Work Text:
What is the appeal of the unremarkable? He’s seen them time and again, yet it is rare for something so boldly unhelpful to catch his eye. Todoroki Haruo - a man who became a single father far too young and struggles to care for his only son while being a teacher. So ordinary, almost pitiable, not even with a quirk worth obtaining. Yet every time he tells himself he ought to move on and discard all information he’s discovered about him…he finds that he hesitates. All For One isn’t good at letting things go to waste, nor is he very good at letting go of things he’s already deemed his to own.
There are far more important things to be concerned about these days, and while he’s certainly not slacking by any means, he does find himself drawn to this new hobby whenever possible. It started as simple investigative work. One For All would return someday and he must be prepared to claim it when that day does arrive. The planning began the moment it had slipped from his grasp once more, so keeping up to date with the people around him, their patterns, their lives, and their quirks was all very important. Haruo was a man with a mundane routine, an uneventful life, and a rather sorry excuse for a flame quirk. If anything, his interest should lie in the child. A stressed and absent father makes for a wonderful young mind to take hold of for whatever it is he might need in the future…yet his interest always strays away.
He watches Haruo on his commute and from across stores. How he smiles brightly at anyone who speaks with him no matter how tired he appears to be, how he does his best to provide his son with security, how utterly selfless he can be. That kind of generosity is something All For One can never understand. He is kind as long as his interest and benefit holds, and such a mind has served him quite well in this life thus far. And perhaps the fact that this behaviour is not within his nature is why he finds himself fascinated. The idea that a human being can choose to be so kind even when it fails them or gains them nothing, he is drawn to the novelty of it. How so many heroes live and die for the people, will endure so much loss for the sake of the many, and how sometimes those traits manifest in those who have no desire to even be paid for it. How disgusting it all is. How interesting it all is. He’d like to see more.
However, All For One gains nothing himself. He can not use Haruo effectively without ample time, a man such as him would take work to be willing to give up certain things. He does not have any assets of note that would make that work worth his time. Oh, but how he’d like him to, how it feels like he does despite the reality. To have reason to gaze upon him at work and home, to justify his notes and research. He can’t afford to waste time yet he’s never once denied himself a desire or pleasure, so setting down a new toy such as this is near impossible. It would give him access to the child, he imagines, it would give him another family to adore and revere him, more people willing to give up their lives for his plans. Haruo could surely use the help…yet what is it he is willing to sacrifice for it? Certainly not his dignity, that seems to have left him long ago with how pathetic he can be. In the end, what sort of favour is it that he could ask of him? He would kneel to him under the correct display, surely, but his heart and loyalty would not be in it.
Perhaps, then, this is all entirely selfish. Pure entertainment for himself to pick apart the mind of a man until he grows disinterested. Until he’s forced to set it aside and focus on what really matters. Haruo is a citizen after all, in the world All For One wishes to rule, people like him either submit or die. …from what he sees of this man, he can’t imagine anything that would make him submit to such a thing. He has no spine, but he has a sense of justice inside. The thought brings a smile to him every time.
And surely he can indulge himself selfishly, can’t he? He is, after all, a selfish man and he certainly has time before everything can play out exactly as he plans. He can allow himself to stare, allow himself to consider a conversation and consider to grow closer. Consider to allow himself to help, to befriend and then use him. For information, as an expendable, it doesn’t matter since an asset is an asset. And with a personality like that…the things he could have him do with the right amount of trust and pushing.
Perhaps, however, the reason he stares and desires this interesting specimen the way he does is not for what it can do for him. He’d like to see the limits a mere citizen is willing to go, of course, but there may be something else in there. As fascinating as Haruo is, he’s encountered others just like him, better than him. Those courageous few that choose what they view as good and stick by it until their end. They hurt and bleed yet still smile when need be. The sleep deprived and stressed look in Haruo’s eyes and the way his grin dampens them, it makes him remember many things. Makes his need to cage him, study him, keep him, all the more powerful. A weakness that he can’t seem to shake no matter what ends up being the subject of his fascination.
Even as Hauro lays beaten and bloody in the aftermath, All For One still stares. To be willing to sacrifice one’s life for the sake of another’s is a feeling he’d never understand. An act so seemingly pointless to him, yet a trait oh so convenient for him in many ways. Where the thought to even do so comes from is completely alien to him, yet he feels compelled to learn more. Todoroki Hauro, so completely weak and pathetic, so ordinary and unremarkable in every way, would die for the chance to save another. Not for the glory of it or out of an obligation, but simply to do what is deemed as right. An annoying trait that is extremely exploitable. And here, right now, he looks more frail than he ever has. This is his chance, isn’t it? To have whatever it is he’s searching for from this man? His corpse, his DNA, his gratitude does he choose to save him. Having access to a family of fire quirks could be useful.
…he’ll allow himself a moment longer to decide. He may never get a chance at a sight like this again.