BNHA: Undying (Ch 31) (Patreon)

(All Might)

I sit on the couch at home and sigh as I look down at the table in front of me, my daughter’s words ringing through my head.

“They made a mistake.”

I sigh again, looking towards a shelf holding family pictures. Except that there are only a few that have Izuku in them after he turned four, and none from the past seven years, at least. “She’s right. Nana would be disappointed in me.”

I look back at the table, or rather, what’s resting on it. A bottle of whiskey and a miniature, miniature shot glass. Really, it’s more of a joke item than something meant to be used. Drinking any kind of alcohol in any content is… a bad idea is putting it lightly. A normal sized cup of the stuff would kill me.

But at this size? Well, it’s only a gamble on whether or not I end up feeling intense pain. Normally not something to risk just to have it coat my tongue. But sometimes, the risk is worth it.

Luckily for me, my wife has been doing night patrols this week, so she’s not here to get rid of the American favorite. I’ve had the bottle for years now. I’d originally gotten it back when my son was four to drink as a celebration for passing on One For All when he came of age. But…

With one last sigh, I fill the… even trying to refer to this thing as a cup is a joke. It doesn’t even fit enough to fill the cap of the bottle! Still though, it’s enough to get a taste of it. It’s the next best thing to actually drinking it. So after resealing the bottle and putting it back in its hiding spot, I down it.

I let the taste of it fill me, enjoying the long forgotten burn as it rolls across my tongue. One that’s gone all too soon as it’s absorbed due to how dry it is. Still though, it manages to ease the tension in my shoulders by just a hair. And since the taste itself will linger, I’ll be able to fall asleep feeling as if I’d actually drunk some! Maybe even have a dream about being able to actually do that.

`~`

I am not having a dream where I’m able to drink whiskey without dying. Instead, I stand in front of seven stone thrones on top of which sit seven people. Each of who has some kind of disappointed or angry expression on their faces. But what hurts the most is that I recognize one of them.

My teacher. My mentor. The person who believed in me to carry on her legacy.

Nana Shimura.

Her face is shadowed by her hair, but the abject disappointment and twist of her lips tells me all that I need to know. Whatever I’m doing here -wherever here is- it’s not good.

The first to speak is the person in the center, a skinny man with mop-like, scraggly white hair. “Toshinori Yagi. Also known as ‘All Might’. You had the chance to pass on One For All to a worthy successor. One who, like you, desperately wanted to help people with all their heart. Even if they had no quirk of their own.”

“But instead, you told them to give up. That they didn’t have enough power to accomplish their dream.” The bald man with goggles on his forehead scowls at me. I try to defend myself, but it’s like I can’t open my mouth, can’t move.

A man who’s jacket covers the lower half of his face is the next to speak. “We can all see through your eyes, so we can see all that you see. Even if you don’t realize you’re seeing it.”

I gulp, knowing what that means. They’ve seen how Izuku was treated his whole life, including the neglect.

“You acknowledged the growth your daughter has gone through, and attempted to name her your successor. Though her past actions are reprehensible, we were willing to accept it.” A man with pale blonde hair and two scars stretching down his face over one eye and past his lips speaks, and I’m happy that they approved of my choice, only to be engulfed in self-admonishment as he continues.

“But once again, due to your own actions, we’ve been denied one who deserves the power to induce change. Even if she would not have survived it, she could have done great things before she perished.”

My head shoots up at that, concern outweighing my other negative emotions. She wouldn’t have survived? What do you mean!? I try to say the words, but am unable to. Still, they seem to understand, and my master is the one to answer, her voice heavy with regret.

“Toshinori- no. Yagi.” My heart breaks hearing her reject calling me my name as she always had. A sign that our deep bond that developed as more than teacher and student is gone. “There was a reason I chose you as my successor. More than your heart, it was a test.”

A test? What kind of test could inheriting One For All be?

“You see, Fourth,” she gestures to the man with two scars, “did not fall to All For One. He did not engage him in battle at all. Instead, he hid himself in the wilderness and relentlessly trained the quirk in the hopes that his own successor would have the power to defeat him. Training that resulted in his death.”

The bald man speaks again. “See, the quirk got too powerful. His body couldn’t contain all of it! So it kept struggling to keep it in check, but one day it couldn’t keep up. One For All killed him.”

“Which is where you came in, Yagi. After finding out what happened to Fourth, I investigated. It led me to an unexpected conclusion. Anyone with a quirk who inherits One For All will die an early death as their body tries to contain more than twice the power it was meant to handle.”

She raises her head, and I can finally see the anger in her eyes as tears roll down her cheeks. “I thought that you, a quirkless boy with a heart of gold would be able to not only survive, but surpass all of the previous users. I thought that you could bring an end to All For One. I was right, but also wrong.”

She takes a breath as the anger intensifies. “You’ve lived longer than any of us, and your power is more than what any of the previous users could summon as well. You critically wounded All For One to the extent that he hasn’t made any noticeable moves in years.”

My eyes widen. WOUNDED!? NO! I crushed his head! He should be dead!

Seeing my panic, the first speaks again. “One For All and All For One are connected. Should my brother have died, we would know. But our battle is not over.”

Nana, seemingly losing patience, jumps to her feet with a sharp movement. “And you decided to reject the perfect successor! He was quirkless, which means he wouldn’t have been killed by the quirk. He had a heart of gold, even after what he’d experienced! If it had been anyone else, I wouldn’t be surprised if they turned to villainy!”

She takes a deep breath before letting it out slowly, her next words barely above a whisper. “But he also had you, who could have raised him so that he would have full knowledge of the quirk. So that he could improve himself for the longest time. Who could have been the best of us.”

“But instead,” Her tone goes cold, her words sharp barbs that dig into my skin. “Instead, you grew arrogant. You began to believe that you and the quirk were one and the same. You didn’t want to give it up, don’t deny it!” She shouts, apparently able to tell how I wanted to object.

Another breath. “It is your actions that drove your son to his actions, which has dissuaded your daughter from accepting this power.” She turns away, leaving the circle of light. Her words echo from the darkness as everything fades away, hammering into my mind as true sleep engulfs me. “You desired to hold this power as long as possible. So keep it you will. Should you encounter someone new who we deem worthy of inheriting One For All, you will know. When that time comes, you will make the offer, no questions asked.”

“Your daughter told the truth. I did choose the wrong successor.”

`~`

(Inko)

I come home to a silent house, which is no surprise given how late it is. I’m sure that Izumi is tired from a long day of school followed by trying to clean Trash Beach. I can’t help but roll my eyes when I see Toshi asleep in our room.

I don’t know why he insisted on that for her community service, there’s no way that it will stay clean even if she managed to get it there. I’m sure I could have pulled some strings of my own to get her assigned to my agency for her ‘punishment’, but he insisted on that.

Maybe it has to do with his delusion about being able to pass his quirk onto others. While rare, it’s not unheard of for a person’s quirk to affect their mental state. But thinking that he can just give it away? That’s a new one.

I can’t help but scoff at the thought. Really, giving away a quirk? What nonsense.

Why, if the number one hero were able to give his quirk to another person, then he’d just be making himself quirkless! I hold back a derisive laugh at the thought.

The number one hero, All Might himself, becoming a quirkless!

The thought is so ridiculous that it’s funny. Quirkless aren’t worth our time. They’re less. I didn’t always think this, of course. But after finding out that my own son was one of them?

Well. With all the comments I heard from those who knew, is it any wonder that I tried to find comfort where I could? It was them who showed me the truth. Who showed me that the quirkless are relics with no place in modern society.

I thought that, if he ended up running away, we could finally be happy! That’s why I decided to let everyone think that he’d actually commit suicide. He had a smile when I’d passed him by that die, so why should I care? He would be out of our lives, he’d be happy… wherever he’d end up. It was a win-win for everyone, which was already more than he deserved.

But instead, our home lost the feeling that it was a family. Neither my husband nor my daughter want to talk, though Toshi tells me that they do manage a conversation when coming back from Trash Beach.

But we’re not happy. And it’s all the fault of that quirkless brat. I should have listened to the others and just gave him to an orphanage or something.

But what’s done is done. All I can do is try to help the two of them. And if that means lying to my husband and searching for him on my own, fine. I’ll make him apologize to the two of them for faking his death, then make sure he experiences actual death.

It’s what the quirkless deserve, after all.