Reset and Rewind

Chapter 26 - Next in Line

By the time Izuku left the Nighteye Agency, word of his meeting with Sir already reached campus. Or at least, it had reached All Might.

"All Might?" Izuku asked when answering his phone. He hadn't expected his mentor to call him, but then again he might just be curious about how his meeting with Sir Nighteye went.

"Young Midoriya!" he shouted from the other side of the line, making Izuku flinch. "Why am I getting these concerning texts from Sir Nighteye?! Why is he accusing me of withholding information?! What does he mean by you being the last in line?!"

Izuku bit his lip, unsure of how to react to that. He knew he slipped up when he told Sir Nighteye that he wouldn't be able to pass on One For All anymore, but he didn't expect All Might to find out this quickly. He thought he'd had the entire train ride to UA to mull over what he was going to say, how he was going to bring the news and explain why he hadn't said something sooner. Everyone had been so worried about him back then, it just wasn't the right time, you know? And after that... Well, there was never a good time to tell your predecessor that you screwed up a quirk that had been passed on for nine generations now.

"He told me you said One For All is going to die with you, that the quirk lost its ability to be passed on! What do you mean by that?! Why is this the first time I'm hearing about this?!"

"Please calm down, All Might," Izuku asked. "I-I can explain."

Could he really though? How could he ever explain his reasoning when this All Might had no idea what Izuku had been through? He tried his best to explain over the phone, earning some weird stares from the other people on the train. It wasn't easy and All Might freaked out more than once, but Izuku managed to make it sound like he had things under control.

"I'm the one who'll end AFO's reign, so there's no need for a successor," Izuku said, trying to reassure his mentor. "Besides, I wouldn't want to burden anyone with this faith. Quirked people can't handle this power for very long, you know? And the quirkless are a dying-"

"What are you saying about quirked people?"

Oh, right. All Might didn't know about that part yet.

"The reason all of the holders die young," Izuku explained. "The power of OFA is too much for their quirk factor to handle. We don't have those restraints since, uhm, well, you know. But since there are less and less...of us, it would be hard to pick a successor without drastically decreasing their lifespan."

Yep, he was definitely getting some looks right now... Luckily he was almost at his stop and off this train. All Might needed a minute to wrap his head around that new information, but it wasn't what was most important right now.

"Does anyone else know you aren't able to pass OFA on anymore?"

"No, I've only told Sir Nighteye," Izuku sighed. Not that he meant to do that. He'd just gotten way too emotional and after that whole talk he had with his friends about opening up the other day... Well, it just kinda slipped out, you know?

"Are you planning on telling the others?"

"I... I don't know," Izuku admitted. "It's not that important, right? I mean, it doesn't have a lot of consequences for us. It doesn't change our plans or restricts me in any way."

"...If you say so," All Might sighed, knowing there was no way he'd convince his student right now. "Anyway, I'm glad you were able to get your work study with Sir Nighteye. Make sure to impress him and prove your worth!"

"Of course! Plus Ultra!" Izuku exclaimed, instantly making himself smaller when heads of other passengers turned towards him, reacting to the loud noise. Izuku really had a knack for embarrassing himself, didn't he..?