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Daisuke Nakanishi came from a family of small-time crooks, but he considered himself superior to all of them, because he had something none of those fools had—a powerful quirk. Whenever he touched someone with his right hand and activated Imprint, they would become obsessed with the first person they saw, willing to do anything just to stay near and adore their target. As a high schooler, Daisuke had used his ability to make himself head of the school gang. His bullying victims willingly handed over their money. But high schoolers didn’t have very much money. Daisuke wanted to become a greater criminal, more evil and infamous than anyone else in his family. From the older members, he’d heard whispers of All for One, the Demon King of the Underworld. If Daisuke could control All for One, then he could control villains around Japan. Even national or global domination might be within his grasp.
Using his family connections, Daisuke arranged for a meeting with All for One by pretending to want to work for the villain. In reality, as he entered the skyscraper office building, he fantasized about how soon all this wealth and power would belong to him.
A line of tough-looking people stood outside All for One’s office. Daisuke had to wait an hour for his turn. This was no way to treat the future ruler of Japan! When All for One finally called, “Next,” Daisuke rushed in.
The Symbol of Terror looked sleek in a black suit with a mask covering his face. Holding out his hand, Daisuke said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.” It was a pleasure indeed! Soon the underworld would belong to him. Next, the entire world!
All for One grunted and did not shake the hand, destroying Daisuke’s plan. (Unfortunately, there had been no Plan B.) “What are your qualifications to work for me?”
“I’m the boss of my high school—”
“Come back when you’ve killed someone. Dismissed.”
No, it couldn’t end like this! Not so soon! Daisuke rushed forward and touched All for One’s hand.
All for One grabbed Daisuke’s wrist and twisted it until a bone shattered. He wailed from agony. But surely All for One had looked at him?
Confidently, Daisuke demanded, “Get me medical attention at once.”
“I’ll give a reward to whoever gets this fool out of my office fastest,” All for One said.
The horde outside rushed in and dragged Daisuke away. He wailed, “Impossible! You’re supposed to be obsessed with me now!”
But Daisuke Nakanishi never saw All for One again.
All for One wore a helmet for two reasons: to cover up his missing eyes since that buffoon All Might had maimed him, and so that he could scroll through news articles on the TV screen hidden inside his visor while he pretended to listen to insignificant people talk. All for One used a quirk to see, one that allowed him to transmit the images on the screen directly into his brain.
While the whinny idiot got dragged out of his office, All for One had been reading an article on promising young hero students, looking for good quirks to steal. He looked straight at a picture of Class 1-A.
All for One’s heart hammered. A rushing sound filled his ears. For the first time since he had lost his little brother, he felt like his life had meaning. This would be the start of a new beginning.
“Cancel all my meetings today,” All for One shouted at his secretary outside. Then he set about researching his new obsession. Within the hour, he had twenty profiles on his desk.
Yuga Aoyama always had heart palpitations when All for One texted him. At the start of the school year, he used to throw up with every message. However, by this point he’d steeled his stomach. Taking deep breaths, he checked his phone.
All for One’s message read: Good morning, my boy. I hope you slept well. I worry about you, I’m sure those nasty heroes can’t be feeding you properly. Let’s meet for dinner tonight at…
Without finishing reading, Yuga ran to the bathroom and threw up from terror.
The Bakusquad usually clustered around Katsuki’s desk, because he considered it beneath himself to visit them instead. Hanta Sero chattered, “I have amazing news! My parents both received new job offers at some fancy American-owned company.”
“You, too?” Denki Kaminari gasped. “My parents also got job offers. Was it Demon Inc.?”
“That’s the one.” Hanta snapped and pointed.
Eijiro Kirishima looked between them. “Whoa, that company must be recruiting very heavily. My entire extended family got job offers. They were extremely generous with the salary and starting bonus, too. Though my cousin pointed out that our whole family would be in financial trouble if we all worked for the same company and it went under. He thought it seemed very strange we all got offers at the same time, though he couldn’t come up with a reason to be suspicious. He’s always been a pessimist. According to my parents, this is a great opportunity.”
Mina Ashido twirled a lock of hair. “I think my mom might have gotten a job offer. She threw it in the trash. She feels strongly about keeping her freedom, she’s got her own small business making jewelry.”
Eijiro asked, “Baku-bro, how about you?”
Katsuki grunted.
“Is something wrong?” Mina poked Katsuki. “You’re wearing your grumpy face.”
“I do not have a grumpy face,” Katsuki snarled, looking even grumpier. “Hey, any of you idiots notice anything strange lately?”
“Can…you be more specific?” Denki asked.
Katsuki hunched his shoulders. “Strange like someone watching you.”
Wide-eyed, Eijiro said, “You must be jumpy from your kidnapping by the League of Villains. Especially since they never caught All for One afterward. We’re here for you, bro.”
“I’m not jumpy! I’m not a freaking kangaroo!” Katsuki leapt to his feet and stormed out of the room.
Hanta called after him, “I have felt a weird prickling on my back outside U.A., but I thought it was just my imagination.” It was too late. Katsuki had already departed under a storm cloud.
Ochaco Uraraka gasped into her phone. “Mom, Dad, that’s amazing news! I know you’ve worked hard for this big break.”
Proudly, her father said, “With our new business partner, we’ll be able to expand to open a new office. You don’t need to worry about making money for us any longer, sweetie. Of course we’ll be cheering on your career anyway, but I hope you feel less pressure.”
Her mother’s voice sounded a bit fainter, presumably further away from the phone speaker. “We owe it all to you.”
“You do?” Ochaco asked.
Her dad said, “Apparently our new partner first found out about our business because he saw you in the Sports Festival. It was mostly a coincidence that he was looking to invest in construction, but he happened to find our company under a search result for your name. He’d like for you to appear in advertisements for our new office.”
Ochaco bit her lip, fiddling with the charm on her phone. “I’ll have to ask U.A. for permission. They’ve gotten more careful since Uwabami exploited two students in advertisements and didn’t pay them.”
“You’ll definitely get paid,” her father said. “We’ll make sure of it.”
“It’s fine if you can’t,” her mother said. “The deal will go through regardless. Love you!”
Ochaco exchanged love-yous and farewells.
Dabi didn’t feel pleased when the boss-man called him in for a private meeting. All for One gave Dabi the willies. In addition, Dabi had a long-standing fear that All for One might one day call in the favor for saving his life as a child. (Even if he was technically still mostly dead.) All for One had a reputation for taking everything people had in exchange for his favors.
As he pushed open the office door, Dabi’s palms sweated. He consciously had to control his quirk.
From his position at the window, All for One turned around. “Tell me about your youngest brother.”
Dabi froze, even more nervous. Of course All for One knew about his real identity. The man had only picked him up as a child because of his connection with Endeavor. But why the sudden interest in Shouto? Dabi said, “I ran away from home when he was just a little tot. I don’t know what you want from me.”
Impatiently, All for One said, “I want baby pictures.”
Deeply confused, Dabi said, “I don’t have any. I’m not even sure if our family bothered with a baby album. Dad isn’t the sentimental type. Mom was having a years-long mental breakdown.”
All for One ground his teeth. “Cute stories, at least?”
Dabi stared. “You want a story about the time I tried to commit infanticide?”
Throwing up his hands, All for One said, “You don’t deserve a cute little brother.”
“You can have him, then,” Dabi snapped back.
All for One’s entire demeanor shifted, becoming relaxed. He laughed jovially. “Deal accepted! We’ll call it even for that favor you owed me.”
Dabi was shoved out of All for One’s office, confused and wondering why he felt like he’d made a mistake.
In middle school, Fumikage Tokoyami had belonged to the occult club. He still met up with his old friends once a month to discuss their latest theories.
Today, two of his former club members were locked in hot debate. One of them was a researcher into the legendary Boogeyman of the Underworld from the Dawn of the Age of Quirks (who no one else in the club thought existed.) The other was a hardcore conspiracy theorist who believed the HPSC had been covering up the existence of ghosts and aliens for decades. (Fumikage should introduce him to Shouto sometime.) The first friend had become convinced someone had been stalking all his old social media and might even have broken into his house to steal his old school photos. “It must be because I got too close to uncovering the truth about the Boogeyman!”
“Nonsense, if anyone is covering up a conspiracy then it must be the HPSC as usual,” the other friend countered.
Fumikage whispered to Dark Shadow: “The Boogeyman almost sounds like All for One. Yeah, I know, I don’t believe in immortality either. But false rumors could have gotten mixed together with truth. Eh, not worth telling anyone. We don’t know anything new or useful. Hmm? I agree, we should invite Todoroki next time, he’d love this group.”
Mashirao Ojiro, Koji Koda, Rikido Sato, and Mezo Shoji were in a café, drinking bubble tea and chatting, when the robber burst in. “Hand over your money and no one gets hurt—”
The four students immediately leapt in front of the frightened cashier.
The robber’s face paled as he saw the four boys. “I’m very sorry, I didn’t know you patronized this place. It won’t happened again.” Then he turned and ran away.
“That was odd,” Mashirao said. “Do you think it was a prank? Maybe someone was making a funny video.”
“At first the robbery seemed serious enough. We should call the police.” Rikido already had his phone out.
Mezo said, “Maybe the robber fled when he realized we were hero students.”
“But we’re not wearing out uniforms,” Koji pointed out. “None of us were particularly under the spotlight at the Sports Festival, either.”
The police, when they arrived, also had no good explanation. Nevertheless, they congratulated the boys on preventing a robbery without using their quirks.
Tenya Iida had turned to advice forums online ever since his brother’s injuries. U.A. offered counseling services, but Tenya didn’t feel like he could talk about some stuff with Hound Dog. Partly it was because he had to keep the attempted murder of Stain a secret. Partly it was because Hound Dog knew his older brother. Pretty much everyone knew each other in the Japanese hero industry. Tenya had carried the blessing and curse of being an Iida his whole life. He didn’t feel completely confident he could talk to any of his teachers without what he said making it back to his family.
Not that Tenya expected any strangers online to be much interested in listening to him vent. He had a lot of concerns for his older brother’s well-being, fears that he wasn’t doing enough to be supportive, and barely suppressed desires to break into Tartarus and murder Stain.
Although Tenya’s initial posts had been dismissed as fake, one person kept consistently responding to him. That person gave him comfort, support, and family relations advice. It felt nice to have someone who he could fantasize about killing Stain with. Even his closest friends would have judged him. When Stain was found mysteriously dead in his cell, Tenya had conflicting feelings of relief, guilt for his relief, and anger he couldn’t have done it himself. His friend had encouraged him and helped him see that he had nothing to be guilty about. Any little brother would want to kill someone who hurt their big brother.
Tenya’s online friend said that he was the ideal little brother.
Tsuyu Asui had welcomed all her female classmates into her room to get facials together, but the mood was uncharacteristically subsided. Kyouka Jirou, Toru Hagakure, and Momo Yaoyorozu stared at each other worriedly (though in Toru’s case, no one could see her expression.) Ochaco Uraraka and Mina Ashida had been busy. That was a shame, because Mina was an amazing mood setter and Ochaco had a gift for getting people to talk. Instead the girls just sat in silence with clay stuck on their faces.
Finally, Momo blurted out, “I think I have a stalker.”
“You, too?” Kyouka gasped.
“That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you all about tonight, ribbit,” Tsuyu admitted.
Toru whispered, “I thought I was going insane. No one can see me. But lately, I would swear I’ve been watched whenever I’m off U.A.’s campus.”
“I thought it was Mineta at first,” Tsuyu said. “But a couple times my belongings have gone missing, and it’s always when I’m not in school. Uh, nothing…perverted. My cell phone charm and my wallet family photo vanished. I lost my phone, then found it again in my backpack. I had a hunch. I took my phone to the support department, and Mei Hatsume found a tracker.”
Everyone inhaled sharply.
Tsuyu lowered her eyes. “I thought I should check around the class first, to make sure it wasn’t a prank…I didn’t seriously think it was a prank, though. Even Mineta wouldn’t go so far. It’s just…hard to accept. I’ve never been popular with the boys. You know, because I’m a frog mutant.”
In a sheepish way, Momo said, “I have a lot of experience with stalkers. Sometimes they want to kidnap me for a ransom. This has been so subtle, I wasn’t sure if I could trust my instincts. But I feel watched.”
Toru said, “If everyone feels the same way, then I’m not imagining it.”
“All of us, huh.” Tsuyu frowned. “That’s weird. Stalkers don’t usually target so many people at once. What about Uraraka and Ashido? I remember Ashido went home to help her mother with publicity after someone left bad reviews all over her jewelry store. Isn’t Uraraka appearing in a commercial?”
Kyouka bit her lip. “If someone is stalking all the girls in our class, then it might be a bad time to be off-campus, and an even worse time to appear on TV.”
“Exactly what I thought, ribbit,” Tsuyu said. “We need to tell Principal Nezu.”
Yuga squirmed in his chair. The French restaurant was beautiful, with paintings on the walls and a soft piano tune wafting through the air. The menu was perfectly to his tastes. However, he could not shake the feeling that he’d been invited here for his last meal.
All for One actually smiled. It was horribly creepy. “You can order anything you want, my boy.”
Yuga’s stomach churned. He whispered, “I’ll have the garden salad.”
“Nonsense, you should treat yourself. I’m paying.” To the waiter, All for One said, “Two filet mignon, medium rare.”
The waiter bowed as if to a king, then departed. Yuga trembled. He reached for his glass of water. His shaking hand nearly knocked it over. Slowly, he took a sip. This loosened up his throat enough for him to speak. He whispered, “Please, why did you call me here?” The anticipation was killing him. He needed to know, or he might throw up on top of the nice tablecloth. If his vomit touched the King of Villains, his situation could only get worse.
“I’d like to learn more about your life,” All for One said. “I’ve always thought of you like my own dear son. After all, we’ve known each other since you were a tiny child. I’ve watched you grow and develop into a fine adolescent. Yuga is such a fine name. It sounds almost like Yoichi.”
Yuga choked. To cover it up, he took another sip of water. Now he thought he knew what was going on. All for One was trying to flatter him into a suicide mission.
“Uh, you’ve been very fatherly to me.” In the sense of a deadbeat father who’d given him one gift with strings attached and then vanished from his life until he turned fourteen. Although Yuga barely said it with a straight face, All for One beamed. With dodged persistence, Yuga forced more words out. “However, I fear that I’m too weak and pathetic to deserve to be your son. Whatever mission you have in mind, I’m sure there’s someone better—”
“You’re modest, too.” All for One reached across the table with his long arms and patted Yuga’s head. Yuga wet himself a little. “My brother was far too full of himself and convinced he could survive without me. Which he didn’t, not for long. Have I ever told me about my dear little brother, your uncle?”
Yuga stared. He touched his head to make sure it was still attached. The villain watched him, waiting for an answer. Yuga measured the distance to the window. He’d never make it without being impaled by spikes. Finally, he said, “…No?”
All for One said, “It all started when my little brother was born on my own birthday, which I thought was very inconsiderate of him, because he took attention away from my birthday month.”
The lecture about All for One’s past continued for the entire meal. The part with the rats was…weird. Surely most of this had been made up. Yuga became increasingly certain that All for One would kill anyone who knew so much personal information about him. The villain must plan to use Yuga as a confessor and an unpaid therapist before disposing of him. Under the table, Yuga texted his parents a farewell, said that he loved them, and instructed them to flee to France. Then he texted Aizawa a full confession about his activities as a spy and an apology. If Yuga was about to die, then he truly hoped his information could be helpful to U.A. It would be his final repentance for his sins.
Yuga intended to go down fighting. To do otherwise would dishonor the hero school that had accepted him into their ranks, even if he was a traitor. However, Yuga knew he couldn’t even escape from All for One, much less win.
By the time the tiramisu arrived for dessert, Yuga was contemplating a surprise attack. But whenever he glanced at All for One, his nerve broke. He blurted out, “About my next task…” What would it be? A lab experiment on the doctor’s slab? A less subtle form of assisted suicide?
“Oh, right.” All for One’s gaze seemed to snap back the present. “I’d like you to research the likes and dislikes of your classmates.”
Yuga gaped. “You mean their strengths and weaknesses?”
“I mean their favorite foods, movies, music, etc.” All for One leaned forward. “I know a fair bit about you already. But I need to learn more about your brothers and sisters. Here, I have a questionnaire. Fill it out yourself, then ask the others.” He handed Yuga a piece of paper.
This…wasn’t terrible? It actually seemed more harmless than his usual missions, even though his classmates would no doubt be horrified if they knew about the villain spying on them.
After one last terrifying head pat, Yuga left the restaurant in a daze. Somehow, he’d survived.
And he’d already texted a full confession to his teacher. Oops.
Izuku Midoriya first noticed he had a stalker when his All Might phone charm developed a millimeter long scratch. Upon further inspection, he uncovered the virus on his phone broadcasting his location and spying on his messages.
All Might had warned Izuku about this. In the past, All for One had tried to get at One for All holders through many stealthy and treacherous means. As instructed, Izuku immediately went to Principal Nezu’s office. A handful of his female classmates already waited outside the office with nervous expressions.
“What’s wrong?” Izuku asked. He had to speak to the principal urgently, and alone to conceal the existence of One for All. But he did not want to be rude and butt in line. His classmates looked very upset.
Momo said, “We have a stalker—all of us. And no, it’s not Mineta.”
“You, too?” Izuku blinked. “Oh, then it probably wasn’t All for One stalking me after all.”
The girls shrieked.
Half an hour later, Yuga Aoyama emerged from the principal’s office. Nezu heard the others’ stories. Then Principal Nezu called together an assembly of all the students in Class 1-A and revealed that All for One had been tracking them.
There was a collective outcry from the students at the reveal Yuga had been a spy. (From everyone except Izuku, who was too baffled at why All for One was stalking other people and trying to figure out if his classmates had been targeted to get to him.) Principal Nezu said that U.A. would arrange for community service for Yuga and protect him from the HPSC because he’d come forward willingly and selflessly to save his classmates from their danger. Yuga sweated, a lot. Then Yuga begged for Katsuki’s forgiveness over the kidnapping, and Katsuki decided to punch him and call it even.
The students had many questions. Principal Nezu could not explain why a villain had targeted their class in particular. Tracking devices had not been found on anyone in Class 1-B. Nezu ordered every student to remain on-campus until further notice. He also promised to provide protection details to their families.
The students departed in a wave of confused conversations, each admitting to their own unusual incidents. Then the teachers held their own meeting.
“This is very serious,” All Might said. “I believe All for One is targeting Class 1-A to get at young Midoriya. If only I hadn’t failed to arrest him at Kamino Ward! Then this never would have happened.”
Yamada patted his shoulder. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. From what I’ve heard, All for One has a reputation for escaping the most intense imprisonment. The HPSC was even discussing if it was too much of a risk to keep him in Tartarus where he might break other prisoners out.”
From his position at the head of the table, Nezu clasped his paws together. “I’m not convinced this is about One for All.”
“One for what?” Yamada asked. Around the table, the other teachers had similar confused expressions. Except for Aizawa, who was not present. In all fairness, Aizawa had been running around his students’ family homes looking for spying equipment ever since he’d heard about the stalker.
“Don’t worry about it,” Nezu said. “All for One appears to have an equal interest in all the students, based on my conversation with Yuga Aoyama. There was no focus on Midoriya. He didn’t ask for information about their quirks, he wanted to know about their private lives. I can’t quite figure out what’s going on…it vexes me.” The principal wrinkled his nose. Most of the teachers stared but did not speak, not wanting to interrupt the genius’ train of thought.
All Might slammed his hands down on the table. “What does it matter why All for One is doing this?”
“Because then we could predict his next move,” Nezu said. An explosion rocked the entire building. “See that? That was a very unfortunately unpredictable move.”
All for One had somehow ripped a chunk out of U.A.’s wall. The villain floated in the air, growling, “Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuga how dare you leave me on read?” His eyes glowed behind his mask.
“I’m sorry!” Yuga wailed, hiding under a bush. “I haven’t even seen your messages since I betrayed you and gave my phone to the principal.”
All for One sighed. “It’s okay, I anticipated this. Everyone I care about always betrays me, so I’ve been building my massive vault complex.”
While the teachers had all been absent, Class 1-A had formed a protective wall around their terrified former traitor classmate. All for One looked between them, tone softening affectionately. “At least your siblings have loyalty to each other.”
U.A.’s staff poured out of the building and moved to defend their students. All Might moved the fastest. He shot through the air, a fist aimed at All for One’s face.
All for One dodged. “Ugh, with the blond buffoon here, I don’t dare risk letting my kids get caught up in the collateral damage. Fortunately, there’s still one person who I can grab, someone away from your protection.”
“Oh no! He spotted me!” Mineta wailed from the tree where he’d been hiding instead of helping. “I’ll surrender willingly. I promise to be the best prisoner ever if you don’t hurt me.”
“Who on earth are you?” All for One punted Mineta out of the tree and all the way over the school, then flew away.
Many things happened at once. All Might leapt off to grab Mineta before he fell from a height that would have seriously injured him. Yamada tried to chase after All for One, but Nezu stopped him, warning of collateral damage to the surrounding civilian areas (and diplomatically not mentioning that Yamada would have to change his hero name to Past Mic if he tried to fight the number one villain.) Midnight took a headcount, determining everyone in Class 1-A was present. The teachers demanded to know if any students had been injured, and the students demanded even louder to know what was going on.
“Silence!” Nezu shouted. The unusual anger in his voice made everyone shut up. “Cementoss, I need temporary repairs in the wall, right now. Everyone, it appears All for One has been stalking Class 1-A and attempted a kidnapping.”
There was a moment of silence as everyone digested this. Midnight said, “So he’s definitely under the influence of a quirk, right?”
Yamada snorted. “I don’t think a villain randomly decided to adopt twenty—I mean, nineteen kids. It’s a quirk.”
Once again, everyone talked over each other. Nezu slammed his paws together, and silence fell. With a raised eyebrow, Nezu asked, “Does anyone have any solid information about how this happened and who All for One might be targeting outside our school? We may be very pressed for time on the latter point.”
Shouto Todoroki raised his hand. “I’m afraid I don’t know who else All for One might be chasing after besides us, but I have a theory on the quirk.”
Half the class groaned, but Nezu said, “Please continue.”
Shouto said, “An anonymous person online has been bragging about taking over the world with his quirk Imprint. He ended up on one of my favorite conspiracy theory forums. According to his boasts, his quirk allows him to make anyone he touches obsessed with the first person they see. He said he was going to use his ability on the greatest villain in Japan. Then he went mysteriously silent afterward. My online friends have been speculating about if he died or if his power never existed to begin with.”
Nezu frowned. “That sounds like what happened to All for One. But why all of the class? Almost all of the class.”
Katsuki growled, “When did that shithead look at us?”
“What if it was a picture?” Izuku suggested. “Some quirks work through media. Remember that news article about promising young heroes?” He held open his phone, open to the article, with a picture of Class 1-A at the top. “If All for One looked at this picture, then he could have imprinted on all of us at once. Mineta isn’t in the picture. That makes me think even more strongly this must be the image All for One saw.”
Momo muttered, “I remember, Mineta latched onto my butt during the photograph, taking advantage of how I couldn’t move away. That would have put him out of sight behind me.”
Izuku swallowed. “Mr. Aizawa is in the picture with us. Could he be the last person All for One imprinted on?”
“Fuck,” Nezu said, and everyone immediately understood that Aizawa was not safely inside U.A.’s boundaries.
Shouta Aizawa had been receiving strange care packages in the mail, including food, blankets, and admonishments to look after his health better. He’d been convinced Yamada must be behind it. Then someone had stolen all his jelly packets, presumably to force him to eat real food. This was going too far. Aizawa had been about to confront Yamada, except then he’d discovered some nutjob was stalking all of his kids. For the past couple hours, Aizawa had been running between their family homes, removing spy equipment. He’d just been at the Uraraka house. There had been an upsetting number of listening devices among their gifts from that fishy new business sponsor of theirs.
Since Aizawa had been out late last night patrolling, he was exhausted and running on fumes. When All for One dropped from the sky, Aizawa embarrassingly did not even activate his quirk. Instead, he blinked blearily, convinced this must be a hallucination.
“You look like a mess.” All for One reached out his hand. “Come on, I’ll feed you at my new vault compound. There are state-of-the-art beds.”
Aizawa looked at the outstretched hand. “This dream feels oddly real.”
Yamada ran down the street, bellowing at his top volume, “Get away from him!”
Nezu followed more slowly. “I have Snipe on a rooftop with a gun—and it’s aimed at Aizawa’s head. I know you fear a threat to him more than yourself.”
Aizawa said, “This is a very, very weird dream. I wonder if I’m working out some issues with my sadistic boss?”
All for One growled, “Just like a hero to turn on their own. I’ll be back.” Then he took to the skies.
Yamada leapt forward and hugged Aizawa, sobbing, “Are you hurt? Nezu, how could you?!”
“It was a bluff,” Nezu said. “Snipe isn’t even here. Would you rather I let All for One kidnap him?”
Yamada clutched Aizawa even tighter. “No! It’s not fair! How could a simple photograph have led to the number one villain becoming obsessed with you?”
“What?” Aizawa demanded, increasingly worried at how real Yamada’s breath smelled. If this wasn’t a dream, then he might be about to pass out.
Nezu sighed. “Yamada, we were going to break that part to him gently.”
All for One’s targets had all been restricted to U.A. grounds and placed under guard by the heroes. Meanwhile, All Might investigated Shouto Todoroki’s theory. With his connections, it wasn’t hard to track down an anonymous online poster. A few legal lines had been crossed, but All Might had the children’s safety as his top priority.
As soon as Daisuke Nakanishi realized the number one hero had come for him, he immediately collapsed to his knees, confessed to a variety of petty crimes, and begged for mercy. Tears streaming down his cheeks, he wailed, “I can’t even use my quirk ever since All for One broke my hand and left a scar running down my palm. It seems he disrupted how I use my power even though he didn’t bother to steal it. My dream to become the greatest villain is over. I’m even considering joining the HPSC like my cousin Hiro. He said they have a great program for the relatives of criminals. Or used to, the program completely collapsed after Hiro graduated.”
All Might wasn’t interested in listening to a petty criminal’s life story, so he interrupted, “I’m prepared to offer you amnesty for your past crimes in exchange for information. Did you activate your quirk against All for One?”
Daisuke hemmed and hawed a bit. Under All Might’s glare, he finally confessed. Rubbing his teary eyes, he muttered, “It didn’t work, anyway.”
“Probably because All for One doesn’t have eyes,” All Might said. “He uses a quirk to imitate vision.”
“Oh!” Daisuke slapped his fist against his palm. “See, anyone could have made that mistake.” He sat up straighter on his knees. “I was very close to taking over Japan—not that I have any evil ambitions any longer, sir. I’m a reformed ex-minion.”
All Might sighed. “I need to know how to remove your quirk.”
“You can’t,” Daisuke said. “I used to be able to erase the effects, but not since the scar on my hand removed my abilities. Oh, and the longer the target goes without contact with their obsession, the more they lose their minds.”
“It has an escalation factor?” All Might asked in horror. “How long ago did you tag All for One?”
Daisuke blinked. “Time is hard. I never did my math homework, I used to have people I charmed to do it for me. Longer than a day, anyway, and a day is usually all it takes to make someone lose their mind.” His phone buzzed. He checked his messages. “Cousin Hiro says that All for One just took the HSCP headquarters hostage, demanding that they turn over some hero students and a teacher to him. The president agreed to save herself.”
“Fuck,” All Might said in a moment that would have shocked his publicist and innocent children around Japan.
By the time All Might arrived back at U.A., the school was in a state of pandemonium. The staff had barricaded themselves in and sealed the gates shut because the HPSC had sent agents to take the children and their teacher away. However, Nezu clasped his paws together and said, “I have a plan.”
Class 1-A (minus Mineta) approached the captured HPSC building in a group surrounded by protective teachers. All Might had been desperate to come along, Nezu had been equally adamant that the presence of All for One’s most hated enemy would only add oil to the fire, so they’d compromised on All Might coming disguised in his Small Might form.
Fumikage Tokoyami had been voted best actor in the class, and thus given the most critical role in the plan. Using a megaphone, Fumikage called, “We’ve all agreed to go with you willingly.” Behind him, Dark Shadow nodded along.
All for One poked his head out of the window. “Hmm, you’ll pardon me if I’m suspicious, my dear baby bird.”
Fumikage placed a hand on his forehead. “Yuga Aoyama explained to all of us about how you’re the best father figure in existence. Truly, the moon and stars must have been fated to bring us all together. We have developed a deep admiration for your magnificent darkness. Our classmates all feel like siblings, so any father of Aoyama’s is a father of ours.”
“That’s right,” Yuga said weakly, then fainted. Mina Ashido and Eijiro Kirishima quickly dragged him out of view and hid him. Yuga lost his acting abilities when terrified. Katsuki Bakugo, voted worst actor in the class, had a strip of masking tape over his mouth. But he glared ferociously.
Hamming it up as someone who’d been star in every single middle school play, Fumikage cried, “We were touched by your loving devotion toward our classmate, so obviously we decided we wanted to be adopted by the best father ever.” The rest of Class 1-A nodded along, some shouting agreement with varying degrees of conviction. Aizawa looked like he was trying not to vomit.
Momo, another theatre performer, clasped her hands together and said, “We felt very flattered at your stalking, Dad. Can I call you Dad?”
“Of course you can call me Dad,” All for One said. He sounded pleased, though he had not released the quirk keeping a forcefield around the HPSC Headquarters. “I’ve already prepared a vault for all of you. The world’s largest bank vault, with twenty bedrooms, a hot tub, a gym, a giant kitchen, studios for art and music, a movie theatre, and a gaming room.”
“Whoa! That sounds amazing!” Denki gasped, hamming it up. What he lacked in acting ability, he made up for in enthusiasm. “I’ve been converted to the way of loving bank vaults. They’re just so…shiny. I’ve always wanted to live in one, since five seconds ago.”
Fumikage said, “New Dad, your bank vault sounds so amazing, we’d like you to live inside it with us.”
All for One snorted. “My dear children, you aren’t trying to trick me into the bank vault so you can lock me inside, are you?”
“I would never.” Fumikage sounded sincerely appalled. (Sounded, at least.) Dark Shadow mimicked his shocked recoil.
“Nooooooooooooo,” Denki said. Leaning over to Hanta, he whispered, “I think he’s onto us. Everyone, help.”
Weakly, Mashirao said, “We find your Demon King cosplay very charming.”
“You won me over with the music studio,” Kyouka said.
“I heard there was a kitchen,” Rikido said.
“I’m in if you’ll remove my quirk so I can be seen,” Toru said.
“I’ve always wanted to be rich,” Ochaco said, managing to sound convincing because her words were true.
“I’ve always wanted a father who would let me commit murder,” Tenya said, also technically telling the truth.
“I want absolutely any father except mine,” Shouto said, selling it because he 100% meant it. In fact, Aizawa had already needed to hold him back from running up to All for One with adoption papers.
“My father is never around anyway,” Izuku said.
All for One finally smiled. “Oh, very well, I can’t possibly resist such adorable children so eager to be vaulted. However, all of you must enter the vault before I release the hostages.”
The class murmured among themselves. Desperately, Aizawa said, “Age before beauty?”
All for One chuckled. “You’re adorable, son.”
“Please never call me that again.” Aizawa looked like a man hanging onto reality with his fingernails.
Izuku closed his eyes as if concentrating—or listening to invisible instructions from a ghost. Eyes snapping open, he adopted an innocent expression. “Yes, Dad, it’s true—we want to vault you.”
“Problem child!” Aizawa growled.
Izuku continued, “But that’s only because vaulting is the ultimate sign of love. You once said that your brother should be grateful to you for loving him so much. Don’t you want to be loved in return? Wouldn’t it be nice to be the person most loved in the family for once?”
All for One stood very still. It was difficult to read his face from such a great distance, but he actually seemed to be considering it. Finally, he said, “Only if you’re in the vault with me.”
The class whooped and cheered. Except Yuga Aoyama, who was still unconscious, and Aizawa, who just looked completely done with the universe.
Sitting behind his desk, Nezu watched a camera feed. All for One was teaching Tsuyu how to play Mario Kart, an old-fashioned game from the dawn of the age of quirks. Mezo Shoji entered. All for One attempted to hug Mezo, who held him off with one hand while Tsuyu slipped out the door.
“How kind of All for One to install cameras in his vault complex. Everything is going perfectly.” Nezu beamed. “As long as one of the targets of his obsession is with him at all times, All for One remains calm and happy. He does not attempt to escape the vault. Since there are twenty different targets, each individual only needs to spend about an hour a day with him. Class 1-A and their teacher can live normal lives, and the world is free of the threat of All for One. The Hero Public Safety Commission has been discredited for losing to a villain so easily and is undergoing reforms after being crucified in the media for selling out children. The future of Japan is bright and sunny.”
“I don’t like it,” All Might grumbled, shifting from foot to foot and glaring at the screen. “Can’t we just seal All for One inside the vault? Or drug him, then take him away to Tartarus?”
Nezu sighed. “Do you honestly believe a vault could hold All for One? Or Tartarus? I considered killing him, but there’s a good chance he has contingency measures in place to survive death. I would not put it past All for One to have a back-up body. The most secure prison is one that he never wants to leave. All Might, the children are heroes and they are doing what is best for the world. I would never allow it if I believed for a second that All for One would ever hurt them. But he loves them, in his own twisted way. He would die to protect them.”
“I still don’t like it.” All Might sighed. “But I confess I’m relieved that young Midoriya doesn’t have to fight All for One. Too many of my predecessors lost their lives and their loved ones to this long fight. At least now Japan is safe, as long as the quirk doesn’t wear off.”
“About that—” Nezu began.
Aizawa threw open the door so hard it caused a dent and stormed into the office. “Why doesn’t my Erasure remove the effects on All for One?”
Nezu raised an eyebrow. “I told you not to try it. We want to keep All for One placid and happy.”
“He hugged me against my will!” Aizawa cried. “It was a reflex. An accident. It didn’t work.”
Nezu said, “Ah, yes, I researched Daisuke Nakanishi further. All his previous victims lost their obsession with him after three days. He just never noticed, because he’s incredibly stupid. The entire Nakanishi family is a fascinating phenomenon, somehow too dumb to live yet responsible for taking down countless of history’s greatest villains through their inept servitude—”
Aizawa interrupted, “You’re saying the ability already wore off All for One a long time ago.”
“What?!” All Might yelped. “The children are in danger!” He started for the door.
“Stop,” Nezu called. “The children are even safer, because the obsession is real.”
All Might turned around. “But how?”
“All for One is just a very obsessive person.” Nezu shrugged. “Once he latches onto an obsession, he never lets go, like how he refused to let go of his brother long after they became enemies and even after death. The effects of the quirk wore off, but some part of All for One was looking for a new obsession to fill the void in his heart.”
Aizawa closed his eyes and muttered. “You’re saying that we’ll never be rid of him.”
“I’m saying that Class 1-A has defeated the greatest villain the world.” Nezu chuckled. “What magnificent heroes!”
OMAKE TIME!
Omake: The Vestiges React
Yoichi: I can live with this outcome. My brother finally gets a taste of the vault.
Second: I dunno, his vault is too luxurious and I really wanted him dead.
Yoichi: But we tricked my brother! You should feel proud.
All for One: Heh, as long as I’ve vaulted the Ninth it’s as if my brother is in the vault with me. My collection is complete.
Yoichi: I’m starting to get annoyed now.
#
Omake: Who is Hisashi Midoriya Anyway?
Izuku: I haven’t seen my father in years, and get this—Todoroki had some weird conspiracy theory that All for One might be my father.
Inko: Nope, I had a one night stand with the Symbol of Peace. I never told All Might about bearing his child because I was afraid it would put us in danger.
Izuku: I like this universe much better.
#
Omake: Awkward Conversations
Yuga: Mama, papa, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that you can come back to Japan. I cut a deal with Principal Nezu to avoid charges. The bad news is that All for One thinks he’s my father. No, no, it’s not a joke or a trap. Yeah, I can understand why you want to stay in France.
#
Omake: Ten Obsessions All for One Could Have Gotten
Garaki: Master, why are you giving me such a strange look?
All for One: I’ve finally realized that you’re the only person who accepts me for who I am and loves me unconditionally. Let’s elope and retire to Hawaii.
Garaki: Today is the happiest day of my life!
#
All for One: Flesh and blood will always betray me, especially my stupid brother. My new obsession is Hatsume Miku.
Garaki: Why do I feel cheated, and why were you even watching a singing voice synthesizer music video to begin with?
#
All for One: I’ve fallen in love with Toshinori Yagi! All Might doesn’t deserve such a perfect secretary.
All Might: Uh, whoa, this is going to be awkward to reveal.
Nezu: Shhhh, we tell him nothing until we have him inside a vault.
#
All for One: You may be number two hero, but you’re number one in my heart.
Endeavor: Sir, I’m a married man, and you’re under arrest.
All for One: Does your wife even like you, though?
Endeavor: …
All for One: Do your children like you? Does anyone like you besides me?
Endeavor: On second thought, I’m going to elope to Hawaii with this villain.
Dabi: Come back! I didn’t get to dance yet.
#
Gigantomachia: I finally found you master! Why are you looking at me like that?
All for One: I never realized that perfect devotion was at my side all along.
Gigantomachia: I knew this day would someday come.
All for One: From now on I’ll focus more on retaining employee loyalty and seriously taking over Japan instead of getting distracted with my side projects.
Nezu: …This isn’t ending so well for Japan.
#
All for One: I’ve been having weird feelings ever since I looked at that ancient photo of the brother thief—I mean, my beloved spiky head. Now I must steal One for All to obtain more than just my little brother.
Yoichi: So nothing has changed.
Second: My sanity is slipping, does that count?
All for One: I’m even willing to share with exactly one person, my dear brother—
Yoichi & Second: NO.
#
All for One: Tomura, you know how I always taught you to hate your grandmother?
Tomura: Yeah, I’m wearing her severed hand.
All for One: I was looking at a picture of her and realized how amazingly hot she is. Mmm when I think about those thick, muscular thighs—
Tomura: STOP.
All for One: I need the hand back.
Tomura: NO.
#
All for One: I was looking at this picture of Inko Midoriya while plotting how to take her hostage, and instead she took my heart.
Inko: My dear son, I’ve met an absolutely charming man. He’s rich, devoted, and has all the red flags I love.
All for One: I don’t even need a quirk to make me adopt any green-eyed stepson as a replacement Yoichi.
Izuku: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
#
Daisuke: My plan worked! Oh, it’s been wonderful to have the Symbol of Evil serving my every whim for the past three days.
All for One: This particular obsession didn’t last longer than it took for the quirk to wear off. No matter how badly I want someone to fill the brotherless void, I’ve got standards. Die.
#
All for One: Oh, potted spider plant, you are the most beautiful living thing to ever exist (besides me). Just look at those slender yet tough leaves. The adorable little buds. I’m going to keep dividing you up and putting you into new pots so that you can multiple across Japan and live forever.
Potted Plant: …
All for One: I also love how you talk less than my stupid little brother.