Chapter Text
Everything was a mess.
Izuku knew his life would never be the same once the secret of One For All was revealed to the public. Sooner or later, the media would track him down and find out that All For One was after him. Izuku was no longer living in peaceful times when One For All was still a secret he had to train on in secret no one knows behind his normal school life.
His normal life as a hero student was over.
Now, he is a target.
Izuku had been awake for a while now, only to find his room empty. He wasn’t supposed to move yet, not with almost his entire body wrapped in bandages, but he couldn't resist his curiosity about all the commotion outside the hospital. So he activated Float and flew over to the window.
Reporters crowded the hospital grounds, demanding answers from Endeavor. Some of them were even shouting questions like, "What is One For All?" and "What does it have to do with the legendary villain All For One?" The very thing All Might had hoped to avoid had happened.
Keep One For All a secret for your own good.
They... weren’t at that point anymore, were they?
Izuku wrestled with his thoughts. He was pretty sure All Might had probably told Endeavor, Hawks, and Best Jeanist everything right now. About the power that had been passed down from generation to generation. About the power that had been created to defeat All For One. And about how All Might had chosen his successor.
It would take the top three heroes some time to process all of that, especially Endeavor. The fact that the former Symbol of Peace had once been quirkless was probably a hard slap in the face for a man who had destroyed his own family in his ambition to reach the top
What were they going to do with him?
Izuku had a pretty good guess, and he was almost a hundred percent sure about it. They would keep him at U.A. and activate the barrier that had once been mentioned during the Sports Festival. For the time being, Izuku would be kept away from the media and the villains.
But staying at U.A. was a terrible idea.
Ragdoll's Quirk, Search, had been stolen by All For One. And Shigaraki automatically had his hands on it as well since he inherited All For One's power. Which meant Shigaraki could find Izuku's location no matter where he is. If Izuku ever went back to U.A., he wouldn't be the sole target.
The entire school would be put in danger.
A small commotion came from the hallway.
"How's my Problem Child doing? Why is he the only one who hasn't woken up yet while everyone else is already awake?"
Izuku froze just from hearing that voice.
"Eraserhead! You should still be resting! The doctor said you shouldn't be on your leg in this condition."
Present Mic blinked at the nurse. "That's why I suddenly became a walking stick."
Oh, no. That’s Aizawa and Yamada.
Hearing his teacher's voice still as sharp as ever, along with the way Aizawa called him 'Problem Child', made Izuku's tense shoulders to slowly relax. He sighed in relief.
Thank goodness. His teacher is okay.
Yet that relief only lasted a few seconds before Izuku's memories returned to the Jaku City Paranormal Liberation War. His chest suddenly felt tight, as though he was drowning and had forgotten how to breathe. He saw Aizawa cutting off his own leg. He saw Shigaraki managing to injure one of the teacher’s eyes.
His hands clenched into a tight fist. If only Izuku was stronger. If only he was faster...
Aizawa was already standing in front of the door. Izuku knew because he saw his silhouette. But for reasons he couldn’t quite grasp himself, he shot out Blackwhip from his tongue, holding the door shut before the teacher had a chance to open it.
"Why won't this open?"
Izuku lowered his head. No, he really didn't have the courage to look his teacher in the face. He knew that if the door opened and he saw Aizawa's condition up close, his heart would break. Guilt gnawed at him from the inside.
"Aizawa-kun? What are you doing here?"
Izuku lets out a long breath when he heard his savior's voice—All Might. If All Might is here, then he had probably already come to a decision with the top three heroes.
"I want to check on Midoriya."
All Might glanced at the door. "I'm sure young Midoriya is doing fine. He's a tough kid. He'll wake up soon. I'll let you know when he does. You should be the one going back to bed."
"All Might's right," Yamada added. "You nearly fell twice on the way here."
Izuku closed his eyes for a moment. Their conversation sounded just like the ordinary days at U.A., as if the war had never happened and they could still nag and tease each other like they used to.
All Might said a few words and Aizawa finally agreed to return to his room. Once their footsteps faded away, that they were truly gone, did the Blackwhip holding the door disappeared. Izuku sat on the edge of his bed.
All Might stepped inside, only to stare in disbelief at Izuku struggling to pull up his blanket with both hands wrapped in bandages. "Young Midoriya! I know you're awake, but you shouldn't be moving around so much!"
Izuku just looked at him, exhausted. "All Might... how are Kacchan and everyone else?"
The reprimand that had been on the tip of All Might's tongue disappeared immediately. His expression softened. Of course, after waking up in a such severe condition, the first thing this kid still thought about wouldn’t be himself.
"Young Bakugo and Young Todoroki are doing fine. Their injuries were serious, but not life-threatening. Aizawa-kun is okay too. But he'll be having trouble using his Quirk from now on."
"It's my fault..." Izuku muttered somberly. "If I'd pulled Shigaraki away from Aizawa-sensei faster, he wouldn't have been hurt. I... still can't save anyone. In the end, all I did was destroy my own body and fail to stop Shigaraki from escaping."
"That's not true." All Might looked at Izuku's bandaged body, he smiled faintly. "You fought well too. Thanks to Recovery Girl, most of the patients have recovered and been discharged. You're the only one still here."
"I spoke with all my predecessors."
Something was different about Izuku's voice. His usually gentle tone sounded slightly cold for a moment. All Might swallowed. "What... what did you talk about?"
"Everything, All Might. Everything. They said I'm the final successor, and that it's my duty to stop All For One. They also told me something else. Apparently, One For All can no longer be passed on."
The door opened again, interrupting their conversation. A doctor and Izuku’s mother walked in.
Inko immediately rushed over to her son and hugged him, careful not to put any pressure on his injuries. After a few seconds, she let go and checked Izuku from head to toe. Her eyes grew teary at the bandages covering almost of all Izuku’s small body.
"Oh, Izuku, my baby..."
The doctor removed the bandages from Izuku's body while reading through his medical history. "I'm sure you've already been told that if you suffered injuries like this again, you wouldn't be able to use your arms anymore. But fortunately, that's not the case this time. Before, you suffered damage from the inside, almost as if a firecracker had exploded inside your muscles. This time, the damage seems to have occurred on the outside instead. It might be an effect of your quirk preventing your body from completely breaking apart. Your internal structure seems to be protected from both the outside and inside. Even though the injuries were similar, your body has developed since then, so it's not the same as it was before."
Thinking about it now, when Izuku was beating Shigaraki midair, he used Blackwhip to wrap around his broken hand. He hadn't expected it to be enough to withstand the 100% impact.
"But that doesn't mean your old injuries can't get worse. Please be careful."
And with that, the doctor left the room.
Inko clenched her hands as turned to All Might. "Can you explain Izuku's quirk to me? Please don’t let there be more secrets."
All Might looked at Izuku, who nodded in agreement. He let out a long sigh and told her everything from the beginning. This was the second time he'd explained One For All and Izuku's role as his successor.
Inko tightened her grip around Izuku's hand as he kept his head lowered throughout All Might's explanation. "He has this power because he was Quirkless, and now those villains are after him because of it. What are you going to do from now on?"
"We're preparing to protect him at U.A.—"
"I'm not going back to U.A.," Izuku interrupted. "If Shigaraki manages to complete his body, things will get even worse. I have to stop him before that happens."
Why did bad premonition always cmoe true? To be honest, All Might had a feeling Izuku would distance himself the moment he heard that Shigaraki was after One For All. That boy was the type to never drag those around him into danger.
"How are you going to deal with him?" Inko's eyes filled with tears. "I'm happy to see you grow into such an amazing hero. But hearing all of this... it's too much, Izuku. My heart can't take it. You're lying here because you couldn't defeat those villains. Don't throw your life away. I'm sorry, Izuku, but I don't want to put my son in danger."
"I'll get stronger, Mom."
"I don't agree if that's your only plan!"
Izuku squeezed Inko's hand back, and he smiled. "I'm happy when I'm with you, Mom. Laughing with you is when I'm the happiest. But I have to go save everyone. I promise I'll come back to you soon. I'll do my best, Mom."
"I beg you, my dear... please don't get hurt again..."
All Might watched the mother and son hug, biting his lip. "You're going to leave even if I forbid you, aren't you? Then I'll go with you. I won't let you go alone. I promised your mother I'd protect you and guide you."
"Thank you, All Might."
"So he's leaving U.A.? No, that's actually an advantage for us. He's the only one who can locate the League of Villains. If we restrict his movements, we would never find All For One. We'll make Deku the center of our operation."
Best Jeanist hung up the phone.
Endeavor sighed. Was this really right? Putting the burden on a child because the adults had failed? It was basically the same as relying on Shoto to atone for his sins.
Speak of the devil, Shoto just sent him a message.
— Contact me when Midoriya wakes up.
Endeavor grimaced. He cared more about his friend than his own father? It was kind of annoying, but he had no right to be jealous. Izuku was his son's first friend, after all. That kid had also played a part in changing Shoto.
Meanwhile, after contacting the others, All Might returned to Izuku's room to tell him the details. He was startled by the sound of a pen scratching against paper. He carefully opened the door and peeked inside. Izuku was writing something, scratching his head every now and then.
"Young Midoriya, what are you doing?"
"Ah, All Might... I'm writing letters for Class 1-A. I can't leave without saying goodbye."
All Might looked at the pile of crumpled-up paper in the trash can. Apparently, Izuku had been at it for a while and was already stuck on his seventh letter.
"Why don't you just print them?"
"I want to write something sincere. But I don't know what to say to Hagakure-san and Koda-kun. Out of everyone in Class 1-A, I hardly ever talk to them. Yaoyorozu-san would be really good at this. She always knows what to say and how to say it."
All Might smiled and pulled a chair over beside Izuku.
"I'll help you."