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It felt like forever since the last time Toshinori had visited Nana’s grave.
Between leaving for America and being busy taking down villains, he had barely had time to breathe. But now that the new Hero Rankings were out, the second ones since he had come back from America, now that he was sitting at the top, there was no valid excuse to avoid visiting her.
“I did it, master,” he says, to the empty space that is Nana Shimura’s grave. “I became a pillar. They’ve started calling me the Symbol of Peace and everything.”
Nana had always believed in him, even if she enjoyed poking fun at him from time to time. Gran Torino had always scoffed, when he mentioned becoming everyone’s pilar, but Nana had never once doubted him. Or, at least, she had never doubted his determination.
“I brought you flowers,” he said, leaving the bouquet on her grave. “They’re white lilies, I know you loved them.”
Nana had once mentioned, when she brought him along to visit her late husband’s grave, that they reminded her of him. It had made Toshinori sad, that day, but he understood now. The sight of these flowers now brought him peace and, yes, they made him sad, but they were also a beautiful reminder of who had once been a wonderful woman. Of his mother.
“I hope you’re with him, wherever you are,” he continued. He looked at the sky. It was a beautiful sunny day, it almost reminded him of the day he had met Nana. “I’m going to keep fighting. I’ll find the man who killed you and end his legacy of terror once and for all, so that one day I can pass on this power knowing that they won’t have to live with his shadow looming over them.”
He heard steps behind him, followed by a sigh. “Don’t beat yourself over it, kid,” said Gran Torino. “He’s been terrorizing the world for a long time now. You should focus on passing down your quirk and not dying at his hands.”
“But then, when will this cycle end?” he replied, turning to face the other man. “No, One For All exists to fight him. I will make sure he never hurts another One For All user or their family ever again.”
And, with those words like a promise, he walked away from his master’s grave, where the flowers were still sitting.
Many years later, it was Izuku Midoriya, the ninth user of One For All and newly-crowned number one hero, who stood at the foot of All Might’s grave.
“Hi, All Might. Or, well, Toshinor-san. You did always insist that I used your real name once I graduated,” he said. “I finally became number one, just as I promised I would.”
He looked at the grave, big and ostentatious, befitting the former number one hero. Everyone’s Symbol of Peace had been engraved on it. There were different trinkets and gifts left around by other people. It made Izuku happy, it meant people still remembered All Might and cared enough to leave things for him. But he always did wonder if All Might would’ve preferred a smaller, more significant grave.
“...I’m happy, I really am. I’ve worked really hard to get where I am today,” he continued. “But I also feel… empty. You were supposed to be here to see me make it to the top, and it just isn’t the same without you.”
Izuku wished he had told All Might a lot of things. He wished he had told him of how he had saved him when he became the first person who tell him he could be a hero, of how he had changed his life in ways he could have never imagined but, more than anything, he wished he could tell him he had become like a father to him. Bitterly, he thought that the grave was missing a beloved father engraving.
“I brought you flowers,” he said, leaving the bouquet of white lilies next to the other gifts and offerings fans had left. “Nana-san’s favourite, if I remember. I guess that’s what they were yours, too. And why they’re mine now.”
He couldn’t stop the tears going down his face. Over the years, he had managed to tame his crying habit a bit, but in the end, he was still a Midoriya and with his family name came the tears. “You’d be calling me a crybaby if you were here. But I just can’t stop thinking that I failed you. I told you I’d twist fate with you, but you still died.”
It was probably an unfair thought. All Might had lived well past Nighteye’s prediction, but had ended up succumbing to his growing health problems. Still, he couldn’t stop the thought from appearing from time to time.
“I wonder if you’re here, actually hearing everything I say like the other vestiges,” he mused out loud. “It helps, thinking that I might get to see you again. That you’re here with me at all times.”
He wiped his tears away and smiled. “I’ll keep saving people with a smile, and wait for the day we meet again.”
That was Izuku’s new promise to All Might.