(How To)Forgive and Forget

Realizations(And Acceptance)

Shigaraki stares at the place where Izuku had disappeared into Kurogiri's warp, not really seeing anything. His vision is blurred, mind in an entirely different place as one name echoes through his mind.

All Might.

One name, the name that had been branded into everyone's minds since they were young, the name that symbolized modern-day heroism itself, the name he'd come to hate, and all of the pieces fall into place.

Everything, from the first scream of 'smash'at USJ to the raw power that seemed to radiate from Izuku to the shadowy mentor that hung over the green haired boy like a shroud, all solved with a single name.

"I...need to breathe."

No wonder he hadn't told them about his mysterious mentor. It was fucking All Might, and the deal he'd made had involved something so impossible that Shigaraki himself would've had trouble believing it.

"That sounds cool right? A Quirkless kid gets to become All Might's successor! I fucking wish."

And yet...it made sense. The relaxed attitude around villains that had tried to attack him, the ease in which he read people's moods, the gift giving, the panic attacks and nonchalance about things that even villains thought were wrong. Of course he didn't realize how messed up his treatment at UA was, he was Quirkless and relying on All Might, who wanted Izuku to be his perfect little successor.

His stomach rolls in disgust at the thought.

Izuku isn't like All Might at all. He isn't some distant, unreachable goal that set society's expectations so high that they forgot how to lend each other a helping hand. No, he's so much more than that, so much more than the lightning that dances around his body or the black tendrils that curl around his forearms. He's a real human being, a kid that has scars and emotions and flaws and little oddities that make him uniquely Izuku.

Time after time, the hero student came back to the bar, back to the League. Even as the bags under his eyes got darker, and he began to lose what little animation he'd had, he still stopped by the bar, sometimes with school stuff, sometimes just to rest his head on someone for a few hours. He was cracking under the stress, and Shigaraki stood by and watched, unsure of how to help as Izuku deteriorated further and further—until he finally cracked and ran away—and right towards a bar full of villains.

"I-I'm sorry, I just...I panicked and I didn't know where else to go, and I promise I won't get in the way, it's just he knows where I live and I can't—"

The mysterious, shadowy mentor that seemed to hover over Izuku, dictating every action and decision to the point where he would start shaking at the mention of it, was none other than All Might himself. Of course he'd asked Shigaraki to hide him. Who else would dare shield All Might's successor from him? Certainly not a hero.

"Sensei."

Kurogiri's voice echoes through the silence, making Shigaraki jump a little. He knows that tone of voice. He looks over, focusing on the slow swirl of Kurogiri mist. It hasn't gotten any darker, but he doubts that's possible, considering that it's been almost pitch black since he'd seen Re-Destro.

"Did you know anything about what Izuku just told us?"

The misty man's words are heavy, loaded with accusation despite his flat, painfully neutral tones.

Sensei sighs, the illusion Quirk he'd used the entire meeting with Re-Destro gone, along with his amused smile.

"One would have to have some kind of positive relationship with another person to know such things."