ɪɴꜱᴛɪɴᴄᴛ | ʙᴋᴅᴋ | ᴏᴍᴇɢᴀᴠᴇʀꜱᴇ

✨ • Chapter 15 • ✨

Izuku smiled at the sentiment, before the could speak, the door had suddenly opened, revealing a very frantic All Might behind it, causing both Izuku and Mitsuki to stand up from the couch.

"A-All Might!? Are you okay?" Izuku worried.

"I'm fine... Just a little out of breath is all... I hope I didn't interrupt anything important..."

"No worries. It seems you may have something more important to address." Mitsuki pointed out, noticing the briefcase All Might was carrying.

He nodded, "That I do. I'd like to discuss it with Izuku in private first if that's alright."

Izuku looked over to Mitsuki as though asking his mom for permission, which she accepted, "That's fine. There's plenty of empty rooms in the house where you can discuss the matter in private. Though, I'd like to hear the updates as soon as possible too."

"You will in due time. There's just a few things I need Izuku to know first before anyone else."

With that, Izuku led All Might upstairs to one of the empty guest rooms for them to borrow. As they walked the hall, All Might chatted with him.

"Where's young Bakugo?"

"Oh, he's still asleep."

All Might didn't think much of that answer until he noticed the mark on Izuku's neck.

"O-Oh! Congratulations, Izuku!"

"Huh?" Izuku questioned All Might until he realized where he was looking, quickly covering the bite mark by pretending he was casually rubbing his neck, "Oh, that! That's nothing! Haha..."

To avoid further conversations about that, Izuku quickly found a room for them to use, getting All Might inside and locking the door behind them, "So... What did you find?"

All Might unlatched his briefcase, taking out what appeared to be notes, old photographs, and police records.

"I did some digging around my house for any information, I even called up an old friend of mine down at the police department. The information you and young Bakugo shared last night seemed too familiar to me to be just a mere coincidence, so I went through my old records to see if my suspicion was correct."

He paused, flipping through a few of the papers before continuing, "I tried to contact Nezu as well, ask him if he decided to retire out of the blue or something of the sort. His phone went right to voicemail though, and with what I believe I've figured out, I'm worried for what may have happened to him..."

"W-What's that suppose to mean? Do you think he's..." Izuku didn't want to say it.

"Hopefully, it didn't go to that extreme, but one could never know. Remember the man I've told you about? The one that wields All For One?"

A chill went down Izuku's spine, "Yeah? You think he's behind this somehow?"

"I'm afraid I don't think, I know he is. Before, I didn't know much of him outside of my master's teachings and my own encounters. I didn't know his name or what he used to look like before all those powers warped his image. But, there are records of them..."

All Might pulled out the old photographs, handing them over to Izuku, "Does that man look familiar to you?"

Izuku looked through them in horror, his hands noticeably starting to shake as he continued to look at each photo, recognizing that man in each one, "That's him... But... But how? These photos are from decades ago! He hasn't aged at all!"

"That's what I feared too. When I faced All For One, he was nothing but scar tissue, only having a mouth left over after all the damage and years he's lived. No visible nose, eyes, ears, or hair. But, all the stolen quirks he stockpiled made up for those losses. I already knew he had a quirk that allowed him immortality, but despite that, no matter the quirks, his old age was always his weakness. It seems he figured that out and found a rewind quirk to bring him back to his youth. It's our worst outcome."

"B-But you can beat him, can't you? You did it before, you can do it again!" Izuku said, fearful yet trying to be hopeful.

All Might gave him a sad smile, "Kid, I'm not the All Might I used to be. I lost my strength a long time ago. But, now you've inherited One For All. Now, it's your turn to take him down."

"All Might... I'm not like you! Even with your quirk, I can't take him down at his full strength! You should've picked someone who was already born with a strong quirk... Someone like Kacchan or anyone else! I can't-"

"Izuku. I made the right choice picking you as my successor. You're stronger than you give yourself credit for. You're scared. That man has always frightened me too, but that's how he wants to make you feel! I've seen what you're capable of! I know you have what it takes to defeat him. If I didn't, I wouldn't have given you my power. You earned that power, kid. Fair and square. Now, you have to fight for it!"

Izuku shook off the fear he felt, still feeling its embers but keeping it buried deep down, toughening up as he nodded, "Right! I worked hard for this power! I'll do whatever I have to to prove my worth!"

"Not exactly what I meant but sure! We'll keep training so you're mentally and physically ready to fight All For One. We'll need to ambush him soon before he plans on doing any more harm."

"Are we starting now?" Izuku pondered.

"Come on, kid, learn to relax. Go back downstairs and talk with your mother-in-law or see if Bakugo is awake now. Just because you're a hero doesn't mean your whole life has to be training and fighting. Enjoy yourself."

Izuku found that ironic as All Might was notorious for being a workaholic, but perhaps he was trying not to get Izuku into that behavior. To make him happy, he'd do just that. After all, Katsuki should be awake by now. He might be in his room still or downstairs with Mitsuki.

When he opened the door, however, he turned and was greeted by his boyfriend, though before he could wish him a 'good morning' or say anything of the sort, the look on his face told him something was off.

"Kacchan, are you..."

"You... You have All Might's power?"

At that moment, the world seemed to stop and Izuku's heart dropped.

✨