Chapter Text
It had been two weeks since Izuku had left U.A. Two weeks since he had teamed up with the top heroes of the country to take down All for One.
Two weeks when he got a message from his mentor asking to meet up after a particularly gruesome battle.
Izuku was exhausted. He was injured, worn, depressed.
But he still dragged his beaten, tired body to the meetup point, hoping to see one of his mentor's signature smiles. The kind that gave him strength.
The person who stepped out of the car certainly had that signature smile; had a familiar face that made Izuku's eyes widen.
But it wasn't who he had expected to see.
In the place of Yagi-sensei stood All Might. Young, fit, strong—the same All Might of his childhood.
Izuku gaped.
"All...Might?" he whispered incredulously.
All Might laughed deeply. "I am here, once again!"
Izuku blinked dumbly, and rapidly back-pedalled as the man approached him.
What kind of quirk was this? Why would this person try to mimic All Might in his glory days? What did they think they would accomplish with this? "Where's All Might?!" Izuku demanded harshly, sore body tensing up for a fight.
The man before him faltered, his face and voice softening. "I'm right here, my boy."
"All Might doesn't look like that anymore! What, do you live under a rock? Who are you?!"
"Izuku," the All Might imposter called. Izuku jolted at the use of his personal name. "It really is me, my boy."
He wanted to believe that. Oh, how badly he wanted to believe that. It would be a dream come true. "Why would I believe you?" he hissed.
"All Might" took a small step forward. "We first met after I saved you from that sludge villain."
"That wouldn't be hard for someone to find out," Izuku denied sceptically.
"All Might" continued, "I signed your journal and crushed your dreams at the same time, saying you couldn't be a hero. I've told you all about my mentor and about the history of One for All."
Izuku's stance relaxed slightly, but he still backed up when the man took another step forward. "That's still—"
"You got a B minus on your math test a few months ago because you were so busy training that you forgot to study. You came into my office wailing like it was the end of the world," All Might said, a laugh playing at the corners of his mouth.
Izuku froze, eyes wide. "A-All Might?"
"I'm here, my boy."
He launched himself at his hero, clinging to the man with all the strength left in his tired body. "All Might! H-How?"
All Might's arms encased him, making him feel safe in a way he hadn't for weeks. "Rewind." He stroked Izuku's dirty hair. "I had little Eri return me to my peak fitness."
Huh, that was...A pang of confusion hit Izuku. Weren't there laws about that sort of thing?
He pushed the odd feeling away. The world desperately needed All Might right now. Izuku needed All Might right now. Wasn't having Eri rewind All Might to his glory days a good idea? Why hadn't they thought of that before?
"I'm so glad to see you," Izuku sniffled, a few tears of relief trailing down his cheeks.
"And I am glad to be back." A huge hand patted his back before those hands took hold of his shoulders gently. All Might crouched down to be on his level, looking into Izuku's eyes with stern seriousness. "Now, my boy. I'm here again, and I'm going to kick All for One's ass a third time."
Izuku nodded excitedly. Yes. Yes! With All Might back they would definitely win! The heroes would rally, and citizens would feel safe once more!
"In order to do so, I'm going to need One for All back."
Those words felt like a bucket of cold water being dumped on Izuku, and he stared at All Might speechlessly.
He hadn't...considered that. Of course All Might wouldn't have the quirk—even if he had been rewound. "O-Oh," Izuku said quietly.
All Might gave his shoulders a soft squeeze. "I know it's a lot to ask of you, my boy. You've been doing so well with it and I couldn't be more proud."
Izuku flushed under the praise. "It...You can do a lot more with it than I can. You had it mastered, and you're the greatest hero ever!" This was all true. Izuku believed that with his whole heart. All Might would be able to do so much more with the quirk than he could currently. He was still training, but All Might was experienced, and now after rewind was once more capable of taking on both Shigaraki and All for One. Without a doubt, Izuku knew he could do it.
So why did he feel so hesitant to give it up?
He didn't...he didn't want to be quirkless again. Useless.
Deku.
"Thank you, my boy," All Might chuckled, presenting an open palm to Izuku expectantly. "I'm going to defeat All for One once and for all. You just have to give me the means to do it."
Izuku nodded, but didn't make a move to hand the quirk over.
He felt stupid for his hesitancy. This was All Might. Why wouldn't he give his idol back his quirk? All Might could totally wipe out the league of villains!
So why did the whole situation sit so wrongly in his gut? It didn't make sense.
Izuku bit his lip and cursed himself for being selfish.
"Izuku?" All Might asked him, brows pinched in concern. "What's the matter, my boy? Don't you trust me?"
Izuku physically jerked at the idea. "Of course I trust you!" he practically shouted to reassure his mentor. Before he could think about it anymore, he reached up and plucked a hair off his head, placing it in All Might's hand. "Sorry it's kinda gross. I know I'm really filthy right now."
All Might laughed softly. "You just finished a fight, my dear boy. I won't hold it against you." He swallowed the hair quickly and with much less gagging than Izuku had when he had received One for All. "We should get you fixed up. You look about ready to collapse."
"Mm," Izuku agreed tiredly.
Within just a minute he felt drained, like something was sapping at his entire being. The strength of One for All and it's constant hum in his chest had already begun slowly slipping away back to its previous wielder.
He yawned, not protesting when All Might picked him up and cradled him to his chest.
His eyes could barely stay open as he was laid across the backseat of the car. "Hey, All Might?" he mumbled.
"Hmm?"
"How did you get permission to use Eri's quirk to rewind yourself?" His eyes closed as he curled up on his side, his words a low mutter. "It's a brilliant idea but I thought there were—there were laws about that or something."
"Shh, go to sleep, you little rambler," All Might said soothingly, climbing into the driver's seat.
Izuku made a vague noise of agreement, feeling sleep tugging at the corners of his mind. "I'm glad you're back..."
"Me too, my boy. Me too."
Izuku awoke to a very nice room, but one he didn't recognize.
He sat up, taking note of his clean body and the fresh clothes and bandages that adorned him.
He wasn't in a hospital, so who had...?
No answer seemed forthcoming by staying in bed, so Izuku slipped out, looking around the room briefly.
The only thing worth any note was the miles of trees he could see outside the single window in the room. He scrunched his nose in confusion. Was he not in the city anymore?
He left the room quickly, gazing both directions down a small hallway before heading for the stairs.
Noise caught his attention at the bottom, and Izuku crept forward cautiously, following the sound.
He peeked around the corner to a kitchen, his eyes landing on the huge figure bustling around. Relaxing, Izuku stepped into the doorway.
"All Might?" he called.
His mentor turned around and beamed at him. "Good morning, my boy!"
"What...What are you doing?" Izuku asked in confusion.
"Making breakfast. I thought you might be hungry."
He was, and the food did smell heavenly, but...
"Where am I? Why are we here?"
"You're in a safe-house. I need to be going soon to lead the war against All for One, but I didn't want you to wake up alone." All Might gestured for him to sit, placing a full plate before him.
The explanation explained nothing at all.
"I don't understand." Izuku stared at his idol in utter confusion. "Why am I here? I'm supposed to be meeting with the other pro heroes to go over plans."
All Might looked at him sympathetically, turning Izuku's chair to kneel before him and take his hand. "My boy, you must understand. You may not have One for All anymore, but the villains are still going to be hunting for you. The top priority now is keeping you safe. This is one of my own private safe-houses; no one else knows of its location. You must stay here for your own safety."
Izuku couldn't help the discouraged droop of his posture. "B-But! I can still help! Just because I don't have a quirk anymore doesn't mean I'm useless! I'm a good tactician, you said so yourself! I can still help! I can still—"
"Izuku." A warm hand cupped his cheek, thumb wiping at a stray tear Izuku hadn't even noticed leaking out. "My boy, you are far from useless. But this is huge and dangerous, and you know it. I could never allow you somewhere you could get hurt with no way to defend yourself. Your safety is my responsibility."
"But even jus—just attending the meetings..."
"You should never have had to be in the position where you had to do that in the first place," All Might said firmly. "You are just a child; far too young to have gone through all the things you have."
"But I can help..."
"No, Izuku. You're going to stay here where it's safe. If not for you then do it for me and MY peace of mind."
Izuku looked down, eyes blurry with tears. "O-Ok..."
A soft kiss was pressed to his forehead, and Izuku blinked in shock.
"I will need your help soon enough," All Might assured him. "You're going to play an integral role in this war, my boy. But for now, I need you to stay safe, ok?"
"Ok." Izuku nodded reluctantly. "...What do you mean by integral role?"
All Might smiled at him secretively. "You'll find out soon enough, my boy. Rest assured I will never let any harm come to you."
True to his word, Izuku stayed put in the safe-house for a week. All Might stopped by every other day for at least an hour, and called him every morning and every night.
It was a bit much, but Izuku allowed him the concern.
But it was halfway through the second week when a broadcast of a huge fight between All Might and the league of villains aired on TV.
And Izuku couldn't sit still any longer.
He had to leave. Had to find out what had happened and help in the aftermath; to find his friends and the other heroes and make sure everyone was ok.
Without much thought, he darted out the door.
And got lost.
There was nothing but forest around the safe-house. Izuku couldn't find any roads or even hear any sounds of civilization. He pulled out his phone to try and use his location to pinpoint where he was, but it was dead.
He knew he should've charged it last night.
He ended up just wandering around for a while, picking a direction and staying with what he thought was north.
But all he saw was trees and more trees.
...Just where the hell was this safe-house located?
He had to have been walking for at least an hour when something finally happened. Something pricked at the edge of his awareness, made the hairs stand up on the back of his neck.
Izuku turned on instinct and was smacked right in the face with a rush of air as All Might skidded to a stop in front of him.
"Izuku!" the hero cried in blatant relief, grasping Izuku's shoulders just a tad too tightly. "There you are! I was so worried!"
"All Might!" Izuku stared at his mentor's hero suit, still dirty from the fight. "How did you find me? Why are you here right now?"
"You weren't answering your phone! I had to make sure you were ok."
Izuku grinned sheepishly. "Ah. Yeah, sorry, I didn't get any of the calls. My phone died."
All Might shook his head disapprovingly. "What are you doing out here? It isn't safe for you outside."
"I-I saw you on TV. The battle with the league of villains and I thought..."
"You thought?" All Might prompted.
Izuku shrunk down under his stern gaze. "I just...wanted to help," he mumbled.
"Izuku." Izuku flinched despite the soft voice All Might used. "You need to stay inside the safe-house. Until I tell you it's safe for you to come out, you have to stay put, understand?"
"B-But I—"
"No buts." Izuku was picked up carefully. "I'm only doing what's best for you. Trust me, alright? Soon enough the villains will be defeated and you'll truly be safe."
Izuku just sighed in resignation. And with a quick burst of speed, they were at the safe-house's door.
All Might set him down and ushered him inside, chiding him for not keeping his phone charged.
Izuku simply nodded along.
He knew All Might had his best interests in mind—of course he did. But that didn't stop him from feeling so useless.
He didn't understand why he had to stay here while his classmates and his mother were still in the city. If All Might deemed U.A safe enough for his friends, then why was he brought here? Just because of One for All? It made sense that he would be a bigger target than them because of that, but surely he would be considered unimportant now that the quirk was no longer his?
He spent the rest of the evening moping despite All Might's attempts to cheer him up.
The next morning when Izuku woke up, he was alone.
And the TV was gone.
He was quite confused about it, and decided to ask when—true to form—All Might called him that morning.
"Hello?"
"Good morning, my boy! How did you sleep?"
"Umm, fine. How are things going over there?"
"Messy." He heard All Might laugh on the other end of the line. "But you know well yourself that fighting villains is never an easy task."
"Of course. Let me know if I can help you in any way," Izuku was quick to offer.
All Might's voice gentled. "I will, young Izuku."
"Oh, hey." A thought occurred to Izuku. "How happy was Endeavour to see you back?"
All Might snorted. "I experienced some...opposition. The other pros were not notified of my return, so there was understandable confusion. But not to worry, my boy. I have worked everything out! We've come to an agreement."
"That's great!" Izuku smiled, easily picturing the affronted look Endeavour's face must have made when he had realized the symbol of peace was back in business. "By the way, I was wondering...why is the TV gone?"
"Ah..." There was a moment of silence on the other end. "Well. All I want is for you to stay safe, my boy. And I know your heroic spirit is very strong; proven by how you can't help but rush in to save someone. You gave me quite the scare yesterday, having run out of the house and gotten lost like that. I can't stop thinking, what if something had happened to you? So I've removed the TV for the time being to help prevent any impulsive moves on your end, my boy. I don't need you seeing something on the news and rushing out to help again only to get captured by villains."
Izuku winced, feeling slightly guilty. "I said I was sorry..."
"I know, young Izuku," All Might soothed.
"But uh, I still have my phone? I can watch news segments and stuff on there as well, so why bother getting rid of the TV?"
"You should be happy then! It's not much of a punishment if you can do all that on your phone still, is it? But the TV will remain gone. Think of it as a...reminder."
"Um...ok," Izuku agreed. It was a little strange but what could he say about it? It was All Might's TV. If the man wanted to take it away Izuku didn't exactly have a right to fight him about it.
"I must go now, but I'll call you later to check in!"
"I know."
"Stay safe, my boy!"
"Bye," Izuku mumbled, hanging up.
Another day of being bored was ahead of him. Hurrah.
Izuku had sat there contemplating his phone for the last half hour. He was idly scrolling through his contacts list, worrying his lower lip as he debated with himself inwardly.
He had promised All Might that he wouldn't contact anyone. That he wouldn't make any phone calls at all and only accept the ones he received from All Might himself. It wasn't all that unreasonable, it was just to keep him safe, after all.
But Izuku was so bored. And he missed his friends dearly. Surely he could make one little phone call? He'd ask his friends not to mention it and then All Might would never know.
Mind made up, Izuku huffed with determination and looked more critically at his contacts.
...Who should he call?
Kaachan came to mind first. While it may not be the friendliest of phone calls due to Kaachan's personality, Izuku knew Kaachan didn't sugarcoat things. Kaachan would give him the truth of what was going on outside.
He wanted so badly to talk with everyone; to hear Iida and Uraraka and Todoroki's voices.
But Kaachan knew the full truth of One for All.
Mind made up, Izuku tapped the number and waited, leg bouncing on the floor as the phone rang and rang. "C'mon pick up..." he muttered to himself.
The ringing cut out to unsteady breathing on the other end, and a familiar voice sounded in his ear. "Deku?!"
"Kaachan!" Izuku greeted happily. "It's so nice to hear your voice! I've missed you guys. How—"
"Deku!" Kaachan sounded...strained? Desperate? "Deku, where the fuck are you?! Are you ok?! Tell me where you are, I'll inform the teachers right now!"
"EH?!" Izuku shouted in confusion. A bright flash of worrysuspicionwrong flooded through him before he pushed it away. "Kaachan, w-what...? Slow down! What are you talking about? I'm fine, remember?"
Kaachan's voice rose in hysterical anger. "FINE? How are you fine? You've been missing for WEEKS! Where are you?! Who took you?!"
"What do you mean missing?" Izuku asked incredulously. "Didn't he tell you?"
Or, well...Perhaps he hadn't. Izuku hadn't really thought about it, but it would make sense that All Might wouldn't have told any of his friends where he was. A safe-house wasn't really a safe-house if everyone knew about it, right?
But he would've thought that All Might had at least told them he was going into secluded protection for his own safety; would've thought that Kaachan would be in the know even if no one else was.
"Didn't WHO tell us WHAT?" Kaachan asked, sounding more and more stressed. "Deku, you just...you just DISAPPEARED! No one knew what happened to you! Your mom cried for days before..." There was a pause where Kaachan went silent, only his heavy breathing coming through the phone. "...You know what, just tell me where you are."
"Um. I don't know," Izuku answered truthfully. "But don't worry Kaachan! I'm perfectly safe! I didn't know you weren't told, but I was brought here for high-security protection. The heroes know about it, it's ok. I had just assumed All Might would have told you too..."
"Wh—All Might?" Kaachan's tone was quiet, strangled. "Deku, All Might is—"
"I AM HOME!"
Izuku squeaked in surprise, almost dropping his phone as the front door banged open.
Shit. He hadn't expected All Might to be back so soon. He didn't want to be seen breaking his promise!
"Sorry, Kaachan, I gotta go," Izuku whispered into the phone. "Maybe I can call you back another time?"
"What?! Wait! No, Deku! DON'T YOU DARE HANG U—!"
Izuku ended the call, hastily shoving his phone in his pocket and trying to look natural as All Might appeared in the living room doorway.
"My boy? Who were you talking to?"
Izuku smiled sheepishly. "Ah...ha. Uh, no one, All Might."
The man tilted his head, surveying Izuku with that all too perceptive gaze. "Are you sure? I thought I heard voices."
"Ah. Well, I was...talking to myself. You know how I mutter and all," Izuku said weakly. He was a terrible liar and both he and All Might knew it.
"Oh really?" All Might crossed his arms over his chest. "So if I look at the call history on your phone I won't find anything?"
...Shit. Izuku wasn't sure if it was a bluff or if he should just tell the truth and get it over with. "Umm."
All Might stepped forward and held out his hand expectantly. "Let me see your phone, young Midoriya."
"But it's mine!" Izuku protested. "Y-You don't get to just look through it, it's my private property!"
All Might stared down at him flatly, clearly unimpressed. "Izuku," he said warningly, "I'll give you five seconds to put your phone in my hand. One...Two...Three...Fo—"
Izuku scrambled to pull his phone out and slapped it into All Might's hand.
"Thank you," All Might said, flicking through Izuku's phone. It looked ridiculously small in the hero's giant hand, but he didn't seem to have any problems with using it.
After a few moments of Izuku twitching nervously on the couch, his mentor let out a sigh, disappointment clear on his face. "Izuku."
Izuku wilted in shame at his tone. "Sorry," he whispered.
"I'm very disappointed in you. Not only did you lie to my face, you broke your promise to me."
Izuku sunk further and further down into the couch. "I know. I know. I'm sorry! I just..."
"You just what?" All Might crouched down in front of him, placing his hands on Izuku's knees.
"I was bored," Izuku admitted shamefully, his forearm flung over his eyes so he didn't have to look at the adult.
Another heavy sigh, and one large hand patted his knee where it rested. "Izuku." Izuku peeked out at All Might from beneath his arm at the soft tone the hero used. "I understand that this is really hard on you, having to be here alone for most of the day. But we have rules in place for your safety, and I need you to follow them. I need you to prove to me I can trust you."
Izuku bolted up, eyes wide. "Wha—?! Of course you can trust me, All Might!"
"Can I?"
"Yes! Yes! I'm really sorry! I won't do it again!" Izuku pleaded.
"Alright," All Might agreed easily. He stood, patting Izuku on the head. "You can have your phone back after supper then."
Izuku nodded, unwilling to argue. That seemed fair, seemed like much less of a scolding than he deserved.
"Would you like to help me cook?"
Izuku nodded enthusiastically, bouncing up off the couch and following his mentor into the kitchen.
He couldn't get his conversation with Kaachan out of his mind that night.
Izuku lay in bed, staring up at the dark ceiling. He was tired, and he was sure the clock on his nightstand would display early morning hours if he looked at it. But Kaachan's words kept swirling through his head, bringing a sense of unease to him and not allowing him to sleep.
Of course, with the war going on and all, things were strained. It would make sense that Kaachan had sounded so stressed out.
...So why did something just feel so off?
A pervading sense of wrongness had been lingering in the back of Izuku's mind. One that he had at first thought appeared during his phone call with Kaachan, but was now realizing had been there since All Might had first shown up, younger and healthy.
The feeling didn't make sense. But then again, Izuku had been on the edge of a nervous breakdown; mentally and physically exhausted from all the running and fighting and hiding. His anxiety levels had been through the roof for a long while now. And perhaps the unease he felt had been there that whole time, and he just hadn't noticed it until he was removed from the fighting; was able to relax a bit and not constantly worry about being attacked.
...But Kaachan had seemed like he had been about to say something really important. Something Izuku HAD to know.
He had his phone back now, but it had died a few hours ago. Not a big deal, as Kaachan surely wouldn't appreciate Izuku calling him again at this time of the night anyway.
He would just charge his phone in the morning and call Kaachan after All Might left for the day.
"...Izuku, what on earth have you been doing today?" All Might asked incredulously as he surveyed the mess of the room.
Izuku stood in the middle of it, having been in the process of finally putting things back together after tearing the house apart. "I was looking for my phone charger," he answered. "You haven't seen it, have you?" he asked hopefully.
"I'm afraid I haven't." All Might stepped forward to help Izuku push the couch back in place. "Was it that important that you had to rip through the house like a tornado?" Amusement coloured his tone.
It definitely was. Izuku had been certain he had left his charger on the desk in his room. But after having spent the whole day searching the house from top to bottom, he had finally given up. His charger was nowhere to be found.
Frustrating, as he was so sure he had left it where he usually did.
"I'm bored," he complained. "What am I supposed to do without the internet?" Read a book probably. But still.
All Might laughed and shook his head. "You kids and your phones." He ruffled Izuku's hair. "Well, I'm sure it will show up eventually."
"Yeah..." Izuku sighed. "I'm surprised you didn't notice earlier. You always call me in the morning after all, and I definitely must have missed it since I couldn't answer this morning. You know, with my phone being dead and all. Usually you freak out and run over when I don't pick up your calls."
All Might cleared his throat. "Ah, yes. Funny enough, I was very busy this morning, so I actually didn't get the chance to call you."
"Oh," was all Izuku said.
The strange feeling of unease grew larger.
He had done it. He almost couldn't believe that he had, but he had.
After four days of suffering from extreme boredom, and the constant ringing of Kaachan's panicked tone in his mind, Izuku had plucked up his courage.
And stolen All Might's phone.
He still hadn't found his charger, and All Might's wasn't compatible with his phone. And while Izuku wouldn't say he was addicted to the internet or anything, he could only spend so many days reading books and tidying the house before he reached his limit. Not knowing anything about what was happening currently was driving him insane. Despite the fact that he saw All Might every evening, the man wasn't very forthcoming about any news.
All Might had always been incredibly charismatic and able to charm a crowd—it was part of what made him so popular. And like many other pro-heroes, he was adept at skirting questions and talking in circles about topics he didn't want to address. It was something everyone in the industry had to learn in order to deal with the media.
But it didn't change the fact that All Might was withholding information from him.
Izuku wouldn't go so far as to say his mentor was lying to him—this was All Might after all. He wouldn't lie, especially not to Izuku. But that didn't mean Izuku didn't notice All Might kept subtly redirecting the conversation whenever Izuku began to ask about things he didn't want to discuss.
And so Izuku only felt mostly bad about stealing his mentor's phone, instead of all bad.
He just really had to know what was going on outside; how the war was progressing. And he had to call Kaachan back and hear what he had been about to tell him last time.
As Izuku dialled Kaachan's number from memory, he hoped All Might wouldn't be too mad at him for both breaking his promise (again) and stealing his phone. Because there was no way All Might wouldn't find out. He just hoped he would understand when Izuku explained himself.
The phone went to voicemail, and Izuku groaned.
He called again.
Voicemail.
Again.
Voicemail.
...One more time. Izuku didn't go through the effort of stealing this phone just for Kaachan to not answer.
The line picked up.
"...What do you want?" Kaachan's voice sounded uncharacteristically cautious and bitter.
Why would he respond to All Might's number like that?
"Kaachan?" Izuku asked tentatively.
There was a sharp inhale on the other end. "Deku?" Kaachan breathed in disbelief.
"Umm. Yeah, it's me. My phone died and I lost my charger, so I'm using All Might's."
"Deku...Shit. Ok, where are you? Where is All Might holding you? Are you ok?"
Izuku frowned. "I'm fine, I've been staying at one of his safe-houses for protection." He bit his lip, not really wanting to ask his next question. "Kaachan why...why do you keep sounding like that about All Might? Why would you say he's holding me? Why are you acting like this?"
Kaachan stuttered for a moment, clearly unsure of how to say what he wanted to say. "Deku...I-Izuku...obviously you know All Might was rewound to his prime years."
"Of course."
"Yeah...That. Well. It wasn't—it wasn't exactly planned. He just kind of...did it. Nobody knew about it until he just showed up like that."
Izuku chewed harder on his lip. "Ok. So maybe it was kind of bad for him to do that without permission. Adult manipulation of illegal and underaged quirk use and all that. But isn't his being back a good thing? He can beat the league of villains! Surely that—that makes it excusable, right?"
Kaachan snorted. "'Beat' the league sure is a way to put it."
"...What do you mean?"
"Izuku." Izuku sat straighter at the pained tone his childhood friend was using. "Izuku he's...he's killing villains."
...WHAT?
Heroes always tried to operate under the intention of restraining villains. But while killing was heavily frowned upon and discouraged, it was acknowledged that it sometimes couldn't be helped in a battle, and occasionally heroes did end up killing their opponents. "W-Well, I mean, we both know that that does happen sometimes, I'm sure All Might is doing his best to—"
"No. Deku, you don't get it. All Might isn't accidentally killing villains. And he isn't doing so because he has no other options either. He's—fuck, Izuku. He's doing it purposefully, and to every villain. He's hunting them down with the intention of killing them."
Izuku's fingers felt numb, the phone almost falling from his grip. "W-W-Wh-at?" he whispered. "No. No! There must be a mistake! That—that's not All Might! All Might would never!" He sounded desperate even to his own ears.
"All Might's gone rogue, Deku," Kaachan said bluntly. "He might technically be on the heroes' side, but he's working outside the law now. He's taking down villains, but he's doing his own thing, and the government isn't happy."
Izuku's head was still spinning with what he'd been told. All Might? Disregarding the law?
He was so shocked that he wasn't aware of the front door opening and closing. Didn't hear the footsteps coming up the stairs.
"Because he's working to take down the league of villains and save people, he still has the general public's approval," Kaachan continued. "But U.A has had to publicly disown him, and our whole class has been instructed to ignore any contact he tries to make with us. The commission is putting out announcements warning people to avoid him, saying he's dangerous—"
Izuku's bedroom door slammed open, and he practically jumped out of his skin.
All Might's hulking figure filled the entire doorway, exuding an air of danger. His face was set in a deep scowl, intense blue eyes fixed upon Izuku with disapproval.
"He's been officially labeled as a villain."