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There was a running joke around U.A. that Koji Koda could control Principal Nezu using his animal speech quirk. It was a joke no one dared say around Nezu himself. Since Koji seemed so timid, people didn’t bring him into it either.
It was true that Nezu and Koji were never seen together at U.A. Very few people knew, but it was also true that Koji had lived in Nezu’s house before the dorm system started and still visited him for dinner five days a week. If Shouto Todoroki had ever caught a glimpse of Koji sneaking out, then he would have gone insane with conspiracy theories. However, none of them would have been the slightest bit accurate. Koji could not control Nezu. They’d tested it years ago, just in case, because quirks could be copied or duplicated and Nezu needed to know. The two of them were close because Nezu had raised Koji. And they had a very, very important reason for keeping their connection a secret.
Nezu had crawled out of his cell on all fours, bleeding, bruised, and a ball of rage. Back then, he had not even possessed a name. Only hatred. He wanted to kill Dr. Garaki, the monster who had tortured him with eyes holding no malice, only curiosity. Almost as much, he hated All for One, the cold god who would watch his suffering with amusement. He vowed to one day rip them both into tiny red chunks with his claws. He hated all of humanity, those hateful creatures who had done nothing except bring him harm.
Although Nezu had disabled the alarm, he had only a limited window of time to escape. Leaving a little trail of blood, he crawled onward.
The laboratory was like a maze. Nezu had memorized a route to where he believed was the door outside. If he was wrong, then he would have no chance for revenge.
A metal vault door had been left cracked. Nezu did not have the time to investigate. But then he heard the chattering of his fellow rats.
None of the other lab rats who had been subjected to Dr. Garaki’s intelligence-increasing experiments had survived. Nezu did not know these rats. He owed them nothing. But his new intelligence had come with a correlating curiosity.
Nezu slipped through the door. The rats all looked up. They crouched around a glass coffin in the middle of the room, hooked up to various tubes and wires. A human baby slept inside. Nezu might have thought the infant dead, if not for the slight twitching of his tiny red hand.
Rats could not truly talk, lacking the intelligence to form sentences, but they had a few words. Together, they turned to Nezu and chorused, “Help! Help! Help!”
Nezu supposed these idiots were under the influence of a quirk, or else they wouldn’t care about a human pup. He inched closer. The room was full of monitors. However, the equipment did not appear medical. For some reason, All for One deliberately kept this baby in a suspended state, like a guarded treasure. All for One likely cared about this baby. No, “care” was not the right word for entombing a poor newborn pup. But All for One at least wanted the baby alive.
It would be easy for Nezu to smash the coffin and kill the infant. The death of this small thing would hurt his tormentor. It was only another hated human.
There were moments when everyone defined who they were as a person. Nezu broke open the coffin. He looked down at the infant’s face, eyes just starting to open. He could not do it.
Instead, Nezu picked up the infant and carried him away, the rats following after.
Koji Koda entered Nezu’s home, taking off his shoes. “Dad, you wanted to see me right after class?” He only called Nezu ‘Dad’ in private. It was important that no one else connect Koji to the principal. U.A. had a spy.
Nezu sat in the living room, reading a newspaper. He set it down. “All for One is still alive.”
Koji flinched.
Nezu walked over and touched his son’s face. “He doesn’t know your identity. He might not care enough to look for you. I’ve left a thousand false trails. Even if he came after you, you’re strong. You can protect yourself. I’m proud of how you’ve progressed in your hero training. I’ll protect you, and so will all your friends—human and animal.”
Koji swallowed. “Thanks, Dad. You’re right. All for One probably has forgotten about me.” Neither of them talked about it, but they both knew that if All for One had not forgotten, then Koji’s mutation would make him stand out. Perhaps it had been a mistake for Nezu to let Koji enroll in U.A. But he’d wanted it so badly.
For years, neither of them had known precisely what Koji had been to All for One. They both assumed he was probably a valued experiment. Then All Might had come back reporting All for One dead with blood on his hands. A DNA test revealed Koji Koda to be All for One’s biological son. Which did not entirely rule out an experiment, of course.
Koji had never met his father, but he understood enough about the villain to know he never wanted to.
OMAKE TIME!
Koji: A glass coffin? Really?
All for One: You can talk to animals, so I thought I’d let you be Snow White. I make a fabulous evil queen.
Tamaki: Welcome to the fairy tale club in this demented birthday series. I got Rapunzel. We all hate our dad.
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Author: There’s not much lower All for One can go in this series.
All for One: Next time I will keep my kid in a coma since birth because that’s the only way to completely prevent rebellion.
Author: I’ll go get a shovel.
Nezu: Thanks for setting the dad standard so low that even someone who hates humans can look good in comparison.
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Nezu: No matter how much I hate All for One, I can’t kill a baby out of revenge. I can’t believe I’m saying this about a human, but the kid is so pitiful I’ll even save him and protect him.
All for One: Actually I’d rather my possessions die than get stolen by someone else.
Nezu: How convenient. It turns out being a good person pays! Maybe I’ll become a hero.
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All for One: It could have been worse, at least Nezu didn’t steal my dozen Yoichi clones.
Yoichi: Your what now?
All for One: I made clones of you at different ages so I could enjoy whatever level of brothering I’m in the mood for. I keep you asleep when I don’t need you.
Nezu: Summon the U.A. staff, I need to build a new dorm and then launch a rescue mission.
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All for One: I see you decided to take revenge on me by raising my son to be the opposite of me.
Nezu: Actually I tried to teach Koji how to be a mastermind like me. It turns out his baseline personality is just too nice.
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Nezu: All the students will get a difficult and intensive final exam except Koji Koda. Yamada, I order you to let him pass and give him a cookie. No, I won’t be explaining why I favor the kid to a ridiculous degree.
Yamada: So the rumor that Koda can control the principal is basically confirmed?