A Wolf in Sheeps Clothing

Seven Versus Nine

 The long roads leading into massive city of Osaka a portal opens near the side of the road, the distorted air causes the red leaf trees to rustle in the breeze. Izuku is the first to step through the green and black swirling portal and take a deep breath as he gets through the other side. Bakugou stumbles out of the portal and falls flat on his face upon exiting, All Might merely walks over him as he exits behind the explosion quirk user. A feeling of melancholy takes over Toshinori as he walks up to Izuku. He hadn't been here since the death of Nana over 40 years ago, all that time spent not knowing what to do with All for One and how to find a successor. He had nothing left after her passing and had to start over at square one. He didn't know what he was going to say to her even if this insane scheme worked and Izuku manages to actually bring her back from the dead.

"Follow me. I'll bring you to the shrine I made to her memory." He says to the two boys before starting off into the surrounding forest towards the foothills. He walked further ahead of the two not letting them see the tears welling up in his eyes.

A similar scene played out to the boys childhoods, both of them walking in the shadow of All Might as he led them through the forest. Bakugou walked a couple paces behind All Might and Izuku was a few paces behind Katsuki. The two reminisce on the time when they were younger and how they would play games in a forest much like this one. The red autumn leaves dancing in the temperate breeze. Neither hot enough to make one sweat or cold enough to make them shiver, it was a perfect day. A day similar to this one long ago, a man had to bury the woman who he saw as his mother. The pain in All Might's face always hidden behind his iconic smile, but it hid fear, guilt and loss. Down an old path the three walked, seemingly in the footsteps that Toshinori had taken long ago leading up a hill overlooking the city and it's many many skyscrapers. The forest was silent, like a predator was stalking prey, it's stillness irked the younger two. It felt as if someone or something was watching them.

She wasn't visible to Izuku or All Might at the moment, but Nana watched from the afterlife as the trio walked the same path Toshinori walked with the urn that contained her earthly remains. She watched him cast that urn with all the money she had left him in her will, a beautiful burial urn made of pure gold. The golden urn haunted Toshinori's dreams for years as a constant reminder of his failure to protect her. To Nana, she knew he would have just died in that encounter and One for All would have been lost forever. She didn't want him to blame himself for as long as he did and even now she can sense his soul is in turmoil. She watches from above the trees as they near the edge of the mountain where a stone shrine had been built up. This was where she and Toshinori spent days, weeks, months and years training for him to become her successor. It was fitting that this seemingly be her final resting place after her death, she left the mortal world with so many regrets. She wondered if that is why she couldn't truly pass on to the next life.

"We're here." All Might says stopping in front of the Toro shrine, a mound of rocks with a carved stone lantern at the top. The two young men stop at All Might's side and look at the rocks that have been growing moss and a candle that looks like it hasn't been lit in a long time. "I buried the urn she is in, under the shrine. Every single yen she left me went into casting the urn that holds her ashes. She was a golden light in a world darkened by evil, so..." He takes a pause to wipe a tear from his eye and a deep breath to regain his composure. "That's why I buried her here, in an urn of solid gold."

"It's ok Dad. we're going to bring her back." Izuku says rubbing his hand on All Might's shoulder trying to sooth his pain. Izuku turns to the shrine and extends his hand to lift the rocks off the grave. All Might grabs his hands and pushes it down.

"I was the one to bury her, I will be the one to bring her back." All Might says as he stands up straight and walks to the stones before lifting all of them in one swift motion.