Aiko Midoriya's unexpected appearance within One for All was the reason for the bustling activity among the dead heroes. It was shocking enough that even some of the heroes who withdrew themselves from the state of consciousness after All for One's death popped back up.
There were 27 dead heroes in One for All, but only a few most recent ones (so Nana and Lariat, with even En only popping in and out at random) and the indomitable Yoichi Shigaraki were actively around. The rest weren't there. They were - more or less - aware of what was happening, but they didn't interact. It was like a dream to them.
Well, they weren't there normally. The daughter of All for One just randomly popping up inside of One for All, with nobody knowing how she did it, was a bit of a game-changer. Yoichi spent a few days trying to calm everyone down (he was less a human being and more One for All's living control panel at this point, really) by pointing out that it wasn't an attempt on stealing One for All.
When things calmed down (and Nana managed to return to her routine of warming her heart by seeing just how incredibly happy Toshinori was with his new family) they still watched Aiko attentively.
Especially Yoichi. And it wasn't just his deep-seated desire to have his own family live in peace and without being tainted with evil, but something else. Asa's apparent cleptomania was kinda worrying (then again, he always returned things, and it could be something he inherited from his mother more than his father), but Aiko was…
Aiko was Aiko.
They were busy commenting on one more family dinner when Yoichi suddenly straightened himself up.
"Aiko, I'd like to talk with you." He says, taking the Lodge of Mockers (unofficial name, blame Lariat for it) on the couch off-guard.
"Errr, I don't think that it works like this." Nana replies. En (she is one day going to call him Best Jeanist Senior and see how he reacts) nods. Lariat still looks slightly traumatized by the stunt she pulled three weeks ago.
"It does." Aiko announces. Lariat squeals. The girl that is probably stalking him in his nightmares is just standing there, in front of their couch. Doing nothing, but intimidatingly. They can still see the other Aiko eating her food with her family, but it's clear that she is suddenly much more… absentminded. Probably due to her consciousness being within One for All. "What do you want to talk about?"
Nana is just slightly weirded out. Less by Aiko and more by how disgustingly happy the look on Yoichi's face suddenly was. C'mon, she might be your niece but she is also a scary demon child that has already traumatized at least two heroes for life, and one of them was technically dead when it happened!
"Well, I'm your uncle." Yoichi stands from the couch and approaches their collective nightmare made manifest. "I thought I'd like to get to know my niece better." He kneels in front of her, levelling himself with Aiko.
"Oh, ok." She looks surprised by this.
Then they both vanish. Yoichi took her to talk in private, using one of his totally-not-bullshit-reality-warping-powers that he could use within One for All due to, technically, being their landlord. He also probably sped the time inside wherever they were to make the meeting last for longer.
The meal outside ended, and close to twenty minutes passed before Yoichi and Aiko returned. Nana manages to not choke when she sees them.
Aiko is nibbling on some candies (the brand probably long extinct and from Yoichi's times) while piggybacking the First Holder. Yoichi, the two-centuries-old half-human-half-quirk-half-myth, is walking towards them with an expression of stupid happiness on his face. And she braided his hair.
Oh, and they are wearing matching T-Shirts. With an 'Awesome Quirk Club' emblazoned on the front.
Nana is worried. En is worried as well. Lariat mumbles something like 'we lost him', which is probably a good summary of what evidently happened.
"We had a talk." Yoichi announces while letting Aiko hop off him. "I know what her quirk is, and how she is doing all those things, but I made a pinky promise to not tell anyone. I've also conclusively determined that she isn't a threat to anyone who isn't a meanie to her family. Also, she is the most adorable and precious person I've ever met." She pulls his hand a bit. "Yes, Aiko, I know that Izuku is the most precious person in the world while Eri is the most adorable one. But I didn't get to meet them in person."
"Oh. Alright." Aiko says with a nod. "That makes sense." She looks at the image seen through Yagi's eyes. "I should go."
"Well, come whenever you want to spend some time with your uncle." Yoichi beams at the demon child. Then he runs his fingers through her hair and Nana almost hides behind their couch. Like Lariat already did. Aiko seems pleased by it.
"Alright, Uncle Yoichi! Bye-bye." Aiko announces with some actual facial expressions of something resembling happiness and then she disappears.
"Children are adorable." Yoichi announces to the thoroughly shocked audience. "And precious."
Nana starts to wonder if you can brainwash a ghost.
(***)
"Alright!" Yagi Toshinori announces. "I believe it is time for you to receive One for All"
Izuku Midoriya, despite his rather respectful degree of body control and being a gifted gymnast (Inko was teaching him whatever she could if only to make him avoid bullies easier), manages to trip over and lands his face on the pavement.
Yagi Toshinori decides that a trip to the grocery store wasn't a good moment to announce such a life-changing revelation. Even if it was just an announcement that they were going to do it soon (he isn't transferring One for All in front of a grocery store, for God's sake, he has some sense of decorum left).
Nana Shimura and Inko Midoriya wholeheartedly agree.
(***)
Gran Torino is tired, his joints and bones hurt (should bones hurt?), and his taiyaki is his only relief from the constant existential pain that is getting old.
Also, he apparently shrunk by another centimeter last year. Is this going to continue? Is he going to eventually shrink to negative height if he manages to survive for long enough? Is Yagi Toshinori ever going to stop being a source of comic relief for his old mentor?
Yes, no, no. Probably. Gran Torino isn't sure of any of those answers, maybe aside from the last one.
Gran Torino is about to head to his evening patrol when his phone starts ringing. The old hero sighs and decides to check who it is. Hopefully, someone is trying to sell him something, because he loves driving those people nuts.
Toshinori. It's Toshinori. For the first time in years, he gets a call from his old student. From the Symbol of Peace. Normally he only heard about his antics from their mutual acquaintances (and, sometimes, saw them on the TV). What happened?
He picks up, of course.
"Yagi, how wonderful to hear from you." Gran Torino says. "So, who died?"
"Err, no one?" He hears Yagi's voice and he knows, just knows that the man is sweating and shaking in his boots. His training wasn't even THAT hard. Yagi is just a drama queen.
"Then you are going to die for not contacting me for so long and now doing so just to talk about some frivolities!" Sorahiko Torino shouts into the phone and can hear someone dropping something heavy on the other side. Alright, the first hit is in, Gran Torino is looking for more.
"N…not frivolities, sensei!" Yagi quickly corrects himself, thinking that he found a way out of it. Oh, the foolishness.
"So you only contact me, your old sensei, about some important things, hmm?" Torino digs his fangs deeper. "I should have expected, you think that sending me birthday postcards and reminding me of my old age is enough? Who are you even to me now, to phone me like this?!"
"NO SENSEI I PROMISE THAT IT'S IMPORTANT AND SORRY FOR NOT INVITING YOU EARLIER!" Toshinori is probably standing on attention next to the phone, sweating profusely and shaking so fast that there are probably afterimages of it. Good. Gran Torino is temporarily satisfied.
"Alright." He says. "What is it about?"
"I… found myself a successor." All Might says and Gran Torino is taken aback. Sure, he expected that considering the wounds that All Might suffered, but to hear about him making the decision is… "I already transferred One for All to him. But he is having some small problems with controlling it."
"Define small problems?" Gran Torino replies with a question. 'Small problems' with One for All are an oxymoron. With a quirk that powerful all control problems are major.
"He is physically weaker than I was during the transfer." Yagi replies. "Using one hundred percent broke his arm. And both legs."
That was odd. Gran expected All Might to find one more musclebrain to transfer the quirk to. Like the kid that was following Sir Nighteye everywhere (although he had some brains to back the brawn, then again, so did All Might). Who the hell is the newest Holder of the One for All?
En wasn't a musclebrain. And while Nana met him only briefly (while he was dying, to be exact) before the transfer, Gran Torino investigated that Holder to the best of their ability. He found no signs of actual bone-shattering, even soon after En got One for All from Daigoro Banjo.
"It was always instinctive for me, but One for All seems to misbehave ever since I transferred it to him." Yagi continues. "His sister has a quirk that lets her... know things about other quirks. She claims that One for All changed during that transfer, but it told her that everything is in order and that it just achieved its 'final form'. But it refuses to elaborate on it. Apparently, it doesn't want to spoil the surprise."
Gran Torino has a lot of questions right now.
"But in the meantime, I need someone to teach Izuku how to use the minimal amount of power possible." Yagi continues, and Gran Torino finally learns the name of his new student slash torture victim. "And I, uhm…"
"And your approach to One for All was always about squeezing out more power, rather than less." Gran Torino finishes for Yagi. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. I'll do it." He can hear the sound of a relieved exhale from the other side of the phone. Time for the interrogation.
"Who is the next Holder?" Gran Torino asks. "I would have heard about a hero breaking almost all limbs during a battle. So, a hero student?" There is a strange sound coming over and he immediately detects weakness. Yagi is hiding something, and he just stumbled upon it.
"Not… exactly a hero student." Yagi replies. "He is going to apply to the UA's Heroics Course in a month."
Gran Torino takes a deep breath. Sure, Yagi's inheritance of the quirk happened at a similar age, but… it's still rather… odd. There are many experienced and tested heroes out there. Giving such a powerful quirk to a teenager isn't without dangers.
In Gran Torino's idea, every teenager is one hormonal swing away from villainy and you can't change his mind.
"What made you choose him?" Sorahiko asks. He is an outsider, not one of the Holders. He knows that. He isn't going to try to dictate whom Yagi should choose. But he is still emotionally invested in One for All's long-term wellbeing.
He doesn't want to imagine having to deal with a One for All carrying villain. Thus far it wasn't a problem due to All for One being after them, no one had the time or possibility to turn villain. But now? Who's left to oppose such a person if they went bad?
"I witnessed a villain attack, while already having reached my limit for the day." All Might replies. "A sludge villain was suffocating a teenager in the middle of the street, with several heroes including some of the Top 100 trying to pretty much stare him down. 'Incompatible quirks', my ass." All Might says and Gran Torino can't help but agree with his student. "That kid would have died if a quirkless fourteen-years old child didn't rush in, and didn't deal more damage to the villain by throwing his backpack at the weak spot that only he managed to identify, rather than all the heroes present at the scene."
Okay. That's certainly a positive review in Gran Torino's books. The kid can think quickly, analyze enemies for weaknesses (in a timeframe reasonable enough for it to be usable on the battlefield), and is already ready to risk his life for others. Yagi's choice might not have been as bad as he was afraid of.
"Only later I learned that the villain's victim was Izuku's chief bully in school." Yagi continues. "Although it apparently didn't matter to him, because by the time his brain caught up with what he was doing, he was already rushing in."
"Now that sounds familiar." Gran Torino replies. That's a bit similar scenario to the one that made him notice Yagi. And then, through Sorahiko as an intermediary, to Yagi meeting Nana. "Are you sure you didn't find your long lost child?" Gran Torino decides to return to teasing his old student.
He expects sudden sounds of Yagi being startled. Instead, he gets a few long seconds of silence.
"It's quite a… coincidence, but..." All Might finally says. "He is my long lost child. Though I found out after offering the quirk to him, when I met and instantly recognized his mother."
His taunt misfired. All Might doesn't sound intimidated at all. Is Gran Torino getting old?
"Misaki?" Gran Torino knows All Might enough to know that there was really only a single woman in his life (though Gran Torino knows her only from All Might's description since he was quite secretive about her). And the timetable fits if Yagi's words about the age of his successor are to be trusted. "You found her?!"
"I was just as surprised as you are, sensei." All Might says. "I almost coughed my lungs out when I entered Izuku's house and saw her! We… we got married a few months ago. But we kept the list of people aware of it to the absolute minimum, due to certain… err... circumstances."
Were the circumstances All Might being too afraid of his teacher? Did Sorahiko's regular Yagi teasing sessions finally backfire? If he teased him less intensively, would he get more opportunities to do that?
"Well, who would have expected that?" Gran Torino chuckles and prepares another teasing session. He isn't giving up. Being a hero is about not giving up, after all! "Does Misaki know that you were already taken? It was one-sided, yes, but Mischief already stole your heart."
He doesn't expect another few long seconds of silence. Which seems to be Yagi for 'omg should I tell him that'.
"I MIGHT have discovered that Misaki Kawamura was a false identity." All Might eventually says. "Of, errr… Mischief."
"Twenty years." Gran Torino says bitterly. "I had fun teasing you about your idol crush on a ten years younger supervillain jumping through the rooftops in a tight cat-themed bodysuit for twenty years. Now I suddenly discover that you MARRIED her and you have a kid. Let the old man have his fun, dammit!"
"S...sorry-sensei!" All Might quickly replies, and it's completely useless when it comes to helping Gran Torino's mood. Again. For the second time, he tries to tease or otherwise taunt Yagi, and somehow it doesn't work. This has never happened during their joint history.
"So, he also has a sister." Gran Torino decides to go for it again. He is going to get it done finally. "Also yours, or did someone else catch the elusive cat while you were away? Considering that it took All Might of all people to achieve it, I can't think of many people who could do it. Maybe save for All for One. Was it him?"
The last thing Gran Torino expected after this was another prolonged silence. One more 'omg should I tell him that' moment.
Sorahiko Torino pinches the bridge of his nose.
"Yagi, you didn't." He doesn't even sound accusative. He just states it. His brain fails to compute the implications of the silence.
"She left him over his problems with respecting the 'no villainy at home' rule. Apparently, he wanted to make one of their children into his heir." All Might replies. "Now they all want to become heroes when they grow up, probably due to Izuku's influence on them. Also, neither Asa nor Aiko inherited his quirk."
"So first All for One was a stepfather to your son, and now you are a stepfather to his son and daughter." Gran Torino sighs. Three times. Yagi resisted his taunts three times. He is going to get one in, no matter what. "Talk about revenge and twists of fate. Also, the family meetings have to be odd. How many supervillains show up to your Sunday dinner, hmm?"
Silence. Oh for fuck's sake.
"Typically either Mr. Compress, or Stain, or sometimes both." All Might states flatly. Something in his voice makes it obvious that he knows. He knows he is winning. For the first time in their long relationship, HE IS WINNING their talk. He is still too intimidated to just state this, but he is ENJOYING it. "They aren't that bad once you get to know them. The house and everywhere near it is a neutral zone, officially, so we are yet to start fighting or something."
"If your kid grew up with All for One and is so good at analyzing weaknesses, how come Nedzu didn't snatch him already, hmm?" One last attempt. It will work this time. He can tease him from this approach, threatening All Might with the rodent overlord. Just one good hit in and the rest will roll down properly, and…
Silence.
Gran Torino curses All Might and his entire ancestral line.
"Nedzu has a soft spot for fourteen year old kids that pen not one but two propositions for reforming the UA that get accepted by its rodent overlord." All Might says dryly. "But he went hysterical when he mentioned private lessons and I immediately handed him terms and conditions for those because Izuku expected him to suggest that."
Gran Torino lost. It wasn't even a fight. It was a one-sided massacre. Sorahiko Torino begins to consider retiring, because if he cannot tease All Might properly, then he is too old for this.
"One for All in some unspecified 'final form'." Gran Torino says finally. "Personal contacts with some of the decent supervillains. Private lessons with Nedzu. Toshinori, you have created a monster."
"Yes, and I'm unbelievably proud of him." All Might promptly replies. Gran Torino can practically taste the paternal pride in the air. "Also add the fact that Mischief taught him how to keep a low profile when needed and how to evade hits and generally be agile. And the fact that he has three younger siblings with Class-Six quirks."
Gran Torino groans.
"Alright, send me the address." He adds after a few seconds. "I'll teach your little monster some tricks. I'm also looking forward to meeting the thief that stole All Might's heart. And…" He makes a smile that's just a little sadistic. "Please don't tell Atsuhiro I'm coming."
"Ats… you know him?" All Might was, finally, taken aback. Just a bit.
"I was the closest thing his father had to a nemesis." Gran Torino chuckles. "I might have caught him a few times, but I always let him go. He was stealing from villains and criminals, even if some of them were also respected citizens. And he was fun to pursue because he was one of the few people up there that I could meaningfully chase. He was a challenge. I'm going to test if his son's as good of a sport as he was."
He starts laughing. It's sadistic laughter. All Might ends the call halfway through it.
(***)
"I… I'm kinda afraid." Izuku says, and Yagi Toshinori is taken aback by that just a bit. Sure, he is used to Izuku showing signs of fear: he is just a normal kid. Sometimes he is afraid of things. Just rarely.
What he didn't expect was to hear it right after he parked his car in a parking lot close to the UA. On the day of the exam. Especially from his son, who was enthusiastic the whole ride.
"Want to talk about it?" Yagi asks. They still have thirty minutes before the exam starts. Figuring out how to deal with Izuku getting cold feet sounds like a good usage of that time.
"Well, it's just…" Izuku takes a deep breath. "Sure, I got my quirk and I absolutely love it. But I can't exactly use it freely, because it requires a lot of concentration to get the power down to two percent, so… what if I fail the exam?"
Ah yes. Yagi managed to almost forget how fidgety and anxious Izuku sometimes goes. Not as bad as Asa does, but it's still rather bad. Occasionally.
He heard of what happened when Izuku met with Thunderbolt. He knows that his son can be downright scary when he needs to save someone. That his anxiety dies down when that happens because it has to. But for most of the time, Izuku has … issues.
Alright, Yagi. What would Nana do? Besides smiling. His smile in this form looks a bit creepy.
"Izuku." Yagi sighs. He can't exactly tell him about rescue points, but he knows his son enough to be pretty much certain that he would get in on those alone. If anything, he is kinda preparing himself for an emergency counselling session after Izuku forgets about the robots and just keeps saving other students for the duration of the exam and then freaks out that he didn't earn enough points. It's a very clear possibility. "Do you trust my instincts and experience as a hero?"
"Yes!" Izuku promptly replies. The fact that his long lost father was his idol certainly helped bridge the gap between them. Especially as Yagi and Inko told Izuku that his father simply didn't know about his existence earlier.
Izuku quickly realized that if Yagi Toshinori knew that he had a son, he would keep looking for him for all those years. His father loved him strongly enough.
"Then let me tell you that the only question I have right now is whether you'll get the top score on the exam, or not. Not whether you pass or not." Yagi announces and gives his son a thumbs-up gesture. "Go get 'em, Izuku."
"Yes, but…" Izuku feels odd trying to argue against his father (and his life-long idol) trying to tell him that he would do ok. "I'm still scared. Both of not passing and of… I mean, I don't have good experiences with schools, and…"
"Izuku, being afraid is normal." Yagi replies. "You remember my debut video? Do you think that I wasn't constantly afraid back then? Of being too slow to save someone? Of something exploding in my face? I'd survive that, but being wounded right there… how many people would die then, because the only hero on the scene would be incapacitated due to some dumb mistake?"
"But… you were smiling. Laughing, even." Izuku asks back, clearly surprised. If not shocked. Well, his idol just redefined the event that made him become his idol. It was understandable.
"Not because I was happy or because I wasn't afraid." Yagi replies. "It's because I had dozens of terrified people in front of me, and I had to calm them down. And nothing calms people down than seeing the hero that smiles and tells them that everything will be alright."
One thing that Endeavor could have finally figured out. Then again, All Might can scarcely even imagine Endeavor smiling. It's probably the type of smile that makes old ladies faint in terror.
"And about the school... " Yagi moves over to another subject. "... Aldera High School was an exemption to the rule. You are going to go to the school for people who can easily become a downfall or at least a major detriment to society. I assure you that even if they will find something lacking in you, the teachers will not tolerate it. Bullying in a hero school like the UA? No way." Yagi smiles at his son. "Besides, you are going to know Japan's most terrifying school principal in person soon. If anything, bullies should be afraid of you, not the other way around."
"But Aldera…" Izuku is, once again, trying to argue against his father. This will not stand.
"Izuku." Yagi says with as much confidence as he can summon without Inko backing him up. "Aldera High School is done for. I had a talk with Principal Nedzu about their methods of grooming heroes, and he was personally displeased with what sort of villain breeding abomination that school is. He decided to wait until the end of the school year, but I can assure you that this was the last semester in the history of this school. He gathered enough evidence to close the school and send half of the faculty to jail."
"W…what?" Izuku blinks a few times. "Are you serious?"
"Yes." All Might tried his best, but he failed to restrain himself. He runs his hand through the messy hair of his son while giving him one of his best smiles. "So now go and prove that they were wrong when they told you that you can't be a hero. Just like you proved me."
He considers this pep talk to be a success. Maybe even too much. Frankly, considering the look on Izuku's face, he feels kinda bad for the robots.