It was late. After eating with Nejire and Ryukyu we all went out in patrol once more. Ryukyu remained mostly quiet as we worked, she was recognized quite a lot and I got a few glances as well, thankfully they didn't interrupt our patrol for one reason or another.
Then when it was all said and done. I bid my adieu to Ryukyu, thanked her for the internship and came back to U.A. alone, Nejire said she had some things to do. It was already pretty late, so even though I didn't need sleep, I missed my bed and decided to rest. It was an activity I enjoyed. However said activity was interrupted by ringing.
I looked down at my phone. Nezu's name appearing on screen. He was calling me. I picked it up, turning on speaker mode and placing the phone on my desk.
"Hello lad," Nezu's squeaky voice fills my room. I smiled. It was nice.
"Hello Nezu," I replied in kind. "Why are you calling me? If you wanted to spend some time together you know you can always come to my room, though do bring your own tea, because you know I have none here."
"No, lad, while I do enjoy our little chats this is something else. You see, I was wondering if you could heal someone."
I immediately tensed, scrambling to get my phone. "Who? Eh it doesn't matter? You're in your office right? I'll be right there!"
Narration POV
In Nezu's office, two hearts beat. The door slammed open and a third heart joined the fray.
"Eesh, sorry, got maybe a little too excited," Arthur said his voice ringing in the office as he closed the door as carefully as he could, as if compensating for his abrupt entry. Arthur turned around after hearing the soft click of the door behind him. His eyes laying on the two other beating hearts. One which Arthur could now hear was awfully weak.
Nezu was sitting in his chair sipping on his tea, while across from him, a living cadaver sat. There was no other way too describe the man, he was too thin, his eyes too sunken, and his heart so very weak, and yet Arthur couldn't tear his gaze away.
"Lad, I know this may come as a shock to you but-" Nezu began.
"All Might-sensei," Arthur interrupted, surging forward in an instant to All Might's side, grabbing his palm, simple skin over bone in his hand. "What happened to you? Why are you like this?"
All Might couldn't meet Arthur's eyes as he asked the questions he did, instead Nezu's voice rang once more.
"Arthur, I know you are worried, but please sit, he's fine," Nezu said looking towards All Might. "Well as fine as one in his position can be, but before that, we need to tell you a story. A long story."
Arthur nodded, seating beside All Might and never taking his eyes away from the man. The Symbol of Peace. Or at least what used to be said symbol. Arthur forced himself to look away from All Might and towards Nezu.
"What happened to him?"
"Just be quiet for a moment and let me recount. This man seating beside you is All Might. Otherwise known as Toshinori Yagi, and his story is one spanning decades, his story is not his alone, no his story, is the story of Japan, of the greatest threat ever faced. This is the story of One for All and All for One."
All Might or rather Toshinori's voice spoke out next, and without it came a story so grand, Arthur couldn't quite believe it, he almost tuned it out, All for One, stealing quirks, One for All users, each passing it on before dying to said All for One and as it came to a close, the tuning out stopped.
"It's been almost a decade now. The last time One for All and All for One ever met, the time I was able to bring justice to all who had perished by All for One's hand. I however," Toshinori trailed off, as he lifted his shirt, to reveal his entire side crushed.
Still Arthur couldn't quite concentrate. His eyes landing on Nezu.
"You didn't want me to be his protege, you wanted me to be his successor. And Nighteye wanted Mirio to be it. But neither of us were, Midoriya is. That's why his body breaks down, I thought he was like mom. That his quirk was too much for his own body to handle, but it wasn't, because it's not his quirk," Arthur muttered, as his gaze turned from Nezu to Toshinori's injury, neither of the two voiced the fact, that Arthur somehow knew who All Might's protege was going to be. "Is All for One dead?"
"We believe so," Nezu replied.
"Then why pass on One for All."
At that both remained quiet. Arthur shook his head, his thoughts a jumbled mess, he couldn't quite figure it, so he simply decided to throw them to the wayside, concentrating first on what he was called here to do. He grabbed Excalibur by her hilt, still sheathed inside Avalon.
"Place your hand on top of Avalon," Arthur said. Toshinori did as he was told, placing skin and bones on Avalon, and as his enhanced eyes landed on the hand, Arthur now realized, All Might was just a man.
Again he shook his head to throw out all thoughts. His heart thrummed in his chest, mana surging forward into Avalon once more. There was no grand light, just the simple movement of energy from body, to scabbard, to body.
All Might felt it. Then he breathed in. It wasn't painful. For the first time in years. The organs that had been ruptured years ago, knit themselves together, mass appearing from seemingly nowhere to replace the old and destroyed, with the healthy and the new.
The spleen came first, his left kidney came second, his stomach came third. The missing parts of his liver, his small and large intestine, the collapsed lung, the completely destroyed missing half of his diaphragm.
Slowly. Minute after minute. Hour after hour.
No one in the room seemed to notice the time pass, to enthralled, enraptured, enamored, in the healing. Visual or not. And finally it was over. And when it was over, all that was left was ragged breathing.
Arthur's ragged breathing. Sweat falling from his brow and onto the floor below. His heart, beating fast. Faster than he had felt in a long time. So fast he felt like it was about to give out. And with it came something else he hadn't felt in a long time.
He was tired. Avalon should have prevented it, but it didn't. Arthur fell to his knees. Nezu jumped from his seat, coming out of his stupor and scurrying towards Arthur, placing his hand on the teenager's back as it shivered, in cold sweat.
Nezu said nothing though. So still only tired, ragged gasps echoed in the room. Finally after what felt like a lifetime but couldn't have been more than a minute. Arthur's breathing returned to normal, he stopped sweating and rose to his full height.
"You're healed," Arthur said in a half-smile towards Toshinori. Even Arthur himself didn't know why his smile wouldn't reach his eyes in that moment, but as Toshinori rose from his own seat, Arthur had to look up to meet his gaze.
Gone was the man at death's door that had been standing there a mere three hours ago. In it's place stood what everyone else saw, a man, huge in stature and build, clothes straining to contain him.
The Symbol of Peace.
But Arthur couldn't see that, no, not anymore. All he saw in front of him was a good man. The Symbol was dead. Arthur knew that more than anyone in that moment. More than even Toshinori himself.
"Thank you, young Arthur, you have no idea what this means to me."
Arthur didn't say anything. Instead Nezu was the one who spoke up.
"And One for All?"
"Still in it's final embers, I'm afraid, but I think I can sustain this form indefinitely for now, as long as I don't push myself too much."
Toshinori took Arthur's hand in his own giant grip. "Thank you, truly young Arthur, I will never be able to repay you."
Still Arthur remained quiet, though he didn't know why. All Might looked to Nezu, wondering what to do.
"You can go," Nezu said with a wave of his hand. All Might nodded, thanking Arthur once more, before walking out, ducking his head beneath the door's frame. Nezu himself however placed his hand on Arthur's leg.
"Arthur are you okay?" Nezu asked. "It may have been too much to ask of you. I probably should have given you a few days to digest all the news before you healed him, maybe until the end of the internship. Sorry, I got too excited of the possibility of healing Toshinori."
"It's fine, Nezu," Arthur finally said, a small smile forming on his face.
"How did you know that Midoriya was his successor?" Nezu asked, trying to keep Arthur talking, so he wouldn't have to think about all that had been said.
"I figured it out at the beginning of the year, saw him spying on Midoriya when we were doing the quirk tests. It was just a guess for the most part."
"Hmm, you're a smart kid-"
"I'm sorry," Arthur interrupted. "It's just, not all of it has settled down up there." He added pointing to his head. Arthur wasn't just talking about All Might and AFO, no. Rather he also couldn't wrap his head around the tiredness he felt after healing, the exhaustion that Avalon should have prevented.
The feeling of his mana for the first time... running out. In a way that terrified him.
He knew the truth. The greatest pillar had fallen long ago, and in the same day he had healed that pillar he had come face to face with his own shortcomings, one of the two times since his school year began.
USJ had been first.
A shortcoming in will, in doing what had to be done.
This was different, this shortcoming had been that of his own body. His mana had replenished fully by now, but still...
"Is there anything I can do?" Nezu's voice rang out.
"I don't think so." Arthur was about to turn to leave. He really believed he just needed some time. That going tomorrow on patrol would stabilize him once more. Nezu stopped him before he could.
"Arthur, lad," Nezu said gripping Arthur's shirt. "I... I... I... I want you to know I care about you. In a way I don't care about for anyone else. I say all my students are like children to me, that is a simile, one which works to express what I feel even though it isn't entirely accurate. But Arthur, you really are like family to me. Above all else I want you to know that. And a little below that I want you to know, it's my first time living too, I make mistakes too many to count, today it seems like this has been one of them, and for that I apologize, but talking to you in that hospital was probably the best decision I have ever made. Sleep well. I love you, Arthur."
A/N: All Might healed, but yeah the shock of information to Arthur is insane and then finding a limit to his mana is insane too, two insanities in something he expected would be a time where he felt like he would be doing good, something new and exciting, healing.
Also I know some of you may not like the fact that I gave dragon heart a mana limit, but he does have one, it's just super high and growing every day, but healing almost half a person's pulverized body is taxing to him.
And Nezu could only think of one way to get Arthur out of his stupor. To lay himself bare, and tell him what Arthur means to him. A son in a way. A friend. A protege. A kinship. It is hard to put into words what Nezu feels towards Arthur because of the circumstances of their relationship.
Arthur himself feels thing towards Nezu, that are hard to put into words. He admires him. Loves him (like family). Understands him. And even a slight, ever so small part of Arthur resents him. He made Arthur's life complicated in ways no one but Arthur would understand.
Also I think I won't put this story on patreon. It takes me way too long to fucking write these. Hell you're getting two chapters at once because I wrote them over the past five days for the patreon. This chapter in particular took me two almost three days to get right. I think I spent easily, 6 hours on this editing and re-editing, cutting out unnecessary lines, etc. In the summer I had the time, now I just don't. So I guess that's better for you all. Fic completely free of charge.
I do not know how some people push out four chapters a day. Or write daily chapters on multiple fics. I just don't get it lol. Either way sorry for the small rant, see yall sometime in the future, cause I really hope not to spend six hours on another chapter, ever.