Chapter Text
All for One was a great gift-giver, actually.
It’s an enigma as to how he ended up this way, given that there was virtually no one around him worth learning from- Bosses gifting their employees the company merchandise, inept 20-somethings buying for their partners something they’d rather receive themselves, parents forgetting presents altogether past a certain age bracket- incompetence is what that is. But him? For him, it’s an art form.
Gift-giving is like tailoring a suit, and he loves himself a good suit. Everything from the color and pattern of the wrapping to the ribbon that ties it all together matters, neither can be chosen with even the slightest degree of negligence. Then of course the folds, the card, the present itself- both must be perfectly suited to the recipient’s needs.
Fujita, the owner of that old cafe he had once frequented, had wanted a wife. And Harada, the florist across the street, had wanted a husband. She also wanted to be rid of those metal spikes protruding from her spine that she claimed ruined all her dating prospects. He can’t claim to care much about the so-called beauty of romance, but who was he to just sit back and watch knowing full well what they needed? She got much better sleep after that, they made a lovely couple, and their great-grandson’s cappuccino blend is art all by itself.
Goto was sick of having nothing to defend himself and his shop with when thieves appeared, which was quite often back then, and he took care of that. Ichikawa loudly complained about every movie being ruined when he could see the emotions of every person walking out of the theater floating around them like a colorful aura, he took care of that, too. What can he say? He’s a giver.
Not everyone is indeed so appreciative of his gifts at times, an inevitable consequence of such selflessness, but he never holds their own nativité against them, not when it really was precisely what they had needed. A new quirk, a lack of one, a… changed one. Quirks, yet another art form.
And if it aligned with what he needed, too, then, well, who is he to start second-guessing himself now?
It’s a little different with Tomura, however.
He needs his quirk, he needs it exactly the way it is with no modifications made to it despite Ujiko’s frankly grating mumblings. He doesn’t need any more quirks, either, not right now at least. That’s for the future, far far away in a world where his successor has discipline, a battle sense, an iron fist and the instincts of a killer, perhaps a better relationship with Machia. Those are the things he needs, not any more quirks his body couldn’t handle anyway, and yet those are exactly the things he’s incapable of simply giving him.
No, instead he can gift ten hoodies of the same color from ten different generic clothing brands, another video game that he’d have needed to reserve the purchase of four months ago if he didn’t want to commit identity theft to get a copy, a 12-pack of some god awful energy drink, an XXV Titain Triple Duty Falcon-
“Kurogiri what is this?”
“What is what, sir?” Came his underling’s ready reply, sounding even more disembodied over the phone.
“I’m not this out of touch with the newest generation, if that’s what you’re thinking. He’s the one just saying words now, in no way is this a functioning sentence. I take it his studies aren’t going well.”
“Oh, the XXVTTDFMSSPS 4, it’s quite old in the series but I hear it’s popular with young adults these days, I’m sure Tomura will love this for his birthday.”
“For what reason?” All for One pressed, “Is it made with the leather of a quirked cow? Another limited piece of merchandise for some obscure underground hero? I made it clear I didn’t want Tomura hanging around those eyesore conventions anymore, let alone with your help.”
“Of course, sir, I put a stop to that. And I cannot recall the exact materials of the shoe but-” There was a brief on the other end, “-is it not… there?”
All for One exhaled, reaching into the dark space. He felt the protective glass clouded by fingerprints of children materialize before him, fiber by fiber. A little further and he made contact with the pedestals; acrylic and smooth, devoid of dust, devoid of any actual shoes.
“No, it’s not. Despite your reassurances just fifteen minutes ago that this store was in an apparent abundance of that brand.“
“Oh? Oh,” A cough sounded in his ear and some of the formality slipped from his bartender’s tone. Where had he picked that up, anyway? “Really? I know you’re, yeah- yes, but are you… sure?”
All for One remained still, reaching out into the darkness once again to grip his phone.
“I can see just fine, Kurogiri.”
A swallowed cough this time.
“Of course sir, my apologies. I will… I will look into those shoes right now and find another place where they’re still in stock.” Goodie, more scavenging. “Along with the materials and their potential association with any hero agencies. What I can tell you right now, though, is that they’re red, black-laced, quite“
“Bulky? White soles, high-tops, unnaturally large collar?” He cut off suddenly.
“Yes? Have you managed to find a pair?”
“I think I have!” The man exclaimed, wide smile evident in his voice even with all the traffic going on on his side, “Perhaps it’s better this way, I get to see it in use.”
“…Sir, I don’t-”
“Goodbye, Kurogiri.”
All for One slipped the damned thing back into the inner pocket of his suit, his focus directed on the scene across the busy road. Some boy was knelt down by the koi pond, a tiny little green thing, His arm was moving up and down, apparently poking and prodding at something. It threw him a little, the realization that children his age still find amusement in terrorizing small animals, he’d have thought they’d moved on to terrorizing each other by now. That is, if the child is the age he thinks he is, anyway. He’s wearing a junior high uniform next to what looks to be a junior high school, but he’s so… scrawny. The only people he’s aware of to be that skinny are elementary students, patients that have just awoken from year-long comas without any physical movement, and Tomura.
Reckon they’re the same shoe size?
All for One was on the other side of the street in an instant. His fedora had slipped off ever so slightly at the force of the jump and he moved to shift it until once again he could feel that shadow casting over where his eyes should’ve been, all done quietly enough to avoid alerting the boy in front of him.
It was easier to gouge the situation from here. He was right about the shoes, they’re definitely the same size as his successor’s. Maybe what made the design such a hot commodity was the weird shape of the toe box, but giving his two cents to the sneaker industry has never been something he wanted to do.
He was right about another thing, too, children do terrorize each other these days. Just that judging by the growing redness on his neck and the notebook currently floating face down in the pond, this boy is the one being terrorized. And judging by all his muttering, this Kacchan character is the terrorizer. A pity he’ll have to make his day worse.
The words Hero Analysis Notebook No. 13 scrawled across the blackboard of his mind in clumsy chicken scratch.
Less of a pity, then.
“Boy,” All for One started out of the blue, making the child stiffen and whip around. Symmetrical freckles and green eyes like that old cartoon deer his peers had once been so fond of. Shy. Weak. He liked the shy and weak ones these days, they were less likely to force eye contact. But he had to admit even he felt a little pang of something when he saw his face, and that almost- no, that never happened. Whoever messes with this one must have a real heart of gold. “What are you doing?”
The boy diverted his eyes, his wobbly smile making him come across as even more meek. Wonderful.
“Sorry, am I in your way? Sorry,” He scooted to his right, making room for All for One in the place he just occupied. He must think the man was here to feed these things. “I just dropped something in here, I’ll be gone soon.”
“Mm.”
He was lying, that was obvious even without the tingling that the old Tsukauchi woman’s quirk gave him. The one drawback is that it judged the truth from what the person believed, not pure facts. The villain could only tut at the way this boy still thought he’d be going home any time soon. His plan aside, he wouldn’t be going anywhere if he didn’t grow a spine and take his notebook before it gets nibbled to pieces.
“Sorry,” The boy whispered when he had to pull his hand back once again from these surprisingly bloodthirsty creatures that insisted on flopping around to make everything all the more difficult.
“Not a problem.”
“Really sorry.”
“Take your time.”
“Thank you.” Even his voice sounded wobbly now.
All for One stood in silence, letting the suppressed gasps and hisses as the koi fish snipped at the tips of the boy's fingers continue for a few more seconds before he sighed.
He stepped into the open space and felt for that darkness again, reaching towards the koi. They scattered. The boy’s shaky smile calmed into still water, fishing the notebook out and letting it drip into the pond. Over the concrete. Onto his shoes.
Now, he might’ve just knocked him out before, taken the shoes, and called for Kurogiri before the kid woke up, but that just won’t do anymore. He’s looked all over for this pair, he’s been dealing with biting comments about suits in April all day with nothing but the violent fantasies to subside him, this is the last item on that godforsaken list- and he’s dripping murky fish shit water on it.
He needs a little wake-up call about valuing your belongings while you still have them.
“Thanks for waiting, have a nice day!” The boy exclaimed as he made to leave, his voice slightly more grounded now but still carrying the weight of something. All for One can help relieve that weight.
“Of course, you too. But wait,” He called out, smothering his grin with faux purse-lipped concern when the other’s footsteps slowed to a halt.
Green eyes actually searched for contact this time in questioning and slightly narrowed when he was met with shadows. Interesting. Perhaps he’d misjudged. Yet another pity that it would do nothing to save him now.
“I didn’t know if you’d noticed but it appears the fish splashed you quite a bit when it was thrashing around down there.”
The eyes immediately shot back open and down to himself, allowing the villain to move forward a little more.
“Really?” The boy started feeling at his collar, patting around for any dampness, wincing when he touched his shoulder. Noted, he’ll make sure to make what happens next painless, at the very least. “Are you sure?”
Yes of course he’s sure.
“Quite. You still don’t see it?” He stepped in closer and the child let him. Much too nice for his age, he should try terrorizing someone. “Ah, I know, it didn’t get your clothes.”
“Then where-?”
“Here.”
All for One’s hand shot forward, five fingers now clasped in an iron grip on the boy's head. The book had said something about a hero analysis, hadn’t it? If that was some byproduct of this child’s quirk then maybe he really had lucked out today, this almost made up for all those snide fedora comments on the street.
Sure he wasn’t looking forward to the mumbling, but it seemed to be more of an outlet by choice than a side effect, and that he could live with. Anything he can’t live with, he’ll adjust. The man grinned again, the possibilities swimming in his mind, his body already subconsciously drawing a few quirks to mess around with as the boy’s quirk-
The boy’s quirk.
“Umm…”
The boy’s quirk, where is it? All for One reached again and felt nothing but the quirks he already had. All he got was emptiness, a chill, and actually a bit hot too in this fucking suit at the beginning of April. Not even a hint of that electricity that came with stealing any intelligence-based mental quirks, one of his favorites for sure. Was this kid depriving him of that? Was he fighting back ?
Impossible.
The villain joggled his hand around, left to right and back and forth, the kid’s head being taken along with every movement despite his pitiful attempts at stepping out from his hold.
“Is it your hair?” All for One thought out loud, still jostling him, “Is it so thick it’s not coming out?”
“The- The water?”
“Why isn’t this working?”
“I’m not really sure what you’re trying to do-!”
“What even is your quirk?”
The boy’s struggling stopped, and for a second he thought he’d finally got it, whatever it was. But then a sopping wet notebook slammed against his arm and he was brutally reminded of the fact that perhaps the child was having a worse day than he was.
The villain hissed and snapped his arm back, not so much hurt from that puny strike he was cautious of germs getting on his new jacket. By the time he faced the boy again he was already doing a psychotically inefficient sprint away from him; All for One didn’t make a move to follow, or even track.
He stayed like that for another moment, quietly dialing for Kurogiri again and going through his normal motions robotically while he waited for the portal to grow bigger.
An unknown quirk he can’t steal, he thought, on a teenage boy who analyzes heroes for fun.
Interesting, he decided. Amusing, in a way.
“Sir?” Kurogiri asked when he remained still, yellow eyes glowing among the purple void.
Utterly terrifying.