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Loading… “Neutrality Order: Blind Faith: Chapter 1”
Loaded… “Neutrality Order: Blind Faith: Chapter 1”
Izuku didn’t realize that he was nervously fidgeting until Tomura grabbed his hands gently, pulling his attention away from his anxiety and towards the concerned red eyes.
“What’s wrong? I’m sure you will be okay, I can’t think of a reason why the Doctor would suddenly decide to kill you.” Tomura was 75% sure of it, but he tried to sound as relaxed and confident as he could to help lower the other boy’s anxiety some.
The greenette shook his head. “It’s not that, not really. Firstly, I doubt that Nox would bring us all here to watch me die before having really done anything; they definitely made it seem like we were actually going to make an impact on the world.” He took a slow measured breath and said “I think… I think that this is it. Being able to step back and watch everything that has happen and that I’ve done, I can see more than I could before. Before being brought here, I would have fought tooth and nail to be a hero, to stay a hero; seeing what I have, I can confidently say that that’s not what will happen.”
Tomura watched Izuku ring his hands as he tried to find his wording, knowing that this was important for him to explain honestly. He gently squeezed the other boy’s hands in encouragement, but stayed silent trying to let him go at his own pace.
Izuku let out a long breath and felt some of the anxiety drain out of him at the steadfast support. “I think that no matter what I was taken from UA for, it is going to be the catalyst for me leaving the heroes.”
Dabi leaned into the conversation, having been eavesdropping unintentionally. “So you are upset that you end up leaving your hero school to be a villain?” His tone was an interesting mix of genuine curiosity, suspicion, and the bite of something adjacent to hurt. It’s not like he really knew the kid, hell Dabi had been more than wary of Crusty’s obsession with him prior to being kidnapped and forced to watch their love lives; despite actively trying to not like the hero brat, Midoriya had since earned a large amount of respect and fit in well with the League. The idea that he would be so upset at the thought of joining them, well the feeling was close enough to hurt to be recognized in his eyes.
Feeling Tomura stiffen at the tone, Izuku ran a thumb over the other boy’s wrist to calm him. Humming, he said “No, I agree with my choices, even if I haven’t made them yet. It’s more the reveal that worries me, because if not now, then at some point, I will end up leaving UA. Even though everyone has now seen the whole story and heard my genuine thoughts, I know they are still holding out hope; they are too close to see the whole picture, it’s hard for them to comprehend how just serious I am about changing society.”
Dabi stared at him for a long moment before nodding. “Gotcha pipsqueak.”
Iida watched quietly from his seat, not having intended on overhearing the conversation but now unable to do anything but turn it over in his head. ‘It seems that Midoriya is sure that he will be joining the League. I just don’t understand how the Midoriya I knew, the Midoriya that faced down Stain to protect and save, is the same student that would speak so comfortably about joining the LoV.’ While he understood Midoriya’s heroic drive and creeds, it also went against everything Iida had been taught to believe.
“Alright everyone, please be silent. I know that you are eager to begin the next part. However, what we will be watching momentarily occurs simultaneously as the scene at UA that you just witnessed. It is a much shorter segment than what you have had, but still important to see. “
All Might had to chuckle when he saw Young Midoriya drop his head back onto Shigaraki’s shoulder with a frustrated groan. He knew that his boy would prefer to have his questions answered sooner rather than later; especially since it directly pertained to his very precarious future.
After similar grumbling throughout the room, everyone settled in for the next part.
"Welcome back, All Might."
All Might didn't deign to react to the greeting, instead sitting himself down quietly and folding his hands in front of him as he gave his nemesis a hard glare. All For One simply stared blindly at him, smiling almost genially rather than mockingly. That seemed to mock him nevertheless, and All Might was already in a horrible enough mood as it was.
Tomura would laugh at the supremely irritated look on Izuku’s face if he wasn’t also annoyed with the blond buffoon’s repeated mistake of listening to Sensei.
"No costume today," All For One remarked. "Should I call you Yagi then? Would it make things more civil if you called me Shigaraki? Since you ARE here to speak about our boys again."
All Might tightened his jaw, trying not to give the villain any sense of satisfaction. "'All Might' is fine, All For One," he replied.
“All Might, I don’t understand why you keep going back to All for One? The other you even knows that it is a bad idea, but you keep doing it? Why?” Uraraka was having trouble figuring out what a ‘good’ reason would be when the supervillain had proven himself dangerous and manipulative.
The former number one hero rubbed his neck in embarrassment as he said “Young Uraraka, knowing myself, I would say that I was desperately trying to piece together the new information about Young Midoriya with the bright eyed fanboy I met. I seem to be having trouble merging the two images together in a way that is recognizable as Midoriya; unfortunately, the image I had of the boy was more of me projecting my ideals than who he truly is.”
"Very well," All For One conceded. "Before we get into that, I need to know if you thought any about our last conversation concerning Izuku's upbringing." The knowing tilt to his smile made a twitch appear over All Might's eye. "I know the old saying, 'questions you already know the answers to needn't be asked', but sometimes it's nice to hear them be spoken anyway."
"Why don't you just say what you want so I can say what I want and we can be done with this," All Might said testily.
"Don't be so crass, All Might, I genuinely like our conversations despite our past animosity," All For One said. "It's something a little more tangible besides our quirks that binds us together, isn't it? Our boys, growing up and forging their own paths..." He smiled. "Growing into their own desires."
"Now who's being crass," All Might bit out.
"Me, but it was more of a tease, All Might." All For One's smile remained humored. "So. You finally know."
"...I do."
Paling, Izuku muttered “I don’t think I like the idea of them talking about us… like that.”
Tomura shuddered, agreeing. It had ben embarrassing enough to discuss it that one time with Sensei, but having Sensei and fucking All Might talk about their relationship felt gross.
"And I'm guessing you didn't take it so well. I'm surprised at you, All Might, I didn't peg you as one to be prejudiced." He chuckled at the literal growl All Might leveled at him. "I'll admit, I was myself a little more than torn when Tomura told me he was having feelings for Izuku. He almost sounded like a normal teenager." He laughed. "But I told him his desires were his own business and I would not interfere. And so I didn't."
All Might scowled. "You APPROVED of that?" he asked incredulously.
Bakugo snorted at the tone, feeling the same bewildered confusion every time he started to dwell on the fact that the Nerd and Handyman were basically fucking dating.
"To a degree," All For One replied. "I was honestly surprised when he chose to bring Izuku in along with Bakugo. I may not be able to 'see' as you normally would, but I saw plenty. Heard plenty. Witnessed their conversations about society and quirk theory. I was there listening when Izuku first proclaimed his desire to change things, a direct challenge to Tomura telling him how badly he was WASTED being another expendable piece in the government hero machine. I was there when Tomura told him that he would always have a place at his side, promising to piece him back together when YOUR side broke him."
Aizawa rubbed his eyes tiredly as his problem child’s heroic future continued to shift further and further away.
Nezu looked at the teacher with a smile but knowing eyes. From everything that had been seen and heard, he had already come to the conclusion regarding that aspect of Midoriya’s future; though, it seemed that his staff was having trouble coming to terms with it.
His expression was a tad more serious, nonexistent eyes locked onto All Might's face. "Did you know that the Search quirk I took from Shiretoko is a passive one that never turns off? I thankfully haven't observed more than a handful of people with it since I've obtained it, but Tomura and Izuku are two that I did imprint on. The suppressants here make the 'location' bit dicey, but I can almost 'see' what they are doing at any given time. Feel their weaknesses. And they are oh so weak for one another. It's almost worrisome."
"Is there a rest stop between now and the point?" All Might asked, his hands clenching.
Kaminari burst into laughter at the devastating sarcasm from All Might. He was going to have to remember that line for the future.
"Patience. Relax, All Might. YOU came here to talk, remember. Though if YOU can tell me something about Izuku I don't already know, go right on ahead. I have plenty to share with you though. Like how I tracked his descent into becoming a vigilante-"
"Underground hero."
"Same difference. How he grew into his own without your help, right under your nose. A bit of rebellion on his part, but teenagers will be teenagers, yes? It was enough to actually impress me. And entertain me, I'll admit. It was interesting, getting a feel for his little adventure with the yakuza, ending it with his first kill. How fast they grow up."
"It wasn't like that-"
"The man stoked Izuku's ire to the point of no return, All Might, don't pretend otherwise. I could FEEL the hatred the boy had for Chisaki, and the satisfaction he had in being the one to cause his death. Not to say it's a slippery slope for Izuku, of course. The boy has his morals and they're as strong as they come. I actually find it admirable for Izuku to have such self-restraint." His lips twitched. "Today barred, of course."
Izuku didn’t know how he felt about the confidence from the supervillain. He couldn’t lie to himself and say that the man was wrong about his feelings in regards to Chisaki, but to have him defend him was an uncomfortable feeling.
All Might scowled at his wringing hands, jaw tight. "...whether or not you find him admirable is pointless," he said. "He's an admirable boy, and he'll grow into an admirable hero."
"Of that, I have no doubt," All For One replied. "But you must remember, All Might, that heroes are subjective. To many, you were a hero. To others, Stain was a hero. To the rest of the League, Tomura is a hero. As for Izuku...yes, he's so very much a hero, especially to Tomura. I've never seen the sort of calm your boy can invoke in mine before...never seen Tomura so willing and wanting to touch and be touched. Never seen him go through so much effort just for the happiness of another human being. To the surface it seems like a dangerous weakness, doesn't it? A hard chink in the plans I set out for him." He paused, taking in All Might's nervousness of his nonchalance.
Todoroki looked over to see Midoriya and Shigaraki curled around each other whispering quietly, eyes soft as they appeared to be keeping each other grounded and calm.
"...and you don't think so."
"No. Because Izuku has that very same weakness for Tomura. Everything he did, he did for Tomura. To see him again. To push for that better, more perfect world where they could be together without consequence. What else but a crippling weakness of the heart would Izuku take a train to an out-of-the-way city to see Tomura again, bare his heart and soul and shame of his own blessed selfishness with only a hope and a prayer that Tomura would handle such things delicately? And handle with care he did. Although..." His lips twitched in a facsimile of a grimace. "...I could have done without being witness to their virginal tryst. A drawback to this Search quirk, really."
Everyone whipped their heads around at the sound of Shigaraki’s mortified screech. Midoriya didn’t look any better; face flashing between bloodless and flushed at unhealthy speeds
“Are telling me... that Sensei was watching… during…” Shigaraki actually looked ill, hands flexing in agitation, reminding the students of UA what he had done with those hands while agitated.
Midoriya was shaking, trying and failing to stutter out a coherent sentence, eyes flicking across the room rapidly. Both boys’ breathing had picked up into near hyperventilating territory, but neither could calm themselves down enough to help their partner. While the experience as a whole had left them feeling vulnerable and exposed, this had been a different violation; at least they were aware that their friends and comrades would be watching.
Toga tilted her head as she considered. She didn’t want Izu-chan to be so upset, but Shiggy was too upset also to talk him down. She nodded to herself before sliding onto the floor and crawling to kneel by the boys. She gently took the greenette’s hands, telegraphing her movements as clearly as possible. Whispering, she said “It’s okay Izu-chan, take a deep breath. Come on, you can do it!” It only seemed to help slightly, so she tried another tactic: send him into hero mode. “Come on Izu-chan, I need you to breathe for me so we can help Shiggy. He’s freaking out right now too, you can help us help him.” His breathing stuttered for a moment at the words before he started taking slow deep breaths.
Dabi just rolled his eyes at the gentle handling before slapping his boss in the back of the head. “Get it together Ugly, you can’t change what happened. So what if Potato Face is a voyeuristic fuck? That reflects back onto him, not you guys; it’s not like this entire room didn’t watch also.”
Tomura glared murderously for a minute, his hands twitching to decay, but he scowled before taking a dramatic deep breath to prove he was calm. He glanced down at the boy in his lap, having momentarily forgotten that the boy had also been freaking out. Thankfully, it looked like Toga calmed him down somehow while Dabi was giving his stupid pep talk. He squeezed the green haired boy in his arms, and then brought one hand up to cup a freckled cheek.
Izuku smiled gently and turned his face, pressing a kiss to his palm before curling an arm around his waist tightly and wiggling to get comfortable again.
He paused at the shade of pale All Might took on. "....I assume he didn't tell you THAT part. Awkward. Moving on then, my point is, I'm not worried, All Might, because I know Tomura's promise to Izuku still stands after all this time. He WANTS Izuku to be with him, and Izuku WANTS to be there too. But riddle me this, All Might...between their two social circles, which one is more accommodating for the other should they want to join?"
All Might's slightly nauseous look turned almost hateful. "You won't be able to sway Midoriya that way," he said.
"Nor will you. Be honest with yourself, All Might. I am more willing to welcome Izuku with open arms than you are of welcoming Tomura into yours, regardless of his familial ties. I could handle his inclination toward heroism, no problem. I could even handle small twarts on my own endeavors because of his personal convictions. I handled my brother well enough despite his own stubbornness, after all, and despite our vast differences I still carry fondness for him through his memory. In the end, however, Izuku has more than my brother ever did. He has his convictions, power to do something with them, and he has Tomura. He wants a life where his relationship with Tomura has no consequences. So which of our two sides would he flourish in most?"
Bakugo watched with hooded eyes, not liking how plausible the villain’s words sounded. While he obviously didn’t want the nerd to become a shitty villain, he had seen enough to know that All for one was right on the fucking money regarding how accepting either side would be; it was already fucking clear that the nerd fit right in with the League, and they seemed to fold him into the group with little effort. He knew for a fact that Class 1-A and UA as a whole would not have the same acceptance for Handjob; even here, with all of their gross feelings out in the opening, UA wasn’t going to truly trust the young villain anytime soon.
His smile broadened at All Might's visible rage and dawning terror. "So I ask you again as I did then, All Might. Have you been a good mentor? Have you encouraged him? Let him know that he's still loved and cared for despite his choices?" His tone went dark. "Or have you given him every reason to believe he'd be better off at Tomura's side?"
All Might stood up, turning on heel and stalking for the door, waiting impatiently for it to unlock and open.
"Oh, for what it's worth, All Might," All For One called to his back, "I did try to help you. Remember that when you return to UA."
All Might hurried out of the room, every instinct bristling at the implications that were left unsaid.
The room was silent as everyone processed what had occurred during that disaster of a meeting.
All Might just shook his head at his own naiveté and how he walked so blindly into All for One’s games; every time that they interacted, Toshinori let his emotions get the best of him and he stopped refused to even hear the actual truth that his nemesis spoke of. While he didn’t like what was being said, he would be lying if he said that he couldn’t hear the truth in the villain’s words.
Aizawa watched the screen, and then replayed the earlier abduction over in his head. He didn’t want to agree, but he had also seen what his problem child had done and was willing to do to achieve his change. Unfortunately, All for One’s words did not come as a surprise to either Aizawa or Nezu.
He hurried his way past security to where Tsukauchi was waiting for him, the look on his face startling his friend. "All Might, are you alright?" Tsukauchi asked quietly, leading him to the car.
"No," All Might said, pressing a hand to his mouth like he felt a twinge of nausea, keeping it there as he painfully gathered his thoughts. "No, I'm not." He closed his eyes, being mentally bombarded with every mistake and misstep he took with Midoriya from the moment he met the boy, from telling him he couldn't be a hero without a quirk to hours ago failing to keep his secrets from being heard somehow, some way.
How many times could a single person completely and utterly ruin another person?
All Might cringed as the unfortunately accurate summary; he had continued to make mistake after mistake with his boy, and had only tried to truly correct his mistakes once Young Midoriya had broken under the pressure. He owed the boy many apologies when they returned to the outside world; he was not going to corner him here where he had no escape, instinctively knowing that there was only so much he could handle right now.
He remained silent for some time before remembering his phone, taking it out of his pocket and looking at the message screen, seeing that he had MANY missed calls and unread texts from UA. Fearing the worst in his panic, he quickly pressed redial on the last call number, cursing every second that went by unanswered.
"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!?" was Aizawa's shout the moment the call was answered.
Hizashi reached over and grabbed his partners hand in the dark, squeezing it once in comfort; he had never liked hearing that tone from Shouta, having only come out for dire and heartbreaking situations.
The underground hero squeezed back and murmured “Even if I technically had to experience that, I would much prefer dealing with it through the screen versus in real life.”
"Just leaving Tartarus, Nezu knows, what happened!?" All Might demanded, barely noticing Tsukauchi struggle to focus on the drive to keep calm.
"It's Midoriya!" Aizawa answered, sounding more stressed and panicked than All Might ever thought him capable of. "Togata went to look for him and said that when he finally found him, he was -godDAMNit- he was taken by some black sludge that came from his mouth and vanished!"
All Might felt his phone slip from his hand, recalling the memory of Nomu appearing in the bar and having Bakugo vanish from right next to him by black liquid.
Bakugo shuttered at the memory of the slime, far too similar to another slime incident for his comfort.
All For One knew.
God damn it, not again.
Not again.
Izuku hung his head in frustration. He knew that telling All Might now to stop talking to All for One was pointless, but it still frustrated him to no end to watch the retired hero get lead around like a puppet after each visit with his nemesis. “Your Sensei is giving me a headache Tomu,” he grumbled, face pressed into the other boy’s neck.
Chucking, Tomura said “Yeah, he does that sometimes. Do you think All Might will ever learn?”
The greenette rolled his eyes. “No, I don’t think he will. Or it will be too late and All for One will have made his finishing move.” He smothered a laugh when he heard Kaminari whisper “Finish him!” in a Mortal Combat voice.
Tomura grinned as he heard it as well. Reaching up to tangle his fingers in the soft green hair, he said “As riveting as this was, I’d rather see what is going on with the whole ‘abducted by Johnny’ thing. I want to know why one of my people is taking you without my knowledge or orders.” Eyes narrowing, he said “The Doctor better have a damn good reason for pulling you out of class like that.”
Jiro snorted so hard that Mina started patting her back like she was choking. The pink skinned girl looked at her with amused concern, letting her catch her breath before demanding the tea. After passing along the overheard words, Jiro was chuckling again.
“It’s great how ‘Raki tries so hard not to interrupt Midobabe’s classes like that,” Mina giggled. She remembered that he had worked around the UA school schedule for their meet up in Jaku City as well, though this was 100% more adorable and hilarious.
ON the teachers’ couches, Aizawa looked more exhausted by the second, shooting All Might alternating frustrated glares and confused glances.
Nox stood up and gathered everyone’s attention once again. “Alright, settle down. As I said at the start, this was a short segment but needed to be seen. We will begin the next part after a short break; I know that you are all eager to continue.”
Students started separating into small groups as some grabbed snacks, others huddled, whispering to friends. The UA staff watched the room quietly as students and villains coexisted in relative peace, if not on friendly terms; the only exception being Midoriya, as per usual. The boy seemed to slot right into the Leagues dynamic; quick to snark back at Dabi, understanding with Twice, patient and kind with Toga. It had not gone unnoticed by the teachers how the members of the League looked at their student; he had made himself into a veritable beacon of hope for some of them, and his determination to change society ensnared the rest.
“Young Midoriya is a hero to the League as much as he is a hero to Class 1-A. No matter what is about to happen, I believe in my boy.” All Might could see where this was going, how everything on the ‘outside’ was about to go downhill fast. The boy had been on the fence, straddling the thin line for so long now, but once he made a decision, no one could stop him.
“Indeed Yagi-kun, it just won’t necessarily be on the HPSC’s terms. I do wish there was going to be a different outcome, but we must deal with the consequences of our mistakes.” Nezu had been watching the boy while he spoke, trying to read his behavior for any hints of what was truly to come. While he knew that Midoriya could not possible know what was about to happen, it did seem as if he made a prediction of his own and came to a conclusion that he was content with.
Aizawa ducked into his capture weapon and huffed. “The only logical thing to do is wait and watch. We aren’t going to get any answers on the future by speculating. Nox doesn’t seem to care about sparing the boys’ secrets, so we will probably have our questions answered eventually.”
After a few more minutes, Nox had everyone get settled again for the next part; after that cliffhanger of a kidnapping, most of the room was eager to begin.
Loading… “Neutrality Order: Crossed Lines: Chapter 1”
Loaded… “Neutrality Order: Crossed Lines: Chapter 1”