Chapter Text
All for One skimmed the papers on his desk. “What’s taking so long with the development project in Shibuya?” he called.
Dr. Garaki poked his head into the office. “Believe it or not, the buildings we purchased were inhabited by some street children. I sent men to drive them out, but the first batch actually lost to the filthy brats. I composed a better team the second time.”
“My minions lost to homeless children?” All for One raised an eyebrow. “How embarrassing. Here I thought my expectations couldn’t get any lower.”
“Apologies for the failure, master. I’ve already slated those fools for conversion into Nomu.”
“To be able to defeat adults, I wonder if any of the children have interesting quirks,” All for One muttered. “Perhaps I’ll investigate.”
Just like that, the course of history changed.
Toshinori Yagi raised a pipe and stood in front of his friends. Dust from the abandoned home tickled his nose, making him cough. He tried to cover it up with a defiant glare.
He and the other street children had nowhere else to go. Hence why when the thugs had first come to remove them, they’d stood their ground. Now nearly twenty men faced off against five children armed with sticks or pipes.
Toshinori knew they should have run the first time. As the oldest and the unofficial leader, he took full responsibility. Even if he had to die himself, he’d never let them touch the others. Sweat trickled down the back of his neck. He was scared of dying, of course. He was only thirteen, although his height made people assume he was older.
A muscular man in a grey suit growled, “You brats humiliated our organization, and more importantly, the man in charge of it. It’s too late for you to try to escape. Our boss doesn’t take to defiance kindly.”
Glancing over his shoulder, Toshinori cried, “Take the younger kids and run! I’ll hold them off!”
Homura, the second-oldest boy, nodded grimly. He hustled the others away. Ichigo, the littlest girl, cried and stretched her arms at Toshinori as Homura picked her up and carried her.
“Hard to believe a scrawny thing like you drove off our first batch of men.” A man in a black suit with a long, forked tongue leered at him. “What’s your quirk?”
“I don’t have one.”
“Don’t have—?”
Toshinori took advantage of this distraction to lunge. He clipped the man in the side of his head with his pipe, bashing him to the ground.
Another man grew his hands to double their size and smacked Toshinori’s head. The earth rose up to grab his feet. He fought back as hard as he could, determined to buy as much time as possible for his friends to escape.
But there were too many of them. They overwhelmed him. The pipe slipped from Toshinori’s numb fingers. Something metal dug into his side. He felt the wetness before the pain hit. As he fell, he coughed up blood.
He didn’t want to die. He’d had dreams of making the world a better place. Instead, he was going to be murdered in this filthy place and no heroes or police would even care. Tears filled his eyes as the world went dark.
When All for One arrived on the scene, he immediately noticed the only child remaining had no quirk. What a waste of time.
He nearly turned and left. But then the young teenage boy coughed. An old memory resurfaced of his brother, who’d been skinny and frail, just like this youth. His hand reached for an inhaler he no longer carried by reflex.
As the boy fought against a dozen men with no skill but consummate viciousness, his resemblance to Yoichi became even stronger. When the knife went into the boy’s side, he screamed. Even as he fell, he kept trying to rise.
For a moment, All for One saw his little brother’s death play out before his eyes.
Without even thinking, he leapt forward, knocking several of his own men into the walls, and scooped up the teenager.
“What are you doing, boss?” a muscular minion had the temerity to ask.
All for One glared. “Call the doctor. Then forget you ever saw anything if you want to live.”
He knew full well that this boy wasn’t Yoichi. But after years of loneliness, he’d decided to create a replacement.
To Toshinori’s great surprise, he woke up.
He lay on a large, soft bed, surrounded by piles of pillows. He blinked up at the pale blue ceiling. His eyes shifted across the carpet, the bookshelves, then a man with curly white hair sitting in an armchair.
Toshinori gasped and tried to sit up. It made his side throb. He touched bandages.
“I’m glad you’re awake.” The man smiled. “You shouldn’t try to move.” Despite his friendly expression, something dangerous radiated off him. A sense of total confidence and control.
“Where am I?” Toshinori croaked. “Who are you? Why did you help me?” He’d lived too long on the streets to trust kindness from strangers. For all he knew, this man might be a human trafficker or a pedophile.
The man handed him a cup of water. “My name is Hisashi Shigaraki, although I’m more commonly known as All for One. My goal is to create a better world. I always help people where I can. You remind me of my deceased younger brother. Not physically, but you two have the same spirit.”
Cautiously, Toshinori said, “I want a better world, too. I hate this corrupt society.” Now that it didn’t seem like this man intended to harm him (at least not right away) he tacked on a hesitant, “Sir.”
All for One nodded, his face sympathetic. “As a quirkless person, I’m sure you’ve faced your share of discrimination.”
“My parents threw me out. Homeless shelters wouldn’t even let me in after learning I was quirkless. Many of my friends ran away after being abused for so-called villainous quirks.” Toshinori clenched his fists. “This world is wrong. I want to change it.”
“I can help you with that. If I offer you a quirk, one strong enough to let you protect yourself and your friends, then will you join me?”
It sounded too good to be true. But Toshinori longed for a quirk, for power, too strongly not to accept. If this turned out to be a trap, then he’d run away. In this moment, the flame of desire burned brightly in his heart. “I’d do anything!”
All for One smiled. “If only my younger brother had accepted my offer. Then he would still be alive.” His tone turned wistful.
“I’m sorry for your loss, sir.”
“Call me Hisashi. Or better yet, big brother.”
The doorbell rang. Five-year-old Izuku ran over and opened it. “Uncle Toshi!”
Toshinori swept Izuku up into a hug. “How’s my favorite kid? You got taller, I can tell. Happy Birthday!” On his back, he balanced a large gift wrapped in red paper.
“Whoa, so big,” Izuku whispered with wide eyes. His little hands reached forward. “What is it?”
“It’s—”
From the kitchen, Inko called, “Don’t give away the surprise! He has to wait until after dinner to open his birthday presents.”
“Sorry, big sister.” Toshinori drooped.
Izuku yanked on his uncle’s hair tufts. “Bad uncle Toshi! You promised to tell me.”
Toshinori leaned down and whispered, “It’s an All Smite costume, custom-made.”
“Yay! You’re the best!” Izuku hugged his uncle again.
Sitting on the sofa, All for One watched his family interact with great pleasure. He joked, “I heard that. You’d better say I’m the best, or I’m telling your mother about the villain merchandise.”
Toshinori recoiled in mock-horror. “Oh, no! Don’t tell Inko!”
“Don’t tell Mommy!” Izuku giggled.
There was a lot Inko didn’t know. She believed that Toshinori was her husband’s blood brother. She didn’t know that All for One was a villain, and she certainly had no idea of Toshinori’s other identity as All Smite, the Symbol of Hopelessness. Looking at the blonde man catch a little boy crawling all over him, who would believe it?
All for One had started to worry when Izuku first developed a love for hero merchandise, but fortunately his son had also immediately become fond of All Smite. Even though he didn’t yet know that All Smite was his uncle, he’d been instinctively drawn to the villain from the moment he’d appeared on television. Toshinori frequently gifted Izuku with All Smite figurines (custom-made, since stores didn’t sell villain merchandise) and played the hero defeated to Izuku’s villain. With such gentle guidance away from society’s corrupt ideals, All for One had high hopes that one day his son would join him in the family business.
He finally had his perfect family, and he couldn’t be happier.
Bursting into the Nomu laboratory, All for One shrieked, “It’s a disaster! My perfect family will be destroyed!”
Toshinori looked up from a console. “What’s wrong?”
“Izuku said he wanted to become a hero when he grew up.” All for One started hyper-ventilating. “It’s like my younger brother all over again. What should I do? Should I give him some of Yoichi’s old ‘medicine’ to make him sicker?”
“What do you mean—?” Toshinori frowned. “Absolutely not. I won’t let you poison my precious little nephew.”
All for One paced the corridor between the Nomu tanks. “But there’s no other way! Izuku will become a hero, then he’ll turn against me, and then he’ll die—”
“Calm down. That sounds like your old trauma talking.” Toshinori stood up and hugged All for One.
All for One’s muscles relaxed. Toshinori was one of the very few people he ever allowed to touch him. Over his decades alone, he’d missed friendly contact.
Toshinori said, “Izuku is very young. He doesn’t yet know what he wants to become. Frankly, I’m surprised you’re so surprised. Haven’t you noticed how much he enjoys hero toys and shows?”
All for One scowled. “But he likes villains, too.”
“Exactly. So there’s still room for persuasion. Put aside this absurd nonsense about harming Izuku. He’s your son, not your enemy. Why did Izuku say that he wanted to be a hero?”
All for One said, “Ever since he was diagnosed as quirkless, he’s been rejected by his classmates. One of his former friends beat him up today and broke his favorite All Smite figurine. Izuku said that he wanted to become a hero to protect the weak.”
Toshinori’s gaze hardened. “Izuku has been bullied?”
“I was going to do something about that before I got distracted by the hero thing. The bully was one of the orphans Dr. Garaki uses for his experiments under the fake identity of Dr. Tsubasa. He’ll be easy to make disappear. Dr. Garaki has been wanting to work on a winged Nomu. I only held him off this long because Izuku became friends with young Tsubasa.”
“Perfect. Then we’ll show Izuku that villains can also carry out our own form of justice.”
All for One pulled back and looked at Toshinori with concern. “I wanted to shield Izuku from my business until he’s old enough to understand.”
“Shield him? You should do the opposite.” Toshinori smiled in a way that had terrorized heroes across Japan. “You should show him the truth while he’s still young enough to be mentally flexible.”
Toshinori put an arm in front of Izuku and guided him to the tank containing a small Nomu with red wings. “See? Tsubasa won’t hurt you or anyone else any longer.”
Izuku chewed on his thumb. “What happened to him? Is he hurt?”
“Of course not!” Toshinori laughed. “Does he look hurt? He’s completely fine. We just removed the part of him that wants to beat up people weaker than him. We cured him. He even got a stronger, healthier body out of it. Soon he’ll be out of the tank, and you can play with him again.”
Izuku blinked. “But he looks funny.”
“Now, now, Izuku, I’m certain I told you not to discriminate against people with mutation quirks or villainous-looking appearances. Tsubasa became like your Uncle Kurogiri. Just think how sad it would make Kurogiri if he could hear you saying that he looks strange.”
“I’d never say that, Uncle Toshi!” Izuku recoiled in horror. “Tsubasa looks awesome. Very strong.”
“That’s my boy.” Toshinori patted him on the back. “See, your father and I made Tsubasa into a better person, someone who will never bully you or anyone else ever again. We helped him.”
Izuku still looked hesitant. “And he’ll get out of the tank soon?”
Toshinori smiled. “Of course. I’ll even let you help with the procedure to complete his new body. I’m sure he’ll be so grateful to you after he wakes up. He had a bit of a cough that was worrying the doctor. With your help, he’ll be completely healed and healthy.”
This seemed to decide Izuku. “Yay! I want to help!”
Toshinori guided Izuku over to a workbench. “See the green vial? We’re going to add it to the tank, and it will help Tsubasa grow bigger.” Then he let Izuku stand on his shoulders to add the liquid, and promised that his new friend would be ready for the operation table by tomorrow. “You can even keep helping as long as you don’t tell your mother,” he said with a wink.
As soon as Izuku was gone, All for One demanded, “But when are you going to talk my ducky out of being a hero?”
“Be more patient, big brother.” Toshinori slapped him on the back. “Don’t you see what we’ve already accomplished? We got Izuku to help us create a Nomu.”
“He didn’t know what he was doing. That hardly counts as moral flexibility.”
“Exactly—he didn’t know what he was doing. At his age, he’ll accept whatever we teach him as normal. Then, by the time he grows up, creating undead minions will be a fact of life to him. It won’t be possible for him to start doubting the righteousness of his actions, or he’d collapse under the weight of the guilt from already creating hundreds of Nomu. Don’t try to force it, let him change slowly. By the time he’s old enough to understand, his morals and sense of normal will have diverged too far from the path of heroism for him to ever go back.”
All for One stared. “That’s brilliant.”
Toshinori shrugged. “That’s what you did to me when I was young, big brother. Don’t you remember?”
All for One hadn’t done any it on-purpose, but he was happy to accept the credit for a great idea. “And that was the best decision of my life, baby brother. I’m so lucky I found you.”
Toshinori flushed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m the one who’s lucky, big brother.”
Tenko Shimura watched in horror as a swirling dark portal opened and the U.S.J. was invaded by villains. He hoped desperately that they hadn’t come for One for All. He’d kept his quirk a secret, limiting what he could do during tests to make it appear a basic strength ability. All for One’s power had grown too great in recent times. He’d heavily infiltrated the government behind the scenes, while his righthand man wreaked havoc and murdered countless heroes. Tenko knew he wasn’t yet ready to face All Smite, much less All for One. No matter what, he couldn’t lose his grandmother’s legacy.
Yet the villain who stepped out of the portal was no one Tenko recognized. A green-haired boy wearing a black mask with a yellow smiley face painted on the front spoke in an oddly innocent way. “Hi! My name is All or Nothing, and I’m here to make my debut as a villain by killing as many of you as possible.”
That name…it had “All” in it just like All for One and All Smite. (And One for All, for that matter.) Tenko wondered what connection this boy had to his fated enemy. Since he was flanked by two Nomu, he must be one of All for One’s followers.
Aizawa stepped forward, his face grim. “Kids, get out of here.”
The green-haired boy giggled. “Eraserhead! I love your quirk. Dad promised me that if he ever stole it, then he’d give it to me. So I won’t kill you. Just stay over there and watch as I murder all your students, okay?”
All or Nothing pointed, and Aizawa dropped to the ground, paralyzed. It happened so fast, no one could react.
Then those deceptively happy green eyes fell on Tenko, and he ran for his life.
Ten minutes later, Tenko lay crouched behind a fallen board. His heartbeat sounded so loud he feared his enemies could hear it.
A Nomu walked by just inches away. Tenko placed a hand over his mouth and held his breath. Explosions danced up and down the Nomu’s arms as he passed.
All or Nothing sang, “Come out, come out, wherever you are! Who wants to be my friend? The doctor promised to make me a new friend my own age. I don’t want Kacchan to be lonely.” He patted the Nomu with explosive arms.
The air crackled as a newcomer stepped through a portal. Every bit of grass within his radius withered away. All Smite, the wielder of Decay, stood dressed in black from head to toe. His familiar yellow tufts of hair peeked out behind his iron mask. His blue eyes burned. “My adorable nephew, you’ve been very naughty. Stealing several Nomu and sneaking out to play?”
All or Nothing pouted. “You and Dad are too overprotective. I want to kill heroes, too.”
“Yes, yes, but for now you need to make it back home in time for dinner or your mother will be suspicious. Come with me.” All Smite held out his hand. “I won’t tell your father about this. I know boys want to have fun.”
“Thank you, Uncle T—All Smite. You’re the best.” The green-haired boy giggled. They walked through the portal together. It vanished behind them.
It took Tenko a moment to truly believe they were gone. Tears streamed down his face, a mixture of fear and relief. He stepped out from behind the board.
Something wet squished under his foot. Blood.
Looking at the corpse of his classmate lying on the ground, he screamed.