MHA: A Cat's Way (Ch 98) (Patreon)

(Uraraka)

I take a deep breath before knocking on the door of the dilapidated building that Gran Torino lives in with a determined look on my face, ignoring the fake doorbell. Well, it would look dilapidated to anyone else. Sure, it could use a bit of a touch up, and the railing on the roof needs to be fixed, but that’s all superficial! Anyone with any experience in construction can tell that the building itself is well maintained and in no danger of falling apart despite the bright yellow warnings sandwiching the front door.

My parents have actually had a few…eccentric… people ask for buildings designed to look like they should be condemned. Personally I think it’s weird, but there’s no way I’d say that when they’re the ones paying our bills!

Anyways, it kind of does but kind of doesn’t make sense for the person who trained All Might to live in a place like this. Not that I’m insulting them or anything! But, well…

Something that I learned over the week is that All Might is kind of… a dork. So it only makes sense that his teacher would be as quirky as him!

Still though, I’m surprised when the door slowly swings open and no one answers. “Uh, hello? Is anyone here?” I ask as I gently push it open the rest of the way and poke my head in. Should I be walking into a retired hero’s home? Nope. Am I going to do it anyways? Yep. I do technically have permission after all!

And it’s a good thing I do, because the first thing revealed by the light coming in from the doorway is an old man passed out in a pool of -my nose twitches as I catch a smell in the air- ketchup?

I immediately drop the case holding my hero costume and pull out my phone to dial 119. The moment I get through I start talking. “Hi, an old man seems to have collapsed inside his home. I’m not sure what might have caused it, but the location is-”

“No need for that, young’in.” Before I can give them the location of the building a voice stops me, causing me to give a small shriek and jump from surprise. I look back and see the old man getting to his feet with the help of a cane. Once he’s standing up he puts an arm behind his back and walks towards me. “I’m fine, it was just a test. And you did well to contact emergency services. Though in the future, make sure you check the person you’re calling about to make sure you check on the victim before making any assumptions. It could be the difference between the victim being a witness, or a cadaver.”

I blink at the man for a moment before returning my attention to the call with the now unneeded paramedics. Or whoever it is that calls for an ambulance gets sent to. “Uh, go ahead and cancel that ambulance. Sorry, but it seems like I overreacted to the situation.”

“That’s perfectly fine,” the woman’s voice on the other end says. “We’d much rather it turns out to be nothing than someone not calling and it having been a serious situation. Please, don’t hesitate to call in the future.”

“I won’t, bye!” After hanging up I look at the old man and take in his appearance for the first time. He’s short. Like, really short, to the point that  he wouldn’t be able to go on a lot of rides at an amusement park, short. Not that I’ve been to amusement parks often enough to really say for sure. He’s wearing a white jumpsuit with a yellow belt, boots, gloves, and a cape, with a black butterfly-style mask covering his eyes. He has a bushy gray beard and hair, and gives me an approving nod when he sees me staring at him.

“Right choices all around! I have to say, it seems like Toshinori picked a good one for-”

He suddenly stops talking. Why?

Because I punch the old man in the face.

“What the fuck is wrong with you!?” I shout at the stunned shortstack holding his nose. “Who the hell sets themselves up to look like they suffered a damn stroke as an introduction!? All Might too! Well, he was more of a dumbass for not fucking thinking about the damn script he was given, but still! The hell is wrong with the two of you!?”

I take deep breaths after my rant, staring at the man’s lowered head while I try to calm down. Then his shoulders start to shake and I’m immediately hit by a realization. Oh shit, I just yelled down an old man. Which is followed by a much more serious realization that has my face becoming pale. Oh fuck! I just shouted down All Might’s teacher! I cursed the two of them out! The power has only just settled, what if they make me give it back!?

Before I can panic further, the old man throws his head back and roars in laughter, even with a tear leaking from one eye. “HAHAHAHAHAA! I can’t believe it! You’re just like Nana!” He doubles over and holds his stomach as he laughs harder, and for a moment I’m worried about him hacking up a lung or something.

Thankfully before it gets to the point that I feel the need to pull out my phone and call the hospital back, he manages to get control of himself. “Haha, whoo.” He lets out a huff of air and wipes at his eye with a finger. “Ah, I needed that.”

He looks at me with a bright smile on his face. “I have to say, you seem like a very good choice to inherit One For All.”

“Bweh!?” I make a weird noise at the sudden and unexpected compliment before hastily waving my arms in front of myself. “Uh, um. No! I, um, well.” I push my finger tips against each other and look away with my eyes closed, blushing.

“I-I don’t really think that I’m a particularly good choice to be given All Might’s power, but he and Midoriya seemed to think I am. And, well. All Might said that I don’t have to try and take his place in the spotlight if I don’t want to. He’s just happy that the power will still be around ‘just in case’.”

I hear the man grunt. “Yeah, All For One was a tough bastard to kill. I can only imagine what would happen if someone like him showed up again in the future.”

I open my eyes and look at the man, only to blink when I realize that I’m floating. But… I feel fine? Unlike when I normally use my quirk on myself, there’s no sense of building nausea. No sense that I’m even floating until I try to move. “Huh?”

“Hmm? What’s wrong?” The old man asks, seeing my confusion.

“Um… this isn’t my quirk? I think?” It’s a decidedly strange feeling, and I wave one hand as I try to figure out what’s going on. To my surprise, I actually move! “Yeah, definitely not my quirk.”

The old man hums in thought as he stares at me. “What is your quirk?” He asks in a neutral tone.

“Zero Gravity,” I answer as I try and move some more, finding that intending to go in a direction is all it takes instead of making any sort of motions. “When I touch anything with the pads on my fingers I can negate its gravity. But this isn’t that! It’s more like I’m…”

“Floating.” Gran Torino finishes my statement with a heavy voice. “You’re floating.”

I blink as I look at him, slowly rotating in the air. “Huh? Yeah, I kind of figured that out.”

“No,” he growls out, seeming lost in thought before shaking his head. “It’s…” He lets out a huff of air as he peers at me appraisingly.

“How much do you know about One For All and its history?”

“Not much,” I admit easily. “All Might said that you would be able to explain it better than he can. Which is also why he wanted you to train me instead of himself. He was worried that he wouldn’t be able to help me control it, but since you have experience with this kind of thing…”

He smiles, nodding his head with a closed eye smile. “That’s surprisingly smart of the boy. Maybe I’ve been a bit too hard on him for not calling much…”

I tilt my head as something he said earlier comes to mind. “Does One For All have something to do with that All For One person you mentioned earlier?”

Gran Torino stills before he opens his eyes. His smile stays on his face while he looks up at me and asks a question in a too calm voice. “...Toshinori didn’t tell you about All For One?”

I tilt my head at him. “No? Like I said, he wanted you to teach me.”

He nods understandingly, even as the air seems to grow colder. “I see, I see. So Toshinori didn’t tell you about the man before he gave you the quirk.”

It doesn’t feel like a question, but I answer anyway after a moment of hesitation. “...That’s correct?”

He nods again before pulling out his phone and dialing a number. Apparently he put it on speaker since I can hear when All Might answers.

“I am here! With a feeling of foreboding!”

“Toshinori,” Gran Torino’s voice sends shivers down my spine, and I let out a yelp as I suddenly drop from the air. The old man ignores me as he continues. “Did you not tell your successor about the two century old supervillain that’s hunted down every previous wilder of One For All?”

“WHAT!?” I shout from my position on the floor, staring at the retired hero in disbelief. I can hear All Might’s stuttering response over the phone.

“Ah- well- you see- It’s, well, a bit-”

“Toshinori Yagi.” Gran Torino’s voice is pleasant, like he’s talking about how nice the weather is. “I’m going to kick your ass so hard that you finally develop some common fucking sense.”

I stand, dusting myself off as I give the old man a bright close eyed smile. “Mind if I help out? I think it would really help me with whatever the hell the quirk is doing to me.”

“Of course! Maybe this time the lesson will actually stick!” The two of us share polite chuckles while over the phone, All Might feels like he should get his will in order.