants (Yoshimoto, if memory served him correct) had been embezzling funds from the company for several months. He had nearly exploded in rage, his gut reaction saying that he should have the accountant “disappear” and end up in Doctor Garaki’s lab, but the fire within him was instantly quenched when the assistant said they had hired Miss Midoriya Inko to represent the company. This was finally it! The moment he had been waiting for ever since he had been caught in the snare of her inescapable charm! Granted, he hadn’t been the one to contact her and his presence wasn’t required at the trial (his only connection with this company in particular was his status as founder and primary shareholder), but he was still going to go! It was his funds being embezzled, after all.
And so the day of the final trial came, much like the previous ones he had attended, but this time, Midoriya Inko was on his side. She was stellar as always, clearly showing the correlation between Yoshimoto’s bank statements and the financial reports of the company, striking down the attempts to say the accountant’s sudden financial increase was due to personal investments, and flawlessly recounting testimonies given by other company employees. Hisashi was on the edge of his seat during the entire trial, and he thought his heart would stop beating entirely when Miss Midoriya began reading a statement that he had provided. Did she like the way he worded it? Had she possibly seen a photo of him while preparing for trial and recognized him? Did she think he was handsome?!
A loud shout from Yoshimoto snapped him out of the beginning of his spiral.
“I’LL KILL YOU,” the accountant shouted, looking like he was about to start foaming at the mouth while glaring daggers at Midoriya Inko, “YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT KIND OF CONNECTIONS I HAVE! YOU’LL BE DEAD BEFORE YOU KNOW IT!”
“ORDER!” The judge shouted, the sharp sound of his gavel cutting through the shocked murmuring of the crowd and All For One’s own urge to strangle Yoshimoto for daring to yell at the green-haired lawyer, “Mr. Yoshimoto, silence yourself at once, or you’ll be charged with contempt of court as well!”
The enraged accountant was held down by two guards, practically shaking while continuing to glare at Midoriya Inko - who had not even flinched and maintained her composure like a professional. All For One took a few deep breaths to calm his rage, making a mental note to hire someone to… punish …Yoshimoto for threatening her.
“Miss Midoriya, are you alright to continue the trial?” the judge asked once Yoshimoto’s shouts had ceased, instantly gaining favor in Hisashi’s mind for his kindness.
“Yes, Your Honor,” she replied without hesitation, the vindictive tone making Hisashi’s stomach flutter, and he almost sighed dreamily when she began right where she had been cut off.
The trial didn’t continue much longer - the evidence of Yashimoto’s crime was abundant and obvious, and that combined with the threats directed at Miss Midoriya had garnered quite the fine and prison sentence for himself, something that pleased Hisashi immensely. The moment the judge ended the court session, Hisashi was on his feet, fully intending to finally approach the marvelous Miss Midoriya, if only to thank her for representing the company and compliment her on her skills.
But, likely due to the disturbance Yoshimoto caused during the trial, the courtroom’s security was guiding everyone out, refusing to let them come closer to any of the attorneys despite Hisashi’s protests.
And so, feeling thoroughly defeated, Hisashi found himself trudging down a nearly-deserted staircase to get to where he had left his car. His despondent mood had led him to seek out somewhere away from people, and finding the empty stairwell with an exit on the same level as his car would be the perfect place to sulk in peace. For the longest time, the only sound was the echoing of his heavy footsteps and the inner turmoil in his own brain, the little voice in his head telling him that this was probably the last chance he had to try and introduce himself to Midoriya Inko, that he had just let the most beautiful person in the world slip through his fingers without even trying to stop it.
“You had better stop poking your nose in places where it doesn’t belong,” a voice a few levels up growled, “If you don’t stop, then someone will make sure you stop.”
Ah, yes. The classic “you’re getting a little too close to my illegal activity, so I’ll corner you and threaten you”. Personally, Hisashi wouldn’t have chosen the stairwell of a courthouse for fear of being caught on security cameras - usually seedy bars or abandoned buildings were better in terms of lackluster surveillance - but this matter wasn’t his to interfere with. He had a bottle of Aoyama wine and pre-quirk rom-coms to soothe his broken heart.
“Are you threatening me?”
Hisashi nearly tripped at the sound of Midoriya Inko’s voice. Her voice was full of disbelief, as though she couldn’t believe someone was trying to intimidate her, scoffing lightly as she questioned this person's motives.
“It’s not a threat, sweetheart, it’s a promise. Quit digging around and nothing bad will happen to you.”
He felt something white-hot and ugly flare up within him at the name the thug had called Midoriya, and before he could even think of what to do, he was activating a few stealth and speed quirks to dart back up the stairs. This wouldn’t be the ideal meeting he had dreamed of for weeks, but no one was ever going to threaten Midoriya Inko if he had anything to say about it. He was the Demon King of the Underground for a reason, and any idiot would know better than to threaten the one he wanted to make his Queen. His footsteps were silent as he raced up several flights of stairs, the deep voice’s threats getting more detailed as the seconds ticked by, and Hisashi had already concocted several plans to keep her safe (most of them involving dismemberment, but he wanted to keep the…unrefined aspects of his plan out of her sight) by the time he finally saw two pairs of feet on the landing above him.
He rounded the corner quickly, fully ready to jump in between them to get the goon away from Inko, but found himself frozen at the bottom of the stairs, staring up as Inko grabbed the man’s tie, yanking him down to her eye level and fixing a truly icy scowl upon him.
“Let me be perfectly clear,” she said, her voice stern and frigid, “You can attempt to threaten me all you want, but the likes of you are nothing more than future cases for me - and, by extension, only making me richer. You might know 10 ways to end my life, but I know 100 ways to ruin yours and your bloodline’s lives for the next five decades. You purposefully chose to corner me in a stairwell that is lacking security cameras - don’t think I didn’t notice, that’s a health and safety violation that I’ll be passing on to one of my coworkers - to intimidate me, but you’re the one that should be scared.”
“But-”
“ Interrupt me one more time and I’ll slice you into deli meat and serve you to the stray cats. One good tug of my quirk and your spine will be dislocated, an injury that is all too easy to explain as a result of falling down seven flights of stairs. And if you think you’ll be able to pin it on me, you’re mistaken. No one will ever think sweet, innocent Miss Midoriya of being able to cause that much physical harm. So, are we clear? Do you understand what I’m saying, or do you need a physical demonstration?”
The man whimpered out a meek, “No,” looking like he was near tears - a reaction that Hisashi mirrored almost perfectly for entirely different reasons.
“Now, be a good boy and run along, understand?”
Hisashi just knew his face was completely red from what he had just witnessed, feeling a fire in his stomach from that deadly display Inko had just shown, a fire that only grew when the man attempted to scamper out the nearby door, only to trip when Inko used her quirk on his shoes and have the door slam shut on his sorry kneeling form.
“Absolute animals, I swear,” Inko huffed, smoothing out her skirt and tugging on the strap of her bag. She turned around with a sharp exhale, placing one foot on the stairs heading down when she opened her eyes and froze at the sight of Hisashi openly gaping at her, the man completely unable to speak from both the breathtaking display and having those green eyes fixed on him.
The two of them stared at each other for a few tense beats of silence, Hisashi opening his mouth to say something (stupid, most likely) when Inko hurriedly said, “No one will ever believe you.”
“Marry me!” he blurted out, slapping a hand over his mouth when he realized what he had said, unable to look away from Inko’s shocked face no matter how much he wanted to, the desire to run to some remote location and lay down until the earth absorbed him growing stronger with each passing second.
And then, by some act of mercy from the universe, Inko smiled at him and began descending down the stairs, stopping just a few paces in front of him, the added elevation of the steps making her almost the same height as him. Hisashi valiantly fought the urge to spontaneously combust when she leaned forward, gazing at him in a way that did things to him, almost failing to not expire on the spot when she reached forward and adjusted the collar of his shirt.
“I think that normally one’s future husband will introduce themself before the proposal happens,” she said, a teasing lilt to her voice that made Hisashi’s knees tremble, “But I think I can make an exception for you, Mr. Shigaraki.”
“You know my name?” Hisashi practically squeaked, not even having the strength of mind to be embarrassed by the way his voice cracked, his face burning such a bright red he was half-convinced his hair had turned red as well.
“Well, of course I do,” Inko replied with a twinkle in her eye that Hisashi knew would be his downfall, “I just had to know who that handsome stranger who tried talking to me after all of these trials was - you’re very interesting and pleasing to look at, Mr. Shigaraki, and I would like it very much if you worked up the courage to ask me on a date.”
“A d-date! Right!” Hisashi stammered, completely unable to form a coherent thought while the woman of his dreams was looking at him so intensely, especially not when Inko giggled and pulled her hand back to her side.
“Yes, a date, something that people tend to have at least one of before proposing. Who knows, if it goes well, I just might say yes to your proposal.”
“The c-café!” He practically shouted as his brain finally rebooted, “The French café on Dagobah beach! This S-Saturday for brunch!”
Inko looked quite pleased as she nodded, pulling out a slip of paper and writing something on it.
“It’s a date,” she said, reaching forward and leaning so close their noses nearly touched while slipping the note into the front pocket of his blazer, pulling back right when Hisashi thought he was going to collapse from the proximity, “I’ll see you Saturday, Mr. Shigaraki.”
Hisashi stared forward, unmoving as Inko stepped around him, walking down a few flights of stairs before he heard the door open. With shaky hands he reached for the note she had given him, trembling like a leaf as he struggled to open it, nearly dropping it in shock when he realized it was her phone number.
This time, Hisashi didn’t make any effort to hide the unholy screeching noise that came out of his mouth, bouncing around in pure elation while holding the paper close to his chest, not even caring that anyone could potentially walk in and see him behaving this way. It had taken a while and there were plenty of bumps along the way, but Hisashi had finally managed to talk to the green-haired, green-eyed angel of the courtroom. This was absolutely something worth celebrating.