"Ah Endeavor! Long time no see!" All Might smiled when he ran into his colleague in the hallway. The Todoroki groaned, wanting to walk away, only to be stopped by the number one hero.
"Are you here to support your son? He is quite the student! At the top of his class! You must be proud of him!"
Endeavor pushed All Might's hand off his shoulder, glaring at the man.
"You wouldn't say that when you see his poor performance!"
"Oh come on Endeavor, everyone has an off day sometimes" All Might said, although he had his own theories running. How was it possible for Midoriya and Bakugou to not only win the cavalry battle but doing so by taking every single headband? There was something up with that, he just didn't know what yet...
He was also worried now that he didn't have a direct line of sight of Midoriya anymore. Aizawa made it very clear that he was to stay away from the teen and Nezu agreed upon this measure. The principal also lectured him, making sure he learned his lesson and wouldn't pull anything so reckless with inexperienced students again. All Might understood, but on the other side it was as if nobody wanted to believe him!
They asked if he had proof and when he tried to get some, they pushed him away! How was he supposed to prove Midoriya had multiple quirks if nobody gave him a chance to test him? A little unfair, don't you think? Endeavor huffed, pulling All Might back down to earth.
"Seems to me like you are having an off day yourself"
"How come?" All Might asked, making Endeavor roll his eyes.
"You look worse the more I see you! You better be at your best when I pass you in the rankings!" Endeavor stated, his face flaming up even more as he started walking.
"May the best hero win!" All Might beamed, waving Endeavor goodbye. They both knew who would win, whether or not he was objectively the best hero. These formalities were just for show, like always.
Meanwhile Hisashi had given up on keeping track of his children during the lunch break, now wandering the halls and trying to find a way out after chasing Himiko and Twice down here. Twice was a big fan of Ectoplasm and wanted to meet him. He should be around somewhere, seeing as he is a teacher here, but Hisashi had tried to refrain him from looking. The teachers were working and they shouldn't interrupt them. But then Himiko came along and now he was here...
Hisashi sighed. Guess things could be worse..? Well, that's what he thought up until he walked in on the man he wanted to avoid the most in the entire world. All Might... Why here? Why now? Hisashi's eyes widened in shock, taking a step back when he saw All Might noticed him. Damnit!
"Hello there! You shouldn't be roaming around here, citizen!" the hero exclaimed, making Hisashi almost sigh in relief. Of course he didn't recognize him! The villain All For One was so mutated and deformed, you'd barely notice he was human. Hisashi made sure of that, deforming himself so nobody would be able to track him down to his family. It was foolish of him to be scared of the number one hero in this state.
"A-ah... All Might! It's such an honor to meet you!" Hisashi smiled, forcing himself to act normal. It's not like he doesn't have experience. He has lived longer than any human, probably.
"I'm so glad to bump into a hero! You see, I-I'm kinda lost... Every turn looks so much like the other in here a-and-"
"Not to worry! For I am here!" All Might exclaimed, striking a pose. Ah... Still as dramatic as ever huh..? Nice to know some things never change...
"And I shall guide you to the exit! Please follow me!"
"Y-yes, of course, lead the way All Might" Hisashi smiled, following behind the man. How ironic that his biggest foe is actually helping him in such a silly situation... If only he knew...
"You are here to watch the sportsfestival, yes?" All Might asked, making conversation as they walked.
"A-ah, yes, my son is competing so I came to support him" Hisashi answered, a small smile lingering on his face. Yes, Izuku and Katsuki really obliterated their opponents last round... He's so proud!
"Oh really? Is he in the hero course?" All Might asked.
"Yes actually! He's a first year, I'm really proud of him" Hisashi smiled, walking next to his nemesis. It's funny how they're chatting about his son, the current holder of All For One. Fate works in weird ways sometimes, doesn't it?
"Maybe I know him? I did teach the first year hero course a few classes at the beginning of the year!" All Might stated.
"Yes, he told me all about that!" Hisashi answered, remembering how upset his son had been when telling him what happened at school. It made his smile falter for just a moment. Time to swing this conversation around...
"Oh, I just realized I haven't introduced myself yet. I am Midoriya Hisashi, my son Izuku is in class 1-A"
All Might didn't respond for a hot few seconds, the two of them continuing their way in silence until the pro hero stopped and looked at him. Hm, took quite a while to process that information huh oldtimer? Hisashi gave him an innocent smile, tilting his head a bit. Oh how he enjoyed seeing this man struggle~
"Is something wrong, All Might?"
"Ah, no! Of course not! I remember your son very clearly! He is doing well in the sportsfestival too!" All Might stated, trying to play it off.
"Didn't he win all rounds so far?! I'm sure he'll be a great hero if he keeps this up!"
Oh really? That's not the impression he was giving Hisashi... All Might didn't like to admit it, but he was on edge.
He didn't realize this man was young Midoriya's father! Yet he could see the familiarity in his features now that he knew about it. The hero needed to be careful with what he said, trying not to sound too condescending. What if this man knew about his son's connection to All For One? What if he was also involved with the supervillain? He couldn't risk revealing his cards before knowing more about him. But before he could make up his mind, they arrived outside.
"Thank you so much for helping me, All Might!" Hisashi smiled, giving him a small bow.
"Please continue to take good care of my son and other heroes in training!"
With that Hisashi quickly allowed himself to get lost in the crowd that wandered around the little stands filled with food, searching for his wife and hoping to maybe still be able to catch up with his son.
...
The next round was set up as a tournament of smaller one on one battles. Kacchan was kinda pissed that it was set up so he would only be able to face Izuku if both of them reached the final.
"You better make it to the last fight, got it nerd?! I will be the one to crush you!"
"Same for you Kacchan! Let's both do our best" Izuku smiled. Katsuki huffed, stomping away to take a seat in their part of the stadium.
"You know, it keeps surprising me how you handle Bakugou..." Uraraka said.
"You're always so cheery and calm while he's yelling profanities and it just...works, somehow? If anyone else were to talk to him like that, they'd be killed on the spot!"
"I'm sure you're exaggerating" Izuku chuckled.
"Oh come on! Like you don't know you're basically Bakugou's only friend!" she pointed out. Izuku rolled his eyes at that, glancing up at the board. He was in the first fight... Up against someone from general studies, Shinsou Hitoshi. He didn't know him but he did know his face from the previous round.
"Hey, uh, Midoriya? Can I talk to you for a second before your fight?" Ojiro asked, taking Izuku a little by surprise.
"Oh, sure thing! What is it Ojiro?" the green head smiled.
"Let's talk in private, okay?" he sighed, leading them to the waiting room. There he explained what he thought Shinsou's quirk was and how it worked. Izuku already knew the big lines of it though, his own quirk picking up on the brainwashing aspect of Shinsou's quirk during the cavalry battle. But he didn't know it was activated by answering him...
Voice activated? Perhaps response activated? Apparently a form of impact snapped Ojiro out of it, so it wasn't obsolete... He needed to be careful nonetheless.
"Thanks for sharing this information with me Ojiro!" Izuku smiled, standing up.
"I promise I won't let you down, okay?"
"Yeah, defeat him for me, okay?" Ojiro smiled.
"You should get going though, your fight is about to start"
"Oh, you're right! Thanks again Ojiro!" Izuku exclaimed, running out the door while waving at his classmate. He arrived at the battlefield not much later, stepping up to the field, seeing Shinsou standing on the other side. Midnight announced the start of the fight, calling out their names and courses before lowering her hand, commencing the fight.
Izuku didn't use his telekinesis right away, wanting to see what Shinsou had planned for an opponent physically stronger than him.
"You're one of the lucky ones, you know? Being born with power... Being told you can become a hero" Shinsou started, glaring at the green head.
"Spoiled, never knowing the true struggles of this world... Have you ever stopped to think about those who aren't as lucky? Of course not... You're all the same, after all. Self-centered selfish brat!"
Izuku frowned. He was nowhere near a lucky person when it came to the society they lived in. Born quirkless, powerless... The quirk he had now was one he received from the most powerful villain to have ever lived. A quirk he had to train for his whole life just to obtain it. A quirk All Might, the number one hero, would kill him for... But at the same time he was blessed. Blessed by his father, being able to become a hero even though he was born quirkless. That didn't mean he hadn't seen the dark side of this hero infested world though...
Izuku had the feeling Shinsou's profile fitted the profile of the children and teens accepted into his home. Troubled souls, not finding their way in the world due to their home situation or that troublesome quirk. Hm, come to think of it, brainwashing is a quirk that could easily be used for bad intentions... That doesn't mean he's destined to become a villain though. Every quirk can be used to help and destroy, it just depends on how you use it.
"That's not true-" Izuku stated, taking a step towards the purple head, freezing up in an instant. Fuck! How could he forget about the reaction thing?! Ojiro even warned him beforehand! God, he must be screaming right now...
"Turn around and step out of bounds" Shinsou ordered. Izuku's body complied, turned around and started to walk towards the edge of the field.
Damnit! He needed to snap out of this! If he lost now, Kacchan would definitely kill him and all his friends and family would be disappointed... Well, his parents would never actually say that to his face but Izuku knew they'd feel that way. And not just due to his emotion quirk. Izuku mentally groaned, trying to figure out a way as his body was getting closer and closer to getting eliminated from the tournament.
"This isn't the time to panic and give up"
Izuku suddenly saw a shadow of his father in front of him, raising his hand.
"It's time to snap out of it, son"
The shadowy figure snapped their fingers and suddenly Izuku stood still. He was back in control! Shinsou's eyes widened as Izuku turned around, walking back up to him again.
"I'm not the spoiled brat you think I am" Izuku started, activating his telekinesis to make Shinsou float.
"I struggled and tried and trained to be the person I am today! And yes, I'm lucky! Luckily I had so many people helping and supporting me when things got hard! So... Just maybe... Allow me to help you too?"
Izuku gave him a small smile, tilting his head a little as Shinsou stared at him with mixed emotions. Fear to get eliminated, to get thrown out of bounds. Shock because nobody had ever been able to break his trance before. Confusion at his words...
"I'm sorry" Izuku smiled, pushing Shinsou out of bounds with a flick of the hand, his telekinesis dropping his opponent over the line.
"Midoriya is the winner!" Midnight announced as Izuku walked across the field, stretching out his hand to help Shinsou back up.
"I wanna help you, but that doesn't mean I'll go easy on you"
Shinsou took his hand, a little hesitant.
"But don't be sad about losing! You got really far for someone in general studies. You should be proud!" Izuku smiled, pointing out the booth his classmates were in, all cheering for Hitoshi. Surprise washed over the brainwasher, before a small chuckle escaped his mouth.
"Alright... But you better win this thing, you hear me?"
"I'll try my best!" Izuku smiled.